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| Year | Name / Event | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 02-03-1977 | Libya | Libya becomes the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as the General People's Congress adopted the "Declaration on the Establishment of the Authority of the People". |
| 02-12-1977 | Tupolev Tu-154 | A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes near Benghazi, Libya, killing 59. |
| 03-01-1977 | Apple Inc. | Apple Computer is incorporated. |
| 03-08-1977 | Tandy Corporation | Tandy Corporation announces the TRS-80, one of the world's first mass-produced personal computers. |
| 04-02-1977 | Chicago Transit Authority | A Chicago Transit Authority elevated train rear-ends another and derails, killing 11 and injuring 180, the worst accident in the agency's history. |
| 04-03-1977 | 1977 Vrancea earthquake | The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in eastern and southern Europe kills more than 1,500, mostly in Bucharest, Romania. |
| 04-04-1977 | Southern Airways Flight 242 | Southern Airways Flight 242 crashes in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia, killing 72. |
| 04-06-1977 | JVC | JVC introduces its VHS videotape at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago. It will eventually prevail against Sony's rival Betamax system in a format war to become the predominant home video medium. |
| 04-07-1977 | George Jackson Brigade | The George Jackson Brigade plants a bomb at the main power substation for the Washington state capitol in Olympia, in solidarity with a prison strike at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary Intensive Security Unit. |
| 04-08-1977 | President of the United States | U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy. |
| 04-09-1977 | Golden Dragon massacre | The Golden Dragon massacre takes place in San Francisco. |
| 04-12-1977 | Jean-Bédel Bokassa | Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, crowns himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire. |
| 04-12-1977 | Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 | Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjong Kupang, Johor, killing 100. |
| 05-04-1977 | Supreme Court of the United States | The US Supreme Court rules that congressional legislation that diminished the size of the Sioux people's reservation thereby destroyed the tribe's jurisdictional authority over the area in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip. |
| 05-07-1977 | Pakistan Armed Forces | The Pakistan Armed Forces under Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq seize power in Operation Fair Play and begin 11 years of martial law. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown. |
| 05-09-1977 | Voyager program | Voyager Program: NASA launches the Voyager 1 spacecraft. |
| 05-12-1977 | Egypt | Egypt breaks diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq and South Yemen in retaliation to preventing President Anwar el‐Sadat from pursuing negotiations with Israel at the Tripoli confer. |
| 06-10-1977 | Mikoyan MiG-29 | The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-29, designated 9-01, makes its maiden flight. |
| 06-11-1977 | Kelly Barnes Dam | The Kelly Barnes Dam, located above Toccoa Falls College near Toccoa, Georgia, fails, killing 39. |
| 06-12-1977 | Bophuthatswana | South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country. |
| 07-04-1977 | Siegfried Buback | German Federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by two Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light. |
| 07-06-1977 | Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II | Five hundred million people watch the high day of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II begin on television. |
| 07-09-1977 | Torrijos–Carter Treaties | The Torrijos–Carter Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The United States agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century. |
| 07-09-1977 | CKVR-DT | The 300-metre-tall CKVR-DT transmission tower in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, is hit by a light aircraft in a fog, causing it to collapse. All aboard the aircraft are killed. |
| 07-10-1977 | 1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union | The Fourth Soviet Constitution is adopted. |
| 08-01-1977 | 1977 Moscow bombings | Three bombs explode in Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. |
| 08-11-1977 | Manolis Andronikos | Manolis Andronikos, a Greek archaeologist and professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina. |
| 09-03-1977 | 1977 Washington, D.C., attack and hostage taking | The Hanafi Siege: In a 39-hour standoff, armed Hanafi Muslims seize three Washington, D.C., buildings. |
| 09-07-1977 | Military dictatorship of Chile | The Pinochet dictatorship in Chile organises the youth event of Acto de Chacarillas, a ritualised act reminiscent of Francoist Spain. |
| 10-03-1977 | Rings of Uranus | Astronomers discover the rings of Uranus. |
| 10-06-1977 | James Earl Ray | James Earl Ray escapes from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee. He is recaptured three days later. |
| 10-08-1977 | Yonkers, New York | In Yonkers, New York, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam") is arrested for a series of killings in the New York City area over the period of one year. |
| 10-09-1977 | Hamida Djandoubi | Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by guillotine in France. |
| 11-03-1977 | 1977 Washington, D.C., attack and hostage taking | The 1977 Hanafi Siege: Around 150 hostages held in Washington, D.C., by Hanafi Muslims are set free after ambassadors from three Islamic nations join negotiations. |
| 11-04-1977 | London Transport Executive (GLC) | London Transport's Silver Jubilee AEC Routemaster buses are launched. |
| 11-07-1977 | Martin Luther King Jr. | Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated in 1968, is posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. |
| 11-11-1977 | Iri station explosion | A munitions explosion at a train station in Iri, South Korea kills at least 56 people. |
| 12-08-1977 | Approach and Landing Tests | The first free flight of the Space Shuttle Enterprise. |
| 12-08-1977 | 1977 anti-Tamil pogrom | The Sri Lanka Riots: Targeting the minority Sri Lankan Tamils, begin, less than a month after the United National Party came to power. Over 300 Tamils are killed. |
| 12-09-1977 | Internal resistance to apartheid | South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko dies in police custody. |
| 12-10-1977 | Hua Guofeng | Hua Guofeng succeeds Mao Zedong as paramount leader of China. |
| 12-11-1977 | France | France conducts the Oreste nuclear test as 14th in the group of 29, 1975–78 French nuclear tests series. |
| 13-01-1977 | Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045 | Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045, a Douglas DC-8 jet, crashes onto the runway during takeoff from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, killing five. |
| 13-06-1977 | Martin Luther King Jr. | Convicted Martin Luther King Jr. assassin James Earl Ray is recaptured after escaping from prison three days before. |
| 13-07-1977 | Somalia | Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ogaden War. |
| 13-07-1977 | History of New York City (1946–1977) | New York City: Amidst a period of financial and social turmoil experiences an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and looting. |
| 13-08-1977 | National Front (UK) | Members of the British National Front (NF) clash with anti-NF demonstrators in Lewisham, London, resulting in 214 arrests and at least 111 injuries. |
| 13-10-1977 | Lufthansa Flight 181 | Hijacking of Lufthansa Flight 181 by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. |
| 13-12-1977 | Air Indiana Flight 216 | Air Indiana Flight 216 crashes near Evansville Regional Airport, killing 29, including the University of Evansville basketball team, support staff, and boosters of the team. |
| 14-05-1977 | Dan-Air | A Dan-Air Boeing 707 leased to IAS Cargo Airlines crashes on approach to Lusaka International Airport in Lusaka, Zambia, killing six people. |
| 14-11-1977 | House of Commons of the United Kingdom | During a British House of Commons debate, Labour MP Tam Dalyell poses what would become known as the West Lothian question, referring to issues related to devolution in the United Kingdom. |
| 15-01-1977 | Linjeflyg Flight 618 | Linjeflyg Flight 618 crashes in Kälvesta near Stockholm Bromma Airport in Stockholm, Sweden, killing 22 people. |
| 15-06-1977 | Francisco Franco | After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, the first democratic elections take place in Spain. |
| 15-08-1977 | Ohio State University Radio Observatory | The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project. |
| 16-03-1977 | Kamal Jumblatt | Assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War. |
| 16-06-1977 | Oracle Corporation | Oracle Corporation is incorporated in Redwood Shores, California, as Software Development Laboratories (SDL), by Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates. |
| 17-01-1977 | Capital punishment in the United States | Capital punishment in the United States resumes after a ten-year hiatus, as convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad in Utah. |
| 17-05-1977 | Nolan Bushnell | Nolan Bushnell opened the first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (later renamed Chuck E. Cheese) in San Jose, California. |
| 17-08-1977 | Arktika (1972 icebreaker) | The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole. |
| 17-10-1977 | Lufthansa Flight 181 | The hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu. The remaining hostages are later rescued. |
| 18-01-1977 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announce they have identified a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires' disease. |
| 18-01-1977 | Granville rail disaster | Australia's worst rail disaster occurs at Granville, Sydney, killing 83. |
| 18-01-1977 | Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia | SFR Yugoslavia's Prime minister, Džemal Bijedić, his wife and six others are killed in a plane crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina. |
| 18-02-1977 | Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm fire | The Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm fire started during Chinese New Year when a firecracker ignited memorial wreaths of the late Mao Zedong, killing 694 personnel. It remains the deadliest fireworks accident in the world. |
| 18-02-1977 | Kalakuta Republic | A thousand armed soldiers raid Kalakuta Republic, the commune of Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, leading to the death of Funmilayo Anikulapo Kuti. |
| 18-02-1977 | Space Shuttle Enterprise | The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden "flight" on top of a Boeing 747. |
| 18-05-1977 | Likud | Likud party wins the 1977 Israeli legislative election, with Menachem Begin, its founder, as the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. |
| 18-08-1977 | Steve Biko | Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under Terrorism Act No. 83 of 1967 in King William's Town, South Africa. He later dies from injuries sustained during this arrest, bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies. |
| 18-09-1977 | Voyager 1 | Voyager I takes the first distant photograph of the Earth and the Moon together. |
| 18-10-1977 | German Autumn | German Autumn: A set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is murdered and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide. |
| 18-12-1977 | United Airlines Flight 2860 | United Airlines Flight 2860 crashes near Kaysville, Utah, killing all three crew members on board. |
| 18-12-1977 | SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 | SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730 crashes near Madeira Airport in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, killing 36. |
| 19-01-1977 | Gerald Ford | President Gerald Ford pardons Iva Toguri D'Aquino (a.k.a. "Tokyo Rose"). |
| 19-07-1977 | Global Positioning System | The world's first Global Positioning System (GPS) signal was transmitted from Navigation Technology Satellite 2 (NTS-2) and received at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at 12:41 a.m. Eastern time (ET). |
| 19-11-1977 | TAP Flight 425 | TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 crashes in the Madeira Islands, killing 131. |
| 19-12-1977 | 1977 Bob–Tangol earthquake | The Ms 5.8 Bob–Tangol earthquake strikes Kerman Province in Iran, destroying villages and killing 665 people. |
| 20-07-1977 | Central Intelligence Agency | The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind-control experiments. |
| 20-07-1977 | Johnstown flood of 1977 | The Johnstown flood of 1977 kills 84 people and causes millions of dollars in damages. |
| 20-07-1977 | Aeroflot Flight B-2 | Aeroflot Flight B-2 crashes after takeoff from Vitim Airport in the Sakha Republic, killing 39. |
| 20-08-1977 | Voyager program | Voyager program: NASA launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft. |
| 20-09-1977 | Vietnam | Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations. |
| 20-10-1977 | Lynyrd Skynyrd | A plane carrying the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in woodland in Mississippi, United States. Six people, including three band members, are killed. |
| 20-11-1977 | Egypt | Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement. |
| 20-12-1977 | State Council of China | With the approval of the State Council, China’s two largest newspapers, the People’s Daily and the Guangming Daily, publish in full for the first time the Second Chinese Character Simplification Scheme. |
| 21-04-1977 | Annie (musical) | Annie opens on Broadway. |
| 21-07-1977 | Egyptian–Libyan War | The start of the four-day-long Libyan–Egyptian War. |
| 21-11-1977 | Minister of Internal Affairs (New Zealand) | Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet announces that the national anthems of New Zealand shall be the traditional anthem "God Save the Queen" and "God Defend New Zealand". |
| 22-04-1977 | Optical fiber | Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic. |
| 22-07-1977 | Deng Xiaoping | Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping is restored to power. |
| 23-03-1977 | Nixon interviews | The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) is videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes. |
| 24-01-1977 | 1977 Atocha massacre | The Atocha massacre occurs in Madrid during the Spanish transition to democracy. |
| 24-03-1977 | Morarji Desai | Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister of India, the first Prime Minister not to belong to Indian National Congress. |
| 24-07-1977 | Egyptian–Libyan War | End of a four-day-long Libyan–Egyptian War. |
| 25-05-1977 | Star Wars (film) | Star Wars (retroactively titled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is released in US theaters. |
| 25-05-1977 | William Shakespeare | The Chinese government removes a decade-old ban on William Shakespeare's work, effectively ending the Cultural Revolution started in 1966. |
| 25-09-1977 | Chicago Marathon | About 4,200 people take part in the first running of the Chicago Marathon. |
| 25-11-1977 | Ninoy Aquino | Former Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., is found guilty by the Philippine Military Commission No. 2 and is sentenced to death by firing squad. He is later assassinated in 1983. |
| 25-12-1977 | Menachem Begin | Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with its president Anwar Sadat. |
| 26-06-1977 | Elvis Presley | Elvis Presley holds what will prove to be his final concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana. |
| 26-07-1977 | Quebec | The National Assembly of Quebec imposes the use of French as the official language of the provincial government. |
| 26-08-1977 | Charter of the French Language | The Charter of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec. |
| 26-10-1977 | Ali Maow Maalin | Ali Maow Maalin, the last natural case of smallpox, develops a rash in Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date to be the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination. |
| 26-11-1977 | Southern Television broadcast interruption | An unidentified hijacker named Vrillon, claiming to be the representative of the "Ashtar Galactic Command", takes over Britain's Southern Television for six minutes, starting at 5:12 pm. |
| 27-03-1977 | Tenerife airport disaster | Tenerife airport disaster: Two Boeing 747 airliners collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 (all 248 on KLM and 335 on Pan Am). Sixty-one survived on the Pan Am flight. This is the deadliest aviation accident in history. |
| 27-05-1977 | Aeroflot Flight 331 | A plane crash at José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba, kills 67. |
| 27-06-1977 | Djibouti | France grants independence to Djibouti. |
| 27-06-1977 | World constitution | Constitution for the Federation of Earth was adopted by the second session of the World Constituent Assembly, held at Innsbruck, Austria. |
| 27-09-1977 | Japan Air Lines Flight 715 | Japan Airlines Flight 715 crashes on approach to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Malaysia, killing 34 of the 79 people on board. |
| 28-01-1977 | Blizzard of 1977 | The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, which dumps 3 metres (10 ft) of snow in one day in Upstate New York. Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas are most affected. |
| 28-04-1977 | Red Army Faction | The Red Army Faction trial ends, with Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe found guilty of four counts of murder and more than 30 counts of attempted murder. |
| 28-05-1977 | Beverly Hills Supper Club fire | The Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, is engulfed by fire, killing 165 people inside. |
| 30-06-1977 | Southeast Asia Treaty Organization | The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands. |
| 31-05-1977 | Trans-Alaska Pipeline System | The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed. |
