Thursday, April 16, 2026

January 1978 - Fantasy Island, Hubert Humphrey

Deeply in Love with January 1978!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in January 1978 was 'How Deep Is Your Love' by the Bee Gees.

Federal Government in 1978
President: Jimmy Carter (D-Georgia)
Vice President: Walter Mondale (D-Minnesota)
Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger (Minnesota)
Speaker of the House of Representatives: Tip O'Neill (D-Massachusetts)
Senate Majority Leader: Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia)
Congress: 95th

Januray 2 - 64th Rose Bowl game is played. The Washington Huskies, champions of the Pacific-8 Conference, defeated the two touchdown-favored Michigan Wolverines, champions of the Big Ten Conference, 27–20.

January 6 – The Holy Crown of Hungary (also known as the Crown of St. Stephen) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held since World War II.

January 6 - Coma movie premieres.  Based on a Robin Cook novel, Julie Christie and Farrah Fawcett were both considered for the lead ultimately played by Genevieve Bujold.

January 14 – Kurt Gödel, mathematician, dies. (born 1906 in Austria-Hungary)

January 14 - Fantasy Island debuts on ABC.

January 14–15 – The body of former U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda, following his death from cancer.

January 15 - Super Bowl XII airs on CBS, the first time the NFL's championship event is played and telecast at night.  Nice highlights video on YouTube:
Super bowl XII Highlights

January 19 – Federal Appeals Court Judge William H. Webster is appointed Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

January 23 - Roots One Year Later, a special examining the impact and influence of the miniseries, airs on ABC.

January 25–27 – The Great Blizzard of 1978 strikes the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes, causing 51 deaths in Ohio.

January 28 – Richard Chase, the "Vampire of Sacramento", is arrested.

Battleground playset (released 1978):

1978 Dodge Aspen:

Flash comic for January:

Mandate magazine for January:

Mademoiselle magazine for January:

New York magazine for January:

Playboy playmate of the month, Debra Jensen, and Playgirl man for January, Dennis Durrell:

Albums released in January 1978 (album / artist):
Excitable Boy / Warren Zevon
Pastiche / The Manhattan Transfer
City to City / Gerry Rafferty
Infinity / Journey

Nielson top 10 shows for the week ending January 8th:  1 Happy Days; 2 Fish; 3 Three's Company; 4 60 Minutes; 5 ABC Theatre; 6 Orange Bowl; 7 Alice; 8 All in the Family; 9 Bob Hope special; 10 One Day at a Time.

Peanuts comic strip from January 1978:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in January 1978, check out this really good site:  ultimate70s.com


Sunday, March 15, 2026

December 1977 - Evansville, Bakersfield Dust Storm

Your Eyes are Brown...It's December 1977!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in December 1977 was 'Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue' by Crystal Gayle.

December 13 – A charter plane carrying the University of Evansville basketball team to Nashville, TN, crashes.  Twenty-nine people die in the crash, including 14 members of the team and head coach, Bob Watson.

December 14 - Saturday Night Fever movie, starring John Travolta, premieres.  The album had successfully debuted the month before.

December 19–21 – The Great Bakersfield Dust Storm hits the Southern San Joaquin Valley in California resulting in 3 deaths and $40 million in damages.

December 19 – Nellie Tayloe Ross, 13th Governor of Wyoming from 1925 to 1927 and director of the United States Mint from 1933 to 1953 and first female state governor in the U.S. dies. (b. 1876)

December 25 – Charlie Chaplin, actor, dies. (b. 1889)

Batman comic for December:

1977 Dodge Tradesman:

Sears Christmas catalog for 1977:

Star Wars Land Speeder toy (released 1977):

Playboy playmate of the month, Ashley Cox, and Playgirl man for December, Mark Gartman:

Nielsen top 10 shows for the week ending December 18th: 1 Laverne and Shirley; 2 Happy Days; 3 Three's Company; 4 Eight Is Enough; 5 Six Million Dollar Man; 6 Alice; 7 Soap; 8 (tie) All in the Family and Charlie Brown Christmas; 10 The Tiny Tree.

Albums release in December  (album / artist):
Draw the Line / Aerosmith
Taken by Force / Scorpions
The Belle Album / Al Green
Running on Empty / Jackson Browne
ABBA: The Album / ABBA
Blue Lights in the Basement / Roberta Flack
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter / Joni Mitchell

Harper's Bazaar for December:

Country Music magazine for December:

 Movie Life magazine for December:

Soap Opera Serials magazine for December:

Peanuts comic strip from December 1977:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in December 1977, check out this really good site:  ultimate70s.com


Sunday, February 15, 2026

November 1977 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Light Up Your Life with November 1977! 

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in November 1977 was 'You Light Up My Life' by Debby Boone.  This song held the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for ten consecutive weeks and topped Record World magazine's Top 100 Singles Chart for a record thirteen weeks.

November 3 - Pete's Dragon movie premieres.

November 4 - Heroes movie premieres.

November 6 – The Kelly Barnes Dam, located above Toccoa Falls Bible College near Toccoa, Georgia, fails, killing 39.

November 8 – San Francisco elects City Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official of any large city in the U.S.

November 8 - Ed Koch is elected mayor of New York City.

November 13 – The comic strip Li'l Abner ends a 43-year run in newspapers.

November 14 - The Turning Point movie premieres.

November 16 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind movie premieres.

November 18 - Semi-Tough movie premieres.

November 22 – British Airways inaugurates regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.

November 27 – The Rankin/Bass animated film The Hobbit premieres on NBC.

November 30 - Commentator Eric Sevareid completed his final two-minute segment on The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, after 48 years at CBS News.

November 30 - The Goodbye Girl movie premieres.

1977 Mercedes Benz 450SL:

Avengers comic for November:

Hardy Boys wristwatch (released 1977):

Playboy playmate of the month, Rita Lee, and Playgirl man for November, Paul Vonderlin:

Nielsen top shows for the week ending November 13th: Laverne and Shirley, Happy Days, Love Boat, Three's Company, Big Event "The Godfather" Sunday installment, Little House on the Prairie, Eight is Enough, 60 Minutes, NBC Monday Movie "Aspen", Rhoda, Welcome Back, Kotter, Big Event "The Godfather" Saturdav installment, All in the Family, NFL Monday Night Football, What's Happening, On Our Own, Soap, ABC Sunday Movie "The Poseidon Adventure", Donny and Marie. 

Albums released in November (album / artist):
Foot Loose and Fancy Free / Rod Stewart
Rocket to Russia / The Ramones
I'm Glad You're Here with Me Tonight / Neil Diamond
Death of a Ladies' Man / Leonard Cohen
Saturday Night Fever / Bee Gees et al.
Thankful / Natalie Cole
Broken Blossom / Bette Midler
All 'n All / Earth, Wind and Fire
Chic / Chic
Slowhand / Eric Clapton

Better Homes and Gardens for November:

National Lampoon for November:

Sport magazine for November:

Peanuts comic strip from November 1977:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in November 1977, check out this really good site:  ultimate70s.com


Wednesday, January 14, 2026

October 1977 - New York Yankees, Lynyrd Skynyrd

Don't Space Out, Enjoy October 1977!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in October 1977 was 'Star Wars Theme' by Meco.

October 1 - We've Got Each Other tv show debuts on CBS.

October 2 - Julia movie premieres.

October 3 - Knockout and To Say the Least game shows debut on NBC.

October 6 – Irish American mobster Danny Greene is murdered with a car bomb by the Cleveland crime family in Lyndhurst, Ohio.

October 7 - Oh, God! movie premieres.  This movie briefly ended Star Wars' 15 week reign as #1 at the box office, before Star Wars returned to the top spot the following week.

October 9 - On Our Own tv show debuts on CBS.

October 12 – Dorothy Davenport, actress, dies. (b. 1895)

October 14 – Bing Crosby, singer and actor, dies. (b. 1903)

October 14 – Anita Bryant is famously pied by four gay rights activists during a press conference in Des Moines, Iowa. This event resulted from her anti-gay activism.

October 14 - Starship Invasions movie premieres.

October 18 – Reggie Jackson hits three home runs to lead the New York Yankees to victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series in six games.

October 19 - Equus movie premieres.

October 20 – Three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd killed in plane crash:
Ronnie Van Zant, lead singer (b. 1948)
Cassie Gaines, lead singer (b. 1948)
Steve Gaines, lead singer and guitarist (b. 1949)

October 23 - Paleontologists make a discovery that pushes back the timeline for Earth's earliest life. They find 3.4 to 3.5-billion-year-old single-celled fossils in African chert rocks. 

October 27 - James at 15 debuts on NBC.

1977 Ford Ranchero:

Speed Burners toy (released 1977):

McDonald's Happy Meal was created in October 1977.

Star Wars comic for October:

Playboy playmate of the month, Kristine Winder, and Playgirl man for October, Richard Burke Davis:

Nielsen top 10 shows for the week ending Oct 16th:  1 World Series Game 2;  2 World Series Game 1; 3 World Series Game 3; 4 Three's Company; 5 All in the Family; 6 Big Event "Good Old Days"; 7 White Line Fever (NBC Sunday Movie); 8 60 Minutes; 9 What's Happening; 10 Big Event "79 Park Avenue"

Albums released in October (album / artist):
Waitin' for the Night / The Runaways
Elvis in Concert / Elvis Presley
Out of the Blue / Electric Light Orchestra
Midnight Wind / The Charlie Daniels Band
Goin' Places / The Jacksons
Send It / Ashford and Simpson
Point of Know Return / Kansas
Heroes / David Bowie
Street Survivors / Lynyrd Skynyrd
Bat Out of Hell / Meat Loaf
Seconds Out / Genesis
Once Upon a Time / Donna Summer
Watermark / Art Garfunkel
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols / Sex Pistols
News of the World / Queen
Here You Come Again / Dolly Parton

McCall's magazine for October:

New Yorker magazine for October 3rd:

Soap Opera Digest magazine for October:

'The Silmarillion' by J.R.R. Tolkien moves to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list.

Charles Schultz Peanuts comic strip from October 1977:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in October 1977, check out this really good site:  ultimate70s.com