It was the year that Star Wars, Rocky, Saturday Night Fever, and Smokey and the Bandit were the top movies at the box office. The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and "Sweet Baby James" Taylor took top honors at the Grammy Awards with Record of the Year, Best Album and Male Vocalist, respectively.
Annie Hall won an Oscar for Best Picture, and Annie took the Tony for Best Musical. James Garner ("Rockford Files") won an Emmy for best actor in a drama series, and Lindsay Wagner won best actress for "Bionic Woman." "Laverne & Shirley" was No. 1 in the Nielsons, and "Happy Days" and "Three's Company" followed in the No. 2 and No. 3 slots. "Roots" was the top seller in nonfiction books, and the television miniseries drew an audience of 130 million viewers.
The year? It was 1977, when Elvis Presley died, scientists identified a bacterium as the cause of "legionnaire's disease," Jimmy Carter was sworn into office, Voyager 1 and 2 were launched into space, the PC was introduced, a postage stamp was 13 cents, and North Lake College opened its doors to 2,900 students.
All photos courtesy of NLC's Public Information Office
(Top right) The dedication of the North Lake College campus in 1977 began with a ceremony in Liberty Circle. Bottom right: Bill Priest and R.L. Thornton at the dedication, which new president
Don Newport presided over (bottom, middle). Judging by the sign advertising the site of North Lake College (bottom, left), the contractor was right on target with his date of completion.