The following events occurred in July 1977:
July 1, 1977 (Friday) The last Railway Mail Service mail train in the U.S. completed its run, bringing an end to almost 113 years of service. The final train departed New York on Thursday, June 30 and arrived in Washington DC the next morning, after which the service was permanently discontinued. At its height, the RMS had 30,000 employees, while only 68 were left when the final train made its delivery. Starting in the 1950s, jet aircraft had gradually replaced the slower method of shipping mail by train."The Mail Train Doesn't Stop Anywhere Anymore", by Robert A. Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1977, p.I-1 Uganda's dictator Idi Amin lifted restrictions that he had imposed on June 8, when he said that the remaining 240 British residents would not be allowed to leave the East African nation. The decision was announced on Radio Kampala."Amin Lifts His Ban Prohibiting Britons From Leaving Uganda", Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1977, p.I-3 By a single vote, a proposal failed in the U.S. Senate to end all funding for development of an American neutron bomb. A motion by Senator Mark O. Hatfield of Oregon lost, 42 to 43."Close Senate Vote Supports Neutron Bomb— Hatfield Bid to Kill Funding Loses, 43 to 42; Carter's Decision Vital", by Walter Pincus, Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1977, p.I-1 The U.S. Department of State announced that diplomatic relations with Cuba would be restored on September 1, when ten U.S. diplomats would be stationed in Havana and ten Cuban diplomats would open and office in Washington D.C."U.S., Cuba to Trade Diplomats Sept. 1", Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1977, p.I-6 Serial killer Patrick Kearney of Redondo Beach, California, sought for the murder of eight people, voluntarily turned himself in at the office of the Riverside County Sheriff."Suspects in Eight Slaying Surrender— Two Men Walk Into Riverside County Sheriff's Office and Point to Photos", Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1977, p.I-17 The East African Community was dissolved. Tennis star Virginia Wade became the last British woman to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon. It was her third, and final Grand Slam win in tennis. After losing the first set, 4–6, in the best-2-of-3 Wade defeated Betty Stöve, Wade won the second set, 6–3, and the deciding set, 6–1."Coronation at Wimbledon: After 15 Years, Wade Wins on the Home Court", by Ted Green, Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1977, p.III-1 Born: Liv Tyler, American actress; in New York City
July 2, 1977 (Saturday) In defiance of South Africa's apartheid laws of favored treatment for white citizens and of racial segregation, the Boy Scouts Association of South Africa combined its four branches (Boy Scouts Association, African Boy Scouts Association, Coloured Boy Scouts Association and Indian Boy Scouts Association) into a single Boy Scouts of South Africa organization. The decision took place at the Scouting associations' first multiracial convention, the Quo Vadis Conference in Pietermaritzburg.Timothy Parsons, Race, Resistance, and the Boy Scout Movement in British Colonial Africa (Ohio University Press, 2004) p.293
Björn Borg of Sweden won the men's singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Jimmy Connors of the U.S. in the best-3-of-5 series. Borg, who had won the 1976 Wimbledon title, lost the first and fourth match before defeating Connors in the deciding fifth, 3–6, 6–2, 6–1, 5-7 and 6–4."Borg Becomes Wimbeldon's Man of the Century— Keeps Title on 5-Set Win over Connors", by Ted Green, Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1977, p.III-1 Born: Carl Froch, British professional boxer, world super-middleweight champion for the WBC (2008–2011), IBF (2012–2015) and WBA (2013–2015); in Nottingham Died: Vladimir Nabokov, 78, Russian-born American novelist known for Lolita."Nabokov, Author of 'Lolita,' Dies", Los Angeles Times, July 5, 1977, p.I-1 Nabokov had been writing a new novel, The Opposite of Laura and had completed the equivalent of 30 manuscript pages (on 138 handwritten index cards) before becoming ill. His son Dmitri Nabokov would complete the manuscript more than 30 years later,"Dmitri's Choice: Nabokov wanted his final, unfinished work destroyed. Should his son get out the matches?", by Ron Rosenbaum, Slate magazine (January 16, 2008) and with the altered title of The Original of Laura, the book would be published in 2009 by Penguin Books and Knopf Publishing. Gert Potgieter, 47, South African operatic tenor known for his performances in the operas Peter Grimes, In die Droogte and La bohème, was killed in a car accident."Potgieter, Gerhardus Petrus (Gert)", in Dictionary of South African Biography (Human Sciences Research Council, 1981) pp. 605–606
July 3, 1977 (Sunday)
The first MRI scan of a human being was performed with the use of magnetic resonance imaging by Dr. Raymond Damadian on Larry Minkoff, who had volunteered to be the test subject. The 5-hour process took place at the Downstate Medical Center of the State University of New York in Brooklyn., by Julie Wakefield, Smithsonian magazine (June 2000) The imaging process would be perfected by Paul C. Lauterbur, a professor of chemistry at SUNY Stony Brook. Turkey's Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit resigned after losing a vote of no confidence in his government. Members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey voted, 229 to 217, against Ecevit's Republican People's Party, which finished with the highest number of seats in the June 5 general election but fell short of a majority. After the vote, Ecevit drove to the presidential palace in Ankara to present his resignation to President Fahri Koruturk, but agreed to stay on as premier until a new government could be formed."Turk Premier Loses Crucial Vote, Resigns", by Joe Alex Morris Jr., Los Angeles Times, July 4, 1977, p.I-1 Pakistan's Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto received a warning from Major General K. M. Arif that Pakistan's military was planning a coup d'état, and was urged to negotiate with the opposition parties in the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA).Hussain Haqqani, Pakistan:Between Mosque and Military: From Islamic Republic to Islamic State (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005 Although Bhutto and the PNA leaders reached an agreement for new elections to be called,"Pakistan Election Pact Reached", Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1977, p.I-2 the coup would be carried out anyway.Sherbaz Mazari, A Journey into Disillusionment (Oxford University Press, 2000) A pair of hired assassins shot and killed Haiti's Ambassador to Brazil as he was leaving a bar at the Meridien Hotel in the beach resort of Salvador. The two gunmen, who shot Delorme Mehu in the back, told police that they had been hired by Louis Robert Makensie, Haiti's secretary to President Jean-Claude Duvalier, to carry out the assassination."Haitian Envoy to Brazil Slain", Los Angeles Times, July 4, 1977, p.I-2 Soviet athlete Vladimir Yashchenko broke the world record for the high jump, clearing 7 feet, 7¾ inches, half an inch better than the mark of 7'7¼" set by Dwight Stones in 1976. Yashchenko's mark was set at the USSR-USA Junior track meet in Richmond, Virginia at the University of Richmond."Soviet Leaps 7-7¾ to Set World Record", Los Angeles Times, July 4, 1977, p.III-1 The championship of Mexico's top soccer football league, the Primera División de México, was won by the UNAM Pumas of Mexico City, 1 to 0 over the Leones Negros of Guadalajara after the two teams had played to a 0-0 draw on June 29 in the two game series. A.C. Milan defeated Inter Milan, 2 to 0, to win the Coppa Italia, the playoff tournament of Italy's premier soccer football league. A.C. Milan had finished in tenth place in the regular season, while Inter Milan had placed fourth. Died: Gertrude Abercrombie, 68, American painter known as "the queen of the Bohemian artists"
July 4, 1977 (Monday) The Nestlé boycott of products of the Swiss food manufacturer was inaugurated by the Infant Formula Action Coalition (INFACT) in the U.S. with an announcement in the U.S. from INFACT headquarters in Minneapolis. The boycott would become a worldwide campaign against Nestlé S.A. for its aggressive marketing of infant formulas as an alternative to breast milk in the world's poorest nations. The World Health Organization (WHO) had condemned the powdered infant formula in areas where the water supply was no sanitary. The INFACT boycott would be halted in 1984 after Nestlé changed its marketing strategy."The Nestle Infant Formula Controversy: Restricting the Marketing Practices of Multinational Corporations in the Third World", by Nancy Zelman, Global Business & Development Law Journal (1990) p.697 At least 52 people in India drowned when a passenger ferry sank in the Ganges River "The World", Los Angeles Times, July 5, 1977, p.I-2 At a ceremony at the U.S. National Archives in Washington D.C., museum curators sealed and hid away a "tricentennial time capsule", to be opened on July 4, 2075."July 4 Time Capsule Awaits the Nation's Next 100 Years", Los Angeles Times, July 5, 1977, p.I-8 Died: Muhammad Husayn al-Dhahabi, 64, the former Egyptian Minister of Religious Endowments, was "executed" two days after he had been kidnapped by the terrorist group Takfir wal-Hijra."Former Egypt Official Found Slain; 15 Cultists Held", Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1977, p.I-16 ("Medical examiners said 64-year-old Zahabi, minister for 19 months until last November, was killed Monday night, almost 40 hours after he was dragged from his home...")
July 5, 1977 (Tuesday) General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq led a coup d'état to overthrow Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who had been the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. The day before, Bhutto and other military chiefs had been guests at ceremonies at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad for the U.S. independence day."Military Seizes Power in Pakistan, Arrests Bhutto", Los Angeles Times, July 5, 1977, p.I-1 Bhutto, his cabinet ministers, and opposition leaders were placed in "temporary protective custody" and General Zia announced that a four-member military council (himself and commanders of Pakistan's army, navy and air force) would rule the Asian nation until free elections could be held in October."New Pakistan Leader Vows Free Elections in October", Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1977, p.I-1 The elections, however, did not take place. Bhutto and the other government members arrested were released on July 28 so that they could participate in the promised October elections, but Bhutto would be arrested again later."The World", Los Angeles Times, July 29, 1977, p.I-2 The Ugandan Army arrested playwright John Male, Uganda National Theatre director Dan Kintu, and an undersecretary of the Ugandan Ministry of Culture, Mark Sebuliba, after the staging of a play titled "The Office Is Empty". President Idi Amin inferred that the title of the play and the story was a reference to him, and the three men were charged with "insulting the president". After a trial by a military tribunal, Male, Kintu, and Sebuliba would be executed on July 24."3 Reportedly Slain for Insulting Amin", Los Angeles Times, August 18, 1977, p.I-16
July 6, 1977 (Wednesday) A flood off the Yan River killed 134 people in the city of Yan'an in China's Shaanxi province. The "Night of the Neckties", a mass roundup by the Argentine Army of six lawyers and eight of their family members in the city of Mar del Plata, was carried out. Only five survived after being taken to the GADA 601 detention center. Of the other eight, six became "desaparecidos" and were never seen again. The bodies of lawyers Jorge Candeloro and Norberto Centeno would be found later.Juan E. Méndez, Truth and Partial Justice in Argentina (Human Rights Watch, 1987) p.31