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.

Saturday 05:

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

Tuesday 15:

Happy Days premiers on ABC.

Thursday 17:

Joni Mitchell releases Court and Spark, arguably her most mainstream album.

Saturday 19:

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

February 1974

Monday 04:

The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California.

Friday 08:

Military coup in Upper Volta.

Wednesday 20:

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

Saturday 23:

The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.

Wednesday 27:

People magazine is published for the first time.

March 1974

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.

Wednesday 20:

1974 – A failed kidnap attempt is made on Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.

Friday 29:

NASA's Mariner 10 becomes the first spaceprobe to fly by Mercury. It was launched on November 3, 1973.

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.

Thursday 18:

Italian prosecutor Mario Sossi is kidnapped by the Red Brigades.

Monday 29:

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

May 1974

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.

Friday 24:

After a nine-year run, the Dean Martin Show airs for the last time.

Monday 27:

Jacques Chirac becomes Prime Minister of France.

Tuesday 28:

Northern Ireland's power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapses following a general strike by loyalists.

June 1974

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.

Thursday 06:

A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy.

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.

Thursday 27:

U.S president Richard Nixon visits the U.S.S.R.

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

Saturday 02:

78 die as the Time Go-Go Club in Seoul, South Korea burns down. Six of the victims jumped to their deaths from the seventh floor after club official barred the doors after the fire started.

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.

December 1974

Thursday 05:

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

Friday 13:

Malta becomes a republic

Tuesday 24:

Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia.

Wednesday 25:

Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Northern Territory Australia

Saturday 28:

Senegalese marxist group Reenu-Rew founds the political movement And-Jëf at a clandestine congress.