1977 Major News Events in History

Australia - Federal Elections

1. Australia holds federal elections on December 10 News Events. All 124 House of Representatives seats and 34 of 64 Senate seats were contested.
2. The Liberal/National Coalition lost five seats and the Australian Labor Party gained two seats.
3. Malcolm Fraser retained his leadership position as the head of the Liberal/National coalition and won a second term as Prime Minister.
4. Due to compulsory voting there was a 95% voter turnout.
5. In the two party preferred vote the Liberal/National coalition won 54.60% and the Labor Party won 45.40%.
6. In the popular vote, the Labor Party won 39.65%, the Liberal Party won 38.09%, and the National Country Party won 10.01% of the vote.

Israel - Egyptian Leader Visits

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat makes a historic visit to Israel during November. It was the first step towards establishing a long-term peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. His visit lasted 36 hours, during which he addressed the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament) and met with Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Sadat was the first Arab leader to visit Israel and his visit was widely condemned by other Arab nations who had no interest in negotiating peace with Israel.

The US returns the Panama Canal back to Panama

More Information and Timeline For the Panama Canal back to Panama

1. 1904 Isthmian Canal Commission gains control of the Panama Canal Zone over which the United States exercises sovereignty
2. 1905 to 1914 Planning and construction of the Panama Canal
3. 1914 The Panama canal is 47.9 miles long joining the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
4. 1914 Panama Canal formally opened on August 15 with the passage of the cargo ship SS Ancon
5. 1950 to 1974 Panama Protestors dispute ownership of the Panama Canal by the United States
6. September 7th 1977 Following negotiations the Torrijos-Carter Treaties is signed which begins the process of granting the Panamanians free control of the canal so long as Panama signed a treaty guaranteeing the permanent neutrality of the canal.
7. 1999 Panamanian control effective at noon on December 31st when the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) assumed full control of the waterway.
At the peak of the protests over U.S. control when many Panamanians felt that the Canal Zone rightfully belonged to Panama student protests were met by the fencing in of the zone and an increased military presence, protests culminated in riots in which approximately 20 Panamanians and 3–5 U.S. soldiers were killed on Martyr's Day, January 9, 1964,.

United States -- Commodore PET Computer Released

The first all-in-one personal computer, the Commodore PET, was introduced as a prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show during January of 1977. PET stood for “Personal Electronic Transactor” and was the world’s first PC to be sold to regular retail consumers. It came equipped with a monitor, keyboard, and a cassette tape drive and was originally priced at $495.00. The price increased to $595.00 as the product proved to be popular. The original Commodore PET had just 4 kilobytes of memory but the company soon offered an upgraded model with 8 kilobytes of RAM.

India - Indira Gandhi Resigns

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi resigns from office.

More Information for the resignation of Indira Gandhi

India’s Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, resigns from office during March of 1977 after losing her seat in the general election. The daughter of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi had been involved in India’s politics most of her life and had been serving as Prime Minister since 1966. During the 1970s she had consolidated her power after being accused of corruption and had faced unrest from the opposition. After she resigned she was expelled from parliament but was soon re-elected in 1980, becoming Prime Minister again until her death.

The first Apple II computers went on sale

More Information and Timeline For the Apple II Computer

1. 1976
2. April 1st Apple Computer, Established in Cupertino, California by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne to sell the Apple I personal computer kit
3. July The Apple I computer was nothing more than fully assembled circuit board containing about 60+ chips including microprocessor, ROMs and RAM, to make a working computer, users still had to add a case, power supply transformers, power switch, ASCII keyboard, and composite video display
4. July The First Apple I personal computer kit goes on sale for $666.66
5. 1977
6. January 3rd Apple Computer incorporated by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
7. April 16th Unlike the original Apple I which was just a circuit board with no case etc. the Apple II was a leap forward included a case, keyboard, Power Supply and nearly everything except a screen to have a working personal computer making them available to a much wider audience.
8. April 16th The Apple II was introduced at the first West Coast Computer Faire
9. on June 5th The Apple II goes on sale for base price of $1298 rising to $2638 dependent on installed memory
The original Apple II tech spec used a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor running at 1 MHz, 4 KB of RAM, an audio cassette interface for loading programs and storing data, and the Integer BASIC programming language built into the ROMs. The video controller displayed 24 lines by 40 columns of monochrome, upper-case-only text on the screen, with NTSC composite video output suitable for display on a TV monitor, or on a regular TV set by way of a separate RF modulator. The Apple II series of computers with refinements and upgrades were produced until production ceased in November 1993.

Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline

The Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline opens on on May 31st

More Information and Timeline For the Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline
1. 1973
2. October 16th OPEC announced a decision to raise the posted price of oil by 70%, to $5.11 a barrel
3. October 17th Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC (consisting of the Arab members of OPEC, plus Egypt, Syria and Tunisia) proclaimed an oil embargo in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war
4. October 26th The Yom Kippur War ends with Israel controlling significantly more land
5. November 5th Arab producers announce a 25% output cut Oil reaches $12.00 a 6 fold increase on 12 months earlier
6. November 7th Project Independence ( to achieve energy self-sufficiency for the United States by 1980 ) announced by U.S. President Richard Nixon
7. November 7th Project Independence consisted of ( energy conservation 55 mph imposed ), Alternative Energy ( converting oil power plants to coal ) and building of Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
7. November 8th Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act created to push through construction in spite of objections
7. November 16th Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act signed into law by President Richard Nixon
8. 1974 Work begins on Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline ( 800 miles ) that conveys oil from Prudhoe Bay, to Valdez, Alaska.
8. 1977 First oil travels through pipeline from
Alaska current oil production is estimated between 10 to 15 percent of U.S. production, this would have not have been possible without the construction of the Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline which carries approximately 700 thousand barrels per day.

Spain -- First Elections Since Franco

Spain held its first democratic elections in 41 years during June, two years after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. These were the first elections held in Spain since 1936, just before the Spanish Civil War began. The voter turnout was 78.8% and the coalition party UCD (Unión de Centro Democrático) won the most votes with 34.4% of the total. The socialist party PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español) had the next most votes with 29.3%. There were also several other political parties that each won less than 10% of the vote. The results meant that UCD leader Aldolfo Suárez became the first Prime Minister of Spain since the Thirties. The UCD won 165 seats in the Congress of Deputies, PSOE won 118, and the remaining 67 seats were split among the other parties.

USA -- Star Wars Premieres

The first Star Wars film, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, premieres on May 25. The epic science-fiction adventure was written and directed by George Lucas and starred Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Alec Guinness in the lead roles. It was a huge success, breaking box office records upon its release and it became a popular franchise with the subsequent release of film sequels, cartoons, and merchandise. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards and it won six including Best Visual Effects and Best Original Score. The film was especially notable for its special effects at the time as the film’s creators pioneered several effects methods to achieve their desired results while making it.

United States -- Saturday Night Fever Premieres

The popular film “Saturday Night Fever” is released during December. John Travolta played the movie’s lead “Tony Manero” and the role helped launch his film career. It also starred actors Karen Gorney, Donna Pescow, and Barry Miller. It was a drama that was based on an article written by Nik Cohn in New York Magazine that was later revealed to be made-up. The plot revolved around the contrast between Tony Manero’s bleak and hopeless everyday life and the excitement of his life on the dance floor every weekend as a competitive disco dancer. Travolta was nominated for an Academy Award for the role. The soundtrack consisted almost entirely of disco songs by the Bee Gees and was credited with popularizing the disco scene.

United States -- Pelé's Final Match

Brazilian soccer star Pelé played his final professional game before retiring on October 1st. Considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time, Pelé began his career in the mid-1950s. His final game was an exhibition match between the Santos, his first professional team, and the New York Cosmos, his final professional team. Pelé played for the Cosmos during the first half of the game and then switched teams to play with the Santos during the second half. The Cosmos won 2 to 1. During his career he helped win three FIFA World Cups for Brazil’s national team and has the record of most career goals scored with 1,281.

United Kingdom -- The Clash Debut Album

The Clash release their first album “The Clash” during April at the beginning of the punk rock music era. The Clash, a British band, were one of the first punk bands to achieve commercial success. Band members included Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, and Nicky Headon. The band reached the pinnacle of their success in 1979 with the release of their album “London Calling.” By the mid-1980s tensions pulled the band apart and in 1986 they officially broke-up.

Soyuz 24 space mission

More Information for the Soyuz 24 Mission.
During February of 1977 the Soviet Union launched the Soyuz 24 space mission. The mission carried cosmonauts Viktor Gorbatko and Yuri Glazkov on what would be the last purely military space station mission by the Soviet Union as well as the final mission to visit the Salyut 5 space station. The crew successfully completed their mission objectives and landed back on Earth eighteen days later. As a Soviet military mission, they were likely conducting reconnaissance as well as experiments.

More News and Key Events From 1977

UK Strikes

British Public sector trade unions including Firefighters strike for wage increases over the 10% ceiling imposed by the British government

Steve Biko

Student Leader Steve Biko "dies in custody" in South Africa

Beverly Hills Supper Club fire

165 people die in Beverly Hills Supper Club fire on May 28th

Jimmy Carter

• Jimmy Carter Takes Over as President of United States

• President Carter grants pardon to American Draft dodgers of the Vietnam War Period

• Jimmy Carter President of United States warns that Americans need to make profound changes in their Oil Consumption

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr

The Medal of Freedom was awarded posthumously to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr

Bermuda Race Riots

In Hamilton, Bermuda British soldiers are called in to control race riots in the city

Bucharest Earthquake

Bucharest Earthquake - kills more than 1,500

Amnesty International

Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to Amnesty International

Menachem Begin

Menachem Begin a center-right politician for the Likud party became Israel's sixth prime minister.

India Cyclone

Cyclone in India kills 20,000 and leaves 2 million homeless

Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski is arrested and charged with a number of offenses including rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon a child

Seattle Slew

Seattle Slew becomes only the 10th horse to win Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consisting of the Kentucky Derby On May 7th , Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes

Jubilee celebrations

Jubilee celebrations are held 7th June in the United Kingdom to celebrate twenty-five years of Elizabeth II's reign

Ashtar Galactic Command

'Vrillon' of the 'Ashtar Galactic Command', hijacks The ITN Nightly News at ITV Southern Television for six minutes

Kelly Barnes Dam fails during the night

Kelly Barnes Dam fails during the night, killing 39 people from the small bible college "Toccoa Falls Bible Institute" in Georgia .

Canary Islands

Two 747 jumbo jets collide at Tenerife Airport in the Canary Islands

US Population reaches 216 million

US Population reaches 216 million

France

Opium Perfume introduced

France

The last execution by guillotine

Palestine

Four Palestinian hijackers hijack a Lufthansa airliner demanding the release of 11 imprisoned members of Germany's Baader-Meinhof terrorist group, also known as the Red Army Faction

Technology

• The first Apple II computers went on sale
• NAVSTAR Global Positioning System GPS Inaugurated by US Department of defense
• The first ever Quadraphonic concert in London by Pink Floyd
• The first commercial flight Concord London to New York
• The first MRI Scanner is tested in Brooklyn
• NASA space shuttle makes its first test flight off the back of a jetliner
• Voyager I and Voyager II are launched unmanned to explore the outer solar system

Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )

MRI Scanner USA by Raymond Damadian

Calendar For The Year 1977