1974 - What happened in 1974 ?

January 1974

Wednesday 02:

Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum US speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.

Friday 04:

United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

Saturday 05:

An earthquake in Lima, Peru kills six, and damages 100s of houses.

Tuesday 15:

Happy Days premiers on ABC.

Saturday 19:

The UCLA men's basketball team sees its 88-game winning streak end at the hands of Notre Dame.

February 1974

Friday 01:

1974 - Kuala Lumpur declared a Federal Territory.

Wednesday 13:

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.

Monday 18:

KISS releases their self-titled debut album.

Wednesday 20:

Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick claims he began experiencing intense gnostic visions on this date.

Thursday 21:

The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal in carrying out a truce with Egypt.

March 1974

Friday 01:

Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Sunday 03:

Roman Catholic and Lutheran officials reach an agreement for eventual reconciliation into one communion, marking the first agreement between the two churches since the Reformation.

Tuesday 05:

Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdrew from the west bank of the Suez Canal.

Friday 08:

Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.

Monday 18:

Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.

April 1974

Wednesday 03:

The Super Outbreak occurs, with 148 tornadoes affecting 13 states and 1 Canadian province in 18 hours, the biggest tornado outbreak in recorded history. The death toll is 315, with nearly 5,500 injured.

Saturday 06:

In Brighton, United Kingdom, ABBA wins the nineteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden singing "Waterloo".

Monday 08:

At the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Hank Aaron breaks baseball great's Babe Ruth's record by hitting his 715th home run.

Tuesday 23:

A Pan American World Airways Boeing 707 crashes in Bali, Indonesia, killing 107.

Monday 29:

Watergate Scandal: President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings related to the scandal.

May 1974

Saturday 04:

An all-female Japanese team reaches the summit of Manaslu, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak.

Friday 17:

Thirty-three people are killed by terrorist bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland.

Saturday 18:

Completion of the Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction ever built at the time. It later collapses on August 8, 1991.

Monday 27:

Jacques Chirac becomes Prime Minister of France.

Friday 31:

Syria and Israel sign a disengagement agreement to resolve the Yom Kippur War

June 1974

Saturday 01:

Flixborough disaster: An explosion at a chemical plant in Flixborough, UK, kills 28 people.

Tuesday 04:

Baseball: The Cleveland Indians host "Ten Cent Beer Night", but have to forfeit the game to the Texas Rangers due to drunken and unruly fans.

Saturday 08:

An F4 tornado strikes the U.S. city of Emporia, Kansas, killing six.

Monday 24:

The UPC label is used for the first time to ring up purchases at a supermarket.

Wednesday 26:

The first retail product (a pack of chewing gum) was sold using a barcode reader.

July 1974

Saturday 06:

The radio program A Prairie Home Companion makes its first live broadcast.

Monday 15:

In Nicosia, Cyprus, Greek-sponsored nationalists launch a coup d'état, deposing President Makarios and installing Nikos Sampson as Cypriot president.

Saturday 20:

Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after Greek Cypriots' attempt at enosis. NATO's Council praises the United States and the United Kingdom for attempts to settle the dispute. Syria and Egypt put their militaries on alert.

Wednesday 24:

Watergate Scandal: The United States Supreme Court unanimously rule that President Richard Nixon did not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed White House tapes and they order him to surrender the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.

Tuesday 30:

Watergate Scandal: US President Richard M. Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings after being ordered to do so by the United States Supreme Court.

August 1974

Monday 05:

Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress places a $1 billion dollar limit on military aid to South Vietnam.

Thursday 08:

Watergate scandal: US President Richard Nixon announces his resignation (effective the next day, August 9).

Friday 09:

Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office, an action reportedly taken to prevent time from being wasted in impeachment proceedings in response to his role in the Watergate scandal. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, takes the oath of office and becomes the 38th president.

Thursday 15:

Yook Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea is killed amid an apparent assassination attempt upon President of the South Korea, Park Chung-hee, during the anniversarial ceremony of the Liberation day.

Friday 16:

The Ramones play their first ever show at the CBGB's.

September 1974

Sunday 08:

Evel Knievel's attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls, Idaho, fails after a parachute prematurely deploys on his "sky cycle."

Tuesday 10:

Guinea-Bissau gains independence from Portugal.

Wednesday 11:

The Stranglers are a British rock music group, was formed in Guildford.

Thursday 12:

Juventude Africana Amilcar Cabral is founded in Guinea-Bissau.

Sunday 15:

Air Vietnam flight 727 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board.

October 1974

Tuesday 01:

The Watergate trial begins

Saturday 05:

I Honestly Love You first reaches #1 on the Billboard charts, giving Olivia Newton-John her first top-selling single in the United States.

Friday 18:

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre opens in theaters.

Wednesday 30:

"The Rumble in the Jungle": Muhammad Ali knocks out George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire to regain the World Heavyweight Boxing championship.

November 1974

Friday 08:

In Salt Lake City, Utah, Carol DaRonch narrowly escapes abduction by serial killer Ted Bundy.

Wednesday 13:

PLO leader Yasser Arafat gives a landmark address to the United Nations General Assembly.

Wednesday 20:

The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. This suit later leads to the break up of AT&T and its Bell System.

Thursday 21:

1974 - George W. Bush is discharged from the US Air Force Reserve.

Saturday 30:

The skeleton of "Lucy", a 3.18 million years old female hominid, of the genus Australopithecus, was discovered in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia.

December 1974

Sunday 01:

A Boeing 727 carrying TWA Flight 514 crashes northwest of Dulles International Airport, killing all 92 people on-board.

Thursday 05:

The last new episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus is broadcast on the BBC.

Friday 13:

Malta becomes a republic

Sunday 22:

Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.

Wednesday 25:

Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Northern Territory Australia