Timeline December 1977

Events in December 1977 17

• 1896 – 1977 Howard Hawks (1896-1977) Died 26 December 1977, aged 81 Howard Hawks was an American film director known for classics including Scarface, The Big Sleep, and Rio Bravo. He worked across nearly every genre and was celebrated by critics as one of Hollywood's great studio-era directors.
• 1970 – 1977 Cultural Revolution Exile Spent years during the Cultural Revolution doing manual labour on a farm, raising pigs and planting rice. He was not rehabilitated until 1978, after Mao's death.
• 1973 – 1977 Secretary of State Served as the 56th US Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977, the first naturalised citizen to hold the post. Practised shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
• 1977 Australian Open 1977 — two editions Men: Roscoe Tanner (Jan) & Vitas Gerulaitis (Dec) · Women: Kerry Reid (Jan) & Evonne Goolagong (Dec) Two editions held in 1977 as the tournament transitioned from December to January scheduling.
• 1977 1977: Niki Lauda Ferrari Lauda won his second title, completing a remarkable comeback from his near-fatal 1976 accident. He left Ferrari acrimoniously at the end of the season.
• 1977 Discovery of Split Genes Made the discovery that would reshape biology. Working with adenovirus, Sharp and his team found that a single molecule of messenger RNA corresponded to four separate, discontinuous segments of DNA. This revealed that genes in higher organisms are interrupted by non-coding sequences (introns), which are spliced out before the genetic information is translated into proteins. The discovery overturned the assumption that genes were continuous stretches of DNA.
• 1977 Metropolitan Opera Debut Made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, performing the role of Mimi.
• 1977 Voluntary Admission to Psychiatric Hospital After further suicide attempts, voluntarily checked herself into a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo, where she would live for the rest of her life. She established a studio a short distance from the hospital and was driven there each morning to work. 'If it were not for art,' she later said, 'I would have killed myself a long time ago.'
• 1977 China restores national college entrance exam Gaokao revived after Cultural Revolution suspension China reinstated its national college entrance examination, the gaokao, ending an eleven-year suspension during the Cultural Revolution. Millions of students, including many older applicants who had missed years of schooling, sat the exam that December.
• 1977 Jackson Browne releases Running on Empty Recorded on the road A live album recorded on stage, in hotel rooms and on the bus.
• 1977 Amnesty International wins Nobel Peace Prize Human rights organisation honoured Amnesty International was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1977 in recognition of its campaigns against torture and for the rights of political prisoners worldwide.
• 1977 Saturday Night Fever premieres Disco era defined on screen Saturday Night Fever premiered in New York City on December 12, 1977, starring John Travolta. The film made disco a global phenomenon and its Bee Gees soundtrack became one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time.
• 1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind Spielberg's sci-fi classic opens Close Encounters of the Third Kind, directed by Steven Spielberg, opened in US cinemas on December 16, 1977, grossing $303m worldwide and establishing Spielberg as a leading director.
• 1977 Elvis Costello stops a song on Saturday Night Live Radio Radio Switches to a banned song on live TV — banned from the show for 12 years.
• 1977 – present Emmanuel Macron French president from 2017 Emmanuel Macron became France's youngest president in 2017, championing European integration and liberal democratic values.
• 1977 Begin and Sadat meet in Egypt Middle East peace talks continue Israeli PM Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat met in Ismailia, Egypt on Christmas Day 1977 to continue peace negotiations, building on Sadat's historic visit to Israel in November.
• 1977 Charlie Chaplin dies Silent film legend, age 88 Charlie Chaplin, the most celebrated comedian of the silent film era, died peacefully in his sleep on Christmas Day 1977 at his home in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, aged 88.