- January 30
- 8th (final) part of Roots is most-watched TV entertainment show to date. [1]
- January 31
- In Louisville, Kentucky, USA three buildings and a car are struck by a falling meteorite. [521]
- February 1
- Heavy blizzard in New England claims 100 lives. [1]
- February 4
- Elevated train jumps track, crashes onto Chicago street (11 die, 200 hurt). [1]
- February 5
- General Mills Adventure Theater premieres on CBS radio. [1]
- February 8
- Earthquake in San Francisco, California, at 5.0, strongest since 1966. [1]
- February 10
- Yehonathan Netanyou Lane in the Bronx, New York, named in honor of Bronx-born Israeli soldier who died freeing hostages in Entebbe Raid (1976). [1]
- February 19
- 19th Grammy Awards: "This Masquerade", Starland Vocal Band. [1]
- February 24
- US President Jimmy Carter announces US foreign aid will consider human rights. [1]
- February 25
- The Liberian-registered Hawaiian Patriot oil tanker catches fire in the Northern Pacific west of Honolulu, Hawaii, spilling 115 million litres of oil. [1] [522]
- February 28
- First killer whale born in captivity (Marineland, Los Angeles, California). [1]
- March 1
- Bank of America adopts the name VISA for their credit cards. [1]
- US extends territorial waters to 200 miles. [1]
- March 2
- Bette Davis receives acting Life Achievement Award. [1]
- March 4
- The first Cray-1 supercomputer is shipped to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico. [1] [5]
- March 7
- Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin meets US President Jimmy Carter. [1]
- March 9
- Admiral Stansfield Turner, US Navy (Retired), becomes 12th director of US Central Intelligence Agency replacing acting director Knoche. [1]
- Hanafi Muslims invade three buildings in Washington DC, siege ends March 11th. [1]
- March 11
- Muslims hold 130 hostages in Washington DC. [1]
- March 15
- US House of Representatives begin 90-day test of televising its sessions. [1]
- Chevrolet general manager Robert Lund drives the 500,000th Corvette, a white Stingray T-Top, off the assembly line in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. [8]
- March 16
- US President Jimmy Carter pleads for Palestinian homeland. [1]
- March 18
- US restricts citizens from visiting Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, and Cambodia. [1]
- Vietnam hands over missing-in-action soldiers to US. [1]
- March 28
- 49th Academy Awards: Rocky, Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway win. [1]
- April 3
- Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's first meeting with US President Jimmy Carter. [1]
- April 5
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- April 7
- Consumer Product Safety Commission bans the flame-retardant chemical "TRIS". [1]
- April 14
- US Supreme Court rules people may refuse to display state motto on car license. [1]
- April 16
- At the West Coast Computer Faire in SanFrancisco, California, Commodore demonstrates the PET 2001 computer, and Apple Computer introduces the Apple II. Both feature a 6502 processor and 4 kB RAM, both targeting the home computer user. The PET is a complete unit, incorporating a monochrome display and cassette storage, whereas the Apple II uses a color TV display and external storage. [4]
- April 26
- New York's famed disco Studio 54 opens. [1]
- April 28
- Christopher Boyce convicted for selling US secrets to the Russians. [1]
- May 4
- The Space Mountain attraction opens in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in California. [6]
- May 8
- David Berkowitz pleads guilty in "Son of Sam" 44-caliber shootings. [1]
- May 16
- Five die as New York Airway helicopter topples on the Pan Am Building in New York City. [1]
- May 18
- A nightclub fire in Cincinnati, Ohio kills 164. [1]
- May 23
- US Supreme Court refuses to hear appeals of Watergate wrong-doers H R Halderman, John Ehrlichman, and John Mitchell. [1]
- May 25
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- 20th Century Fox releases the film Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope to theaters in the USA. (Gross theater receipts: US$461 million in the US, US$800 million worldwide.) [1] [5] [129]
- May 26
- George Willig climbs New York City World Trade Center. [1]
- May 27
- New York City fines George Willig 1 cent for each of 110 stories of the World Trade Center he climbed. [1]
- May 28
- 165 killed in a fire at Beverly Hills Supper Club in Kentucky. [1]
- May 29
- NBC News and Information Service (24 hour news) ends on radio. [1]
- May 31
- Trans-Alaska oil pipeline completed. [1]
- June 2
- New Jersey allows casino gambling in Atlantic City. [1]
- June 4
- Violence during Puerto Rican Day in Chicago, Illinois, kills two. [1]
- June 5
- The Apple II, the first practical personal computer, goes on sale. [1] [5]
- June 6
- Joseph L Howze installed as bishop of Roman Catholic diocese (Mississippi). [1]
- US Supreme Court tosses out automatic death penalty laws. [1]
- June 7
- Anita Bryant leads successful crusade against Miami gay rights law. [1]
- June 10
- Apple Computer ships its first Apple II personal computer. [1] [5]
- James Earl Ray (convicted killer of Martin Luther King Jr.) escapes from prison. [1]
- June 12
- Ground-breaking ceremonies for President Kennedy library. [1]
- June 13
- Convicted assassin James Earl Ray recaptured. [1]
- June 18
- Space Shuttle test model Enterprise carries a crew aloft. [1]
- June 19
- Pope Paul VI makes 19th-century bishop John Neumann first US male saint. [1]
- June 20
- Oil first enters Trans-Alaska pipeline, exits 38 days later at Valdez. [1]
- June 21
- Former White House chief of staff Harry R Haldeman enters prison. [1]
- June 22
- Former Attorney General John Mitchell starts 19 months in Alabama prison. [1]
- June 25
- Former US president Lyndon Johnson denies report he had a cancer during his presidency. [1]
- June 26
- 42 die in fire that inmate causes at Maury County Jail in Columbia, Tennessee. [1]
- June 27
- 5-4 US Supreme Court decision allows lawyers to advertise. [1]
- June 28
- US Supreme Court allows Federal control of Nixon tapes papers. [1]
- June 30
- US President Jimmy Carter cancels B-1A bomber, later "B-1's the B-52". [1]
- US Railway Post Office final train run (New York to Washington DC). [1]
- July 11
- US Medal of Freedom awarded posthumously to Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. [1]
- July 13
- New York City experiences 25-hour black-out. [1]
- July 20
- Flash flood hits Johnstown, Pennsylvania, kills 80 and causing US$350 million damage. [1]
- July 23
- Washington jury convicts 12 Hanafi Muslims on hostage charges. [1]
- July 28
- First oil flow through the length of the Alaska pipeline. [1]
- August 3
- At the Warwick Hotel in New York City, Radio Shack (a division of Tandy Corporation) announces the TRS-80 microcomputer. It features Zilog Z80 processor, 4 kB RAM, 4 kB ROM, keyboard, black-and-white video display, and tape cassette for US$599. (Within one month, 10,000 are sold.) [1] [4]
- August 4
- US President Jimmy Carter establishes Department of Energy. [1]
- August 10
- Postal employee David Berkowitz is arrested in Yonkers, New York, accused of being "Son of Sam" the 44 caliber killer. [1]
- August 12
- Space shuttle Enterprise makes first atmospheric flight. [1] [5]
- September 5
- Voyager 1 (US) satellite launched toward fly-by of Jupiter and Saturn. [1] [5]
- September 7
- US President Jimmy Carter and Panama's Omar Torrijos sign the Panama Canal Treaty for American handover on December 31, 1999. [150.62]
- September 9
- First TRS-80 Model I computer sold. [1]
- September 20
- Voyager 2 launched for fly-by of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. [1]
- September 26
- Sir Freddie Laker begins cut-rate "Skytrain" service, London to New York. [1]
- October 4
- Pier 39 opens in San Francisco, California. [1]
- October 12
- US Supreme Court hears arguments in "reverse discrimination" case of Allan Bakke, white student denied admission to University of California Medical School. [1]
- October 21
- US recalls William Bowdler, ambassador to South Africa. [1]
- October 26
- President Jimmy Carter submits his appointment of Stella Hackell to the position of US Mint Director. [644.14] [703.44]
- Dr Clifford R Wharton Jr named chancellor of State University of New York. [1]
- November 4
- The US Senate confirms Stella B. Hackel as 29th US Mint director. [541.36] [582.60]
- November 6
- 39 killed in an earthen dam burst at Toccoa Falls Bible College, Georgia. [1]
- November 15
- US President Jimmy Carter welcomes Shah of Iran. [1]
- November 21
- First flight of the Concorde from London to New York. [1]
- November 22
- Regular Concorde passenger service between New York and Europe begins. [1]
- November 23
- European weather satellite Meteosat 1 is launched from Cape Canaveral. [1]
- December 13
- Entire University of Evansville basketball team (14 players) die in plane crash. [1]
- December 22
- 36 die as grain elevator at Continental Grain Company plant explodes. [1]
- December 30
- US President Jimmy Carter holds first news conference by US President in Eastern Europe (Warsaw, Poland). [1]
- December 31
- Ted Bundy escapes from jail in Colorado. [1]
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