At A Glance

17 December 1977 at a glance

Day of the week
17 December 1977 was a Saturday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “You Light Up My Life” by Debby Boone.
Top Film of 1977
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1977 was Star Wars.
Bestselling Novel of 1977
“The Silmarillion” by J. R. R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1977.
Top-Rated TV Show
“Laverne & Shirley” (ABC) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1977–78 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 17 December is Sagittarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 17 December 1977 fell in the Year of the Snake.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 17 December 1977 was First Quarter.

On this day: 17 December

  • 1957 The United States successfully launches the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
  • 1960 Troops loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia crush the coup that began December 13, returning power to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.
  • 1969 Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs.
  • 1989 Fernando Collor de Mello defeats Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election, becoming the first democratically elected President in almost 30 years.
  • 2002 Second Congo War: The Congolese parties of the Inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord which makes provision for transitional governance and legislative and presidential elections within two years.

Famous people born on December 17

  • Sarah Paulson, American actress (born 1974)
  • Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-American actress (born 1975)
  • Bill Pullman, American actor (born 1953)
  • Pope Francis, Argentinian Pope of the Catholic Church (1936–2025)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1977 in the United States

A selection from Wikipedia's '1977 in the United States'. Not a complete list.

  • January 9 – Rock band Toto is founded by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro in Van Nuys, Los Angeles.
  • February 4 – Fleetwood Mac's Grammy Award-winning album Rumours is released.
  • March 15 – Tenor Luciano Pavarotti and the PBS opera series Live from the Met both make their American television debuts. Pavarotti stars in a complete production of Puccini's La Boheme. Also debuting is the ABC sitcom Three's Company.
More events of 1977 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in the US in 1977

President

Jimmy Carter

Gas (per gallon)

$0.62

Loaf of Bread

$0.37

Average House

$48,800

Weekly Wage

$218

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Famous Faces Born in the 1970s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Keri Russell23 March 1976ActressView their day →Tupac Shakur16 June 1971Rapper & actorView their day →Zoe Saldaña19 June 1978ActressView their day →Christopher Nolan30 July 1970FilmmakerView their day →Jon Bernthal20 September 1976ActorView their day →Jason Sudeikis18 September 1975Actor & comedianView their day →Milo Ventimiglia8 July 1977ActorView their day →Sarah Paulson17 December 1974ActressView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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