1977Aug, 12
The Sri Lanka Riots:, targeting the minority Sri Lankan Tamils, begin, less than a month after the United National Party came to power. Over 300 Tamils are killed.
The 1977 anti-Tamil pogrom in Sri Lanka followed the 1977 general elections in Sri Lanka where the Sri Lankan Tamil nationalistic Tamil United Liberation Front won a plurality of minority Sri Lankan Tamil votes in which it stood for secession. An official estimate put the death toll at 125. The Tamil Refugees Rehabilitation Organization estimated that around 300 Tamils were killed by Sinhalese mobs. Human rights groups, such as the UTHR-J, accused the newly elected UNP run Sri Lankan government of orchestrating the violence. Though the majority of victims were Tamils, Sinhalese in Tamil majority areas were also affected by violence committed by Tamil mobs.
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Events on 1977
- 23Mar
Watergate scandal
The first of The Nixon Interviews (12 will be recorded over four weeks) are videotaped with British journalist David Frost interviewing former United States President Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes. - 5Jul
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Military coup in Pakistan: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, is overthrown. - 4Aug
Jimmy Carter
U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy. - 15Aug
Search for extraterrestrial intelligence
The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the "Wow! signal" from the notation made by a volunteer on the project. - 21Nov
God Save the Queen
Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet announces that the national anthems of New Zealand shall be the traditional anthem "God Save the Queen" and "God Defend New Zealand".