News and Events of 1977

World Events

World Statistics

Population: 4.230 billion
population by decade

Nobel Peace Prize:
Amnesty International

More World Statistics...

• Deng Xiaoping, purged Chinese leader, restored to power as Gang of Four is expelled from Communist Party (July 22).
• South African activist Steve Biko dies in police custody (Sept. 12).
• Nuclear-proliferation pact, curbing spread of nuclear weapons, is signed by 15 countries, including US and USSR (Sept. 21). Background: nuclear disarmament

U.S. Events

U.S. Statistics

President: James Earl Carter, Jr.
Vice President: Walter F. Mondale
Population: 220,239,425
Life expectancy: 73.3 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 50.8
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 46.0

• First woman Episcopal priest ordained (Jan. 1).
• Scientists identify previously unknown bacterium as cause of mysterious "legionnaire's disease" (Jan. 18).
• Carter pardons Vietnam war draft evaders (Jan. 21).
• Supreme Court rules that states are not required to spend Medicaid funds on elective abortions (June 20).

Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $2,026.90 billion
Federal spending:   $409.22 billion
Federal debt:   $706.4 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $13,572
Consumer Price Index:   60.6
Unemployment:   7.1%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.13

Sports

Sports Links

Pro Football Summary

Pro Basketball Summary

Pro Baseball Summary

Super Bowl

Oakland d. Minnesota (32-14)

World Series

NY Yankees d. LA Dodgers (4-2)

NBA Championship

Portland d. Philadelphia 76ers (4-2)

Stanley Cup

Montreal d. Boston (4-0)

Wimbledon

Women: Virginia Wade d. B. Stove (4-6 6-3 6-1)
Men: Bjorn Borg d. J. Connors (3-6 6-2 6-1 5-7 6-4)

Kentucky Derby Champion

Seattle Slew

NCAA Basketball Championship

Marquette d. North Carolina (67-59)

NCAA Football Champions

Notre Dame (11-1-0)

Entertainment

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Music: Visions of Terror and Wonder, Richard Wernick
Drama: The Shadow Box, Michael Cristofer

Oscars awarded in 1977
Academy Award, Best Picture: Rocky, Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, producers (United Artists)

Nobel Prize for Literature: Vicente Aleixandre (Spain)

Grammys awarded in 1977
Record of the Year: "This Masquerade," George Benson
Album of the Year: Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder (Tamla/Motown)
Song of the Year: "I Write the Songs," Bruce Johnston, songwriter

Miss America: Dorothy Kathleen Benham (MN)

Events

• The TV miniseries Roots draws an audience of 130 million.
• Star Wars hits theaters--for the first time--and will go on to be the second highest-grossing film of all time.
• Saturday Night Fever sparks the disco inferno and the popularity of movie soundtracks.
• Elvis Presley dies at Graceland, his Memphis, Tenn. home. He was 42.

Movies

• Saturday Night Fever, Star Wars, Annie Hall, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Julia

Music

• Various artists, Saturday Night Fever soundtrack

Books

• John Cheever, Falconer
• Joan Didion, The Book of Common Prayer
• Stephen Jay Gould, Ontogeny and Phylogeny
• Kenneth Koch, The Duplications
• W.S. Merwin, The Compass Flower
• Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

Science

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: Ilya Prigogine (Belgium), for contributions to nonequilibrium thermodynamics, particularly the theory of dissipative structures

Physics: Philip W. Anderson, John H. Van Vleck (both US), and Nevill F. Mott (UK), for work underlying computer memories and electronic devices

Physiology or Medicine: Rosalyn S. Yalow, Roger C. L. Guillemin, and Andrew V. Schally (all US), for research in role of hormones in chemistry of the body

• The neutron bomb is developed. Background: nuclear weapons
• The space shuttle Enterprise makes its first test glide, from the back of a 747. Background: US Staffed Space Flights
• Paul MacCready (US) develops the Gossamer Condor, the first successful human-powered aircraft. Background: Famous Firsts in Aviation
• Lasers are first used to initiate a fusion reaction. Background: nuclear energy

Deaths

• Charles Chaplin
• Bing Crosby
• Groucho Marx
• Vladimir Nabokov
• Elvis Presley