Patty Hearst convicted of armed robbery. Steve Biko, an imprisoned black leader in South Africa, dies in after being beaten in prison. His death leads to new opposition to apartheid. Elvis Presley, Charlie Chaplin and Bing Crosby die. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars and Annie Hall hit the silver screen.
Oil begins flowing through the Alaska pipeline.
He eventually pardons Vietnam draft evaders and signs the Panama Canal treaty. Volkswagen Beetle cars are no longer produced. 98 percent of the homes in the United States have television sets. The world's first test-tube baby is born in London. Congress extends the deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.