date: April 5

text: April 5 – In Ceylon, a group calling themselves the People's Liberation Front begins a rebellion against the Bandaranaike government.


date: April 26

section: Conflict & Security

text: April 26 – The government of Turkey declares a state of siege in 11 provinces, including Ankara, in response to violent demonstrations.

source_section: Events › April


date: May 6

text: May 6 – The government of Ceylon begins a major offensive against the People's Liberation Front.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 18

text: May 18 – The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup against the Chicago Black Hawks. The Canadiens became only the second team in NHL history to win the Cup in Game 7 on the road, and did so after the home team had won each of the previous six games in the series. This also marked Jean Béliveau's last NHL game.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Vietnam War: The New York Times begins to publish the Pentagon Papers.

source_section: Events › June


date: July 10

text: July 10–11 – Coup attempt in Morocco: 1,400 cadets take over the king's palace for three hours and kill 28 people; 158 rebels die when the king's troops storm the palace (ten high-ranking officers are later executed for involvement).

source_section: Events › July


date: July 13

text: July 13 – Reggie Jackson's long home run, which hits a transformer on the roof of Tiger Stadium, helps the American League defeat the National League 6–4 in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Detroit.


date: September 1

text: September 1– Operation Sourisak Montry VIII opens when forces of the Royal Thai Army recapture several positions in the territory of Laos on the south bank of the Mekong in response to an encroaching Chinese presence to the north.

source_section: Events › September


date: September 9

text: September 9–13 – Attica Prison riot: A revolt breaks out at the maximum-security prison in Attica, New York. In the end, state police and the United States National Guard storm the facility; 42 are killed, 10 of them hostages.


date: October 29

text: October 29 – Vietnam War – Vietnamization: The total number of American troops still in Vietnam drops to a record low of 196,700 (the lowest since January 1966).

source_section: Events › October


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Cambodian Civil War: In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge forces attack Phnom Penh and its airport, killing 44, wounding at least 30 and damaging 9 airplanes.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Vietnam War – Vietnamization: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon sets February 1, 1972, as the deadline for the removal of another 45,000 American troops from Vietnam.


date: November 28

text: November 28 – The 59th Grey Cup Game sees the Calgary Stampeders beat the Toronto Argonauts 14–11.


date: November 30

text: November 30 – Iranian forces occupy the Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa (joint occupation by agreement with Sharjah) and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs (taken by force from Ras Al Khaimah).


date: December 3

text: December 3 – The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 begins with Operation Chengiz Khan as Pakistan launches preemptive attacks on nine Indian airbases. The next day India launches a massive invasion of East Pakistan.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 4

text: December 4 – The McGurk's Bar bombing by the Ulster Volunteer Force in Belfast kills 15.


date: December 7

text: December 7 – Battle of Sylhet rages between the Pakistani military and the Indian Army.


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Victory Day of Bangladesh: The Pakistan Army in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) surrenders to the joint forces of India and the Bengali nationalist separatists, ending the Bangladesh Liberation War.


date: December 25

text: December 25 – In the longest American football game in National Football League history, the Miami Dolphins beat the Kansas City Chiefs 27–24 after 82 minutes, 40 seconds of playing time. Garo Yepremian kicked the winning 37-yard field goal after 7:40 of the second overtime period.


date: March 2

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: March 2 – All-Pakistan Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman launched the non-cooperation movement in East Pakistan.

source_section: Events › March


date: March 25

text: March 25 – The North East Mall opens in Hurst, Texas


date: May 5

text: May 5 – FedEx, the logistics and delivery service, founded in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States.


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Norway begins oil production in the North Sea.


date: June 18

text: June 18 – Southwest Airlines, a low-cost carrier, begins its first flights between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.


date: August 16

text: August 16 – Hastings Banda, President of Malawi, becomes the first black president to visit South Africa.

source_section: Events › August


date: September 27

text: September 27–October 11 – Japanese Emperor Hirohito travels abroad.


date: December 8

text: December 8 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the 7th Fleet to move towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.


date: December 30

text: December 30 – The first McDonald's in Australia opens in Yagoona, Sydney.


date: February 7

section: Religion & Belief

text: February 7 – Władysław Gomułka is expelled from the Central Council of the Polish Communist Party.

source_section: Events › February


date: November 14

text: November 14 – Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria is enthroned.


date: February 4

section: Economy & Finance

text: February 4 – The Nasdaq stock exchange is founded in New York City.


text: February 4 – In Britain, Rolls-Royce goes bankrupt and is nationalised.


date: February 8

text: February 8 – A new stock market index called the Nasdaq Composite debuts in the United States.


date: February 15

text: February 15 – Decimal Day: The United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency (see also decimalisation).


date: March 30

text: March 30 – Starbucks coffee shop is founded in the U.S. state of Washington.


text: May 5 – The U.S. dollar floods the European currency markets and especially threatens the Deutsche Mark; the central banks of Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland stop the currency trading.


date: July 13

text: July 13 – The Yugoslavian government begins allowing foreign companies to take their profits from the country.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system. He also imposes a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents.


date: December 4

text: December 4 – The Montreux Casino burns down during a Frank Zappa concert (the event is memorialized in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water"). The casino is rebuilt in 1975.


date: December 18

text: December 18 – The U.S. dollar is devalued for the second time in history.


date: January 15

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: January 15 – The Aswan High Dam officially opens in Egypt.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 25

text: January 25 – Intelsat IV (F2) is launched; it enters commercial service over the Atlantic Ocean March 26.


date: February 20

text: February 20 – The U.S. Emergency Broadcast System sends an erroneous warning across the nation's radio and television stations, meant to be a standard weekly test conducted by NORAD in Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. Some stations cease broadcasting until the message is rescinded, as required by federal rules, while most ignore it.


date: March 7

text: March 7 – The British postal workers' strike, led by UPW General Secretary Tom Jackson, ends after 47 days.


text: March 7 – Die Sendung mit der Maus airs its first episode on Das Erste.


date: April 20

text: April 20 – National Public Radio (NPR) airs its first broadcast.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – Amtrak begins intercity rail passenger service in the United States.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Racing drivers Gijs van Lennep of the Netherlands and Helmut Marko of Austria win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Martini Racing Porsche 917K.


date: July 4

text: July 4 – The first plane lands at Seychelles International Airport in Victoria, Seychelles (Mahe).


date: July 10

text: July 10 – Gloria Steinem makes her Address to the Women of America.


date: July 19

text: July 19 – The South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City tops out at 1,362 ft m, making it the second-tallest building in the world after the North Tower that had topped out in December 1970.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 enters service with American Airlines.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Mr. Tickle, the first book in the Mr. Men series is first published, in the U.K.


date: August 11

text: August 11 – Construction begins on the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.


text: August 15 – Jackie Stewart becomes Formula One World Drivers' Champion in the Tyrrell 003-Cosworth.


date: September 30

text: September 30 - U.S Steel Tower opens in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.


date: November 15

text: November 15 – Intel releases the world's first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.


date: November 20

text: November 20 – A bridge still under construction, called Elevado Engenheiro Freyssinet, falls over the Paulo de Frontin Avenue, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; 48 people are killed and several injured. Reconstructed, the bridge is a part of the Linha Vermelha elevate.


date: December 18

text: December 18 – The world's largest hydroelectric plant in Krasnoyarsk, Soviet Union, begins operations.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – Intelsat IV (F3) is launched; it enters commercial service over the Atlantic Ocean February 18, 1972.


text: Bulanti motorcar built in Australia.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


text: Ray Tomlinson sends the first ARPANET e-mail between host computers, in late 1971.


date: January 31

section: Science & Discovery

text: January 31 – Apollo program: Apollo 14 (carrying astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell) lifts off on the third successful lunar landing mission.


date: February 5

text: February 5 – Apollo 14 lands on the Moon.


date: February 9

text: February 9 – Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third human Moon landing.


date: February 10

text: February 10 – A total lunar eclipse is visible from Pacific, Americas, Europe and Africa, and is the 50th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 123.


date: February 25

text: February 25 – A partial solar eclipse is visible from Europe, Africa and Asia, and is the 18th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 149.


date: February 26

text: February 26 – Secretary General U Thant signs the United Nations proclamation of the March equinox (March 21) as Earth Day.


date: February 28

text: February 28 – Evel Knievel sets a world record and jumps 19 cars on a motorbike in Ontario, California.


date: May 19

text: May 19 – Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars.


date: June 6

text: June 6 – Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 (Vladislav Volkov, Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev) is launched.


date: June 30

text: June 30 – After a successful mission aboard Salyut 1, the world's first human-occupied space station, the crew of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft die after their air supply leaks out through a faulty valve.


date: June

text: June – Massachusetts passes its Chapter 766 laws enacting special education.


date: July 25

text: July 25–30 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli records two Debussy works in Munich for Deutsche Grammophon, his fifth recording.


date: July 26

text: July 26 – Apollo 15 (carrying astronauts David Scott, Alfred Worden and James Irwin) is launched.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – The United Kingdom opts out of the Space Race with the cancellation of its Black Arrow launch vehicle.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin become the first to ride in the Lunar Roving Vehicle, a day after landing on the Moon.


date: August 6

text: August 6 – A total lunar eclipse lasting 1 hour, 40 minutes, and 4 seconds is observed, visible from South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, and is the 38th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 128.


date: August 7

text: August 7 – Apollo 15 returns to Earth.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida.


date: October 14

text: October 14 – Greenpeace is founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.


date: October 28

text: October 28 – The United Kingdom becomes the sixth nation successfully to launch a satellite into orbit using its own launch vehicle, the Prospero (X-3) experimental communications satellite, using a Black Arrow carrier rocket from Woomera, South Australia.


date: November 6

text: November 6 – Operation Grommet: The U.S. tests a thermonuclear warhead at Amchitka Island in Alaska, code-named Project Cannikin. At around 5 megatons, it is the largest ever U.S. underground detonation.


date: November 13

text: November 13 – Mariner program: Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft to enter Mars orbit successfully.


date: December 2

text: December 2 – The Soviet Mars 3 lander reaches the surface of Mars, transmits for a few seconds and then goes silent. It is the first spacecraft to reach the planet.


date: February 9

section: Health & Medicine

text: February 9 – Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro league player to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.


date: February 21

text: February 21 – Between February 21 and 22, an outbreak of nineteen tornadoes rages across the Mississippi Delta in Mississippi and Louisiana, killing 123 people.


text: February 21 – The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.


date: February 27

text: February 27 – Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start to perform abortions.


date: March 6

text: March 6 – A fire in a mental hospital in Burghölzli, Switzerland kills 28 people.


date: June 17

text: June 17 – President Richard Nixon declares the U.S. war on drugs.


date: August 14

text: August 14 – The controversial Stanford prison experiment, led by Stanford University psychology professor Philip Zimbardo, began in Palo Alto, California


date: December 20

text: December 20 – Two groups of French doctors involved in humanitarian aid merge to form Médecins Sans Frontières.


text: Skittles was introduced by Wrigley in 1971.


date: January 1

section: Crime & Justice

text: January 1 – Fifth Street Women's Building Takeover: A coalition of over 100 feminists illegally occupy an abandoned city building in New York City. They establish a women's center, homeless shelter, food co-operative, and lesbian center before being raided by police 13 days later.


date: January 8

text: January 8 – Tupamaros kidnap Geoffrey Jackson, British ambassador to Uruguay, in Montevideo, keeping him captive until September.


date: January 9

text: January 9 – Uruguayan president Jorge Pacheco Areco demands emergency powers for 90 days due to kidnappings, and receives them the next day.


date: January 25

text: January 25 – In Los Angeles, Charles Manson and 3 female "Family" members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is arrested by the Pakistan army.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – A Los Angeles jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and female followers Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten.


date: April 19

text: April 19 – Charles Manson is sentenced to death in the United States; in 1972, the sentence for all California death-row inmates will be commuted to life imprisonment.


date: April 20

text: April 20 – Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education: The Supreme Court of the United States rules unanimously that busing of students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Israeli ambassador to Turkey Efraim Elrom is kidnapped; he is found killed in Istanbul May 25.


date: May 26

text: May 26 – Qantas agrees to pay $500,000 to bomb hoaxer/extortionist Mr. Brown (Peter Macari), who is later arrested.


date: May 27

text: May 27 – Six armed passengers hijack a Romanian passenger plane and force it to fly to Vienna.


text: May 27 – Christie's auctions a diamond known as Deepdene; it is later found to be artificially colored.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – Corpus Thursday: A student rally on the streets of Mexico City is roughly dispersed.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Assassin Jerome A. Johnson shoots Joe Colombo, boss of his eponymous crime family, in the head during an Italian-American rally, putting him in a coma.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – Abdel Khaliq Mahjub, Sudanese communist leader, is hanged.


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Britain expels 90 KGB and GRU officials; 15 are not allowed to return.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – During a severe storm over Washington State, a man calling himself Dan Cooper (later misreported as D. B. Cooper) parachutes from the Northwest Orient Airlines plane he had hijacked, with US$200,000 in ransom money, and is never seen again.


text: November 24 – A Brussels court sentences pretender Alexis Brimeyer to 18 months in jail for falsely using a noble title; Brimeyer has already fled to Greece.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – The controversial dystopian crime film A Clockwork Orange, directed by Stanley Kubrick is released in New York City.


date: December 26

text: December 26 – Former teacher Patrick Critton hijacks Air Canada Flight 932, diverting the flight from Canada to Cuba. He would remain a fugitive for almost 30 years.


date: January 2

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: January 2 – 1971 Ibrox disaster: During a crush, 66 people are killed and over 200 injured in Glasgow, Scotland.


date: March 8

text: March 8 – The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI breaks into the Media, Pennsylvania offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and removes all of its files.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – A landslide in Chungar, Peru crashes into Yanawayin Lake, killing 200.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – Aviogenex Flight 130 crashes at Rijeka Airport, Yugoslavia, killing 78 people, mostly British tourists.


date: June 6

text: June 6 – A midair collision between Hughes Airwest Flight 706 Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a U.S. Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom jet fighter near Duarte, California claims 50 lives.


text: June 10 – Amtrak had its first fatal accident when 11 people were killed and 163 injured in the derailment of the City of New Orleans train near Tonti, Illinois.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – Concert promoter Bill Graham closes the legendary Fillmore East, which first opened on 2nd Avenue in New York City on March 8, 1968.


date: July 30

text: July 30 – In Japan, an All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 collides with a Japanese fighter jet; 162 people are killed.


date: September 4

text: September 4 – A Boeing 727 (Alaska Airlines Flight 1866) crashes into the side of a mountain near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 people on board.


date: September 19

text: September 19 – Trams in Ballarat (Victoria, Australia) cease to run.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – The Clarkston explosion in Scotland, caused by a gas leak, kills 22 people.


date: November 9

text: November 9 – A Royal Air Force C-130 crashes into the Ligurian Sea near Leghorn, Italy, killing all 51 people on board.


date: November 22

text: November 22 – In Britain's worst mountaineering tragedy, the Cairngorm Plateau disaster, five children and one of their leaders are found dead from exposure in the Scottish mountains.


date: December 3

text: December 3–4 – The Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi (former ) sinks mysteriously near the Indian coast while laying mines.


date: December 24

text: December 24 – Juliane Koepcke survives a fall of 10,000 feet following disintegration of LANSA Flight 508.


date: December 25

text: December 25 – Daeyeonggak Hotel fire: A fire at a 22-story hotel in Seoul, South Korea, kills 158 people.


text: Crude oil production peaks in the continental United States at approximately 4.5 Moilbbl/d m3/d.


date: February 6

section: Climate & Environment

text: February 6 – The 4.6 Mb Tuscania earthquake shakes the Italian province of Viterbo with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), causing 24 deaths, 150 injuries and extreme damage.


date: February 9

text: February 9 – The 6.5–6.7 Sylmar earthquake hits the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing 64 and injuring 2,000.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – The southern part of Quebec, and especially Montreal, receives " (42 cm) of snow in what becomes known as the Century's Snowstorm (la tempête du siècle).


date: April 5

text: April 5 – Mount Etna erupts in Sicily.


date: May 12

text: May 12 – An earthquake in Turkey destroys most of the city of Burdur.


date: May 22

text: May 22 – An earthquake lasting 20 seconds destroys most of Bingöl, Turkey; more than 1,000 are killed and 10,000 are made homeless.


date: May 28

text: May 28 – Portugal resigns from UNESCO.


date: August 25

text: August 25 – Bangladesh and eastern Bengal are flooded; thousands flee the area.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, in the Indian state of Orissa, kills 10,000.


date: January 12

section: Culture & Society

text: January 12 – The landmark United States television sitcom All in the Family, starring Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, debuts on CBS.


date: January 18

text: January 18 – Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in wrestling ending a seven and two thirds years reign, the longest in the Championships history.


date: March 5

text: March 5 – In Belfast, a Led Zeppelin show includes the first public performance of "Stairway to Heaven," a song from the band's fourth album.


date: March 11

text: March 11 – THX 1138, George Lucas' first full-length film, premieres in theaters.


date: March 12

text: March 12–13 – The Allman Brothers Band plays their legendary concert at the Fillmore East.


date: April 23

text: April 23 - The Rolling Stones release their ninth studio album Sticky Fingers.


date: April 30

text: April 30 – The Milwaukee Bucks sweep the Baltimore Bullets in four games to win their first NBA championship.


date: May 3

text: May 3 – Arsenal F.C. wins the English League First Division championship at the home of their bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with Ray Kennedy scoring the winner. (Arsenal will go on to win the league and cup 'double' six days later by defeating Liverpool in the FA Cup final).


date: July 4

text: July 4 – Michael S. Hart posts the first e-book, a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, on the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign's mainframe computer, the origin of Project Gutenberg.


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Georgina Rizk of Lebanon is crowned Miss Universe 1971.


date: August 1

text: August 1 – In New York City, 40,000 attend The Concert for Bangladesh.


date: August 2

text: August 2 – U.S. department store chain J. C. Penney debuts its trademark Helvetica wordmark which has been used ever since.


date: August 15

text: August 15–September 5 – The 1971 Women's World Cup in Association football (an event not recognized by FIFA) is staged in Mexico: Denmark will be the winners.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated, with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – English musician John Lennon releases his second studio album Imagine. Worldwide sales of the title track will exceed 5 million.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Baltimore Orioles 4–3 in Game 4 of the World Series at home in the first ever Major League Baseball postseason game played at night. The Pirates defeat the Orioles 2–1 in the decisive Game 7 at Baltimore four days later.


date: October 14

text: October 14 – The largest state banquet in history is held at the ancient city of Persepolis in Iran, marking the symbolic Celebration of the 2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire.


date: October 17

text: October 17 – The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Baltimore Orioles to win the 1971 World Series.


date: October 24

text: October 24 – Texas Stadium opens in Irving, Texas. In the inaugural game, the host Dallas Cowboys defeat the New England Patriots 44–21.


date: October 30

text: October 30 – Rev. Ian Paisley founds the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland.


text: October 30 – Meddle, the critically acclaimed album by progressive rock band Pink Floyd, is released.


date: November 8

text: November 8 – Led Zeppelin release their fourth studio album Led Zeppelin IV, which goes on to sell 23,000,000 copies in the United States.


date: December 10

text: December 10 – The John Sinclair Freedom Rally in support of the imprisoned activist features a performance by John Lennon at Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – Clube Atlético Mineiro wins the Brazil Football Championship.


date: January 18

section: Births

text: January 18 – Pep Guardiola, Spanish football player and manager of Manchester City F.C.

source_section: Births › January


date: February 26

text: February 26 – Erykah Badu, American singer-songwriter and record producer

source_section: Births › February


date: April 3

text: April 3 – Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian/American journalist (d. 2022)

source_section: Births › April


date: April 9

text: April 9 – Jacques Villeneuve, Canadian 1997 Formula 1 world champion, 1995 Indy 500 and series champion.


date: May 10

text: May 10 – Kim Jong-nam, eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (d. 2017)

source_section: Births › May


date: May 20

text: May 20 – Tony Stewart, American stock car racing driver and team owner


date: June 4

text: June 4 – Joseph Kabila, 4th President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

source_section: Births › June


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Elon Musk, South African-born, American entrepreneur and investor


date: July 28

text: July 28 – Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iraqi Islamic extremist leader (d. 2019)

source_section: Births › July


date: August 23

text: August 23 – Gretchen Whitmer, American politician and 49th Governor of Michigan

source_section: Births › August


date: September 6

text: September 6 – Dolores O'Riordan, Irish singer (The Cranberries) (d. 2018)

source_section: Births › September


date: October 20

text: October 20 – Snoop Dogg, African-American rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, media personality, entrepreneur, and actor

source_section: Births › October


date: November 30

text: November 30 – Kristi Noem, American politician, 8th Secretary of Homeland Security

source_section: Births › November


date: December 26

text: December 26 – Jared Leto, American actor and musician (Thirty Seconds to Mars)

source_section: Births › December


date: February 12

section: Deaths

text: February 12 – James Cash Penney, American businessman, founder of J. C. Penney (b. 1875)

source_section: Deaths › February


date: May 28

text: May 28 – Kim Iryeop, Korean writer, journalist, feminist activist, Buddhist nun (b. 1896)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Carlos P. Garcia, 8th President of the Philippines (b. 1896)

source_section: Deaths › June


date: June 25

text: June 25 – John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, Scottish physician and biologist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1880)


date: July 1

text: July 1 – Sir Lawrence Bragg, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)

source_section: Deaths › July


text: July 1 – Learie Constantine, Baron Constantine, Trinidadian cricketer (b. 1901)


date: July 3

text: July 3 – Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, dies of a heart failure at the age of 27 in the bathtub of his apartment on the 3rd floor of the Rue Beautreillis 17 in Paris, France.

source_section: Events › July


date: August

text: August – Camden, New Jersey erupts in race riots, with looting and arson, following the beating death of a Puerto Rican motorist by city police. Also in 1971, Philadelphia International Records is established, with Camden native Leon Huff as co-founder.

source_section: Events › August


date: September 17

text: September 17 – Hugo L. Black retires as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States after serving for 34 years, at this time a record for longevity; Black dies eight days later.

source_section: Events › September


date: September 25

text: September 25 – Hugo Black, American Supreme Court Justice (b. 1886)

source_section: Deaths › September


date: October 12

text: October 12 – Dean Acheson, 51st United States Secretary of State (b. 1893)

source_section: Deaths › October


date: October 29

text: October 29 – Duane Allman, American rock guitarist, co-founder and leader of the Allman Brothers Band (b. 1946)


date: December 9

text: December 9 – Ralph Bunche, African-American diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1904)

source_section: Deaths › December


date: December 29

text: December 29 – John Marshall Harlan II, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1899)


date: January 10

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: January 10 – Independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returns to Bangladesh after spending over nine months in prison in Pakistan.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 18

text: January 18 – Members of the Mukti Bahini lay down their arms to the government of the newly independent Bangladesh, 33 days after winning the war against the occupying Pakistan Army.


date: January 19

text: January 19 – The Libertarian enclave Minerva on a platform in the South Pacific, sponsored by the Phoenix Foundation, declares independence. Soon neighboring Tonga annexes the area and dismantles the platform.


date: January 20

text: January 20 – President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto announces that Pakistan will immediately begin a nuclear weapons program.


date: January 21

text: January 21 – Tripura, part of the former independent Twipra Kingdom, becomes a full state of India.


date: January 26

text: January 26 – The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is set up on the lawn of Parliament House in Canberra.


date: February 15

text: February 15 – President of Ecuador José María Velasco Ibarra is deposed for the fourth time.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 21

text: February 21–28 – U.S. President Richard Nixon makes an unprecedented 8-day visit to the People's Republic of China and meets with Mao Zedong.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – Libya and the Soviet Union sign a cooperation treaty.

source_section: Events › March


date: March 19

text: March 19 – India and Bangladesh sign the Indo-Bangladeshi Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace.


date: March 22

text: March 22 – The 92nd U.S. Congress votes to send the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification.


date: April 10

text: April 10 – The U.S. and the Soviet Union join some 70 nations in signing the Biological Weapons Convention, an agreement to ban biological warfare.

source_section: Events › April


date: April 13

text: April 13 – The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.


date: April 27

text: April 27 – A no-confidence vote against German Chancellor Willy Brandt fails under obscure circumstances; years later it turned out that at least one opposition MP was paid by the East German Stasi for not supporting the vote.


date: May 22

text: May 22 – Ferit Melen forms the new (interim) government of Turkey (35th government)

source_section: Events › May


text: May 22 – The Dominion of Ceylon becomes the republic of Sri Lanka under prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, when its new constitution is ratified.


date: May 26

text: May 26 – Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT I treaty in Moscow, as well as the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and other agreements.


date: June 17

text: June 17 – Chilean president Salvador Allende forms a new government.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 18

text: June 18 – West Germany beats the Soviet Union 3–0 in the final to win Euro '72.


date: September 28

text: September 28 – The Canada men's national ice hockey team defeats the Soviet national ice hockey team in the eighth and final game of the 1972 Summit Series 6–5 to win the series 4–3–1.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – China–Japan relations: The Joint Communiqué of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China is signed in Beijing, which normalizes Japanese diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan).


date: October 8

text: October 8 – A major breakthrough occurs in the Paris peace talks between Henry Kissinger and Lê Đức Thọ.

source_section: Events › October


date: October

text: October – In Somalia, the government of President Siad Barre formally introduces the Somali alphabet as the country's official writing script.


date: December 16

text: December 16 – The Constitution of Bangladesh comes into effect.

source_section: Events › December


date: January 21

text: January 21 – A New Delhi bootlegger sells wood alcohol to a wedding party; 100 people die.


date: January 30

text: January 30 – Bloody Sunday: The British Army kills 14 unarmed nationalist civil rights marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland.


date: February 22

text: February 22 – The Troubles: 1972 Aldershot bombing – A car bomb planted by the Official Irish Republican Army kills seven people outside a British military base in Aldershot, England.


date: March 30

text: March 30 – Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam


date: May 10

text: May 10 – Operation Linebacker and Operation Custom Tailor begin with large-scale bombing operations against North Vietnam by tactical fighter aircraft.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – The Troubles: The Official Irish Republican Army declares a ceasefire.


text: May 30 – Lod Airport massacre: Three Japanese Red Army members operating on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations kill 26 and injure 80 people at Lod Airport, Israel.


date: June 8

text: June 8 – Vietnam War: Associated Press photographer Nick Ut takes his Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of a naked nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc running down a road after being burned by napalm.


date: June 23

text: June 23 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the C.I.A. to obstruct the investigation by the F.B.I. into the Watergate break-ins.


date: July 2

text: July 2 – Following Pakistan's surrender to India in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, both nations sign the historic Simla Agreement, agreeing to settle their disputes bilaterally.


date: July 10

text: July 10–14 – The Democratic National Convention meets in Miami Beach. Senator George McGovern, who backs the immediate and complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Vietnam, is nominated for president. He names fellow Senator Thomas Eagleton as his running mate.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – The Troubles: Bloody Friday – 22 bombs planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army explode in Belfast, Northern Ireland; nine people are killed and 130 seriously injured.


date: July

text: Operation Motorman 4:00 AM : The British Army begins to regain control of the "no-go areas" established by Irish republican paramilitaries in Belfast, Derry ("Free Derry") and Newry.


date: August 4

text: August 4 – Expulsion of Asians from Uganda: Dictator Idi Amin declares that Uganda will expel 50,000 Asians with British passports to Britain within 3 months. Most of their property is confiscated.


date: August 16

text: August 16 – As part of a coup attempt, members of the Royal Moroccan Air Force fire upon, but fail to bring down, Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.


date: August 21

text: August 21 – The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida, renominates U.S. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew for a second term.


date: September 1

text: September 1 – The Second Cod War begins between the United Kingdom and Iceland.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – A coup in the Republic of Dahomey (later Benin) led by Mathieu Kérékou removes a civilian government (which has been headed by a triumvirate consisting of Ahomadégbé, Apithy and Maga).


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization – The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.

source_section: Events › November


date: December 8

text: December 8 – International Human Rights Day is proclaimed by the United Nations.


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Mozambican War of independence: The Portuguese army kills 400 Africans in Tete, Mozambique.


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Rhodesian Bush War: ZANLA troopers attack Altera Farm in north-east Rhodesia.


date: December 22

text: December 22 – A peace delegation that includes singer-activist Joan Baez and human rights attorney Telford Taylor visit Hanoi to deliver Christmas mail to American prisoners of war (they will be caught in the Christmas bombing of North Vietnam).


date: December 23

text: December 23 – Swedish Prime minister Olof Palme compares the American bombings of North Vietnam to Nazi massacres. The U.S. breaks diplomatic contact with Sweden.


text: Colombian looters find the lost 1st millennium city of Ciudad Perdida; it is not reached by official archaeologists until 1976.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: January 31

text: January 31 – King Birendra succeeds his father as King of Nepal.


date: March 2

text: March 2 – The Club of Rome presents the research results leading to its report The Limits to Growth, published later in the month.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – The Organisation of the Islamic Conference Charter is signed (effective February 28, 1973).


date: June 3

text: June 3 – Sally Priesand becomes the first American woman (and the second known woman anywhere) to be ordained as a rabbi within Judaism.


date: June 12

text: June 12 – Popeyes was formed in Arabi, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, Louisiana, in St. Bernard Parish.


date: October 5

text: October 5 – The United Reformed Church in England is founded out of the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches.


date: June 23

text: June 23 – The United Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer, Anthony Barber, announces a decision for the pound sterling to move to a floating exchange rate. Although intended to be temporary, this remains permanent. Foreign exchange controls are applied to most members of the sterling area.


date: June

text: June – Iraq nationalizes the Iraq Petroleum Company.


date: September 25

text: September 25 – 1972 Norwegian EC referendum: Norway rejects membership of the European Economic Community.


date: November 14

text: November 14 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 1,000 (1,003.16) for the first time.


date: January 1

text: January 1 – Kurt Waldheim becomes Secretary-General of the United Nations.


date: February 17

text: February 17 – Volkswagen Beetle sales exceed those of the Ford Model T when the 15,007,034th Beetle is produced.


date: April 26

text: April 26 – The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar enters service with Eastern Airlines.


date: May 27

text: May 27 – Mark Donohue wins the Indianapolis 500 in a Penske Racing McLaren–Offenhauser.


date: June 11

text: June 11 – Henri Pescarolo (France) and co-driver former World Drivers' Champion Graham Hill (Britain) win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Equipe Matra MS670.


date: June 16

text: June 16 – 108 die as two passenger trains hit the debris of a collapsed railway tunnel near Soissons, France.


date: June 30

text: June 30 – The International Time Bureau adds the first leap second (23:59:60) of this year to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).


date: July 27

text: July 27 – The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle fighter aircraft makes its first flight in the United States.


date: August 4

text: August 4 – August 1972 solar storms: A huge solar flare (one of the largest ever recorded) knocks out cable lines in the U.S. It begins with the appearance of sunspots on August 2; an August 4 flare kicks off high levels of activity until August 10.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – The first daytime episode of the second incarnation of the American game show The Price Is Right is taped at CBS Television City, to be aired on September 4.


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi wins the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and becomes the youngest Formula One World Champion at the age of 25.


date: October 28

text: October 28 – The Airbus A300 flies for the first time.


date: November 29

text: November 29 – The "tea house" Mellow Yellow opens on the river Amstel in Amsterdam, pioneering the legal sale of cannabis in the Netherlands.


text: November 29 – Atari in the United States release the production version of Pong, one of the first video games to achieve widespread popularity in both the arcade and home console markets, devised by Nolan Bushnell and Allan Alcorn.


date: November

text: November – The Nishitetsu Lions baseball club, part of the NPB's Pacific League, is sold to the Fukuoka Baseball Corporation, a subsidiary of Nishi-Nippon Railroad. The team is renamed the Taiheiyo Club Lions.


date: January 4

text: January 4 – The first scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) is introduced (price $395).


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Mariner 9 sends pictures as it orbits Mars.


date: February 21

text: February 21 – The Soviet uncrewed spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.


date: March 2

text: March 2 – The Pioneer 10 spacecraft is launched from Cape Kennedy, to be the first man-made spacecraft to leave the Solar System.


date: March 27

text: March 27 – The Soviet Union launches Venera 8, which will make the first soft landing on Venus.


date: April 16

text: April 16 – Apollo 16 (John Young, Ken Mattingly, Charlie Duke) is launched. During the mission, the astronauts, driving the Lunar Roving Vehicle, achieve a lunar rover speed record of 17 km/h.


date: June 8

text: June 8 – Seven men and three women hijack a plane from Czechoslovakia to West Germany.


date: July 11

text: July 11 – Curtis Mayfield releases the soundtrack to the 1972 film, Super Fly.


date: July 22

text: July 22 - The Soviet probe Venera 8 lands on the surface of Venus and transmits data for 50 minutes about the planet's surface temperature and atmospheric pressure.


date: July 23

text: July 23 – The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – 1972 Great Daylight Fireball: A brilliant meteor is seen in the western U.S. and Canada as an Apollo asteroid skips off the Earth's atmosphere.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – The first publication reporting the production of a recombinant DNA molecule, by Paul Berg and colleagues, marks the birth of modern molecular biology methodology.


date: October 25

text: October 25 – Belgian Eddy Merckx sets a new world hour record in cycling in Mexico City.


date: December 7

text: December 7 – Apollo 17 (Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans, Harrison Schmitt), the last crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit until the Artemis II lunar flyby in 2026, is launched to the Moon and The Blue Marble photograph of the Earth is taken. The mission also includes five mice.


date: December 11

text: December 11 – Apollo 17 lands on the Moon.


date: December 14

text: December 14 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan becomes the last person to walk on the Moon until 2028 at the earliest, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of Apollo 17.


date: December 15

text: December 15 – The United Nations Environment Programme is established as a specialized agency of the United Nations.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – Apollo program: Apollo 17 returns to Earth, concluding the program of lunar exploration.


date: April 27

text: April 27 – Ikiza: Burundi government forces begin a 4-month genocide against the Hutu people, killing 100,000–300,000.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – U.S. health officials admit that African-American men were used as guinea pigs in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study without their informed consent.


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos announces on national television the issuance of Proclamation No. 1081 placing the entire country under martial law.


date: February 23

text: February 23 – US activist Angela Davis is released from jail. Rodger McAfee, a farmer from Caruthers, California, helps her make bail.


date: April 10

text: April 10 – Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers in Shandong.


date: April 29

text: April 29 – The fourth anniversary of the Broadway musical Hair is celebrated with a free concert at a Central Park bandshell, followed by dinner at the Four Seasons. There, 13 Black Panther protesters and the show's co-author, Jim Rado, are arrested for disturbing the peace and for using marijuana.


date: June 17

text: June 17 – Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee.


date: August 22

text: August 22 – Rhodesia is expelled by the International Olympic Committee for its racist policies.


date: September 5

text: September 5–6 – Munich massacre: Eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich are murdered after eight members of the Arab terrorist group Black September invade the Olympic Village; five guerillas and one policeman are also killed in a failed hostage rescue.


date: November 19

text: November 19 – Seán Mac Stíofáin, a leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, is arrested in Dublin after giving a radio interview to RTÉ and charged with being a member of the IRA.


text: December 7 – Imelda Marcos, First Lady of the Philippines, is stabbed and seriously wounded by an assailant; her bodyguards shoot the assailant.


date: December 28

text: December 28 – The bones of Nazi Party official Martin Bormann are discovered in Berlin during construction work.


date: January 7

text: January 7 – Iberia Airlines Flight 602 crashes into a 462-meter peak on the island of Ibiza; 104 are killed.


date: January 9

text: January 9 – The RMS Queen Elizabeth catches fire and sinks in Hong Kong's Victoria harbor while undergoing conversion to a floating university.


date: January 26

text: January 26 – Yugoslavian air stewardess Vesna Vulović is the only survivor when her plane crashes in Czechoslovakia. She survives after falling 10160 m ft in the tail section of the aircraft.


date: February 22

text: February 22 – Lufthansa Flight 649 is hijacked and taken to Aden. Passengers are released the following day after a ransom of 5 million US dollars is agreed.


date: May 2

text: May 2 – Fire at the Sunshine Mine, a silver mine in Idaho, kills 91.


date: May 5

text: May 5 – An Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo, Sicily; 115 die.


date: May 13

text: May 13 – A fire in a nightclub atop the Sennichi department store in Osaka, Japan, kills 115.


date: May 21

text: May 21 – In St. Peter's Basilica (Vatican City), Laszlo Toth attacks Michelangelo's Pietà statue with a geologist's hammer, shouting that he is Jesus Christ.


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Japan Airlines Flight 471 crashes outside New Delhi airport, killing 82 of 87 occupants.


date: June 18

text: June 18 – Staines air disaster: 118 die when a British European Airways Trident 1 jet airliner crashes two minutes after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport.


date: July 1

text: July 1 – The Canadian ketch Vega, flying the Greenpeace III banner, collides with the French naval minesweeper La Paimpolaise while in international waters to protest French nuclear weapon tests in the South Pacific.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – A collision between two trains near Seville, Spain, kills 76 people.


date: July

text: Claudy bombing ("Bloody Monday"), 10:00 AM : Three car bombs in Claudy, County Londonderry, kill nine. It becomes public knowledge only in 2010 that a local Catholic priest was an IRA officer believed to be involved in the bombings but his role was covered up by the authorities.


date: August 12

text: August 12 – Oil tankers Oswego-Guardian and Texanita collide near Stilbaai, South Africa.


date: August 14

text: August 14 – An East German Ilyushin airliner crashes near East Berlin; all 156 on board perish.


date: September 24

text: September 24 – An F-86 fighter aircraft leaving an air show at Sacramento Executive Airport fails to become airborne and crashes into a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour, killing 12 children and 11 adults.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – A train crash in Saltillo, Mexico, kills 208 people.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571: A Fairchild FH-227D passenger aircraft transporting a rugby union team crashes at about 14000 ft m in the Andes mountain range, near the Argentina/Chile border. Sixteen of the survivors are found alive December 20 but they have had to resort to cannibalism to survive.


date: December 8

text: December 8 – United Airlines Flight 553 crashes short of a runway in Chicago, killing 43 of 61 passengers and two people on the ground. A day later, over $10,000 cash is found in the purse of Watergate conspirator Howard Hunt's wife, who was on board.


date: December 23

text: December 23 – Asker accident: Braathens SAFE Flight 239 crashes during approach to Oslo Airport, Fornebu, Norway; forty people on board are killed.


date: December 29

text: December 29 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes into the Everglades in Florida, killing 101 of 176 on board. It is the first hull loss of a wide-body aircraft.


date: February 26

text: February 26 – Luna 20 comes back to Earth with 55 g oz of lunar soil.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – An avalanche on Mount Fuji in Japan kills 19 climbers.


date: April 10

text: April 10 – The 6.7 Qir earthquake shakes southern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 5,374 people in the province of Fars.


date: June 9

text: June 9 – The Black Hills flood kills 238 in South Dakota.


date: June 14

text: June 14–23 – Hurricane Agnes kills 117 on the U.S. East Coast.


date: June 18

text: June 18 – Hong Kong's worst flooding and landslides in recorded history with 653.2 mm of rainfall in the previous three days. 67 people die due to building collapses in Mid-levels districts landslide and building collapses, with a further 83 due to flooding-related fatalities. It is the second worst fatality due to building collapses, and the worst flooding in Hong Kong's recorded history.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – At least 24 people have been killed by elephants crazed by heat and drought in separate incidents in the Chandka Forest of India, according to news agency reports.


date: November 7

text: November 7 – 1972 United States presidential election: Republican incumbent Richard Nixon defeats Democratic Senator George McGovern in a landslide. The election has the lowest voter turnout since 1948, with only 55 percent of the electorate voting.


text: December 23 – The 6.2 Nicaragua earthquake kills 5,000–11,000 people in the capital Managua. President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is later accused of not distributing millions of dollars worth of foreign aid.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – For the first and last time, a 2nd leap second is added (23:59:60) to a year, making 1972 366 days and two seconds long, the longest year ever within the context of UTC.


date: January 14

text: January 14 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark succeeds her father, King Frederik IX, on the throne of Denmark, the first queen regnant of Denmark since 1412 and the first Danish monarch not named Frederick or Christian since 1513.


date: February 3

text: February 3–13 – The 1972 Winter Olympics are held in Sapporo, Japan.


date: March 22

text: March 22 – Eisenstadt v. Baird: The Supreme Court of the U.S. rules that unmarried people have the right to access contraception on the same basis as married couples


date: March 25

text: March 25 – "Après toi" sung by Vicky Leandros (music by Klaus Munro & Mario Panas, lyric by Klaus Munro & Yves Dessca) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 (staged in Edinburgh) for Luxembourg.


text: April 10 – The 44th Annual Academy Awards are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – The Tamil United Front (later known as Tamil United Liberation Front), a pro-Tamil organization, is founded in Sri Lanka.


date: June 5

text: June 5–16 – The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment is held in Stockholm, Sweden


date: July 4

text: July 4 – The first Rainbow Gathering is held in Colorado.


date: July 11

text: July 11 – The long anticipated chess match between world champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, and United States champion Bobby Fischer, begins in Iceland at Reykjavík.


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Jigme Singye Wangchuck succeeds his father Jigme Dorji Wangchuck as King of Bhutan.


date: August 26

text: August 26–September 10 – The 1972 Summer Olympics are held in Munich, West Germany.


date: September 1

text: September 1 – Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky in a chess match in Reykjavík, Iceland, becoming the first American world chess champion.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Alex Comfort's bestselling manual The Joy of Sex is published.


date: October 22

text: October 22 – The Oakland Athletics defeat the Cincinnati Reds four games to three to capture Major League Baseball's World Series. It is the Athletics' first championship since 1930, when the franchise was in Philadelphia.


date: November 16

text: November 16 – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization adopts the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.


date: January 5

text: January 5 – Sakis Rouvas, Greek recording, film and television artist, athlete and businessman

source_section: Births › January


date: January 20

text: January 20 – Nikki Haley, Indian-American politician, Governor of South Carolina (2010–2017) and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2017–2018)


date: January 28

text: January 28 – Amy Coney Barrett, American attorney, jurist and associate justice, U.S. Supreme Court


date: January 30

text: January 30 – Mike Johnson, 56th Speaker of the US House of Representatives


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Leymah Gbowee, Liberian peace activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate

source_section: Births › February


date: February 17

text: February 17 – Billie Joe Armstrong, American rock musician and lead singer/guitarist (Green Day)


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Priti Patel, British Indian politician, Secretary of State for the Home Department

source_section: Births › March


date: April 21

text: April 21 – Narges Mohammadi, Iranian human rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate

source_section: Births › April


date: May 4

text: May 4 – Mike Dirnt, American rock musician and bassist (Green Day)

source_section: Births › May


date: August 14

text: August 14 – Yoo Jae-suk, South Korean comedian and television comedy show host

source_section: Births › August


date: September 26

text: September 26 – Beto O'Rourke, American politician, representative of Texas 16th congressional district

source_section: Births › September


date: October 25

text: October 25 – Esther Duflo, French American economist, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

source_section: Births › October


date: December 9

text: December 9 – Tré Cool, American rock musician and drummer (Green Day)

source_section: Births › December


date: December 18

text: December 18 – Lawrence Wong, Singapore economist and fourth Prime Minister of Singapore


date: January 31

text: January 31 – King Mahendra of Nepal (b. 1920)

source_section: Deaths › January


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Maria Goeppert Mayer, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)

source_section: Deaths › February


date: March 31

text: March 31 – Meena Kumari, Indian actress, singer and poet (b. 1933; cirrhosis of the liver)

source_section: Deaths › March


date: April 6

text: April 6 – Heinrich Lübke, 2nd President of the Federal Republic of Germany (b. 1894)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: April 9

text: April 9 – James F. Byrnes, United States Secretary of State and Justice of the Supreme Court (b. 1882)


date: May 2

text: May 2 – J. Edgar Hoover, American civil servant, 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (b. 1895)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: May 5

text: May 5 – Reverend Gary Davis, American blues and gospel singer (b. 1896)


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Georg von Békésy, Hungarian biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)

source_section: Deaths › June


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian politician and statesman, 31st Prime Minister of Belgium and 2nd Secretary General of NATO (b. 1899)

source_section: Deaths › July


date: November 1

text: November 1 – Ezra Pound, American poet (b. 1885)

source_section: Deaths › November


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Antonio Segni, 34th Prime Minister of Italy and 4th President of the Italian Republic (b. 1891)

source_section: Deaths › December


date: December 11

text: December 11 – Numa Turcatti, Uruguayan law student, victim of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash (b. 1947)


date: December 25

text: December 25 – C. Rajagopalachari, Indian politician and freedom-fighter. Last Governor-General of India (1948–50) (b. 1878)


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican baseball player (b. 1934)


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Ferdinand Marcos becomes President for Life of the Philippines.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 27

text: January 27 – U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ends with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.


date: February 28

text: February 28 – The Republic of Ireland general election is held. Liam Cosgrave becomes the new Taoiseach.

source_section: Events › February


date: March 20

text: March 20 – A British government White Paper on Northern Ireland proposes the re-establishment of an Assembly elected by proportional representation, with a possible All-Ireland council.

source_section: Events › March


date: April 5

text: April 5 – Fahri Korutürk becomes the sixth president of Turkey.

source_section: Events › April


date: April 10

text: April 10 – The Islamic Republic of Pakistan introduced its new constitution, its supreme law.


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Naim Talu, a former civil servant, forms the new government of Turkey (36th government).


date: May 10

text: May 10 – The Polisario Front, a Sahrawi movement dedicated to the independence of Spanish Sahara, is formed.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Héctor José Cámpora becomes democratic president of the Argentine Republic ending the 1966 to 1973 Revolución Argentina military dictatorship.


date: June 1

text: June 1 – The Greek military junta abolishes the monarchy and proclaims a republic.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 25

text: June 25 – Erskine Hamilton Childers is elected the 4th President of Ireland.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Elections are held for the Northern Ireland Assembly, which will lead to power-sharing between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland for the first time.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – The Bahamas gains full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations.

source_section: Events › July


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) is inaugurated.

source_section: Events › August


date: September 18

text: September 18 – The two German Republics, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), are admitted to the United Nations.

source_section: Events › September


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Luís Cabral declares the independence of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau from the Estado Novo regime in Portugal. It is later granted in September 1974.


date: October 10

text: October 10 – Spiro Agnew resigns as Vice President of the United States.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 25

text: October 25 – The Yom Kippur War ends.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – The United Nations recognizes the independence of Guinea-Bissau.


date: November 7

text: November 7 – The Congress of the United States overrides President Richard Nixon's veto of the War Powers Resolution, which limits presidential power to wage war without congressional approval.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 27

text: November 27 – The United States Senate votes 92–3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States.


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Papua New Guinea gains self-government from Australia.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 6

text: December 6 – The United States House of Representatives votes 387–35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States; he is sworn in the same day.


date: December

text: December – Chile breaks diplomatic contacts with Sweden.


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.


date: February 8

text: February 8 – A military insurrection in Uruguay poses an institutional challenge to President Juan María Bordaberry.


date: March 8

text: March 8 – The Troubles: A referendum is held in Northern Ireland over whether to reunite with the Republic of Ireland or to stay a part of the UK. The result was 98% remain. The Provisional Irish Republican Army responds to the referendum by planting four car bombs in London on the same day, two of which went off, causing one death and injuring over 200 people.


date: March 10

text: March 10 – Sir Richard Sharples, Governor of Bermuda, is assassinated outside Government House, along with his aide-de-camp.


date: April 10

text: April 10 – Operation Spring of Youth: Israeli commandos raid Beirut, assassinating 3 leaders of the Palestinian Resistance Movement. The Lebanese army's inaction brings the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Saeb Salam, a Sunni Muslim.


date: April 17

text: April 17 – The West German counter-terrorist force GSG 9 is officially formed in response to the Munich massacre.


date: June 20

text: June 20 – The Ezeiza massacre occurs in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Snipers shoot at left-wing Peronists, killing at least 13 and injuring more than 300.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – Coup d'état in Uruguay: pressed by the military, President Juan María Bordaberry dissolves Parliament; a 12-year-long civic-military dictatorship begins.


date: July 3

text: July 3 – Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).


date: July 16

text: July 16 – Watergate scandal: Former White House aide Alexander Butterfield informs the United States Senate Watergate Committee that President Richard Nixon had secretly recorded potentially incriminating conversations.


date: July 17

text: July 17 – King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan is deposed by his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan while in Italy undergoing eye surgery.


date: July 20

text: July 20 – France resumes nuclear bomb tests in Mururoa Atoll, over the protests of Australia and New Zealand.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – Black September members open fire at the Athens airport; 3 people are killed, 55 injured.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends, officially halting 12 years of combat activity in Southeast Asia according to the Case–Church Amendment-an act that prohibits military operations in Laos, Cambodia, and North and South Vietnam as a follow-up of the Paris Peace Accords.


date: September 11

text: September 11 – Chile's democratically elected government is overthrown in a violent military coup after serious political instability. President Salvador Allende allegedly commits suicide during the coup in the presidential palace and General Augusto Pinochet heads a US-backed military junta that governs Chile for the next 17 years.


date: September 20

text: September 20 – Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in a singles tennis match billed as the "Battle of the Sexes".


date: October 6

text: October 6 – Yom Kippur War begins: The fourth and largest Arab–Israeli conflict begins, as Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights on Yom Kippur.


date: October 14

text: October 14 – Thai popular uprising: Students revolt in Bangkok – In the Thammasat student uprising over 100,000 people protest in Thailand against the Thanom military government, 77 are killed and 857 are injured by soldiers.


date: October 17

text: October 17 – An OPEC oil embargo against several countries supporting Israel triggers the 1973 energy crisis.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – The Saturday Night Massacre: U.S. President Richard Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to dismiss Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refuses and resigns, along with Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus. Solicitor General Robert Bork, third in line at the Department of Justice, then fires Cox. The event prompts calls for Nixon's impeachment.


date: November 17

text: November 17 – The Athens Polytechnic uprising occurs against the military regime in Athens, Greece.


date: November 25

text: November 25 – Greek dictator Georgios Papadopoulos is ousted in a military coup led by Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannidis.


date: December 20

text: December 20 – Spanish prime minister Luis Carrero Blanco is assassinated in Madrid by the separatist organization ETA.


date: December 30

text: December 30 – Terrorist Carlos fails in his attempt to assassinate British businessman Joseph Sieff.


date: May 5

text: May 5 – Shambu Tamang becomes the youngest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Second Cod War: Joseph Godber, British Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, announces that Royal Navy frigates will protect British trawlers fishing in the disputed 80 km mi limit around Iceland.


text: A large Song dynasty trade ship of c. 1277 A.D. is dredged up from the waters near the southern coast of China with 12 compartments in its hull. It confirms the descriptions of bulkheaded hull compartments for junks in Zhu Yu's Pingzhou Table Talks of 1119.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: December 18

text: December 18 – The Islamic Development Bank is created as a specialized agency of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) (effective August 12, 1974).


date: January 1

text: January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.


date: April 1

text: April 1 – Value Added Tax (VAT) is introduced in the United Kingdom.


date: April 3

text: April 3 – The first handheld mobile phone call is made by Martin Cooper of Motorola in New York City.


date: May 3

text: May 3 – The Sears Tower in Chicago, United States, is topped-out, becoming the world's tallest building at 1451 ft m.


date: May 11

text: May 11 – The Data Act (Sw. Datalagen) − the world's first national data protection law − is enacted in Sweden.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – Henri Pescarolo and co-driver Gérard Larrousse (both France) win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Equipe Matra MS670B.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Leonid Brezhnev addresses the American people on television, the first Soviet leader to do so.


date: July 5

text: July 5 – A catastrophic BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) occurs in Kingman, Arizona, United States, following a fire that broke out as propane was being transferred from a railroad car to a storage tank, killing 11 firefighters. This explosion becomes a classic incident, studied in fire department training programs worldwide.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – Scottish racing driver Jackie Stewart becomes World Drivers' Champion when his Tyrrell 003-Cosworth finishes fourth in the 1973 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.


date: October 30

text: October 30 – The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus Strait for the first time in history.


date: November 16

text: November 16 – U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Comet Kohoutek is discovered.


date: April 4

text: April 4 — The original World Trade Center is officially dedicated.


date: April 5

text: April 5 – Pioneer 11 is launched on a mission to study the Solar System.


date: May 14

text: May 14 – Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Skylab 2 (Pete Conrad, Paul Weitz, Joseph Kerwin) is launched on a mission to repair damage to the recently launched Skylab space station.


date: June 30

text: June 30 – A very long total solar eclipse occurs. During the entire second millennium, only seven total solar eclipses exceeded seven minutes of totality.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – The Soviet Mars 5 space probe is launched.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – Skylab 3 (Owen Garriott, Jack Lousma, Alan Bean) is launched, to conduct various medical and scientific experiments aboard Skylab.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – Mars 6, also known as 3MP No. 50P, is launched by the Soviet Union to explore Mars.


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Soviet space program: Soyuz 12 (Vasily Lazarev, Oleg Makarov), the first Soviet crewed flight since the Soyuz 11 tragedy in 1971, is launched.


date: November 3

text: November 3 – Mariner program: NASA launches Mariner 10 toward Mercury (on March 29, 1974, it becomes the first space probe to reach that planet).


text: November 16 – Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 (Gerald Carr, William Pogue, Edward Gibson) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on an 84-day mission.


date: December 3

text: December 3 – Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.


date: December 18

text: December 18 – Soviet space program: Soyuz 13 (Pyotr Klimuk, Valentin Lebedev) is launched.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – Lillehammer affair: Agents of Mossad, the Israeli secret intelligence agency, shoot and kill a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, mistakenly believing him to be a senior member of the Palestinian Black September Organization.


date: August 8

text: August 8 – South Korean politician Kim Dae-jung is kidnapped in Tokyo by the KCIA.


date: August 23

text: August 23 – The Norrmalmstorg robbery occurs, famous for the origin of the term Stockholm syndrome.


date: August 25

text: August 25 – Disappearance of Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon: Two Australian girls go missing whilst attending an Australian rules football match at the Adelaide Oval, never to be seen again.


date: November

text: November – Queen Sisowath Kossamak of Cambodia is released from house arrest to Beijing.


date: December 14

text: December 14 – Rhodesia executes two Blacks at Salisbury Central Prison for murder.


date: January 22

text: January 22 – A Royal Jordanian Boeing 707 flight from Jeddah crashes in Kano, Nigeria; 176 people are killed.


date: February 21

text: February 21 – Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 (Boeing 727) is shot down by Israeli fighter aircraft over the Sinai Desert, after the passenger plane is suspected of being an enemy military plane. There are 108 fatalities, and only five people on board survive (one crew member and four passengers).


date: March 21

text: March 21 – The Lofthouse Colliery disaster occurs in Great Britain. Seven miners are trapped underground; none survive.


date: June 3

text: June 3 – A Tupolev Tu-144 crashes at the Paris air show; 15 are killed.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – UpStairs Lounge arson attack, an as-yet unsolved attack on a gay bar in New Orleans, Louisiana, in which 32 patrons are killed.


date: June 26

text: June 26 – At Plesetsk Cosmodrome, nine people are killed in the explosion of a Cosmos 3-M rocket.


date: July 11

text: July 11 – Varig Flight 820 crashes near Orly, France; 123 people are killed.


date: July 23

text: July 23 – The Avianca Building in Bogotá, Colombia, suffers a serious fire, in which four people are killed.


date: August 2

text: August 2 – A flash fire kills 51 at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.


date: September 20

text: September 20 – Jim Croce, Maury Muehleisen and four others are killed in a plane crash shortly after takeoff following a concert at Northwestern Louisiana University in Natchitoches.


date: November 3

text: November 3 – Pan Am flight 160, a Boeing 707-321C, crashes at Logan International Airport, Boston, killing three people.


date: November 29

text: November 29 – 104 people are killed in a Taiyo department store fire in Kumamoto, Kyūshū, Japan.


date: April 1

text: April 1 – India launches the wildlife conservation program Project Tiger.


date: October 15

text: October 15 – Typhoon Ruth crosses Luzon, Philippines, killing 27 people and causing $5 million in damage.


date: December 28

text: December 28 – The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.


text: January 22 – The Sunshine Showdown: George Foreman defeats Joe Frazier to win the heavyweight world boxing championship in Kingston, Jamaica.


date: March 27

text: March 27 – At the 45th Academy Awards, The Godfather wins best picture.


date: April 7

text: April 7 – Tu te reconnaîtras by Anne-Marie David (music by Claude Morgan, text by Vline Buggy) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 for Luxembourg.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – The Sydney Opera House in Australia is opened by Queen Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction work.


date: November 8

text: November 8 – Millennium '73, a festival hosted by Guru Maharaj Ji at the Astrodome, is called by supporters the "most significant event in human history".


date: January 11

text: January 11 – Rahul Dravid, Indian cricket player and coach.

source_section: Births › January


date: January 17

text: January 17 – Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Mexican footballer and politician, Governor of Morelos 2018-2024


date: March 26

text: March 26 – Larry Page, American entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Google (2011–2015)

source_section: Births › March


date: May 24

text: May 24 – Ruslana, Ukrainian pop star, activist, Eurovision Song Contest 2004 winner

source_section: Births › May


date: June 2

text: June 2 – Kevin Feige, American film producer and president of Marvel Studios

source_section: Births › June


date: June 15

text: June 15 – Neil Patrick Harris, American actor, comedian, singer, presenter and host


date: June 20

text: June 20 – Josh Shapiro, American politician, Governor of Pennsylvania


date: June 22

text: June 22 – Carson Daly, American television personality, host of NBC's The Voice and Last Call with Carson Daly


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Rufus Wainwright, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and composer

source_section: Births › July


date: August 21

text: August 21 – Sergey Brin, Russian-born American entrepreneur, co-founder of Google

source_section: Births › August


date: September 15

text: September 15 – Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, né Olof Daniel Westling, Swedish prince, married to Crown Princess Victoria

source_section: Births › September


date: October 14

text: October 14 – George Floyd, African-American victim of police brutality (d. 2020)

source_section: Births › October


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Seth MacFarlane, American actor, screenwriter, producer, director and singer


date: December 8

text: December 8 – Corey Taylor, American rock vocalist (Slipknot, Stone Sour)

source_section: Births › December


date: March 6

text: March 6 – Pearl S. Buck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)

source_section: Deaths › March


date: March 21

text: March 21 – Âşık Veysel, Turkish poet, songwriter and saz player (b. 1894)


date: April 13

text: April 13 – Henry Darger, American outsider artist and writer (b. 1892)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: July 20

text: July 20 – Bruce Lee, Chinese-American martial artist and actor (b. 1940)

source_section: Deaths › July


date: July 23

text: July 23 – Eddie Rickenbacker, American World War I flying ace and race car driver (b. 1890)


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Nikos Zachariadis, Greek politician, leader of the Communist Party of Greece (b. 1903)

source_section: Deaths › August


text: August 1 – Walter Ulbricht, East German politician, leader of the Communist Party and 2nd head of State of the GDR (b. 1893)


date: August 16

text: August 16 – Selman Waksman, Ukrainian-American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1888)


date: August 17

text: August 17 – Paul Williams, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1939)


text: September 15 – Carl XVI Gustaf, becomes King of Sweden following the death of his grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf.

source_section: Events › September


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)

source_section: Deaths › September


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Leo Strauss, German-American political philosopher (b. 1899)

source_section: Deaths › October


date: December 3

text: December 3 – Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, 47th President of Mexico (b. 1889)

source_section: Deaths › December


date: December 20

text: December 20 – Richard Cain, police officer associated with the Chicago Outfit (b. 1931).


date: January 25

text: January 25 – Bülent Ecevit of CHP forms the new government of Turkey (37th government, partner MSP).

source_section: Events › January–February


date: January 31

text: January 31 – The South Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong announced that they would resume prisoner of war exchanges on February 8, after a suspension of seven months.


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, is declared a Federal Territory.


date: February 28

text: February 28 – The British election ended in a hung parliament after the Jeremy Thorpe-led Liberal Party achieves its biggest vote.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – Following a hung parliament in the United Kingdom general election, Conservative prime minister Edward Heath resigns and is succeeded by Labour's Harold Wilson, who previously led the country from 1964 to 1970.

source_section: Events › March–April


date: March 18

text: March 18 – In West Germany, the Bundestag passes the Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz ("Federal Emission Control Act").


date: May 7

text: May 7 – West German chancellor Willy Brandt, resigns after four years in office.

source_section: Events › May–June


date: May 16

text: May 16 – Helmut Schmidt becomes the new Chancellor of West Germany.


date: May 18

text: May 18 – 1974 Australian federal election: Gough Whitlam's Labor government is re-elected with a reduced majority, defeating the Liberal/Country Coalition led by Billy Snedden. Whitlam consequently becomes the first Labor Prime Minister to be re-elected in his own right. The Democratic Labor Party meanwhile loses all five of their Senate seats, effectively wiping them out as a political force.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – The head of the Chilean Military Junta, Army General Augusto Pinochet, assumes the office of "Supreme Chief of the Nation". On December 17, via a Supreme Decree amendment, he will be formally designated President of Chile.


date: July 23

text: July 23 – The Greek military junta is replaced by a civilian government, the metapolitefsi.

source_section: Events › July–August


date: August 8

text: August 8 – U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his resignation on August 8, effective at noon on August 9.


date: August 9

text: August 9 – Vice President Gerald Ford becomes the 38th president of the United States upon Nixon's resignation.


date: September 10

text: September 10 – The Portuguese military junta grants independence to Guinea-Bissau.

source_section: Events › September–October


date: October 11

text: October 11 – The UK Labour government of Harold Wilson wins the second general election of the year, forming a three-seat majority. Wilson, who has led the party for a total of 11 years, has now won four of the five general elections he has contested.


date: November 5

text: November 5 – The Democratic Party makes big gains nationwide in House, Senate, and Gubernatorial elections.

source_section: Events › November–December


date: November 17

text: November 17 – The 1974 Greek legislative election, the first election since the fall of the Greek junta of 1967–1974, is held and the newly formed New Democracy party wins 220 of 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament.


date: December 8

text: December 8 – 1974 Greek republic referendum: Greeks vote in a 2 to 1 margin to reject the monarchy, solidifying the country's republican form of government.


date: December 9

text: December 9 – The Paris summit, reuniting the European Communities' heads of state and government, commences.


date: December 13

text: December 13 – Malta becomes a republic.


date: January 31

text: January 31 – The People's Republic of China released Gerald Emil Kosh, a U.S. civilian captured during the Battle of the Paracel Islands.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – The Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang is discovered at Xi'an, China.


date: April 11

text: April 11 – The Kiryat Shmona massacre takes place in Israel.


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Guillaume Affair: exposure of an East German spy Günter Guillaume within the West German government, leading to the resignation of West German Chancellor Willy Brandt.


date: April 25

text: April 25 – Carnation Revolution: A left-wing military coup in Portugal restores democracy, ending 41 years of the Estado Novo dictatorship in the country. Portuguese Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano flees to Brazil and is granted political asylum by Brazilian President Ernesto Geisel.


date: May 17

text: May 17 – The Troubles: The Dublin and Monaghan bombings are carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force, when they explode four car bombs in counties Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks kill 33 civilians and wound almost 300, the highest number of casualties in any single event during the conflict.


date: June 17

text: June 17 – A bomb explodes in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the British Houses of Parliament. The hall's annex, housing offices, and a canteen are destroyed by the bombing, attributed by police to the Provisional wing of the Irish Republican Army.


date: July 15

text: July 15 – The Greek military junta sponsors a coup d'état in Cyprus, replacing President Makarios III with Nikos Sampson. On that same day, reporter Christine Chubbuck commits suicide for the first-time-ever on live television.


date: July 20

text: July 20 – The Turkish invasion of Cyprus occurs.


date: August 14

text: August 14 – Turkey invades Cyprus for the second time, occupying 37% of the island's territory.


text: August 14 – Greece withdraws its forces from NATO's military command structure, as a result of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – President Gerald Ford signs Proclamation 4311, granting a full and unconditional pardon to Richard Nixon, his predecessor.


date: September 12

text: September 12 – Ethiopian Revolution: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is deposed by the Derg, bringing an end to the Solomonic dynasty's rule since 1270. The Ethiopian Civil War begins.


date: September 13

text: September 13 – Japanese Red Army members seize the French Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands.


date: September 20

text: September 20 – The Kootenai War is declared, and 10-cent tolls are charged on U.S. Highway 95.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña (FALN) sets off 5 bombs in Manhattan, with their largest bomb set off in the Financial District.


date: November 21

text: November 21 – Birmingham pub bombings: In Birmingham, England, two pubs are bombed, killing 21 people in an attack widely believed at the time to be linked to the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The Birmingham Six are later sentenced to life in prison for this, but their convictions are quashed after a lengthy campaign.


date: May 4

text: May 4 – The Expo '74 world's fair opens in Spokane, Washington.


text: May 4 – An all-female Japanese team summits Manaslu in Nepal, becoming the first women to climb an 8000 m ft peak.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – End of five-month oil embargo by most OPEC nations against the United States, Europe, and Japan which had caused the 1973 oil crisis.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Launch of the Volkswagen Golf in West Germany, a modern front-wheel drive hatchback which is expected to replace the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, holder of the world record for the car with the most units produced.


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Nuclear weapons testing: Under Project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon, becoming the 6th nation to do so.


date: February 8

text: February 8 – After a record 84 days in orbit, the crew of Skylab 4 returns to Earth.


date: November 16

text: November 16 – Arecibo message: The radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory on Puerto Rico sends an interstellar radio message towards Messier 13, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules. The message will reach its destination around the year 27,000.


date: November 18

text: November 18 – The International Energy Agency is founded.


date: November 22

text: November 22 – The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – A skeleton from the hominid species Australopithecus afarensis is discovered and named Lucy.


date: December 17

text: December 17 – The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) becomes a specialized agency of the United Nations.


text: Skittles was created and released by a British company in the United Kingdom.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


text: Rubik's Cube puzzle is invented by Hungarian architecture professor Ernő Rubik.


date: June 1

text: June 1 - In an informal article in a medical journal, Henry Heimlich introduced the concept of abdominal thrusts, commonly known as the Heimlich maneuver, to treat victims of choking.


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Two members of the Japanese Red Army (JRA) and two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) made a failed attempt to blow up oil tanks at the Shell oil refinery complex on Pulau Bukom at Singapore. The terrorists then hijacked the ferry Laju and took its five crew members hostage.


date: November 13

text: November 13 – Ronald Joseph DeFeo Jr. shoots and kills all six of his family members while they sleep in their beds inside the family's Amityville, New York, home.


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Fire breaks out in the Joelma Building in São Paulo, Brazil; 177 die, 293 are injured, 11 die later of their injuries.


date: February 17

text: February 17 – Zamalek disaster: A soccer stampede occurs in Cairo, killing 49.


date: March 3

text: March 3 – Turkish Airlines Flight 981, travelling from Paris to London, crashes in the woods near Paris, killing all 346 aboard. This was the deadliest aircraft accident in history up to this time, and remains the deadliest single aircraft accident with no survivors.


date: July 19

text: July 19 – Railcar explosion in Decatur, Illinois. A tanker car collides with a Norfolk & Western boxcar. Seven people are killed, 349 are injured and $18 million in property damage.


date: August 4

text: August 4 – A bomb explodes in a train between Italy and West Germany, killing twelve and wounding 48.


date: August 30

text: August 30 – An express train bound for Germany from Belgrade derails in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), killing more than 150 passengers.


text: August 30 – The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries building in Tokyo is bombed by radical far-left terrorists, killing 8 and wounding more than 376.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – TWA Flight 841 crashes into the Ionian Sea 18 minutes after takeoff from Athens on an Israel–New York flight after a bomb explodes in the cargo hold, and kills 88 people.


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Lufthansa Flight 540 crashes in Nairobi, Kenya, due to a mechanical failure, killing 59 of its 157 occupants.


date: April 3

text: April 3–4 – An enormous tornado outbreak strikes the central parts of the United States, killing around 319 and injuring about 5,484.


date: May 11

text: May 11 – A violent 7.1 earthquake shakes the Chinese city of Zhaotong causing between 1,600 and 20,000 deaths.


date: December 24

text: December 24–25 – Darwin, Australia is almost completely destroyed by Cyclone Tracy.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – A group of peasant women in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India, use their bodies to surround trees to prevent loggers from felling them, giving rise to the Chipko movement.


date: April 5

text: April 5 – Carrie, the debut novel by Stephen King, is published.


date: April 6

text: April 6 – Swedish pop group ABBA's song "Waterloo" wins the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, England, UK.


text: April 6 – The first California Jam festival takes place at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California. Co-headlined by Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The festival set what were then records for the loudest amplification system ever installed, the highest paid attendance, and highest gross in history.


date: April 8

text: April 8 – In Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Hank Aaron hits his 715th home run, surpassing Babe Ruth as the all-time home run king.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – The 1974 FIFA World Cup Association football tournament began in West Germany.


date: July 7

text: July 7 – West Germany beats the Netherlands 2–1 to win the 1974 FIFA World Cup. The West German football team is awarded the new FIFA World Cup Trophy.


date: September 12

text: September 12 – African Youth Amílcar Cabral is founded in Guinea-Bissau.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – The World Tourism Organization (WTO) is established.


date: November 26

text: November 26 – Anneline Kriel is crowned as Miss World 1974, the second South African to hold the title after Penny Coelen in 1958, when Helen Morgan resigns four days after winning the 24th Miss World pageant.


text: The first Standing Conference of Eastern, Central, and Southern African Library and Information Associations (SCECSAL) occurred in Dar es Salaam.


date: January 9

text: January 9 – Farhan Akhtar, Indian film director, screenwriter, actor, singer, producer, and television host

source_section: Births › January


date: January 12

text: January 12 – Melanie C, English pop singer (Spice Girls)


date: February 11

text: February 11 – Alex Jones, American radio host, conspiracy theorist, author and filmmaker

source_section: Births › February


date: February 25

text: February 25 – Dominic Raab, British politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom


date: April 29

text: April 29 – Anggun, Indonesian-French singer-songwriter

source_section: Births › April


date: May 27

text: May 27 – Marjorie Taylor Greene, American politician

source_section: Births › May


date: June 7

text: June 7 – Helen Vollam, Principal Trombone Player for the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

source_section: Births › June


date: June 26

text: June 26 – Derek Jeter, American baseball player


date: August 6

text: August 6 – Todd Blanche, American attorney and prosecutor, Acting U.S. Attorney General

source_section: Births › August


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Mirko Filipović, Croatian kickboxer; mixed martial arts fighter

source_section: Births › September


date: September 19

text: September 19 – Jimmy Fallon, American actor, comedian, and television personality


date: September 23

text: September 23 – Matt Hardy, American professional wrestler


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Leonardo DiCaprio, American actor, producer and environmentalist

source_section: Births › November


date: December 5

text: December 5 – Ben McAdams, American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021 in Utah

source_section: Births › December


date: January 21

text: January 21 – Lewis Strauss, American businessman, philanthropist, and naval officer (b. 1896)

source_section: Deaths › January


date: February 21

text: February 21 – Tim Horton, Canadian ice hockey player and co-founder of the Tim Hortons restaurant chain (b. 1930)

source_section: Deaths › February


date: April 19

text: April 19 – Ayub Khan, Pakistani general and politician, 2nd President of Pakistan (b. 1907)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Guy Simonds, Canadian Lieutenant-General, commander of the Canadian Armed Forces in World War II (b. 1903)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: June 9

text: June 9 – Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemalan writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)

source_section: Deaths › June


date: July 9

text: July 9 – Earl Warren, American jurist and politician, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (b. 1891)

source_section: Deaths › July


date: July 13

text: July 13 – Patrick Blackett, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)


date: July 17

text: July 17 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1910)


date: July 22

text: July 22 – Wayne Morse, American lawyer, politician, and United States Senator from Oregon (1945–1969) (b. 1900)


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Sir James Chadwick, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Clay Shaw, American businessman, best known for being the only person brought to trial for involvement in the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy.

source_section: Deaths › August


date: October 14

text: October 14 – Sattar Bahlulzade, Azerbaijani landscape painter (b. 1909)

source_section: Deaths › October


date: December 11

text: December 11 – María de las Maravillas de Jesús, Spanish Roman Catholic professed member of the Discalced Carmelites and saint (b. 1891)

source_section: Deaths › December


date: December 27

text: December 27 – Ned Maddrell, last surviving native speaker of the Manx language (b. 1877)


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Alvor Agreement: Portugal announces that it will grant independence to Angola on November 11.

source_section: Events › January


date: February 11

text: February 11 – Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for the leadership of the opposition UK Conservative Party. Thatcher, 49, is Britain's first female leader of any political party.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 28

text: February 28 – In Lomé, Togo, the European Economic Community and 46 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries sign a financial and economic treaty, known as the first Lomé Convention.


date: March 6

text: March 6 – Algiers Agreement: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement in their border dispute.

source_section: Events › March


date: May 16

text: May 16 – Sikkim accedes to India after a referendum and abolishes the Chogyal, its monarchy.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 28

text: May 28 – Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States.


date: June 6

text: June 6 – The Georgetown Agreement, formally creating the ACP Group, is signed.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 11

text: June 11 – After a referendum and seven years of military rule, modern-day Greece is established as the Hellenic Republic.


date: July 12

text: July 12 – São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.

source_section: Events › July


date: July 21

text: July 21 – The Parliament of India votes to approve Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's declaration of a state of emergency, with a 301–76 vote in the lower house and a 147–32 vote in the upper house.


date: August 1

text: August 1 – The Helsinki Accords, which officially recognize Europe's national borders and respect for human rights, are signed in Finland.

source_section: Events › August


date: September 16

text: September 16 – Cape Verde, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe join the United Nations.

source_section: Events › September


date: October 30

text: October 30 – Juan Carlos I of Spain becomes acting head of state after General Francisco Franco concedes that he is too ill to govern. His death on November 20 effectively marks the end of the dictatorship established following the Spanish Civil War and the beginning of the Spanish transition to democracy.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 31

text: October 31 – Tun Mustapha resigns as Chief Minister of Sabah, a state in Malaysia, bringing to an end speculation that he would attempt to lead secession for Sabah to become an independent nation.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – The Treaty of Osimo is signed between Italy and Yugoslavia, resolving their dispute over Trieste. Under the agreement, a majority of the land area and residents go to Italy.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Australian constitutional crisis of 1975: Governor-General of Australia Sir John Kerr controversially dismisses the Whitlam Labor government and commissions Malcolm Fraser of the Liberal/National Country Coalition as caretaker Prime Minister.


date: November 14

text: November 14 – Madrid Accords: Spain agrees to hand over power of the Spanish Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania by the end of February 1976.