Timeline 1975
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1975 Jan 1, The
Watergate verdict was guilty when a jury convicted Richard Nixon's
three top advisers on all counts in the Watergate coverup: former
attorney general John Mitchell and White House aides Bob Haldeman and
John Ehrlichman. "Watergate" became shorthand for the burglary of
Democratic Party offices in Washington's Watergate office complex. The
burglars were caught and found to have White House connections. Robert
Mardian (1923-2006), attorney for the Committee to Re-elect the
President (CREEP), was also convicted, but an appeals court in October,
1996, reversed his conviction.
(SFC, 7/21/06, p.B9)
1975 Jan 1, The Federal Hourly
Minimum Wage rose to $2.10 an hour.
(www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/coverage.htm)
1975 Jan 1, On New Year's Day
Communist troops launched an offensive which, in 117 days of the
hardest fighting of the war, collapsed the Khmer Republic.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cambodia)
1975 Jan 2, Milton J. Cross
(b.1897), TV announcer (Met Opera), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Cross)
1975 Jan 2, Ken Brugger, searching
on behalf of Canadian entomologist Dr. Fred A. Urquhart, found that
vast numbers of monarch butterflies, wintered at Cerro Pelon, an
inactive volcano a hundred miles west of Mexico City. Urquhart had been
tagging butterflies and searching for their winter quarters since 1954.
In 1986 the Mexican government established some protection over 5 sites
where monarchs were known to overwinter.
(ON, 4/07, p.12)
1975 Jan 3, President Ford signed
Public Law 93-620. This Act, written to enlarge the Grand Canyon
National Park, also provided in Section 10 for the enlargement of the
adjacent Havasupai Indian Reservation by 185,000 acres and designated a
contiguous 95,300 acres of the enlarged National Park as a permanent
traditional use area of the Havasupai Indians of Havasu Canyon, Arizona.
(SSFC, 2/19/06,
p.F4)(www.tribal-institute.org/envirotext/89.htm)
1975 Jan 3, President Gerald Ford
signed the Jackson-Vanik amendment into law, after both houses of the
United States Congress unanimously voted for its adoption. Congress had
passed the Jackson-Vanik amendment for economic sanctions on Russia to
pressure the Soviet Union to allow unfettered emigration for Soviet
Jews. Pres. Bush in 2001 proposed that it be lifted.
(WSJ, 11/5/01,
p.A1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson-Vanik_amendment)
1975 Jan 3, The US Trade Act of
1974 was enacted on Jan 3, 1975.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_Act_of_1974)
1975 Jan 4, Pres. Ford’s signed
Executive Order No. 11828 on CIA Activities within the US. He directed
the Commission, chaired by VP Nelson A. Rockefeller, to determine
whether or not any domestic CIA activities exceeded the Agency's
statutory authority and to make appropriate recommendations.
(www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/1975.html)(http://tinyurl.com/5ukhxo)
1975 Jan 5, "The Wiz," a musical
version of L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," opened at the
Majestic Theater on Broadway with an all-black cast. It ran for 1672
performances.
(AP, 1/5/00)
1975 Jan 6, The NBC TV game show
“Wheel of Fortune”, created by Merv Griffin (1925-2007), premiered.
(WSJ, 8/15/07, p.D12)(www.imdb.com/title/tt0072584/)
1975 Jan 7, "Shenandoah" opened at
Alvin Theater, NYC, for 1050 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenandoah_(musical))
1975 Jan 7, Hanoi troops took
Phuoc Binh in new full-scale offensive.
(HN, 1/7/99)
1975 Jan 8, Judge John J. Sirica
ordered the release of Watergate figures John W. Dean III, Herbert W.
Kalmbach and Jeb Stuart Magruder from prison.
(AP, 1/8/06)
1975 Jan 8, Richard Tucker
(b.1913), [Reuben Ticker], US tenor, cantor (La Gioconda), died.
(www.richardtucker.org/Richard_Tucker.html)
1975 Jan 8, NVA general staff plan
for the invasion of South Vietnam by 20 divisions is approved by North
Vietnam's Politburo. By now, the Soviet-supplied North Vietnamese Army
is the fifth largest in the world. It anticipates a two year struggle
for victory. But in reality, South Vietnam's forces will collapse in
only 55 days.
(www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html)
1975 Jan 12, The Pittsburgh
Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings (16-6) in the Superbowl in New
Orleans. Bob McCurry of Chrysler Corp. introduced the auto rebate in a
1975 Superbowl commercial.
(www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1974-pit)
1975 Jan 14, The House Un-American
Activities Committee (HUAC), created in 1938 to inquire into subversive
activities in the US, was terminated following the efforts of the
National Committee to Abolish HUAC, co-founded by Richard Criley
(d.2000 at 88). In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to
"House Committee on Internal Security". When the House abolished the
committee, its functions were transferred to the House Judiciary
Committee.
(SFC, 6/22/00, p.C2)(http://tinyurl.com/3hqzjd)
1975 Jan 16, The Irish Republican
Army called an end to a 25-day cease fire in Belfast.
(HN, 1/16/99)
1975 Jan 17, A 25-day cease-fire
in Northern Ireland ended.
(SFC, 6/18/96, p.A8)
1975 Jan 18, The TV situation
comedy series "The Jeffersons" with Sherman Helmsley and Isabel Sanford
(d.2004) began and ran through 1985. The spin-off from "All in the
Family," premiered on CBS-TV.
{TV, USA}
(SFEC, 11/17/96, Par p.24)(AP,
1/18/00)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jeffersons)
1975 Jan 18, Ray Blanton
(1930-1996) began serving as governor of Tennessee. In 1979 he was
ousted from office 3 days early in a cash for clemency scandal.
{Tennessee, USA}
(SFC, 11/25/96,
p.A3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Blanton)
1975 Jan 19, Thomas Hart Benton
(b.1889), US artist, died in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2009 Henry Adams
authored “Tom and Jack: The Intertwined Lives of Thomas Hart Benton and
Jackson Pollock.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hart_Benton_(painter))(Econ,
12/12/09, p.94)
1975 Jan 22, The US Supreme Court
in the Goss vs. Lopez case ruled that students had the right to due
process, informal hearings were considered sufficient, when threatened
with suspension of more than 10 days.
(WSJ, 5/4/99,
p.A22)(www.acluprocon.org/SupCtCases/266Goss.html)
1975 Jan 23, "Barney Miller"
premiered on ABC with James Gregory (d.2002 at 90) as Inspector Luger.
The series ended in 1982 after 172 episodes. It was a sitcom based on a
NYC police precinct. A spin-off called "Fish" was created in 1977 based
on detective Phil Fish played by Abe Vigoda.
(www.tv.com/barney-miller/show/345/summary.html)(SFC, 10/11/03, p.A18)
1975 Jan 24, In New York City, the
FALN, a militant group seeking independence for Puerto Rico, sets off a
bomb in Fraunces Tavern. Four people were killed and 53 injured.
(NYT, 2/7/75, p.1)
1975 Jan 27, The US Senate voted
to establish a special 11-member investigating body to examine FBI and
CIA activities. Under the chairmanship of Idaho Senator Frank Church,
with Texas Senator John Tower as vice-chairman, the select committee
was given nine months and 150 staffers to complete its work. On
November 20 the committee released a report, charging both US
government agencies with illegal activities.
(http://tinyurl.com/2tb7rc)(http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Church_Committee)
1975 Jan 31, The 1974 song "Mandy"
by Barry Manilow (b.1943 as Barry Alan Pincus) went gold.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandy_%28song%29)(www.barrynet.com/bn22sngl.html)
1975 Feb 6, President Gerald Ford
asked Congress for $497 million in aid to Cambodia.
(HN, 2/6/99)
1975 Feb 7, Pres. Edward H. Levi
(1911-2000), former president of the Univ. of Chicago, began serving as
the attorney general under Pres. Ford.
(WSJ, 3/13/00,
p.A46)(http://www-news.uchicago.edu/citations/00/000308.levi-nyt.html)
1975 Feb 8, 1800 Unification
church couples were wed in Korea.
(www.signaturebooks.com/excerpts/unification.htm)
1975 Feb 8, Martyn Green (b.1899),
English actor (Gilbert & Sullivan, Mikado), died.
(http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/whowaswho/G/GreenMartyn.htm)
1975 Feb 11, Margaret Thatcher was
elected leader of the Tory Party, the first woman to lead the British
Conservative Party. in England. She later became Prime Minister and
held office from 1979-1990. Her second volume of memoirs is titled The
Path to Power, (Harper-Collins, 1995) and documents her rise to power.
(WSJ, 7/6/95, p. A-7)(HN, 2/11/99)
1975 Feb 14, Julian S. Huxley
(b.1887), English biologist, died. He served as the first
Director-General of UNESCO (1946-1948).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Huxley)
1975 Feb 14, Pelham Graham (PG)
Wodehouse (b.1881), English, US writer (Piccadilly Jim), died at age
93. 58 Penguin editions of his books were done by artist Jos Armitage
(d.1998 at 84), who also contributed to "Punch." In 2004 Robert McCrum
authored “Wodehouse.”
(SFC, 2/7/98, p.21)(SFC, 11/19/04, p.W16)
1975 Feb 15, In local elections
78.8% of the residents approved a covenant under which the Northern
Marianas would become a US Commonwealth. In 1976 the US Congress
approved a covenant whereby Saipan became the capital of the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The 34,000 permanent
residents became US citizens but could not vote in US presidential
elections. The CNMI was allowed to set its own tax, immigration and
labor policies. A new government and constitution went into effect in
1978.
(SFEC, 3/7/99,Z1
p.4)(http://macmeekin.com/Library/NMIchron/1971.htm)(WSJ, 2/20/97,
p.A20)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Mariana_Islands)
1975 Feb 17, Art by Cezanne,
Gauguin, Renoir, and van Gogh, valued at $5 million, was stolen from
the Municipal Museum in Milan.
(HN, 2/17/98)
1975 Feb 18, The Tigray People’s
Liberation Front began a rebellion in northern Ethiopia.
(www.scribd.com/doc/14967/The-Origins-Of-TPLF)
1975 Feb 18, Italy broadened its
abortion law.
(www.crlp.org/pub_art_mosaic_conclusion.html)
1975 Feb 18, In Italy Renato
Curcio, Red Brigades leader, was freed in a daring prison assault led
by Margherita Cagol. She was later killed while trying to kidnap a
businessman and Curcio was recaptured.
(WSJ, 12/13/07, p.A18)
1975 Feb 21, Former Attorney
General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H.R. Haldeman and
John D. Ehrlichman were sentenced to 2 1/2 to 8 years in prison for
their roles in the Watergate cover-up. Mitchell was found guilty of
conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury. He served 19 months
behind bars.
(AP, 2/21/00)(SFC, 11/6/98, p.D5)
1975 Feb 24, Hans Bellmer
(b.1902), German surrealist artist, died in Paris. He made paper-mache
female dolls and photographed them in skewed configurations.
(NW, 2/18/02,
p.70)(www.artnet.com/Magazine/reviews/oisteanu/oisteanu3-14-05.asp)
1975 Feb 24, In Nepal Birendra,
who came to the throne on January 31, 1972, was crowned.
(http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/english/200106/02/eng20010602_71583.html)
1975 Feb 25, Elijah Muhammad
(b.1897 as Elijah Poole), US leader of the Detroit-based Nation of
Islam and Black Muslims, died in Chicago. His son W. Deen Mohammed
(1933-2008) was soon elected supreme minister of the Nation of Islam.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Muhammad)(USAT,
2/13/97, p.6D)(SFC, 2/28/00, p.A3)(SFC, 9/11/08, p.B5)
1975 Feb 25, In Tennessee Marcia
Trimble (9) disappeared while delivering Girl Scout cookies in her
Nashville neighborhood. Her body was discovered on Easter Sunday and
evidence led police to believe that she had been sexually assaulted and
strangled to death. In 2009 Jerome Barrett (62) was convicted of
2nd-degree murder based on DNA testing. He was already serving a life
sentence for the 1975 rape and murder of a Vanderbilt Univ. student.
(SSFC, 7/19/09,
p.A13)(www.wsmv.com/news/14760190/detail.html)
1975 Feb 26, "Night... Made
America Famous" opened at Barrymore in NYC for 75 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_That_Made_America_Famous)
1975 Feb 26, The 1st televised
kidney transplant was shown on the Today Show.
(http://intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSDSC/333/7087.html)
1975 Feb 28, AMC introduced the
Pacer, the first wide, small car.
(WSJ, 6/19/96, Adv.
Supl)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Pacer)
1975 Feb 28, The EU signed another
trade deal in Lome, Togo, to keep markets open to former European
colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific Islands (ACP).
(Econ, 5/28/05,
p.78)(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1975/index_en.htm)
1975 Feb 28, A London subway train
smashed into the end of a tunnel at Moorgate Underground station and 43
people were killed.
(AP, 1/23/06)
1975 Feb, Biotechnologists met in
Pacific Grove, Ca., at the Asilomar conference on recombinant DNA and
agreed on self-denying ordinances that went a long way to establishing
their credentials as responsible and trustworthy people.
(Econ, 9/2/06,
p.70)(www.biotech-info.net/asilomar_revisited.html)
1975 Mar 1, In the 17th Grammy
Awards: I Honestly Love You, Marvin Hamlisch won.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Awards_of_1975)
1975 Mar 1, Eagles' "Best of My
Love" reached #1.
(www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/03/0301.htm)
1975 Mar 2, Linda McCartney
(1941-1998) was arrested in Los Angeles with possession of marijuana.
(www.philbrodieband.com/music_trivia-yesterdays_march.htm)
1975 Mar 2, Madeleine Vionnet
(b.1876), French dressmaker, died at age 98. In 1999 Betty Kirke
published the biography: "Madeleine Vionnet."
(SFEC, 5/16/99, BR
p.8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_Vionnet)
1975 Mar 3, "Goodtime Charley"
opened at Palace Theater in NYC for 104 performances.
(www.musicalheaven.com/Detailed/1787.html)
1975 Mar 4, Charlie Chaplin
(1889-1977), British-born American film comedian, was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin)
1975 Mar 5, The Homebrew Computer
Club, founded by peace activist Fred Moore, held its first meeting in
Menlo Park, Ca. It was an outgrowth of the store-front based People’s
Computer Co. The meeting inspired Steve Wozniak (24) to design and
build the first Apple computer.
(SSFC, 4/23/05, p.B1)(Reuters, 9/27/06)
1975 Mar 6, OPEC held a meeting in
Algiers attended for the first time by its members’ top leaders. Here
the Algiers Accord between Baghdad and Teheran put an end to their
border dispute and brought all Iranian help to the Kurdish rebellion to
a halt. The United States abruptly withdrew its support for the Kurds
and the rebellion collapsed. Many thousands of Kurdish fighters and
their families were forced to flee to Iran to escape the pursuing Iraqi
army.
(http://mondediplo.com/2002/10/06timeline)(SFC,
11/19/07, p.A11)
1975 Mar 7, The US Senate revised
its filibuster rule "cloture vote," allowing 60 senators to limit
debate in most cases, instead of the previously required two-thirds
(67) of senators present.
(AP, 3/7/98)(Econ, 5/21/05, p.30)
1975 Mar 8, The United Nations
began observing International Women's Day.
(www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/iwd/)
1975 Mar 8, George Stevens
(b.1904), US director (Swing Time, Gunga Din), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stevens)
1975 Mar 9, Iraq launched an
offensive against the rebellious Kurds.
(HN, 3/9/98)
1975 Mar 10, "Rocky Horror Show"
opened at Belasco Theater in NYC for 45 performances.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Show)
1975 Mar 10, The final North
Vietnamese Army offensive began as 25,000 troops attacked the South
Vietnamese town of Ban Me Thout, in the central highlands.
(HN,
3/10/99)(www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html)
1975 Mar 12, Maurice Stans, former
Nixon Cabinet member, pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the
reporting sections of the Federal Election Campaign Act and two counts
of accepting illegal campaign contributions. He was fined $5,000.
(SFC, 11/6/98, p.D5)(http://tinyurl.com/45uwm3)
1975 Mar 13, Bernard Slade's "Same
Time, Next Year," premiered in NYC. In 1978 it was made into a film
starring Ellen Burstyn and Alan Alda.
(www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s1314)
1975 Mar 15, Ted Bundy victim
Julie Cunningham (26) disappeared from Vail, Colo.
(www.crimenews2000.com/memorial/00052902pg8.htm)
1975 Mar 15, Aristotle Onassis
(69) Greek shipping magnate died near Paris.
(AP, 3/15/97)
1975 Mar 16, Mariner 10 flew past
Mercury a 3rd time.
(NH, 5/01, p.38)
1975 Mar 17, In the Dominican
Republic Journalist Orlando Martinez Howley, editor of the opposition
magazine Ahora and columnist for El Nacional, was slain. In 1997 police
arrested retired Gen’l. Salvador Lluberes Montes, former chief of the
armed forces, in connection with the slayings. In 2000 retired Gen.
Joaquin Pou Castro, gunman Rafael Lluberes Ricart, former air force
officer Mariano Cabrera Duran and Luis Emilio de la Rosa Beras were
sentenced to 30 years in prison each for their role in the murder.
(SFC, 11/25/96, p.A9)(SFC, 4/2/97, p.A12)(SFC,
8/5/00, p.A11)
1975 Mar 18, Mulla Mustafa gave
the order to the Kurdish army to abandon the struggle. This time round,
Mulla Mustafa obtained refuge in the United States.
(www.tamilnation.org/intframe/india/kurds.htm#a1)
1975 Mar 18, South Vietnam
abandoned most of the Central Highlands of Vietnam to Hanoi.
(HN, 3/18/02)
1975 Mar 21, Ethiopia ended its
monarchy after 3000 years. In May the monarchy was formally abolished,
and Marxism-Leninism was proclaimed the ideology of the state.
(www.worldstatesmen.org/Ethiopia.html)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derg)
1975 Mar 21, As North Vietnamese
forces advanced, Hue and other northern towns in South Vietnam were
evacuated.
(HN, 3/21/98)
1975 Mar 22, In Alabama a fire at
the Browns Ferry Unit 1 nuclear power plant caused $10 million in
damage and knocked the reactor out of service for over a year. A worker
checking for air leaks with a candle ignited insulation near the
control room. The reactor was mothballed in 1985. It was scheduled to
reopen in 2007 following a 5 year, $1.8 billion restoration.
(SFC, 5/5/07, p.A6)(http://tinyurl.com/33l4hc)
1975 Mar 25, Hue was lost and Da
Nang was endangered. The U.S. ordered a refugee airlift to remove those
in danger. The South Vietnamese army is now in full retreat.
(HN,
3/24/98)(www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html)
1975 Mar 25, King Faisal ibn Abd
al-Aziz (68) of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a nephew with a
history of mental illness. The nephew was beheaded the following June.
In 2008 Joseph A. Kechichian authored “Faysal: Saudi Arabia’s King for
All Seasons.”
(AP, 3/25/00)(Econ, 10/04/08, p.92)
1975 Mar 26, The film "Tommy"
premiered in London.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0073812/combined)
1975 Mar 26, The US ratified a ban
on poison gas established in the Geneva Protocol. Production,
stockpiling and the use of anthrax was outlawed by an int’l. treaty of
chemical and biological weapons. 140 nations adopted the Int'l.
Biological Weapons Convention, but these did not include Russia. The
treaty had no organization, no budget, no sanctions and no inspections
provisions.
(www.fas.org/nuke/control/bwc/text/bwc.htm)(SFC,11/12/97, p.C2)(SFC,
2/20/98, p.A9)(SFC, 2/19/00, p.A14)
1975 Mar 26, Clela Rorex, Boulder,
Colo., county clerk, allowed 6 same-sex couples to wed after changing
the license application to read "person" rather than "male" and
"female."
(SFC, 2/14/04,
p.A1)(www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/26/22117/6384)
1975 Mar 27, The 1st pipe of the
Alaska oil pipeline was laid at Tonsina River.
(www.alyeska-pipe.com/Pipelinefacts/Chronology.html)
1975 Mar 27, Arthur Bliss
(b.1891), English composer, conductor (Checkmate), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Bliss)
1975 Mar 27, In Laos Communist
Pathet Lao launched an attack against Hmong defenders.
(http://countrystudies.us/laos/39.htm)
1975 Mar 29, Egyptian president
Anwar Sadat declared that he would reopen the Suez Canal on June 5,
1975.
(HN, 3/29/98)
1975 Mar 30, As the North
Vietnamese forces moved toward Saigon, desperate South Vietnamese
soldiers mobbed rescue jets. Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap masterminded the North
Vietnamese victory. Da Nang fell as 100,000 South Vietnamese soldiers
surrender after being abandoned by their commanding officers.
(SFEC, 4/9/00,
p.C16)(www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html)
1975 Mar 31, The TV show Gunsmoke,
which premiered in 1955, aired its last original episode. The show was
canceled in September.
(www.imdb.com/title/tt0047736/episodes)(www.episodeworld.com/show/Gunsmoke)
1975 Mar, Sylvester Stallone wrote
"Rocky" and insisted on playing the lead role when he sold the script.
Five Rocky films were made.
(SFEC, 7/6/97, p.5)
1975 Mar, US Sen. William Proxmire
(1915-2005), Wisconsin Democrat, started his monthly Golden Fleece
Awards to highlight examples of government waste. The 1st award went to
the National Science Foundation for squandering $84,000 to try to find
out why people fall in love.
(SFC, 12/16/05,
p.A4)(www.taxpayer.net/awards/goldenfleece/1975-1980.htm)
1975 Apr 3, Bobby Fischer
(1943-2008) was stripped of the world chess title for refusing to
defend it.
(www.bobby-fischer.net/)
1975 Apr 3, Mary Ure (b.1933),
Scottish actress (Sons & Lovers, Where Eagles Dare), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ure)
1975 Apr 4, The first group of
boat people from Vietnam began arriving in Malaysia. More than 1
million people fled from the close of the war to the early 1980s.
(SFC, 4/17/96, p.A-9)
1975 Apr 4, Some 155 people, most
of them children, were killed when a U.S. Air Force C-5A transport
plane evacuating Vietnamese orphans as part of "Operation Babylift"
crashed shortly after takeoff from Saigon.144 adults and 76 babies were
killed. There were over 170 survivors.
(AP, 4/4/97)(SFC, 4/3/00, p.A8)
1975 Apr 5, Chiang Kai-shek
(b.1887), Chinese statesman and president of the Republic (1943-1950)
and President of the Republic of China, Taiwan (1950-1975), died at age
87. Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Soong Mayling) moved to New York following
her husband's death. In 1982 Sterling Seagrave authored "The Soong
Dynasty." In 2009 Jay Taylor authored “The Generalissimo: Chiang
Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China.”
(WUD, 1994, p.254)(AP, 5/5/97)(SFC, 1/27/00,
p.E1,5)(Econ, 5/9/09, p.86)
1975 Apr 6, Bundy victim Denise
Oliverson (25) disappeared from Grand Junction, Colo.
(www.crimenews2000.com/memorial/00052902pg8.htm)
1975 Apr 8, In the 47th Academy
Awards "Godfather II," Ellen Burstyn and Art Carney won.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/47th_Academy_Awards)
1975 Apr 8, Frank Robinson,
major-league baseball's first black manager, got off to a winning start
as his team, the Cleveland Indians, defeated the New York Yankees, 5-3.
(AP, 4/8/97)(HN, 4/8/98)
1975 Apr 10, Walker Evans
(b.1903), American photographer, died. In 1999 the biography "Walker
Evans" by James R. Mellow was published.
(WSJ, 7/27/99, p.A21)(SFC, 8/18/01,
p.B3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_Evans)
1975 Apr 12, Josephine Baker
(b.1906), US-French revue artist (Folies-Bergere), died in Paris,
France.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Baker)
1975 Apr 12, The US removed its
embassy personnel from Phnom Penh. Some of Cambodia's most senior
government ministers, including the Acting President, Saukham Khoy,
were among the evacuees.
(http://tinyurl.com/rsqt5)
1975 Apr 13, In Lebanon the
right-wing Christian Falange (Phalange) opened fire on a bus packed
with Palestinians in a low-income neighborhood after a drive-by attack
earlier in the day on a nearby church. The attacks killed 27
Palestinians and three Lebanese Christians. The ambush sparked a civil
war that lasted to 1990. The attack was made to avenge an attempted
assassination on Bashir Gemayel.
(SFEC, 4/13/97, p.T5)(AP, 4/12/05)(Econ, 11/25/06,
p.46)
1975 Apr 15, Karen Ann Quinlan
went into a coma after drinking several gin-and-tonics on top of a mild
tranquilizer. She lived in a coma for over 10 more years. The New
Jersey Supreme Court allowed the removal of the respirator that
assisted her in 1976.
(SFC, 12/12/96, p.C8)
1975 Apr 15, Richard Conte
(b.1910), film actor, died. He appeared in films such as “I'll Cry
Tomorrow” and “The Godfather.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Conte)
1975 April 17, The US-backed Lon
Nol government of Cambodia surrendered to the Khmer Rouge. The nominal
leader of the Khmer Rouge was Khieu Samphan. Pol Pot, leader of the
Khmer Rouge (Red Cambodia), occupied the capital Phnom Penh ending
Cambodia's five-year war. This began the brutal regime that resulted in
the death of one to three million people. The Khmer Rouge began to
immediately clear Phnom Penh. Agrarian communism was forced on the
people and purges extended from the leadership down to the masses. The
country was renamed Democratic Kampuchea. After the Khmer Rouge took
power they employed a system of forced marriages to help engineer a
classless society.
(NG, 5/85, p.574)(WSJ,4/17/95, p.A-12)(AP,
4/17/97)(SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)(WSJ, 6/16/97, p.8)(SFC, 4/17/98,
p.A16)(http://tinyurl.com/qot7t)(SFC, 1/23/96, p.A10)
1975 Apr 18, Jesus Ibarra Piedra,
a member of a Mexican leftist urban guerrilla group, was kidnapped and
never seen again. On Nov 8, 2004, Juventino Romero Cisneros, a former
agent of the Federal Security Directorate, was arrested for the
kidnapping. Carlos Solana Macias, ex-director of the Judicial Police
for the northern state of Nuevo Leon, was arrested Dec 29, 2005. In
2006 both Cisneros and Solano were released from prison.
(AP,
10/9/04)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosario_Ibarra_de_Piedra)(AP,
5/21/06)
1975 Apr 19, India announced it
had launched its 1st satellite, from the Soviet Union atop a Soviet
rocket.
(AP, 4/19/05)
1975 Apr 21, Bill Rodgers won the
Boston Marathon, the 1st local winner in 30 years.
(WSJ, 9/30/02,
p.R3)(http://boston.com/marathon/history/1975.shtml)
1975 Apr 21, Members of the SLA
robbed the Carmichael Bank in suburban Sacramento, Ca. Myrna Opsahl, a
mother (42) of four, was shot dead. Patty Hearst drove the getaway car.
Emily Harris shot Opsahl with a 12-gauge shotgun. 4 SLA members were
arrested for the murder of Opsahl in 2002. Michael Bortin, William
Harris, Sara Jane Olson and Emily Montague all pleaded guilty. Fugitive
James Kilgore was arrested in South Africa Nov 8, 2002. In 2003
Montague was sentenced to 8 years, Harris to 7 years, Olson and Bortin
to 6 years. In 2004 Kilgore was sentenced to 4 ½ years. Kilgore
was paroled in 2009.
(SFC, 2/4/99, p.A8)(SFC, 1/23/01, p.A13)(SFC,
1/18/02, p.A22)(SFC, 1/19/02, p.A1)(SFC, 11/8/02, p.A1)(SFC, 11/9/02,
p.A1)(SFC, 2/15/03, p.A3)(SFC, 4/27/04, p.B1)(SFC, 5/11/09, p.B2)
1975 Apr 21, Nguyen Van Thieu, the
last South Vietnamese President, resigned after 10 years in office
condemning the United States. Thieu resigned and was succeeded by Vice
President Tran Van Huong. With the collapse of the Saigon regime
imminent, Thieu addressed his nation on April 21, accused the U.S. of
breaking its promises of support and military aid, and then
resigned. Huong took control but at the National Assembly meeting
on April 27, he named General Duong Van Minh to become president and
end the war. On April 30, President Minh announced the unconditional
surrender of South Vietnam to the Provisional Revolutionary Government
of South Vietnam.
(AP, 4/21/97)(HN, 4/21/99)(HNQ, 6/5/00)
1975 Apr 23, Harold Pinter's "No
Man's Land," premiered in London.
(www.thehomecomingonbroadway.com/haroldPinter.php)
1975 Apr 24, Hanna Krabbe
(b.1945), a German Red Army faction guerrilla, took part in a
Baader-Meinhof gang attack on the German embassy in Stockholm in which
two German diplomats died. German chancellor Helmut Schmidt approved
the storming of the building by Swedish police. Krabbe was
arrested and sentenced to 21 years confinement and was released in 1996.
(SFC, 5/11/96,
p.A-9)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_German_embassy_siege)
1975 Apr 25, The 1st Boeing
Jetfoil revenue service began between Hong Kong and Macao.
(SS,
4/25/02)(http://pdf.aiaa.org/preview/1979/PV1979_2017.pdf)
1975 Apr 25, In Vietnam former
Foreign Minister Vu Van Mau (d.1998 at 84) was named prime minister.
(SFC, 9/12/98, p.C3)
1975 Apr 26, The top Billboard
song was "(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong
Song" by B.J. Thomas.
(www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/04/0426.htm)
1975 Apr 27, Saigon was encircled
by North Vietnamese troops. NVA fire rockets into downtown civilian
areas as the city erupts into chaos and widespread looting.
(HN,
4/27/99)(www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html)
1975 Apr 28, Gen. Duong Van Minh
was named the interim President of South Vietnam and promised to seek
reconciliation with North Vietnam.
(SFC, 8/8/01, p.A20)
1975 Apr 29, US forces pulled out
of Vietnam. The U.S. embassy in Vietnam was evacuated as North
Vietnamese forces fought their way into Saigon. Just hours after the
last American was lifted out by helicopter from the roof of the
embassy, James Reston of the NY Times issued an apologia for the press.
NVA shell Tan Son Nhut air base in Saigon, killing two U.S. Marines at
the compound gate. Conditions then deteriorate as South Vietnamese
civilians loot the air base. President Ford orders Operation Frequent
Wind, the helicopter evacuation of 7000 Americans and South Vietnamese
from Saigon. At Tan Son Nhut, frantic civilians begin swarming the
helicopters. The evacuation is then shifted to the walled-in American
embassy, which is secured by U.S. Marines in full combat gear. But the
scene there also deteriorates, as thousands of civilians attempt to get
into the compound. Three U.S. aircraft carriers stand by off the coast
of Vietnam to handle incoming Americans and South Vietnamese refugees.
Many South Vietnamese pilots also land on the carriers, flying
American-made helicopters which are then pushed overboard to make room
for more arrivals
(WSJ, 10/5/98,
p.A21)(www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html)
1975 Apr 29, The last four
Americans killed in action in Vietnam included two Marines: Lance
Corporal Darwin Judge of Marshalltown, Iowa, and Corporal Charles
McMahon Jr. of Woburn, Massachusetts, by rocket and artillery
bombardment following an air raid on Tan Son Nhut. Two Marine
helicopter pilots died when their chopper crashed into the sea near an
aircraft carrier taking part in the evacuation: Captain William Craig
Nystul of Coronado, California, and First Lieutenant Michael John Shea
of El Paso, Texas.
(www.dixiedavis.com/michaelshea.htm)
1975 Apr 30, The city of Saigon
fell to the North Vietnamese and National Liberation Front forces. The
last American forces evacuated Saigon as South Vietnam surrendered
unconditionally to the Communist North Vietnamese. At 8:35 a.m. the
last Americans, ten Marines from the embassy, departed as North
Vietnamese troops pour into Saigon and encounter little resistance. By
11 a.m. the Viet Cong flag flew from the presidential palace. President
Minh broadcast a message of unconditional surrender. Graham Martin, the
US ambassador to South Vietnam, made a hasty departure. The city was
renamed Ho Chi Minh City and Nguyen Huu Tho was the first mayor. The
war left 58,200 Americans dead, 153,300 wounded, and 2,124 missing in
action. The Communists listed 1 million dead, 300,000 missing and 2
million dead civilians. President Gerald Ford, closing a chapter in
United States history, called upon Americans "to avoid recriminations
about the past, to look ahead to the many goals we share."
(SFC, 5/10/97,
p.A1)(www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/index-1969.html)
1975 May 1, The US brokerage
industry, acting on a mandate by the SEC, deregulated commissions.
Charles Schwab soon became one of the first to slash the price of
equity trades.
(SSFC, 5/1/05, p.E3)(Econ, 10/21/06, p.87)
1975 May 1, United Aircraft became
United Technologies Corp.
(WSJ, 4/8/04, p.C4)
1975 May 3, Gov. Jerry Brown of
California began a round of private meetings to resolve the issues
between the UFW, agribusiness, and the Teamsters Union.
(SFEM, 4/13/97, p.22)
1975 May 5, Michael Shaara won
Pulitzer Prize in fiction for his novel “Killer Angels.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Pulitzer_Prize)
1975 May 6, In hockey the
Philadelphia Flyers won the semifinal series over Boston 4 games to 1.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975-76_Philadelphia_Flyers_season)
1975 May 6, Bundy victim Lynette
Culver disappeared from Pocatello, Idaho.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Bundy)
1975 May 6, A tornado swept
through Omaha, Nebraska, along 72nd St. the site of many motels on a
weekday noon,. All sorts of folks had to explain just how they wound up
in a state of dishabille in a roofless motel room.
(Nat. Hist., 3/96,
p.65)(www.crh.noaa.gov/oax/archive/may1975/may675.php)
1975 May 6, Jozsef Mindszenty
(83), [Joseph Prehm], Hungarian cardinal, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zsef_Mindszenty)
1975 May 7, The "Matt Helm" TV
series, featured Gene Evans (d.1998 at 75), premiered.
(SFC, 4/2/98, p.A23)(www.imdb.com/title/tt0073361/)
1975 May 7, President Ford
formally declared an end to the "Vietnam era."
(AP, 5/7/97)(HN, 5/7/98)
1975 May 7, The Viet Cong staged a
rally to celebrate the takeover of Ho Chi Minh City -- formerly Saigon.
(AP, 5/7/97)(HN, 5/7/98)
1975 May 11, The Cambodian
government seized an American merchant ship, the Mayaguez.
(SFEC, 5/11/97, p.T10)
1975 May 12, The White House
announced the new Cambodian government had seized an American merchant
ship, the Mayaguez, with 39 crew members in international waters. Pres.
Gerald Ford sent a company of Marines to rescue the ship. The ship was
freed but there were 41 Americans killed or missing and more than 50
wounded.
(SFEC, 5/11/97, p.T10)(AP, 10/12/97)
1975 May 15, US forces raided the
Cambodian island of Koh Tang and recaptured the American merchant ship
Mayaguez. All 40 crew members were released safely by Cambodia, but
some 40 US servicemen were killed in the military operation. Some 200
Marines stormed the island of Koh Tang to rescue the crew of the
Mayaguez, but the crew had been moved. The Marines fought all day
against the Khmer Rouge and escaped by helicopter in the evening. Three
comrades were left behind and later died under the Khmer Rouge. The
crew was freed about the same time that the Marine assault began.
(SFEC, 5/16/99, p.A14)(AP, 5/15/08)
1975 May 16, The Montreal
Canadiens won the Stanley Cup hockey finals in 4 games over the
Philadelphia Flyers.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975-76_Philadelphia_Flyers_season)
1975 May 16, Japanese climber
Junko Tabei (b.1939) became the first woman to reach the summit of
Mount Everest.
(AP, 5/16/97)
1975 May 16, India annexed the
Principality of Sikkim. The people of Sikkim had revolted against the
monarchy and Sikkim became India’s 22nd and second smallest state.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikkim)(SSFC, 2/27/05,
p.F5)
1975 May 17, NBC paid $5M for
rights to show "Gone with the Wind" one time. The film aired over 2
nights in November, 1976.
(www.440.com/twtd/archives/may17.html)
1975 May 18, Leroy Anderson
(b.1908), American composer, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leroy_Anderson)
1975 May 20, The European Economic
Community adopted a trade agreement with Israel.
(http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/international/3a15en.html)
1975 May 21, The trial against the
Baader-Meinhof gang began in Stuttgart.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_Faction)
1975 May 23, The US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) banned the sale of turtles with shells that
measured less than four inches in length. The turtles were identified
as major carriers of salmonella bacterium and had been widely sold as
pets for kids.
(WSJ, 5/30/96, p.B1)(http://tiny.cc/IEWJ3)
1975 May 23, Jackie "Moms" Mabley
(b.1894), comedienne, died. Her films included “Amazing Grace”
(1974).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moms_Mabley)
1975 May 25, ECOWAS Treaty1 was
signed. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was
formed in Nigeria with 15 members that included: Benin, Burkina Faso,
Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
(www.sec.ecowas.int/sitecedeao/english/achievements.htm)
1975 May 29, Melanie Janine Brown
"Scary Spice", British vocalist (Spice Girls), was born in Leeds.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Brown)
1975 May 30, Steve Prefontaine
(b.1951), American long distance runner, flipped his gold MG and died
at age 24. Tests revealed that he was legally drunk. In 1997 two films
based on his life were released.
(SFC,1/22/97,
p.E1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Prefontaine)
1975 May, Spain moved out of
Spanish Sahara and the native Sahrawi called for independence. Both
Morocco and Mauritania laid claim to Spanish Sahara (Western Sahara)
following Spain’s withdrawal. The Polisario Front, an armed nationalist
movement, sought to turn Western Sahara into an independent state for
its largely nomadic people.
(www.africaaction.org/docs02/wsah0205.htm)(WSJ,
6/7/00, p.A1)(Econ, 9/24/05, p.56)
1975 Jun 1, The Rolling Stones
opened their North American Tour in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with Ron
Wood (b.1947) replacing Mick Taylor (b.1949) as the lead guitarist.
Other cities they played in included, Kansas City, Milwaukee, St. Paul,
Cleveland, Buffalo, Toronto, New York, Philadelphia, Memphis, Dallas,
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, and
Jacksonville.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_in_music)
1975 Jun 2, Vice President Nelson
Rockefeller said his commission had found no widespread pattern of
illegal activities at the Central Intelligence Agency.
(AP, 6/2/97)
1975 Jun 3, The musical "Chicago"
opened on Broadway with a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, and music by
John Kander.
(WSJ, 11/15/96,
p.A14)(http://broadwaymusicalhome.com/shows/chicago.htm)
1975 Jun 3, Ozzie Nelson (b.1906),
actor (Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet), died.
(www.imdb.com/name/nm0625651/bio)
1975 Jun 4, The oldest animal
fossils to date in the US were discovered in North Carolina.
(www.todayinsci.com/6/6_04.htm)
1975 Jun 5, Gov. Jerry Brown of
California announced the new Agricultural Labor Relations Act. It was a
temporary truce in the struggle between the state’s farm workers
(UFW) led by Cesar Chavez and farmers. Chavez officially ended the
table grape, lettuce and wine boycott on Jan 31, 1978.
(SFEM, 4/13/97, p.22)(SFC, 1/31/03, p.E4)
1975 Jun 5, The outcome of the
British referendum reveals that 67.2% of voters are in favor of the
United Kingdom remaining a member of the Community.
(http://europa.eu.int/abc/history/1975/index_en.htm)
1975 Jun 5, Egypt reopened the
Suez Canal to international shipping, eight years after it was closed
because of the 1967 war with Israel.
(AP, 6/5/97)
1975 Jun 10, The Rockefeller panel
reported on illegal CIA files on Americans.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975)
1975 Jun 12, In India the High
Court of Allahabad declared Indira Gandhi's election invalid on grounds
of alleged malpractices in an election petition filed by Raj Narain,
who had repeatedly contested her Parliamentary constituency of Rae
Bareli without success.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhi)
1975 Jun 16, The cartoon “Travels
With Farley” by Phil Frank (1943-2007) launched in 50 newspapers.
(SFC, 6/16/05, p.E2)
1975 Jun 16, The US Supreme Court
ruled that uniform minimum legal fees are a violation.
(http://supreme.justia.com/us/421/773/)
1975 Jun 18, Faisal Ibn Mussed
Abdul Aziz, Saudi prince, was beheaded in a Riyadh shopping center
parking lot for killing his uncle the king.
(http://tinyurl.com/47da5p)
1975 Jun 19, Sam Giancana
(b.1908), Italian-American mob boss, was murdered at his home in Oak
Park, Ill. He had a romance with Phillis McGuire, of the McGuire
Sisters vocal group, and was credited with assisting John F. Kennedy in
efforts to win the presidential election. A movie was made in 1995 that
depicts the Giancana-McGuire romance.
(WSJ, 11/16/95,
p.A-18)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Giancana)
1975 Jun 20, The Steven Spielberg
shark thriller "Jaws" was first released.
(AP, 6/20/05)
1975 Jun 21, The West Indies,
captained by Clive Lloyd won the first World Cup Cricket series,
beating Australia by 17 runs at Lords.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Cricket_World_Cup)
1975 Jun 24, In New York 113
people were killed when an Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 crashed while
attempting to land during a thunderstorm at John F. Kennedy
International Airport. The crash was later attributed to a microburst,
not experienced at the control tower because of a sea breeze front.
(AP, 6/24/97)(SFC, 6/24/09, p.D8)
1975 Jun 25, Mozambique became an
independent state (twice the size of California), ending nearly five
centuries of Portuguese rule and a long civil war began that lasted to
1992. The first government embraced Marxism soon after taking power.
600,000 Portuguese farmers abandoned their farms and the agricultural
industry was devastated. Frelimo took power in opposition to Renamo,
which was supported by white-led governments in Rhodesia and South
Africa. The UN Children’s Education Fund estimated that at least 850
children were kidnapped by guerillas of Renamo. Some were forced to
fight but most were put to work as cooks and cleaners.
(WSJ, 3/21/96, p.A-11)(SFC, 6/25/96, p.A8)(AP,
6/25/97)(SFC, 10/13/97, p.A12)
1975 Jun 26, Citing what she
called a "deep and widespread conspiracy" against her government,
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency,
which lasted to 1977.
(AP,
6/26/97)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhi)
1975 Jun 26, There was a firefight
on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota as FBI agents pursued a
robbery suspect. In 1977 Leonard Peltier, an Ojibwa-Sioux Indian, was
found guilty of murdering 2 FBI agents, Ronald Williams and Jack Coler
as they lay wounded. In 1983 Peter Matthiessen wrote "In the Spirit of
Crazy Horse," that described the related events. The book was pulled
out of bookstores after an FBI agent and a former governor sued him for
libel. Matthiessen claims to have spoken to the man who actually shot
the agents.
(SFC,11/22/97, p.D1)(SFEC,12/797, p.B11)(SFC,
11/9/99, p.A10)(SFC, 6/26/00, p.A4)
1975 Jun 27, Two French
intelligence agents, Raymond Dous and Jean Donatini, who were
investigating attacks on planes of Israel’s El Al airline at Orly
Airport, were killed by Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez.
Sanchez was identified by an arrested Palestinian Front militant,
Michel Moukharbal, and was also killed.
(SFC,12/11/97, p.C2)(SFC,12/13/97, p.A10)
1975 Jun 27, Robert Stolz
(b.1880), Austrian composer (Freuhling im Prater), died.
(http://robert.stolz.free.fr/Biography.htm)
1975 Jun 28, Rod Serling (b.1924),
writer and director of the TV series "Twilight Zone" and "Night
Gallery," died. He was remembered in the 1995 PBS production titled:
"Submitted for Your Approval."
(WSJ, 11/27/95,
p.A-14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Serling)
1975 Jun, From June to July the US
launched covert operations in Angola to prevent a Communist takeover.
In 2002 Dr. Piero Gleijeses authored “Conflicting Missions, Havana,
Washington and Africa: 1959-1976.”
(SSFC, 3/29/02, p.A12)
1975 Jun, In California Sonya
Higginbotham (19) was raped and stabbed to death in her 98th Ave.
Oakland home. DNA evidence in 2002 identified Charles Jackson, a
recently deceased Folsom inmate, as her killer.
(SFC, 3/19/02, p.A10)(SFC, 9/30/05, p.B5)
1975 Jun, The Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) broke off from the KDP after Iran and Iraq resolved a
border dispute and the US ended support for a Kurdish rebellion. The
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) was founded by Jalal Talabani as a
breakaway faction of the KDP. The PUK favored armed struggle with other
Kurdish groups against Saddam Hussein.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/2893067.stm)(SFC,
9/4/96, p.A7)
1975 Jul 1, Cesar Chavez and sixty
supporters of the UFW embarked on a thousand-mile march across
California to rally the state’s farm workers.
(SFEM, 4/13/97, p.23)
1975 Jul 1, Shelley Robertson, a
Bundy victim, disappeared in Colorado. Her body was found on August
21,1975, in a mine in Berthoud Pass, Colorado.
(www.crimenews2000.com/memorial/00052902pg8.htm)
1975 Jul 1, Eamon Molloy, a
Belfast IRA member, disappeared after being branded a traitor. His body
was recovered in 1999. His mother-in-law vanished from the Divis Flats
in Belfast in March 1972. Jean McConville (37) was a widowed mother of
10. His brother, Anthony, was shot dead by loyalists in June 1975.
(http://tinyurl.com/3o6v79)(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/355041.stm)
1975 Jul 1, Thailand and China
signed a formal agreement on diplomatic relations.
(www.thaiembdc.org/politics/foreign/diprelat.htm)
1975 Jul 3, The US Civil Service
Commission adopted new suitability regulations devoid of the previous
language about "immoral" conduct or "sexual perversion." This voided
Pres. Eisenhower’s 1953 executive order on firing gays.
(www.fedglobe.org/news/12now_history.html)
1975 Jul 4, Nancy Baird (23), a
Bundy victim, disappeared from a convenience store where she worked in
Layton, Utah.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Bundy)
1975 Jul 5, Arthur Ashe became the
first black man to win a Wimbledon singles title as he defeated Jimmy
Connors.
(AP, 7/5/97)
1975 Jul 5, The Cape Verde Islands
officially became independent after 500 years of Portuguese rule.
(SFC, 8/5/9, p.A8)(AP, 7/5/00)
1975 Jul 6, The state of Comoros
became independent with Ahmed Abdallah Abderemane (1919-1989) as its
first head of state. Three of the four islands between Africa and
Madagascar declared independence from France and became the nation of
Comoros. Mayotte voted to remain a colony.
(SFC, 9/12/97,
p.A12)(www.worldstatesmen.org/Comoros.html)
1975 Jul 6, Otto Skorzeny
(b.1908), German-Austrian SS officer, died. He was the commando leader
who rescued Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from imprisonment after
his overthrow.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Skorzeny)
1975 Jul 8, President Ford
announced he would seek the Republican nomination for the presidency in
1976.
(AP, 7/8/97)
1975 Jul 8, An earthquake struck
Pagan (Bagan), Burma, and destroyed many monuments.
(Econ, 2/28/04,
p.42)(www.myanmars.net/travel/bagan.htm)
1975 Jul 8, Israeli premier
Yitzhak Rabin began a 4-day visit to West-Germany.
(http://tinyurl.com/4c5zyo)
1975 Jul 11, Archaeologists
unearthed an army of 8,000 life-size clay figures created more than
2,000 years ago for the Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (Shihuangdi). [see
210BC] Villagers had uncovered the first of the figures in 1974.
(HN, 7/11/01)(Econ, 9/8/07, p.87)
1975 Jul 12, The islands of Sao
Tome and Principe achieved independence from Portugal.
(AP, 7/18/03)
1975 Jul 15, Three American
astronauts blasted off aboard an Apollo spaceship hours after two
Soviet cosmonauts were launched aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for a mission
that included a linkup of the two ships in orbit.
(AP, 7/15/97)
1975 Jul 17, An Apollo spaceship
docked with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit in the first superpower linkup
of its kind.
(AP, 7/17/97)
1975 Jul 19, The Apollo and Soyuz
space capsules that were linked in orbit for two days separated.
(AP, 7/19/97)
1975 Jul 22, The House of
Representatives joined the Senate in voting to restore the American
citizenship of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
(AP, 7/22/97)
1975 Jul 24, An "Apollo"
spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific, completing a mission which
included the first-ever docking with a "Soyuz" capsule from the Soviet
Union.
(AP, 7/24/00)
1975 Jul 25, Jay R. Ferguson Jr.,
American actor (Taylor Newton-Evening Shade), was born in Dallas, Tx.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_R._Ferguson)
1975 Jul 25, "A Chorus Line," the
longest-running Broadway show (6,137), premiered on Broadway. It had
opened off-Broadway at The Public Theater on May 21, 1975.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Chorus_Line)
1975 Jul 28, The US Dept of
Interior designated the grizzly bear a threatened species in the lower
48 states under the US Endangered Species Act. Most of the bears in the
lower US lived in and around Yellowstone National Park in Idaho,
Montana and Wyoming.
(http://fieldguide.mt.gov/detail_AMAJB01020.aspx)(Econ, 11/5/05, p.88)
1975 Jul 29, President Ford became
the first U.S. president to visit the site of the Nazi concentration
camp Auschwitz in Poland as he paid tribute to the camp's victims.
(AP, 7/29/97)
1975 Jul 30, Former Teamsters
union president Jimmy Hoffa disappeared from the parking lot of the
Machus Red fox Restaurant in suburban Detroit. Although presumed dead,
his remains have never been found. He was scheduled to meet with Mafia
captain Tony Jack Giacalone (d.2001 at 82) and New Jersey Teamster boss
Anthony Provenzano. In 2004 Charles Brandt authored “I Heard You Paint
Houses,” in which he says Teamster official Frank Sheeran (d.2003)
claimed to have shot Hoffa. Hoffa was declared legally dead in 1982.
(HFA, '96, p.34)(AP, 7/30/97)(SFC, 2/26/01,
p.A24)(SFC, 5/29/04, p.A2)
1975 Jul 30, James Benjamin Blish
(b.1921), sci-fi author (Star Trek Reader, Black Sunday), died. Blish
also wrote criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William
Atheling Jr.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blish)
1975 Jul 30, Representatives of 35
countries convened in Finland for a conference on security and human
rights that resulted in the Helsinki accords.
(AP, 7/30/00)
1975 Jul 31, In 2006 Donovan
Wells, a prisoner in Kentucky, said he witnessed a grave being dug for
Jimmy Hoffa at a horse farm in Milford, Mich., that was owned by
Rolland McMaster, a Teamster official. A search of the site proved
fruitless.
(SFC, 5/24/06, p.A5)(SFC, 5/30/06, p.A2)
1975 Jul 31, The Bangkok Agreement
was signed as an initiative of the Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). As Asia’s 1st preferential trade
agreement between developing countries it aimed at promoting
intra-regional trade through exchange of mutually agreed concessions by
member countries. Five countries, Republic of Korea, India, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka and Lao People’s Democratic Republic, were the initial
signatories. China joined in April, 2000. Thailand and the Philippines
did not ratify the agreement due to their ASEAN commitments.
(www.unescap.org/tid/apta.asp)(www.siamindia.com/scripts/Bankong.aspx)
1975 Jul, In Chile 119 dissidents
were kidnapped as part of Operation Colombo. Their bodies were never
found. In 2008 98 people were indicted on charges of kidnapping the
victims.
(SFC, 5/27/08, p.A3)
1975 Aug 1, A 35-nation summit in
Helsinki, Finland, concluded with the signing the Helsinki Accords,
dealing with European security, human rights and East-West
contacts. The Helsinki Final Act, signed by 35 states, was an
attempt to improve the relations between the Communist bloc and the
West.
(AP, 8/1/00)(www.hri.org/docs/Helsinki75.html)
1975 Aug 3, The Louisiana
Superdome was dedicated.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Superdome)
1975 Aug 4, In Malaysia the
Japanese Red Army raided a building in Kuala Lumpur that housed US,
Swedish, Japanese and Canadian embassies. 52 hostages were exchanged
for Red Army members.
(http://www.ioss.gov/docs/julytodecember.html)
1975 Aug 7, In China a dam
collapse in Henan province killed tens of thousands of people. The
event was covered up for many years. A typhoon from the South China Sea
brought three successive days of enormous rain storms to the area of
southern Henan Province. Altogether 62 dams failed in one night,
including two major dams. As a result of this catastrophe 85,600 people
died according to the official government figures but others place the
toll at 230 thousand.
(WSJ, 8/29/07,
p.A12)(www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/3gorges.htm)
1975 Aug 8, Julian "Cannonball"
Adderley (b.1928), sax player, died of a stroke.
(SFC, 1/5/00,
p.C3)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannonball_Adderley)
1975 Aug 9, Dimitri D.
Shostakovich (b.1906) Soviet composer of 15 symphonies, died. His work
included Sun Over Motherland and the Violin Concerto No. 2. Symphony
No. 13, "Babi Yar," written to commemorate the massacre of Jews during
WW II. It premiered in the US in 1970. Symphony No. 12, "The Year
1917," was dedicated to the memory of Lenin. In 2004 Solomon Volkov
authored Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship
Between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator."
(WUD, 1994, p.1320)(SFC, 1/30/98, p.E5)(HN,
9/25/98)(WSJ, 6/29/99, p.A12)(SSFC, 3/28/04, p.M3)
1975 Aug 10, Television
personality David Frost announced he had purchased the exclusive rights
to interview former President Nixon.
(AP, 8/10/00)
1975 Aug 11, The United States
vetoed the proposed admission of North and South Vietnam to the United
Nations, following the Security Council's refusal to consider South
Korea's application.
(AP, 8/11/97)
1975 Aug 11, Alfred Loomis
(b.1887), financier and amateur physicist, died. In 2002 Jennet Conant
authored "Tuxedo Park," an account of how Loomis led research that
enhanced radar and led to the atom bomb.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Lee_Loomis)
1975 Aug 11, Anthony C. McAuliffe
(b.1898), US general and commandant of 101st division, died. He is
famous for his WWII single-word reply to a German surrender ultimatum:
"Nuts!"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_McAuliffe)
1975 Aug 15, Bangladesh
army officers killed Sheik Mujibar Rahman, the country's founding
leader and father of Hasina Wajed. A total of 20 people, including
domestic staff, were killed when the group of officers stormed his
house. General Ziaur Rahman, father of Khaleda Zia, became the military
ruler. Rahman had introduced a one-party socialist system and assumed
almost dictatorial powers. In 1997 the government charged two people
with his assassination. In 1998 15 men were found guilty and sentenced
to death. Three were acquitted in 2001. Of the remaining 12, five
appealed the verdict to the Supreme Court, six are in hiding and one is
believed to have died in Zimbabwe. In 2010 the Supreme Court upheld the
death sentence for five killers.
(SFC, 6/12/96, p.A9)(SFC, 6/14/96, p. A14)(SFC,
4/7/97, p.A10)(AFP, 1/27/10)
1975 Aug 17, Sig Arno (b.1895),
German film actor (My Friend Irma), died in Hamburg, Germany.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sig_Arno)
1975 Aug 20, Viking 1, the first
of 2 unmanned Viking landers, was launched from Cape Canaveral,
Florida, on a mission to Mars. It reached Mars in the summer of 1976.
(SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A14)
1975 Aug 21-22, In Los Angeles
Kathleen Ann Soliah (later known as Sarah Jane Olson) and other members
of the SLA placed 2 pipe bombs under parked police cars at an Int'l.
House of Pancakes on Sunset Blvd. They did not explode. Olson pleaded
guilty to 2 felony accounts in 2001. Olson was convicted and sentenced
in 2002 to 20 years to life in prison and was then arraigned with 3
others for the Apr 21 murder of Myrna Opsahl.
(SFEC, 6/20/99, p.A3)(SFC, 1/23/01, p.A13)(SFC,
11/1/01, p.A1)(SFC, 1/19/02, p.A1)
1975 Aug 23, In Greece Col.
Papadopoulos (d.1999 at 80) was sentenced to death for insurrection and
high treason. He had refused to testify: "let history judge my action."
The sentence was later commuted to life in prison.
(SFC, 6/28/99,
p.A19)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Papadopoulos)
1975 Aug 23, In Laos Communists
took over the administration of Vientiane city.
(http://countrystudies.us/laos/39.htm)
1975 Aug 24, Charles H. Revson
(b.1906), US cosmetic magnate, died.
(www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/500688/Charles-H-Revson)
1975 Aug 26, An international plan
began to show significant results to stop Venice from sinking into the
sea. Venice was built on 118 small islands. By the early 1960s, rising
seawater and floods threatened Venice. Scientists determined that
Venice was sinking, and that much of the city would disappear if swift
measures were not taken.
(http://twotrees.www.50megs.com/attic/history/08/26.html)
1975 Aug 27, Haile Selassie, the
last emperor of Ethiopia’s 3,000-year-old monarchy, died in Addis Ababa
at age 83 almost a year after he was overthrown in a military coup. It
was later discovered that the Derg, the ruling military committee, had
voted to murder the imprisoned emperor. Selassie was born of royal
blood and originally named Ras Tafari, and is regarded as the savior by
a religious sect originating in Jamaica whose members are called
Rastafarians. Crowned emperor in 1930 under the title Haile Selassie I
(meaning "Power of the Trinity"), he was by tradition a descendant of
King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. He reigned as emperor of Ethiopia
until 1974. Ryszard Kapuscinski later authored "The Emperor," a
biography of Selassie.
(AP, 8/27/00)(HNQ, 2/4/00)(WSJ, 4/18/01,
p.A20)(Econ, 9/29/07, p.49)
1975 Aug 29, Star in Cygnus went
nova becoming 4th brightest in sky.
(www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/N/Nova_Cygni_1975.html)
1975 Aug 29, Eamon de Valera
(92), Irish president (1937-59), died near Dublin. De Valera was born
in NYC (1882) and emigrated to Ireland as a child and joined the Easter
Rebellion of 1916 against British rule. He was saved from execution
because of his American citizenship, and was released under a general
amnesty in 1917.
(AP, 8/29/97)(ON, 9/04, p.7)
1975 Aug 29, In Peru Gen.
Francisco Belaunde (b.1921) began serving as president. He continued to
July 28, 1980.
(WSJ, 12/27/96,
p.A7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Morales_Berm%C3%BAdez)
1975 Aug, In, Oakland, California,
Ann Johnson (27) was raped and stabbed to death in her Montclair
District home. DNA evidence in 2002 identified Charles Jackson, a
recently deceased Folsom inmate, as her killer.
(SFC, 3/19/02, p.A10)
1975 Aug, North Korea seized 33
South Korean fisherman near their maritime border. In 2006 Choi Uk-il,
one of the 33, escaped to China and returned home to South Korea.
{North Korea, South Korea}
(Econ, 1/13/07,
p.38)(www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=102448)
1975 Sep 1, NYC transit fares rose
from 35 cents to 50 cents.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_transit_fares)
1975 Sep 1, Bougainville Island
announced the formation of the "Republic of the North Solomons," but
failed in its bid to secede from Papua New Guinea.
(WSJ, 3/18/98,
p.A14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bougainville)
1975 Sep 1, Israel and Egypt
initialed the Sinai II agreement on disengagement. A ceremonial signing
was held in Geneva on Sep 4.
(www.jafi.org.il/education/jafi75/timeline6f.html)
1975 Sep 2, Joseph W. Hatcher of
Tallahassee, Florida, became the state's first African-American supreme
court justice since Reconstruction.
(HN, 9/2/98)
1975 Sep 5, President Ford escaped
an attempt on his life by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a disciple of
Charles Manson, in Sacramento, Calif. In 1997 Jess Bravin wrote her
biography: "Squeaky: The Life and Times of Lynette Alice Fromme."
(SFC, 6/18/97, p.E5)(AP, 9/5/97)
1975 Sep 5, Czech tennis ace
Martina Navratilova asked for political asylum in NYC.
(http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/1998/usopen/news/1998/08/28/stats/thisday.html)
1975 Sep 6, A 6.8 quake along the
Anatolian Fault kills over 2,000 in Lice, Turkey.
(http://stinet.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA035628)
1975 Sep 7, The NBC drama “The
Family Holvak” featured Glenn Ford (1916-2006). The show aired for the
last time on Dec 28.
(SFC, 8/31/06,
p.B7)(www.tv.com/the-family-holvak/show/9109/summary.html)
1975 Sep 8, Leonard Matlovich
(b.1943) appeared in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time
magazine. He challenged the ban against homosexuals in the US military
and was given a "general" discharge by the Air Force after publicly
declaring his homosexuality. NBC subsequently made a TV movie of his
story. His suit dragged on until 1980 when a federal judge ordered
Matlovich reinstated. Instead of re-entering the Air Force, Matlovich
accepted a settlement of $160,000. Matlovich became a gay rights
activist and dies of AIDS in 1988."
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Matlovich)(www.glinn.com/news/tline5.htm)
1975 Sep 8, Boston's public
schools began their court-ordered citywide busing program amid
scattered incidents of violence.
(AP, 9/8/97)
1975 Sep 13, Shiko Munakata
(b.1903), renowned Japanese artist and printmaker, died in Tokyo from
liver cancer.
(SFC, 8/8/02,
p.D9)(www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/397376/Munakata-Shiko)
1975 Sep 14, Rembrandt's
"Nightwatch" was slashed and damaged in Amsterdam.
(http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_n7_v86/ai_21113228)
1975 Sep 14, Pope Paul VI declared
Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton the first native-born American saint
in the Roman Catholic Church.
(AP, 9/14/97)(HN, 9/14/98)
1975 Sep 16, Administrators for
Rhodes Scholarships announced the decision to begin offering
fellowships to women.
(HN, 9/16/98)
1975 Sep 16, Papua New Guinea
(PNG), a former Australian colony, became independent.
(WSJ, 12/20/96, p.B8)(WSJ, 3/18/98, p.A14)
1975 Sep 18, Police and FBI
arrested SLA members Patty Hearst, William and Emily Harris, Steven
Soliah and Wendy Yoshimura in SF. James Kilgore disappeared and later
surfaced a Univ. of Cape Town Prof. Charles William Pape. He was
arrested in 2002. Hearst was convicted of bank robbery and served over
22 months in federal prison. Pres. Carter commuted her sentence in
1979. Kathleen Ann Soliah remained a fugitive until 1999 when she was
picked up in St. Paul, Minn., under the name of Sara Jane Olson. She
was wanted for placing 2 pipe bombs under police cars in LA.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W23)(SFC, 2/4/99, p.A8)(SFC,
6/17/99, p.A1)(SFC, 5/11/09, p.B2)
1975 Sep 18, Fairfield Porter
(b.1907), American artist, died. Much of his work was done along the
Maine coastline.
(WSJ, 9/4/03,
p.D8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairfield_Porter)
1975 Sep 19, The British sitcom
"Fawlty Towers," created by John Cleese, premiered. Six episodes aired
in this year and 6 more in 1979. PBS brought the show to America in
1980.
(WSJ, 3/8/99, p.A16)(www.imdb.com/title/tt0072500/)
1975 Sep 20, The Kansas City Lyric
Opera premiered Jack Beeson’s "Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines." It
was commissioned to celebrate founder and director Russell Patterson’s
40th and final year with the company.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Jinks_of_the_Horse_Marines)
1975 Sep 22, President Gerald R.
Ford dodged a second assassination in less than three weeks. Sara Jane
Moore, an FBI informer and self-proclaimed revolutionary, attempted to
shoot President Ford outside a San Francisco hotel, but missed. A
bullet she fired slightly wounded a man in the crowd. Moore was
sentenced to life in prison, but was paroled at the end of 2007 after
serving over 30 years without getting into trouble.
(AP, 9/22/97)(SFC, 1/1/08, p.A1)
1975 Sep 23, California’s Gov.
Jerry Brown signed the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA).
It imposed limits on attorney fees and capped jury awards in medical
malpractice suits for “noneconomic” damages to $250,000.
(SFC, 4/25/01, p.A7)(WSJ, 7/13/04,
p.D4)(http://tinyurl.com/m852rv)
1975 Sep 26, Herman G. Fisher
(b.1898), co-founder of the Fisher-Price toy company (1930), died. In
1930 he got together with Irving Price and Helen Schelle to establish a
toy company under the name of Fisher-Price.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Fisher)
1975 Sep 29, Peter Sutcliffe, who
became known as the Yorkshire Ripper, killed his 1st victim.
(www.essortment.com/all/petersutcliffe_rnyb.htm)
1975 Sep 30, In Rome Donatella
Colasanti (17) was found bloodied and battered, but alive in the boot
of a car. Beside her was the dead body of her friend Rosaria Lopez
(20). Both had undergone hours of torture before Lopez was finally
drowned in a bath. Colasanti had escaped the same fate only by playing
dead. Andrea Ghira was found guilty in the "Circeo Massacre," named for
the town near Rome where two girls were held captive for 36 hours and
then left wrapped in plastic in a car trunk, where one girl died. He
was convicted in absentia for the slaying. In 2005 his body was found
in a cemetery in a Spanish enclave in Morocco, where he was buried in
1994.
(AP,
10/29/05)(http://rome.wantedineurope.com/articles/complete_articles.php?id_art=559)
1975 Sep, In San Bernadino County,
Ca., Lorrie Sue McClary (16) and her boyfriend were arrested for the
murder of Anna Mills (79), who had hired her and her boyfriend, Fred
Wilson (23). She later claimed that she pleaded guilty to protect her
boyfriend. McClary was sentenced 7 years to life and her boyfriend, who
testified against her, drew a 4 year sentence. In 1998 her request for
parole was denied by Gov. Wilson.
{California, Murder, USA, Teens amuck}
(SFC, 6/15/98,
p.A22)(www.feminist.com/news/vaw28.html)
1975 Sep, Byte Magazine began
publishing with the birth of the PC. It was regarded as the most
technically minded of the new computer magazines. Publication was
suspended in 1998.
(WSJ, 5/28/98,
p.B4)(www.vintage-computer.com/byte.shtml)
1975 Oct 1, Muhammad Ali beat Joe
Frazier after 14 rounds for the heavyweight boxing title in Manila.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrilla_in_Manila)
1975 Oct 2, President Ford
welcomed Japan’s Emperor Hirohito to the United States.
(AP, 10/2/00)
1975 Oct 2, Armand Hammer
(1898-1992) pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges of making
illegal contributions in the names of other persons to the 1972 Nixon
re-election campaign.
(WSJ, 6/29/00, p.A26)(http://tinyurl.com/4nv5yw)
1975 Oct 6, Chilean Vice Pres.
Bernardo Leighton and his wife, Anita Fresno, were shot in Rome. Anita
was left permanently disabled. In 2000 Chilean authorities arrested
former Gen. Eduardo Iturriaga for the shooting.
(SFC, 3/15/00,
p.A10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leighton_case)
1975 Oct 7, Pres. Ford signed
Public Law 94-106, a bill authorizing the admission of women to
military academies.
(www.army.mil/women/newera.html)
1975 Oct 7, US decided John Lennon
won't be deported due to UK pot conviction.
(http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=618)
1975 Oct 9, Soviet scientist
Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
(AP, 10/9/97)
1975 Oct 10, August Dvorak
(b.1894), educational psychologist, died. In the 1930s he and his
brother-in-law, Dr. William Dealey, designed a keyboard layout that was
much superior to the QWERTY keyboard.
(SFC, 4/19/97,
p.E4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Dvorak)
1975 Oct 11, The TV show "Saturday
Night Live" made its debut with guest host George Carlin. Writer
Michael O’Donoghue (d.1994) made his debut. In 1998 Dennis Perrin
published "Mr. Mike: The Life and Work of Michael O’Donoghue."
(SFEC, 8/23/98, BR p.12)(AP, 10/11/99)
1975 Oct 11, Bill Clinton married
Hillary Rodham in Fayetteville, Ark.
(SFEC, 3/28/99, Par p.4)
1975 Oct 12, Archbishop Oliver
Plunkett (1625-1681) became the 1st Irish-born saint in 700 years. He
was beheaded by Cromwell's troops.
(www.archatl.com/parishes/saintoliverplunkett_snellville.html)
1975 Oct 13, The Maharishi Yogi
(1917-2008), India-born founder of Transcendental Meditation, appeared
on the cover of Time Magazine.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharishi_Mahesh_Yogi)
1975 Oct 14, South Africans
secretly launched Operation Savannah when the first of several South
African columns (task force Zulu) crossed into Angola from Namibia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_intervention_in_Angola_(1975-1991))
1975 Oct 15, Iceland moved its
intl. boundary for fishing rights from 50 to 200 miles.
(www.american.edu/ted/ice/CODWAR.htm)
1975 Oct 16, In East Timor five
Australian journalists were killed when Indonesian troops overran the
border town of Balibo. A 6th died weeks later when Jakarta launched a
full-scale assault on Dili. In 2009 the film “Balibo,” by Australian
director Rob Connolly, depicted the killings.
(AP,
7/22/09)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balibo_Five)
1975 Oct 16, Vittorio Gui
(b.1885), Italian composer (Batture d'aspetto), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vittorio_Gui)
1975 Oct 17, A UN committee passed
a resolution saying "Zionism is a form of racism." The resolution was
reversed in 1991.
(www.heritage.org/Research/InternationalOrganizations/bg851.cfm)(Econ,
4/25/09, p.62)
1975 Oct 20, The US Supreme Court
ruled that teachers could spank their pupils even if parents do not
approve.
(http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1975-10/1975-10-20-ABC-19.html)
1975 Oct 20, Mexico City's 1st
major subway accident took 20 lives.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City_Metro)
1975 Oct 21, "Treemonisha," a 1911
opera by Scott Joplin (1868-1917), opened at Uris Theater NYC for 64
performances. The 1st full professional staging was done in 1975 by the
Houston Grand Opera.
(www.nodanw.com/shows_t/treemonisha.htm)(SFC,
6/21/03, p.D1)
1975 Oct 22, Arnold Toynbee
(b.1889), English historian (A Study of History) and cultural
sociologist, died. He held that civilizations proceed from bondage to
spiritual faith, then to courage, then to liberty, then to abundance,
then to selfishness, then to apathy, then to dependency and then back
to bondage.
(AP, 3/24/98)(http://tinyurl.com/yoserm)(Econ,
3/31/07, p.63)
1975 Oct 23, A Battle between
Cuban and South Africa troops took place in Angola.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_intervention_in_Angola_(1975-1991))
1975 Oct 25, Vladimir Herzog
(b.1937), Croatia-born Jewish journalist, was murdered by Brazil’s
military regime.
(Econ, 11/27/04,
p.37)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Herzog)
1975 Oct 26, Anwar Sadat became
the first Egyptian president to pay an official visit to the United
States.
(AP, 10/26/97)
1975 Oct 30, The New York Daily
News ran the headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead" a day after President
Ford said he would veto any proposed federal bailout of New York City.
(HN, 10/30/98)
1975 Oct 30, Martha Moxley,
15-years-old, was bludgeoned to death with a gulf club in Greenwich,
Conn., on Halloween eve. The last person to see her was 17-year-old
Thomas Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy. No one has ever been charged.
Michael (15) and Thomas (17) Skakel were suspects. Michael Skakel was
charged with the killing in 2000. The 1993 novel "A Season in
Purgatory" by Dominick Dunne, and "Murder in Greenwich" by Mark Fuhrman
in 1998 were based on this murder. In 2002 a jury found Skakel guilty
of murder. He was sentenced 20 years to life in prison.
(WSJ, 5/6/96, p.A-11)(SFC, 10/17/98, p.A6)(SFC,
6/8/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 8/29/02, p.A1)
1975 Oct 30, Juan Carlos (37)
assumed power in Spain after General Franco, near death, gave him
control.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/30/newsid_2464000/2464945.stm)
1975 Oct, The MacNeil-Lehrer
Report" premiered on PBS.
(www.macneil-lehrer.com/about/team.html)
1975 Oct, US National Security
Advisor Henry Kissinger told his staff: "I'm assuming you're really
going to keep your mouth shut on the subject," in response to
reports that Indonesia had begun its attack on East Timor. This
statement was only made public in 2005.
(AFP, 12/02/05)
1975 Oct, Vladimir Prelog (d.1998
at age 91), a Swiss chemist, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his
work in stereochemistry and the architecture of molecules like
cholesterol and antibiotics. John Cornforth, Australia-born chemist,
also shared the prize.
(SFC, 1/17/98,
p.A19)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates)
1975 Oct, Aage Nills Bohr
(b.1922), Denmark-born physicist, won the Nobel Prize in Physics for
his study of the atomic nucleus. Ben Mottelson (b.1926),
Danish-American physicist and James Rainwater (1917-1986), American
physicist, also shared the prize.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates)
1975 Oct, Eugenio Montale
(1896-1981), Italian poet, won the Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1999
two collections of his poetry were translated and published in English:
Collected Poems 1920-1954" and "Satura 1962-1970."
(SFEC, 2/28/99, BR p.8)
1975 Nov 1, Pier Paolo Pasolini
(b.1922), Italian poet, author and director was murdered. A young male
prostitute was tried and convicted for the murder in 1976.
(http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/pasolini.htm)
1975 Nov 3, Queen Elizabeth
formally began the operation of the UK's first North Sea oil pipeline
at a ceremony in Scotland.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/3/newsid_2538000/2538155.stm)
1975 Nov 5, The scrapped passenger
ship Queen Elizabeth rolled over and disgorged several tons of oil in
Hong Kong.
(www.cunard.co.uk)
1975 Nov 5, Lionel Trilling
(b.1905), American author and literary critic, died. His books included
“Beyond Culture” (1965), a collection of essays concerning modern
literary and cultural attitudes toward selfhood.
(SFC, 10/25/96,
p.A24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Trilling)
1975 Nov 6, Morocco occupied
Western Sahara. King Hassan dispatched 350,000 unarmed Moroccans on a
"Green March" to the former Spanish Sahara. This began a long war with
the Polisario Front guerrilla group, tribal Bedouin who sought
independence.
(SFC, 5/7/97, p.C2)(SFC, 7/24/99, p.A9)(WSJ, 6/7/00,
p.A1)(SFC, 11/27/00, p.A8)
1975 Nov 7, "Wonder Woman" debuted
as a pilot on ABC.
(www.wonderwoman-online.com/abc.html)
1975 Nov 7, On the eve of the
anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution Capt. Valery Sablin (1939-1976)
seized control of the Storozhevoy (Vigilant), a Russian destroyer in
the Baltic, intending to proclaim a new revolution. The Russian air
force managed to disable the vessel and Sablin was executed for the
mutiny. This incident inspired Tom Clancy’s novel and the film “The
Hunt for Red October.”
(WSJ, 7/1/05,
p.W4)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valery_Sablin)
1975 Nov 10, The ore-hauling,
729-foot ship "Edmund Fitzgerald" broke in half and sank during a storm
at the eastern end of Lake Superior and its crew of 29 perished.
Oglebay Norton Co., the ship's Cleveland-based owner, filed for Chapter
11 bankruptcy in 2004. In 1976 Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Wreck of
the Edmund Fitzgerald” went to #2 on the pop charts. In 2005 Michael
Schumacher authored "Mighty Fitz," an examination of debates over what
happened. In 2005 Michael Schumacher authored “Mighty Fitz,” an
examination of debates over what happened.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Edmund_Fitzgerald)(SFC,
2/24/04, p.B2)(WSJ, 11/5/05, p.P8)
1975 Nov 10, In Angola the MPLA
and Cuban troops warded off the last big attack of the FNLA.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_intervention_in_Angola_(1975-1991))
1975 Nov 10, The UN General
Assembly approved a resolution equating Zionism with racism. However,
the world body repealed the resolution in December 1991.
(AP,
11/10/97)(www.heritage.org/Research/InternationalOrganizations/bg851.cfm)
1975 Nov 10, The UN General
Assembly adopted Resolution 3237 that conferred on the PLO the status
of observer in the Assembly and in other international conferences held
under UN auspices.
(www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1967to1991_plo_un_1975.php)
1975 Nov 11, Angola proclaimed
independence from Portugal. Civil war began following the 14-year fight
for independence. The Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA)
proclaimed unilateral independence. Jonas Savimbi led UNITA and the
FLNA was backed by Zaire.
(SFC, 6/20/96, p.A10)(SFC, 12/26/98, p.A12)(SFC,
4/19/00, p.A10)
1975 Nov 11, Sir John Kerr,
Australia’s governor-general, fired PM Edward Gough Whitlam. He was the
1st elected PM removed in 200 years.
(SFC, 11/2/99, p.A14)(http://whitlamdismissal.com/)
1975 Nov 12, Supreme Court Justice
William O. Douglas retired because of failing health, ending a record
36-and-a-half-year term.
(AP, 11/12/00)
1975 Nov 15, The first Summit of 6
leading industrialist nations, G-6, met in Rambouillet, France, for
discussions on currency and oil prices.
(SFC, 6/20/97,
p.A16)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_G6_summit)
1975 Nov 18, Black Panther leader
Eldridge Cleaver (1935-1998) returned to US to face assault charges
from 1958.
(www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/people/people_cleaver.html)
1975 Nov 19, Elizabeth Taylor
(b.1912), English writer, died of cancer. Her work included 12 novels
and 5 short story collections.
(SFC, 7/25/06, p.E3)(www.imdb.com/name/nm0852331/)
1975 Nov 20, Ronald Reagan
announced his intention to battle Gerald Ford for the Republican
presidential nomination.
(SSFC, 6/6/04,
A16)(www.ford.utexas.edu/grf/timeline.asp)
1975 Nov 20, An interim report by
the US Senate’s Church Committee said that the CIA failed to
assassinated Fidel Castro at least 8 times. The report also covered CIA
activity in Chile, the Congo, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere.
(WSJ, 8/5/06,
p.A9)(http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Church_Committee)
1975 Nov 20, After nearly four
decades of absolute rule (1936-1975), Spain's General Francisco Franco
died, two weeks before his 83rd birthday. Juan Carlos, grandson of King
Alfonso, was his designated successor and the monarchy was restored. In
2002 Gabrielle Ashford Hodges authored "Franco: A Concise Biography."
(SFC, 11/12/96, p.A12)(SFEC, 10/5/97, p.A17)(AP,
11/20/97)(SSFC, 4/21/02, p.M4)
1975 Nov 22, Juan Carlos was
proclaimed king of Spain.
(AP, 11/22/97)
1975 Nov 25, The Portuguese
Communist Party under Alvaro Cunhal attempted a coup in Lisbon with
leftist army paratroops.
(WSJ, 10/14/98, p.A22)
1975 Nov 25, Suriname gained
Independence from the Netherlands and adopted a new flag.
(SFC, 9/6/96, p.A14)(
http://flagspot.net/flags/sr.html)
1975 Nov 26, A federal jury in
Sacramento, Calif., found Lynette Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson,
guilty of trying to assassinate President Ford. [see Sep 5]
(AP, 11/26/97)(HN, 11/26/98)
1975 Nov 28, "The Edge Of Night",
TV Daytime Soap; last aired on CBS who wanted to expand one of its
soaps to an hour; "Edge" moved to ABC, which had a time slot available.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Edge_of_Night)
1975 Nov 28, Wings release "Venus
& Mars/Rock Show" medley.
(http://beatles.ncf.ca/paul.html)
1975 Nov 28, President Ford
nominated Federal Judge John Paul Stevens to the U.S. Supreme Court
seat vacated by William O. Douglas.
(AP, 11/28/97)
1975 Nov 28, The Portuguese
colonial rule collapsed and East Timor proclaimed independence, but 10
days later it was invaded by Indonesia.
(SFC, 7/21/96, Z1, p.8)(SFC, 10/16/96,
p.A18)
1975 Nov 29, President Ford
required states to provide free education for handicapped.
(http://tinyurl.com/wugvn)
1975 Dec 2, George Moscone
(1929-1978) was elected mayor of San Francisco in a runoff election
with electoral support from the neighborhoods rather than downtown
interests. Moscone was elected over John Barbagelata by a margin of
51-49.
(SFC, 11/26/98, p.A19)(SFC, 12/15/99, p.A19)
1975 Dec 3, King Savang Vatthana
of Laos abdicated his throne and the communist Lao People's Democratic
Republic (LPDR) was established.
(www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2770.htm)
1975 Dec 4, Ramos Horta helped
form an independent East Timor government but was forced to flee 3 days
before Indonesia invaded.
(SFEC, 6/27/99, p.A22)
1975 Dec 4, Hannah Arendt
(b.1906), German-born American historian and philosopher, died. Her
books included "The Origins of Totalitarianism." In 2001 Lotte Kohler
edited "Within Four Walls: The Correspondence Between Hannah Arendt and
Heinrich Blucher 1936-1938."
(WSJ, 8/31/99, p.A22)(SSFC, 4/15/01, BR
p.8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Arendt)
1975 Dec 6, US President Ford and
Secretary of State Kissinger met with Indonesian President Suharto and
explicitly approved Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor. This
information was only made public in 2005.
(AFP,
12/02/05)(www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/)
1975 Dec 6, The US Congress
authorized a $2.3 billion emergency loan to save New York City from
bankruptcy.
(http://tinyurl.com/6axxe2)
1975 Dec 6, Robert Dole (b.1923)
of Kansas, Republican presidential candidate in 1996, married Mary
Elizabeth Hanford.
(www.medaloffreedom.com/BobDole.htm)
1975 Dec 7, Thornton Wilder
(b.1897), American novelist and playwright, died. In 2008 his selected
letters, edited by Robin G. Wilder and Jackson R. Bryer, were published.
(HN, 4/17/99)(WSJ, 10/4/08, p.W8)
1975 Dec 7, Indonesia invaded East
Timor nine days after the Timorese political party Fretilin claimed
independence. Some 600,000 were left dead after a prolonged war.
(SFC, 7/21/96, Z1, p.8)(SFEC, 8/29/99, p.A19)(HNQ,
11/9/00)
1975 Dec 8, "Raisin" closed at
46th St Theater NYC after 847 performances.
(www.hbdirect.com/album_detail.php?pid=136295)
1975 Dec 9, President Ford signed
a $2.3 billion seasonal loan-authorization that officials of New York
City and State said would prevent a city default.
(AP, 12/9/00)
1975 Dec 9, William Wellman
(b.1896), American filmmaker, died. His film “Wings” received the 1st
Academy Award for Best Picture.
(SFC, 7/20/96,
p.E1)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_A._Wellman)
1975 Dec 10, Elena Bonner
Sacharova (b.1923) read Andrei Sacharov’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance
speech in Oslo.
(http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1975/sakharov-acceptance.html)
1975 Dec 12, Sara Jane Moore
pleaded guilty to a charge of trying to kill President Ford in San
Francisco the previous September.
(AP, 12/12/97)
1975 Dec 12, In New Zealand Robert
Muldoon (1921-1992) began serving as prime minister and continued to
July 26, 1984. His interventionist policies threatened to send the
country to the financial wall.
(WSJ, 10/9/96,
p.A16)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Muldoon)
1975 Dec 14, Six South Moluccan
extremists surrendered after holding 23 hostages for 12 days on a train
near the Dutch town of Beilen.
(AP, 12/14/00)
1975 Dec 16, The daytime soap "One
Day At a Time" premiered. It featured Bonnie Franklin as a divorced
mother in Indianapolis with Valerie Bertinelli as her teenage daughter.
The show ran until 1984.
(SFC, 10/5/02, p.A19)(www.imdb.com/title/tt0072554/)
1975 Dec 17, Lynette Fromme was
sentenced to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President
Ford.
(AP, 12/17/97)
1975 Dec 19, John Paul Stevens,
appointed by Pres. Gerald Ford, was sworn in as a US Supreme Court
judge.
(NW, 7/7/03, p.48)
1975 Dec 21, In Austria there was
a terrorist kidnapping of Saudi oil minister Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani
and other ministers at the OPEC gathering in Vienna, Austria. Three
people were killed and 11 taken hostage. The oil ministers were taken
to North Africa in a hijacked plane in a $1 billion ransom drama.
Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, later admitted to
planning the attack. In 2001 Germany sentenced Hans-Joachim Klein to 9
years for his role in the attack.
(WSJ, 12/4/95, p.B-1)(SFC,12/11/97, p.C2)(SFC,
2/16/01, p.D2)
1975 Dec 21, Didier Ratsiraka,
Madagascar military commander, was elected to a seven-year term as
president in a national referendum. He published a "red book" of
Marxist principles and nationalized much of the economy. In the 1980s
with severe economic decline Ratsiraka changed course and established
ties with the world Bank and the IMF.
(SFC, 8/19/96,
p.A10)(www.wildmadagascar.org/overview/loc/16-history_1975-1992.html)
1975 Dec 22, The Energy Policy and
Conservation Act (EPCA) made it policy for the US to establish a
reserve up to one billion barrels (159 million m³) of petroleum.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created to provide a guaranteed
domestic supply. The oil was put into salt domes on the Gulf Coast near
the Texas-Louisiana border. The storage capacity was 700 million
barrels.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Petroleum_Reserve)(SFC,
11/14/01, p.A15)
1975 Dec 23, Richard S. Welch, the
Central Intelligence Agency station chief in Athens, was shot and
killed outside his home. The left-wing November 17 urban guerrilla
group was responsible. In 2002 Pavlos Serifis was arrested in
connection with the murder.
(AP, 12/23/00)(SFC, 7/5/02, p.A9)
1975 Dec 26, The Soviet Union
inaugurated the world's first supersonic transport service with a
flight of its Tupolev-144 airliner from Moscow to Alma-Ata.
(AP, 12/26/99)
1975 Dec 29, A bomb exploded in
the main terminal of New York's LaGuardia Airport, killing 11 people.
(AP, 12/29/97)
1975 Dec 30, Tiger Woods, later
professional golfer, was born as Eldrick Woods in Cypress, California.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Woods)
1975 Dec, In South Dakota Anna Mae
Pictou Aquash (b.1945) was shot to death. American Indian Movement
(AIM) members suspected her of being an FBI informant. Her body was
found on Feb 24, 1976, on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. In 2003 Arlo
Looking Cloud (50) was convicted in the murder. John Graham, a
Canadian, and Fritz Arlo Looking Cloud, a US citizen, were indicted in
2003 in the United States for Aquash's murder. In 2007 a Canadian court
ruled that Graham should be extradited to the United States to face
trial.
(SFC, 2/7/04, p.A3)(Reuters,
6/26/07)(www.dickshovel.com/time3.html)
1975 Dec, The bodies of Tourists
Connie Jo Bronzich (29) and Laurent Armand Carriere were found badly
burned in a field outside Kathmandu, Nepal. In 2003 Charles Sobhraj
(59) was ordered to stand trial for their murder. Police said he had
killed as many as 20 people. In 2004 he was convicted in Nepal and
sentenced to life in prison.
(SFC, 11/21/03,
p.D1)(www.abc.net.au/am/content/2004/s1175776.htm)
1975 Alexander Calder created his
monumental sculpture "The Arch."
(WSJ, 5/18/01, p.W2)
1975 Jasper Johns painted "The
Dutch Wives."
(SFEC, 11/24/96, C15)
1975 Roy Lichtenstein created his
work: "Purist Painting With Pitcher, Glass, Classical Column."
(SFC, 1/16/99, p.E1)
1975 Architects Doug Michels
(1943-2003) and Chip Lord, founders of the Ant Farm in SF, created the
performance work "Media Burn," in which Michels drove a Cadillac
through a pyramid of burning television sets. Ant Farm disbanded in
1978.
(SSFC, 6/22/03, p.A1)
1975 Tony Smith, sculptor, began
his work "Ten Elements." It was a cluster of black metal polygons
completed in 1979.
(SFC, 10/26/96, p.B1)
1975 In Missouri Ernest Trova
(d.2009 at 82), artist, co-founded the Laumeier Sculpture Park with a
gift of over 40 large-scale artworks to St. Louis County.
(SFC, 3/12/09, p.B6)
1975 The battered suitcase
containing 53 pieces of artwork by C.T. McCluskey was found at an
Alameda, Ca., swapmeet. Little is known except that he worked as a
circus clown, lived in Oakland in the winter months, and created
wonderful paper on cardboard collages featuring circus themes.
(SFC, 5/26/96, DB p.14)
1975 Thomas Babe (d.2000 at 59),
playwright, had his first success with "Kid Champion."
(SFC, 12/16/00, p.C4)
1975 Edward Abbey wrote "The
Monkey Wrench Gang." It was inspired by the fantasy of demolishing Glen
Canyon Dam.
(SFEC, 8/24/97, p.A10)
1975 Philip Agee, former CIA
agent, authored "Inside the Company."
(SFC, 6/28/00, p.A12)
1975 Stephen Ambrose authored
"Crazy Horse and Custer." In 2002 he was accused of plagiarizing from
the 1955 book "Custer" by Jay Monaghan (d.1980).
(SFC, 1/9/02, p.A2)
1975 Ernest Callenbach published
his novel "Ecotopia." It was based on strict bioregional and green city
principles.
(PacDis, Spring/'94, p. 30)
1975 Truman Capote published a
chapter from his never-completed novel "Answered Prayers" in Esquire
Magazine. It covered society secrets of his two best friends, Babe
Paley and Slim Keith, who immediately broke ties with him.
(SFEC,12/14/97, p.D9)
1975 Lew Dietz (d.1997 at 90)
co-authored "A Seal Called Andre" with Harry Goodridge. Dietz
also wrote "The Allagash," in the rivers of America series and "A Touch
of Wilderness."
(SFC, 4/30/97, p.A18)
1975 E.L. Doctorow wrote
"Ragtime," a novel about pre-WW I America.
(SFEC, 12/8/96, p.C21)(SFC, 6/17/97, p.E1)
1975 John Kenneth Galbraith
authored “Money,” a history of currency in America.
(WSJ, 3/14/09, p.W8)
1975 Rev. Billy Graham wrote his
book "Angels." It sold a million copies in 90 days.
(SFEC, 10/20/96, Par, p.4)
1975 Thomas Harris authored “Black
Sunday,” a novel set around a terrorist conspiracy targeting the Super
Bowl.
(WSJ, 10/28/06, p.P12)
1975 V.S, Naipaul (b.1932),
Trinidad-born English novelist, authored "Guerrillas."
(SFC, 10/12/01, p.C1)
1975 Georgia O’Keeffe, painter,
authored her autobiography.
(WSJ, 1/02/00, p.A20)
1975 Judith Rossner (1935-2005)
published "Looking for Mr. Goodbar." It was based on the true story of
a NYC schoolteacher who was murdered by a man she brought home from a
bar. In 1977 the novel was made into a movie.
(SFEC, 10/5/97, BR p.4)(SFC, 8/12/05, p.B9)
1975 Edward Said, Prof. of
literature at Columbia, introduced the poststructuralism ideas of
Michel Foucault to American literary criticism in his book
"Beginnings."
(WSJ, 9/30/99, p.A26)
1975 Jack Sarfatti, Bob Toben and
Fred Alan Wolf wrote: "Space-Time and Beyond."
(SFEC, 8/17/97, Z1 p.3)
1975 Anthony Sampson authored "The
Seven Sisters: The Great Oil Companies and the World They Made."
(SSFC, 2/8/04, p.A31)
1975 Michael Shaara wrote the
Civil War novel "The Killer Angels."
(WSJ, 5/14/97, p.A20)
1975 Ronald Sheridan and Ann Ross
wrote "Gargoyles and Grotesques: Paganism in the Medieval Church."
(Hem, 4/96, p.121)
1975 Peter Singer authored "Animal
Liberation," in which he argued that the life of a person is not
necessarily more valuable than that of an animal.
(SFC, 10/4/99, p.A10)
1975 Paul Theroux (b.1941)
authored “The Great Railway Bazaar,” an account of his 1973 train
travels through Europe and Asia. In 2008 he authored “Ghost Train to
the Eastern Star,” a follow up to his 1973 itinerary.
(SFC, 8/6/08, p.E2)
1975 Samuel Beckett, playwright,
wrote "Footfalls."
(WSJ, 8/5/96, p.A10)
1975 David Mamet wrote his play
"American Buffalo." It was made into a film in 1996 with Dustin Hoffman
and Dennis Franz.
(SFC, 9/13/96, p.D17)(SFC, 1/24/03, p.D3)
1975 Edward Albee won a 2nd
Pulitzer Prize for his play "Seascape," in which a pair of talking
lizards are injected into a married couple’s beach picnic.
(SFC, 9/5/96, p.B2)(SFC, 10/19/96, E1)
1975 "Turtle Island," poems by
Gary Snyder, won the Pulitzer prize.
(SFC, 9/1/96, DB p.30)
1975 Garry Trudeau won a Pulitzer
Prize for his social and political satire in the Doonesbury cartoon.
(USAT, 5/4/98, p.1D)
1975 John Cleese created the
British sitcom "Fawlty Towers." Six episodes aired in this year and 6
more in 1979. PBS brought the show to America in 1980.
(WSJ, 3/8/99, p.A16)
1975 Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham
and his girlfriend Stevie Nicks joined the Fleetwood Mac band led by
drummer Mick Fleetwood with bassist John McVie and keyboardist
Christine McVie.
(SFC, 10/12/97, DB p.44)
1975 Bob Dylan released his "Blood
on the Tracks" album.
(WSJ, 10/9/97, p.A16)
1975 The Band, the backup group
for Bob Dylan, released "The Basement Tapes" album. The music was
recorded in 1967 in a pink house in West Saugerties rented by bass
player Rick Danko (d.1999 at 56).
(WSJ, 12/15/99, p.A20)
1975 Ida Guillory was crowned
“Queen of Zydeco Accordion” during a Mardi Gras celebration.
(SFC, 8/20/05, p.E3)
1975 Freddy Fender’s “Before the
next Teardrop Falls” climbed to No. 1 as did his song “Wasted Days and
Wasted Nights.” Fender had recorded Wasted Days in 1960 but got stuck
in prison in Angola, La., for 3 years for marijuana possession.
(SFC, 10/16/06, p.B6)
1975 Freddie Mercury (d.1991) and
the rock group Queen made a hit with "Bohemian Rhapsody." The song
became a hit a 2nd time when Mercury died. In 2002 a British poll voted
it the greatest hit of the last 50 years.
(SSFC, 11/10/02, p.A2)
1975 Waylon Jennings and Willie
Nelson made a hit with their duet: "Good Hearted Woman."
(SFC, 2/14/02, p.A2)
1975 Zakir Hussain, drummer,
co-founded the India-Jazz band Shakti with John McLaughlin and L.
Shankar.
(SFEC, 8/15/99, DB p.34)
1975 Joonas Kokkonen (1921-1996),
Finnish composer, had his opera "The Last Temptations" first performed
by the Finnish National Opera. He also composed 4 symphonies and
numerous chamber and choral pieces.
(http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=26983)(SFC,
10/3/96, p.C6)
1975 Willie Nelson sang "Blue Eyes
Crying in the Rain."
(WSJ, 7/10/98, p.W3)
1975 Bos Scaggs recorded his
multi-million selling album "Silk Degrees."
(SFEC, 4/6/97, DB p.36)
1975 Gary Stewart (28) had a No. 1
country hit with his song "She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)."
Stewart committed suicide in Ft. Pierce, Fla., in 2003 at age 59.
(SSFC, 12/21/03, p.A31)
1975 Singer Paul Williams
popularized the song "Feelings."
(SFC, 9/13/99, p.A10)
1975 The mystery film "Picnic at
Hanging Rock" starred Rachel Roberts and Dominic Guard and was directed
by Peter Weir. It was set in 1900 in Australia.
(SFC, 7/1/98, p.E4)
1975 Merv Griffin (1925-2007)
created the TV game show “Wheel of Fortune.”
(WSJ, 8/15/07, p.D12)
1975 The USS Constitution (aka Old
Ironsides) was restored and reopened to the public in Boston Harbor.
(SFEC, 7/13/97, Par p.14)
1975 Robert Hoffmann (d.1997 at
74), human potential movement pioneer, established the Quadrinity
Center in San Anselmo, Ca., to promote his holistic model of the human
being that included physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual
elements.
(SFC, 8/21/97, p.C4)
1975 Jude Wanniski (1936-2005),
economist and journalist, coined the term supply-side economics to
describe the theory that cutting personal income tax rates would lead
to increased investment and create economic growth.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_Wanniski)
1975 Claude Rex Nowell
(1944-2008), founded his Church of Summum in Utah and changed his name
to Summum Bonum Amen Ra following an alleged visit by extraterrestrial
beings.
(WSJ, 11/13/08,
p.A14)(www.summum.us/about/corkybio.shtml)
c1975 Rev. Don Wildmon of Tupelo,
Miss., founded the National Federation for Decency. It was later
renamed the American Family Association.
(WSJ, 8/14/01, p.A1)
1975 L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986),
founder of Scientology, secretly purchased a historic hotel in
Clearwater, Florida, and began to establish the town as home for his
Church of Scientology.
(SFC, 9/24/07, p.A6)
1975 Gary Dahl, a California
advertising man, dreamed up the pet rock fad.
(SFC, 7/12/00, p.A16)
1975 The Elderhostel program was
begun on a few college campuses as a learning experience for older
adults. By 1998 some 2,300 institutions participated in the program.
(SFEC, 3/22/98, p.T6)
1975 It was a good year for
Burgundy wines made from the Pinot Noir grapes of Oregon. In 1979 David
Lett’s vintage from this year ranked among the top 10 at a prestigious
Paris tasting. Lett (d.2008 at 69) had introduced Pinot Noir to Oregon
in 1965.
(SFC, 8/28/96, zz-1 p.4)(SSFC, 10/12/08, p.B6)
1975 General Foods was awarded US
Patent No. 3,870,803 for its Instant Stuffing Mix (Stove Top Stuffing).
Ruth M. Siems (1931-2005) was listed first among the inventors.
(SFC, 11/25/05, p.B4)
1975 Proctor & Gambol
introduced the dehydrated potato flakes known as Pringles. Chip makers
filed suit on the chip name and Pringles were redefined as potato
crisps.
(WSJ, 9/5/96, p.A4)
1975 W. Donald Fletcher
(1908-1996) founded the Liaison Citizen Program in Los Angeles to
encourage citizen involvement in government.
(SFC, 8/29/96, p.C4)
1975 The Millard Fillmore Society
was founded "for the enhancement of the recognition of Millard Fillmore
, last of the Whigs." The society held Fillmore to have been the
dullest and unluckiest president, whose only accomplishment was to have
kept Texas from annexing New Mexico.
(SFC, 2/21/97, p.A25)
1975 Robert H. Clampitt
(1927-1996) founded Children’s Express. It was a non-profit news
service that trained children 8-18 to be reporters and editors.
(SFC, 8/10/96, p.A20)
1975 The Women's Ordination
Conference was founded to push for the ordination of women in the Roman
Catholic Church. In 1997 Sheila Dierks published "Women Eucharist," a
study of the underground movement for women's ordination.
(SFEC, 4/11/99, p.A12)
1975 The first UN Women’s
Conference was held in Mexico City.
(SFEC, 6/11/00, p.A27)
1975 Gov. Brendan Byrne of New
Jersey appointed Constance Woodruff (1922-1996) as the first chairwoman
of the Advisory Commission on the Status of Women.
(SFC, 10/24/96, p.C7)
1975 The first Human Powered
Vehicle Speed Competition was held in Mercury, Nevada.
(SFC, 8/18/96, p.A5)
1975 Frank Robinson joined the
Cleveland Indians as the 1st African American manager in major league
baseball.
(SFC, 4/11/03, p.E15)
1975 Pres. Gerald Ford appointed
Daniel Patrick Moynihan as ambassador to the United Nations.
(SFC, 11/7/98, p.A2)
1975 The US interagency Committee
on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) was established by Pres. Gerald Ford to
review the national security implications of foreign investments of US
companies or operations.
(http://www.wileyrein.com/publication.cfm?publication_id=13209)(Econ,
7/12/08, p.36)
1975 The US began minting a
special 1976 Bicentennial quarter with a colonial drummer on the
reverse side of the G. Washington face.
(SFC, 7/12/96, p.A11)
1975 A safety and performance
rating system for tires, devised by F. Cecil Brenner (d.1998 at 79) was
adopted as a national standard.
(SFC, 3/24/98, p.B2)
1975 The Bolinas, Ca., based
Coastal Post began publishing news of Muir Beach, Stinson Beach,
Bolinas, Olema and Dog Town.
(SFC, 6/30/99, p.C2)
1975 The 62-story United
California Bank Tower in downtown LA was built by C.L. Peck Contractor.
(SFC, 12/26/98, p.A23)
1975 Gary Dahl, a California
advertising man, dreamed up the pet rock fad.
(SFC, 7/12/00, p.A16)
1975 Robert Hoffmann (d.1997 at
74), human potential movement pioneer, established the Quadrinity
Center in San Anselmo, Ca., to promote his holistic model of the human
being that included physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual
elements.
(SFC, 8/21/97, p.C4)
1975 California Assemblyman Willie
Brown won the narrow approval of a bill that decriminalized various sex
acts, including sodomy, by consenting adults.
(SFC, 12/27/99, p.A10)
1975 The California Medical Injury
Compensation Reform act imposed limits on attorney fees and capped jury
awards in medical malpractice suits for “noneconomic” damages to
$250,000.
(SFC, 4/25/01, p.A7)(WSJ, 7/13/04, p.D4)
1975 The short-handled hoe ("el
cortito") was banished from California’s farm fields due to its
debilitating effect on worker’s health.
(SFEM, 4/13/97, p.28)
1975 Cameron Hooker kidnapped a
20-year-old woman and kept her in his Red Bluff, Ca., home as a sex
slave for 7 years. The case was dubbed "The Girl in the Box" when it
was learned that hooker kept her in a box for 3 years under a bed he
shared with his wife. Hooker was prosecuted and found guilty in 1985.
(SSFC, 2/8/04, p.A28)
1975 The Wilder Ranch, formerly
Rancho Refugio, was sold to California state and became Wilder Ranch
State Park. It and the adjacent Gray Whale ranch north of Santa Cruz,
totaled 8,300 acres of coastal beach and country forest.
(Ind, 7/11/00,10A)
1975 Film director Francis Ford
Coppola purchased part of the Inglenook Winery in Napa County, Ca. He
purchased the rest in 1995.
(SFC, 3/30/01, Wba p.8)
1975 The New Almaden mine south of
San Jose, Ca., was closed. It had mined mercury for over 120 years. In
the 1980s it was placed on the state’s list of Superfund cleanup sites.
(SSFC, 12/22/02, p.A26)
1975 The Marine Mammal Center in
Sausalito, Ca., began treating marine mammals rescued along the
California coast.
(SFC, 11/11/05, p.B3)
1975 Dutch elm disease was first
found to have spread to California.
(SFC, 7/31/98, p.A21)
1975 In Pennsylvania a company
called McAdoo Associates began operating to extract and recycle metals
from chemical wastes. The company accepted hundred of thousands of
gallons of paint sludge, waste oils, used solvents, PCBs, cyanide,
pesticides and many other known or suspected carcinogens. In 1979, when
the EPA stepped in, McAdoo Associates had stockpiled enough chemicals
to nearly fill an Olympic-size swimming pool. The EPA placed it on the
Superfund list and began a cleanup. The US Agency for Toxic Substances
and Disease Registry began looking into polycythemia vera (PCV) in
August 2006 after 97 cases in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties
were reported to the state cancer registry between 2001 and 2005.
(AP, 10/23/07)
1975 American Smelting &
Refining changed its name to Asarco. The company mines about 12% of the
world’s copper, 10% of its silver and 21% of its lead.
(WSJ, 5/28/96, p.
R-46)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASARCO)
1975 Gary Kildall, working as a
consultant to Intel, was asked to design and develop a language called
PL/M for the 8080 chip. He wrote a primitive operating system for it
which he called CP/M.
(http://museum.sysun.com/museum/cpmhist.html)
1975 Paul Allen and Bill Gates
began working on the first computer language for personal computers.
Allen became a minority owner with a 35% stake.
(WSJ, 4/4/00, p.A16)(WSJ, 1/22/04, p.A1)
1975 The MITS Altair 8800 was
introduced by Microinstrumentation & Telemetry Systems of
Albuquerque, N.M. It was sold by mail-order and Bill Gates and Paul
Allen developed the first software program for it.
(WSJ, 11/16/98, p.R10)
1975 PARC engineers demonstrated
an improved user interface using icons and the 1st use of pop-up menus.
(SFC, 10/25/00, p.D1)
1975 Mattel introduced its
"Growing up Skipper" doll. When her arms were twisted she would grow
taller and her breasts would get larger.
(SFC,1/22/97, Z1 p.7)
1975 Dan Storper founded Putumayo
to sell clothing made in South America. In 1997 he sold the clothing
stores to concentrate on world music sales.
(WSJ, 12/30/04, p.D8)
1975 Dutch elm disease was first
found to have spread to California.
(SFC, 7/31/98, p.A21)
1975 Lyme disease was first
recognized in Lyme, Conn.
(SFEC, 8/15/99, Z1 p.8)
1975 Rocky Mountain Fever was
reported to have been transmitted by an accidental needle stick.
(SFC, 4/13/98, p.A6)
1975 Rohypnol was first marketed
as a sleeping pill. It was 10 times more powerful than Valium.
(SFC, 6/21/96, p.A10)
1975 Physicist Martin L. Perl and
associates discovered a new lepton they called the tau particle and
assumed the existence of the tau neutrino. The tau neutrino was
detected in 2000.
(SFC, 7/21/00, p.B2)
1975 The U of M Institute for
Social Research (ISR) began a "Monitoring the Future" program. It was
an annual survey of lifestyles, attitudes and substance abuse among
teens and young adults.
(MT, Fall. ‘97, p.4)
1975 The Jonah gas field was
discovered in western Wyoming.
(Econ, 8/20/05, p.27)
1975 A new medium priced home in
the US was priced at $39,300.
(WSJ, 6/14/96, p.B10)
1975 The American crocodile was
listed as an endangered species when only 20 breeding females were
counted in Florida. The crocodile is distinguished from the alligator
by its more tapered snout.
(PacDisc. Spring/’96, p.37)
1975 In Texas the fossils of a
huge prehistoric flying reptile with a wingspan of 50 ft. were found.
(TMC, 1994, p.1975)
1975 In Albania Enver Hoxha
embarked on a massive bunker building program.
(WSJ, 5/10/99, p.A1)
1975 The Algerian film "Chronicle
of the Years of Embers" was produced.
(SFC, 9/6/99, p.B5)
1975 Angola proclaimed
independence from Portugal. Civil war began following the 14-year fight
for independence. The Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA)
proclaimed unilateral independence. Jonas Savimbi led UNITA and the
FLNA was backed by Zaire.
(SFC, 6/20/96, p.A10)(SFC, 12/26/98, p.A12)(SFC,
4/19/00, p.A10)
1975 Das Brucknerhaus, a new
concert hall in Linz, Austria, was dedicated to Anton Bruckner, who had
played regularly on the organ of the Old Cathedral.
(StuAus, April '95, p.76)
1975 The Bakkonditzioner
air-conditioning manufacturer opened in Baku, Azerbaijan, USSR.
(WSJ, 8/30/96, p.A4)
1975 The Bahrain national assembly
was dissolved.
(SFC, 12/25/00, p.B2)
1975 Dahomey was renamed as Benin.
From 1960-1975 Benin was called the Republic of Dahomey.
(http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/Cambridge/entries/009/Benin-republic.html)
1975 In Brazil the military
government launched a "pro-alcohol" program as a source of fuel in
response to the first oil crisis which hit in 1973. The country at the
time was importing 80% of its fuel and suffered in its balance of
payments.
(WSJ, 6/27/97, p.A9A)
1975 The “Black Frost” harmed half
of Brazil’s coffee trees. In response to the frost groves were moved
north from Parana state.
(WSJ, 5/26/06, p.C5)
1975 An oil tanker from Iraq
dumped nearly 8 million gallons of crude oil into Guanabara Bay and
washed onto Rio’s beaches, which closed for 3 weeks.
(SFC, 7/19/00, p.A12)
1975 Abdelkader Wadal Kamougue, a
southern Chad leader, led a coup.
(SFC, 7/12/96, p.A1)
1975 The Torres del Paine National
park opened in the Patagonia region of southern Chile.
(SSFC, 12/17/00, p.T6)
1975 In China Mou Qizhong
co-authored the book "Whither China" that criticized the Cultural
Revolution and earned him a four-year prison term.
(WSJ, 8/28/96, p.A1,4)
1975 Aides of Chairman Mao ordered
pieces of white porcelain dappled with pink plum and peach blossoms to
gain his favor. They were made at the Ceramics Industry Research
Institute in southern Jiangxi province. In 1986 there was an auction in
Beijing that drew about $1 million for 87 of the pieces.
(SFEC, 12/15/96, p.C4)
1975 In China Yu Qiuli was
appointed Vice-Minister of Metallurgy.
(http://tinyurl.com/2kym9o)
1975 Chen Xilian (d.1999 at age
84) was named vice-premier of China. He resigned after 5 years to make
way for economic reformers favored by Deng Xiaoping.
(SFC, 6/12/99, p.A23)
1975 Jiang Hua (d.1999 at 93) was
appointed president of China’s Supreme People's Court.
(SFC, 12/25/99, p.B4)
1975 In Corsica the separatist
militant movement started. It initially kept its attacks limited to
French government buildings.
(SFC, 2/10/98, p.A10)
1975 In Cuba the first national
congress of the Communist Party of Cuba elected Raul Castro as the 2nd
in command.
(SFC, 10/12/97, p.)
1975 In Egypt Lake Nasser behind
the Aswan High Dam was filled.
(NG, May 1985, p.602)
1975 In England V.S. Pritchett
(1900-1997), writer, was knighted for his services to literature. He
was noted for his brilliant portraits of people.
(SFC, 3/22/97, p.A21)
1975 Britain’s Sex Discrimination
Act was passed. The Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom was
designed to protect men, women and transgendered people from
discrimination on the grounds of gender. The Act is mainly in relation
to employment, training, education, the provision of goods and services
and in the disposal of premises.
(AP,
2/6/07)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_Discrimination_Act_1975)
1975 The EU signed another trade
deal in Lome, Togo, to keep markets open to former European colonies in
Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific Islands (ACP).
(Econ, 5/28/05, p.78)
1975 French law began to permit
abortions.
(SFC, 8/25/97, p.A8)
1975 French retailer Carrefour
began operating in Brazil.
(Econ, 10/10/09, p.68)
1975 In Germany Richard Weize of
Hamburg founded Bear Family Records, dedicated to the preservation of
American country music.
(WSJ, 9/11/98, p.W3)
1975 In Germany with the fall of
Saigon about 10,000 Vietnamese arrived in West Germany.
(SFEC, 9/15/96, p.A14)
1975 In France Ricard merged with
Pernod, another French maker of the pastis aperitif.
(Econ, 11/12/05, p.66)
1975 In Greece the November 17
terrorist group began a series of killings and bombings.
(SFC, 1/14/98, p.C3)(www.emergency.com/nov17rpt.htm)
1975 Hong Kong established China’s
first reserve to protect migrating shore birds at Mai Poi.
(Econ, 12/20/08, p.67)
1975 Indira Gandhi started fitting
the law to her needs in India.
(TMC, 1994, p.1975)
1975 In 2005 Christopher Andrew
and Vasili Mitokhin, a former KGB officer, authored “The Mitokhin
Archive II: The KGB and the World," and said a high-ranking KGB officer
used agents to persuade PM Indira Gandhi to declare a state of
emergency in India in 1975. The officer was identified as Leonid
Shebarshin, who served in New Delhi in the mid-1970s.
(AP, 9/18/05)
1975 In eastern India mob killings
left 11 people in a Muslim village. It was part of a campaign to gain
political influence for tribal people in eastern India. In 2006
lawmaker Shibu Soren was indicted for his alleged role in the killings.
(AP, 12/7/06)
1975 Charles Sobhraj, aka "The
Serpent," was jailed in India for forgery, fraud and murder. He was
released in 1997 and admitted to killing young tourists.
(SFC, 3/11/97, p.B1)
1975 Mohan Lal Mittal, tired of
India’s semi-socialism, bought a tiny steel firm in Indonesia. His son,
Lakshmi (b.1950), soon led the operations there. In 2006 he created the
world’s largest steel firm with the acquisition of Luxembourg-based
Arcelor. In 2008 Tim Bouquet and Byron Ousey authored “cold Steel:
Britain’s Richest Man and the Multi-Billion-dollar Battle for a Global
Empire.
(Econ, 10/30/04, p.66)(Econ, 4/19/08, p.101)
1975 Smallpox was eradicated in
India and Bangladesh.
(SFC, 10/19/01, p.A17)
1975 In Iran future film director
Mohsen Makhmalbaf was imprisoned at 17 for protesting against the Shah.
He was spared execution due to his youth.
(SFC, 5/14/97, p.E6)
1975 Tony Ryan (1921-2007),
Irish-born aviation entrepreneur, set up Guinness Peat Aviation with
money from Air Lingus, bankers in London and some of his own cash. GPA
rented planes to airlines around the world. Its IPO in 1992 stumbled
and General Electric Co. picked up most of the company at a bargain
price.
(WSJ, 10/6/07, p.A17)
1975 Japan’s Shimano Corp.
conceived the systems engineering approach to component development in
bicycle part manufacturing.
(Hem, 8/96, p.33)
1975 Japan’s Sony Corp. launched a
home use ½ inch Betamax VCR.
(WSJ, 3/7/05, p.A8)
1975 Japan’s Subaru, a division of
Fuji Heavy Industries, rolled out its 1st 4-wheel-drive car in the US
market.
(WSJ, 9/16/05, p.W12)
1975 Civil war erupted in Beirut,
Lebanon.
(TMC, 1994, p.1975)
1975 Libya’s leader Muammar
Qaddafi published The Green Book. The 3-part book rejects modern
conceptions of liberal democracy and encourages the institution of a
form of direct democracy based on popular committees.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green_Book)
1975 Rufino Tamayo established a
five-room museum in Oaxaca, Mexico, devoted to pre-Hispanic Mexican art.
(Smith., 4/95, p.32)
1975 In New Zealand Matiu Rata
(d.1997 at 63) set up the Waitangi Tribunal to resolve Maori claims to
land lost to white settlement.
(SFC, 7/26/97,
p.A24)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitangi_Tribunal)
1975 In Northern Ireland the
practice of interning suspected extremists ended as it clearly fueled
support for terrorism.
(Econ, 10/6/07, p.70)
1975 Pakistan’s PM Zulfikar Ali
Bhuto created a political cell within the Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) through an executive order. The cell monitors Pakistani politics
and politicians.
(WSJ, 12/31/08, p.A6)
1975 Pakistan’s atomic development
program took off with the return of Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan (b.1935), a
Belgian trained metallurgist. China was reported to have supplied
highly enriched uranium and a nuclear bomb design. Khan was convicted
in absentia by the Netherlands in 1983 for stealing confidential
material, but the conviction was later overturned on a technicality.
Khan retired in 2001.
(SFC, 5/28/98, p.A9)(ST, 1/28/04, p.A9)
1975 Peru’s sugar output peaked at
1 million tons.
(Econ, 2/10/07, p.38)
1975 The Soviet film "The
Captivating Star of Happiness" featured the music of Isaac Schwartz
(1923-2009).
(AP, 12/28/09)
1975 Victor Astafyev (d.2001 at
77) won the State Prize of Russia for his novel "The Damned and the
Dead."
(SFC, 11/30/01, p.A27)
1975 In Russia Vladimir Putin
joined the Soviet KGB.
(WSJ, 2/23/05, p.A14)
1975 A Russian SL3 rocket body
began orbiting the Earth. It re-entered the atmosphere in 2001.
(SFC, 9/7/01, p.A12)
1975 Dr. Hans W. Kosterlitz
(1903-1996) led a team in Aberdeen, Scotland, that discovered the small
enkaphalin proteins, opiate-like substances. This led to the discovery
of the endorphins, larger opiate-like proteins in the brain.
(SFC, 11/9/96, p.A22)
1975 South Africa sent military
troops into Angola.
(NG, Oct. 1988, p. 583)
1975 Spain created the Cervantes
Prize, the Spanish speaking world’s highest literary prize.
(SFC, 11/28/08, p.E10)
1975 In Sri Lanka Velupillai
Prabhakaran, after being part and parcel of the Tamil movement, carried
out his first political murder. He assassinated Jaffna Mayor Alfred
Duraiappah at point blank range while the Mayor was about to enter the
Hindu temple at Ponnaalai.
(www.dailynews.lk/2009/05/19/fea02.asp)
1975 Sweden established one of the
world’s first national biobanks.
(Econ, 12/10/05, TQ p.28)
1975 Thailand issued a warrant for
the arrest of Charles Sobhraj on charges of drugging and killing six
women, all wearing bikinis, on a beach at Pattaya. Sobhraj is also
accused of killing more than 20 young Western backpackers across Asia,
usually by drugging their food or drink, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Sobhraj, serving 20 years in India, escaped from prison in the
mid-1980s, but was caught and returned to jail until 1997. In 2003
French national Sobhraj was arrested from a casino in Kathmandu on
charges that he traveled to the Himalayan nation on a fake passport 32
years ago. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison for
murdering an American backpacker in 1975.
(Reuters, 12/19/07)
1975 Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu
(b.1939) founded the "National Network of Youth and Children Orchestras
of Venezuela," which came to be called “El Sistema.” He believed that
introducing kids to classical music could heal the "spiritual poverty"
that perpetuates social and economic inequality. The school became a
network of schools and received UNESCO’s international music prize in
1995.
(Econ, 8/25/07,
p.37)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Antonio_Abreu)
1975 The film "The People's War,"
shot in North Vietnam by Robert Kramer (d.1999 at 60) in 1969, was
released in the US. Kramer's work also included the opposition war
films "Ice," "In the Country," and "The Edge."
(SFC, 11/12/99, p.D6)
1975 Upon re-unification Nguyen
Huu Tho (1910-1996) was appointed vice-president of Vietnam and served
to 1992.
(SFC, 12/27/96, p.A24)
1975 By the end of the
Vietnam war, Vietnamese SA-2 missile effectiveness had been reduced to
a kill-ratio of less than 2 percent. Elint (Electronic Intelligence)
collected information on and analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of
all forms of hostile electronic transmissions. Focusing on the "Fan
Song" radar system that acquired targets for and then guided the
dreaded SA-2 SAM, Elint was able to identify four key weakness that
pilots could use to defeat the missile.
(HNQ, 11/23/01)
1975 After Saigon fell some 65,000
South Vietnamese were killed as the North Vietnamese overran the south.
Thousands of boat people died fleeing the communist regime. An
estimated 250,000 South Vietnamese died in re-education camps.
(WSJ, 4/7/09, p.A13)
1975-1977 In Afghanistan Daoud Khan during this
period presented a new constitution. Women's rights were confirmed.
Daoud starts to oust suspected opponents from his government.
(www.languages.umd.edu/persian/afghanhistory.php)
1975-1977 During this period Indira Gandhi clamped
down on India’s free-wheeling democracy, locked up her fractious
opposition, censored the press and imposed police tyranny that included
forced sterilization and slum demolitions. Over 8 million Indians were
sterilized in a single year. The 22-month period is covered in a novel
by Rohinton Mistry titled "A Fine Balance." His 1991 novel "Such A Long
Journey" was set in the same period.
(WSJ, 4/29/96, p.A-20)(Econ, 5/24/08, p.107)
1975-1979 Pol Pot (1925-1998), whose real name is
Saloth Sar, led the Khmer Rouge and ruled Cambodia. In 1987 Joan D.
Criddle and Teeda Butt Mam authored "To Destroy You Is No Loss: The
Odyssey of a Cambodian Family." The work was recorded on cassette in
1992 and told the extraordinary story of a Cambodian family caught up
in the genocide under Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. An estimated 1.7
million people were killed under the Khmer Rouge. In 2000 Loung
Ung authored "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia
Remembers."
(WSJ, 6/7/96, p.A11)(AR, 9/4/99)(SFC, 9/8/99,
p.A15)(SFEC, 6/11/00, BR p.6)
1975-1979 During this period the Khmer Rouge of
Cambodia executed hundreds of thousands of Cambodians and condemned
more than a million to death by starvation and disease. Some 14,000
men, women and children entered Cambodia’s Tuol Sleng prison, but only
a dozen survived. In 1997 two of the administrators of the prison,
known as Duch and Chan, were living openly in territory controlled by
the government.
(WSJ, 4/17/95, p.A-12)(SFC, 8/5/97, p.A9)(Econ,
6/27/09, p.52)
1975-1980 A third of the Hmong people were killed
during this period after the US withdrew from Laos.
(SFC, 6/9/96, DB p.2)
1975-1981 Stanford Opotowsky (d.1997 at 73) served as
director of news coverage for ABC TV. He was the author of several
books that included: "TV: The Big Picture," "The Longs of Louisiana,"
"The Kennedy Government," and "Men Behind Bars."
(SFC, 10/3/97, p.B13)
1975-1983 David Saxon (1920-2005) served as president
of the Univ. of California. He left in 1983 to serve as chairman of MIT
Corp. and served there until 1990.
(SFC, 12/9/05, p.B5)
1975-1987 Daniel Boorstin, historian, ran the US
Library of Congress. "When we make our history into literature--with
the genius of a Shakespeare, a Parkman, a Joyce--we find refuge from
the discouragement of the vast ocean. Making our history into
literature becomes a way of confessing the limits of our knowledge, of
expressing our hope to find some meaning in experience and of playing
on the frontiers." His work includes the trilogy: "The Discoverers"
publ. in 1983, "The Creators," and "The Seekers" publ. in 1998. In the
last work he traced the movement of Western religious and philosophical
energy from the time of the Old Testament to Einstein.
(WSJ, 3/29/96, p.A-9)(WSJ, 9/30/98, p.A16)
1975-1987 Dr. Richard LeBlond Jr. (d.2000 at 76)
served as the president of the SF Ballet.
(SFC, 11/30/00, p.C22)
1975-1988 Some 350,000 Angolans died in the Civil
War. Cuba sent in 50,000 soldiers to back the MPLA and the USSR
contributed billions of dollars. South African troops and US guns and
money supported UNITA.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A11)
1975-1991 An estimated 17,000 Lebanese were reported
missing during the civil war. In 2000 a government commission ended a
7-month investigation and said the missing were probably all dead. The
civil war allowed an illicit drug trade to flourish in the Bekaa Valley.
(SFC, 9/29/98, p.A9)(SFC, 7/27/00, p.C16)
1975-1999 A 2005 Australian report prepared for the
UN said Indonesia killed up to 180,000 East Timorese through massacres,
torture and starvation during its 24-year occupation.
(AP, 1/19/06)
1975-2000 US aid to Egypt totaled some $52 billion
over this period.
(SFC, 12/29/00, p.B4)
1975-2003 Former US Army General Andrew Lolli
(1907-2006) ran Castagnola’s Restaurant at San Francisco’s Fisherman’s
Wharf.
(SSFC, 6/18/06, p.B3)
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