1977

1977 was the 106th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

• April 4: 22 people died during the 1977 Smithfield tornado, which also destroyed much of the Daniel Payne College campus, forcing it to close.
• July 24: 3 miners were killed in the 1977 Chetopa Mine explosion.
• September: The Red Mountain Museum opened to the public.
• November 22: The Birmingham Genealogical Society received tax-exempt status.
• Robert Chambliss was convicted of murder for the 1963 church bombing.
• Eddie Aldridge purchased the land that he later opened to the public as Aldridge Gardens.
• Birmingham voters approved a $3.3 million bond issue for the preservation of Sloss Furnaces as a historic site.
• In the 1977 Birmingham City Council election Bessie Estelle, Nina Miglionico, and E. C. Overton won re-election to four-year terms. John Katopodis and Larry Langford were elected to two-year terms. Bud Hendricks ran unsuccessfully.
• Anne G. Miller founded the Alabama Wildlife Center.
• The Birmingham Oktoberfest was organized by Freunde Deutscher Sprache und Kultur.
• Cabaret group Wit's Other End was founded at Oaks Street's Brandy Room on Morris Avenue.
• The Ruffner Mountain Nature Coalition acquired a 24-acre mountainside parcel in South East Lake which later became the Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve.
• The Gospel Harmonettes performed together for the last time.
• The North Birmingham Church of God purchased a 7-acre lot on Tarrant Road in Gardendale.
• Gateway changed its name to Family and Child Services.
• Garywood Assembly of God began holding an annual Easter Drama.
• Richard Arrington, Jr founded the Jefferson County Citizens Coalition.
• Gay rights group Lambda was founded.
• The William Given residence was one of the stops on a tour of historic homes in Forest Park.
• James Woodward became a full professor at UAB.
• An arson and burglary necessitated extensive repairs to the Ensley Library.

Business

• Scott Green opened Scott's Koneys on 20th Street South.
• Dan L. Hendley became president of First National Bank of Birmingham.
• E. A. Gregory sold the Parliament House to Palmer G. O'Barr.
• Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q moved to its present location on Bessemer Road.
• The Pasquale's Pizza & Pasta chain peaked at 244 locations.
• Aubrey Garrison served a 1-year term as president of AIA Birmingham.
• Peoples Bank of North Alabama was founded.
• Harold Ruttenberg opened his first shoe store at Century Plaza.
• Edgewood Frame Shop moved to 1003 Oxmoor Road.
• The Coffee Shoppe opened on Hollywood Boulevard.
• WKXX-FM ("Kicks 106") was launched as a rival Top-40 station to WERC-AM and WSGN-AM.
• Shihan Oyama opened the New Tokyo restaurant on Highland Avenue.
• Colonial Stores was sold to Grand Union.
• Rick Little bought his first grocery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• The Wheel-A-Wave skate park opened.
• Drummond Company secured a majority interest in Alabama Byproducts Corporation.
• Strong Automotive Merchandising was founded by Mike Strong.
• Fob James sold his Diversified Products, Inc. to the Liggett Group.
• The Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce was founded.
• Larry Striplin, Jr founded American Fine Wire in Selma.
• Bill King began working for the Regional Poison Control Center.
• Sarah Cole Brown retired as Chief Librarian and Director of the Lister Hill Library. Nancy Clemmons took her place as acting director.
• Porter, White & Company was hired by Richard Arrington, Jr to serve as financial advisors to the city of Birmingham.

Sports

• Alabama won the 1977 Iron Bowl 48-21.
• The Auburn Tigers football team finished the season at 5-6 (later changed to 6-5 after forfeit by Mississippi State)
• Jacksonville State University won the Division II National Championship in football.
• Black players for the Alabama Vulcans were housed at the A. G. Gaston Motel.
• Buddy Aydelette began playing football for the Alabama Crimson Tide.
• Jack Baker played his final season for the Boston Red Sox.
• Bob Baumhower was drafted by the Miami Dolphins with the 40th overall pick in the 1977 NFL draft.
• Neil Bonnett earned his first NASCAR victory at the Capital City 400 in Richmond, Virginia.
• T. R. Dunn was selected in the 2nd round of the 1977 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.
• Vince Gibson took his Louisville Cardinals football team to the Independence Bowl.
• Hubert Green won the U. S. Open golf tournament at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• Elbert Jemison won the Alabama State Senior Amateur golf title.
• Johnny Musso played his final season for the Chicago Bears.
• Joe Namath signed with the L. A. Rams.
• Jerry Pate won the Phoenix Open and Southern Open on the PGA Tour.
• Jackie Sherrill became head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh.
• Steve Sloan left Texas Tech to coach the University of Mississippi football team.

Works

• Saturday Night Fever, feature film directed by John Badham
• Pumping Iron, documentary feature co-written by Charles Gaines
• Luxury Liner, album by Emmylou Harris
• "You'll Love Again", single by Hotel

Publications

• Downtown Birmingham: Architectural and Historical Walking Tour Guide by Marjorie Longenecker White
• The Birmingham Historical Society began publishing a quarterly Journal

Buildings

• Calera High School
• Hoover Twin Cinema
• Red Mountain Museum

People

• Robert Vance was appointed to the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals by President Jimmy Carter.
• Howard Cruse became an art director for Starlog magazine.
• Dennis Edwards was fired from The Temptations.
• Jack Farr succeeded Edna Snow as principal of Edgewood Elementary School.
• Poet Sonia Sanchez accepted a Presidential Fellowship to teach at Temple University in Philadelphia.
• Astronaut Hank Hartsfield retired from the United States Air Force.
• Jim Jeffrey began coaching and Vestavia Hills High School.
• Richard North Patterson became writer-in-residence at UAB.
• Jan Willis became a visiting professors at Wesleyan University.
• J. Frank Alexander succeeded John McQueen as pastor of South Highland Presbyterian Church.
• Robert W. Carter became an Adamsville Police Officer.
• Ray Reach worked as a graduate assistant for the jazz program at the University of Alabama.
• Jerry Haynes succeeded Edwin H. Wood as Chief of the Homewood Police Department.
• Joe Bruno retired as CEO of Bruno's.
• David Wright purchased the Canebrake Farm in Calhoun County.
• Marguerite Kinney joined the UAB nursing faculty.
• James Orange left the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to work for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union.
• Robert Chambliss was convicted of the 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church.
• Robert Taylor began working at Five Points Hardware.
• Aubrey Edwards became minister of music at Shades Mountain Baptist Church.
• Howell Heflin stepped down from the Alabama Supreme Court to resume his law practice.

Births

• January 8: Amber Benson, actress
• January 13: Kyle Whitmire, journalist
• February 8: Cyrondys Jackson, radio and television reporter
• February 9: John Lytle Wilson, artist
• March 3: Barret Swatek, actress
• March 12: Gary Wheat, jazz saxophonist
• April 6: Andy Phillips, baseball player
• April 28: Zac Lovoy, restauranteur
• June 4: Jefferey Farrow, firefighter
• July 18: Adalius Thomas, football player
• July 28: Chris Samuels, football player
• August 30: Shaun Alexander, football player
• Daniel Alarcón, novelist
• Ahmad Austin, artist and art instructor
• John Green, author
• Edwin Marty, urban farmer
• Tina Watson, allegedly murdered by her husband while scuba diving in Australia
• Felicia Jackson, Miss Peanut

Graduations

• Andy Andrews graduated from Berry High School.
• Buck Brock earned his bachelor of science at the University of Alabama.
• Charles Cooper graduated first in his class from theUniversity of Alabama School of Law.
• Jo Kittinger graduated from the University of Montevallo.
• Rica Lewis-Payton graduated from Jones Valley High School
• Emily Lyons graduated from UAB with a bachelor of science in nursing.
• Ray Melick earned his journalism degree at the University of Georgia.
• Annie Easley earned a bachelor of science in mathematics at Cleveland State University.

Awards

• A. G. Gaston and Minnie Gaston were the first to be added to the Birmingham Gallery of Distinguished Citizens.
• Frances Carter was named Birmingham Woman of the Year.
• Julie Houston was crowned Miss Alabama.
• Oak Hill Cemetery and Bryce State Mental Hospital were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
• Chris Clark graduated from Ensley High School.
• "Weaving" by Susan Harris Finley was purchased by the Bluff Park Art Association.
• Carl Harper began working for Birmingham Fire & Rescue.
• Reverend John Cross became director of black church relations for the Atlanta Baptist Association.
• Joe Sewell was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• UAB's Richard Whitley and Charles Alford were recognized for their breakthrough work in demonstrating that a virus infection could be successfully treated using intravenous drugs.
• Ralph Adams, John Bloomer, John Caddell, Emory Cunningham, Carl Elliott, Walter Frommeyer, James Galbraith, Thomas Hill, Jr, Robert E. Jones, and Walter Kennedy were inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor

Deaths

• August 18: Chicago businessman Nigel Harlan disappeared from the Sho-Boat Lounge on Morris Avenue and was robbed and murdered.
• August 24: Country singer Happy Wilson died in Nashville, Tennessee.
• August 30: Virginia Simpson was found murdered in her bed at the Theodore Swann residence.
• Birmingham Police officer and Fraternal Order of Police Birmingham Lodge No. 1 president Jack Parker.

See also: List of Birmingham homicides in 1977

Context

In 1977 Apple Computer was incorporated. President Ford pardoned Tokyo Rose before he was succeeded by Jimmy Carter. Snow fell in Miami, Florida for the only time in recorded history. Roots aired on ABC. The New Zealand and Australian parliaments were established. The Toronto Blue Jays debuted. Star Wars opened in cinemas. James Earl Ray briefly escaped prison in Tennessee. Spain held its first democratic elections in decades. New York City experienced a 25-hour blackout. The Yankees won the World Series, helped by Reggie Jackson's 3 home runs in the final game. Three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a plane crash. Ram Jam scored a hit with their remake of Leadbelly's "Black Betty"

Notable 1977 births include actors Dustin Diamond, Orlando Bloom and Liv Tyler; athletes Tom Brady and Randy Moss; rappers Ludacris and Kanye West; and singer Fiona Apple. Deaths in 1977 included those of Anaïs Nin, Charlie Chaplin, Groucho and Gummo Marx, Wernher von Braun, Vladimir Nabakov, Elvis Presley, Leopold Stokowski, Maria Callas, and Bing Crosby.

Top-grossing films were Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Rescuers, Saturday Night Fever, The Goodbye Girl, Oh, God!, The Deep, Smokey and the Bandit, The Spy Who Loved Me and Semi-Tough. Annie Hall swept the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress.

Hit singles included the Eagles' "Hotel California", Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night", and Mannfred Mann's "Blinded by the Light". Eight is Enough, CHiPs and The Love Boat premiered on network television.

1970s

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