The following events occurred in February 1977:
February 1, 1977 (Tuesday) Françoise Claustre, a French archaeologist who had been a hostage of rebels in Chad for almost three years, returned to France days after being set free. She had been captured near Bardai on April 20, 1974. Returning as well was her husband, Pierre Claustre, who had been captured by the rebels in August, 1975, while he had been trying to negotiate the release of Françoise. Upon their arrival, Françoise and Pierre were admitted to a hospital in Toulouse for an evaluation of their health."The World", Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1977, p. I-1 The Indian Coast Guard, part of the nation's Ministry of Defence, was established as a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency with jurisdiction over India's territorial waters. Died: David E. Finley Jr., 86, American cultural leader who led the Roberts Commission during World War II to rescue war-threatened art works, as well as founding the National Portrait Gallery and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
February 2, 1977 (Wednesday)
The Congress Party of India, led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was split as Agriculture Minister Jagjivan Ram and four other members of her cabinet resigned "Leader of Untouchables Bolts Mrs. Gandhi Cabinet", by Sharon Rosenhause, Los Angeles Times, February 3, 1977, p. I-1 to form the Congress for Democracy Party, which would later merge with the Janata Party. The Soviet Union's Salyut 4 space station was de-orbited after slightly more than two years of service, during which two different crews of cosmonauts and docked and stayed on board. The station burned up in Earth's atmosphere the next day. Born: Shakira (stage name for Shakira Isabel Mebarak), Colombian vocalist and songwriter, bestselling Latin music singer and three-time Grammy Award winner; in Barranquilla
February 3, 1977 (Thursday) Lieutenant General Tafari Benti, Ethiopia's nominal head of state as Chairman of the Central Committee of the Derg, the ruling 40-member military council, was executed along with six other Derg members after a gun battle between rival factions during a meeting in Addis Ababa."Ethiopian Chief Executed After Shootout in Ruling Council; Rightist Plot Charges", Los Angeles Times, February 4, 1977, p. I-11 The Derg's First Vice Chairman, Mengistu Haile Mariam, announced afterward that Benti and the other six (who included Secretary-General Almayahu Haile ad Information Minister Asrat Desta) had been exposed as supporters of the "counter-revolutionary" Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party. Mengistu then became the new Chairman of the Derg and launched Ethiopia's "Red Terror" (Qey Shibir) campaign that would kill as many as 100,000 of the Derg's political opponents."Red Terror" (1977-1978)", in Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia, ed. by David H. Shinn and Thomas P. Ofcansky (Scarecrow Press, 2013) p. 351 Benti's deputy chairman, Atnafu Abate, had not been present at the meeting and would remain part of the Derg until his own arrest and execution on November 12. A blizzard in northern Japan killed 18 people whose houses collapsed under the weight of the snow on their roofs, while 13 others froze to death. The storm, blowing southward from Siberia, demolished 90 houses."The World", Los Angeles Times, February 4, 1977, p. I-2 Born: Daddy Yankee (stage name for Ramón Luis Ayala), Puerto Rican American rapper known as the "King of Reggaeton";"The King of Reggaetón", by Sara Corbett, The New York Times, February 5, 2006 in San Juan Died: Pauline Starke, 76, American silent film actress
February 4, 1977 (Friday) In the U.S., the derailment of an elevated train in Chicago killed 11 commuters and injured 183 others. At about 5:30 p.m., the 8-car train rear-ended a 6-car train ahead of it in an accident attributed to human error. Two crowded cars plunged from the "EL" tracks into the intersection of Wabash Avenue and Lake Street."Train Crash Laid to Human Error— Chicago Toll Now Put at 11 Killed, 183 Hurt", by Francis Ward, Los Angeles Times, February 5, 1977, p. I-1 Born: Gavin DeGraw, American singer-songwriter, in South Fallsburg, New Yorkhttps://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2019/02/04/Famous-birthdays-for-Feb-4-Gavin-DeGraw-Clint-Black/1701549236901/ Died: Brett Halliday, 72, American author of the Michael Shayne mystery novels, written under the pen name as Davis Dresser
February 5, 1977 (Saturday) In the east African nation of Tanzania (a union of Tanganyika on the mainland and the islands of Zanzibar), the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) political party was created with the merger of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) of President Julius Nyerere and Zanzibar's Afro-Shirazi Party in an elaborate ceremony in Zanzibar City. Chama Cha Mapinduzi was a Swahili language translation of the words for a political party ("chama") and for "revolution" ("mapinduzi"). Born: Ben Ainslie, British sport sailing competitor, Olympic gold medalist 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012, and 11-time world champion; in Macclesfield, Cheshire Died: Oskar Klein, 82, Swedish theoretical physicist William J. Crum, 58, U.S. businessman who was a major part of black market operations during the Vietnam War through his Tradewell Company that had exclusive contracts to supply the Post Exchange (PX) on individual bases overseas through a program of kickbacks and bribery, died in a fire at his apartment in Hong Kong."W .J. Crum, Figure in Saigon Inquiry, Killed in Fire at 58", The New York Times, February 6, 1977, p.28
February 6, 1977 (Sunday) The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, a year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of the accession (on February 6, 1952) of Queen Elizabeth II to the British throne, opened with church services across Britain to recognize the 25th anniversary of the death of King George VI."Queen Elizabeth II Celebrates 25th Year of Her Reign", Los Angeles Times, February 7, 1977, p. I-1 Four days later, the Queen began her visit to Southern Pacific nations within the British Commonwealth which recognized her as their reigning monarch, starting with Fiji (February 16 and 17), New Zealand (February 22 to March 7), Australia (March 7 to March 23), and Papua New Guinea (March 23 and 25). In Canada, René Lévesque, the pro-independence Premier of Quebec, accidentally killed Edgar Trottier while driving his car. Trottier was a homeless man who had been "lying in the middle of McDougall road, near Cedar Ave." at 4:15 in the morning, while Premier Lévesque was driving his secretary in her car after a late night visit to the home of newspaper editor Yves Michaud. Lévesque slammed on the brakes but struck Trottier and the car dragged the victim as it slid on a downhill slope."Man dragged 140 ft. by Levesque's car", Montreal Gazette, February 7, 1977, p. 1 Lévesque, the province's head of government, was fined $25 for not wearing his glasses as required by his license."Quebec Premier Exonerated in Death", Los Angeles Times, February 22, 1977, p.I-14 In Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) a group of guerrillas killed seven white missionaries in an attack the St. Paul's High School in Chisipite, a suburb of the Rhodesian capital of Salisbury (now Harare)."Black Rhodesian Guerrillas Kill 7 Missionaries", Los Angeles Times, February 8, 1977, p.I-1 Born: Ali Seezan, Maldivian film producer; in Malé Died: Gustave Gilbert, 65, American psychologist and author known for his book The Psychology of Dictatorship, a psychohistorical study of Adolf Hitler
February 7, 1977 (Monday) Hua Guofeng, successor to Mao Zedong as the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and de facto leader of the People's Republic of China, announced a conservative policy, the "Two Whatevers", in an editorial published simultaneously in the Party newspaper People's Daily, the journal Red Flag and the People's Liberation Army Daily. In the editorial, titled "Study the Documents Well and Grasp the Key Link", Chairman Hua referred to his predecessor, declaring "We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions Chairman Mao made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions Chairman Mao gave." The decision to maintain Mao's policies would lead to a backlash from Deng Xiaoping and other members of the CCP Politburo and Central Committee in 1978, the removal of Hua as party chairman, and a new policy to modernize China's economy to compete with the rest of the world. The Soviet Union launched Soyuz 24 with Viktor Gorbatko and Yury Glazkov to dock with the Salyut 5 space station."Russ Again Trying to Dock With Salyut", Los Angeles Times, February 8, 1977, p. I-13 Born: Mariusz Pudzianowski, Polish strength athlete and mixed martial artist; winner of the World's Strongest Man title in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2008; in Biala Rawska Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japanese footballer with 71 caps for the Japan national football team; in Tondabayashi, Osaka Prefecture
February 8, 1977 (Tuesday) Convicted West German terrorist Brigitte Mohnhaupt of the Red Army Faction was paroled from Stammheim Prison after serving time for a 1972 conviction. Mohnhaupt returned to her activities with the Faction and would help carry out the April 7 assassination of West Germany's Chief Prosecutor, Siegfried Buback less than two months later, on April 7. Speaking on behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom, Samuel Silkin, the Attorney General for England and Wales and for Northern Ireland, informed the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Ireland v. the United Kingdom that the Government would not reintroduce the five techniques of torture, banned in 1972, as an aid to interrogation of prisoners. Edward Heath, Prime Minister at the time, had announced on March 2, 1972 that the five techniques (prolonged wall-standing, hooding, loud noise, sleep deprivation and food deprivation) would not be used again.Case of Ireland v. the United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights, January 18, 1978"The World", Los Angeles Times, February 9, 1977, p.I-2 Voting was held in the United States and in Canada among 1.4 million steelworkers for the president of the United Steelworkers of America labor union. Lloyd McBride defeated Ed Sadlowski by a margin of about 322,000 to 238,000 votes, and, after an unsuccessful challenge by Sadlowski, would succeed retiring USWA President I. W. Abel on June 1."Sadlowski appeals steel election", Chicago Tribune, February 18, 1977, p.3 In the U.S. state of Ohio, Larry Flynt, publisher of the pornographic magazine Hustler was convicted by the Court of Common Pleas for Hamilton County, Ohio (in Cincinnati) of pandering obscenity and of engaging in "organized crime" as defined by a new Ohio law. Flynt was sentenced by Judge William J. Morrisey to at least 7 years in prison and no more than 25, and made plans to appeal the constitutionality of the law."Hustler Publisher Given 7-25 Years; Convicted Under Ohio 'Organized Crime' Law", Los Angeles Times, February 9, 1977, p.I-1 After six days in jail, he was released on $55,000 bond."The World", Los Angeles Times, February 15, 1977, p.I-2 Born: Jim Carrington, English author of children's literature known for the Otis the Robot series and the Sang Kancil series; in Norwich, Norfolk
February 9, 1977 (Wednesday)
Queen Alia of Jordan, the 28-year-old wife of King Hussein and queen consort since their marriage in 1972, was killed in a helicopter crash, along with Health Minister Mohammed al‐Beshir, the pilot and a Jordanian Air Force medic. Queen Alia and al-Beshir were returning to Amman after an inspection trip to Tafilah when their helicopter went down in a violent rainstorm. King Hussein went on nationwide radio to personally announce his wife's death."Jordan Queen Killed in Helicopter Crash", Los Angeles Times, February 10, 1977, p. I-14