September 17, 1978: The Camp David Accords are announced at the White House in Washington. They were negotiated by Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, under the guidance of America's President Jimmy Carter.
Israel and Egypt had fought wars in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, with tiny Israel defeating the much larger neighbor every time. Sadat had become President upon the death of dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1970, and realized what Nasser did not: Fighting Israel was a bad idea. So in late 1977, he opened the door to peace, and began meeting with Begin. For this, Time magazine named Sadat their Man of the Year for 1977.
Carter took them to Camp David, the Presidential retreat in the mountains of Maryland, northwest of Washington, where they could be secluded away from each country's media, and negotiate in privacy. More than once, the negotiations almost fell apart, but Carter held it together, and the Accords were accepted by each side.
And they have held for 42 years now. Other agreements have fallen apart. This one has held together in spite of numerous changes in Israel's government, and Sadat's assassination in 1981. He knew he was risking his life, that radical Islamists would be furious with him for making peace with Israel. He did it anyway. Sadat and Begin shared the Nobel Peace Prize. It would be many more years, long after he was out of office, that Carter received the Nobel as well.
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September 17, 1978 was a Sunday. The original version of Battlestar Galactica premiered on the same day.
There was a full slate of Major League Baseball games, and a full slate of National Football League games, minus the Monday Night Football game the following day.
The baseball games:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 7-3 at the old Yankee Stadium. Dennis Eckersley outpitched Jim Beattie, and Carl Yastrzemski hit a home run. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4, but did reach base on an error.
The Yankees had taken 6 straight against the Sox, having gone from 14 games behind the Sox on July 20 to tied on September 10, to 3 1/2 games ahead the day before this. But now, the season turned around again, and it would result in a 1-game Playoff for the American League Eastern Division title. And if you don't know how that ended, you're either too young to know about baseball, or you're reading the wrong blog.
* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Lee Mazzilli got 3 hits, and Mike Bruhert pitched a 4-hit shutout. It was only the 27th game of Bruhert's career, advancing his career record to 4-11. He never won another game in the major leagues. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-3.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Mike Flanagan pitched a 5-hit shutout. Eddie Murray went 2-for-4, and Doug DeCinces hit a home run.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 5-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell went 0-for-3, but Dave Parker hit a home run.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Wrigley Field, in a game called in the bottom of the 7th inning due to rain.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Rod Carew went 1-for-3 with a walk. Robin Yount went 0-for-4.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the California Angels, 5-0 at Royals (now Kauffman) Stadium. Dennis Leonard pitched a 5-hit shutout.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-1 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at San Diego Stadium.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Pete Rose went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, and Johnny Bench went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle.
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The NFL games of the day:
* The New York Giants beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 26-10 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands, East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey.
* The New York Jets lost to the Seattle Seahawks, 24-17 at Shea Stadium in Queens.
* The Cleveland Browns beat the Atlanta Falcons, 24-16 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Buffalo Bills, 31-24 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions, 19-0 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 28-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Oakland Raiders beat the Green Bay Packers, 28-3 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
* In the day's biggest upset, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Minnesota Vikings, at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The Washington Redskins beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 28-10 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New Orleans Saints, 24-17 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
* The Houston Oilers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 20-19 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, 27-14 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Dallas Cowboys, 27-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Cowboys would avenge this loss in the NFC Championship Game, before losing Super Bowl XIII to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
* And in the Monday Night Football game on September 18, the Baltimore Colts beat the New England Patriots, 34-27, at Schaefer Stadium (later Sullivan Stadium and Foxboro Stadium) in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.
