What happened in 1977
119 entries recorded for 1977, listed by date. That was 49 years ago.
1977 at a glance
- Years ago
- 49 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1970s
- Generation born
- Generation X
- Entries here
- 119
- Breakdown
- 113 historical events · 1 deaths · 5 births
January
- January 3
Apple Inc.
Apple Computer is incorporated.
- January 4
Punk rock
The English punk-rock band Sex Pistols' lewd and disruptive behaviour at Heathrow Airport prompted the record label EMI to end their contract.
- January 8
1977 Moscow bombings
Three bombs attributed to Armenian nationalists exploded across Moscow, killing seven people and injuring 37 people.
- January 11
Pikku Kakkonen
The first episode of Finnish children's TV show Pikku Kakkonen ("Little Number Two") is aired on Yle TV2.
- January 13
Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045
Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045, a Douglas DC-8 jet, crashes onto the runway during takeoff from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, killing five.
- January 15
Linjeflyg Flight 618
Linjeflyg Flight 618 crashes in Kälvesta near Stockholm Bromma Airport in Stockholm, Sweden, killing 22 people.
- January 18
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announce they have identified a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires' disease.
- January 18
Granville rail disaster
Australia's worst rail disaster occurs at Granville, Sydney, killing 83.
- January 19
Gerald Ford
President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (a.k.a. "Tokyo Rose").
- January 19
Iva Toguri D'Aquino
Iva Toguri (pictured), convicted of treason for broadcasting Japanese propaganda, was granted a full pardon by U.S. president Gerald Ford.
- January 24
1977 Atocha massacre
The Atocha massacre occurs in Madrid during the Spanish transition to democracy.
- January 24
Spanish transition to democracy
Spanish transition to democracy: Neo-fascists attacked an office in Madrid, killing five people and injuring four others.
- January 28
Blizzard of 1977
The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, which dumps 3 metres (10 ft) of snow in one day in Upstate New York. Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas are most affected.
- January 28
The Shining (novel)
The Shining, the horror novel and the first hardcover bestseller by Stephen King, is published.
February
- February 4
Chicago Transit Authority
A Chicago Transit Authority elevated train rear-ends another and derails, killing 11 and injuring 180, the worst accident in the agency's history.
- February 18
NASA
NASA's first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, made its first test flight on top of the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (both pictured).
- February 18
Kalakuta Republic
A thousand armed soldiers raid Kalakuta Republic, the commune of Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, leading to the death of Funmilayo Anikulapo Kuti.
- February 18
Space Shuttle Enterprise
The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden "flight" on top of a Boeing 747.
- February 18
Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm fire
The Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm fire started during Chinese New Year when a firecracker ignited the wreaths of late Mao Zedong, killing 694 personnel.
- February 18
Andy Devine
Andy Devine, American actor (born 1905)
March
- March 4
1977 Vrancea earthquake
The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania.
- March 9
Washington, D.C.
Twelve gunmen seized three buildings in Washington, D.C., and took 149 hostages in a 39-hour standoff that ended in two deaths.
- March 9
1977 Washington, D.C., attack and hostage taking
The Hanafi Siege: In a 39-hour standoff, armed Hanafi Muslims seize three Washington, D.C., buildings.
- March 10
NASA
Astronomers using NASA's Kuiper Airborne Observatory discovered a faint ring system around Uranus.
- March 10
Rings of Uranus
Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus.
- March 11
1977 Washington, D.C., attack and hostage taking
The 1977 Hanafi Siege: Around 150 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims are set free after ambassadors from three Islamic nations join negotiations.
- March 18
The Clash
The punk group the Clash released their first single, "White Riot", described as their "most controversial song" due to its lyrics about class economics and race.
- March 23
David Frost
British journalist David Frost began a series of interviews with former U.S. president Richard Nixon, starting with the Watergate scandal.
- March 24
Morarji Desai
Morarji Desai becomes the prime minister of India, the first prime minister not to belong to Indian National Congress.
- March 27
Tenerife airport disaster
Tenerife airport disaster: Two Boeing 747 airliners collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 (all 248 on KLM and 335 on Pan Am). Sixty-one survived on the Pan Am flight. This is the deadliest aviation accident in history.
- March 30
Annie Hall
Annie Hall had its first screening at the LA Film Festival; it was voted the funniest screenplay ever by members of the Writers Guild of America.
April
- April 5
Supreme Court of the United States
The US Supreme Court rules that congressional legislation that diminished the size of the Sioux people's reservation thereby destroyed the tribe's jurisdictional authority over the area in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip.
- April 21
Annie (musical)
Annie opens on Broadway.
- April 22
Optical fiber
Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
- April 28
Red Army Faction
The Red Army Faction trial ends, with Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe found guilty of four counts of murder and more than 30 counts of attempted murder.
May
- May 9
Amsterdam
The Hotel Polen in Amsterdam was destroyed by fire (pictured), leaving 33 people dead.
- May 9
Marek Jankulovski
Marek Jankulovski, Czech footballer
- May 9
Averno (wrestler)
Averno, Mexican wrestler
- May 9
Svein Tuft
Svein Tuft, Canadian cyclist
- May 14
Dan-Air
A Dan-Air Boeing 707 leased to IAS Cargo Airlines crashes on approach to Lusaka International Airport in Lusaka, Zambia, killing six people.
- May 16
Chuck E. Cheese
The first Chuck E. Cheese location, the first family restaurant to integrate food, animated entertainment (example pictured), and an indoor arcade, opened in San Jose, California.
- May 17
Nolan Bushnell
Nolan Bushnell opens the first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (later renamed Chuck E. Cheese) in San Jose, California.
- May 18
Likud
Likud party wins the 1977 Israeli legislative election, with Menachem Begin, its founder, as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel.
- May 25
Star Wars (film)
Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is released in US theaters.
- May 27
Aeroflot Flight 331
A plane crash at José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, kills 67.
- May 28
Beverly Hills Supper Club fire
The Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, is engulfed by fire, killing 165 people inside.
- May 31
Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.
June
- June 4
JVC
JVC introduces its VHS videotape at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago. It will eventually prevail against Sony's rival Betamax system in a format war to become the predominant home video medium.
- June 4
Humboldt Park riot
The Humboldt Park riot began in Chicago, resulting in three deaths, three cars in the Humboldt Park lagoon, and increased tension between the Chicago Police Department and the Puerto Rican community.
- June 7
Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II
Five hundred million people watch the high day of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II begin on television.
- June 8
Kanye West
Kanye West, American rapper, producer, director, and fashion designer
- June 10
James Earl Ray
James Earl Ray escapes from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee. He is recaptured three days later.
- June 15
Death and funeral of Francisco Franco
After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, the first democratic elections take place in Spain.
- June 16
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL), by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates.
- June 27
World constitution
Constitution for the Federation of Earth was adopted by the second session of the World Constituent Assembly, held at Innsbruck, Austria.
- June 27
Djibouti
France grants independence to Djibouti.
- June 30
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
July
- July 4
George Jackson Brigade
The George Jackson Brigade plants a bomb at the main power substation for the Washington state capitol in Olympia, in solidarity with a prison strike at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary Intensive Security Unit.
- July 5
Pakistan Armed Forces
The Pakistan Armed Forces under Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq seize power in Operation Fair Play and begin 11 years of martial law. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown.
- July 9
Military dictatorship of Chile
The Pinochet dictatorship in Chile organises the youth event of Acto de Chacarillas, a ritualised act reminiscent of Francoist Spain.
- July 11
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated in 1968, is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- July 13
Somalia
Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ogaden War.
- July 13
History of New York City (1946–1977)
Amidst a period of financial and social turmoil, New York City experiences an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and looting.
- July 14
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
- July 19
Global Positioning System
The world's first Global Positioning System (GPS) signal is transmitted from Navigation Technology Satellite 2 (NTS-2) and received at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at 12:41 a.m. Eastern time (ET).
- July 20
Johnstown flood of 1977
Rain from a stalled thunderstorm caused six dams to fail, flooding Johnstown, Pennsylvania, resulting in 84 deaths and $340 in damages.
- July 20
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind-control experiments.
- July 21
Sallum
Libyan forces carried out a raid at Sallum, sparking a four-day war with Egypt.
- July 21
Egyptian–Libyan War
The start of the four-day-long Libyan–Egyptian War.
- July 22
Deng Xiaoping
Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping is restored to power.
- July 24
Egyptian–Libyan War
End of a four-day-long Libyan–Egyptian War.
- July 26
Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec imposes the use of French as the official language of the provincial government.
August
- August 3
Tandy Corporation
Tandy Corporation announces the TRS-80, one of the world's first mass-produced personal computers.
- August 4
President of the United States
U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.
- August 11
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initiated an investigation into the alleged vulnerability of the Ford Pinto to fuel leakage and fire in a rear-end collision.
- August 12
Approach and Landing Tests
The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
- August 12
1977 anti-Tamil pogrom
The Sri Lanka Riots, targeting the minority Sri Lankan Tamils, begin, less than a month after the United National Party came to power. Over 300 Tamils are killed.
- August 13
National Front (UK)
Members of the British National Front (NF) clash with anti-NF demonstrators in Lewisham, London, resulting in 214 arrests and at least 111 injuries.
- August 15
Ohio State University Radio Observatory
Big Ear, a radio telescope at Ohio State University, received a strong, apparently extraterrestrial radio signal that became known as the Wow! signal (printout pictured).
- August 16
Elvis Presley
American singer and actor Elvis Presley (pictured), often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", was found dead in his home in Memphis, Tennessee.
- August 17
Arktika (1972 icebreaker)
The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
- August 18
Steve Biko
Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967 in King William's Town, South Africa. He later dies from injuries sustained during this arrest, bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies.
- August 26
Charter of the French Language
The Charter of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec.
September
- September 4
Golden Dragon massacre
The Golden Dragon massacre occurred in Chinatown, San Francisco, United States, leaving five people dead and spurring police to end Chinese gang violence in the city.
- September 5
NASA
NASA launched the space probe Voyager 1, currently the farthest spacecraft from Earth, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
- September 5
Voyager program
Voyager Program: NASA launches the Voyager 1 spacecraft.
- September 7
Torrijos–Carter Treaties
The Torrijos–Carter Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The United States agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.
- September 7
CKVR-DT
The 300-metre (980 ft) tall CKVR-DT transmission tower in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, is hit by a light aircraft in a fog, causing it to collapse. All aboard the aircraft are killed.
- September 10
Hamida Djandoubi
Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by guillotine in France.
- September 12
Apartheid
South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko died after being beaten in police custody in Port Elizabeth.
- September 20
Vietnam
Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations.
- September 20
Petrozavodsk phenomenon
A series of celestial phenomena of disputed nature was observed in the western Soviet Union, Finland and Denmark.
- September 21
Malév Flight 203
Malév Flight 203 crashes near Urziceni, killing 29 people.
- September 25
Chicago Marathon
About 4,200 people took part in the first modern Chicago Marathon.
- September 27
Japan Air Lines Flight 715
Japan Airlines Flight 715 crashes on approach to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Malaysia, killing 34 of the 79 people on board.
October
- October 6
Mikoyan MiG-29
The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-29, designated 9-01, makes its maiden flight.
- October 7
1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union
The Fourth Soviet Constitution is adopted.
- October 13
Lufthansa Flight 181
Hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181 by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
- October 17
Lufthansa Flight 181
The hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu. The remaining hostages are later rescued.
- October 18
German Autumn
German Autumn: A set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide.
- October 20
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Three members of the American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died when their chartered plane crashed in Gillsburg, Mississippi.
- October 26
Ali Maow Maalin
Somali hospital cook Ali Maow Maalin began displaying symptoms of smallpox, becoming the last person known to be naturally infected by the disease.
November
- November 6
Kelly Barnes Dam
The Kelly Barnes Dam in Stephens County, Georgia, collapsed; the resulting flood killed 39 people and caused US$2.8 million in damages.
- November 8
Manolis Andronikos
Manolis Andronikos, a Greek archaeologist and professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina.
- November 11
Iri station explosion
A munitions explosion at a train station in Iri, South Korea kills at least 56 people.
- November 18
Flag of Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands ratified the adoption of a new flag (pictured).
- November 20
Egypt
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.
- November 21
God Defend New Zealand
"God Defend New Zealand" became New Zealand's second national anthem, on equal standing with "God Save the King", which had been the traditional anthem since 1840.
- November 25
Ninoy Aquino
Former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., is found guilty by the Philippine Military Commission No. 2 and is sentenced to death by firing squad. He is later assassinated in 1983.
- November 26
Southern Television broadcast interruption
A speaker claiming to represent the "Intergalactic Association" interrupted a broadcast of Southern Television in South East England.
December
- December 2
Tupolev Tu-154
A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes near Benghazi, Libya, killing 59.
- December 5
Egypt
Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen in retaliation to preventing President Anwar el-Sadat from pursuing negotiations with Israel at the Tripoli confer.
- December 6
Bophuthatswana
South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.
- December 13
Air Indiana Flight 216
Air Indiana Flight 216 crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team, support staff, and boosters of the team.
- December 18
United Airlines Flight 2860
United Airlines Flight 2860 crashes near Kaysville, Utah, killing all three crew members on board.
- December 18
SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730
SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 crashes near Madeira Airport in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, killing 36.
- December 19
1977 Bob–Tangol earthquake
The Ms 5.8 Bob–Tangol earthquake strikes Kerman Province in Iran, destroying villages and killing 665 people.
- December 20
State Council of China
With the approval of the State Council, China's two largest newspapers, the People's Daily and the Guangming Daily, publish in full for the first time the Second Chinese Character Simplification Scheme.
- December 25
Menachem Begin
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat.
Questions about 1977
What happened in 1977?
This site records 119 entries for 1977, including Apple Inc. on January 3. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1977?
49 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1977 turns 49 this year.
Which century is 1977 in?
1977 falls in the 20th century, in the 1970s.
Which generation was born in 1977?
Generation X (1965–1980). The latch-key generation; first to grow up with personal computers.
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