1977

News Highlights of 1977

• Murderer GaryGilmore is executed by a firing squad at the Utah State Prison. His is the first execution in the United States in 10 years.

• CB radios incars and trucks are so popular that they begin interfering with radio and TVsignals.

• Roots, an ABC mini-series about the family tree of author Alex Haley, attracts 80 million viewers, surpassing Gone With The Wind as the highest-rated program ever broadcast.

• The worstaviation disaster in history becomes a collision between two jumbo jets in the Canary Islands, killing 574 people.

• An oil well shoots out of control in the North Sea, creating a slick 45 miles long and 30 miles wide.

• For a record fourth time, A.J. Foyt wins the Indianapolis 500 auto race.

• Menachem Begin becomes premier of Israel.

• The $7.7 billion trans-Alaskan pipeline opens, far behind schedule.

• The U.S. State Department urges emergency admission of 10,000 Vietnamese "boatpeople" as refugees.

• Elvis Presley dies.

• Edward Koch becomes the 105th mayor of New York City.

• Mr. Spagnolo decides to get born.