- Also: 1977 (album) by Ash.
Year 1977 (MCMLXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1977 Gregorian calendar).
Events of 1977
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- January 10 - Ocean Park opens in Hong Kong.
- January 15 - Kälvesta air disaster: A Swedish airliner crashes into a residential area of Stockholm, killing all 22 on board.
- January 18 - Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires' disease.
- January 18 - Australia's worst railway disaster at Granville, near Sydney, leaves 83 people dead.
- January 18 - SFR Yugoslavia Prime minister, Džemal Bijedić, his wife and 6 others are killed in a plane crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- January 19 - U.S. President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (aka " Tokyo Rose").
- January 19 - Snow falls in Miami, Florida (despite its ordinarily tropical climate) for the only time in its history. Snowfall has occurred farther south in the United States only on the high mountains of the state of Hawaii.
- January 20 - Jimmy Carter succeeds Gerald Ford as the 39th President of the United States.
- January 21 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardons Vietnam War draft evaders.
- January 23 - Roots begins its phenomenally successful run on ABC.
- January 24 - Massacre of Atocha during the Spanish transition to democracy.
- January 29 - Actor Freddie Prinze dies from a self inflicted bullet wound.
- January 28 - Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 hits Buffalo, NY
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- February 4 - Fleetwood Mac's Grammy-winning album Rumours is released.
- February 7 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 24 ( Viktor Gorbatko, Yuri Glazkov) to dock with the Salyut 5 space station.
- February 11 - A 20.2-kg (44-lb.-9-oz.) 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, at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
- February 18 - Prog 1 of 2000AD, currently the UK's longest running comic, is launched. Issue dated 26th February 1977
- February 28 - State Opening of the New Zealand Parliament, by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
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- March 4 - The 1977 Bucharest Earthquake kills 1,500.
- March 5 - Formula One driver Tom Pryce dies after colliding with a track marshal at the South African Grand Prix in Kyalami.
- March 8 - State Opening of the Australian Parliament, Canberra by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
- March 9 - Approximately a dozen armed Hanafi Muslims take over 3 buildings in Washington, DC, killing 1 person and taking more than 130 hostages. The hostage situation ends 2 days later.
- March 12 - The Centenary Test between Australia and England begins at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
- March 15 - Tenor Luciano Pavarotti and the PBS opera series Live from the Met both make their American television debuts. Pavarotti stars in a complete production of Puccini's La Boheme.
- March 27 - Tenerife disaster: a collision between KLM and PanAm Boeing 747s at Tenerife, Canary Islands, kills 583 (the worst single aviation accident on record).
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- April 1 - Hay-on-Wye declares independence as a publicity stunt.
- April 8 - Punk band The Clash's debut album The Clash (album) is released in the UK on CBS Records.
- April 11 - London Transport's Silver Jubilee buses are launched.
- April 22 - First use of optical fibre to carry live telephone traffic.
- April 27 - The Guatemala City air disaster kills 28 people.
May
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- May 1 - Taksim Square massacre in Istanbul: 34 dead, hundreds injured
- May 3 - HMS Invincible is launched at Barrow-in-Furness by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
- May 7 - Pierre Elliot Trudeau does a pirouette behind the back of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
- May 7 - Marie Myriam wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 for France with her song L'oiseau et l'enfant ("The Bird and the Child").
- May 14 - The 1977 IAS Cargo Boeing 707 airplane crash in Lusaka, Zambia kills all 6 on board.
- May 14 - In Milan, Italy, during a far-left demonstration, a hooded person shoots at the police, killing a policeman, Antonio Custra. The scene is photographed and the picture of the hooded man shooting in the middle of the street will appear in many magazines around the world.
- May 17 - The Likud Party, led by Menachem Begin, wins the elections in Israel.
- May 17 - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom commences her 1977 Silver Jubilee tour in Glasgow.
- May 23 - Scientists report using bacteria in a lab to make insulin.
- May 23 - Moluccan terrorists take over a school in Bovensmilde, northern Netherlands (105 hostages), and a passenger train in Bovensmilde- Assen route nearby (90 hostages) at the same time. On June 11, Dutch Royal Marines storm the train; 6 terrorists and 2 hostages are killed.
- May 25 - Star Wars opens in cinemas and subsequently becomes the then-highest grossing film of all time.
- May 26 - George Willig climbs the South Tower of the World Trade Centre.
- May 27 - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom opens the new Air Terminal Building at Edinburgh Airport.
- May 27 - The 1977 Aeroflot Ilyushin 62 airplane crash in Cuba kills 69 people.
- May 28 - In Southgate, Kentucky, the Beverly Hills Supper Club is engulfed in fire, killing 165 inside.
- May 29 - Indianapolis 500: A.J. Foyt becomes the first driver to win a (to date) record 4 times.
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- June 5 - A coup takes place in Seychelles.
- June 5 - The first Apple II computers go on sale.
- June 6- June 9 - Jubilee celebrations are held in the United Kingdom to celebrate twenty-five years of Elizabeth II's reign.
- June 10 - James Earl Ray escapes from Brushy Mountain State Prison in Petros, Tennessee (he is recaptured on June 13).
- June 15 - Spain has its first democratic elections, after 41 years under the Franco regime.
- June 16 - Oracle Corporation was incorporated in Redwood Shores, California as Software Development Laboratories (SDL) by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.
- June 20 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules that states are not required to spend Medicaid funds on elective abortions.
- June 20 - Anglia Television broadcasts the fake documentary " Alternative 3", which enters into the conspiracy theory canon.
- June 25 - American Roy Sullivan is struck by lightning for the 7th time.
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- July 1 - American actress Liv Tyler is born in New York City, New York.
- July 1 - CKO a now-defunct Canadian all news radio network began broadcasting on this date.
- July 5 - General Mohammed Zia ul-Haq overthrows Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan.
- July 13 - The New York City blackout of 1977 lasts for 25 hours, resulting in looting and other disorder.
- July 14 - Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden is born.
- July 15 - Anti-drug campaigner Donald Mackay disappears near Griffith, New South Wales (presumed murdered).
- July 19 to July 20 - Flood in Johnstown, PA caused by massive rainfall, kills over 75 people and causes billions in damage.
- July 22 - The purged Chinese Communist leader Deng Xiaoping is restored to power nine months after the " Gang of Four" was expelled from power in a coup d'état.
- July 24 - Led Zeppelin play their last U.S. concert in Oakland, CA at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. A brawl erupts between Led Zeppelin's crew and promoter Bill Graham's staff resulting in criminal assault charges for several of Led Zeppelin's entourage including drummer John Bonham.
- July 26 - Robert Plant is contacted by his wife and told their son Karac has died, which causes the cancellation of the remainder of Zeppelin's U.S. tour and the band would not re-emerge until 1979.
- July 28 - The first oil through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System reaches Valdez, Alaska.
- July 30 - Left-wing German terrorists Susanne Albrecht , Brigitte Mohnhaupt and a third person assassinate Jürgen Ponto , chairman of the Dresdner Bank in Oberursel, West Germany.
August
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- August 3 - United States Senate hearings on MKULTRA are held.
- August 3 - The Tandy Corporation TRS-80 Model I computer is announced at a press conference.
- August 4 - U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.
- August 9 - The military-controlled Government of Uruguay announces that it will return the nation to civilian rule through general elections in 1981 for a President and Congress.
- August 12 - The NASA Space Shuttle, named Enterprise, makes its first test free-flight from the back of a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA).
- August 15 - The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by The Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "WOW!" signal for a notation made by a volunteer on the project.
- August 20 - Voyager program: The United States launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.
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- September 3 - The Commodore PET computer is first sold.
- September 5 - Voyager program: Voyager 1 is launched after a brief delay.
- September 5 - German Autumn: Employers Association President Hanns-Martin Schleyer is kidnapped in Cologne, West Germany. The kidnappers kill 3 escorting police officers and his chauffeur. They demand the release of Red Army Faction (RAF) prisoners.
- September 6 - Steve Biko suffers a massive head injury in police custody in South Africa, later dying.
- September 7 - Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The U.S. agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.
- September 8 - INTERPOL issues a resolution against the piracy of video tapes and other material, which is still cited in warnings on opening pre-credits of videocassettes and DVDs today.
- September 16 - Talking Heads' debut album Talking Heads: 77 is released.
- September 18 - Courageous (U.S.), skippered by Ted Turner, sweeps Australia (Australia) in 24th America's Cup.
- September 21 - A nuclear non-proliferation pact is signed by 15 countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union.
- September 28 - The Porsche 928 debuts at the Geneva Auto Convention.
- September 29 - The modern Food Stamp Program began when the Food Stamp Act of 1977 was enacted.
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- October 14 - Bing Crosby died of heart attack.
- October 14 - David Bowie releases his album "Heroes".
- October 17- October 18 - German Autumn: GSG 9 troopers storm a hijacked Lufthansa passenger plane in Mogadishu, Somalia; 3 of the 4 hijackers die.
- October 21 - The European Patent Institute is founded.
- October 26 - The last natural smallpox case is discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination and, by extension, of modern science.
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- November 1 - 2060 Chiron, first of the outer solar system asteroids known as Centaurs, is discovered by Charlie Kowal.
- November 2 - The worst storm in Athens' modern history causes havoc across the Greek capital and kills 38 people.
- November 6 - The Kelly Barnes Dam, located above Toccoa Falls Bible College near Toccoa, Georgia fails, killing 39.
- November 8 - Greek Archaeologist Manolis Andronikos discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina.
- November 9 - Gen. Hugo Banzer, President of the military government of Bolivia, announces that the constitutional democracy will be restored in 1978 instead of 1980 as previously provided.
- November 19 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel when he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, seeking a permanent peace settlement.
- November 22 - British Airways inaugurates regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.
- November 22 - First three nodes of the ARPAnet are connected, in what would eventually become the Internet.
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- December 1 - First flight of Lockheed's top-secret stealth aircraft project designated Have Blue, precursor to the U.S. F-117A Nighthawk.
- December 4 - Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor.
- December 4 - Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 is hijacked and crashed in Tanjung Kupang, Johor, Malaysia, killing all the 100 passengers and crew aboard the flight.
- December 13 - A DC-3 charter plane carrying the University of Evansville basketball team to Nashville, Tenn., crashes in rain and dense fog about 90 seconds after takeoff from Evansville Dress Regional Airport. Twenty-nine people die in the crash, including 14 members of the team and its head coach Bob Watson.
- December 16 - Mikhail Baryshnikov's production of The Nutcracker, adapted from his stage version, and in which he stars with Gelsey Kirkland and the American Ballet Theatre, is shown on television for the first time by CBS. It later moves to PBS, where it becomes an annual attraction for many years. The production eventually becomes the most popular video version of the ballet.
Ongoing
Deaths
January - March
- January 2 - Errol Garner, American musician (b. 1921)
- January 3 - Carroll Quigley, American historian, polymath, and theorist of the evolution of civilizations (b. 1910)
- January 14 - Anthony Eden, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1897)
- January 14 - Peter Finch, English-born actor (b. 1916)
- January 14 - Anaïs Nin, French author (b. 1903)
- January 17 - Gary Gilmore, American murderer (executed) (b. 1940)
- January 18 - Džemal Bijedić, Yugoslavian Prime Minister (b. 1917)
- January 19 - Yvonne Printemps, French singer and actress (b. 1895)
- January 21 - Sandro Penna, Italian poet (b. 1906)
- January 23 - Toots Shor, New York restaurateur (b. 1903)
- January 29 - Buster Nupen, South African cricketer (b. 1902)
- January 29 - Freddie Prinze, American actor and comedian (b. 1954)
- February 4 - Brett Halliday, American writer (b. 1904)
- February 11 - Louis Beel, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1902)
- February 16 - Rózsa Péter, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1905)
- February 19 - Anthony Crosland, British author and politician (b. 1918)
- February 27 - Allison Hayes, American actress (b. 1930)
- February 28 - Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, American actor (b. 1905)
- March 4 - Andrés Caicedo, Colombian writer (b. 1951)
- March 5 - Tom Pryce, British Formula race car driver (b. 1949)
- March 11 - Ulysses S. Grant IV, American geologist and paleontologist (b. 1893)
- March 16 - Kamal Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze (b. 1917)
- March 18 - Marien Ngouabi, President of The Republic of the Congo (assassinated) (b. 1938)
- March 22 - A. K. Gopalan, Indian communist leader (b. 1904)
- March 26 - Madeleine Dring, British composer and actress (b. 1923)
- March 29 - Charles Nicoletti, American gangster (b. 1916)
- March 30 - Abdel Halim Hafez, Egyptian singer and actor (b. 1929)
April - June
- April 12 - Philip K. Wrigley, American chewing gum manufacturer and executive in Major League Baseball (b. 1894)
- April 17 - William Cardinal Conway, Northern Irish clergyman (b. 1913)
- April 20 - Sepp Herberger, German soccer coach (b. 1897)
- April 21 - Gummo Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1892)
- May 5 - Ludwig Erhard, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
- May 5 - Sam Lanin, American 1920s bandleader (b. 1891)
- May 9 - James Jones, American writer (b. 1921)
- May 10 - Joan Crawford, American actress (b. 1905)
- June 2 - Stephen Boyd, Film actor (b. 1931)
- June 3 - Archibald Vivian Hill, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
- June 16 - Wernher von Braun, German-born rocket scientist (b. 1912)
- June 19 - Lady Olave Baden-Powell, English Chief Girl Guide (b. 1889)
- June 19 - Ali Shariati, Iranian sociologist (b. 1933)
July - September
- July 2 - Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born writer (b. 1899)
- July 9 - Alice Paul, American women's rights activist (b. 1885)
- July 13 - Carl Gustav von Rosen, Swedish pilot (b. 1909)
- July 23 - Arsenio Erico, Paraguayan footballer (b. 1915)
- August 3 - Makarios III, Cypriot Archbishop and first President of Cyprus (b. 1913)
- August 4 - Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
- August 14 - Ron Haydock, American actor, writer, and musician (b. 1940)
- August 16 - Elvis Presley, American singer and actor (b. 1935)
- August 19 - Groucho Marx, American actor and comedian (b. 1890)
- September 1 - Ethel Waters, American singer (b. 1896)
- September 6 - John Edensor Littlewood, British mathematician (b. 1885)
- September 8 - Zero Mostel, American film and stage actor (b. 1915)
- September 12 - Steve Biko, South African activist (b. 1946)
- September 13 - Leopold Stokowski, English conductor (b. 1882)
- September 16 - Marc Bolan, English musician (b. 1947)
- September 16 - Maria Callas, American-born soprano (b. 1923)
October - December
- October 8 - Joe Greenstein, 20th century strongman (b. 1893)
- October 8 - Giorgos Papasideris, Greek country singer, composer, & lyricist (b. 1902)
- October 10 - Angelo Muscat, Maltese actor (b. 1930)
- October 14 - Bing Crosby, American singer and actor (b. 1903)
- October 20 - Members of the American rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd killed in a plane crash:
- Cassie Gaines (b. 1948)
- Steve Gaines (b. 1949)
- Ronnie Van Zant (b. 1948)
- October 27 - Tony Hulman, American businessman and racetrack owner (b. 1901)
- November 5 - René Goscinny, French comic book writer (b. 1926)
- November 8 - Bucky Harris, baseball player (b. 1896)
- November 11 - Greta Keller, Austrian-born singer and actress (b. 1903)
- November 11 - Abraham Sarmiento, Jr., Filipino journalist & political activist (b. 1950)
- November 14 - Ferdinand Heim, World War II German general, branded the "Scapegoat of Stalingrad" (b. 1897)
- November 15 - Princess Charlotte of Monaco (b. 1898)
- November 25 - Tommy Prince, Canadian war hero (b. 1915)
- December 5 - Roland Kirk, American jazz musician (b. 1936)
- December 15 - Wilfred Kitching, General of The Salvation Army (b. 1893)
- December 19 - Jacques Tourneur, French director (b. 1904)
- December 24 - Samael Aun Weor, Colombian writer (b. 1917)
- December 25 - Charlie Chaplin, English-born comedian (b. 1889)
Ship events
- List of ship launches in 1977
- List of ship commissionings in 1977
- List of ship decommissionings in 1977
Nobel prizes
- Physics - Philip Warren Anderson, Sir Nevill Francis Mott, John Hasbrouck van Vleck
- Chemistry - Ilya Prigogine
- Physiology or Medicine - Roger Guillemin, Andrew V. Schally, Rosalyn Yalow
- Literature - Vicente Aleixandre
- Peace - Amnesty International
- Economics - Bertil Ohlin, James Meade
