AGS Archives AGS Timeline Archives 1978 Archives 1976 Archives 2001

1977 -- AGS Archives   June 27, 1977: After 117 years of French rule, Djibouti, in East Africa, gains independence.   American paleontologist Elso S. Barghoorn of Harvard announces on October 23, 1977, the discovery of Pre-Cambian spherical one-celled algae microfossils (Eobacterium) 3.4 billion years old, earth's earliest life forms.   Chiron, the farthest known asteroid is discovered on November 1, 1977.   Deep-ocean researchers found an extraordinary oasis of extremophile life on February 19, 1977, when John B. Corliss and John M. Elmond used the research submersible Alvin to descend to the Pacific Ocean floor off the Galapagos Islands.