Top News Stories from 1977
World Events
World Statistics
Population: 4.378 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
More U.S. Statistics... - 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
Consumer Price Index: $60.6
Unemployment: 7.1%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.13
Sports
Super Bowl
Oakland d. MinnesotaWorld Series
NY Yankees d. LA DodgersNBA Championship
Portland d. Philadelphia 76ersStanley Cup
Montreal d. BostonWimbledon
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 SlewNCAA Basketball Championship
Marquette d. North CarolinaNCAA 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
Academy Award, Best Picture: Rocky, Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, producers (United Artists)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Vicente Aleixandre (Spain)
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)
More Entertainment Awards... 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
More Nobel Prizes in 1998... - 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
