May 1977

May 1, 1977 (Sunday)

• In Istanbul, 34 people were killed and hundreds injured in the Taksim Square massacre as gunfighting began among some of the 150,000 marchers, followed by a riot that lasted two hours and injured 200 additional people.
• In one of the largest mass arrests in U.S. history, from the largest protest up to that time against the use of nuclear power in the United States for civilian energy needs, 1,414 anti-nuclear activists from the Clamshell Alliance were arrested at the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The prisoners were held in jails and in New Hampshire National Guard armories for up to 12 days, until the remaining 550 demonstrators were released without posting bail because of the cost of their imprisonment.
• The Janata Party was organized in India by four non-Communist political parties that had joined in opposition to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the April elections.
• Died: Albert Plécy, 62, French photojournalist, committed suicide by shooting himself in the head.

  May 2, 1977 (Monday)

• After Argentina and Chile submitted their dispute over ownership of the Beagle Islands for binding arbitration by five World Court judges agreed upon by both nations, the court awarded all three islands to Chile. The agreement notwithstanding, Argentina rejected the order and the two nations prepared to go to war in 1978.
• Voting was held in Indonesia for the 360 elected seats of the 460-member Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat. The Golkar political party won 232 seats, enough for the necessary 231 seats for a majority, and the Partai Persatuan Pembangunan won 99.
• At least 46 people in a poor section of the Indian city of Mumbai died of accidental poisoning, while more than 100 were hospitalized, after drinking homemade liquor.
• Died:
• *Sid Collins, 54, American radio broadcaster known for reporting the annual Indianapolis 500, committed suicide after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, less than four weeks before he had been scheduled to broadcast the 1977 race.
• *Edward N. Cole, 67, President of General Motors Corporation from 1967 to 1974, was killed in the crash of an airplane that he was piloting.

  May 3, 1977 (Tuesday)

• The Unión de Centro Democrático coalition of political parties was established in Spain by Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez in advance of the June 15 parliamentary elections.
• Born: Eric Church, American country music singer; in Granite Falls, North Carolina

  May 4, 1977 (Wednesday)

• U.S. Congressman Richard A. Tonry, a Democrat of Louisiana, resigned only four months after taking office, after having been indicted for receiving illegal campaign funds Tonry declared that he would run as a candidate in a special election to regain his seat, but lost in the Democratic primary on June 25. Tonry would later plead guilty and receive a six-month federal prison sentence becoming known for being the U.S. Representative "who served more time in prison than he did in Congress."
• The first of five installments of the Nixon interviews, with British journalist David Frost asking questions of former U.S. President Richard Nixon, was shown on syndicated television, with 45,000,000 viewers hearing Nixon's answers to questions about the Watergate scandal that had led to Nixon's 1974 resignation. Nixon was paid $600,000 by Frost's production company for the interviews, plus a percentage of profits. The first installment of interviews, shown on independent TV stations, set a record for most viewers of a political interview, with a 50% share of Los Angeles viewers and 47% in New York.
• Former President of Argentina Alejandro A. Lanusse, who had guided the transition from military rule to democracy, was arrested along with the two other members of his three-man junta. A court in Buenos Aires detained Lanusse for questioning about a 1971 contract that his junta had granted to a private firm for the manufacture of aluminum. Detained also were Admiral Pedro Gnavi and Air Force General Carlos Rey, who formed the junta with Army General Lanusse, and former Defense Minister Jose R. Caceres.
• Nikolai V. Podgorny, the Soviet Union's ceremonial head of state as President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, made his last appearance as a Soviet official, appearing at a state dinner for Ethiopia's President Mengistu Haile Mariam, where he declared that the Soviets would provide military and financial support for their new African ally. Podgorny would be removed from the Communist Party Politburo on May 24 and dismissed from his government post on June 16.

  May 5, 1977 (Thursday)

• A U.S. Army veteran of Hispanic descent was killed after being arrested by five officers of the Houston Police Department in Texas, and two HPD members were charged with murder. Terry W. Denson and Stephen Orlando beat Campos severely after arresting him on charges of disorderly conduct outside an East Houston bar, and after taking him to the precinct station for booking, were told to take Campos to a hospital for treatment. Instead, the two officers drove Campo out to a bayou, where he died of drowning. Another of the officers who witnessed the killing informed the chief of police. On October 7, an all-white jury would later convict Denson and Orlando of negligent homicide, and the two men would be placed on one-year's probation and fined one dollar apiece. On October 20, the four policemen were indicted by a federal grand jury for criminal violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Three of the four would be convicted on February 8, 1978, for conspiracy to violate Torres's civil rights, resulting in his death.
• Born: Virginie Efira, Belgian-born French TV actress; in Schaerbeek
• Died: Ludwig Erhard, 80, Chancellor of West Germany, 1963 to 1966

  May 6, 1977 (Friday)

• Elections were held for 85 seats of the 100-seat Parliament of the West African nation of Sierra Leone. The All People's Congress of President Siaka Stevens and Prime Minister Christian Alusine Kamara-Taylor won 70 seats, and the Sierra Leone People's Party won 15. A year later, the APC would become Sierra Leone's only legal political party, although multi-candidate elections would continue to take place. Opposing political parties would not be in an election again until 1996.
• Died: Grey Walter, 67, U.S.-born British neurophysiologist and computer scientist known for creating the first autonomous robots

  May 7, 1977 (Saturday)

• Argentina's Foreign Minister, Vice Admiral Cesar Guzzetti, was shot and critically wounded in an assassination attempt while he was at a Buenos Aires doctor's office for a checkup. The Montoneros guerrilla group took responsibility. Guzetti would survive, but was left quadraplegic and mute. He was replaced on May 27 by Vice Admiral Óscar Antonio Montes.
• U.S. thoroughbred racehorse Seattle Slew won the Kentucky Derby.
• Spain's government legalized the National Confederation of Labor, which had been banned since 1939.
• Celtic F.C. defeated Rangers F.C., 1 to 0, to win the Scottish Cup in soccer football, playing in the rain before 54,252 spectators at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Celtic and Rangers, both of Glagow, had finished first and second, respectively, in the Scottish Premier Division.
• The University of Southern California won the NCAA men's volleyball championship at Los Angeles, defeating Ohio State University in the best 3-of-5 match, 15–7, 9–15, 15–10, 15–12.
• Died: Prince Xavier of Bourbon-Parma, 87, Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain as the grandson of King Carlos IV, who was deposed in 1808. Xavier de Borbon-Parma, whose followers called him King Carlos IX, died in exile in Switzerland. His claim to the throne was assumed by his son, Carlos Hugo, Duke of Parma. The next day, armed police blocked thousands of Carlist pilgrims, opposed to King Juan Carlos I, from traveling to a rally in the Basque region, and Carlos Hugo's wife, Princess Irene of the Netherlands was ordered to leave Spain immediately.

  May 8, 1977 (Sunday)

• Voting was held in the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas on the question of whether the northeast African territory, the last European colony on the continent, should become an independent nation or remain a territory of the French Republic. The vote in favor of independence was 80,864 in favor and only 199 against. The territory would become the Republic of Djibouti 50 days later on June 27, 1977.
• In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Romania, President Nicolae Ceausescu issued a decree of amnesty to more than 28,500 people who were incarcerated. Among those freed was dissident Paul Goma. He and his family would be allowed to leave the country on November 20.
• The Grateful Dead recorded their live concert album Cornell 5/8/77 during the rock group's performance at Barton Hall at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The recording itself would not be released until 40 years later, in 2017.

  May 9, 1977 (Monday)

• A hotel fire killed 33 people and injured 57 others in Amsterdam when the five story Hotel Polen broke out in an elevator shaft. Within 22 minutes, fire had engulfed the wooden building. All but one of the 33 dead were tourists, most of whom were from Sweden.
• Jose Maria Bulto, the president and chairman of the board of the Spanish chemical company SA Cros, was assaulted by two militants of the Catalan terrorist group EPOCA, who strapped a bomb to his chest and threatened to detonate it by remote control if he didn't pay them a ransom of 500 million Spanish pesetas within 24 hours. The EPOCA terrorists allowed him to leave so that he could raise the ransom money, Bulto, afraid to go to a police station, went to his home in the Pedralbes of Barcelona and died while trying to disarm the bomb by himself.
• Born:
• *Marek Jankulovski, Czech footballer and defender with 77 caps for the Czech Republic national team; in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
• *James Riley, American fantasy novelist known for the Story Thieves series, the Revenge of Magic series and the Half Upon a Time trilogy
• Died:
• *James Jones, 55, American novelist known for his 1951 bestseller From Here to Eternity, died of congestive heart failure.
• *Walter Kraft, 71 German organ music composer, died in the fire at the Hotel Posen, where he had been staying as a guest.
• *Harry G. Johnson, 53, Canadian economist, died of a stroke.