1977

Births

Deaths

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."
Jimmy Carter succeeds Gerald R. Ford as President of the United States of America
January 21 - President Jimmy Carter pardons Vietnam War draft evaders.
February 11 - A 20.2-kg lobster is caught off Nova Scotia (heaviest known crustacean).
May 23 - Scientists report using bacteria in lab to make insulin.
June 20 - The United States Supreme Court rules that states are not required to spend Medicaid funds on elective abortions.
July 22 - the purged Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping is restored to power as the "Gang of Four" is expelled from the Communist Party.
September 7 - The Panama Canal treaties are signed.
September 11 - The last "wild" infection of smallpox is reported in Somalia.
A collection of work by JRR Tolkien, The Silmarillion, is published posthumously by his son Christopher.
September 21 - Nuclear-proliferation pact, curbing spread of nuclear weapons, is signed by 15 countries including the U.S. and U.S.S.R.
Swedish music group ABBA passes The Beatles as having most records sold.

Films

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 a Best Picture and All The President's Men wins Jason Robards the Supporting Actor and an Art Direction for George Jenkins and George Gaines.

Music

July 22 - Elvis Costello releases his first album, My aim is true, in the UK.
August 16 - Elvis Presley dies.
Fleetwood Mac's album Rumour's hits #1 and becomes one of the all-time best selling albums (it was the best selling album until 1983, when Michael Jackson's Thriller would top it).

Sport

Baseball - New York Yankees defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is the World Series in which Reggie Jackson becomes known as Mr. October.
NASCAR Championship - Cale Yarborough wins this years event, beating Richard Petty into second place with a very respectable 386 point lead.
January 9 - Super Bowl XI Oakland Raiders (32) def. Minnesota Vikings (14)