Flashback to 1977 - A Timeline of Life in America

[Music] 1977 was a year that few people could forget this was the year that snow reached deep into the south a mega hit movie took us into the stars and it was also the year we lost a king music and television that was released this year came to define the era the united states inaugurated a new president that intended to be more compassionate but with economic problems on the horizon the american public had different priorities on january 14th the television show fantasy island was introduced to viewers with a made-for-tv movie the abc show starred ricardo montebon and herve velice as island hosts that helped wealthy visitors live out their fantasies [Music] on january 19th snow fell in miami florida which is the only time in the history of the city that it ever happened snow also made its way to the bahamas on january 21st new president jimmy carter began his term by pardoning nearly all vietnam war draft evaders carter's decision generated a lot of controversy and was heavily criticized by veterans groups for allowing unpatriotic lawbreakers to get off scot-free on january 23rd the groundbreaking miniseries roots premiered on abc based on alex haley's 1976 novel titled roots the saga of an american family the show introduced viewers to kuntikente a young african caught in the transatlantic slave trade the series would go on to spark intense racial dialogue and it also sent many on a path to find their own roots on february 4th fleetwood mac's 11th studio album rumors was released amid the breakup of lindsey buckingham and stevie nicks the band wrote and recorded the album while using heavy drugs both of which helped to shape the album's lyrics [Music] on february 12th aspiring actress krista helm was fatally stabbed over 30 times on a sidewalk in front of her agent's house in west hollywood krista allegedly kept a detailed diary of her sexual encounters she wrote down everything and she took the diary with her everywhere she went when her body was found the only thing missing was that diary and the killer has never been identified on march 2nd jay leno made his first appearance on the tonight show with johnny carson performing a stand-up comedy act leno would later guest host and take over as host from johnny carson years later on march 15th tv comedy 3's company starring john ritter suzanne summers and joyce dewitt premiered on abc the goofy comedy about a man pretending to be gay in order to share an apartment with two beautiful women became a hit and would make stars of the cast [Music] on may 25th the start of the memorial day weekend george lucas's blockbuster star wars opened in theaters the film would go on to rake in nearly 500 million dollars in u.s ticket sales and spawn sequels that featured much of the original cast and enjoyed the same success as the first film on june 10th james earl ray the man convicted of killing martin luther king jr escaped from brushy mountain state prison in petros tennessee he would be recaptured on june 13th and another year was added to his sentence making it 100 years on june 25th united states park ranger roy sullivan was struck by lightning for the seventh time in shenandoah national park in virginia between 1942 and 1977 sullivan was hit by lightning on seven different occasions and survived them all on july 19th flooding began in johnstown pennsylvania caused by massive rainfall this excessive rain produced flash flooding in and around the town which caused several dams to break the flooding caused 78 deaths and did between 200 and 300 million dollars worth of damage on august 16th elvis presley the king of rock and roll died at graceland at the age of 42 from a heart attack presley was discovered motionless on the bathroom floor by his girlfriend ginger alden over 75 000 fans lined the streets of memphis for his funeral which occurred on august 18th and was televised on august 20th on september 7th the panama canal treaty was signed by president jimmy carter the agreement would transfer control of the canal to panama by the end of the 20th century the canal had been built and operated by the united states since 1914 september 11th the atari 2600 originally known as the atari video computer system was released the gaming system revolutionized the video game industry by allowing everyone to play video games at home [Music] on september 24th the love boat television show premiered on abc the show began as a made for tv movie the year before and was popular enough to warrant a series the show was set on a cruise ship and was well known for casting popular actors in guest starring roles throughout the series run on october 20th tragedy struck the southern rock band leonard skynyrd when three members lead singer ronnie vanzant guitarist steve gaines and backup singer cassie gaines were killed in a charter plane crash outside gillsburg mississippi that also took the life of their road manager along with both pilots the band was on their way to baton rouge and had just released their fifth studio album three days earlier on november 8th san francisco elected a new city supervisor named harvey milk who was the first openly gay elected official of any large city in the united states on december 12th in los angeles the film's saturday night fever premiered the disco drama starred john travolta and featured the music of the bee gees which made it one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time travolta would be nominated for an academy award the next year for his role to finish out the year on december 31st serial killer ted bundy escaped for a second time this year this time from jail in colorado bundy escaped through a light fixture opening in the ceiling he would go on to fly to chicago before making his way in a stolen car down to florida where he would go on to murder three more girls before being arrested [Music] you

Channel: Recollection Road

Views: 133,837

Keywords: Recollection Road, nostalgia, memories, photos, history, closed, forgotten, business, past, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, memory, yesteryear, golden age, photo album, oldies, fifties, sixties, abandoned, 20th century, saturday night fever, timeline, 1977, events, flashback, love boat, roots, fantasy island, elvis dead, elvis, jimmy carter, panama canal, star wars, ted bundy, christa helm, fleetwood mac, rumours, lynyrd sknryd, three's company, jay leno, atari 2600, atari, harvey milk

Id: N_c9pw4Xtyc

Length: 8min 9sec (489 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 04 2021