What was going on in 1977?

Music, Radio and Print

Most Popular Books

Fiction:

1. "The Silmarillion" by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. "The Thorn Birds" by Colleen McCullough
3. "Illusions" by Richard Bach
4. "The Honourable Schoolboy" by John Le Carre
5. "Oliver's Story" by Erich Segal

Al Capp retires with the last appearance of Li’l Abner on November 14^th.

Nonfiction

1. "Roots" by Alex Haley
2. "Looking Out for #1" by Robert Ringer
3. "All Things Wise and Wonderful" by James Herriot
4. "Your Erroneous Zones" by Dr. Wayne Dyer
5. "The Book of Lists" by David Wallechinsky

Grammy Awards

• Record of the Year: "Hotel California" ... The Eagles
• Best Song: "You Light Up My Life" ... Joe Brooks
• Best Album: "Rumours" ... Fleetwood Mac
• Male Vocalist: James Taylor ... "Handy Man
• Female Vocalist: Barbra Streisand ... "Love theme from 'A Star Is Born' (Evergreen)"

In the News in 1977

• Pope: Paul VI
• Prime Minister of Canada: Pierre Elliot Trudeau (L)
• President of United States: Jimmy Carter (Sworn in on January 20^th, 1977)
• Time Magazines Man of the Year: Anwar Sadat
• 17-Year Old Terry Fox Loses his Leg to Cancer
• Canadian Human Rights Commission established to deal with Discrimination
• Willy Adams becomes the first Inuit Senator
• Speed Limits Go Metric
• Lung cancer becomes the second most common cancer among women.
• U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardons almost all Vietnam draft evaders and calls them home from living abroad.
• Steve Biko, an imprisoned black leader in South Africa, dies in prison from cruelty and neglect, which leads to renewed opposition to apartheid.
• First Computerland store opened in Morristown NJ, under the name Computershack.
• February 9^th , Apple Computer Incorporates
• February 19^th ,the US space shuttle prototype 'Enterprise' fly’s for the first time on top of a 747
• March 27^th, 583 killed when a KLM Boeing 747 runs into a Pan Am Boeing 747 on the runway in Tenerife, Canary Islands (worst in aviation history).
• April 19^th, President Jimmy Carter addresses the nation concerning the energy crisis. He warned America that the nation's oil and gas supplies would run out.
• June 5^th , 1st personal computer, the Apple II, goes on sale. With 16k Ram and 16K ROM, costing $1298US.
• August 3^rd , Radio Shack issues a press release introducing the TRS-80 computer 25 existed, within weeks thousands were ordered.
• August 10^th , Postal employee David Berkowitz arrested in Yonkers, NY, accused of being "Son of Sam" the 44 caliber killer. They accused him of killing 13 people during his reign of terror, which he told police was on orders from a black Labrador retriever owned by his neighbor, Sam Carr.
• August 13^th , 1st test glide of the shuttle.
• In 1977 the TSE launched the world's first Computer Assisted Trading System.
• 1977 saw two significant advancements. The first was the introduction of the Computer Assisted Trading System, (CATS^®). In addition to the trading floor, traders could now trade from their desks anywhere in Canada. The second was the introduction of the TSE 300 Composite Index^®, representing 300 of the largest companies listed on the Exchange. This index measures changes that closely reflect the entire market.

Inventions of 1977

• Artificial heart
• Personal Stereo
• Fiber-optic communication
• Linked ATM’s
• Magnetic resonance imaging
• Neutron bomb

Living in the Year 1977

• 1977 saw the opening of the First West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco where many attendees got their first looks at the Apple II and the Commodore Pet 4k RAM 16k ROM ($795US).

Sports and Recreation

• Toronto Blue Jays play their first season in the Major Leagues
• Toronto played its first game on April 7, 1977. They defeated the Chicago White Sox 9-5. Rookie first Doug Ault homered twice in the Jays' first game. Otto Velez hit .442 for the month of April. Bob Bailor hit .310, the highest mark ever for a player on a first-year expansion club. Ron Fairly, a 20-year veteran, led the club with 19 homers and became the first player since Stan Musial to play more than 1,000 games in both the infield and the outfield.
• Pele’ Played his last soccer Game on October 1^st.
• NBA: Portland Trail Blazers vs. Philadelphia 76ers Score: 4-2
  NCAA Football: Notre Dame Record: 11-1-0
  Heisman Trophy: Earl Campbell, Texas, RB points: 1,547
  Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins Series: 4-0
  Super Bowl XI: Oakland Raiders vs.Minnesota Vikings Score: 32-14
  US Open Golf: Hubert Green Score: 278 Course: Southern Hills CC Location: Tulsa, OK
  World Series: New York Yankeesvs. LA Dodgers Series: 4-2
• The underdog Portland Trail Blazers won the National Basketball Association championship from Julius ``Dr. J'' Erving and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Oakland Raiders defeated the Minnesota Vikings 32-14 in Super Bowl XI in front of 103,438 fans at the Rose Bowl. The Montreal Canadiens skated away with their sixth Stanley Cup and their second of four-straight titles from 1976 through 1979.
• Tom Watson birdied the 17th hole and shot a final round 67 to win the 43rd Masters Tournament, preventing Jack Nicklaus from winning his sixth green jacket.

1977 Winnipeg Blue Bombers

1977 NFL Draft (First Round)

Movies, Theater, and Television

All My Children History – 1977

Each day I provide the Dateline game I will archive the clue here based on the year of All My Children.  This will make it easier to research the answer and we can watch the year of AMC unfold. This is, by no means, a complete history, yet.

• Dr. Charles Tyler wanted a divorce from his wife, Phoebe.
• Tara Martin and Phillip Brent were married.
• One afternoon, after a few sips of sherry, Phoebe took Little Phillip for a drive and was involved in an accident, sending Little Phillip to the hospital. 
• Phoebe Tyler had her drivers license revoked for drinking and driving.
• Tara became pregnant and asked Phil to quite his job as a cop because it was dangerous.  Tara's concern was realized, Phil had been shot.
• AMC went from a half-hour to an hour long program.  
• Jeff Martin became interested in Dr. Christina Karras, but she preferred Dr. David Thornton.
• Dr. Christina Karras was being threatened and discovered it was she, herself, that was doing it.
• Ellen Shepard, who was recently divorced, moved to Pine Valley with her daughter Devon.
• Mark Dalton came to town.
• Erica met Mark Dalton, a new music teacher at Pine Valley University and was immediately attracted to him.
• Erica Kane and Mark Dalton discovered they were half-brother and sister.
• Phoebe refused to attend Linc and Kitty's wedding, instead she nursed a bottle of vodka.
• Kitty Shea Tyler began having dizzy spells and temporary blindness.  Doctors could not find anything wrong and claimed she must be psychosomatic.
• Linc Tyler was married to Kitty Shea, she died in the summer.
• Ann and Paul Martin's daughter died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, both parents were devastated.

Tom Cudahy opened his new restaurant called the Goalpost.

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: "Annie Hall"
• Best Director: Woody Allen ... "Annie Hall""
• Best Actor: Richard Dreyfuss ... "The Goodbye Girl"
• Best Actress:Diane Keaton ... "Annie Hall"

Star Wars won eight Academy Awards but lost to Woody Allen's Annie Hall for best picture. Diane Keaton won best actress for Annie Hall, while actor Richard Dreyfuss won an Oscar for his role in The Goodbye Girl. Saturday Night Fever danced its way into American culture and disco was Stayin' Alive thanks to the Bee Gees.

Popular Movies

1. Star Wars
2. Rocky
3. Smokey and the Bandit
4. A Star Is Born
5. King Kong
6. The Deep
7. Silver Streak
8. The Enforcer
9. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
10.  In Search of Noah's Ark

Star Wars broke box office records, topping $400 million in receipts worldwide.

Tony Awards

• Best Play: "The Shadow Box" ... Michael Cristofer
• Best Musical: "Annie"
• Best Actor in a play: Al Pacino ... "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel"
• Best Actress in a play: Julie Harris ... "The Belle of Amherst"
• Best Actor in a musical: Barry Bostwick ... "The Robber Bridegroom"
• Best Actress in a musical: Dorothy Loudon ... "Annie"

Popular Television Shows

1. Laverne & Shirley (ABC)
2. Happy Days (ABC)
3. Three's Company (ABC)
4. 60 Minutes (CBS)
5. Charlie's Angels (ABC)
6. All in the Family (CBS)
7. Little House on the Prairie (NBC)
8. Alice (CBS)
9. M*A*S*H (CBS)
10. One Day at a Time (CBS)

Radio Hits in 1977

• You light up my life - Debby Boone
• Best of my love - Emotions
• I just want to be your everything - Andy Gibb
• How deep is your love - Bee Gees
• Evergreen - Barbra Streisand
• Sir duke - Stevie Wonder
• Torn between two lovers - Mary MacGregor
• Rich Girl - Hall & Oates
• Star wars theme - Meco
• Got to give it up - Marvin Gaye
• Carwash - Rose Royce
• You don't have to be a star - M.McCoo/B.Davis Jr.
• Don't leave me this way - Thelma Houston
• You make me feel like dancing - Leo Sayer
• Dancing queen - Abba
• Southern nights - Glen Campbell
• Blinded by the light - Manfred Mann
• Hotel california - The Eagles
• I wish - Stevie Wonder
• Gonna fly now - Bill Conti
• Undercover angel - Alan O'Day
• When I need you - Leo Sayer
• Don't give up on us - David Soul
• Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
• New kid in town - Eagles
• Da do ron ron - Shawn Cassidy
• I'm your boogie man - KC & The Sunshine Band
• Looks like we made it - Barry Manilow
• Don't it make my brown eyes blue - Crystal Gayle
• Nobody does it better - Carly Simon
• Keep it comin' love - KC & The Sunshine Band
• I'm in you - Peter Frampton

• Alia, Queen (1948-Feb.9),third wife of King Hussein I of Jordan.

• Anderson, Eddie (Rochester) (1905-Feb. 28), gravelvoiced comedian who played Jack Benny's valeton radio and television for more than 30 years.

• Ashbee, Barry (1939-May 12), coach and former defenseman with the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League.

• Beams, Jesse W. (1898-July 23), physicist, winner of the National Medal of Science in 1967 for developing the centrifuge method of separating uranium.

• Cabot, Sebastian (1918-Aug.23), English-born actor who played the philosophical valet in the television series Family Affair in the 1960s.

• Cain, James M. (1892-Oct. 27), writer whose novels included The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934), Double Indemnity (1936), and Mildred Pierce (1941).

• Callas, Maria (Maria Kalogeropoulos) (1923-Sept. 16), gifted soprano whose magnetic stage presence and dramatic temperament made her one of the world's most exciting opera stars.

• Carr, John Dickson (1906-Feb. 27), writer of mystery novels, a master of the locked-room story where the murder could not possibly have taken place but somehow did.

• *Chaplin, Charlie (Sir Charles Spencer) (1889-Dec.25), British-born star of silent films.

• Churchill, Lady Clementine Spencer (1885-Dec.12), widow of Sir Winston Churchill.

• Cole, Edward N. (1910-May 2), president of General Motors Corporation from 1967 to 1974 and a leading innovator in automobile engineering.

• Cone, Fairfax M. (1903-June 20), the founder and chairman of the innovative Foote, Cone & Belding advertising agency.

• Cotzias, George C. (1918-June 13), Greek-born neurologist who developed L-dopa therapy for Parkinson's disease in 1970.

• Crawford , Joan (1908-May 10), motion-picture actress since 1928, who won an Oscar in 1945 for her performance in Mildred Pierce.

• Crosby, Bing (Harry Lillis) (1903-Oct. 14),singer and motion-picture actor whose mellow baritone made him internationally famous.

• Desmond, Paul (Paul Emil Breitenfeld) (1924-May 30), jazz musician whose airy saxophone solos enlivened the Dave Brubeck Quartet for 17 years.

• Devine, Andy (1905-Feb.18),film actor since 1925 and a popular television performer in the 1950sasthesqueakyvoiced deputy in the "Wild Bill Hickok" series.

• Finch, Peter (1916-Jan.14),British-born actor who was awarded an Oscar posthumously in March by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his performance in Network.

• Fortin, Andre (1943-June 24), leader of Canada's Social Credit Party since 1976 and a supporter of independence for French-speaking Quebec.

• Furniss, Beatrice (1885-Oct. 23), pioneer Canadian news reporter, the only woman to witness the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

• Garner, Erroll (1923-Jan. 2), self-taught jazz pianist and composer of such perennial favorites as "Misty" and "Solitaire."

• Garson, Stuart S.(1898-May 4), Canadian lawyer and politician, 13th ~premier of Manitoba, and minister of justice from 1948 to 1957.

• Haagen-Smit, Arie J. (1900-March 17), biochemist who pioneered in research on air pollution. His many awards included a $50,000 Alice Tyler Ecology Prize.

• Hinton, Ted C. (1904-Oct. 28),last surviving member of the six-man team that ambushed and killed bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in 1934.

• Holgats, Edwin H: (1892-May 21), Canadian landscape painter, a member of Canada's Group of Seven artists.

• Hubbard, Cal (Robert Calvin) (1900-Oct, 17), tackle and umpire, the only man elected to both the football and baseball halls of fame.

• Hubley ,John(1914-Feb.21),Creator of the near-sighted cartoon character Mr. Magoo.

• Hyland, Diana (1937-March 27),actress who played the mother in the TV series "Eight Ts Enough,"

• Jones, James (1921-May 9), author of the prizewinning war novel From Here to Eternity (1951).

• Klsinschmidt, Edward E. (1875-Aug 9), German-born engineer whose many inventions included the high-speed teletype machine in 1914 and ticker tape.

• Lilly, Eli (1885-Jan. 24), pharmaceutical chemist and former president of Eli Lilly & Company, who helped develop such drugs as insulin and penicillin.

• Lombardo, Guy (Gaetano Albert) (1902-Nov. 5), Canadian-born bandleader who pleased dancers for 50 years with "the sweetest music this side of heaven."

• Marx, GroucholJulius Henry) (1890-Aug.19),one of the Marx Brothers comedy team in 13 films from 1929 to 1945 and witty quizmasteronthe TV show "You Bet Your Life" from 1947 to 1957.

• Marx, Gummo (Milton) (1893?-April 21), member of the Marx Brothers team in vaudeville who quipped, "I attribute their success entirely to me. I quit the act."

• McFarlane, Leslie (1903-Sept.6),Canadian writer and playwright, one of the authors of the Hardy Boys series.

• Miller, Harry W. (1880-Jan. 1), medical missionary known as the "China Doctor." He developed a method of extracting milk from soybeans.

• Mostel, Zero (Samuel Joel) (1915-Sept.8),actor best known for his poignant Broadway performance as Tevye, the earthy dairyman, in Fiddler on the Roof (1964).

• Presley, Elvis (1935-Aug. 16),internationally popular American rock-and-roll star whose string of hit songs included "Heartbreak Hotel," "Blue Suede Shoes," and "Hound Dog.

• Prinze, Freddie (1954-Jan.29),comedian and costar of the television series "Chico and the Man."

• Reed, Alan (1907-June 14),actor who was the voice of Fred on the television series "The Flintstones."

• Rossellini, Roberto (1906-June 3), Italian film director of such classic realist films as Open City (1945) and The Bicycle Thief (1949).

• Sheldon, William H. (1898-Sept. 16), psychiatrist who correlated human biology and physique with social behavior and classified people as endomorphs, mesomorphs, or ectomorphs.

• Wrigley, P. K. (Philip Knight) (1894-April 12),owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team since 1932 and president of a chewing-gum company.