1977

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s

Years: 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 - 1977 - 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982

Table of contents

1 Events 2 Year in topic 3 Births 4 Deaths 5 Nobel Prizes

Events

• January 1 - First woman Episcopal priest ordained
• January 18 - Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious "legionnaire's disease."
• January 18 - Australia experiences its worst railway disaster at Granville, near Sydney, in which 83 people died.
• January 19 - President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (aka "Tokyo Rose").
• January 20 - Gerald Rudolph Ford, 38th President of the United States is succeeded by Jimmy Carter.
• January 21 - President Jimmy Carter pardons Vietnam War draft evaders.
• February 7 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 24.
• February 11 - A 20.2-kg lobster is caught off Nova Scotia (heaviest known crustacean).
• February 18 - The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle goes on its maiden "flight" while sitting on top of a Boeing 747.
• March 4 - An earthquake in southern and eastern Europe kills more than 1,500.
• March 9 - Appoximetely a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims take over three buildings in Washington, DC, killing one person and taking more than 130 hostages. The hostage situation ends two days later.
• March 27 - Collision between KLM and PanAm Boeing 747's at Tenerife kills 583.
• May 23 - Scientists report using bacteria in lab to make insulin.
• May 28 - In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club is engulfed in fire, killing 165 inside.
• June 20 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules that states are not required to spend Medicaid funds on elective abortions.
• July 13 - An electricity blackout hits the City of New York, lasting for 25 hours and resulting in looting and other disorder.
• July 22 - The purged Chinese communist leader Deng Xiaoping is restored to power as the "Gang of Four" is expelled from the Communist Party of China.
• August 4 - US President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.
• August 20 - Voyager program: The United States launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.
• September 5 - Voyager program: Voyager 1 is launched after a brief delay.
• September 6 (approx) - Steve Biko suffers a massive head injury in police custody in South Africa.
• September 7 - Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The US agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.
• September 8 - INTERPOL releases copyright laws that govern the reproduction of video tapes & other material.
• September 11 - The last "wild" infection of smallpox is reported in Somalia.
• September 12 - Steve Biko dies of his injuries.
• September 21 - Nuclear-proliferation pact, curbing spread of nuclear weapons, is signed by 15 countries including the United States and USSR.
• October 13 - Four Palestinians hijack a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Somalia and demand release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction.
• November 6 - The Kelly Barnes Dam, located above Toccoa Falls Bible College near Toccoa, Georgia, fails, killing 39.

• A collection of work by J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, is published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien.
• Swedish music group ABBA passes The Beatles as having most records sold.
• 2060 Chiron, first of the outer solar system asteroids known as Centaurss, discovered by Charlie Kowal.
• Don Novello first appeared on Saturday Night Live.

• 1977 in film
  • Annie Hall
  • The science fiction saga Star Wars, later renamed to Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, makes its first outing to the cinema and makes George Lucas and the team at LucasArts a staggering $461 million.
  • John Travolta discoed in Saturday Night Fever.
  • In the Academy Awards, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and Beatrice Straight win Best Actor and Actress and Supporting Actress awards for Network.
  • Rocky picks up an Academy Award for Best Picture and All The President's Men wins Jason Robards the Supporting Actor and an Art Direction for George Jenkins and George Gaines.
• 1977 in literature
• 1977 in music
  • February 4 - Fleetwood Mac releases Rumours, which is a blockbuster album (recorded on March 3, 1976).
  • DJ-Kool-Herc classifies and introduces a new movement in America, calling it Hip hop.
• 1977 in sports
  • May 29 - Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
• 1977 in television
  • May 10 - South Africa has television service for the first time.

• January 8 - Amber Benson, actress
• January 13 - Orlando Bloom, actor
• January 28 - Joey Fatone, musician
• February 9 - Shakira, Colombian pop singer
• February 11 - Jessica Carlson, United States archer
• February 11 - Stephanie Richardson, Canadian swimmer
• February 13 - Randy Moss, NFL star
• February 16 - Ian Clarke, Freenet creator
• April 14 - Sarah Michelle Gellar, actress
• May 23 - Ilia Kulik, Russian figure skating champion
• June 27 - Raúl, Spanish football star
• July 1 - Liv Tyler, actress
• July 14 - Victoria, Princess of Sweden - Crown Princess of Sweden from 1980
• July 28 - Emanuel Ginobili, Argentine basketball player
• November 3 - Aria Giovanni, model and actress
• November 19 - Kerri Strug, gymnast
• December - Ahmed Alnami, suspected terrorist
• December 3 - Adam Malysz, Polish ski jumper
• December 7 - Fernando Vargas, boxer
• December 30 - Laila Ali, boxer, daughter of Muhammad Ali

• January 14 - Peter Finch, actor
• January 14 - Anaïs Nin, author
• January 14 - Anthony Eden, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• January 17 - Gary Gilmore, murderer (executed by firing squad)
• January 29 - Freddie Prinze, actor/comedian
• February 11 - Louis J M Beel, Dutch premier (1946-1948, 1958-1959).
• February 28 - Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, actor
• March 18 - Marien Ngouabi, President of The Congo
• May 5 - Ludwig Erhard, German chancellor (1963-1966.
• May 10 - Joan Crawford, actress
• June 19 - Lady Olave Baden-Powell, World Chief Guide
• July 2 - Vladimir Nabokov, writer
• August 16 - Elvis Presley, singer, actor
• August 19 - Groucho Marx, comedian
• September 12 - South African activist Steve Biko dies in police custody.
• September 16 - Marc Bolan, father of punk
• October 14 - Bing Crosby, American singer and actor
• November 15 - Princess Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet Grimaldi of Monaco, mother of Reigning Prince Rainier III of Monaco
• November 25 - Tommy Prince, aboriginal Canadian war hero
• December 25 - Charlie Chaplin, comedian, star of silent film

• Physics - Philip Warren Anderson, Sir Nevill Francis Mott, John Hasbrouck van Vleck
• Chemistry - Ilya Prigogine
• Medicine - Roger Guillemin, Andrew V. Schally, Rosalyn Yalow
• Literature - Vicente Aleixandre
• Peace - Amnesty International
• Economics - Bertil Ohlin, James Meade

For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album).