Role of women in society
In the 1970s the role of women was rapidly changing. This was the decade where feminism was beginning to grow across the world. There was an obvious and significant rise in the number of women as heads of state outside of monarchies and heads of government in a number of countries across the world during the 70’s. The first woman President in Argentina was Isabel Martinez de Peron. Elisabeth Domitien was the first woman Prime Minister of the Central African Republic. Indira Gandhi continued as Prime Minister of India until 1977 and took office again in 1980. Margaret Thatcher became the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1979 who also remained an important political figure in the 1980s. Golda Meir was the Prime Minister of Israel. Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo was the first female Prime Minister of Portugal in 1979.
Feminism
The Feminist Movement in the United States initially began in the 1960s and continued on in the 1970s. The 50th anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1970 was commemorated by the Women’s Strike for Equality and other protests.
Feminism began to gain a larger audience in the 1970s with the anthology “Sisterhood is Powerful” and “Sexual Politics” being published at the beginning of the year. Additionally, the women’s right movement was brought into the national political spotlight after the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision of Roe c. Wade that constitutionalised the right to an abortion.
Many movements of the 70s, such as the repealing of the remaining oppressive sexist laws, were successful. Job opportunities were increasing for women and lead to unheard success in business, politics, education, science, law and even the home. Although the majority of the aims of the movements were successful there were some that failed such as the, failure to ratify the Equal Rights Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, it only needed 3 more states to ratify it. Another failure was the attempt to close the wage gap. This wasn’t completely unsuccessful as there was a smaller gap between wages.
The original feminist movement largely ended in 1982 with the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment, and with new conservative leadership in Washington, D.C. a third wave was created in the early 90’s which addressed sexual harassment and violence against women.
Feminist art
The feminist art movement in the 1970s was introduced to bring to light the developments of feminism during that decade. Art historian, Linda Nochlin published a groundbreaking essay in 1971 called, “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”. This essay researched the social and economic factors that had prevented talented women from achieving the same status as their male counterparts.
It was questioned by art historians Griselda Pollock and Rozika Parker, as to why men and women were represented so differently. Critic John Berger concluded in his 1972 book, “Ways of Seeing the Marxist”, that men look at women. While women watch themselves being looked at.
Judy Chicago’s, The Dinner Party between 1974 and 1979, was one of the great iconic works of this phase. It was a triangular table which each place setting featuring a table runner embroiled with the woman’s name and images or symbols relating to her accomplishments, with a napkin, a glass of a goblet, and a plate. Many of the plates had a butterfly sculpture. The purpose of the project was to “end the ongoing cycle of omission in which women were written out of the historical record.” The project celebrated female accomplishments, such as textile arts, and china painting, these were considered as craft of domestic art, as opposed to the more culturally valued, male dominant fine arts.
Later feminist artists rejected this approach and attempted to reveal the origins of our ideas of femininity and womanhood. They persuaded the idea of femininity as a masquerade, a set of poses adopted by women to conform t o social expectations of womanhood.
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
1979
1979
January
• The United States and the People’s Republic of China established full diplomatic relations on 1st January.
• The families of those who were killed or injured in the Kent State shootings were paid $675,000 by the State of Ohio on 4th January.
• 50 people were killed after Betelgeuse, a French tanker, exploded at the Gulf terminal at Bantry Ireland on 8th January.
• The Bee Gees hosted the Music for UNICEF Concert on 9th January. The concert was held at the United General Assembly and was held to raise money for UNICEF and to promote the Year of the Child. It was broadcast on 10th January all around the world. A soundtrack was released with the tracks that the performers sung, these included, Donna Summer, ABBA, Rod Stewart and Earth, Wind & Fire.
• The Boomtown Rats were inspired to write a song called “I don’t like Mondays” after Brenda Ann Spencer set fire to a school in San Diego, California on 29th January. The fire killed 2 faculty members and wounded 8 students. Her reason for starting the fire was that she didn’t like Mondays.
February
• Patty Hearst was released from prison on 1st February after her sentence was commuted by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. She was sent to prison for robbing a bank.
• The Council of the Islamic Revolution was created on 3rd February by Khomeini.
• Khomeini supporters took over the Iranian law enforcement, courts and government administration on 7th February.
• Also on 7th February, Pluto moved inside Neptune’s orbit for the first time since either was known to science.
• The Iranian army mutinied and joined the Islamic Revolution on 10th and 11thFebruary.
• The American ambassador to Afghanistan was kidnapped by Muslim extremists in Kabul on 14th February. He was later killed in a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
• Snow fell in the Sahara Desert on 18th February. The snow fell for 30 minutes.
• Saint Lucia gained independence from the United Kingdom on 22nd February.
• On 26th February, a total solar eclipse arced over northern Canada, and a partial solar eclipse was visible over almost all of North American and Central America.
• New Orleans, Louisiana had to cancel their annual Mardi Gras celebration on 27th February, due to a strike that had been called by the New Orleans Police Department.
March
• Jupiter’s rings were revealed on 4th March, in photos from the U.S. Voyager I space probe.
• Voyager I made its closet approach to Jupiter at 172,000 miles on 5th March.
• On 7th the largest Magnetar event was recorded.
• Compact Disc was demonstrated or the first time publicly by Philips on 8th March.
• 2 workers were killed after the Penmanshiel Tunnel in the U.K. collapsed on 17th March.
• A methane gas explosion at Golborne Colliery near Wigan, Lancashire on 18th March, killed 10 miners.
• Columbia, the first fully functional space shuttle orbiter was delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Centre on 25th March, to be prepared for its first launch.
• America experienced its most serious nuclear power accident, on 28th March, at Three Mile Island.
• The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was won on 31st March by Gali Atari and Milk and Honey, for Israel, they sung Hallelujah.
April
• On 1st April, Iran’s government became an Islamic Republic, by a 98& vote which officially overthrew the Shah.
• Also on 1st April, the Pinwheel Network changed its name to Nickelodeon and began airing on various Warner Cable Systems.
• School children protesting against compulsory school uniforms in the Central African Empire, were arrested on 17th April. Around 100 of these students were killed.
• The Albert Einstein Memorial was unveiled on 22nd April at the National Academy of Sciences in Washing, DC.
• Protestor Blair Peach was killed on 23rd April, due to fighting that took place in London, between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police’s Special Patrol Group.
May
• Margret Thatcher became the country’s first female Prime Minister on 4th May, the British general election showed that the Conservatives won.
• The Federated States of Micronesia became self-governing on 10th March.
• The electric chair was used for the first time in America after the reintroduction of the death penalty on 25th May. John Spenkelink was executed in Florida.
June
• Joe Clark became Canada’s 16th and youngest Prime Minister on 4th June.
• The first direct elections to the European Parliament began on 7th June. This allowed citizens from across all 9 European member states to elect 410 MEPs. This was also the first international election in history.
• Bryan Allen flew the man-powered Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel on 12th June.
July
• The corporal punishment in the home was outlawed by Sweden on 1st July.
• Los Angeles passed its gay and lesbian civil rights bill on 8th July.
• NASA’s first orbiting space station Skylab began its return to Earth on 11th July. It had been in orbit for 6 years and 2 months.
• Kiribati gained independence from the United Kingdom on 12th July.
• Saddam Hussein became the President of Iraq on 16th July, after Hasan al-Bakr resigned.
• Maria de Lurdes Pintasligo became Prime Minister of Portugal on 19th July.
August
• The first nudist beach was established in Brighton on 9th August.
• Michael Jackson released his first breakthrough album, “Off the Wall” on 10th August. This album sold 7 million copies in the United States alone. This made it 7x platinum album.
September
• The U.S. Pioneer 11 became the first spacecraft to visit Saturn. It passed Saturn at a distance of 21,000 km on 1st September.
• The Entertainment Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, made its debut on 7th September.
• For Better or For Worse, a long running comic strip began running on 9th September.
• Two families fled from East Germany by balloon on 16th September.
• The South Atlantic Flash was observed on 22nd September near Bouvet Island, it was thought to have been a nuclear weapons test.
October
• The Nigerian Second Republic was established as Nigeria terminated the military rule on 1st October.
• Pope John Paul II visited the United States between 1st and 6th October.
• The Federal Reserve System changed from an interest rate target policy to a money supply target policy on 6th October. This caused interest rate fluctuations and economic recession.
• Tens of thousands of people took part in a major gay rights march in the United States in Washington, D.C. on 14th October.
• The Black Monday events happened on 15th October. One of these involved members of a political group sacking a newspaper office, in Malta.
• A Tsunami in Nice, France killed 23 people on 16th October.
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gained independence on 27th October.
November
• The Iran hostage crisis happened on 4th November. The U.S. Embassy in Tehran was invaded by 3,000 Iranians radicals. They were mostly students. They took 90 people hostage and demanded that the United States sent the former Shah of Iran back to stand trial.
• The radio news program Morning Edition premiered on National Public Radio on 5th November.
• There was a nuclear false alarm on 9th November. The NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command centre in Fort Ritchie, Maryland detected purported massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw date from satellites and checking the early warning radars, the alert was cancelled.
December
• Eleven fans were killed on 3rd December during a stampede for seats before “The Who” concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• The United States dollar exchange rate with the Deutsche Mark dropped to 1.7079 DM on 3rd December. This was the lowest to date. The record was not broken until November 1987.
• The world premiere for Star Trek: The Motion Picture was held at the Smithsonian Institiution in Washington, D.C. on 6th December.
• Smallpox was the first and only human disease driven to extinction. The eradication of the smallpox virus was certified on 9th December.
• The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returned to British control on 12th December.
• The highest aerial tramway in Europe, the Klein Matterhorn, was opened on 23rd December.
• The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on 24th December.
• The first European Ariane rocket was launched on 24th December.
Date unknown
• China’s One Child Policy was first implemented in 1979. Between 1979 and 2010 it had prevented about 400 million births.
• The first commercial spreadsheet program, VisiCalc was introduced in 1979.
• The first Sony Walkman was marketed in 1979.
• Worldwide per capita oil production reached an historic peak.
• The Happy Meal was introduced by McDonald’s in June 1979.
• Lego’s golden age began in 1979.
January
• The United States and the People’s Republic of China established full diplomatic relations on 1st January.
• The families of those who were killed or injured in the Kent State shootings were paid $675,000 by the State of Ohio on 4th January.
• 50 people were killed after Betelgeuse, a French tanker, exploded at the Gulf terminal at Bantry Ireland on 8th January.
• The Bee Gees hosted the Music for UNICEF Concert on 9th January. The concert was held at the United General Assembly and was held to raise money for UNICEF and to promote the Year of the Child. It was broadcast on 10th January all around the world. A soundtrack was released with the tracks that the performers sung, these included, Donna Summer, ABBA, Rod Stewart and Earth, Wind & Fire.
• The Boomtown Rats were inspired to write a song called “I don’t like Mondays” after Brenda Ann Spencer set fire to a school in San Diego, California on 29th January. The fire killed 2 faculty members and wounded 8 students. Her reason for starting the fire was that she didn’t like Mondays.
February
• Patty Hearst was released from prison on 1st February after her sentence was commuted by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. She was sent to prison for robbing a bank.
• The Council of the Islamic Revolution was created on 3rd February by Khomeini.
• Khomeini supporters took over the Iranian law enforcement, courts and government administration on 7th February.
• Also on 7th February, Pluto moved inside Neptune’s orbit for the first time since either was known to science.
• The Iranian army mutinied and joined the Islamic Revolution on 10th and 11thFebruary.
• The American ambassador to Afghanistan was kidnapped by Muslim extremists in Kabul on 14th February. He was later killed in a gunfight between his kidnappers and police.
• Snow fell in the Sahara Desert on 18th February. The snow fell for 30 minutes.
• Saint Lucia gained independence from the United Kingdom on 22nd February.
• On 26th February, a total solar eclipse arced over northern Canada, and a partial solar eclipse was visible over almost all of North American and Central America.
• New Orleans, Louisiana had to cancel their annual Mardi Gras celebration on 27th February, due to a strike that had been called by the New Orleans Police Department.
March
• Jupiter’s rings were revealed on 4th March, in photos from the U.S. Voyager I space probe.
• Voyager I made its closet approach to Jupiter at 172,000 miles on 5th March.
• On 7th the largest Magnetar event was recorded.
• Compact Disc was demonstrated or the first time publicly by Philips on 8th March.
• 2 workers were killed after the Penmanshiel Tunnel in the U.K. collapsed on 17th March.
• A methane gas explosion at Golborne Colliery near Wigan, Lancashire on 18th March, killed 10 miners.
• Columbia, the first fully functional space shuttle orbiter was delivered to the John F. Kennedy Space Centre on 25th March, to be prepared for its first launch.
• America experienced its most serious nuclear power accident, on 28th March, at Three Mile Island.
• The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was won on 31st March by Gali Atari and Milk and Honey, for Israel, they sung Hallelujah.
April
• On 1st April, Iran’s government became an Islamic Republic, by a 98& vote which officially overthrew the Shah.
• Also on 1st April, the Pinwheel Network changed its name to Nickelodeon and began airing on various Warner Cable Systems.
• School children protesting against compulsory school uniforms in the Central African Empire, were arrested on 17th April. Around 100 of these students were killed.
• The Albert Einstein Memorial was unveiled on 22nd April at the National Academy of Sciences in Washing, DC.
• Protestor Blair Peach was killed on 23rd April, due to fighting that took place in London, between the Anti-Nazi League and the Metropolitan Police’s Special Patrol Group.
May
• Margret Thatcher became the country’s first female Prime Minister on 4th May, the British general election showed that the Conservatives won.
• The Federated States of Micronesia became self-governing on 10th March.
• The electric chair was used for the first time in America after the reintroduction of the death penalty on 25th May. John Spenkelink was executed in Florida.
June
• Joe Clark became Canada’s 16th and youngest Prime Minister on 4th June.
• The first direct elections to the European Parliament began on 7th June. This allowed citizens from across all 9 European member states to elect 410 MEPs. This was also the first international election in history.
• Bryan Allen flew the man-powered Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel on 12th June.
July
• The corporal punishment in the home was outlawed by Sweden on 1st July.
• Los Angeles passed its gay and lesbian civil rights bill on 8th July.
• NASA’s first orbiting space station Skylab began its return to Earth on 11th July. It had been in orbit for 6 years and 2 months.
• Kiribati gained independence from the United Kingdom on 12th July.
• Saddam Hussein became the President of Iraq on 16th July, after Hasan al-Bakr resigned.
• Maria de Lurdes Pintasligo became Prime Minister of Portugal on 19th July.
August
• The first nudist beach was established in Brighton on 9th August.
• Michael Jackson released his first breakthrough album, “Off the Wall” on 10th August. This album sold 7 million copies in the United States alone. This made it 7x platinum album.
September
• The U.S. Pioneer 11 became the first spacecraft to visit Saturn. It passed Saturn at a distance of 21,000 km on 1st September.
• The Entertainment Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, made its debut on 7th September.
• For Better or For Worse, a long running comic strip began running on 9th September.
• Two families fled from East Germany by balloon on 16th September.
• The South Atlantic Flash was observed on 22nd September near Bouvet Island, it was thought to have been a nuclear weapons test.
October
• The Nigerian Second Republic was established as Nigeria terminated the military rule on 1st October.
• Pope John Paul II visited the United States between 1st and 6th October.
• The Federal Reserve System changed from an interest rate target policy to a money supply target policy on 6th October. This caused interest rate fluctuations and economic recession.
• Tens of thousands of people took part in a major gay rights march in the United States in Washington, D.C. on 14th October.
• The Black Monday events happened on 15th October. One of these involved members of a political group sacking a newspaper office, in Malta.
• A Tsunami in Nice, France killed 23 people on 16th October.
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gained independence on 27th October.
November
• The Iran hostage crisis happened on 4th November. The U.S. Embassy in Tehran was invaded by 3,000 Iranians radicals. They were mostly students. They took 90 people hostage and demanded that the United States sent the former Shah of Iran back to stand trial.
• The radio news program Morning Edition premiered on National Public Radio on 5th November.
• There was a nuclear false alarm on 9th November. The NORAD computers and the Alternate National Military Command centre in Fort Ritchie, Maryland detected purported massive Soviet nuclear strike. After reviewing the raw date from satellites and checking the early warning radars, the alert was cancelled.
December
• Eleven fans were killed on 3rd December during a stampede for seats before “The Who” concert at the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• The United States dollar exchange rate with the Deutsche Mark dropped to 1.7079 DM on 3rd December. This was the lowest to date. The record was not broken until November 1987.
• The world premiere for Star Trek: The Motion Picture was held at the Smithsonian Institiution in Washington, D.C. on 6th December.
• Smallpox was the first and only human disease driven to extinction. The eradication of the smallpox virus was certified on 9th December.
• The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returned to British control on 12th December.
• The highest aerial tramway in Europe, the Klein Matterhorn, was opened on 23rd December.
• The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on 24th December.
• The first European Ariane rocket was launched on 24th December.
Date unknown
• China’s One Child Policy was first implemented in 1979. Between 1979 and 2010 it had prevented about 400 million births.
• The first commercial spreadsheet program, VisiCalc was introduced in 1979.
• The first Sony Walkman was marketed in 1979.
• Worldwide per capita oil production reached an historic peak.
• The Happy Meal was introduced by McDonald’s in June 1979.
• Lego’s golden age began in 1979.
1978
1978
January
• The United States copyright law had changes made to it after the Copyright Act of 1976 took effect on 1st January.
• The 42nd government was formed, in Turkey, by Bülent Ecevit, of CHT on 5th January.
• The Holy Crown of Hungary was returned on 6th January, to Hungary from the United States, which is where it was held since the World War II.
• The United Kingdom government were found guilty for mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland by the European Court of Human Rights on 18th January. The however were not found guilty for torturing the prisoners.
• William H. Webster, Federal Appeals Court Judge was appointed FBI director on 19th January.
• The Earth’s Atmosphere was burnt by the Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 on 24th January. It resulted in scattering debris over Canada’s Northwest Territories.
• The first couple of prisoners to marry in prison in the history of the Republic of Ireland got married on 24th January. Their names were Rose Dugdale and Eddie Gallagher.
• The Great Blizzard of 1979 took place between 25th and 27th January. It struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes, killing 70 people.
• Richard Chase, also known as the Vampire of Sacramento was arrested on 28th January.
February
• On 1st February, Hollywood film director Roman Polanski skipped bail and fled to France. He pled guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13 year old girl.
• The United States Senate proceedings were broadcast on the radio for the first time on 8th February.
• An apparent Ethiopian attack resulted in Somalia mobilising its troops on 11th February.
• The People’s Republic of Chine lifted a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens on 11th February.
• Serial killer Ted Bundy was captured on 15th February, in Pensacola, Florida.
• Los Angeles serial killer, known as the Hillside Strangler, claimed his tenth and final victim on 16th February.
• Chicago created the first computer bulletin board system on 16th February.
• The Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan remains were found on 21st February by Electrical workers in Mexico City. The remains were in the middle of the city.
March
• Charlie Chaplin’s remains were stolen from Cosier –sur – Vevey, Switzerland on 1st March.
• The Soyuz 28 was launched on a rendezvous with Salyut 6, with the first cosmonaut from a third country on 2nd March.
• Ethiopia admitted on 3rd March that their troops were fighting with the aid of Cuban soldiers against Somalian troops in Ogaden.
• Zambia was attacked by Rhodesia on 3rd March.
• A book about a supposed cloning of a human being, “The Cloning of Man” by David Rorvik, was the topic of an article published by The New York Post. The article was published on 3rd March.
• Larry Flynt, an American porn publisher was shot and paralysed in Lawrenceville, Georgia on 6th March.
• The Soyuz 28 landed on 10th March.
• Lebanon was invaded by Israeli forced on 14th March.
• The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground on the coast of Brittany on 17th March.
• Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was sentenced on 18th March to death by hanging for ordering the assassination of a political opponent.
• A member of the Flying Wallendas, Karl Wallenda, died on 22nd March after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
April
• New Zealand’s Domestic airline, New Zealand National Airways Corporation and New Zealand’s international airline, Air New Zealand, merged on 1st April.
• Annie Hall won the Best Picture award at the 50th Academy Awards, which were held on 3rd April, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California.
• The production of the neutron bomb was postponed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter on 7th April. The neutron bomb is a weapon that kills people with radiation but leaves the buildings relatively intact.
• Regular radio broadcasts of British Parliament proceedings started on 8th April.
• Volkswagen became the second non-American automobile manufacturer to open a plant in the United States on 10th April. They commenced production of the Rabbit, t he North American version of the Volkswagen Golf, at the Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant near Stanton, Pennsylvania with a unionised workforce.
• Izhar Cohen & the Alphabeta sung “A-Ba-Ni-Bi”, and won the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 for Israel on 22nd April.
May
• On 4th May the Battle of Cassinga occurred in southern Angola.
• Communist activist Henri Curiel was murdered in Paris on 4th May.
• A natural gas field in the Polar Sea was opened in Norway on 8th May.
• The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen was made by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler on 8th May.
• The corpse of former Italian Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, was found on 9th May in a red Renault 4.
• Student of the University of Tehran rioted in Tabriz on 15th May. The riot was stopped by the army.
• Charles Chaplin’s coffin was found on 17th May about 15km from the cemetery from which it was stolen, near Lake Geneva.
• Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov was sentenced on 18th May to 7 years hard labour for distributing counterrevolutionary material.
• The first woman to run across the U.S. was Mavis Hutchinson. She finished her mission on 20th May and it took her 69 days to complete it.
• The first legal casino in the eastern United States opened on 26th May.
June
• Argentina hosted the 1978 FIFA World Cup which began on 1st June.
• Property taxes were slashed by nearly 60% after California voters approved Proposition 13 on 6th June.
• 26 year-old Lisa Halaby became Queen Noor after marrying King Hussein of Jordan on 15th June.
• Ian Botham was the first man in the history of Cricket to score a century and take 8 wickets in 1 inning of a Test match. The match took place on 19th June.
• Garfield, the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip, made its debut on 19th June.
• Charon, a satellite of Pluto was discovered on 22nd June.
• The Gay and Lesbian Solidarity March was held in Sydney, Australia on 24th June to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
• Argentina won the FIFA World Cup on 25th June after defeating the Netherlands 3-1 after extra time.
• The U.S. satellite Seasat was launched on 28th June.
July
• The Amazon Cooperation Treaty was signed on 3rd July.
• The Solomon Islands gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 7th July.
• A tanker-truck exploded at a campsite in Costa Daurada, Spain on 11th July, killed over 200 tourists.
• The world’s first test tube baby was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, UK, on 25th July. She was named Louise Brown.
August
• Pope Paul VI died in Rome on 6th August.
• The first balloon to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean was the Double Eagle II. It flew from Presque Isle, Maine to Misery, France on 17th August.
• Pope John Paul I became the 263rd Pope on 26th August.
September
• Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat began the peace process at Camp David, Maryland on 5th September.
• A poison filled pellet that was suspected to have been injected using an umbrella, poisoned Bulgarian defector, Georgi Markov in London, England on 7th September. It was assumed that this was the orders of Bulgarian intelligence. He died 4 days after the incident.
• 122 people were killed and a further 4.000 were wounded after Iranian Army troops opened fire on rioters in Teheran on 8th September.
• General Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq became the president of Pakistan on 16th September.
• Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Accords on 17th September.
• Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello made its first appearance on Live from the met, on 25th September, in a complete production of the opera starring Jon Vickers. This was the first complete television broadcast of the opera in the U.S. since the historic 1948 one.
• After only 33 days of papacy, Pope John Paul I died on 28th September.
October
• Vietnam attacked Cambodia on 1st October.
• Also on 1st October, Tuvalu became independent from the United Kingdom.
• A massive short circuit in Seasat’s electrical system on 10th October ended the satellite’s scientific mission.
• Daniel Arap Moi became the president of Kenya on 14th October.
• Also 14th October, a bill was signed by Jimmy Carter which meant that home-brewing of beer was made legal in the United States.
• Pope John Paul II became the 264th pope on 16th October. He was the first Polish pope in history.
• The first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was held on 20th October. This was a protest march and commemoration of the Stonewell Riots.
• The Nobel Peace Prize was won on 27th October, by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. This was awarded to them for their progress towards achieving a Middle East accord.
November
• Dominica gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 3rd November.
• Rioters sacked the British Embassy in Tehran on 5th November.
• Indira Gandhi was re-elected to the Indian Parliament on 7th November.
• California voters defeated the Briggs Initiative on 7th November which would have prohibited gay school teachers.
• Former Supervisor Dan White assassinated, City Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone on 27th November in San Francisco, California.
• Labour problems resulted in suspension of the publication of the Times from 30th November 1978 until 13th November 1979.
December
• Dianne Feinstein became San Francisco, California’s first female mayor on 4th December, after the murder of George Moscone. She served until 8th January 1988.
• The Spanish Constitution officially restored the country’s democratic government on 6th December.
• On 19th December, former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi was arrested and jailed for a week for breach of privilege and contempt of parliament.
• The Constitution of Spain was approved in a referendum, on 27th December. This officially ended 40 years of military dictatorship.
Date unknown
• The invention of artificial insulin was in 1978.
• In David Rorvik’s book In His Image, he claimed to have participated in a creation of a human clone.
• Abortion was legalised for the first time in Italy in 1978.
• Mainland China introduced the One Child Policy.
• Construction began on the Seoul Subway Line 2 in Seoul, Korea in 1978.
• Ford initiated a recall for the Pinto because of a public outcry that resulted from deaths associated with gas tank explosions.
January
• The United States copyright law had changes made to it after the Copyright Act of 1976 took effect on 1st January.
• The 42nd government was formed, in Turkey, by Bülent Ecevit, of CHT on 5th January.
• The Holy Crown of Hungary was returned on 6th January, to Hungary from the United States, which is where it was held since the World War II.
• The United Kingdom government were found guilty for mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland by the European Court of Human Rights on 18th January. The however were not found guilty for torturing the prisoners.
• William H. Webster, Federal Appeals Court Judge was appointed FBI director on 19th January.
• The Earth’s Atmosphere was burnt by the Soviet satellite Cosmos 954 on 24th January. It resulted in scattering debris over Canada’s Northwest Territories.
• The first couple of prisoners to marry in prison in the history of the Republic of Ireland got married on 24th January. Their names were Rose Dugdale and Eddie Gallagher.
• The Great Blizzard of 1979 took place between 25th and 27th January. It struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes, killing 70 people.
• Richard Chase, also known as the Vampire of Sacramento was arrested on 28th January.
February
• On 1st February, Hollywood film director Roman Polanski skipped bail and fled to France. He pled guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13 year old girl.
• The United States Senate proceedings were broadcast on the radio for the first time on 8th February.
• An apparent Ethiopian attack resulted in Somalia mobilising its troops on 11th February.
• The People’s Republic of Chine lifted a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens on 11th February.
• Serial killer Ted Bundy was captured on 15th February, in Pensacola, Florida.
• Los Angeles serial killer, known as the Hillside Strangler, claimed his tenth and final victim on 16th February.
• Chicago created the first computer bulletin board system on 16th February.
• The Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan remains were found on 21st February by Electrical workers in Mexico City. The remains were in the middle of the city.
March
• Charlie Chaplin’s remains were stolen from Cosier –sur – Vevey, Switzerland on 1st March.
• The Soyuz 28 was launched on a rendezvous with Salyut 6, with the first cosmonaut from a third country on 2nd March.
• Ethiopia admitted on 3rd March that their troops were fighting with the aid of Cuban soldiers against Somalian troops in Ogaden.
• Zambia was attacked by Rhodesia on 3rd March.
• A book about a supposed cloning of a human being, “The Cloning of Man” by David Rorvik, was the topic of an article published by The New York Post. The article was published on 3rd March.
• Larry Flynt, an American porn publisher was shot and paralysed in Lawrenceville, Georgia on 6th March.
• The Soyuz 28 landed on 10th March.
• Lebanon was invaded by Israeli forced on 14th March.
• The oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground on the coast of Brittany on 17th March.
• Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, was sentenced on 18th March to death by hanging for ordering the assassination of a political opponent.
• A member of the Flying Wallendas, Karl Wallenda, died on 22nd March after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
April
• New Zealand’s Domestic airline, New Zealand National Airways Corporation and New Zealand’s international airline, Air New Zealand, merged on 1st April.
• Annie Hall won the Best Picture award at the 50th Academy Awards, which were held on 3rd April, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California.
• The production of the neutron bomb was postponed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter on 7th April. The neutron bomb is a weapon that kills people with radiation but leaves the buildings relatively intact.
• Regular radio broadcasts of British Parliament proceedings started on 8th April.
• Volkswagen became the second non-American automobile manufacturer to open a plant in the United States on 10th April. They commenced production of the Rabbit, t he North American version of the Volkswagen Golf, at the Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant near Stanton, Pennsylvania with a unionised workforce.
• Izhar Cohen & the Alphabeta sung “A-Ba-Ni-Bi”, and won the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 for Israel on 22nd April.
May
• On 4th May the Battle of Cassinga occurred in southern Angola.
• Communist activist Henri Curiel was murdered in Paris on 4th May.
• A natural gas field in the Polar Sea was opened in Norway on 8th May.
• The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen was made by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler on 8th May.
• The corpse of former Italian Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, was found on 9th May in a red Renault 4.
• Student of the University of Tehran rioted in Tabriz on 15th May. The riot was stopped by the army.
• Charles Chaplin’s coffin was found on 17th May about 15km from the cemetery from which it was stolen, near Lake Geneva.
• Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov was sentenced on 18th May to 7 years hard labour for distributing counterrevolutionary material.
• The first woman to run across the U.S. was Mavis Hutchinson. She finished her mission on 20th May and it took her 69 days to complete it.
• The first legal casino in the eastern United States opened on 26th May.
June
• Argentina hosted the 1978 FIFA World Cup which began on 1st June.
• Property taxes were slashed by nearly 60% after California voters approved Proposition 13 on 6th June.
• 26 year-old Lisa Halaby became Queen Noor after marrying King Hussein of Jordan on 15th June.
• Ian Botham was the first man in the history of Cricket to score a century and take 8 wickets in 1 inning of a Test match. The match took place on 19th June.
• Garfield, the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip, made its debut on 19th June.
• Charon, a satellite of Pluto was discovered on 22nd June.
• The Gay and Lesbian Solidarity March was held in Sydney, Australia on 24th June to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
• Argentina won the FIFA World Cup on 25th June after defeating the Netherlands 3-1 after extra time.
• The U.S. satellite Seasat was launched on 28th June.
July
• The Amazon Cooperation Treaty was signed on 3rd July.
• The Solomon Islands gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 7th July.
• A tanker-truck exploded at a campsite in Costa Daurada, Spain on 11th July, killed over 200 tourists.
• The world’s first test tube baby was born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, UK, on 25th July. She was named Louise Brown.
August
• Pope Paul VI died in Rome on 6th August.
• The first balloon to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean was the Double Eagle II. It flew from Presque Isle, Maine to Misery, France on 17th August.
• Pope John Paul I became the 263rd Pope on 26th August.
September
• Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat began the peace process at Camp David, Maryland on 5th September.
• A poison filled pellet that was suspected to have been injected using an umbrella, poisoned Bulgarian defector, Georgi Markov in London, England on 7th September. It was assumed that this was the orders of Bulgarian intelligence. He died 4 days after the incident.
• 122 people were killed and a further 4.000 were wounded after Iranian Army troops opened fire on rioters in Teheran on 8th September.
• General Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq became the president of Pakistan on 16th September.
• Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Accords on 17th September.
• Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello made its first appearance on Live from the met, on 25th September, in a complete production of the opera starring Jon Vickers. This was the first complete television broadcast of the opera in the U.S. since the historic 1948 one.
• After only 33 days of papacy, Pope John Paul I died on 28th September.
October
• Vietnam attacked Cambodia on 1st October.
• Also on 1st October, Tuvalu became independent from the United Kingdom.
• A massive short circuit in Seasat’s electrical system on 10th October ended the satellite’s scientific mission.
• Daniel Arap Moi became the president of Kenya on 14th October.
• Also 14th October, a bill was signed by Jimmy Carter which meant that home-brewing of beer was made legal in the United States.
• Pope John Paul II became the 264th pope on 16th October. He was the first Polish pope in history.
• The first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was held on 20th October. This was a protest march and commemoration of the Stonewell Riots.
• The Nobel Peace Prize was won on 27th October, by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. This was awarded to them for their progress towards achieving a Middle East accord.
November
• Dominica gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 3rd November.
• Rioters sacked the British Embassy in Tehran on 5th November.
• Indira Gandhi was re-elected to the Indian Parliament on 7th November.
• California voters defeated the Briggs Initiative on 7th November which would have prohibited gay school teachers.
• Former Supervisor Dan White assassinated, City Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone on 27th November in San Francisco, California.
• Labour problems resulted in suspension of the publication of the Times from 30th November 1978 until 13th November 1979.
December
• Dianne Feinstein became San Francisco, California’s first female mayor on 4th December, after the murder of George Moscone. She served until 8th January 1988.
• The Spanish Constitution officially restored the country’s democratic government on 6th December.
• On 19th December, former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi was arrested and jailed for a week for breach of privilege and contempt of parliament.
• The Constitution of Spain was approved in a referendum, on 27th December. This officially ended 40 years of military dictatorship.
Date unknown
• The invention of artificial insulin was in 1978.
• In David Rorvik’s book In His Image, he claimed to have participated in a creation of a human clone.
• Abortion was legalised for the first time in Italy in 1978.
• Mainland China introduced the One Child Policy.
• Construction began on the Seoul Subway Line 2 in Seoul, Korea in 1978.
• Ford initiated a recall for the Pinto because of a public outcry that resulted from deaths associated with gas tank explosions.
1977
1977
Events
January
• The Commodore PET was demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, in January. This was the world’s first personal computer.
• Inheritance tax was abolished on 1st January, by the Australian state of Queensland.
• The Apple Computer Inc. was incorporated on 3rd January.
• Ocean Park was opened on 10th January in Hong Kong.
• The firing squad in Utah executed Gary Gilmore on 17th January. This was the first execution since the reintroduction of the death penalty in the U.S.
• Previously unknown bacterium that had now been identified by scientists as the cause of mysterious Legionnaire’s disease on 18th January.
• A plane crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina killed SFR Yugoslavia Prime Minister, Džemal Bijedić, his wife and 6 others were killed on 18th January.
• For the first and last time in history snow fell in Miami, Florida on 19th January. Snowfall had only previously occurred farther south in the United States only on the high mountains of the state of Hawaii.
• Jimmy Carter became the 39th President of the United States on 20th January after succeeding Gerald Ford.
• On 23rd January the Roots began their phenomenally successful run on ABC.
• Punk rock group, the Sex Pistols, were sacked by their record company, EMI, on 27th January.
• The Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 hit Buffalo, New York, and the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario on 28th January.
February
• Grammy winning album Rumours, by Fleetwood Mac’s was released on 4th February.
• The Soviet Union launched the Soyuz 24 to dock with the Salyut 5 space station on 7th February.
• The heaviest known crustacean, a 20.2kg lobster was caught of the Nova Scotia on 11th February.
• Prog. 1 of 2000 AD was launched on 18th February.
• The New Zealand Parliament, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on 28th February.
March
• Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia opened the Australian parliament on 8th March.
• Around twelve armed Hanafi Muslims took over 3 building in Washington, D.C. they killed 1 person and kept over 130 people hostage from 2 days. The incident began on 9th March.
• The rings of Uranus were discovered on 10th March.
• Tenor Luciano Pavarotti and the PBS opera series Live from the Met, both made the American television debuts on 15th March. Pavarotti stared in a complete production of Puccini’s La Boheme.
• Dr. James Dobson founded Focus on the Family on 26th March.
• On 27th March, a collision between KLM and Pan Am Boeing 747 at Tenerife, Canary Islands killed 583. This was known as the Tenerife disaster and was the worst single aviation that had been recorded.
April
• The small market town of Hay on Wye declared independence from the UK as a publicity stunt on 1st April.
• On 4th April, in Grundy, Virginia experienced a major flood that made around $15 million in damages to 228 residential and commercial structures. To date the town is still recovering.
• German Federal Prosecutor, Siegfried Buback and his driver were shot by 2 Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light near his home in Karlsruhe on 17th April. The “Ulrike Meinhof Commando” later claimed responsibility.
• The Clash, debut album by The Clash’s was released in the UK on CBS records on 8th April.
• On 11th April, London Transport’s Silver Jubilee buses were launched.
• Sightings of an eerie monster were reported by residents of Dover, Massachusetts on 21st April.
• Live telephones traffic was carried via optical fiber on 22nd April.
• Red Army Faction members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe, were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Stuttgart court on 28th April.
May
• The Taksim Square massacre in Istanbul, on 1st May, resulted in 34 deaths, hundreds of injuries.
• The Grateful Dead played at Cornell University’s Barton Hall in Ithaca, NY on 8th May.
• On 17th May, the Likud Party, led by Menachem Begin, won the elections in Israel.
• Also on 17th May, Queen Elizabeth II commenced her 1977 Silver Jubilee tour in Glasgow.
• It was reported by scientists on 23rd May, that they were using bacteria in a lab to make insulin.
• Star Wars became the highest grossing film of all time on 25th May, when it began showing in cinemas.
• The South Tower of the World Trade Center was climbed by George Willig on 26th May.
• The new Air Terminal Building at the Edinburgh Airport was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 27th May.
• The Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky was engulfed in fire on 28th May. The fire killed 165 people.
June
• The first Apple II series computers went on sale on 5th June.
• The United Kingdom held Jubilee celebrations between 6th and 9th June, for Elizabeth II’s 25 years of Elizabeth II’s reign.
• Voters in Miami-Dade County, Florida voted to repeal the county’s gay rights ordinance on 7th June, after Anita Bryant campaigned her anti-gay “Save Our Children” crusade.
• The Supremes disbanded after they performed their last concert at Drury Lane in London, England on 12th June.
• Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates incorporated Oracle Corporation in Redwood Shores, California as Software Development Laboratories on 16th June.
• Anglia Television broadcasted the fake documentary, Alternative 3 on 20th June. This entered into the conspiracy theory canon.
• Lightning struck American Roy Sullivan for the seventh time on 25th June.
• Elvis Presley performed his last ever concert on 26th June, in Indianapolis, Indiana’s Market Square Arena.
• The Yorkshire Ripper murdered 16 year old shop assistant Jayne Macdonald, in Leeds, West Yorkshire on 26th June.
• Around 200,000 people protested, marching through the streets of San Francisco on 26th June. They were protesting Anita Bryant’s anti gay remarks and the murder of Robert Hillsborough.
• On 30th June women were integrated into regular Marine Corps.
July
• New York City suffered from a blackout which lasted for 25 hours on 13th July. It resulted in looting and other disorder.
• Donald Mackay, an anti drug campaigner was presumed murdered after he disappeared near Griffith, New South Wales on 15th July.
• Excessive rainfall between 19th and 20th July, in Johnstown, PA, cause flooding. The floods killed over 75 people and caused billions in damage.
• On 22nd July, Deng Xiaoping, purged Chinese Communist leader was restored to power 9 months after the “Gang of Four” was expelled from power in coup d’état.
• Valdez, Alaska received oil for the first time via the Trans-Alaska pipeline system on 28th July.
August
• The Tandy Corporation TRS-80 Model I computer was announced at a press conference on 3rd August.
• The legislation that created the United States Department of Energy was signed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter on 4th August.
• Uruguay’s military controlled - government announced that it would return the nation to civilian rule through general elections in 1981 for a President and Congress on 9th August.
• The NASA Space Shuttle, Enterprise, made its first test free-flight from the back of a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft on 12th August.
• A radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, received a radio signal from deep space on 15th August. This was named the “WOW!” signal for a notation made by a volunteer on the project.
• Elvis Presley, king of rock died in his home in Graceland on 16th August. He died aged 42. During his funeral, 75,000 fans lined the streets of Memphis.
• The Voyager 2 spacecraft was launched on 20th August by the United States.
September
• The first Commodore PET was sold on 3rd September.
• Voyager 1 was launched on 5th September after a brief delay.
• INTEROL issued a resolution against the piracy of video tapes and other material on 8th September. These can still be cited in warnings on opening pre-credits of DVDs and videocassettes.
• Marc Bolan, a glam rock pioneer died in a car crash in Barnes, London on 16th September.
• On 20th September, Fonzie Jumps the Shark on Happy Days and Charles Emerson Winchester III made his first appearance on M*A*S*H in Fade Out, Fade In.
• 15 countries signed a nuclear non-proliferation on 21st September, this included the U.S. and Soviet Union.
• The Geneva Auto Convention was where the Porsche 928 debuted on 28th September.
• The Food Stamp Act of 1977 was enacted on 29th September. This was when the modern Food Stamp Program began. This allowed low and no income people living in the U.S. to be provided assistance.
October
• Pele played his final professional football game as a member of the New York Cosmos on 1st October.
• A Lufthansa Airlines flight to Somalia was hijacked on 13th October by four Palestinians, who demanded the release of 11 Red Army Faction members.
• The Atari 2600 game system was released on 14th October.
• Also on 14th October, during a press conference in Des Moines, Iowa, Anita Bryant was pied by four gay rights activists. This resulted in her political fallout from anti-gay activism.
• Three members of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a charter plane crash outside Gillsburg, Mississippi, on 20th October; this was 3 days after the release of their fifth studio album, Street Survivors.
• The European Patent Institute was founded on 21st October.
• On 26th October, the last natural smallpox case was discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The WHO and the CDC considered this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination and, by extension, of modern science.
• Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols was released in the United Kingdom on 28th October.
November
• Charlie Kowal discovered the 2060 Chiron on 1st November. This was the first of the outer of the solar system asteroids, known as the Centaurs.
• 38 people were killed after the worst storm in modern history hit Athens caused havoc across the Greek capital on 2nd November.
• The tomb of Philip II of Macedon was discovered by Greek archeologist Manolis Andronikos on 8th November.
• Harvey Milk was elected by San Francisco to be the City Supervisor on 8th November. He was the first openly gay elected official of any large city in the U.S.
• Saturday Night Fever was released by the Bee Gees on 10th November. This was the best selling album of all time.
• British Airways introduced regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service on 22nd November.
• Also on 22nd November, TCP/IP test succeeded connecting 3 ARPANET nodes, in what eventually became the Internet protocol.
• The Rankin/Bass made for TV animated film The Hobbit premiered on NBC in the United States on 27th November.
December
• The children’s cartoon channel, Nickelodeon Television Channel, launched as The Pinewheel Network on 1st December.
• The Lockheed’s top secret stealth aircraft project designated Have Blue, precursor to the U.S. F-117A Nighthawk, made its first flight on 1st December.
• The Central African Republic president, Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowned himself Emperor on 4th December.
• On 16th December, Mikhail Baryshnikov’s 1976 production of Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet The Nutcracker came to CBS a year after premiering onstage at the Kennedy Center. This adaption became the most popular television production of the work.
Date unknown
• Portugal’s traditional naming conventions change such that children’s surnames can come from either the mother or the father, not just from the father.
• After a 24 year period, the Soviet Nation Anthem’s lyrics were returned, with Joseph Stalin’s name omitted.
• Women integrated into regular Navy.
Events
January
• The Commodore PET was demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, in January. This was the world’s first personal computer.
• Inheritance tax was abolished on 1st January, by the Australian state of Queensland.
• The Apple Computer Inc. was incorporated on 3rd January.
• Ocean Park was opened on 10th January in Hong Kong.
• The firing squad in Utah executed Gary Gilmore on 17th January. This was the first execution since the reintroduction of the death penalty in the U.S.
• Previously unknown bacterium that had now been identified by scientists as the cause of mysterious Legionnaire’s disease on 18th January.
• A plane crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina killed SFR Yugoslavia Prime Minister, Džemal Bijedić, his wife and 6 others were killed on 18th January.
• For the first and last time in history snow fell in Miami, Florida on 19th January. Snowfall had only previously occurred farther south in the United States only on the high mountains of the state of Hawaii.
• Jimmy Carter became the 39th President of the United States on 20th January after succeeding Gerald Ford.
• On 23rd January the Roots began their phenomenally successful run on ABC.
• Punk rock group, the Sex Pistols, were sacked by their record company, EMI, on 27th January.
• The Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 hit Buffalo, New York, and the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario on 28th January.
February
• Grammy winning album Rumours, by Fleetwood Mac’s was released on 4th February.
• The Soviet Union launched the Soyuz 24 to dock with the Salyut 5 space station on 7th February.
• The heaviest known crustacean, a 20.2kg lobster was caught of the Nova Scotia on 11th February.
• Prog. 1 of 2000 AD was launched on 18th February.
• The New Zealand Parliament, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on 28th February.
March
• Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia opened the Australian parliament on 8th March.
• Around twelve armed Hanafi Muslims took over 3 building in Washington, D.C. they killed 1 person and kept over 130 people hostage from 2 days. The incident began on 9th March.
• The rings of Uranus were discovered on 10th March.
• Tenor Luciano Pavarotti and the PBS opera series Live from the Met, both made the American television debuts on 15th March. Pavarotti stared in a complete production of Puccini’s La Boheme.
• Dr. James Dobson founded Focus on the Family on 26th March.
• On 27th March, a collision between KLM and Pan Am Boeing 747 at Tenerife, Canary Islands killed 583. This was known as the Tenerife disaster and was the worst single aviation that had been recorded.
April
• The small market town of Hay on Wye declared independence from the UK as a publicity stunt on 1st April.
• On 4th April, in Grundy, Virginia experienced a major flood that made around $15 million in damages to 228 residential and commercial structures. To date the town is still recovering.
• German Federal Prosecutor, Siegfried Buback and his driver were shot by 2 Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light near his home in Karlsruhe on 17th April. The “Ulrike Meinhof Commando” later claimed responsibility.
• The Clash, debut album by The Clash’s was released in the UK on CBS records on 8th April.
• On 11th April, London Transport’s Silver Jubilee buses were launched.
• Sightings of an eerie monster were reported by residents of Dover, Massachusetts on 21st April.
• Live telephones traffic was carried via optical fiber on 22nd April.
• Red Army Faction members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe, were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Stuttgart court on 28th April.
May
• The Taksim Square massacre in Istanbul, on 1st May, resulted in 34 deaths, hundreds of injuries.
• The Grateful Dead played at Cornell University’s Barton Hall in Ithaca, NY on 8th May.
• On 17th May, the Likud Party, led by Menachem Begin, won the elections in Israel.
• Also on 17th May, Queen Elizabeth II commenced her 1977 Silver Jubilee tour in Glasgow.
• It was reported by scientists on 23rd May, that they were using bacteria in a lab to make insulin.
• Star Wars became the highest grossing film of all time on 25th May, when it began showing in cinemas.
• The South Tower of the World Trade Center was climbed by George Willig on 26th May.
• The new Air Terminal Building at the Edinburgh Airport was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 27th May.
• The Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky was engulfed in fire on 28th May. The fire killed 165 people.
June
• The first Apple II series computers went on sale on 5th June.
• The United Kingdom held Jubilee celebrations between 6th and 9th June, for Elizabeth II’s 25 years of Elizabeth II’s reign.
• Voters in Miami-Dade County, Florida voted to repeal the county’s gay rights ordinance on 7th June, after Anita Bryant campaigned her anti-gay “Save Our Children” crusade.
• The Supremes disbanded after they performed their last concert at Drury Lane in London, England on 12th June.
• Larry Ellison, Bob Miner and Ed Oates incorporated Oracle Corporation in Redwood Shores, California as Software Development Laboratories on 16th June.
• Anglia Television broadcasted the fake documentary, Alternative 3 on 20th June. This entered into the conspiracy theory canon.
• Lightning struck American Roy Sullivan for the seventh time on 25th June.
• Elvis Presley performed his last ever concert on 26th June, in Indianapolis, Indiana’s Market Square Arena.
• The Yorkshire Ripper murdered 16 year old shop assistant Jayne Macdonald, in Leeds, West Yorkshire on 26th June.
• Around 200,000 people protested, marching through the streets of San Francisco on 26th June. They were protesting Anita Bryant’s anti gay remarks and the murder of Robert Hillsborough.
• On 30th June women were integrated into regular Marine Corps.
July
• New York City suffered from a blackout which lasted for 25 hours on 13th July. It resulted in looting and other disorder.
• Donald Mackay, an anti drug campaigner was presumed murdered after he disappeared near Griffith, New South Wales on 15th July.
• Excessive rainfall between 19th and 20th July, in Johnstown, PA, cause flooding. The floods killed over 75 people and caused billions in damage.
• On 22nd July, Deng Xiaoping, purged Chinese Communist leader was restored to power 9 months after the “Gang of Four” was expelled from power in coup d’état.
• Valdez, Alaska received oil for the first time via the Trans-Alaska pipeline system on 28th July.
August
• The Tandy Corporation TRS-80 Model I computer was announced at a press conference on 3rd August.
• The legislation that created the United States Department of Energy was signed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter on 4th August.
• Uruguay’s military controlled - government announced that it would return the nation to civilian rule through general elections in 1981 for a President and Congress on 9th August.
• The NASA Space Shuttle, Enterprise, made its first test free-flight from the back of a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft on 12th August.
• A radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, received a radio signal from deep space on 15th August. This was named the “WOW!” signal for a notation made by a volunteer on the project.
• Elvis Presley, king of rock died in his home in Graceland on 16th August. He died aged 42. During his funeral, 75,000 fans lined the streets of Memphis.
• The Voyager 2 spacecraft was launched on 20th August by the United States.
September
• The first Commodore PET was sold on 3rd September.
• Voyager 1 was launched on 5th September after a brief delay.
• INTEROL issued a resolution against the piracy of video tapes and other material on 8th September. These can still be cited in warnings on opening pre-credits of DVDs and videocassettes.
• Marc Bolan, a glam rock pioneer died in a car crash in Barnes, London on 16th September.
• On 20th September, Fonzie Jumps the Shark on Happy Days and Charles Emerson Winchester III made his first appearance on M*A*S*H in Fade Out, Fade In.
• 15 countries signed a nuclear non-proliferation on 21st September, this included the U.S. and Soviet Union.
• The Geneva Auto Convention was where the Porsche 928 debuted on 28th September.
• The Food Stamp Act of 1977 was enacted on 29th September. This was when the modern Food Stamp Program began. This allowed low and no income people living in the U.S. to be provided assistance.
October
• Pele played his final professional football game as a member of the New York Cosmos on 1st October.
• A Lufthansa Airlines flight to Somalia was hijacked on 13th October by four Palestinians, who demanded the release of 11 Red Army Faction members.
• The Atari 2600 game system was released on 14th October.
• Also on 14th October, during a press conference in Des Moines, Iowa, Anita Bryant was pied by four gay rights activists. This resulted in her political fallout from anti-gay activism.
• Three members of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a charter plane crash outside Gillsburg, Mississippi, on 20th October; this was 3 days after the release of their fifth studio album, Street Survivors.
• The European Patent Institute was founded on 21st October.
• On 26th October, the last natural smallpox case was discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The WHO and the CDC considered this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination and, by extension, of modern science.
• Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols was released in the United Kingdom on 28th October.
November
• Charlie Kowal discovered the 2060 Chiron on 1st November. This was the first of the outer of the solar system asteroids, known as the Centaurs.
• 38 people were killed after the worst storm in modern history hit Athens caused havoc across the Greek capital on 2nd November.
• The tomb of Philip II of Macedon was discovered by Greek archeologist Manolis Andronikos on 8th November.
• Harvey Milk was elected by San Francisco to be the City Supervisor on 8th November. He was the first openly gay elected official of any large city in the U.S.
• Saturday Night Fever was released by the Bee Gees on 10th November. This was the best selling album of all time.
• British Airways introduced regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service on 22nd November.
• Also on 22nd November, TCP/IP test succeeded connecting 3 ARPANET nodes, in what eventually became the Internet protocol.
• The Rankin/Bass made for TV animated film The Hobbit premiered on NBC in the United States on 27th November.
December
• The children’s cartoon channel, Nickelodeon Television Channel, launched as The Pinewheel Network on 1st December.
• The Lockheed’s top secret stealth aircraft project designated Have Blue, precursor to the U.S. F-117A Nighthawk, made its first flight on 1st December.
• The Central African Republic president, Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowned himself Emperor on 4th December.
• On 16th December, Mikhail Baryshnikov’s 1976 production of Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet The Nutcracker came to CBS a year after premiering onstage at the Kennedy Center. This adaption became the most popular television production of the work.
Date unknown
• Portugal’s traditional naming conventions change such that children’s surnames can come from either the mother or the father, not just from the father.
• After a 24 year period, the Soviet Nation Anthem’s lyrics were returned, with Joseph Stalin’s name omitted.
• Women integrated into regular Navy.
1976
1976
January
• The first commercially developed supercomputer, the Cray-1, was released by Seymour Cray’s Cray Research in January 1976.
• The trial against jailed members of the Red Army Faction began in Stuttgart, West Germany on 16th January.
• The Scottish Labour Party was formed on 18th January.
• 5 years after the Bangladesh Liberation War, full diplomatic relations were established between Bangladesh and Pakistan on 18th January.
• The first commercial Concorde flight took off on 21st January.
• Twelve Provisional Irish Republican Army bombs exploded in the West End of London on 29th January.
• Live from Lincoln Center debuted on PBS on 30th January.
February
• An earthquake on 4th February, in Guatemala and Honduras killed more than 22,000 people.
• 30 students were injured after a racially charged riot at Escambia High School in Pensacola, Florida, involving nearly 2,000 students on 5th February took place. The incident lasted for 4 hours.
• The first African- American Secretary of the U.S. Army was Clifford Alexander Jr., who confirmed this position on 11th February.
• On 13th February, General Murtala Mohammed of Nigeria was assassinated in a military coup.
• The national referendum adopted the 1976 Constitution of Cuba by 15th February.
• Cuba’s current constitution was enacted on 24th February.
• The death of Stanley Whitehead led Mel Courtney to win the Nelson, New Zealand by-election on 28th February.
March
• The Maguire Seven were found guilty on 4th March for having possession of explosives and subsequently jailed for 14 years.
• The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was formally dissolved in Northern Ireland on 4th March. This resulted in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London via the British Parliament.
• Also on 9th March, 42 were left dead after a cable – car disaster in Cavalese, Italy.
• Two coal mines exploded claimed 26 lives at the Blue Diamond Coal Co. Scotia Mine in Letcher County, Kentucky between 9th March and 11th March.
• Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Harold Wilson resigned on 16th March.
• The Toronto Blue Jays were created on 26th March.
• The first 4.6 miles of the Washington Metro subway system opened on 27th March.
• The military dictatorship of General Jorge Videla came into power in Argentina on 29th March.
April
• Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak formed the Apple Computer company on 1st April.
• Also on 1st April, Conrail was formed by the United States government, to take control of 13 major Northeast Class-1 railroads that had filed for bankruptcy protection. Conrail took control at midnight, as a government-owned and operated railroad until 1986, when it is sold to the public.
• Patrick Moore was the first person to report the Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect on 1st April.
• The United Kingdom won the Eurovision Song Contest on 3rd April. Brotherhood of Man sung, Save Your Kisses for Me.
• Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigned as leader of Cambodia and was then place under house arrest on 4th April.
• James Callaghan became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 5th April.
• 40 people were killed after an explosion in an ammunition factory in Lapua, Finland on 13th April.
• Also on 13th April, the U.S. Treasury Department reintroduced the two-dollar bill, as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson’s 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.
• The minimum age for marriage in India was raised to 21 years for men and 18 years for women on 16th April. This was an attempt to curb population growth.
• The Ramones, a punk rock group, released their first self- titled album on 23rd April.
• Portugal’s new Constitution was enacted on 25th April.
May
• The first LAGEOS, (Laser Geodynamics Satellite) was launched on 4th May.
• 900 people were killed and another 100,000 were left homeless after an earthquake hit the Friuli area in Italy on 6th May.
• Red Army Faction, Ulrike Meinhof was found hanging in an apparent suicide, in her Stuttgart-Stammheim prison cell on 9th May.
• The Federal Election Campaign Act was signed by U.S. President Gerald Ford on 11th May.
• On 24th May the Washington D.C. Concorde service began.
• On 31st May, Syria intervened in the Lebanese Civil War in opposition to the Palestine Liberation Organisation, whom it had previously supported.
June
• Iceland and the UK ended the Cod War on 1st June.
• 11 people were killed on 5th June, after the Teton Dam collapsed in southeast Idaho in the U.S.
• On 13th June savage thunderstorms struck through the state of Iowa, it caused several tornadoes, including an F-5 tornado that destroyed the town of Jordan, Iowa.
• Donald Neilson’s killer, known as the Black Panther’s trial began on 14th June at Oxford Crown Court.
• The ABA-NBA merger was agreed on 17th June, by the National Basketball Association and the American Basketball Association.
• The murder of the U.S. ambassador led hundreds of Western tourists to be moved from Beirut and taken into safety in Syria by the U.S. military on 20th June.
• An increase in food prices led to strikes in Poland that began on 25th June and ended on 30th June.
• The CN Tower that was built in Toronto was open to the public on 26th June. It is the tallest free-standing land structure.
• An Air France plane in Greece was hijacked by Palestinian extremists. 246 passengers and 12 crew members were onboard. The plane was taken to Entebbe, Uganda.
• Seychelles gained its independence from the UK on 29th June.
July
• North and South Vietnam united on 2nd July and formed the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
• The Supreme Court of the U.S. ruled that the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual and is a constitutionally acceptable form of punishment on 3rd July.
• The UK’s heat wave reached its peak on 3rd July. This caused the UK to suffer from greater drought conditions.
• Pollution was extended to a large area in the neighbourhood of Milano after an explosion in Seveso, Italy on 10th July. This led to many evacuations and a large number of people being affected by the toxic clouds.
• The first black person to keynote a political convention was Barbara Jordan on 12 July.
• Jimmy Carter was nominated for U.S. President at the Democratic National Convention in NYC on 15th July.
• The 1976 Summer Olympics began in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 17th July.
• East Timor was declared the 27th province of Indonesia on 17th July.
• The Sagarmatha National Park was created in Nepal on 19th July.
• The Viking 1 lander successfully landed on Mars on 20th July.
• British ambassador to the Irish Republic, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, was killed in a bomb explosion on 21st July.
• The UK broke diplomatic relations with Uganda on 27th July.
• 242,769 people were killed and 164,851 people were injured after an earthquake in Tangshan, China on 28th July.
• NASA released the famous Face on Mars photo on 31st July. The photo was taken by Viking 1.
• The Big Thompson River in Northern Colorado flooded on 31st July. The floods destroyed more than 400 cars and houses.
August
• The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago became a republic, replaced Queen Elizabeth II with a President as its head state on 1st August.
• Andrea Wilborn and Stan Farr were murdered by a gunman. The gunman also injured Pricilla Davis and Gus Gavrel on 2nd August. This incident took place in Priscilla’s mansion in Fort Worth, Texas. Priscilla’s husband, T. Cullen Davis was one of the richest men in Texas. Her husband was tried and found innocent for Andrea’s murder. Involvement in a plot to kill several people, and a wrongful death lawsuit. Cullen went broke after this.
• The first recognised outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease killed 29 people at the American Legion convention in Philadelphia on 4th August.
• Big Ben suffered internal damage and stopped running for over 9 months beginning on 5th August.
• On 6th August General John Stonehouse, a former Postmaster, was sentenced to 7 years’ jail for fraud, theft and forgery.
• Viking 2 entered into orbit around Mars on 7th August.
• Part of the chiming mechanism disintegrated through metal fatigue on 10th August which resulted in the chimes of Big Ben to stop working.
• The Ramones made their first professional performance at CGCB’s on 16th August.
• The first known outbreak of Ebola virus occurred in Yambuku, Zaire on 26th August.
September
• Cigarette and Tobacco advertising was banned on Australian T.V. and Radio on 1st September.
• The Viking II spacecraft landed at Utopia Planitia on Mars on 3rd September. The first close up colour photos of the planet’s surface was taken.
• In the Cold War, Soviet Air Force pilot Lt. Viktor Belenko landed a MiG-25 jet fighter at Hakodate, on the island of Hokkaido in Japan, and requested political asylum in the U.S. on 6th September.
• Dean Martin was brought on stage unannounced by Frank Sinatra at the 1976 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon in Las Vegas, Nevada. This reunited the comedy team for the first and only time in over 20 years on 6th September.
• A series of kidnappings and forced disappearances followed by torture, rape and murder of students under the Argentinian dictatorship took place on 16th September.
• The space shuttle Enterprise was rolled out of a Palmdale, California hangar on 17th September.
• The International Organisation of Space Communication was founded on 20th September.
• Punk Movement’s were introduced into mainstream culture at the semi-legendary 100 Club Punk Festival, which took place between 20th and 21st September. The festival ignited the careers of several influential punk and post-punk bands.
• The Seychelles joined the United Nations on 21st September.
• Also on 21st September Orlando Letelier was assassinated in Washington, D.C. by agents of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
• Irish rock band U2 was formed on 25th September, after drummer Larry Mullen Jr. Posted a note that stated that they were seeking members for a band on the notice board of his Dublin school.
October
• The brand new Intercity 125 High Speed Train was introduced in the United Kingdom on 4th October.
• A bomb placed by anti-Fidel Castro terrorists on Cubana Flight 455 on 6th October, lead to the flight crashing after taking off from Bridgetown, Barbados. All 73 people on board were killed.
• On 18th October, Ford launched volume production of Fiesta car at its Valencia plant.
• The Copyright Acts of 1976 extended copyright duration for an additional 20 years in the U.S. on 19th October.
• Also on 19th October, the Battle of Aishiya was fought in Lebanon.
• The Chimpanzee was listed as an endangered species on 19th October.
November
• In Oahu, Hawaii t he first megamouth shark was discovered on 15th November.
• An earthquake in Van and Muradiye, Turkey measured 7.3 on the Richter Scale and killed 3,840 people on 24th November.
• The Band holds its farewell concert, The Last Waltz in San Francisco on 25th November.
• Microsoft was officially registered with t he Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico on 26th November.
December
• Angola joined the United Nations on 1st December.
• Jose Lopez Portillo took office as President of Mexico on 1st December.
• On 1st December, the Sex Pistols achieved public notoriety as they unleashed several 4-letter words live on Bill Grundy’s early evening TV show.
• On 3rd December, Bob Marley and his manager Don Taylor were shot in an assassination attempt in Kingston, Jamaica.
• Also on 3rd December, Patrick Hillery was elected unopposed as the 6th President on Ireland.
• Hotel California was release by The Eagles on 8th December.
• Freddie King, a legendary guitarist died on 28th December.
Date unknown
• Random Breath Testing introduced in Victoria (Australia)
• The first laser printer is introduced by IBM (the IBM 3800).
January
• The first commercially developed supercomputer, the Cray-1, was released by Seymour Cray’s Cray Research in January 1976.
• The trial against jailed members of the Red Army Faction began in Stuttgart, West Germany on 16th January.
• The Scottish Labour Party was formed on 18th January.
• 5 years after the Bangladesh Liberation War, full diplomatic relations were established between Bangladesh and Pakistan on 18th January.
• The first commercial Concorde flight took off on 21st January.
• Twelve Provisional Irish Republican Army bombs exploded in the West End of London on 29th January.
• Live from Lincoln Center debuted on PBS on 30th January.
February
• An earthquake on 4th February, in Guatemala and Honduras killed more than 22,000 people.
• 30 students were injured after a racially charged riot at Escambia High School in Pensacola, Florida, involving nearly 2,000 students on 5th February took place. The incident lasted for 4 hours.
• The first African- American Secretary of the U.S. Army was Clifford Alexander Jr., who confirmed this position on 11th February.
• On 13th February, General Murtala Mohammed of Nigeria was assassinated in a military coup.
• The national referendum adopted the 1976 Constitution of Cuba by 15th February.
• Cuba’s current constitution was enacted on 24th February.
• The death of Stanley Whitehead led Mel Courtney to win the Nelson, New Zealand by-election on 28th February.
March
• The Maguire Seven were found guilty on 4th March for having possession of explosives and subsequently jailed for 14 years.
• The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention was formally dissolved in Northern Ireland on 4th March. This resulted in direct rule of Northern Ireland from London via the British Parliament.
• Also on 9th March, 42 were left dead after a cable – car disaster in Cavalese, Italy.
• Two coal mines exploded claimed 26 lives at the Blue Diamond Coal Co. Scotia Mine in Letcher County, Kentucky between 9th March and 11th March.
• Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Harold Wilson resigned on 16th March.
• The Toronto Blue Jays were created on 26th March.
• The first 4.6 miles of the Washington Metro subway system opened on 27th March.
• The military dictatorship of General Jorge Videla came into power in Argentina on 29th March.
April
• Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak formed the Apple Computer company on 1st April.
• Also on 1st April, Conrail was formed by the United States government, to take control of 13 major Northeast Class-1 railroads that had filed for bankruptcy protection. Conrail took control at midnight, as a government-owned and operated railroad until 1986, when it is sold to the public.
• Patrick Moore was the first person to report the Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect on 1st April.
• The United Kingdom won the Eurovision Song Contest on 3rd April. Brotherhood of Man sung, Save Your Kisses for Me.
• Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigned as leader of Cambodia and was then place under house arrest on 4th April.
• James Callaghan became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 5th April.
• 40 people were killed after an explosion in an ammunition factory in Lapua, Finland on 13th April.
• Also on 13th April, the U.S. Treasury Department reintroduced the two-dollar bill, as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson’s 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.
• The minimum age for marriage in India was raised to 21 years for men and 18 years for women on 16th April. This was an attempt to curb population growth.
• The Ramones, a punk rock group, released their first self- titled album on 23rd April.
• Portugal’s new Constitution was enacted on 25th April.
May
• The first LAGEOS, (Laser Geodynamics Satellite) was launched on 4th May.
• 900 people were killed and another 100,000 were left homeless after an earthquake hit the Friuli area in Italy on 6th May.
• Red Army Faction, Ulrike Meinhof was found hanging in an apparent suicide, in her Stuttgart-Stammheim prison cell on 9th May.
• The Federal Election Campaign Act was signed by U.S. President Gerald Ford on 11th May.
• On 24th May the Washington D.C. Concorde service began.
• On 31st May, Syria intervened in the Lebanese Civil War in opposition to the Palestine Liberation Organisation, whom it had previously supported.
June
• Iceland and the UK ended the Cod War on 1st June.
• 11 people were killed on 5th June, after the Teton Dam collapsed in southeast Idaho in the U.S.
• On 13th June savage thunderstorms struck through the state of Iowa, it caused several tornadoes, including an F-5 tornado that destroyed the town of Jordan, Iowa.
• Donald Neilson’s killer, known as the Black Panther’s trial began on 14th June at Oxford Crown Court.
• The ABA-NBA merger was agreed on 17th June, by the National Basketball Association and the American Basketball Association.
• The murder of the U.S. ambassador led hundreds of Western tourists to be moved from Beirut and taken into safety in Syria by the U.S. military on 20th June.
• An increase in food prices led to strikes in Poland that began on 25th June and ended on 30th June.
• The CN Tower that was built in Toronto was open to the public on 26th June. It is the tallest free-standing land structure.
• An Air France plane in Greece was hijacked by Palestinian extremists. 246 passengers and 12 crew members were onboard. The plane was taken to Entebbe, Uganda.
• Seychelles gained its independence from the UK on 29th June.
July
• North and South Vietnam united on 2nd July and formed the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
• The Supreme Court of the U.S. ruled that the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual and is a constitutionally acceptable form of punishment on 3rd July.
• The UK’s heat wave reached its peak on 3rd July. This caused the UK to suffer from greater drought conditions.
• Pollution was extended to a large area in the neighbourhood of Milano after an explosion in Seveso, Italy on 10th July. This led to many evacuations and a large number of people being affected by the toxic clouds.
• The first black person to keynote a political convention was Barbara Jordan on 12 July.
• Jimmy Carter was nominated for U.S. President at the Democratic National Convention in NYC on 15th July.
• The 1976 Summer Olympics began in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 17th July.
• East Timor was declared the 27th province of Indonesia on 17th July.
• The Sagarmatha National Park was created in Nepal on 19th July.
• The Viking 1 lander successfully landed on Mars on 20th July.
• British ambassador to the Irish Republic, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, was killed in a bomb explosion on 21st July.
• The UK broke diplomatic relations with Uganda on 27th July.
• 242,769 people were killed and 164,851 people were injured after an earthquake in Tangshan, China on 28th July.
• NASA released the famous Face on Mars photo on 31st July. The photo was taken by Viking 1.
• The Big Thompson River in Northern Colorado flooded on 31st July. The floods destroyed more than 400 cars and houses.
August
• The Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago became a republic, replaced Queen Elizabeth II with a President as its head state on 1st August.
• Andrea Wilborn and Stan Farr were murdered by a gunman. The gunman also injured Pricilla Davis and Gus Gavrel on 2nd August. This incident took place in Priscilla’s mansion in Fort Worth, Texas. Priscilla’s husband, T. Cullen Davis was one of the richest men in Texas. Her husband was tried and found innocent for Andrea’s murder. Involvement in a plot to kill several people, and a wrongful death lawsuit. Cullen went broke after this.
• The first recognised outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease killed 29 people at the American Legion convention in Philadelphia on 4th August.
• Big Ben suffered internal damage and stopped running for over 9 months beginning on 5th August.
• On 6th August General John Stonehouse, a former Postmaster, was sentenced to 7 years’ jail for fraud, theft and forgery.
• Viking 2 entered into orbit around Mars on 7th August.
• Part of the chiming mechanism disintegrated through metal fatigue on 10th August which resulted in the chimes of Big Ben to stop working.
• The Ramones made their first professional performance at CGCB’s on 16th August.
• The first known outbreak of Ebola virus occurred in Yambuku, Zaire on 26th August.
September
• Cigarette and Tobacco advertising was banned on Australian T.V. and Radio on 1st September.
• The Viking II spacecraft landed at Utopia Planitia on Mars on 3rd September. The first close up colour photos of the planet’s surface was taken.
• In the Cold War, Soviet Air Force pilot Lt. Viktor Belenko landed a MiG-25 jet fighter at Hakodate, on the island of Hokkaido in Japan, and requested political asylum in the U.S. on 6th September.
• Dean Martin was brought on stage unannounced by Frank Sinatra at the 1976 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon in Las Vegas, Nevada. This reunited the comedy team for the first and only time in over 20 years on 6th September.
• A series of kidnappings and forced disappearances followed by torture, rape and murder of students under the Argentinian dictatorship took place on 16th September.
• The space shuttle Enterprise was rolled out of a Palmdale, California hangar on 17th September.
• The International Organisation of Space Communication was founded on 20th September.
• Punk Movement’s were introduced into mainstream culture at the semi-legendary 100 Club Punk Festival, which took place between 20th and 21st September. The festival ignited the careers of several influential punk and post-punk bands.
• The Seychelles joined the United Nations on 21st September.
• Also on 21st September Orlando Letelier was assassinated in Washington, D.C. by agents of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
• Irish rock band U2 was formed on 25th September, after drummer Larry Mullen Jr. Posted a note that stated that they were seeking members for a band on the notice board of his Dublin school.
October
• The brand new Intercity 125 High Speed Train was introduced in the United Kingdom on 4th October.
• A bomb placed by anti-Fidel Castro terrorists on Cubana Flight 455 on 6th October, lead to the flight crashing after taking off from Bridgetown, Barbados. All 73 people on board were killed.
• On 18th October, Ford launched volume production of Fiesta car at its Valencia plant.
• The Copyright Acts of 1976 extended copyright duration for an additional 20 years in the U.S. on 19th October.
• Also on 19th October, the Battle of Aishiya was fought in Lebanon.
• The Chimpanzee was listed as an endangered species on 19th October.
November
• In Oahu, Hawaii t he first megamouth shark was discovered on 15th November.
• An earthquake in Van and Muradiye, Turkey measured 7.3 on the Richter Scale and killed 3,840 people on 24th November.
• The Band holds its farewell concert, The Last Waltz in San Francisco on 25th November.
• Microsoft was officially registered with t he Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico on 26th November.
December
• Angola joined the United Nations on 1st December.
• Jose Lopez Portillo took office as President of Mexico on 1st December.
• On 1st December, the Sex Pistols achieved public notoriety as they unleashed several 4-letter words live on Bill Grundy’s early evening TV show.
• On 3rd December, Bob Marley and his manager Don Taylor were shot in an assassination attempt in Kingston, Jamaica.
• Also on 3rd December, Patrick Hillery was elected unopposed as the 6th President on Ireland.
• Hotel California was release by The Eagles on 8th December.
• Freddie King, a legendary guitarist died on 28th December.
Date unknown
• Random Breath Testing introduced in Victoria (Australia)
• The first laser printer is introduced by IBM (the IBM 3800).
1975
1975
January
• The Altair 8800 was released in January, this sparked the microcomputer revolution
• The Golf was introduced by Volkswagen in January 1979. This was their new front wheel drive economy car, in the U.S. and Canada as the Volkswagen Rabbit.
• Work was abandoned by workers on the British end of the Channel Tunnel on 1st January.
• Lilongwe was the new name given to Malawi’s capital instead on Zomba. This name changed took place on 1st January.
• The United States Patent and Trademark Office was renamed U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on 2nd January.
• The United States Congress approved the Federal Rules of Evidence on 2nd January.
• Wheel of Fortune was premiered on NBC on 6th January.
• AM America made its television debut on ABC on 6th January.
• Crude oil prices were risen y 10% after OPEC agreed to do so on 7th January.
• 17 year old Heiress Lesley Whittle was kidnapped from her home in Shropshire, England by Donald Neilson on 14th January.
• International Women’s Year was launched in Britain by Princess Alexandra and Barbara Castle on 15th January.
• Angola gained its independence from Portugal on 15th January.
• Atomic Energy divided between ERDA and Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 18th January.
• In response to the 1973 oil crisis, the United States Energy Research and Development Administration was founded on 19th January.
• The Creative Artists Agency was founded on 20th January by Michael Ovitz.
February
• The Philippines launched the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation on 1st February.
• The first successfully predicted earthquake was the Haicheng earthquake that happened on 4th February. The earthquake killed 2,041 people and injured a further 27,538 in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.
• The Soyuz 17 crew returned to earth on 9th February. This was after 1 month aboard the Salyut 4 space station.
• The UK Conservative Party leader was Margaret Thatcher after she defeated Edward Heath on 11th February.
• The World Trade Centre broke out in to flames on 13th February.
• Daylight saving time commenced nearly months early in the United States on 23rd February, with response to the energy crisis.
March
• Charlie Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on 4th March.
• Also on 4th March, a Canadian parliamentary committee was televised for the first time.
• Lesley Whittle, body of teenage Heiress was kidnapped found in Staffordshire, England on 7th March, after being kidnapped 7 weeks earlier by the “Black Panther”.
• International Women’s Day was proclaimed by the United Nations on 8th March.
• The construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System began on 9th March.
• The Rocky Horror Show opened on the Broadway in New York City with four performances on 10th March.
• Netherlands won the 20th Eurovision Song Contest on 22nd March. Ding a dong by Tech - In won the contest for them.
• King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot dead by his nephew on 25th March. His nephew was beheaded on 18th June.
• 25 people were killed after a fire in the maternity wing at Kucic Hospital in Rijeka was started on 28th March.
April
• Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates on 4th April, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• Eight people in South Korea were hung for being involved in the People’s Revolutionary Party Incident on 9th April.
• A bus was attacked on 13th April, in Ain El Remmeneh, Lebanon by the Kataeb Militia, killing 27 Palestinians. This triggered the Lebanese civil war.
• Six Red Army Faction terrorists were captured by Swedish Police, shortly after taking over the West German embassy in Stockholm, and taking 11 hostages and demanding the release of the group’s jailed members on 24th April.
May
• Virginia opened the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Theme Park on 5th May.
• The first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest was Junko Tabei, who completed her mission on 16th May.
• The highest ever toll in a UK road accident happened on 27th May, when the Dribble’s Bridge coach crash near Grassington, North Yorkshire, England, resulted in 32 deaths.
June
• The Suez Canal was opened for the first time since the six-day war on 5th June.
• Also on 5th June, the UK voted yes in a referendum to stay in the European Community.
• The Order of Australia was awarded for the first time on 9th June.
• Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India, and suspended civil liberties and elections on 25th June.
• Also on 25th June, Mozambique gained independence from Portugal.
July
• Sydney’s newspaper publisher Juanita Nielsen disappeared on 4th July. It was presumed that she was murdered.
• After 500 years of being ruled by Portugal, Cape Verde finally gained its independence on 5th July.
• The Comoros declared their independence from France on 6th July.
• On 17th July the first linkup between spacecrafts from America and Soviet was marked when an American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft docked in orbit.
August
• The Helsinki Accords were signed on 1st August in Finland. The Helsinki Accords officially recognises Europe’s national borders and respect for human rights.
• The Louisiana Superdome opened in New Orleans on 3rd August.
• The British Leyland Motor Corporation came under British government control on 11th August.
• The Birmingham six were wrongly sentenced to life imprisonment in Great Britain on 15th August.
• On 15th August, President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh was killed during a coup that was led by Major Syed Faruque Rahman.
• Planetary probe, Viking 1 was launched towards Mars on 20th August.
• Officers that were responsible for the military coup in Greece in 1967 were sentenced to death in Athens on 24th August. The sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment.
September
• Between September and October, a march was led, in New Zealand 5,000 people supported Maori leader Whina Cooper. The march was an attempt to claim their land.
• 2 people were killed and 63 people were injured after the Provisional Irish Republican Army bombed the London Hilton hotel on 5th September.
• An earthquake that measured 6.7 on the Richter scale, in Diyarbakir and Lice, Turkey on 6th September, killed at least 2,085 people.
• The first American Roman Catholic saint, Elizabeth Seton, was canonised on 14th September.
• “The Night Watch”, a painting by Rembrandt was slashed a dozen times at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and 14th September.
• On 16th September, Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia.
• A second assassination was unsuccessfully attempted towards U.S. President Gerald Ford on 22nd September, by Sara Jane Moore in San Francisco.
• The Spaghetti House siege took place in London on 28th September.
• The Hughes Helicopters, AH-64 Apache made their first flight on 30th September.
October
• 6 people were killed after an explosives factory in Beloeil, Quebec, was blasted on 2nd October.
• A bomb was set off outside the Green Park tube station near Piccadilly in London on 9th October. This caused 1 death and 20 injuries.
• Saturday Night Live had its first aired episode on 11th October. The show was aired by NBC. Host George Carlin’s first musical guests were Billy Preston and Janis Ian.
• Robert Poulin killed 1 and wounded 5 others as St. Pius X High School in Ottawa, Canada. He then shot himself. This incident happened on 27th October.
• “Yorkshire Ripper”, Peter Sutcliffe, committed his first murder on 29th October. His first victim was Wilma McCann.
November
• One of U.S.’s largest toy manufacturers, revealed on 3rd November that company officials fabricated press releases and financial information to “maintain the appearance of continued corporate growth”
• Also on 3rd November, the first petroleum pipeline was opened from Cruden Bay to Grangemouth Scotland.
• The Price is Right, a long- running television game show, expanded from 30 minutes to its 1 hour long format on CBS on 3rd November.
• One of the most popular World War II songs in the USSR, “Den Pobedy” was revived on 10th November, by Lev Leshchenko.
• The first annual Vogalonga rowing race was held in Venice Italy on 11th November.
• Also on 11th November, Angola became independent from Portugal.
• The Third Cod War began on 16th November. The war was between UK and Iceland and lasted until June 1976.
• After the death of Dictator Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was declared King of Spain on 22nd November.
• America released the cult classic movie “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on 26th November.
• The Provisional Irish Republican Army shot Ross McWhirter, the co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records, on 27th November, for offering reward money to informers.
• Bill Gates used the name “Micro-soft” in a letter for Paul Allen for the first time on 29th November. The name originated from microcomputer software. On 26th November 1976 Microsoft became a registered trademark.
December
• On 8th December, NYC was approved for bailout of 2.3 billion each year through to 1978. This totalled 6.9 billion.
• Indonesia invaded East Timor on 7th December.
• The Iron Maiden was formed by Steve Harris on 25th December.
• A bomb explosion on 29th December in LaGuardia Airport killed 11 people.
January
• The Altair 8800 was released in January, this sparked the microcomputer revolution
• The Golf was introduced by Volkswagen in January 1979. This was their new front wheel drive economy car, in the U.S. and Canada as the Volkswagen Rabbit.
• Work was abandoned by workers on the British end of the Channel Tunnel on 1st January.
• Lilongwe was the new name given to Malawi’s capital instead on Zomba. This name changed took place on 1st January.
• The United States Patent and Trademark Office was renamed U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on 2nd January.
• The United States Congress approved the Federal Rules of Evidence on 2nd January.
• Wheel of Fortune was premiered on NBC on 6th January.
• AM America made its television debut on ABC on 6th January.
• Crude oil prices were risen y 10% after OPEC agreed to do so on 7th January.
• 17 year old Heiress Lesley Whittle was kidnapped from her home in Shropshire, England by Donald Neilson on 14th January.
• International Women’s Year was launched in Britain by Princess Alexandra and Barbara Castle on 15th January.
• Angola gained its independence from Portugal on 15th January.
• Atomic Energy divided between ERDA and Nuclear Regulatory Commission on 18th January.
• In response to the 1973 oil crisis, the United States Energy Research and Development Administration was founded on 19th January.
• The Creative Artists Agency was founded on 20th January by Michael Ovitz.
February
• The Philippines launched the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation on 1st February.
• The first successfully predicted earthquake was the Haicheng earthquake that happened on 4th February. The earthquake killed 2,041 people and injured a further 27,538 in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.
• The Soyuz 17 crew returned to earth on 9th February. This was after 1 month aboard the Salyut 4 space station.
• The UK Conservative Party leader was Margaret Thatcher after she defeated Edward Heath on 11th February.
• The World Trade Centre broke out in to flames on 13th February.
• Daylight saving time commenced nearly months early in the United States on 23rd February, with response to the energy crisis.
March
• Charlie Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on 4th March.
• Also on 4th March, a Canadian parliamentary committee was televised for the first time.
• Lesley Whittle, body of teenage Heiress was kidnapped found in Staffordshire, England on 7th March, after being kidnapped 7 weeks earlier by the “Black Panther”.
• International Women’s Day was proclaimed by the United Nations on 8th March.
• The construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System began on 9th March.
• The Rocky Horror Show opened on the Broadway in New York City with four performances on 10th March.
• Netherlands won the 20th Eurovision Song Contest on 22nd March. Ding a dong by Tech - In won the contest for them.
• King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot dead by his nephew on 25th March. His nephew was beheaded on 18th June.
• 25 people were killed after a fire in the maternity wing at Kucic Hospital in Rijeka was started on 28th March.
April
• Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates on 4th April, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• Eight people in South Korea were hung for being involved in the People’s Revolutionary Party Incident on 9th April.
• A bus was attacked on 13th April, in Ain El Remmeneh, Lebanon by the Kataeb Militia, killing 27 Palestinians. This triggered the Lebanese civil war.
• Six Red Army Faction terrorists were captured by Swedish Police, shortly after taking over the West German embassy in Stockholm, and taking 11 hostages and demanding the release of the group’s jailed members on 24th April.
May
• Virginia opened the Busch Gardens Williamsburg Theme Park on 5th May.
• The first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest was Junko Tabei, who completed her mission on 16th May.
• The highest ever toll in a UK road accident happened on 27th May, when the Dribble’s Bridge coach crash near Grassington, North Yorkshire, England, resulted in 32 deaths.
June
• The Suez Canal was opened for the first time since the six-day war on 5th June.
• Also on 5th June, the UK voted yes in a referendum to stay in the European Community.
• The Order of Australia was awarded for the first time on 9th June.
• Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India, and suspended civil liberties and elections on 25th June.
• Also on 25th June, Mozambique gained independence from Portugal.
July
• Sydney’s newspaper publisher Juanita Nielsen disappeared on 4th July. It was presumed that she was murdered.
• After 500 years of being ruled by Portugal, Cape Verde finally gained its independence on 5th July.
• The Comoros declared their independence from France on 6th July.
• On 17th July the first linkup between spacecrafts from America and Soviet was marked when an American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft docked in orbit.
August
• The Helsinki Accords were signed on 1st August in Finland. The Helsinki Accords officially recognises Europe’s national borders and respect for human rights.
• The Louisiana Superdome opened in New Orleans on 3rd August.
• The British Leyland Motor Corporation came under British government control on 11th August.
• The Birmingham six were wrongly sentenced to life imprisonment in Great Britain on 15th August.
• On 15th August, President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh was killed during a coup that was led by Major Syed Faruque Rahman.
• Planetary probe, Viking 1 was launched towards Mars on 20th August.
• Officers that were responsible for the military coup in Greece in 1967 were sentenced to death in Athens on 24th August. The sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment.
September
• Between September and October, a march was led, in New Zealand 5,000 people supported Maori leader Whina Cooper. The march was an attempt to claim their land.
• 2 people were killed and 63 people were injured after the Provisional Irish Republican Army bombed the London Hilton hotel on 5th September.
• An earthquake that measured 6.7 on the Richter scale, in Diyarbakir and Lice, Turkey on 6th September, killed at least 2,085 people.
• The first American Roman Catholic saint, Elizabeth Seton, was canonised on 14th September.
• “The Night Watch”, a painting by Rembrandt was slashed a dozen times at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and 14th September.
• On 16th September, Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia.
• A second assassination was unsuccessfully attempted towards U.S. President Gerald Ford on 22nd September, by Sara Jane Moore in San Francisco.
• The Spaghetti House siege took place in London on 28th September.
• The Hughes Helicopters, AH-64 Apache made their first flight on 30th September.
October
• 6 people were killed after an explosives factory in Beloeil, Quebec, was blasted on 2nd October.
• A bomb was set off outside the Green Park tube station near Piccadilly in London on 9th October. This caused 1 death and 20 injuries.
• Saturday Night Live had its first aired episode on 11th October. The show was aired by NBC. Host George Carlin’s first musical guests were Billy Preston and Janis Ian.
• Robert Poulin killed 1 and wounded 5 others as St. Pius X High School in Ottawa, Canada. He then shot himself. This incident happened on 27th October.
• “Yorkshire Ripper”, Peter Sutcliffe, committed his first murder on 29th October. His first victim was Wilma McCann.
November
• One of U.S.’s largest toy manufacturers, revealed on 3rd November that company officials fabricated press releases and financial information to “maintain the appearance of continued corporate growth”
• Also on 3rd November, the first petroleum pipeline was opened from Cruden Bay to Grangemouth Scotland.
• The Price is Right, a long- running television game show, expanded from 30 minutes to its 1 hour long format on CBS on 3rd November.
• One of the most popular World War II songs in the USSR, “Den Pobedy” was revived on 10th November, by Lev Leshchenko.
• The first annual Vogalonga rowing race was held in Venice Italy on 11th November.
• Also on 11th November, Angola became independent from Portugal.
• The Third Cod War began on 16th November. The war was between UK and Iceland and lasted until June 1976.
• After the death of Dictator Francisco Franco, Juan Carlos was declared King of Spain on 22nd November.
• America released the cult classic movie “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on 26th November.
• The Provisional Irish Republican Army shot Ross McWhirter, the co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records, on 27th November, for offering reward money to informers.
• Bill Gates used the name “Micro-soft” in a letter for Paul Allen for the first time on 29th November. The name originated from microcomputer software. On 26th November 1976 Microsoft became a registered trademark.
December
• On 8th December, NYC was approved for bailout of 2.3 billion each year through to 1978. This totalled 6.9 billion.
• Indonesia invaded East Timor on 7th December.
• The Iron Maiden was formed by Steve Harris on 25th December.
• A bomb explosion on 29th December in LaGuardia Airport killed 11 people.
1974
1974
January
• On 26th January, a new government was formed in Turkey, by Bülent Ecevit, of CHP. This was the 37th government to be formed.
February
• 177 people were killed and 293 were injured (11 died later), in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 1st February, after a fire broke out in the Joelma Building.
• Also on 1st February, the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, was declared as a Federal Territory.
• The crew of Skylab 4 returned to Earth on 8th February, after a record breaking 84 days in orbit.
• A soccer stampede in Cairo killed 49 people on 17th February.
March
• On 3rd March, a Turkish Airlines DC-10, travelling from Paris to London, crashed in a wood near Paris, killing all 346 passengers.
• Mia Farrow was on the cover of the first issue of People Magazine, which was released on 4th March.
• Charles de Gaulle Airport was opened on 8th March, in Paris, France.
• 18th March was the end of the Oil embargo crisis. The crisis lasted for 5 months.
• The Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang was discovered at Xi’an, China in March, the exact date is unknown.
April
• Sweden, won the Eurovision Song Contest on 6th April. ABBA sung Waterloo.
• The Kiryat Shmona massacre took place in Israel on 11th April.
• Well known novel, Carrie, was published by Stephen King on 24th April. This was his first novel to be in his own name.
• A coup in Portugal restored its democracy on 25th April.
May
• An all female team, climbed the Manaslu, Nepal, they became the first women to climb an 8,000 metre peak on 4th May.
• On 17th May, the Protestant terrorist group set off numerous bombs, which exploded in Dublin and Monaghan, in the Republic of Ireland. The attack killed 33 civilians and wounded around 300 people. This was the highest number of causalities in any day during “The Troubles”.
• A Nuclear test, under Project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonated its first nuclear weapon on 18th May. This was the 6th nation to do this successfully.
• The tallest structure ever built, the Warsaw radio mast, was completed on 18th May. It later collapsed on 8th August 1991.
• NASA’s ATS-6 satellite was launched on 30th May.
June
• West Germany hosted the 1974 FIFA World Cup, which began on 13th June.
• The first Universal Product Code was scanned on 26th June. It was scanned to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket, in Troy, Ohio.
August
• A bomb exploded in an Italicus Expressen train between Italy and West Germany on 4th August. Italian neo-fascist terrorists took responsibility for this.
• U.S. President Richard Nixon announced his resignation on 8th August.
• Vice President Gerald Rudolph Ford became the 38th U.S. President on 9th August.
• 37% of Cyprus was occupied by Turkey after they invaded for the second time on 14th August.
September
• On 8th September, TWA Flight 84 crashed into the Ionian Sea. This was due to a bomb explosion in the cargo hold, which exploded 18minutes after takeoff from Athens. 88 people were killed.
• BBC started Ceefax on 23rd September. This was one of the first public service information systems.
October
• Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in 8 rounds and regained the Heavyweight title on 30th October. This title had been stripped from him 7 years before this date. This event happened at the Rumble in the Jungle, which took place in Kinshasa, Zaire.
November
• The World Tourism Organisation was established on 1st November.
• An interstellar radio message was sent by the Arecibo radio telescope on 16th November. The message was sent towards the M13 Great Globular Cluster. The message will reach its destination around the year 27,000.
• Two pubs were bombed, in Birmingham, England. The bombings killed 6 people on 21st November. The Birmingham six were later sentenced to life in prison for this attack.
• On 24th November, a skeleton from the hominid species, Australopithecus afarensis was discovered. They named it Lucy.
December
• On 1st December, a Boeing 727 carrying TWA Flight 514, crashed 25miles northwest of Dulles International Airport, due to bad weather conditions. All 92 people on board were killed.
• Cyclone Tracy was the cause of Darwin, Australia almost being completely destroyed, between 24th and 25th December.
January
• On 26th January, a new government was formed in Turkey, by Bülent Ecevit, of CHP. This was the 37th government to be formed.
February
• 177 people were killed and 293 were injured (11 died later), in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 1st February, after a fire broke out in the Joelma Building.
• Also on 1st February, the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, was declared as a Federal Territory.
• The crew of Skylab 4 returned to Earth on 8th February, after a record breaking 84 days in orbit.
• A soccer stampede in Cairo killed 49 people on 17th February.
March
• On 3rd March, a Turkish Airlines DC-10, travelling from Paris to London, crashed in a wood near Paris, killing all 346 passengers.
• Mia Farrow was on the cover of the first issue of People Magazine, which was released on 4th March.
• Charles de Gaulle Airport was opened on 8th March, in Paris, France.
• 18th March was the end of the Oil embargo crisis. The crisis lasted for 5 months.
• The Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang was discovered at Xi’an, China in March, the exact date is unknown.
April
• Sweden, won the Eurovision Song Contest on 6th April. ABBA sung Waterloo.
• The Kiryat Shmona massacre took place in Israel on 11th April.
• Well known novel, Carrie, was published by Stephen King on 24th April. This was his first novel to be in his own name.
• A coup in Portugal restored its democracy on 25th April.
May
• An all female team, climbed the Manaslu, Nepal, they became the first women to climb an 8,000 metre peak on 4th May.
• On 17th May, the Protestant terrorist group set off numerous bombs, which exploded in Dublin and Monaghan, in the Republic of Ireland. The attack killed 33 civilians and wounded around 300 people. This was the highest number of causalities in any day during “The Troubles”.
• A Nuclear test, under Project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonated its first nuclear weapon on 18th May. This was the 6th nation to do this successfully.
• The tallest structure ever built, the Warsaw radio mast, was completed on 18th May. It later collapsed on 8th August 1991.
• NASA’s ATS-6 satellite was launched on 30th May.
June
• West Germany hosted the 1974 FIFA World Cup, which began on 13th June.
• The first Universal Product Code was scanned on 26th June. It was scanned to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket, in Troy, Ohio.
August
• A bomb exploded in an Italicus Expressen train between Italy and West Germany on 4th August. Italian neo-fascist terrorists took responsibility for this.
• U.S. President Richard Nixon announced his resignation on 8th August.
• Vice President Gerald Rudolph Ford became the 38th U.S. President on 9th August.
• 37% of Cyprus was occupied by Turkey after they invaded for the second time on 14th August.
September
• On 8th September, TWA Flight 84 crashed into the Ionian Sea. This was due to a bomb explosion in the cargo hold, which exploded 18minutes after takeoff from Athens. 88 people were killed.
• BBC started Ceefax on 23rd September. This was one of the first public service information systems.
October
• Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in 8 rounds and regained the Heavyweight title on 30th October. This title had been stripped from him 7 years before this date. This event happened at the Rumble in the Jungle, which took place in Kinshasa, Zaire.
November
• The World Tourism Organisation was established on 1st November.
• An interstellar radio message was sent by the Arecibo radio telescope on 16th November. The message was sent towards the M13 Great Globular Cluster. The message will reach its destination around the year 27,000.
• Two pubs were bombed, in Birmingham, England. The bombings killed 6 people on 21st November. The Birmingham six were later sentenced to life in prison for this attack.
• On 24th November, a skeleton from the hominid species, Australopithecus afarensis was discovered. They named it Lucy.
December
• On 1st December, a Boeing 727 carrying TWA Flight 514, crashed 25miles northwest of Dulles International Airport, due to bad weather conditions. All 92 people on board were killed.
• Cyclone Tracy was the cause of Darwin, Australia almost being completely destroyed, between 24th and 25th December.
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