Jeanne Calment,
(February 21, 1875 –  August  4, 1997)

Emma Wilson
(May 12, 1870 – October 13, 1983)

She was a validated American supercentenarian who was also the World’s Oldest Person.

Mathew Beard,
(July 9, 1870  –  February 16, 1985: 114 years, 222 days)

Some non-chronological events and a few other things were covered in the 1970’s timeline. In this timeline we are starting off the year in

January 1977

January 1977 – Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Spring 1977

Includes

Good-Bye, Robinson Crusoe • [Eight Worlds] novelette by John Varley

Air Raid • short story by John Varley

2 1978 Hugo Best Short Story
Nomination 1978 Nebula Short Story
3 1978 Locus Best Short Fiction
25 2012 Locus Online 20th Century Short Story

 Quarantine • short story by Arthur C. Clarke

Think! • short story by Isaac Asimov

Period of Totality • short story by Fred Saberhagen

Time Storm • novelette by Gordon R. Dickson

Catch Me: Kill Me
The first in the Charlie Brewer series
by William H. Hallahan
Edgar Award Winner 1978

January 1977 – Music: The Last Gunfighter Ballad  is an album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1977. Notable tracks include the title track, “Far Side Banks of Jordan” and “That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine”, the latter of which features Cash’s brother Tommy Cash. The title track was the album’s only single, reaching #38 on the country charts; it tells the tale of an aging gunslinger who finds himself unable to deal with the modern way of life.

The great horse race
by Fred Grove 
1977 Spur Awards for Best Novel

January New Year’s Eve 1977 –Sometime during the day  Dr. Dian Fossey ‘s favorite gorilla, Digit, was killed by poachers.The Digit Fund (formally the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International  was created by in 1978 for the sole purpose of financing her anti-poaching patrols and preventing further poaching of the mountain gorillas. The non-profit fund was named in memory of Fossey’s favourite gorilla, Digit, who was decapitated by poachers for the offer of US$20 by a Hutu merchant who specialized in selling gorilla heads as trophies and gorilla hands as ashtrays to tourists.

January 1977 – The Best of Fredric Brown 

January 1, 1977 –  Six hikers who went missing in Lamington National Park on  December 27, 1976 are found safe and well. They had been attempting to locate the site of the 1937 Airlines of Au -stralia Stinson crash which occurred on February 18, 1937.

January 3, 1977 – TV: Holly Hallstrom becomes the third model on the CBS game show The Price Is Right along with Janice Pennington and Dian Parkinson. This lineup would remain unchanged for the next thirteen years until Kathleen Bradley joined in 1990.

January 7, 1977 – Arrival: Dustin Diamond Star of Saved bv the Bell is born. He would die on February 1, 2021.

January 8, 1977 – The 1977 Moscow bombings were a series of three terrorist bombings in Moscow on January 8, 1977. The attacks killed seven people and seriously injured 37 others. No one claimed responsibility for the bombings, although three members of an Armenian nationalist organization were executed early in 1979 after a KGB investigation and a secret trial. Some Soviet dissidents said that the suspects had an alibi. Soon after the event Andrei Sakharov issued a public appeal, expressing concern that the bombings might “be a new provocation on the part of the organs of repression”. According to historian Jay Bergman, “who actually caused the explosion has never been determined conclusively”.

January 10, 1977-  Norman Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) represented by his son, Jarvis Rockwell. “Artist, illustrator and author, Norman Rockwell has portrayed the American scene with unrivaled freshness and clarity. Insight, optimism and good humor are the hallmarks of his artistic style. His vivid and affectionate portraits of our country and ourselves have become a beloved part of the American tradition.”For “vivid and affectionate portraits of our country”, Rockwell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States of America’s highest civilian honor, in 1977 by President Gerald Ford. Rockwell’s son, Jarvis, accepted the award.

January 10, 1977 –December 16, 1994 – Circus of the Stars Premieres.

It was an annual television special, broadcast by the CBS network in the United States, in which celebrities performed circus-type acts. It was filmed at the main Universal Pictures studio lot. With 19 shows in total

January 10, 1977 – Departure: Ruth Graves Wakefield  (June 17, 1903 – January 10, 1977) who pioneered the first chocolate chip cookie recipe died. She attended the Framingham State School of Household Arts, currently Framingham State University. Kristin and I lived in Framingham from 2010 – 2021.

January 13, 1977 – Arrival: Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean star Orlando Bloom is born.

January 14, 1977 – Departure: Peter Finch,  (September 28, 1916 –  January 14, 1977) An English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio who starred in The Nun’s Story (1959) died.  He died only two months before the 49th Academy Awards, making him the first person to win a posthumous Oscar in an acting category for the film Network (1976). As of 2023, the only other person to have done so was fellow Australian Heath Ledger.

January 15, 1977 – TV: Bill Murray joins the cast of NBC‘s Saturday Night Live, replacing Chevy Chase who left the previous year.

January 16, 1977 – Departure: Baby Doll Jacobson (born (August 16, 1890)  center fielder for the St. Louis Browns and four other American League clubs between 1915 and 1927 who batted .311 lifetime, with 1,714 hits died.

January 17, 1977 – Departure: Gary Gilmore, (December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international attention for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he had admitted to committing in Utah. His story is told in  The Executioner’s Song (1979)  by Norman Mailer,  1982 TV film of the novel starring Tommy Lee Jones as Gilmore.

January 18, 1977 – MOVIE: Pumping Iron, a docudrama starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is released in theaters.

January 18, 1977 – In India:  Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, via a radio broadcast, announced thatthe lower house of India‘s bicameral Parliament, Lok Sabha, would be dissolved and fresh elections would be held in March.

January 20, 1977 – Jimmy Carter is sworn in as the 39th President of the United States.

January 20, 1977 – MUSIC:  Jimmy Buffett‘s Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes is released, featuring the biggest single of his career, “Margaritaville“

January 23, 1977 –  Saint Rafaela Porras y Ayllón  (March 1, 1850 – May 13, 1925) is Canonized  by Pope Paul VI

January 23 – January 30, 1977 – TV: Roots

January 26, 1977 – Departure: Dietrich von Hildebrand, (October 12, 1889 – January 26, 1977) a German philosopher and theologian died.

January 26, 1977 – 1 year anniversary of the death of Gabriele Allegra (December 26, 1907 – January 26, 1976) was a Franciscan Friar and Biblical scholar. He is best known for accomplishing the first complete translation of the Catholic Bible into the Chinese language. His Studium Biblicum Translation is often considered the definitive Chinese Bible among Catholics. He awaits canonization.

January 27, 1977 – Departure: Walter Baldwin (January 2, 1889 − January 27, 1977)

January 2 is my future wedding anniversary.

1889 is a year I wrote a lot of articles on.

January 27, 1977 – I turned 6 years old. 

January 28, 1977 –Departure: Burt Mustin, (February 8, 1884 – January 28, 1977) died.  He was an American character actor who appeared in over 150 film and television productions. He also worked in radio and appeared on the stage. Some of the films he was in were

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
• Snow White and the Three Stooges
• Son of Flubber
• The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
• Herbie Rides Again

January 28, 1977 – Book: Stephen King – The Shining

January 29, 1977– Departure: Freddie  Prinze, (June 22, 1954 – January 29, 1977) died. He was an American stand-up comedian and actor, and the star of the NBC-TV sitcom Chico and the Man from 1974 until his death in 1977. Prinze suffered from depression. On the night of January 28, 1977, after talking on the telephone with his estranged wife, Prinze received a visit from his business manager, Marvin “Dusty” Snyder. During the visit, Prinze put a gun to his head and shot himself. 

January 29, 1977 – Seven Irish Republican Army bombs exploded in the West End of London, but there were no fatalities or serious injuries.

January 30, 1977 – TV: The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, based on The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew book series, premieres on ABC; Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy star as Frank and Joe Hardy, and Pamela Sue Martin stars as Nancy Drew. The series at first alternated between the two characters, with The Brady Bunch Hour airing sporadically.

Published in 77

The Jungle Pyramid
Hardy Boys # 56
by Vincent Buranelli (Franklin W. Dixon)

The Strange Message in the Parchment
Nancy Drew # 54
Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (Carolyn Keene)

January 31, 1977 – Departure: 1 year anniversary of  Ernesto Miranda,  (March 9, 1941 – January 31, 1976).

Carroll Cooley, (August 25, 1935 – May 29, 2023) was a detective whose interrogation of a rape suspect named Ernesto Miranda helped lead to the landmark decision by the Supreme Court that compelled the police to make criminal suspects aware of their right against self-incrimination and their right to have a lawyer present, died on May 29 at his home in Phoenix. He was 87.Carroll Cooley joined the Phoenix police in 1958 and was promoted to detective a few years later. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1977 from St. Mary’s College of California, in Moraga, which had a program in public management at Arizona State University.

February 1977

Our Lady of Darkness
Fritz Leiber

Win 1978 World Fantasy Best Novel
Nomination 1978 Gandalf Book-Length Fantasy
2 1978 Locus Best Fantasy Novel
Nomination 1978 Ditmar Best International Long Fiction

Music: Gonna Fly Now is a Single composed by Bill Conti in February 1977. It is the theme song from the movie Rocky, with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta West and Nelson Pigford.  Gonna Fly Now (whose lyrics are only 30 words long) was nominated for Best Original Song at the 49th Academy Awards. The version of the song from the movie, performed by Conti with an orchestra, hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977, while a version by jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson hit the top 30. Disco versions by Rhythm Heritage and Current were on the chart at the same time (Conti’s own version reveals some early disco influence in the orchestration). Billboard ranked Conti’s version as the No. 21 song of 1977.

February 1, 1977 – Edmond Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was an American writer of science fiction during the mid-twentieth century. He is known for writing most of the Captain Future stories.

February 3, 1977 –  Amy Grant  is the debut studio album by Christian singer Amy Grant, released in 1977 on Myrrh Records. Three songs from the album made Top Ten Christian radio airplay: “Old Man’s Rubble”, “Beautiful Music”, and “What a Difference You’ve Made”. The latter track was made more famous by country singer Ronnie Milsap, as “What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life“.

February 4, 1977 – Music: Rumours is the eleventh studio album by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on , won Album of the Year at the 1978 Grammy Awards. Often considered Fleetwood Mac’s magnum opus and one of the greatest albums of all time, Rumours was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003. The album was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2017 by the Library of Congress, which deemed it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. In 2020, Rumours ranked seventh in Rolling Stone‘s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time“. Songs include “Dreams“, Don’t Stop“and “Go Your Own Way“.

February 4, 1977 – TV: American Bandstand celebrates its 25th anniversary on television with a special hosted by Dick Clark and telecast by ABC. An “all-star band” made up of Chuck Berry, Seals & Crofts, Gregg Allman, Junior Walker, Johnny Rivers, the Pointer Sisters, Charlie Daniels, Doc Severinsen, Les McCann, Donald Byrd, Chuck Mangione and three members of Booker T and the MGs perform “Roll Over Beethoven.”

February 4, 1977 – Eleven CTA commuters are killed when an elevated train derails from the Loop in central Chicago, United States.

February 7, 1977 – The “Two Whatevers” refers to the statement that “We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao gave”.

This statement was contained in a joint editorial, entitled “Study the Documents Well and Grasp the Key Link”, printed  in People’s Daily, the journal Red Flag and the PLA Daily.

A Year Earlier

February 12 – Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as John “Plato” Crawford in the drama film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at age 17, making him the fifth-youngest nominee in the category. After a rehearsal for the play in Los Angeles, Sal Mineo was stabbed to death on his way home on February 12, 1976. He was 37 years old. Although he was only stabbed once, it grazed his heart and caused severe internal bleeding.

A year later in the same area and in a similar manner…

February 12, 1977 – Christa Helm (November 10, 1949 – February 12, 1977) was stabbed to death in front of her agent’s house in Los Angeles. The perpetrator has not been convicted to date.  

The police suspected the same perpetrator for a time as the same guy who may have killed Salvatore. However, this suspicion could not be confirmed. Even today, the circumstances that led to Helm’s murder are the subject of much speculation. At the center of the speculation is the claim that Helm kept a diary of her acquaintances and recorded the encounters on tape. The question remains  Who Killed Christa Helm?

A few months and a year later in another area and in a different manner…

Bob Crane (July 13, 1928 – June 29, 1978) star of the CBS situation comedy Hogan’s Heroes was found bludgeoned to death in his Scottsdale, Arizona, apartment while on tour in June 1978 for a dinner theater production of Beginner’s Luck. 

February 14, 1977 – Music: New Harvest…First Gathering is the eighteenth solo studio album by American entertainer Dolly Parton. It is significant for being Parton’s first self-produced album, as well as her first effort aimed specifically at the pop charts. In addition to her own compositions, Parton included the Temptations classic “My Girl” (sung as the gender-neutral “My Love”), and “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher“, originally a Jackie Wilson hit. “Applejack” features an all-star lineup of country legends singing background vocals, including Roy Acuff, Kitty Wells, Johnny Wright, Chet Atkins and Minnie Pearl.

February 16, 1977 – Hua Guofeng (February 16, 1921 –   August 20, 2008) turns 56 years old. He was a Chinese politician who served as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and Premier of China. The designated successor of Mao Zedong (December 26,1893 –  September 9, 1976), Hua held the top offices of the government, party, and the military after the deaths of Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai  (March 5,  1898 –  January 8, 1976), but was gradually forced out of supreme power by a coalition of party leaders between December 1978 and June 1981, and subsequently retreated from the political limelight, though still remaining a member of the Central Committee until 2002.

In February 1977, the central leadership under Hua released a new slogan: “We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao gave”. Satirically referred to as the “Two Whatevers“, this slogan was used to criticize Hua due to the perception that he obeyed Mao’s orders too blindly. The leadership authorized the first National College Entrance Examination since the Cultural Revolution began in 1977.

February 18, 1977 – Departures:  Andy Devine   (October 7, 1905 – February 18, 1977) was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers in 10 feature films. He also appeared alongside John Wayne in films such as Stagecoach (1939), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and How the West Was Won (both 1962). He is also remembered as Jingles on the TV series The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok from 1951 to 1958, as Danny McGuire in A Star Is Born (1937), and as the voice of Friar Tuck in the Disney Animation Studio film Robin Hood (1973).

February 20 , 1977 – Book: An episode of Doctor on the Go, co-written by Douglas Adams and Graham Chapman, marks the beginning of Adams’ career as a writer for BBC radio.

February 21, 1977:  Music: Love at the Greek is a live double album by Neil Diamond which was released in 1977. It was Diamond’s second live album recorded from a concert at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and Neil’s second album produced by Robbie Robertson of The Band (the first being 1976’s Beautiful Noise). The album included “Sweet Caroline” Song Sung Blue” and “Holly Holy”

This album was released in conjunction with a television special broadcast of the concert footage that aired in the United States on February 21, 1977. The television special, broadcast on NBC (and simulcast on FM stations nationwide) was also titled “Love At The Greek.” The special was nominated for four Emmy Awards. This 1977 television special was also later released as a VHS Video Tape.

February 21, 1977 – Arrival:  Jonathan Safran Foer, American author

February 21, 1977 – Departure –Molly Spotted Elk   (born Mary Alice Nelson; Penobscot pronunciation: Molly Dellis; November 17, 1903 – February 21, 1977), best known by her stage name Molly Spotted Elk, was a Penobscot Indian dancer, actress, and writer who was born on the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, in Maine.

February 22, 1977 – The Dark Tower  – C.S. Lewis an unfinished novel attributed to C. S. Lewis

February 22, 1977 – Hotel California is a song by American rock band Eagles, released as the second single of their album of the same name.

Meanwhile in New York…

February 23, 1977 – During a press conference at Sardi‘s in Manhattan, it is officially announced that Christopher Reeve will be playing the role of Superman.

February 26, 1977 – The Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station is established and is managed by the Polish Academy of Sciences; its main research areas include marine biology, oceanography, geology, geomorphology, glaciology, meteorology, climatology, seismology, magnetism and ecology. That same year  V. Serdyukov, O. Sedov led the  23rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition 1977–1979. The first Soviet Antarctic Expedition from November 30, 1955 to 1957 was led by Mikhail Somov

February 27, 1977 – Departure: John Dickson Carr  was an American author of detective stories.

February 28, 1978 – Prestonsburg bus disaster: One of the worst school bus accidents in U.S. history occurs when a school bus hits a truck and falls into a river, resulting in 27 deaths, 26 of them schoolchildren. Twenty-two others are rescued.

Eddie “Rochester” Anderson
(September 18, 1905 – February 28, 1977)

He first appeared as Rochester on the The Jack Benny program of June 20, 1937.

March 1977

March 1977 – Music:  Show You the Way to Go is a song written by Gamble and Huff and recorded by the Jacksons for their 1976 CBS debut album, The Jacksons. Released as a single in early 1977, it was the only number-one song for the group in the UK.  It was later covered by Dannii Minogue in 1992.

March 1977 – The Best of Philip K. Dick

March 2 , 1977 – Arrival:  Chris Martin, British rock musician

March 3, 1977 – Arrival: Ronan Keating, Irish singer

March 3, 1977 – Seeking to strengthen the Argentine sovereign presence over Antarctica and specifically, the expansion of scientific studies on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, a task force of the Argentine Army settled in Primavera Cape.

March 4, 1977 – Departures: Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk,(August 22, 1887 – March 4, 1977) German jurist and senior government official, last führer of Nazi Germany

March 5, 1977 – The 1977 South African Grand Prix (formally the XXIII The Citizen Grand Prix of South Africa) was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami won by Niki Lauda of Austria. The race is principally remembered for the accident that resulted in the deaths of race marshal Frederick Jansen van Vuuren and driver Tom Pryce. It was also the last race for Carlos Pace (October 6, 1944 – March 18,  1977), who was killed in an aircraft accident less than two weeks later.

March 5, 1977 – Departures: Tom Pryce, (June 11, 1949 –  March 5, 1977) British Formula One racing driver.

March 7, 1977 – Book: Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume 

June 16, 1976 – March 9, 1977 – TV: The Jacksons (TV series)

March 10, 1977 – Departures: E. Power Biggs, (March 29, 1906 – March 10, 1977) He was a British-born American concert organist and recording artist.

March 11, 1977 – Movie: Airport ’77  is released in theaters.

March 11, 1977 – Movie:  The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

March 11, 1977 – Movie:  The Littlest Horse Thieves

Blessed Manuel Solorzano
(1905 – March 12, 1977)
Next To Be Blessed And Sainted | Mark Wilson (patheos.com)

He was a Salvadoran Catholic who was an active participant in his local parish and was close with its priest, Rutilio Grande García. He was slain alongside Grande and the teenager Nelson Lemus in 1977 on a dirt road after he tried to shield both men when armed Salvadoran soldiers killed them.

He was beatified on January 22, 2022, alongside his two companions.

Blessed Nelson Lemus
(November 10, 1960-March 12, 1977
Next To Be Blessed And Sainted | Mark Wilson (patheos.com)

He was a Salvadoran Catholic who was active during the 20th century unrest in the country.

He was an active participant in his local parish and was often involved in helping others to read the Bible. He was also the one that would ring the church bells for Mass and helped his local parish priest.^[3] Lemus was slain in 1977 on a dirt road amidst sugarcane fields en route to Mass alongside Manuel Solórzano and the Jesuit priest Rutilio Grande García after three Salvadoran soldiers ambushed them. 

Lemus was beatified in 2022 in San Salvador alongside his two companions and the slain priest Cosma Spessotto

Blessed  Rutilio Grande
(July 5, 1928 – March 12, 1977)
Next To Be Blessed And Sainted | Mark Wilson (patheos.com)

He was a Salvadoran Jesuit priest assassinated in 1977 by Salvadoran security forces. He was the first priest assassinated before the Salvadoran Civil War started and was a close friend of Archbishop Óscar Romero.

March 14, 1977 – Departures: Fannie Lou Hamer (October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977) American civil rights activist.

March 15, 1977 – May 23, 1981 – TV: Eight Is Enough

March 15, 1977  – September 18, 1984 – TV: Three’s Company

March 18, 1977 – Six-year-old Mary Boyle from Kincasslagh vanished from her grandparents’ farm near Ballyshannon in County Donegal.

March 19, 1977 – Departures: William L. Laurence, (March 7, 1888 – March 19, 1977) Jewish Lithuanian-American journalist.

March 17, 1977 – Music: Welcome to My World is a compilation album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley

March 27, 1977 – Tenerife disaster: A collision between KLM and Pan Am Boeing 747s at Tenerife, Canary Islands, kills 583 people. This becomes the deadliest accident in aviation history.’

March 27, 1977 – Movie: Annie Hall  -The film received widespread critical acclaim, and was nominated for the Big Five Academy Awards, winning four: the Academy Award for Best Picture, two for Allen (Best Director and, with Brickman, Best Original Screenplay), and Best Actress for Keaton.

March 27, 1977 – April 24, 1977 – TV Movie:  Jesus of Nazareth 

March 28, 1977 –At the 49th Academy Awards, Rocky picks up the Academy Award for Best Picture. Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway, and Beatrice Straight all win Oscars for their performances in Network for Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress, while Jason Robards wins for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in All the President’s Men. He will win again the following year, becoming the only person to win two consecutive Best Supporting Actor awards.

April 1977

Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Summer 1977

Includes

 About Nothing • (1975) • short story by Isaac Asimov

Sure Thing • short story by Isaac Asimov

 Two Strangers • short story by John Shirley

Cabinet Meeting • novelette by Michael Bishop

April 1977 – Frederik Pohl, Gateway

1 1978 Campbell Memorial Best Science Fiction Novel
1 1978 Hugo Best Novel
1 1978 Locus Best SF Novel
Win 1978 Nebula Novel
Nomination 1978 Ditmar Best International Long Fiction
Win 1979 Apollo Prix Apollo
8 1987 Locus All-Time Best SF Novel
11 1998 Locus All-Time Best SF Novel before 1990
20 2012 Locus Online 20th Century Science Fiction Novel

April 1977 – The Best of J. G. Ballard

April 1977 –The Sword of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy, #1) – Terry Brooks

April 1977 – The Best of Edmond Hamilton

April 1, 1977 – Movie: Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure 

April 2, 1977 – Arrival: Michael Fassbender, Irish-German actor

April 5, 1977 – TV Movie: The Amazing Howard Hughes is a 1977 American made-for-television biographical film which aired as a mini-series on the CBS network, made a year after Hughes’s death and based on Noah Dietrich’s book Howard: The Amazing Mr. Hughes. Tommy Lee Jones plays Hughes. It didn’t necessarily come out on April 5 but a year earlier on this date…

Howard Hughes Departures (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) American aviation pioneer, film director and millionaire recluse.

April 7, 1977 – TV:  Bugs Bunny’s Easter Special

April 8, 1977 – TV Movie: Demon Seed 

April 11, 1977 – Music The Beach Boys Love You The Beach Boys Love You is the 21st studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released  on Brother/Reprise.

April 12, 1977 – Six weeks before the debut of the film Star Wars, Marvel Comics Group published the first issue of a comic book of the same name with the tag line, “Marvel’s Epic Official Adaptation of the Monumental 20th Century Fox Movie!”. Although George Lucas authorized the publication (on November 12, 1976) of a paperback book that introduced the characters, the comic book was the first to provide a preview to fans of what the film would look like.

April 13, 1977– Elvis flew to Las Vegas with Alicia Kerwin and Billy and Jo Smith. Later they went on to Palm Springs, where Elvis bought Alicia a car. Then Elvis experienced trouble breathing again and Dr. Ghanem flew in from Las Vegas to attend to Elvis. – ElvisNews.com

October 25, 1971 – April 15, 1977 – TV: The Electric Company

April 16, 1977 – Arrival: Florentijn Hofman, Dutch installation artist.

April 18, 1977 – Departures: Irene Steer  (August 10, 1889 – April 18, 1977)was a Welsh freestyle swimmer. She is one of only six Welsh women who have won Olympic gold medals, the others being Nicole Cooke (cycling, 2008), Jade Jones (taekwondo, 2012, 2016), Hannah Mills (sailing 2016, 2020), Elinor Barker (cycling, 2016) and Lauren Price (boxing, 2020). In 1912, Steer won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m relay and failed to reach the final of the individual 100 m race.

Steer started as a breaststroke swimmer, but in 1908–1909 changed to crawl. After retiring from competitions she married William Nicholson, director and chairman of Cardiff City F.C. They had three daughters and one son

April 21, 1977 – Gummo Marx – Departures:  (October 23, 1892 – April 21, 1977)  American actor and comedian.

April 21, 1977 – Broadway: Annie the Musical opens at the Alvin (now Neil Simon) Theatre on Broadway to mostly rave reviews.

April 23,  1977 – Arrival: John Cena , American professional wrestler, actor and rapper.

April 26,  1977 – Arrival: Tom Welling , American actor, director, producer, and model.

April 30, 1977 – Led Zeppelin sets a new world record attendance for an indoor solo attraction at the Pontiac Silverdome when 76,229 people attend a concert here on the group’s 1977 North American Tour.

May 1977

May 1977 – The 1977 Russian flu was an influenza pandemic that was first reported by the Soviet Union in 1977 and lasted until 1979.^[1][2] The outbreak in northern China started in May 1977, slightly earlier than that in the Soviet Union.

Barry Manilow Live  – Music:  Barry Manilow Live is the fifth album by the singer-songwriter Barry Manilow. The album was released in 1977, and it became Manilow’s first to top the US Billboard 200.

May 1977

 The Best of Robert Heinlein 1939-1942

The Best of Robert Heinlein 1947-1959

May 2, 1977 –The King and I – 1977 Broadway Revival – Rodgers & Hammerstein (rodgersandhammerstein.com)

May 2 – Elton John performs the first of six consecutive nights at London’s Rainbow Theatre, his first concert in eight months

May 4, 1977 -Music: The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl –   is a live album by the Beatles, released in May 1977, featuring songs compiled from three performances recorded at the Hollywood Bowl in August 1964 and August 1965.

Divorced Catholic are no longer automatically excommunicated, including those who remarried outside the Church, in a rule by The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The light sentence on divorced Catholics was not started with Pope Francis, so give him a break pharisees.

May 5, 1977 – Book:  J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography

May 5, 1977 – In Canada: Willie Adams becomes the first Inuk to enter Parliament when he is appointed to the Senate.

May 6, 1977 – Movie: Breaker! Breaker! with Chuck Norris opens in theaters.

May 7, 1977 – Departures:  Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma (May 25, 1889 –May 7, 1977) Spanish Carlist pretender.

May 8, 1977 – Duncan Grant, (January 21, 1885 – May 8, 1978). He was a Scottish painter who has one more year left on earth to contemplate his life as a painter before he presents his artistic skills to the Lord. 

May 8, 1977 – SooperDooperLooper is a steel roller coaster at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. Designed and manufactured by Anton Schwarzkopf, the roller coaster opened to the public on May 8, 1977. SooperDooperLooper is located in The Hollow section of the park and cost more than $3 million to construct and build. The roller coaster reaches a maximum height of 70 feet (21 meters), with a maximum speed of 45 miles per hour (72 km/h), and a total track length of 2,614 feet (797 meters).

May 9, 1977 – Departures:  James Jones (November 6, 1921 – May 9, 1977) American writer.

Saint Carmen Elena Rendiles Martínez 
(August 11, 1903 – May 9, 1977)
Feast:  May 9

She was a Venezuelan religious sister of the Servants of the Eucharist. She founded the congregation of the Servants of Jesus of Caracas.Rendiles served in leadership for the former in France, where she completed her novitiate and returned to Venezuela to found a congregation in 1965. She was its first superior general.

May 9, 1977 – Ireland’s first McDonald’s restaurant opened on Grafton Street in Dublin.

May 10, 1977 – Departures: Joan Crawford, (March 23, 1906 – May 10, 1977 ) American actress.

May 13, 1977 – Departures: Otto Deßloch  (June 11, 1889 – May 13, 1977) German World War II Luftwaffe general.

May 20, 1977 – Lindbergh Flight Issue | National Postal Museum (si.edu) Charles Lindbergh  (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974)

May 22, 1977 – Augustine Van Wickle Shaw Toland  (Nov 10, 1898 –May 22, 1977) Died at age 78.

Augustine’s parents, Bessie and Augustus S. Van Wickle purchased the Blithewold estate in 1894 as a ‘Country Home’, and moved there in 1896.

Augustine Van Wickle was born in November 10,1898 in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, the second daughter of Bessie Pardee Van Wickle and Augustus Stout Van Wickle. Augustine’s father had been killed in a skeet-shooting accident five months earlier, and her only sibling, Marjorie, was fifteen years older. –  Blithewold Mansion Garden & Arboretum

May 25, 1977

Star Wars opens in theatres and becomes the highest-grossing film of the year. The film revolutionises the use of special effects in film and television production. It also embraces the notion of omitting any sort of opening credits sequence. Lucas, told by the Directors Guild of America that he must have an opening credits sequence, instead distributes the film independently, sans the opening credits. The film’s release is often considered one of the most important events in film history.

May 26, 1977 – George Willig (born June 11, 1949) (a.k.a. “The Human Fly” or “The Spiderman”) is a mountain-climber from Queens, New York, United States, who climbed the South Tower (2 World Trade Center) of the World Trade Center about two and a half years after tightrope walker Philippe Petit walked between the tops of the two towers.

May 26, 1977 – Departure: Tamara Karsavina  (March 9, 1885 – May 26, 1978) Soviet ballerina. has one more year left to reminisce on her dancing on earth before she dances before God.

May 27, 1977 – Movie: Smokey and the Bandit, directed by Hal Needham, starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, Jackie Gleason

And now Science Fiction becomes real as Space Mountain opens at Disneyland which is the destination of many Catholic families.

May 28, 1977 – Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; (Pope Benedict XVI)  (April 16, 1927 – December 31, 2022) was consecrated as Archbishop of Munich and Freising

May 29, 1977 – Elvis Presley walks offstage in the middle of a concert in Baltimore, Maryland, the first time in his twenty-three year career he has done so; after receiving treatment from a physician, he reappears onstage thirty minutes later

May 29, 1977 – A massive peace rally took place in Belfast organized by Betty Williams, Mairéad Corrigan and Ciarán McKeown.

May 31, 1977 – The musical Beatlemania is premièred at the Winter Garden Theatre in Manhattan.

June 1977

June 1977 – Superman  is the nineteenth studio album by American singer Barbra Streisand. The lead single “My Heart Belongs to Me” became a hit in 1977, peaking at #4 on the US pop chart. The title track was released as a follow-up but did not chart as highly as its predecessor.

June 1977 – On Pilgrimage – June 1977 – Catholic Worker Movement -Summary: Resting for health reasons, she comments on the activity around her. Reflects on “ebbing of life,” waiting, and the phrase “now and at the hour of our death” from the Hail Mary. (The Catholic Worker, June 1977, 2. DDLW #578).

June 1977 – Terry Lovelace was in the U.S. Air Force working as a medic and EMT while stationed at Whiteman AFB. He and his EMT partner and close friend felt compelled to take a weekend camping to Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas. What started out as a carefree trip to the great outdoors would end in a night of horror and pain as they encountered a massive unknown craft about five stories tall. This experience would lead to not only nightmares and inexplicable panic attacks for Terry along with an intense investigation by the USAF Office of Special Investigations, but the tragic and premature death of his friend.

June 1977- Music: Exodus is the ninth studio album by Jamaican reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers, first released in June 1977 through Island Records. Includes the song “Exodus” Jamming” and “Three Little Birds”

June 1977 – Get Off the Unicorn: Stories by Anne McCaffrey 

June 1977 – Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon (Callahan’s, #1) by Spider Robinson

June 1977- Music: To Lefty from Willie is a studio album by American country music singer Willie Nelson.^[4] Recorded in 1975, the album sat in the vaults of Columbia Records until 1977. It is Willie Nelson’s tribute to fellow country singer Lefty Frizzell.

June 1977 – On a hot Saturday in June 1977, Reverend Willie Maxwell was killed at the funeral of his 16-year-old stepdaughter, Shirley Ann Ellington. Moments before being shot in the head, a woman in a pew nearby shouted at the Reverend, “You killed my sister and now you gonna pay for it!” Hundreds of people witnessed Ellington’s uncle, Robert Lewis Burns, fire his gun at Maxwell, and yet he was found not-guilty of murder. Instead, Burns became something of a vigilante hero to local residents, who were thankful to be rid of Maxwell, a man five times accused of murdering his own family for the insurance money, and five times found innocent. It’s a case that fascinated — and terrified — the town, and drew the attention of one of the most famous writers in the country, To Kill A Mockingbird author Harper Lee.

Harper Lee Spent Years Writing A True Crime Book. In ‘Furious Hours,’ Casey Cep Tells The Full Story. (bustle.com)

From Amazon: Harper Lee sat in the audience during the vigilante’s trial having   traveled from New York City to her native Alabama with the idea of writing her own In Cold Blood, the true-crime classic she had helped her friend Truman Capote research seventeen years earlier. Lee spent a year in town reporting, and many more years working on her own version of the case.

Now Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South. At the same time, she offers a deeply moving portrait of one of the country’s most beloved writers and her struggle with fame, success, and the mystery of artistic creativity.

 Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper (May 7, 2019)

by Casey Cep

June 1, 1977 – Movie: Viva Knievel!  Opens in theaters.

June 1, 1977 – Book:  The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 – David McCullough

June 3, 1977 –Departures:  Archibald Hill (September 26, 1886 – June 3, 1977) English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate.

June 3, 1977 – Movie: The Prince and the Pauper opens in (London)

 Arrivals:

Renee Williams 
(June 4, 1977 – March 4, 2007)

She was an American woman believed to be the largest woman in the world at the time of her death in 2007 from complications following her surgery for morbid obesity. Williams was also one of the heaviest people to ever live and one of the heaviest ever to undergo gastric bypass.  By the age of 12, Williams was already in the category of super-morbid obesity, which refers to a body mass index over 50. After a car crash in 2003 she became unable to walk, which further contributed to her weight gain

June 5, 1977 – The first Apple II home computers (largely designed by Steve Wozniak) go on sale in the U.S., among the first successful mass-produced microcomputers.

June 7, 1977 – June 13, 1977 – ESCAPE: Ted Bundy 

 Matthew Garber
(March 25, 1956 –  June 13, 1977)

He was an English child actor. most notable as Michael Banks in the 1964 film Mary Poppins. His other screen credits include The Three Lives of Thomasina (1963) and The Gnome-Mobile (1967), appearing alongside actress Karen Dotrice in all three films they made for Walt Disney Pictures.

Another childhood actress had died about a  year earlier. Mary Anissa Jones  (March 11, 1958 – August 28, 1976) known for her role as Buffy Davis on the CBS sitcom Family Affair, which ran from 1966 to 1971,  died from combined drug intoxication when she was 18.

June 8, 1977 – Arrivals: Martin Lacey Jr. is an English circus performer and trainer of wild animals who has achieved fame in Germany. He is the son of Martin Lacey, the circus ringmaster and animal trainer who bred most of the tigers used in the Esso television advertisements in the 1970s.

June 8, 1977 – Arrival: Kanye West, American rapper and record producer.

June 10, 1977 – ESCAPE: Convicted of the assign of Martin Luther King Jr. James Earl Ray   and six other convicts escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee. They were recaptured on June 13. A year was added to Ray’s previous sentence, increasing it to a full century.

June 10, 1977 – TV: In 1977, Paramount Pictures President Barry Diller began working on the idea of launching a new, fourth television network, officially announced on June 10, 1977 as “Paramount Television Service” (PTVS). Following the rapid growth of Star Trek fandom, and a general growing interest in science fiction programming,    Star Trek II Writer’s/Director’s Guide was published on  August 12, 1977, with the premiere expected in spring of 1978.Star Trek: Phase II | Memory Alpha | Fandom

June 12, 1977 – The Supremes perform for the last time together at Drury Lane Theatre in London before officially disbanding

June 13, 1977 – The Oklahoma Girl Scout murders took place on the morning of Oklahoma Girl Scout murders.

June 14, 1977 – Departures: Alan Reed, (August 20, 1907 – June 14, 1977) American actor best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on The Flintstones and various spinoff series.

July 14 – July 24, 1977– Sports: The 1977 World Fencing Championships were held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The World Fencing Championships is an annual competition in fencing organized by the International Fencing Federation. Contestants may participate in foil, épée, and sabre events. Alexandr Romankov (born November 7, 1953) won a gold medal for the Soviet Union or individual foil.

June 16, 1977 – Departures: Wernher von Braun  (March 23, 1912 – June 16, 1977) was a German-American aerospace engineer^[ and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, the leading figure in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany, and later a pioneer of rocket and space technology in the United States.

June 16, 1977 – Arrival: Simone Legno  is an Italian artist best known for the creation of the tokidoki brand. Legno’s designs are influenced by his interest in Japan and its culture, as well as street art and graffiti. He recently created Luce (Italian: [ˈluːtʃe] lit. ‘Light‘) who is the official mascot of the Catholic Church‘s 2025 Jubilee. Designed by tokidoki founder Simone Legno, she represents a Catholic pilgrim. She is accompanied by a pet dog named Santino and three friends named Fe, Xin, and Sky.

June 17, 1977 – Movie: Exorcist II: The Heretic  opens in theaters.

June 18, 1977- Movie: Grand Theft Auto opens in theaters.

June 19, 1977 – Music: Moody Blue is the twenty-fourth and final studio album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley.

June 19, 1977 – Canonization:  Saint John Nepomucene Neumann by Pope Paul VI.

June 20,1977 – TV Movie: Alternative 3 is a 1977 British television mockumentary concerning government conspiracies. Purporting to be an investigation into the UK’s contemporary “brain drain“, Alternative 3 describes a plan to make the Moon and Mars habitable in the event of climate change and environmental catastrophe on Earth.

June 20, 1977 – Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart drives his Porsche over the edge of a canyon, suffering multiple broken bones but surviving as a tree breaks his fall.

June 22, 1977 – Kiss are elected “most popular band in America” by a Gallup poll

June 22, 1977 – Movie: Walt Disney Productions releases The Rescuers, which brings back an interest in animation that had been lost to both filmgoers and critics throughout the beginning of the 1970s.

June 24, 1977 – Movie: Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo opens in theaters.

June 25, 1977 – Departures: Olave Baden-Powell, (February 22, 1889 – June 25,1977) first Chief Guide for Britain.

June 27, 1977 – Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; (Pope Benedict XVI)  (April 16, 1927 – December 31, 2022) is created a cardinal  by Paul VI Pope Paul VI (September 26, 1897 – August 6, 1978).

A Decade earlier on June 26, 1967 – Karol Józef Wojtyła (Pope John Paul II)  (May 18, 1920 – April 2, 2005) is created a cardinal by Paul VI

June 25, 1977 – Roy Sullivan on this date he was struck while fishing in a freshwater pool. The lightning hit the top of his head, set his hair on fire, traveled down, and burnt his chest and stomach. Sullivan turned to his car when something unexpected occurred – a bear approached the pond and tried to steal trout from his fishing line. Sullivan had the strength and courage to strike the bear with a tree branch, despite the fact that his hair was on fire. He claimed that this was the twenty-second time he hit a bear with a stick in his lifetime.

All seven strikes were documented by the superintendent of Shenandoah National Park, R. Taylor Hoskins.

June 26, 1977 – Music: Elvis Presley sings his final concert before his death, at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana. Earlier that day, he has received a plaque commemorating the two billionth pressing from RCA’s record pressing plant in Camden, New Jersey.

June 27, 1977 – July 10, 1977 – The 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship was the inaugural staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, hosted by Tunisia from , in three venues — Tunis, Sousse and Sfax. The 28 matches played were the smallest number in tournament history. The USSR U20s defeated Mexico U20s in a penalty shootout, in the final held at Tunis’s Stade El Menzah.

The Tournament Committee was chaired by FIFA Vice-President Harry Cavan, who had spearheaded the creation of the World Youth Championship.

June 30, 1977 – The last Railway Mail Service mail train in the U.S. completed its run, bringing an end to almost 113 years of service. The final train departed New York  and arrived in Washington DC the next morning, after which the service was permanently discontinued. At its height, the RMS had 30,000 employees, while only 68 were left when the final train made its delivery. Starting in the 1950s, jet aircraft had gradually replaced the slower method of shipping mail by train.

Mark will not let me alone. He wants me to write about him so he can know what he did when he was small. He wants to be sure I put in that Laurie stepped on his toe. He wants also to have me put in about his “Sean & Marky” comic books that he makes. He gets the ideas and dictates his ideas to me each night so I can draw them. He calls them Our “Drawing Lessons”. But I have to do all the drawing. -Louise Wilson’s Diary

Stay Tuned For Part 2