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World Events Deng Xiaoping, purged Chinese leader, restored to power as Gang of Four is expelled from Communist Party (July 22). South African activist Steve Biko dies in police custody (Sept. 12). Nuclear-proliferation pact, curbing spread of nuclear weapons, is signed by 15 countries, including US and USSR (Sept. 21). Background: nuclear disarmament U.S. Events First woman Episcopal priest ordained (Jan. 1). Scientists identify previously unknown bacterium as cause of mysterious "legionnaire's disease" (Jan. 18). Carter pardons Vietnam war draft evaders (Jan. 21). Supreme Court rules that states are not required to spend Medicaid funds on elective abortions (June 20). Economics US GDP (1998 dollars):   $2,026.90 billion Federal spending:   $409.22 billion Federal debt:   $706.4 billion Median Household Income (current dollars):  $13,572 Consumer Price Index:   60.6 Unemployment:   7.1% Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.13 Sports Super Bowl Oakland d. Minnesota (32-14) World Series NY Yankees d. LA Dodgers (4-2) NBA Championship Portland d. Philadelphia 76ers (4-2) Stanley Cup Montreal d. Boston (4-0) Wimbledon Women: Virginia Wade d. B. Stove (4-6 6-3 6-1) Men: Bjorn Borg d. J. Connors (3-6 6-2 6-1 5-7 6-4) Kentucky Derby Champion Seattle Slew NCAA Basketball Championship Marquette d. North Carolina (67-59) NCAA Football Champions Notre Dame (11-1-0) Entertainment Events The TV miniseries Roots draws an audience of 130 million. Star Wars hits theaters--for the first time--and will go on to be the second highest-grossing film of all time. Saturday Night Fever sparks the disco inferno and the popularity of movie soundtracks. Elvis Presley dies at Graceland, his Memphis, Tenn. home. He was 42. Movies Saturday Night Fever, Star Wars, Annie Hall, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Julia Music Various artists, Saturday Night Fever soundtrac Books John Cheever, Falconer Joan Didion, The Book of Common Prayer Stephen Jay Gould, Ontogeny and Phylogeny Kenneth Koch, The Duplications W.S. Merwin, The Compass Flower Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon Science The neutron bomb is developed. Background: nuclear weapons The space shuttle Enterprise makes its first test glide, from the back of a 747. Background: US Staffed Space Flights Paul MacCready (US) develops the Gossamer Condor, the first successful human-powered aircraft. Background: Famous Firsts in Aviation Lasers are first used to initiate a fusion reaction. Background: nuclear energy Deaths Charles Chaplin Bing Crosby Groucho Marx Vladimir Nabokov Elvis Presley RETURN TO THE 1977 CLASS WEB PAGE