October 1977 in History

Events in History

Oct 1 US Department of Energy established
Oct 2 Pakistani general Zia ul-Haq bans all opposition

Event of Interest

4th Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi

Oct 6 DL Coburns "Gin Game" premieres in NYC
Oct 6 In Alicante, Spain, fascists attack a group of MCPV militants and sympathizers, and one MCPV sympathizer is killed.
Oct 7 USSR adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.
Oct 9 Soyuz 25 launched to Saluyt 6, but returned after failing to dock

Historic Invention

Oct 11 American inventor Gordon Gould issued his first US patent for a optically pumped laser amplifier, 20 years after first claiming to have invented the laser

Oct 11 Soyuz 25 returns to Earth
Oct 12 4th test of space shuttle Enterprise
Oct 12 Psychic Romark attempts to drive blindfolded, smashed into cop van
Oct 12 US Supreme Court heard arguments in "reverse discrimination" case of Allan Bakke, white student denied admission to University of California Med School
Oct 14 Princess Beatrice opens Amsterdam metro
Oct 15 Arkansas' Steve Little kicks a record tying 67 yard field goal
Oct 15 Don Ritchie runs world record 100 mile (11:30:51)
Oct 17 Canada begins regular live TV coverage of Parliament
Oct 17 West German commandos storm hijacked Lufthansa in Mogadishu, Somalia freeing all 86 hostages & killing 3 of 4 hijackers
Oct 18 1st Islander 0-0 tie-Kings at Nassau-25th time shutout-Resch's 15th
Oct 18 West German commandos liberate Boeing 737 with 86 hostages at Mogadishu
Oct 19 Corpse of kidnapped West German, H M Schleyer, found
Oct 19 Supersonic Concorde jet's 1st landing in NYC

Event of Interest

Oct 20 David Mamet's "Life in the Theater" premieres in NYC

Oct 21 The European Patent Institute is founded.
Oct 21 US recalls William Bowdler, ambassador to South Africa
Oct 22 International Sun-Earth Explorers 1 & 2 launched into Earth orbit
Oct 23 Paleontologist Elso Barghoorn announces discovery of a 3.4-billion year old one-celled fossil, one of the earliest life forms on Earth
Oct 23 Panamanians vote 2:1 to approve new Canal treaties
Oct 25 Digital Equipment Corporation releases OpenVMS V1.0.
Oct 26 5th & final test of space shuttle Enterprise
Oct 26 Dr Clifford R Wharton Jr named chancellor of State University of New York
Oct 26 Last natural case of smallpox discovered in Merca district, Somalia. Considered the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination
Oct 26 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Oct 27 Amsterdam businessman M Caransa kidnapped
Oct 27 NASA launches space vehicle S-200
Oct 29 Texas' Russell Erideben kicks his 3rd 60 yard field goal of the season
Oct 29 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
Oct 30 Panama 747SP lands after polar flight around Earth in record 54:07

Birthdays in History

Oct 8 Anne-Caroline Chausson, French mountain-bike rider, born in Dijon, France
Oct 11 Claudia Palacios, Colombian television journalist, born in Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Oct 19 Louis-José Houde, Canadian stand-up comic, born in Saint-Apollinaire, Quebec
Oct 30 Charmian Faulkner, Australian crime victim (went missing with her mother from St Kilda, Victoria, Australia, in 1980), born in Colac, Victoria, Australia

Deaths in History

Oct 10 Jean Duvieusart, 36th Prime Minister of Belgium, dies at 77
Oct 11 MacKinlay Kantor, American novelist (Andersonville), dies at 73
Oct 11 Mason Gross, professor (Think Fast, 2 for the Money), dies at 66
Oct 12 Jan Zrzavý, Czech painter, dies at 86

Andreas Baader (1943-1977)

Oct 18 German left-wing militant and leader of the Red Army Faction, commits suicide along with other RAF leaders at 34

Oct 18 Gudrun Ensslin, German terrorist and founder of the Red Army Faction, commits suicide along with other RAF leaders at 37
Oct 18 Jan-Carl Raspe (b. 1944)
Oct 27 James M. Cain, American writer (Postman Always Rings Twice), dies at 85
Oct 28 Kaj Birket-Smith, Danish philologist and anthropologist (studied Inuit and Eyak), dies at 84