Timeline 1975
Return to home
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 4, Pres. Ford signed
into law the US Indian Self-Determination Act. It began the transfer
of administration from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the tribal
governments.
(http://tinyurl.com/6rh5v3y)(Econ, 4/7/12, p.35)
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 6, George Price
(b.1922), American scientist, exhausted his generosity by slashing
his own throat with a pair of scissors. In 2010 Oren Harman authored
“The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins
of Kindness.”
(Econ, 5/22/10,
p.89)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_R._Price)
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 14, Donald Neilson
(1936-1911) kidnapped heiress Lesley Whittle (17) from her bedroom
in Highley, Shropshire. Her body was found on 7 March 1975, hanging
from a wire at the bottom of a drainage shaft following failed
attempts at ransom. Neilson received five life sentences in July
1976 for the murder of Whittle.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Neilson)
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 Jun 23, Former US Pres.
Richard Nixon met with grand jurors at a California Coast Guard
Station to testify under oath about the Watergate affair. The
transcript was made public on Nov 10, 2011.
(SFC, 11/11/11, p.A9)
1975 Jan 23, "Barney Miller"
premiered on ABC with James Gregory (d.2002 at 90) as Inspector
Luger based in a NYC police precinct. The series ended in 1982 after
172 episodes. Steve Landesberg (1945-2010) played the role of
Detective Sgt. Arthur P. Dietrich. 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)(SFC, 12/22/10, p.C5)
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 12, A passenger plane,
operated by Air Vietnam, crashed into Vietnamese territory after
being hit by a MANPAD, killing 26 passengers and crew.
(AP, 6/11/13)
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 “Faisal: Saudi Arabia’s
King for All Seasons.” In 2013 Alexei Vassiliev authored “King
Faisal of Saudi Arabia: Personality, Faith and Times.” (AP,
3/25/00)(Econ, 10/04/08, p.92)(Econ, 1/26/12, p.74)
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 Apr 15, Egypt’s Pres.
Anwar Sadat chose Hosni Mubarak to serve as vice president.
(SFC, 2/12/11,
p.A4)(www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=24129)
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 10, In El Salvador
leftist poet and novelist Roque Dalton (b.1937) was executed by a
group of commandos. In 2010 his relatives petitioned prosecutors to
file homicide charges against two ex-rebel commanders, who they
claim participated in the decision to kill the writer. The complaint
named former Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front leader
Joaquin Villalobos and Jorge Melendez, who serves in the current
government as head of the civil defense office. In 2012 a judge
closed the case ruling it's too late for a prosecution.
(AP,
5/15/10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roque_Dalton)(AP, 1/10/12)
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 13, Jonas Rimsa
(b.1903), Lithuania-born artist, died in Santa Monica.
(www.anykstenai.lt/asmenys/asm.php?id=573)
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. The Lepchas are the original inhabitants of Sikkim.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikkim)(SSFC,
2/27/05, p.F5)(AFP, 11/6/11)
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, The Golden Gate
Warriors won the NBA title in a 4-game sweep over the Washington
Bullets.
(SFC, 4/26/10,
p.A8)(www.nba.com/history/finals/19741975.html)
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 11, Australia’s Racial
Discrimination Act became law under Australia's multicultural policy
to protect minorities against intolerance. It is not enforced by
prison sentences or fines, but enables judges to make orders to
correct breaches.
(AP,
9/28/11)(www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2004C06314)
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. Aristides Pereira, a former guerrilla fighter against the
Portuguese colonial administration, became head of state following
independence. He ruled until 1991 when he lost the country's first
democratic elections.
(SFC, 8/5/9, p.A8)(AP, 7/5/00)(AP, 9/22/11)
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 7, Philippines’
President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 742 and
Letter of Instruction 290 creating Western and Central Mindanao
regions in Mindanao and establishing the Office of the Regional
Commissioner in both regions.
(http://www.armm.gov.ph/armm-history/)
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. Pinto da
Costa ruled Sao Tome with an iron fist for 15 years after
independence.
(AP, 7/18/03)(AFP, 9/3/11)
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, Samuel Bronfman
(21), the eldest son of Seagram distillery owner, Edgar Bronfman,
was kidnapped in suburban New York and held for ransom for over a
week. A $2.3 million ransom was paid. Samuel was rescued in a raid
on a Brooklyn apartment. a former limousine operator and former
fireman were later convicted of extortion and spent several years in
prison.
(SSFC, 4/10/11, p.C8)
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 9, The TV sitcom
“Welcome Back, Kotter” featured Ron Palillo (1949-2012) as student
Arnold Horshack and Gabe Kaplan as teacher Gabe Kotter. The series
propelled John Travolta to stardom and continued to 1979.
(SFC, 8/15/12,
p.C5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Back,_Kotter)
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 8, Chiura Obata
(b.1885), Japanese American artist, died in Berkeley, Ca. He was a
faculty member in the Art Department at the University of California
at Berkeley from 1932 to 1953, interrupted by World War II, when he
spent over a year in internment camps.
(SFC, 11/12/08, p.E1)(http://tinyurl.com/yzykwlg)
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 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. In 2011 Graham was sentenced to serve life in
prison.
(SFC, 2/7/04, p.A3)(Reuters,
6/26/07)(www.dickshovel.com/time.html#1976)(SFC, 1/25/11, p.A6)
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, 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
(1929-2012) published his novel "Ecotopia." It was based on strict
bioregional and green city principles set in the US Pacific
Northwest.
(PacDis, Spring/'94, p. 30)(SFC, 4/30/12, p.C3)
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 Stephen H. Schneider
(d.2010 at 65), Stanford climate scientist, founded the journal
Climactic Change.
(SFC, 7/20/10, p.C3)
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 earned income tax
credit (EITC) began as a means of encouraging the poor into the
labor force.
(Econ, 11/10/12, p.24)
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 Alaska’s Supreme Court
ruled that what a person does in his home is protected under a
strong privacy provision in the state’s Constitution. Justices
concluded that cultivating small amounts of cannabis was harmless.
Marijuana remained illegal under federal law.
(SFC, 5/24/10, p.A1)
1975 John Embry (d.2010 at 83)
founded Drummer, a gay leather lifestyle magazine, and ran it until
1986. In 1986 Tony DeBlase and partner Dr. Andrew Charles moved from
Chicago to San Francisco and purchased the Drummer family of
magazines from Alternate Publishing.
(SFC, 11/16/10,
p.C4)(www.leatherarchives.org/exhibits/deblase/drummer/drum.htm)
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 The Hospice of Marin was
founded to care for dying patients. It was the first hospice in
California. Connecticut founded the first hospice in the US in 1974.
(SFC, 8/2/10, p.E1)
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 California enacted a
strict fire-safety law requiring that furniture withstand 12 seconds
of flame without catching fire. Manufacturers used large amounts of
polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) to comply. In 2012
researchers said PBDEs appear to delay the neurological development
of children of children. In 2013 state officials moved change
Technical Bulletin 117 easing the requirements on flame
retardants.
(SFC, 11/15/12, p.A16)(SFC, 2/9/13, p.A1)
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 Mrs. Roth, daughter of
Capt. William Matson, gave her 654-acre Filoli estate in Woodside,
Ca., to the National Trust for Historic Preservation along with $2.5
million. This included the Filoli orchard, established in 1919 by
William Bowers Bourn II. Capt. Matson was the founder of the Matson
Steamship Navigation Lines.
(Ind, 12/26/98, p.5A)(SSFC, 9/26/10, p.E2)
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 Brazilian soccer star Pele
(b.1940) signed a $4.7 million contract with the New York Cosmos.
Pele left the Cosmos in 1977 and 8 years later the team disbanded.
(Econ, 2/16/13, p.32)
1975 New York’s Gov. Carey
convinced the teachers’ union to invest a significant amount of its
pension funds in state bail-out bonds. In 2010 Seymour Lachman later
authored “The Man Who Saved New York: Hugh Carey and the Great
Fiscal Crisis of 1975.”
(Econ, 2/26/11, p.32)
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 Dr. Henry Edward Roberts
(1941-2010), American engineer and medical doctor, developed and
introduced the MITS Altair 8800. His Micro Instrumentation &
Telemetry Systems of Albuquerque, N.M., sold the build-it-yourself
kit by mail-order. Bill Gates and Paul Allen developed the first
software program for it.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Roberts_%28computers%29)(WSJ,
11/16/98, p.R10)(SFC, 4/2/10, p.C7)
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 The Vanguard Mutual Fund
was founded after research showed few mutual funds performed well
enough to justify their fees. Vanguard became the first company to
sell index funds.
(Economist, 10/6/12, p.86)
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 China’s First Vice Premier
Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) ordered the army to crackdown on a Muslim
village in Yunnan province. This resulted in some 1,600 deaths
including 300 children.
(Econ, 10/22/11, p.104)
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 In Honduras Lopez Arellano
was ousted by the armed forces after dissident officers accused him
of receiving a $2.5 million bribe they said US banana company United
Brands offered to reduce a banana export tax.
(AP, 5/17/10)
1975 Hong Kong established
China’s first reserve to protect migrating shore birds at Mai Poi.
(Econ, 12/20/08, p.67)
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 Indira Gandhi started
fitting the law to her needs in India.
(TMC, 1994, p.1975)
1975 India banned debt bondage
with a stipulated fine of 2000 rupees ($37), but the law was rarely
prosecuted.
(Econ, 11/3/12, p.42)
1975 India launched its
Integrated Childhood Development Service (ICDS), an early childhood
development scheme.
(Econ, 9/25/10, p.36)
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 Imam Moussa al-Sadr
founded Amal, the first major militia and political force for
Lebanon's Shiites. They had historically been under the thumb of
Christians and Sunnis.
(AP, 3/2/11)
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 Saudi Arabia began
nationalizing foreign oil assets with full compensation.
(WSJ, 10/4/01, p.A1)
1975 Jubail was designated as a
site for a new industrial city by the Saudi government, and has seen
rapid expansion and industrialization since.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubail)
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 In South Africa the
residential building Ponte City opened in Johannesburg’s inner-city
district of Hillbrow.
(Econ, 1/12/13, p.44)
1975 Breyten Breytenbach
(b.1939), Afrikaner writer, was charged with sabotage during a
clandestine visit. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison but was
released in 1982 with the intervention of Francois Mitterand.
(WSJ, 10/4/99, p.A40)
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. He regarded
artists as superfluous saying “to keep you is no gain, to kill you
is no loss.” 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)(Econ, 4/6/13, p.96)
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)
1975-1979 During this period the Khmer Rouge of
Cambodia about 90,000 of some 250,000 Cham people died as the
government tried to exterminate both the tribe and Islam. Only 21 of
113 imams survived.
(Econ, 10/2/10, p.46)
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)
Go to 1976