Notable Events in 1977

Dec 142009

Another new section on Running Wolf’s Rant. The Notable Events section will feature a summary interesting events that happened in history. Today’s post features my birth year, 1977. I’m sure that many other things happened in 1977, but I found these to be the most notable and worthy of mentioning in a post about this topic. I hope you find this post most informative. The photo featured on this post is a cover of Time magazine in 1977 which featured an article about the Apartheid government of then South African Prime Minister John Vorster.

Here are a few events notable events from 1977 that will refresh your memory:

Scientists identified a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires’ disease and also started producing Insulin from bacteria in 1977.
Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States in 1977.
Fleetwood Mac released their Rumours album in 1977 (which went on to sell 40 million copies to date).
On the 27th of March of this year one of the World’s Worst Air Disasters in history occurred in the Canary Islands when two jumbo jets collided on the airport runway killing 583 people
The Apple II and Commodore PET personal computers were first sold in 1977.
The Atari 2600 gaming system was released in 1977.
On the 26th of June of this year Elvis Presley performed in his last concert. He died in Memphis, Tenessee in the US on the 16th of August 1977. 75,000 fans lined the streets of Memphis for this funeral.
The serial killer, David Berkowitz was arrested in this year. He was more commonly known as the “Son of Sam”. He had killed 6 people and wounded 7 over a period of one year in New York City in the United States.
NASA launched the Voyager 1 unmanned spacecraft which later did flybys of Jupiter (in 1979) and Saturn (in 1980).
NASA also launched the Voyager 2 unmanned spacecraft which eventually did a flyby of Jupiter (in 1979), Saturn (in 1981), Uranus (in 1986) and Neptune (in 1989).
In South Africa, anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko was killed in police custody after being arrested under the Terrorism Act at a roadblock.
Pele, a football legend (considered by some as the best soccer player of all time) from Brazil retired from the sport in 1977.
South African sports stars Victor Matfield (Rugby), Benny McCarthy (Soccer) and Ryk Neetling (Swimming) were born in 1977.
The last execution by guillotine in France was carried out in 1977.
In 1977 the punk rock band The Clash released their self-titled debut album.
George Willig climbed the South Tower of the World Trade Center on the 26th of May 1977.
James Earl Ray (jailed for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. escapes from the Brushy Mountain State Prison in Petros, Tennessee but is recaptured 3 days later.
On the 13th of July 1977 the New York City blackout occured which lasted for 25 hours and caused looting and other disorders in the city.
Rock band Led Zeppelin played in their last concert in the USA in July of 1977 in Oakland, California.
The English Punk Rock Band The Sex Pistols released their Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols album in this year.
Orlando Bloom (Lord of the Rings), Edward Furlong (Terminator 2), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Piper Perabo (Coyote Ugly), Liv Tyler (Lord of the Rings), Brittany Murphy (8 Mile) were all born in 1977.
There were several bombings in South Africa in 1977. 1 at Daveyton Police Station on the East Rand on the 24th of February (my birthday), 1 at a Pretoria restaurant on the 7th of March, 1 at the Carlton Centre (the tallest building in Africa) in Johannesburg on the 25th of November, 1 on a Pretoria bound train on the 30th of November and 1 at Benoni Railway Station on the East Rand on the 14th of December. An uexploded bomb was found at a supermarket store in Roodepoort on the 22nd of December.
In 1977 Amnesty International was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
In Canada French was adapted as an official language in Quebec in 1977.
In 1977 Djibouti (in Africa) and Vietnam (in Asia) joined the United Nations.
In 1977 Three’s Company, Eight is Enough, CHIPs, The Love Boat and Soap premiered on television.
In the United Kingdom, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Silver Jubilee (25th Anniversary) in power with a tour to various countries around the world.
A £71 million extension to the London Underground which runs to Heathrow Airport was opened in 1977.
Rocky won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Peter Finch won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Network and Faye Dunaway won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Network in 1977.