On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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ed on arms limitation mission in Moscow of Sec Vance and Dir Paul Warnke and on Carter statement he aims for 'actual reductions, for a change'
NYS Health Dept to block almost all hosp improvement and modernization projects in NYC until voluntary and munic hosps agree to reduce number of beds; dept officials contend there are 5,000 excess hosp beds; hosp officials are angry that state intends to block projects initially approved; State Hosp Rev and Planning Council to hear testimony Mar 29 from 4 hosps seeking project reapproval; 4 listed; Deputy State Health Comr for standards and development Dr Glenn E Haughie supports move (M)
Article on Sen Robert C Byrd's 1st 3 mos as Majority Leader; finds him very efficient, with style more forceful than his predecessor Mike Mansfield, but less punitive than another predecessor, Lyndon B Johnson; recalls his pol career, which has been built upon accommodations, small favors and courtesies; notes respect with which he is treated by colleagues; his illus (L)
Article on dilemma facing Rhodesian blacks serving in Govt's army and police; illus (L)
attempted mil coup ends with ordering into exile of rebel leaders and reaffirmation by ruling mul junta that it is continuing to lead Thailand; coup is foiled after all-day confrontation in downtown Bangkok; only known casualty is Gen Arun Thavathasin; 5 will be allowed to leave country in return for releasing hostages Gen Pralong Virapli and Prasert Thammasiri; leader of attempted coup was Gen Chalard Hiranyasiri; scene in Bangkok described (M)
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of March 23, 1977, covering March 27, 1977.
Eagles
Fleetwood Mac
Barbra Streisand & Kris Kristofferson
Stevie Wonder
The Steve Miller Band
1977Vítor Meira, Brazilian race car driver[†]
Vítor Meira is a Brazilian former auto racing driver. He formerly competed in the IndyCar Series and has twice finished second in the Indianapolis 500.
1977Ioannis Melissanidis, Greek artistic gymnast[†]
Ioannis Melissanidis is a retired Greek artistic gymnast and the 1996 Olympic champion on the floor exercise. He was also the first Greek gymnast ever to medal at the World Championships. He was named one of the 1996 Greek Male Athletes of the Year.
1977Shirley Graham Du Bois, American author, playwright, and composer (born 1896)[†]
Shirley Graham Du Bois was an American-Ghanaian writer, playwright, composer, and activist for African-American causes, among others. She won the Messner and the Anisfield-Wolf prizes for her works.
1977Diana Hyland, American actress (born 1936)[†]
Diana Hyland was an American stage, film, and television actress.
1977Jacob Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Dutch airline pilot (born 1927)[†]
Jacob Louis Veldhuyzen van Zanten was a Dutch aircraft captain and flight instructor. He was the captain of KLM Flight 4805, and died in the Tenerife airport disaster, the deadliest accident in aviation history. He was KLM's chief instructor and commonly appeared on advertising.
1977Tenerife airport disaster: Two Boeing 747 airliners collide on a foggy runway on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, killing 583 (all 248 on KLM and 335 on Pan Am). Sixty-one survived on the Pan Am flight. This is the deadliest aviation accident in history.[†]
The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on 27 March 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The incident occurred at 5:06 pm WET (UTC+0) in dense fog, when KLM Flight 4805 initiated its takeoff run, colliding with the right side of Pan Am Flight 1736 still on the runway. The impact and the resulting fire killed all 248 people on board the KLM plane and 335 of the 396 people on board the Pan Am plane, with only 61 survivors in the front section of the latter aircraft. With a total of 583 fatalities, the disaster is the deadliest accident in aviation history.
In 1977, the world population was approximately 4,217,863,796 people[†]