January 1979 - China, UNICEF Concert, Brenda Ann Spencer

Don't Freak Out...It's January 1979!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in January 1979 was 'Le Freak' by Chic.

Federal Government
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 (until January 3), 96th (starting January 3)

January 1 – The United States and the People's Republic of China establish full diplomatic relations.

January 1 - Take Down movie premieres.

January 3 – Conrad Hilton, hotelier, dies. (b. 1887)

January 4 – The State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of those who were killed or injured from the Kent State shootings.

January 5 - Billy Bletcher, actor, dies. (b. 1894)

January 8 - All Star Secrets and Password Plus game shows debut on NBC.

January 9 – The Music for UNICEF concert is held at the United Nations General Assembly to raise money for UNICEF and promote the Year of the Child. It is broadcast the following day in the United States and around the world. Hosted by The Bee Gees, other performers included Donna Summer, ABBA, Rod Stewart and Earth, Wind and Fire.

January 11 – Jack Soo, actor, dies. (b. 1917)

January 16 – Ted Cassidy, actor, dies. (b. 1932)

January 18 - Delta House tv series debuts on ABC.

January 19 – Former U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell is released on parole after 19 months at a federal prison in Alabama for multiple crimes he committed in the Watergate affair.

January 19 - President Jimmy Carter announces that he is awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead.

January 20 - Salvage 1 tv series debuts on ABC.

January 21 - Brothers and Sisters tv series debuts on NBC.

January 21 – Super Bowl XIII: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Dallas Cowboys 35–31 at the Miami Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.  Here's a good highlights video from YouTube:

Super Bowl XIII Highlights

January 26 – Nelson Rockefeller, 41st Vice President of the United States, dies. (b. 1908)

January 26 - Hello, Larry, Sweepstakes and Turnabout debut on NBC.  The Dukes of Hazzard debuts on CBS.

January 26 - Richard Pryor: Live in Concert movie premieres.

January 28 - CBS News Sunday Morning debuts.

January 29 – Brenda Ann Spencer opens fire at a school in San Diego, California, killing two faculty members and wounding eight students.

Star Wars action figure released in 1979:

1979 Cadillac Seville:

X-Men comic for January:

Playboy playmate of the month, Candy Loving, and Playgirl man for January, Jesse Cutler:

Albums released in January (album / artist):
Feets, Don't Fail Me Now / Herbie Hancock
Look Sharp! / Joe Jackson
Lovedrive / Scorpions
Sleep Dirt / Frank Zappa
We Are Family / Sister Sledge
Take Me Home / Cher
Bustin' Out of L Seven / Rick James
Valley of the Dolls / Generation X

Top 15 Nielsen shows for the week ending January 14th: 1 Mork and Mindy ABC; 2 Laverne and Shirley ABC; 3 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders ABC; 4 Three's Company ABC; 5 Happy Days ABC; 6 60 Minutes CBS; 7 What's Happening ABC; 8 M•A•S•H CBS; 9 Alice CBS; 10 All in the Family CBS; 11 Little House on the Prairie NBC; 12 Barney Miller ABC; 13 Charlie Brown CBS; 14 Taxi ABC; 15 CHiPs NBC.

Christopher Street magazine for January:

Cracked magazine for January:

Good Housekeeping for January:

Garfield comic strip from January 1979:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in January 1979, check out this really good site:  ultimate70s.com

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

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

January 1977 - Apple, Super Bowl, Jimmy Carter

Get Your Car Washed, it's January 1977!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in January 1977 was 'Car Wash' by Rose Royce.

1977 Federal Government

President: Gerald Ford (R-Michigan) (until January 20), Jimmy Carter (D-Georgia) (starting January 20)

Vice President: Nelson Rockefeller (R-New York) (until January 20), Walter Mondale (D-Minnesota) (starting January 20)

Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger (Minnesota)

Speaker of the House of Representatives: Carl Albert (D-Oklahoma) (until January 3), Tip O'Neill (D-Massachusetts) (starting January 4)

Senate Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield (D-Montana) (until January 3), Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) (starting January 3)

Congress: 94th (until January 3), 95th (starting January 3)

January 3 – Apple Computer is incorporated.

January 3 - Lovers and Friends and Shoot for the Stars tv shows premiere on NBC.

January 3 - Holly Hallstrom becomes the third model on the CBS game show The Price Is Right along with Janice Pennington and Dian Parkinson. 

January 6 – William Gropper, American artist, dies. (b. 1897)

January 7  - The Sentinel movie premieres.

January 9 – Super Bowl XI: The Oakland Raiders defeat the Minnesota Vikings 32–14 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.  Here's a nice recap of the game from YouTube:  

Super Bowl XI Highlights

January 10 - Circus of the Stars tv special premieres on CBS.

January 14 – Peter Finch, English-born actor, dies. (b. 1916)

January 15 - Bill Murray joins the cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live, replacing Chevy Chase.

January 17 – In the first execution after the reintroduction of the death penalty in the United States, Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad in Utah.

January 17 - Busting Loose tv series premieres on CBS.  The New Mickey Mouse Club premieres in syndication.

January 18 - Pumping Iron movie premieres.

January 19 - Snow falls in Miami, Florida for the first time in its history. 

January 19 - President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (aka “Tokyo Rose”).  During September 1945 Iva, a Japanese-American disc jockey for a propagandist radio program in Japan, attempted to return to the United States.  She was accused of being the "real" Tokyo Rose, arrested, tried, and became the seventh person in U.S. history to be convicted of treason. She was eventually paroled from prison in 1956.  

January 20 – Jimmy Carter is sworn in as the 39th President of the United States.

January 21 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter pardons Vietnam War draft evaders.

January 23 – Roots begins its successful run on ABC.

January 23 – Toots Shor, restaurant proprietor, dies. (b. 1903)

January 25 - Providence movie premieres.

January 28 – The Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 hits Buffalo, New York.

January 28 - The Late Show movie premieres.

January 29 – Freddie Prinze, actor and comedian, dies. (b. 1954)

January 30 - The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries tv series premieres on ABC.

January 31 - Andros Targets premieres on CBS.

The contiguous US average monthly minimum temperature of 12.52 °F or −10.82 °C for January is the coldest for any month since nationwide records were first compiled in 1895.

1977 Lincoln Continental:

Playboy playmate of the month, Susan Lynn Kiger, and Playgirl man for January, Tom Gagen:

Albums released in January (Album / Artist):

Flight Log / Jefferson Airplane

Hard Again / Muddy Waters

Leave Home / Ramones

Ahh... The Name Is Bootsy, Baby! / Bootsy's Rubber Band

Low / David Bowie

Deep in My Soul / Smokey Robinson

An Evening with Diana Ross / Diana Ross

Playing the Fool / Gentle Giant

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes / Jimmy Buffett

So So Satisfied / Ashford and Simpson

Animals / Pink Floyd

Spiral Scratch / Buzzcocks

The Nielsen top 10 programs for the week ending January 16th: Little Ladies of the Night, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Six Million Dollar Man all ABC; M.A.S.H. CBS; Charlie's Angels,  Fantasy Island,  and ABC's Friday movie ABC; One Day at a Time CBS; Little House on the Prairie NBC; and 60 Minutes CBS. 

Ms. Marvel comic for January:

Rona Barrett's Hollywood magazine for January:

Seventeen magazine for January:

Time magazine for January 24, 1977:

Big Deal game (released 1977):

Peanuts comic strip from January 1977:

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

ultimate70s.com