January 20
Jimmy Carter is sworn in as President.

January 23-30
The Roots miniseries is televised by ABC over eight nights. Approximately 100 million viewers watch the concluding episode.

March 24
Indira Ghandi, Prime Minister of India is succeeded by Moraji Desai.

March 27
On the Canary Islands a Pan Am 727 collides with a Dutch KLM 747 leaving 581 dead in the worst aviation accident in history.

June 20
The Pipeline in Alaska opens.

July 13
New York City experiences another major power blackout. Successive lightning strikes north of the city knock out vital power lines feeding its massive power grid beginning at 8:37 p.m. Automated power equipment reacts to the sudden change in system conditions and "trips out" all ties to the local utility, plunging the city into darkness by 9:30 p.m. Before long, rioting, looting and other forms of criminal behavior hamper emergency responses in several parts of town. Brooklyn, Harlem and the South Bronx experience the most damage. Over 1,000 fires will burn; the fire department also responds to 1,700 false alarms. Over 3,700 New Yorkers are arrested.

August 4
President Carter signs a law creating the Department of Energy.

August 10
New York City area mass murderer, the so-called "Son of Sam" is arrested and charged.

August 17
Live Fast - Die Young IV
The King is dead. Elvis Presley dies at 42.

October 4
The judge in Watergate Judge John Sirica reduces the prison sentences of Watergate felons Erlichmann, Haldeman and Mitchell.

November 22
British Airways and Air France begin Concorde service to New York from London and Paris.

ALSO IN 1977:
Red Dye No. 2, a food coloring agent found in many products from candy to cough syrup is linked to cancer. Red M&Ms will disappear for years, until a safer replacement can be developed.

The United States embarks on the Space Shuttle Program.

Chicago becomes the first recipient of a commercial fiber optic communications system.

Hungarian architect Erno Rubik's confounding Rubik's Cube (right), originally developed to illustrate algebraic group theory to students, is introduced as a toy and sells 100 million copies within three years.

The Neutron Bomb funding starts. This bomb would spread radiation to kill people but leave buildings intact.

The MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is first used. This machine can map deep within the brain and other parts of the body.

A programmable home video game system in a cartridge is introduced by Atari. Nintendo begins to sell computer games.

Counter Culture Notes:
Punk Rock is the rage of the mid to late 70s and London's controversial and loutish Sex Pistols are at the cutting edge, along with the Clash, the US based Ramones, Iggy Pop and several others. Punks by definition are restless malcontents protesting a lack of opportunity and jobs; they reject all previous rock genres as 'sellouts', and also denounce (on the face of it at least) 'commercialism.' The 'Pistols release their introductory (and only) album, featuring Holiday in The Sun, No Future, Anarchy in the UK, and their signature, God Save The Queen among others.

At the Movies
The film Saturday Night Fever premiers and takes disco dancing to dizzying new heights of popularity... Star Wars, in Dolby Stereo is released and will become the second highest-grossing film of all time... Horror meister Stephen King'sThe Shining is a scary hit.

What's On TV
Barnie Miller, (left) in its second season, is a sitcom about life in a NYPD station house. Also this year is Soap, an hilarious primetime parody of daytime soap operas, plus Fantasy Island, The Amazing Spider-Man, Project UFO and The Love Boat.

In Sports
Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500... Inducted into the Hall of Fame this year is Ernie Banks, most famous for his "Let’s play two." statement. He also won back-to-back MVP awards... Reggie Jackson becomes known as "Mr. October" in the 1977 World Series between the NY Yankees and LA Dodgers... The Triple Crown is won by Seattle Slew.