A lot happened in 1977: South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko passed away in police custody on September 12, drawing international condemnation; two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on a runway in Tenerife, Canary Islands on March 27, resulting in the loss of 583 people; Jimmy Carter was sworn in as the 39th U.S. President on January 20, and granted unconditional pardons to Vietnam War draft evaders the very next day.
And a random woman hosted Saturday Night Live, becoming the show's most unlikely presenter and the only non-public figure to ever take on the task... Proof that not all moments make it into the history textbooks.
The 80-year-old grandmother from New Orleans had entered - and won - the show's the show's first only Anyone Can Host contest. Miskel Spillman found herself on stage, next to host, actor and screenwriter Buck Henry.
According to Australia's Nine.com, Spillman's contest entry was a "punchy pitch that abided by the 25-word count limit." It simply stated, "I'm 80 years old. I need one more cheap thrill since my doctor told me I only have another 25 years left."
"She told the Associated Press at the time that her message was inspired by her frequent declaration that she would live until 105," the site reports. She sadly passed away roughly 10 years shy of her goal.
Decades earlier, there was another rather strange event taking place: A whole American president taking leave of absence. Not because he was sick, or because of a family emergency. But to take some time out for a camping trip with a friend. That president was Teddy Roosevelt.
The National Parks Adventure site calls it the "most unusual" camping trip in U.S. history, explaining that naturalist John Muir took a 3-day escapade, "roughing it with U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt through Yosemite Valley in 1903."
The duo wasn't setting off in vain. It would change how Americans viewed the wilderness. Not many areas were marked as "protected" during that time.
"That might have remained the case if it were not for Muir, one of the most vocal, poetic and effective advocates for preserving wild places," reports the site. "He argued that it would be an incalculable loss if these 'temples of nature' were to be hunted, logged and mined into oblivion."
Muir managed to convince Roosevelt to go camping.
"Already a devoted conservationist, the President returned to Washington fired up to argue that America’s wild assets must belong to the public and must be staunchly preserved by the laws of the land," adds the site.
And today, the United States has no less than 63 official national parks managed by the National Park Service.
Staying with world leaders, and a 15-year-old emperor of China once showed that telephones aren't reserved for serious discussions. Aisin Gioro Puyi, or Puyi, became the youngest-ever emperor at only 2 years old. He was appointed by the former Empress Dowager Cixi.
"Puyi put up an un-negotiable demand for a telephone to be installed in his palace room. The advisors and the king himself, afraid of the implications of such an installation were hesitant in granting the demand and so a frenzy bewilderment ran through the court creating a major controversy," reports one site.
