It's May 1978. Composer Aram Khachaturian, 74, dies.
 
President Jimmy Carter declares May 3 to be Sun Day, a time to think about solar energy.

 Affirmed wins the Kentucky Derby.

 Inventor William P. Lear, 75, dies in Reno.

 Charlie Chaplin's coffin and body are found in Noville, Switzerland.

 Abortion is legalized in Italy.

 The Commerce Department announces that hurricanes will no longer be named exclusively after women.

 Margaret Brewer becomes the Marine Corps' first female brigadier general.

 NBC cancels Police Woman, James at 15, CPO Sharkey starring Don Rickles, Chico and the Man, Grizzly Adams, and The Bionic Woman.

 The Dutch NV Philips Company announces a new compact disc system that could revolutionize the music industry. Music is recorded on the disc at a high density and is played back optically by a laser that never touches the disc. The compact disc will not be available commercially until the early 1980s.

 Britain's Princess Margaret and her husband, Lord Snowden, get a divorce after 18 years of marriage. It is the first divorce in the immediate royal family since King Henry VIII divorced his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, in 1540.

 The Pioneer Venus I orbiter is launched from Kennedy Space Center.

 Atlantic City's first casino opens in the International Resorts Hotel. The governor of New Jersey attends the opening, and a long line a people wait for a chance to gamble.

 Al Unser wins the Indy 500.

 On May 1, snow flurries fall in the Southern Tier, and the mercury hits a record low of 25 degrees at 6:00 am.

 Owego's Tioga Theater is still for sale. The asking price is $100,000 for the building and $15,000 to 20,000 for the movie equipment. The Tioga County Council on the Arts has approached the county legislature about buying it and allowing the council to run it as a community theater and civic center.

 The Ti-Ahwaga Players present "Janus" at the Owego Treadway Inn. Cost for the dinner show is $9.50, and cost for the Sunday brunch show is $7.50.

 The Tri-Cities Opera performs "Faust" at the Forum in Binghamton. Tickets cost $10, $7.50, and $5.00.

 The House Armed Services Committee recommends stopping funds for the LAMPS Helicopter which is being developed at IBM in Owego.

 When a garbage truck backs up over a curb on Front Street in Owego, the sidewalk caves in and reveals a vault under the sidewalk that was used in the 19th Century for coal delivery and storage.

 Two drive-in theaters are still open for business in Broome County - the V Drive-In on the Vestal Parkway which can accommodate 735 cars, and the Airport Drive-In on Airport Road which has a capacity of more than 900 cars. Both drive-ins charge $3.00 per person. Two other drive-in theaters closed years ago: the Tri-Cities Drive-In on George F. Highway in Endwell and the Front Drive-In on Upper Front Street.

 In Newark Valley, a fire destroys parts of a 100-year-old feed and fuel business, Bliss Mills, on Whig Street.

 The price of lettuce begins to drop after a temporary shortage drove prices up to $1.19 a head.

 The last class of nurses graduates from Binghamton General Hospital. The school, which opened in 1896, is closing because of a state-wide plan to have all registered nurses graduate from four-year colleges by 1985. The last class at Wilson Memorial Hospital will be capped in 1980.

 A free concert is held at the Forum in Binghamton to dedicate the four-keyboard Robert Morton Theater Organ. The 56-year-old organ has 1,800 pipes and can mimic the sounds of other instruments.

 Movies playing at local theaters include Saturday Night Fever, Thank God It's Friday, If Ever I See You Again, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, The End starring Burt Reynolds, Here Come the Tigers, Coming Home, and Capricorn One.

 Monday night TV shows include Little House on the Prairie; Good Times; Baby, I'm Back; MASH; One Day at a Time; Fantasy Island; and Lou Grant.

 Top tunes include If I can't Have You by Yvonne Elliman, The Closer I Get to You by Roberta Flack, With a Little Luck by Wings; Too Much, Too Little, Too Late by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams; Night Fever by Bee Gees; and You're the One That I Want by  John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

 And a six-pack of Coke in 16-ounce no-deposit bottles costs $1.63.

 Happy Mother's Day!