Today, Elvis Presley fans around the globe are making the pilgrimage to Graceland or massing where they are to mark the 35th anniversary of the King of Rock and Roll's death.
Presley was found on the floor of a bathroom in his mansion, Graceland, and was pronounced dead the afternoon of Aug. 16, 1977, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. He was 42.
On Presley's death, President Jimmy Carter said the King had "an impact that was unprecedented and will probably never be equaled" and "permanently changed the face of American popular culture."
But it's amazing to see how much that culture has changed since the King died. To mark the 35 years since his passing, we look back at the world Elvis Presley left behind in 1977.
On Aug. 16, 1977:
Number one song in Canada: "I Just Want to be Your Everything" by Andy Gibb.
Number one movie at the box office: Kentucky Fried Movie edged out The Spy Who Loved Me and Star Wars that week, with a whopping $4.8 million in ticket sales. (This weekend in 2012, The Bourne Legacy led the way with $40.2 million.)
Top TV show: Happy Days.
Price of gas: $0.65 per gallon, approximately $0.17 per litre.
In the news:
David Berkowitz, a.k.a. Son of Sam, was arrested in August, ending the serial killer's reign of terror in New York City – the same year the I Love New York ad campaign kicked off.
Pierre Trudeau separated from his wife of six years, Margaret.
French was adopted as the official language of Quebec.
Punk rock broke into the mainstream with the Sex Pistols and the Clash releasing their first albums. On "1977," the B-side to their single "White Riot," the Clash sang "No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones in 1977." Little did they know.
Commodore PET computer, Tandy TRS-80 and Apple II were all introduced that year, ushering in a new era of home computing.
Montreal Canadians won the second of what would be four consecutive Stanley Cups, and it wasn't a big deal that a Canadian team had won.
The supersonic Concorde jet began commercial flights from Paris and London to New York.
Charles Dutoit became music director of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, helping to make them one of the world's great orchestras.
To put it in perspective
Actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers was born. He would go on to play Elvis Presley in a TV movie 28 years later.
Canadian musical luminaries Measha Brueggergosman, Matthew Barber and Sarah Slean were born.
Related:
Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix may live on in holograms
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