1975 - What happened in 1975 ?

January 1975

Sunday 05:

The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier Lake Illawarra, killing twelve people.

Wednesday 08:

Ella Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States who did not succeed her husband.

Friday 17:

Bob Dylan releases Blood on the Tracks, often considered one of his best albums.

Saturday 18:

The Jeffersons debuts on CBS.

Monday 20:

Michael Ovitz founds Creative Artists Agency.

February 1975

Sunday 09:

The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth.

Friday 21:

Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.

Monday 24:

Hard rock band Led Zeppelin release the classic double album Physical Graffiti.

Friday 28:

A major tube train crash at Moorgate station, London kills 43 people.

March 1975

Saturday 01:

Colour television transmissions begin in Australia.

Tuesday 04:

Charlie Chaplin is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of England.

Thursday 06:

Algiers Accord: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement over their border dispute.

Monday 10:

Vietnam War: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Me Thout, South Vietnam, on their way to capturing Saigon.

Wednesday 26:

The Biological Weapons Convention enters into force.

April 1975

Friday 04:

A United States Air Force C-5A Galaxy crashes near Saigon, South Vietnam shortly after takeoff, transporting orphans. 172 people are killed.

Thursday 17:

Cambodian Civil War ends: The Khmer Rouge captures the capital Phnom Penh and Cambodian government forces surrender.

Monday 21:

Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu flees Saigon, as Xuan Loc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.

Tuesday 22:

Barbara Walters signs a five-year $5 million contract with the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), becoming the highest paid television newsperson.

Thursday 24:

The Baader-Meinhof Gang blow up the West German embassy in Stockholm.

May 1975

Monday 12:

Mayagüez incident: The Cambodian navy seizes the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters.

Friday 16:

Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Wednesday 28:

Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, thus creating the Economic Community of West African States.

June 1975

Thursday 05:

The UK holds its first and only UK-wide referendum, on remaining in the EEC

Tuesday 24:

An Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 crashes at John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. 113 people die.

Wednesday 25:

Mozambique achieved independence.

Thursday 26:

Indira Gandhi establishes authoritarian rule in India.

July 1975

Sunday 06:

The Comoros declare independence from France.

Saturday 12:

São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence.

Tuesday 15:

1977 - Griffith N.S.W, Anti - Drug campainer Donald Mackay dissapers presumed murded.

Thursday 17:

History of East Timor: East Timor was annexed, and became the 27th province of Indonesia.

Thursday 31:

In Detroit, Michigan, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing.

August 1975

Saturday 02:

In New Orleans, Louisiana, the Superdome officially opens with an NFL football game between the New Orleans Saints and Houston Oilers.

Monday 04:

The Japanese Red Army takes more than 50 hostages at the AIA building housing several embassies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The hostages included the U.S. consul and the Swedish charge d'affaires. The gunmen win the release of five imprisoned comrades and fly with them to Libya.

Friday 15:

Miki Takeo makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by a sitting prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.

Tuesday 19:

The cricket test match between England and Australia is called off after the pitch is vandalised by supporters of George Davis.

Wednesday 20:

Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.

September 1975

Friday 05:

In Sacramento, California, a follower of incarcerated cult leader Charles Manson named Lynette Fromme attempts to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford, but is thwarted by a Secret Service agent.

Sunday 14:

The first American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, is canonized by Pope Paul VI.

Monday 15:

Pink Floyd releases the album Wish You Were Here in the US and UK.

Tuesday 16:

Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.

Tuesday 30:

The Hughes (later McDonnell-Douglas, now Boeing) AH-64 Apache makes its first flight.

October 1975

Wednesday 01:

Thrilla in Manila: Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in a boxing match in Manila, Phillipines.

Saturday 11:

Saturday Night Live debuts with George Carlin as the guest host.

Thursday 16:

The Balibo Five, a group of Australian television journalists based in the town of Balibo in the then Portuguese Timor (now East Timor), are killed by Indonesian troops.

Wednesday 22:

Gays in the military: US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, is given a general discharge after appearing in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline (printed in all uppercase) "I Am A Homosexual."

Thursday 30:

Prince Juan Carlos becomes King of Spain after dictator Francisco Franco concedes that he is too ill to govern.

November 1975

Thursday 06:

The Sex Pistols play their first concert at St. Martin's School of Art in London.

Monday 10:

United Nations Resolution 3379: United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution equating Zionism with racism (the resolution was repealed in December 1991).

Tuesday 11:

Australian constitutional crisis of 1975: Australian Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam and commissions Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister, and announces a general election to be held in early December.

Saturday 22:

Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of dictator Francisco Franco.

Friday 28:

As the World Turns and The Edge of Night, the final two American soap operas that had resisted going to pre-taped broadcasts, aired their last live episodes.

December 1975

Monday 01:

The long-running soap opera The Edge of Night switches networks to ABC after 19 years on CBS.

Tuesday 02:

The communist Pathet Lao seizes power in Laos, and establishes the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

Wednesday 10:

Andrei Sakharov wins the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize is accepted by his wife, Yelena Bonner

Friday 26:

Tupolev Tu-144 goes into service in Soviet Union

Monday 29:

A bomb explodes at New York City's LaGuardia Airport killing 11.