NEWS FROM 1977
On January 17th, Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore, 36, was shot by a firing squad at Utah State Prison in the first US execution in a decade.
On January 21st, President Carter pardoned almost all Vietnam War draft evaders.
On June 10th, James Earl Ray, the convicted assassin of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior, escaped from Brushy Mountain State Prison in Tennessee with six others; he was recaptured June 13th.
On July 13th, A blackout lasting 25 hours hit the New York City area.
On August 10th, Postal employee David Berkowitz was arrested in Yonkers, New York, accused of being "Son of Sam," the gunman responsible for six slayings and seven woundings.
On August 16th, Elvis Presley died at Graceland Mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 42. It is commonly accepted that Presley's addiction to prescribed barbiturates contributed to his early death.
On October 20th, Three members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed in the crash of a chartered plane near McComb, Mississippi.
Also in 1977, The world's last-known case of smallpox appears in Somalia. The disease is considered eradicated when it does not appear for two more years.
Celebrities born in 1977: James Van Der Beek, Fiona Apple, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, Joey Fatone, Jr., Edward Furlong, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Joe Hahn, Jeff Hardy, Ludacris, John Mayer, Shannon Miller, Samantha Morton, Jason Mraz, Donovan Patton, Shakira, Kerri Strug, Liv Tyler
1977 GOVERNMENT
President: Jimmy Carter
Vice President: Walter Mondale
1977 PRICES
House: $58,473
Car: $4,317
Gallon Milk: $1.44
Gallon Gas: $.65
Loaf Bread: $.32
1st Class Stamp: $.13
1977 WINNERS
Super Bowl: Oakland
World Series: New York Yankees
NBA Championship: Portland
1977 'TIME'
MAN OF THE YEAR
President of Egypt ... Anwar Sadat
1977 TOP TV
Laverne And Shirley
Happy Days
Three's Company
Charlie's Angels
All In The Family
1977 TV PREMIERS
CHiPs
Eight Is Enough
Family Feud
Fernwood 2-Night
Fish
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
James At 15
The Life And Times Of Grizzly Adams
Lou Grant
The Love Boat
The Man From Atlantis
The Marilyn McCoo And Billy Davis, Jr. Show
Operation Petticoat
The Richard Pryor Show
Roots (mini series)
SCTV (Second City Television)
Sha Na Na
Soap
Three's Company
The USA cable network debuted
1977 TOP MOVIES
Star Wars
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Saturday Night Fever
Smokey and the Bandit
The Goodbye Girl
Oh, God!
The Deep
The Rescuers
The Spy Who Loved Me
Semi-Tough
1977 MUSIC
BEST OF MY LOVE, Emotions
I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR EVERYTHING, Andy Gibb
TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT, Rod Stewart
LOVE THEME FROM "A STAR IS BORN", Barbra Streisand
YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE, Debby Boone
I LIKE DREAMIN', Kenny Nolan
DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY, Thelma Houston
YOUR LOVE HAS LIFTED ME, Rita Coolidge
UNDERCOVER ANGEL, Alan O'Day
TORN BETWEEN TWO LOVERS, Mary MacGregor
