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 15:

Portugal grants independence to Angola.

Friday 17:

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

Sunday 19:

Double Jay began broadcasting in Sydney, Australia.

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.

Thursday 06:

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

Sunday 09:

Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins.

Saturday 22:

In Stockholm, Sweden, Teach-In wins the twentieth Eurovision Song Contest for the Netherlands singing "Ding-a-dong."

Tuesday 25:

Faisal of Saudi Arabia is shot and killed by a mentally ill nephew.

April 1975

Tuesday 08:

Vietnam War: After spending a week in South Vietnam, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Frederick Weyand gives a report to the U.S. Congress that South Vietnam will fall without additional military aid.

Sunday 13:

An attack by Phalangists on a Palestinian bus in Ain El Remmeneh, Lebanon marks the beginning of a 15 year civil war.

Thursday 17:

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

Tuesday 29:

Vietnam War: Operation Frequent Wind – The last U.S. citizens begin evacuation from Saigon prior to an expected North Vietnamese takeover. United States involvement in the war comes to an end.

Wednesday 30:

Communist forces gains control of Saigon. The Vietnam War formally ends with the unconditional surrender of South Vietnamese president Duong Van Minh.

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

Saturday 05:

Cape Verde gains its independence from Portugal.

Sunday 06:

The Comoros declare independence from France.

Wednesday 09:

The National Assembly of Senegal passes a law that will pave way for a (albeit highly restricted) multi-party system.

Tuesday 15:

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

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.

Tuesday 19:

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

Saturday 23:

Successful Communist coup in Laos

Thursday 28:

Missionary Armand Doll is imprisoned in Mozambique by Marxist extremists.

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

Monday 03:

The television breakfast show Good Morning America premieres with co-anchors David Hartman and Nancy Dussaulton.

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).

Saturday 22:

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

Saturday 29:

The name "Micro-soft" (for "microcomputer software") is used by Bill Gates in a letter to Paul Allen for the first time.

December 1975

Tuesday 02:

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

Sunday 07:

Indonesia invades East Timor.

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.