The Year 1977
What were you doing in 1977? Think back. Were you working, in high school, or maybe college? Did you have kids, or were you a kid? At two years old, I was still pretty much useless. I mean really, all you know how to do at two, is eat, sleep, play, and maybe not crap your pants. Most humans learn to walk by the age of one. Some even before nine months of age, and of course some take a little longer then twelve months. I think I was probably walking even though I don't remember. At what age did some of you all begin forming memories? For me, I think my earliest memory was maybe at the age of four. I do not re-call my first home which was up at the old Naval Base in RoseValley. We lived in a Quonset hut according to my parents. A memory from my dad was of the time the flue came apart on our wood burning stove. Wouldn't have been a problem if not for the fact that there was a fire burning in the stove. All of the smoke began filling the hut. Another memory from my mom was the day she decided to drive into town and ran out of gas. RoseValley was about thirty minutes from the nearest small town and the road was a curvy mountainous one. Everything turned out alright as far as I remember the story. I'll have to ask her again how she made it to town. Or if someone brought her gas. I don't remember any of my favorite toys. Nope, it's all a blank slate. luckily, I have parents to tell me stories about these early years. Here's what I dug up researching this great year in the history of the world, and our nation.
Carter was beginning his four-year term. He would quickly grant pardon for all American draft dodgers. He would also begin telling Americans they needed to make profound changes in their oil consumption. The states of New Hampshire and Maine were in a debate which was ruled on by the Supreme Court as to where exactly the middle of the Piscataqua River was located. This was important because of the lobster fishing grounds in the area. Keeping with the topic of acquiring live game and or fish by means of trapping or hunting. You could purchase a hunting permit for elk for four dollars. That's if you were a resident of Montana. If you were a non-resident, that same permit would have cost you $151.00. The huge difference in cost would eventually be sent to the Supreme Court for ruling in which the Plaintiffs would lose.
In the entertainment industry. The iconic movie Star Wars, another of my favorites, would open in theaters. Star Wars would end up winning six academy awards out of the 11 it was nominated for. The T.V. series "Roots" would air on national television. Elvis Presley died in 77. He was the young age of
New York City would endure a 25-hour blackout caused by lightening! From what I've read, this was quite a cluster cluck. Backup generators failed. Overloaded circuits tripped with increased loads because of the failing generators. Widespread looting and arson occurred in many of the poorer neighborhoods. Four thousand people had to be evacuated from the underground subways. Two major airports had to shut down for 8 hours. Five hundred and fifty police officers would be injured in the unrest with 4500 looters arrested.
Atari would release its model 2600 game console to become the first popular major video game console. The console came with 9 different games and cost $199.00. This was indeed a lot of money in comparison to wages of the time.
Average cost of a new home was 49,300.00. Average yearly income was $15,000.00. Minimum wage set at $2.30 an hour. Most American's were paying $250 a month to rent. Gas was at .65 a gallon. A BMW 320i would cost you $7990.00. A five-inch portable TV cost $147.00. New Stereo systems were around $250 dollars. The population in the United Sates reaches 216 million. For contrast, in 1776, there were 2.5 million people amongst the 13 colonies. In 201 years, our country has added 213+ million people.
Who remembers personal electronic transactors? Well, Commodore would release the first ever in 77. It sold for $495.00 but quickly went up in price to $595.00 due to its popularity. This world first personal computer had just 4 kilobytes of memory space! The Apple 1 PC I mentioned in a previous post was a "kit". Consumers still needed to buy a keyboard and monitor; it didn't even come in a case. The Apple 2 released in 77 would have those items included except for the monitor. The Apple 2 would be listed at $1298.00 and quickly increased to $ 2638.00 for an expanded memory platform.
Oil would travel through the Alaskan pipeline for the first time. Current production of oil through the pipeline makes up 10 to 15 percent of U.S. production. Nearly 700,000 barrels of oil travel through the pipeline each day.
Mother nature would take the lives of 20,000 people in India. A Cyclone in which I don't believe was given a name, would ravage the country leaving 2 million people homeless! France would carry out its last execution by guillotine!
1977 was another interesting year for sure. Music was evolving, great movies, maybe some of the greatest ever produced, were hitting the screens. Americans were making more money and of course the cost of living was ever increasing. One major note I take away from researching this year is the introduction of the personal computers. This is a HUGE starting point for the overall expansion of knowledge. Think of how much easier life has become from the use of computers. Now we all carry computers in our pockets and cannot go a day without using them.
"Public opinion!" " I don't know how sociologists define it, but it seems obvious to me that it can only consist of interacting individual opinions, freely expressed and independent of government or party opinion." "So long as there is no independent public opinion in our country, there is no guarantee that the extermination of millions and millions for no good reason will not happen again, that it will not begin any night - perhaps this very night."
-Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn
The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An experiment in Literary investigation, books V-VII.
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