Major Stories

January 17: Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore becomes the first person executed in the United States since 1967.

January 19: Gerald Ford pardons Tokyo Rose on the last day of his presidency.

January 20: Jimmy Carter is inaugurated as president of the U.S.

January 21: In his first major act as president, Jimmy Carter signs an unconditional pardon covering more Vietnam draft evaders.

January 23-30: ABC televises the "Roots" miniseries over eight days. Over 100 million watched the concluding episode.

March 24: Moraji Desai succeeds Indira Gandhi as prime minister of India.

March 27: A Dutch KLM 747 collides on takeoff with a Pan Am 747 at the Tenerife airport in the Canary Islands. 581 are killed in what remains the worst aviation accident in history.

June 15: The first free elections since 1936 are held in Spain.

June 20: The Alaska Pipeline opens.

August 4: The Department of Energy is created by an Act of Congress signed into law by President Carter.

August 16: Elvis Presley dies at age 42 of a heart attack at his home in Memphis, Tennessee. 

October 4: Watergate Judge John J. Sirica reduces the prison sentences of Nixon henchmen H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and John Mitchell.

November 19-21: Egypt's Anwar Sadat upset many in the Arab world by becoming the first Arab leader to visit Israel.

December 5: Five Arab nations end diplomatic relations with Egypt over Sadat's Israel visit.