date: November 15

text: November 15 – The "Group of 6" industrialized nations (G-6) is formed and holds its 1st summit at the Château de Rambouillet in France.


date: November 19

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: November 19 – The United States Congress approves the Clark Amendment, ending aid to the FNLA and UNITA.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 25

text: November 25 – Suriname gains independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.


date: November 28

text: November 28 – Portuguese Timor declares its independence from Portugal as East Timor.


date: November 29

text: November 29 – 1975 New Zealand general election: The New Zealand National Party led by Robert Muldoon defeats the incumbent New Zealand Labour Party led by Prime Minister Bill Rowling.


date: December 2

text: December 2 – In Laos, the Second Indochina War ends, when the communist party of the Pathet Lao takes over Vientiane and defeats the Kingdom of Laos, forcing King Sisavang Vatthana to abdicate and creating the Lao People's Democratic Republic. This ends the Laotian Civil War, with mass evacuation of American troops and Laotian civilians, but effectively begins the Insurgency in Laos with the Pathet Lao fighting the Hmong people, Royalist-in-exile and the Right-wings.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 13

text: December 13 – 1975 Australian federal election: The Liberal/National Country Coalition led by Malcolm Fraser defeats the recently dismissed Labor government led by Gough Whitlam. The Fraser government achieves what is so far the largest parliamentary majority in federal Australian political history. Whitlam would subsequently survive a leadership challenge against him.


date: February 5

section: Conflict & Security

text: February 5 – The Argentinian president Isabel Perón decrees Operativo Independencia, aiming to neutralize or annihilate the "subversive elements" in the province of Tucuman. She assumes extraordinary powers.

source_section: Events › February


date: March 6

text: March 6 – A bomb explodes in the Paris offices of Springer publishers. The March 6 Group (connected to the Red Army Faction) demands amnesty for the Baader-Meinhof Group.

source_section: Events › March


date: March 10

text: March 10 – Vietnam War: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Mê Thuột in South Vietnam on their way to capturing Saigon.


date: April 13

text: April 13 – Bus massacre: The Kataeb militia kills 27 Palestinians during an attack on their bus in Ain El Remmeneh, Lebanon, triggering the Lebanese Civil War which lasts until 1990.

source_section: Events › April


date: April 17

text: April 17 – The Khmer Republic surrenders, when the Communist Khmer Rouge guerilla forces capture Phnom Penh ending the Cambodian Civil War, with mass evacuation of American troops and Cambodian civilians.


date: April 25

text: April 25 – Vietnam War: As North Vietnamese Army forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost 10 years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.


date: April 29

text: April 29 – Vietnam War: North Vietnam concludes its East Sea Campaign by capturing all of the Spratly Islands that were being held by South Vietnam.


date: April 30

text: April 30 – Vietnam War – Fall of Saigon: The Vietnam War concludes as Communist forces from North Vietnam take over Saigon, resulting in mass evacuation of the remaining American troops and South Vietnam civilians. As the capital is taken, South Vietnam surrenders unconditionally and is replaced with a temporary Provisional Government.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Mayaguez incident: The American merchant ship Mayaguez, seized by Cambodian forces, is rescued by the U.S. Navy and Marines; 38 Americans are killed.

source_section: Events › May


date: June 25

text: June 25 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declares a state of emergency in India, suspending civil liberties and elections.

source_section: Events › June


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Some members of Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Armageddon will occur this year based on the group's chronology and some sell their houses and businesses to prepare for the new world paradise which they believe will be created when Jesus establishes God's Kingdom on Earth.

source_section: Events › August


text: August 15 – Founder President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh is killed during a coup led by Major Syed Faruque Rahman.


date: August 24

text: August 24 – Officers responsible for the military coup in Greece in 1967 are sentenced to death in Athens. The sentences are later commuted to life imprisonment.


date: August

text: The first Cuban forces arrive in Angola to join Soviet personnel who are there to assist the MPLA that controls less than a quarter of Angolan territory. The United States, Zaire and Zambia request South Africa to provide training and support for the FNLA and UNITA forces.


date: September 5

text: September 5 – In Sacramento, California, Lynette Fromme attempts to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford, but is thwarted by a Secret Service agent.

source_section: Events › September


date: September 22

text: September 22 – In San Francisco, Sara Jane Moore tries to assassinate U.S. President Ford, but is foiled by the Secret Service.


date: October 14

text: October 14 – The South African Defence Force invades Angola during Operation Savannah in support of the FNLA and UNITA prior to the Angolan elections scheduled for November 11.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 16

text: October 16 – The "Balibo Five", Australian television journalists are killed at Balibo by Indonesian Army special forces in the buildup to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379: By a vote of 72–35 (with 32 abstentions), the United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution equating Zionism with racism. The resolution provokes an outcry among Zionists. It is repealed in 1991.


text: November 10 – Lev Leshchenko revives "Den Pobedy", one of the most popular World War II songs in the Soviet Union.


date: November 16

text: November 16 – Beginning of the Third Cod War between UK and Iceland, which lasts until June 1976.


date: November 25

text: November 25 – A failed military coup d'état by far-left activists occurs in Portugal.


date: November 28

text: November 28 – South African Navy frigates evacuate 26 SADF members from behind enemy lines at Ambrizete, 160 km mi north of Luanda in Angola.


date: December 7

text: December 7 – Indonesian invasion of East Timor: Indonesia invades East Timor; the occupation continues until 1999 when U.N. peacekeepers take control, which they did until 2002.


date: May 16

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: May 16 – Junko Tabei from Japan becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.


date: September

text: September–October – In New Zealand, Māori leader Whina Cooper leads a march of 5,000 people, in support of Maori claims to their land.


date: November 6

text: November 6 – The Green March begins: 300,000 unarmed Moroccans converge on the southern city of Tarfaya and wait for a signal from King Hassan II of Morocco to cross into Western Sahara.


date: September 15

section: Religion & Belief

text: September 15 – The French department of Corse, comprising the entire island of Corsica, is divided into two departments: Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica) and Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica).


date: September 20

text: September 20 – The term of Tuanku Al-Mutassimu Billahi Muhibbudin Sultan Abdul Halim Al-Muadzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, as the 5th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, ends.


date: September 21

text: September 21 – Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim Petra of Kelantan, becomes the 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.


date: March 15

section: Economy & Finance

text: March 15 – In Brazil, Guanabara State merges into the state of Rio de Janeiro. The state's capital moves from the city of Niterói to the city of Rio de Janeiro.


date: April 4

text: April 4 – Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft (at this time known as Micro-Soft) in Albuquerque, New Mexico and release their Altair BASIC interpreter. (Microsoft becomes a registered trademark on November 26, 1976.)


date: January 2

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: January 2 – A bomb blast at Samastipur, Bihar, India, fatally wounds Lalit Narayan Mishra, Minister of Railways.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 5

text: January 5 – Tasman Bridge disaster: The Tasman Bridge in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier , causing a partial collapse resulting in 12 deaths.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Australian television switches to full-time colour.


date: March 9

text: March 9 – Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins.


date: March 10

text: March 10 – An extended portion of Sanyō Shinkansen between Okayama Station and Hakata Station opens, giving the Japanese Shinkansen high speed rail network access to the country's second island, Kyushu.


date: April 20

text: April 20 – Taman Mini Indonesia Indah opens to the public in Jakarta, Indonesia.


date: June 5

text: June 5 – The Suez Canal opens for the first time since the Six-Day War.


date: July 1

text: July 1 – The Postmaster-General's Department is disaggregated into the Australian Telecommunications Commission (trading as Telecom Australia) and the Australian Postal Commission (trading as Australia Post).

source_section: Events › July


date: August 25

text: August 25 – The Victoria Falls Conference between Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith and the United African National Council is held in a South African Railways coach on the Victoria Falls Bridge, officiated by Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda and South African Prime Minister John Vorster.


date: September 30

text: September 30 – The Hughes Helicopters (later McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing IDS) AH-64 Apache makes its first flight.


date: December 3

text: December 3 – Wreck of (sunk by mine 1916) is found in the Kea Channel by Jacques Cousteau.


section: Science & Discovery

text: January 2 – The Federal Rules of Evidence are approved by the United States Congress.


date: April 5

text: April 5 – The Soviet crewed space mission (Soyuz 18a) ends in failure during its ascent into orbit when a critical malfunction occurs in the second and third stages of the booster rocket during staging at an altitude of 192 km, resulting in the cosmonauts and their Soyuz spacecraft having to be ripped free from the vehicle. Both cosmonauts (Vasily Lazarev and Oleg Makarov) survive.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Bobby Unser wins the Indianapolis 500 for a second time in a rain-shorted 174 lap, 700 km mi race.


date: July 17

text: July 17 – Apollo–Soyuz Test Project: A crewed American Apollo spacecraft and the crewed Soviet Soyuz spacecraft for the Soyuz 19 mission dock in orbit, marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the 2 nations.


date: August 20

text: August 20 – Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.


text: September 30 – (US time) Home Box Office becomes the first pay television network to deliver a continuous signal via satellite by broadcasting the "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match live.


text: Benoit Mandelbrot coins the mathematical term fractal.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: March 28

section: Health & Medicine

text: March 28 – A fire in the maternity wing at Kučić Hospital in Rijeka, Yugoslavia (Croatia), kills 25 people.


date: August 11

text: August 11 – Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese East Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a UDT coup and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – The last naturally occurring case of smallpox is diagnosed and treated, the victim being two-year-old Rahima Banu in Bangladesh.


date: October 31

text: October 31 – The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 takes effect in Australia.


date: November 29

text: November 29 – While disabled, the submarine tender discharges radioactive coolant water into Apra Harbor, Guam. A Geiger counter at two of the harbor's public beaches shows 100 millirems/hour, 50 times the allowable dose.


date: December 18

text: December 18 – The Algerian president Houari Boumediene orders the expulsion of all Moroccans from Algeria.


date: January 1

section: Crime & Justice

text: January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up.


date: February 27

text: February 27 – The 2 June Movement kidnaps West German politician Peter Lorenz. He is released on March 4 after most of the kidnappers' demands are met.


date: March 25

text: March 25 – King Faisal of Saudi Arabia is shot and killed by his nephew.


date: September 14

text: September 14 – Rembrandt's painting The Night Watch is slashed a dozen times at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Francoist Spain executes five ETA and FRAP members, the last executions in Spain to date.


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Six people, including Carlos the Jackal, kidnap delegates of an OPEC conference in Vienna.


text: Victoria (Australia) abolishes capital punishment.


date: February 28

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: February 28 – A major tube train crash at Moorgate station, London kills 43 people.


date: April 4

text: April 4 – Vietnam War: The first military Operation Babylift flight, C5A 80218, crashes 27 minutes after takeoff, killing 138 on board; 176 survive the crash.


date: April 18

text: April 18 – The Khmer Rouge begins a forcible mass evacuation of the city and starts the Cambodian genocide.


date: May 27

text: May 27 – The Dibbles Bridge coach crash near Grassington, North Yorkshire, England, results in 32 deaths (the highest toll in a United Kingdom road accident).


date: October 14

text: October 14 – A British Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan bomber explodes and crashes over Żabbar, Malta after an aborted landing, killing five crew members and one person on the ground.


date: November 7

text: November 7 – A vapor cloud explosion at a petroleum cracking facility in Geleen, Netherlands, leaves 14 dead and 109 injured, with fires lasting for five days.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – The 729 ft m-long freighter sinks during a storm 27 km mi from the entrance to Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior, killing all 29 crew members on board (an event immortalized in song by Gordon Lightfoot).


date: December 29

text: December 29 – A bomb explosion at LaGuardia Airport in New York City kills 11 people.


date: February 4

section: Climate & Environment

text: February 4 – The Haicheng earthquake in Haicheng, Liaoning, China, kills 2,041 and injures 27,538, but much of the city has been evacuated in a claimed example of earthquake prediction.


date: July 30

text: July 30 – Typhoon Nina forms over the Philippine Sea.


date: August 8

text: August 8 – The Banqiao Dam, in China's Henan Province, fails after Typhoon Nina; over 200,000 people perish.


date: September 6

text: September 6 – An earthquake of magnitude kills at least 2,085 in Diyarbakır and Lice, Turkey.


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Angola becomes independent from Portugal and civil war erupts.


date: March 1

section: Culture & Society

text: March 1 – Aston Villa win the English Football League Cup at Wembley, beating Norwich City 1–0 in the final.


date: March 22

text: March 22 – "Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In (music by Dick Bakker, lyrics by Will Luikinga and Eddy Ouwens) wins the 20th Eurovision Song Contest 1975 (staged in Stockholm) for the Netherlands.


date: May 3

text: May 3 – West Ham United win the FA Cup at Wembley, beating Fulham 2–0 in the final.


date: June 9

text: June 9 – The Order of Australia is awarded for the first time.


text: November 11 – The first annual Vogalonga rowing "race" is held in Venice, Italy.


text: South Australia becomes the first Australian state to decriminalize homosexual acts between consenting adults.


date: January 11

section: Births

text: January 11 – Matteo Renzi, 56th Prime Minister of Italy

source_section: Births › January


date: April 26

text: April 26 – Joey Jordison, American metal drummer for Slipknot (d. 2021)

source_section: Births › April


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Janne Seurujärvi, Finnish Sami politician, and the first Sami to be elected to the Finnish Parliament.

source_section: Births › May


date: May 27

text: May 27 – Jamie Oliver, English chef, restaurateur and television personality


date: May 29

text: May 29 – Mel B, English singer, songwriter, rapper, television personality, actress and author


date: June 1

text: June 1 – Nikol Pashinyan, Armenian politician, Prime Minister of Armenia

source_section: Births › June


date: July 26

text: July 26 – Liz Truss, English politician, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

source_section: Births › July


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Marion Cotillard, French actress, singer, songwriter, and musician

source_section: Births › September


date: December 12

text: December 12 – Mayim Bialik, Israeli-American actress and neuroscientist

source_section: Births › December


date: December 17

text: December 17 – Milla Jovovich, Ukrainian-born American actress and model


date: December 18

text: December 18 – Sia, Australian singer-songwriter and music video director


date: December 21

text: December 21 – Charles Michel, Belgian politician, 51st Prime Minister of Belgium and President of the European Council


date: December 30

text: December 30 – Tiger Woods, American golfer


date: December

text: Mia Love, American political commentator and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019 in Utah, the first and to date only black woman elected to congress as a republican


date: February 6

section: Deaths

text: February 6 – Sir Keith Park, New Zealand-born British air chief marshal (b. 1892)

source_section: Deaths › February


date: March 8

text: March 8 – George Stevens, American director, producer and cinematographer (b. 1904)

source_section: Deaths › March


date: April 12

text: April 12 – Josephine Baker, American-born French entertainer and activist (b. 1906)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: April 17

text: April 17 – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian philosopher and politician, 2nd President of India (b. 1888)


date: April 23

text: April 23 – William Hartnell, English actor (b. 1908)


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Avery Brundage, American administrator, 5th President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1887)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: June 3

text: June 3 – Eisaku Satō, Japanese politician, Prime Minister of Japan, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1901)

source_section: Deaths › June


date: June 26

text: June 26 – Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish Roman Catholic priest and saint (b. 1902)


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Rod Serling, American television screenwriter and narrator (b. 1924)


date: September 20

text: September 20 – Saint-John Perse, French diplomat and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)

source_section: Deaths › September


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Casey Stengel, American baseball player and manager (b. 1890)


date: December 4

text: December 4 – Hannah Arendt, German political theorist (b. 1906)

source_section: Deaths › December


date: December 11

text: December 11 – Nihal Atsız, Turkish ultranationalist writer, novelist, and poet (b. 1905)


date: December 19

text: December 19 – René Maheu, French professor and administrator, 6th Director-General of UNESCO (b. 1905)


date: January 2

text: January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 5

text: January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.


date: January 18

text: January 18 – Full diplomatic relations are established between Bangladesh and Pakistan 5 years after the Bangladesh Liberation War.


date: January 27

text: January 27 – The United States vetoes a United Nations resolution that calls for an independent Palestinian state.


date: February 9

text: February 9 – The Australian Defence Force is formed by unification of the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 27

text: February 27 – The Polisario Front, Western Sahara's national liberation movement, declares independence of the territory under the name "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic".


date: March 4

text: March 4 – The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland, resulting in Direct rule over Northern Ireland by the Government of the United Kingdom in London.

source_section: Events › March


date: April 5

text: April 5 – James Callaghan becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

source_section: Events › April


date: June 1

text: June 1 – The United Kingdom and Iceland end the Third Cod War, with the UK accepting Iceland's extension of its territorial waters to 200 nautical miles in exchange for defined fishing rights.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 2

text: June 2 – The Philippine government opens relations with the Soviet Union.


date: June 12

text: June 12 – Alberto Demicheli, a jurist, is inaugurated as a civilian de facto President of Uruguay after Juan María Bordaberry is deposed by the military.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – G-6 is renamed "Group of 7" (G-7) with the inclusion of Canada.


date: July 2

text: July 2 – North Vietnam dissolves the Provisional Government of South Vietnam and unites the two countries to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

source_section: Events › July


date: July 7

text: July 7 – David Steel becomes leader of the UK's Liberal Party in the aftermath of the scandal which forced out Jeremy Thorpe.


date: July 17

text: July 17 – East Timor is declared the 27th province of Indonesia.


date: July 27

text: July 27 – The United Kingdom breaks diplomatic relations with its former colony Uganda in response to the hijacking of Air France Flight 139.


date: October 12

text: October 12 – The People's Republic of China announces that Hua Guofeng is the successor to Mao Zedong as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party following the latter's death on September 9 from a heart attack.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 22

text: October 22 – Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, the 5th President of Ireland, resigns after being publicly insulted by the Minister for Defense.


date: November 2

text: November 2 – 1976 United States presidential election: Jimmy Carter narrowly defeats incumbent Gerald Ford, becoming the first candidate from the Deep South to win since the Civil War.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 26

text: November 26 – The Warsaw Treaty Organization joint secretariat is established.


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Sir Douglas Nicholls is appointed the 28th Governor of South Australia, the first Australian Aboriginal appointed to vice-regal office.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 3

text: December 3 – Patrick Hillery is sworn in after being elected unopposed as the 6th President of Ireland.


date: December 5

text: December 5 – The Japanese general election takes place, and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party loses its majority in the 511-member House of Representatives but remains the largest party with 249 seats.


date: December 15

text: December 15 – Denis Healey announces to the British Parliament that he has successfully negotiated a £2.3bn loan from the International Monetary Fund.


date: January 27

text: January 27 – Western Sahara War: The First Battle of Amgala breaks out between Morocco and Algeria in the Spanish Sahara.


date: February 13

text: February 13 – General Murtala Mohammed of Nigeria is assassinated in a military coup.


date: February 26

text: February 26 – The Spanish Armed Forces withdraw from Western Sahara.


date: March 24

text: March 24 – A general strike takes place in the People's Republic of the Congo.


date: March 27

text: March 27 – The South African Defence Force withdraws from Angola and concludes Operation Savannah.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – The military dictatorship of General Jorge Rafael Videla comes to power in Argentina.


date: April 5

text: April 5 – Segovia prison break: in Spain's largest prison break since the Spanish Civil War, 29 political prisoners escape from Segovia prison.


date: May 16

text: May 16 – The Montreal Canadiens sweep the Philadelphia Flyers in four games to win the Stanley Cup in ice hockey.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 31

text: May 31 – Syria intervenes in the Lebanese Civil War in opposition to the Palestine Liberation Organization, which it has previously supported.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – Palestinian militants hijack an Air France plane in Greece with 246 passengers and 12 crew. They take it to Entebbe, Uganda.


date: June 29

text: June 29 – The Conference of Communist and Workers Parties of Europe convenes in East Berlin.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – Four mercenaries, three British and one American, are shot by firing squad in Angola, following the Luanda Trial.


date: July 15

text: July 15 – Jimmy Carter is nominated for U.S. president at the Democratic National Convention in New York City.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb kills Christopher Ewart-Biggs, new British ambassador to the Irish Republic, and Judith Cooke, a Northern Ireland Office private secretary, in Dublin; two others are seriously wounded but survive.


date: July

text: California State University, Fullerton massacre: seven people are shot and killed, and two others are wounded in a mass shooting on campus at California State University, Fullerton.


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Defending F1 World Champion Niki Lauda suffers serious burns in the German Grand Prix after a huge accident that nearly cost him his life.

source_section: Events › August


date: August 5

text: August 5 – The clock of "Big Ben" at the Palace of Westminster in London suffers internal damage and requires frequent repairs. The clock is stopped at times on 26 of the next 275 days.


date: August 9

text: August 9 – The Selous Scouts of the Rhodesian Army conduct a cross-border raid into Nyadzonya, Mozambique in Operation Eland, an action that led to severe political and diplomatic consequences on Rhodesia.


date: August 11

text: August 11 – A sniper rampage in Wichita, Kansas on a Holiday Inn results in 3 deaths while 7 others are wounded.


date: August 18

text: August 18 – At Panmunjom, North Korea, two United States soldiers are killed while trying to chop down part of a tree in the Korean Demilitarized Zone which has obscured their view.


date: September 6

text: September 6 – Cold War: Soviet Air Force pilot Lt. Viktor Belenko lands a MiG-25 jet fighter at Hakodate, on the island of Hokkaidō in Japan, and requests political asylum in the United States.

source_section: Events › September


date: September 21

text: September 21 – Orlando Letelier is assassinated in Washington, D.C. by agents of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – Students gathering at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand are massacred, while protesting the return of ex-dictator Thanom Kittikachorn by a coalition of right-wing paramilitary and government forces, triggering the return of the military to government.


text: October 6 – In San Francisco, during his second televised debate with Jimmy Carter, U.S. President Gerald Ford incorrectly declares that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe" (there is at the time).


date: November 15

text: November 15 – The first megamouth shark is discovered off Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi.


date: July 19

text: July 19 – Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – The Body Shop, the retail chain for skin care products and cosmetics founded by Anita Roddick, opens its first branch in Brighton, England.


date: April 1

text: April 1 – Conrail (Consolidated Rails Corporation) is formed by the U.S. government, to take control of 13 major Northeast Class-1 railroads that have filed for bankruptcy protection. Conrail takes control at midnight, as a government-owned and operated railroad until 1986, when it is sold to the public.


date: April 13

text: April 13 – The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.


text: Price Club, as predecessor of Costco, a worldwide membership-registration-only retailer, is founded in California.


date: August 8

text: August 8 – As part of the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger, a dispersal draft is conducted to assign teams for the players on the two ABA franchises which have folded.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – The United States Commission on Civil Rights releases the report, Puerto Ricans in the Continental United States: An Uncertain Future, that documents that Puerto Ricans in the United States have a poverty rate of 33 percent in 1974 (up from 29 percent in 1970), the highest of all major racial-ethnic groups in the country (not including Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory).


date: November 26

text: November 26 – Microsoft is officially registered with the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico.


date: March 27

text: March 27 – The first 7.4 km mi of the Washington Metro subway system opens.


date: March

text: March – The Cray-1, the first commercially developed supercomputer, is released by Seymour Cray's Cray Research, with the first purchaser being the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) in Los Alamos, New Mexico.


text: April 1 – Apple Computer Company is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in California.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – Washington, D.C. Concorde service begins.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – Indianapolis 500 automobile race: Johnny Rutherford wins the (rain-shortened) shortest race in event history to date, at 102 laps or 408 km mi.


date: June 11

text: June 11 - Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh gathers 126 of the UK's leading engineers at Buckingham Palace to form the Fellowship of Engineering, later to be known as the Royal Academy of Engineering.


date: June 26

text: June 26 – The CN Tower is opened in Toronto, the tallest free-standing land structure opens to the public.


date: July 6

text: July 6 – The first class of women is inducted at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.


date: September 1

text: September 1 – Cigarette and tobacco advertising is banned on Australian television and radio.


date: September 15

text: September 15 – Darryl Sittler scores the winning goal in the 1976 Canada Cup for Canada to win over Czechoslovakia in overtime, to win the first Canada Cup in ice hockey.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – The InterCity 125 high-speed train is introduced in the United Kingdom.


text: The first laser printer is introduced by IBM (the IBM 3800).

source_section: Events › Date unknown


text: April 1 – The Jovian–Plutonian gravitational effect is first reported by British astronomer Patrick Moore.


date: May 4

text: May 4 – The first LAGEOS (Laser Geodynamics Satellite) is launched.


date: May 13

text: May 13 – The Atari video arcade game Breakout is released.


date: July 20

text: July 20 – Viking program: The Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo, taken by Viking 1.


date: August 7

text: August 7 – Viking program: Viking 2 enters into orbit around Mars.


date: September 3

text: September 3 – Viking program: The Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars, taking the first close-up color photographs of the planet's surface.


date: September 17

text: September 17 – The space shuttle Enterprise is rolled out of a hangar in Palmdale, California, United States.


date: October 19

text: October 19 – The Copyright Act of 1976 extends copyright duration for an additional 19 years in the United States.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – The world's first known case of Ebola is recorded in Nzara, Sudan (now South Sudan).


date: August 26

text: August 26 – The second known outbreak of Ebola virus occurs in Yambuku, Zaire.


text: September 1 – The state of emergency in the Republic of Ireland legally still in force since 1939 is lifted.


date: November 6

text: November 6 - Uttawar forced sterilisations: Mass vasectomy of nearly 800 men of Uttawar village, Palwal district, Haryana during India's Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi.


text: Random breath testing is introduced in Victoria (Australia).


date: March 1

text: March 1 – U.K. Home Secretary Merlyn Rees ends Special Category Status for those sentenced for scheduled terrorist crimes relating to the civil violence in Northern Ireland.


text: March 1 – Bradford Bishop allegedly murders five of his family members in Bethesda, Maryland. The crime goes undiscovered for 10 days and the suspect is never caught. From 2014 to 2018 he is on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – The Maguire Seven are found guilty in London of possessing explosives for use by the Provisional Irish Republican Army and subsequently jailed for 14 years; their convictions were overturned in 1991.


date: March 20

text: March 20 – Patty Hearst is found guilty of armed robbery of a San Francisco bank in 1974.


date: April 21

text: April 21 – The Great Bookie Robbery in Melbourne, Australia: Bandits steal A$1.4 million in bookmakers' settlements from Queen Street, Melbourne.


date: May 9

text: May 9 – Ulrike Meinhof of the Red Army Faction is found hanged in an apparent suicide in her Stuttgart-Stammheim prison cell.


date: June 20

text: June 20 – Hundreds of Western tourists are moved from Beirut and taken to safety in Syria by the U.S. military, following the murder of the U.S. Ambassador.


text: June 20 – Czechoslovakia beats West Germany 5–3 on penalties to win Euro 76 when the game ends 2–2 after extra time.


date: July 3

text: July 3 – Gregg v. Georgia: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the death penalty is not inherently cruel or unusual and is a constitutionally acceptable form of punishment overturning the Furman v. Georgia case of 1972.


date: July 4

text: July 4 – Entebbe Raid: Israeli airborne commandos free 103 hostages being held by Palestinian hijackers of an Air France plane at Uganda's Entebbe Airport; Yonatan Netanyahu and several Ugandan soldiers are killed in the raid.


date: July 15

text: July 15 – Twenty-six Chowchilla schoolchildren and their bus driver are abducted and buried in a box truck within a quarry in Livermore, California. The captives dig themselves free after 16 hours. The quarry-owner's son and two accomplices are arrested for the crime.


date: July 16

text: July 16–20 – Albert Spaggiari and his gang break into the vault of the Société Generale Bank in Nice, France.


date: July 20

text: July 20 – American criminal Gary Gilmore is arrested for murdering two men in Utah.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – In New York City, the "Son of Sam" pulls a gun from a paper bag, killing one and seriously wounding another, in the first of a series of attacks that terrorize the city for the next year.


date: August 2

text: August 2 – A gunman murders Andrea Wilborn and Stan Farr and injures Priscilla Davis and Gus Gavrel, in an incident at Priscilla's mansion in Fort Worth, Texas. T. Cullen Davis, Priscilla's husband and one of the richest men in Texas, is tried and found innocent for Andrea's murder, involvement in a plot to kill several people (including Priscilla and a judge), and a wrongful death lawsuit. Cullen goes broke afterwards.


date: August 6

text: August 6 – Former United Kingdom Postmaster General John Stonehouse is sentenced to 7 years' jail for fraud, theft and forgery.


date: August 24

text: August 24 – In Uruguay, the army captures Marcelo Gelman and his pregnant wife. Gelman is later killed and his wife disappears.


date: September 16

text: September 16 – Beginning with the Night of the Pencils, a series of kidnappings and forced disappearances followed by torture, rape, and murder of students under the Argentine dictatorship takes place.


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Patty Hearst is sentenced to seven years in prison for her role in the armed robbery of a San Francisco bank in 1974 (an executive clemency order from U.S. President Jimmy Carter will set her free after only 22 months).


date: October 6

text: October 6 – The Cultural Revolution in China concludes upon the capture of the Gang of Four.


text: The New Jersey Legislature passes legislation legalizing casinos in the shore town of Atlantic City commencing in 1978. After signing the bill into law, Governor Brendan Byrne declares "The mob is not welcome in New Jersey!" referring to the Mafia's influence at casinos in Nevada.


date: January 16

text: January 16 – A locomotive crashes into the rear of a commuter train in Glenbrook, Australia, killing one person onboard and injuring ten others in the 1976 Glenbrook rail accident.


date: March 9

text: March 9 – A cable car disaster occurs when a supporting cable breaks in Cavalese, Italy, resulting in 43 deaths.


text: March 9–11 – Two coal mine explosions claim 26 lives at the Blue Diamond Coal Co. Scotia Mine, in Letcher County, Kentucky.


date: April 13

text: April 13 – The Lapua Cartridge Factory explosion in Lapua, Finland kills 40.


date: April 29

text: April 29 – Sino-Soviet split: A concealed bomb explodes at the gates of the Soviet embassy in China, killing four Chinese. The targets were embassy employees, returning from lunch, but on this day they had returned to the embassy earlier.


date: May 4

text: May 4 – A train crash in Schiedam, the Netherlands, kills 24 people.


date: May 21

text: May 21 – The Yuba City bus disaster, the second-worst bus crash in U.S. history, leaves 28 students and one teacher killed.


date: June 2

text: June 2 – A car bomb fatally injures Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles.


date: June 5

text: June 5 – The Teton Dam collapses in southeast Idaho in the US, killing 11 people.


date: June 6

text: June 6 – The Double Six Crash, a plane crash in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, kills everyone on board, including Sabahan Chief Minister Tun Fuad Stephens.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – Seveso disaster: An explosion at a chemical plant in Seveso, Italy, causes extensive pollution to a large area in the neighborhood of Milan, with many evacuations and a large number of people affected by the toxic cloud.


date: September 3

text: September 3 – A Lockheed C-130 Hercules of the Venezuelan Air Force crashed near Lajes Field, Azores Islands, Portugal, killing all 68 occupants on board.


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Zagreb mid-air collision: A British Airways Trident and a Yugoslav DC-9 collide near Zagreb, Yugoslavia (modern-day Zagreb, Croatia), killing all 176 aboard.


text: September 16 – Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from a trolleybus that had fallen into a Yerevan reservoir.


text: October 6 – Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 crashes due to a bomb placed by anti-Fidel Castro terrorists, after taking off from Bridgetown, Barbados; all 73 people on board are killed.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – The Mississippi River ferry MV George Prince is struck by a ship while crossing from Destrehan, Louisiana to Luling, Louisiana, killing 78 passengers and crew.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – The 7.5 Guatemala earthquake affects Guatemala and Honduras with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), leaving 23,000 dead and 76,000 injured.


date: April 19

text: April 19 – A violent F5 tornado strikes around Brownwood, Texas, injuring 11 people. Two people were thrown at least 1000 yd m by the tornado and survived uninjured.


date: May 6

text: May 6 – An earthquake hits the Friuli area in Italy, killing more than 900 people and making another 100,000 homeless.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Savage thunderstorms roll through the state of Iowa, spawning several tornadoes, including an F-5 tornado that destroys the town of Jordan.


date: July 3

text: July 3 – The great heat wave in the United Kingdom, which is currently suffering from drought conditions, reaches its peak.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – The Tangshan earthquake flattens Tangshan, China, killing 242,769 people, and injuring 164,851.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – The Big Thompson River in northern Colorado floods, destroying more than 400 cars and houses and killing 143 people.


date: August 17

text: August 17 – The 8.0 Moro Gulf earthquake hits off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines, triggering a destructive tsunami, killing between 5,000 and 8,000 people and leaving more than 90,000 homeless.


date: August 25

text: August 25 – Landslide disaster in Sau Mau Ping, Hong Kong.


date: October 19

text: October 19 – The Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is placed on the list of endangered species.


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Disappearance of Renee MacRae and her 3-year-old son Andrew from Inverness in Scotland; this becomes Britain's longest-running missing persons case.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – 1976 Çaldıran–Muradiye earthquake: Between 4,000 and 5,000 are killed in a 7.3 earthquake at Van and Muradiye in eastern Turkey.


date: December 23

text: December 23 – A new volcano, Murara, erupts in eastern Zaire.


text: February 4 – The 1976 Winter Olympics begin in Innsbruck, Austria.


date: April 3

text: April 3 – The Eurovision Song Contest 1976 is won by Brotherhood of Man, representing the United Kingdom, with their song Save Your Kisses for Me.


date: April 16

text: April 16 – As a measure to curb population growth, the minimum age for marriage in India is raised to 21 years for men and 18 years for women.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – The Judgment of Paris pits French vs. California wines in a blind taste-test in Paris, France. California wines win the contest, surprising the wine world and opening the wine industry to newcomers in several countries.


date: June 4

text: June 4 – The Boston Celtics defeat the Phoenix Suns 128–126 in triple overtime in Game 5 of the National Basketball Association Finals at the Boston Garden. In 1997, the game is selected by a panel of experts as the greatest of the NBA's first 50 years.


date: June 25

text: June 25 – Strikes start in Poland (Ursus, Radom, Płock) after communists raise food prices; they end on June 30.


date: July 17

text: July 17 – The 1976 Summer Olympics begin in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.


date: July 18

text: July 18 – 14-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci earns the first of seven perfect scores of 10 at the 1976 Summer Olympics.


date: July 30

text: July 30 – Bruce Jenner wins the gold medal in the men's decathlon at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.


text: July 30 – In Santiago, Chile, Cruzeiro from Brazil beats River Plate from Argentina and are the Copa Libertadores de América champions in Association football.


date: August 1

text: August 1 – The 1976 Summer Olympics ends in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.


date: August 14

text: August 14 – Around 10,000 Protestant and Catholic women demonstrate for peace in Northern Ireland.


date: August 26

text: August 26 – Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, husband of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, resigns from various posts over a scandal involving alleged corruption in connection with business dealings with the Lockheed Corporation.


date: August 29

text: August 29 – The first Women in Print Conference is held in Omaha, Nebraska. Over 130 women from 80 feminist organizations and collectives attend the gathering, which was associated with the women in print movement.


date: September 6

text: September 6 – Frank Sinatra brings Jerry Lewis's former partner Dean Martin onstage, unannounced, at the 1976 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon in Las Vegas, reuniting the comedy team for the first (and only) time in over 20 years.


date: November 3

text: November 3 – Carrie, an American supernatural horror film directed by Brian De Palma, is premiered in 17 theaters in the Washington, D.C.-Baltimore area.


text: Marc Brown's Arthur's Nose is published.


date: January 27

text: January 27 – Ahn Jung-hwan, South Korean footballer and television personality

source_section: Births › January


date: March 20

text: March 20 – Chester Bennington, American singer (Linkin Park) (d. 2017)

source_section: Births › March


date: March 21

text: March 21 – Rachael MacFarlane, American actress and singer, sister of Seth MacFarlane


date: May 4

text: May 4 – Anza, Japanese actress and singer best known for playing the character of Sailor Moon in some Sailor Moon musical

source_section: Births › May


text: June 4 – Alexei Navalny, Russian lawyer and political activist (d. 2024)

source_section: Births › June


text: August 1 – Iván Duque, Colombian politician, 33rd President of Colombia

source_section: Births › August


date: August 6

text: August 6 – Travis Kalanick, American businessman and computer programmer; co-founder of Uber


date: August 15

text: August 15 – Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopian Prime Minister, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize


date: September 28

text: September 28 – Fedor Emelianenko, Russian mixed martial arts fighter

source_section: Births › September


date: November 1

text: November 1 – Sam Presti, American basketball executive, general manager of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder since 2007

source_section: Births › November


date: November 9

text: November 9 – Josh Kaufman, American singer-songwriter, winner of The Voice season 6


date: November 29

text: November 29 – Chadwick Boseman, American actor and playwright (d. 2020)


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Laura Ling, American journalist imprisoned by North Korea in 2009

source_section: Births › December


date: December 25

text: December 25 – Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish metal keyboardist (Nightwish)


date: January 23

text: January 23 – Paul Robeson, American actor, singer, writer and activist (b. 1898)

source_section: Deaths › January


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Ernesto Miranda, American criminal and namesake of the Miranda right (b. 1941)


date: February 1

text: February 1 – George Whipple, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1878)

source_section: Deaths › February


text: February 1 – Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)


date: March 31

text: March 31 – The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that patient in a persistent vegetative state in the Karen Ann Quinlan case can be disconnected from her ventilator. She remains comatose and dies in 1985.

source_section: Events › March


date: April 4

text: April 4 – Harry Nyquist, American information theory pioneer (b. 1889)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: April 9

text: April 9 – Margaret Brundage, American illustrator (Weird Tales) (b. 1900)


date: May 11

text: May 11 – An accident involving a tanker truck carrying anhydrous ammonia takes place in Houston, Texas, resulting in the deaths of 7 people.


date: May 31

text: May 31 – Jacques Monod, French biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1910)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: July 1

text: July 1 – Anneliese Michel, German Roman Catholic woman who was believed to be possessed by demons (b. 1952)

source_section: Deaths › July


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Delegates attending an American Legion convention at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, US, begin falling ill with a form of pneumonia: this will eventually be recognised as the first outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and will end in the deaths of 29 attendees.

source_section: Events › July


date: August 29

text: August 29 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bangladeshi national poet (b. 1899)

source_section: Deaths › August


date: October 9

text: October 9 – Troy H. Middleton, American general and educator (b. 1889)

source_section: Deaths › October


date: November 20

text: November 20 – Trofim Lysenko, Soviet biologist and agronomist of Ukrainian origin (b. 1898)

source_section: Deaths › November


date: January 20

text: January 20 - Jimmy Carter is sworn in as the 39th President of the United States after defeating Gerald Ford in the 1976 election.

source_section: Events › January


date: February 2

text: February 2 – The Congress Party of India, led by Indira Gandhi, splits with Jagjivan Ram and other senior leaders, forming Congress for Democracy. This party later merges with the Janata Party.

source_section: Events › February


date: March 8

text: March 8 – The Australian parliament is opened by Elizabeth II in her capacity as Queen of Australia.


date: March 19

text: March 19 – Results of elections to the Indian Parliament are declared. Indira Gandhi's Congress Party is routed by the opposition Janata alliance.


date: March 21

text: March 21 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi withdraws the state of emergency which was implemented on June 25, 1975.


text: April 9 – Spain legalizes the Communist Party of Spain, which had been outlawed since 1939.

source_section: Events › April


date: May 12

text: May 12 – Portugal and Israel establish diplomatic relations.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 17

text: May 17 – The Likud Party, led by Menachem Begin, wins the national elections in Israel.


date: June 15

text: June 15 – Spain has its first democratic elections, after 41 years of Francoist Spain.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 21

text: June 21 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP forms the new government of Turkey (40th government since the founding of the Turkish republic, but fails to receive the vote of confidence).


date: June 27

text: June 27 – Djibouti receives its independence from France.


text: June 27 – Constitution for the Federation of Earth is adopted by the second session of the World Constituent Assembly, held at Innsbruck, Austria.


date: June 30

text: June 30 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization is permanently disbanded.


date: July 5

text: July 5 – General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq overthrows Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan.


date: August 4

text: August 4 – U.S. president Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the United States Department of Energy.

source_section: Events › August


date: August 9

text: August 9 – The military-controlled government of Uruguay announces that it will return the nation to civilian rule through general elections in 1981 for a president and Congress.


date: August 26

text: August 26 – The National Assembly of Quebec passes the Charter of the French Language (Law 101, La charte de la langue française) making French the official language of the Canadian province of Quebec.


date: September 7

text: September 7 – Torrijos-Carter treaties: Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The U.S. agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.

source_section: Events › September


date: October 7

text: October 7 – The Soviet Union adopts its third Constitution. The Soviet National Anthem's lyrics are returned after a 24-year period, with Joseph Stalin's name omitted.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 23

text: October 23 – The president of Catalonia, Josep Tarradellas, returns to Barcelona from exile and the autonomous government of Catalonia, the Generalitat, is restored.


date: November 19

text: November 19 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to make an official visit to Israel, when he meets with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, seeking a permanent peace settlement.

source_section: Events › November


date: December 6

text: December 6 – South Africa grants independence to Bophuthatswana, although it is not recognized by any other country.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 10

text: December 10 – 1977 Australian federal election: Malcolm Fraser's Liberal/National Country Coalition government is re-elected with a slightly reduced majority, defeating the Labor Party led by former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Consequently, Whitlam resigns as ALP leader after holding the job for nearly 11 years; he is replaced by former treasurer Bill Hayden.


date: December 20

text: December 20 – Djibouti and Vietnam join the United Nations.


date: January 8

text: January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.


date: January 24

text: January 24 – The Massacre of Atocha occurs, during the Spanish transition to democracy.


date: March 9

text: March 9 – Hanafi Siege: Approximately a dozen armed Hanafi Movement members take over 3 buildings in Washington, D.C., killing 1 person and taking 149 hostages (the hostage situation ends 2 days later).

source_section: Events › March


date: April 28

text: April 28 – A federal court in Stuttgart, West Germany, sentences Red Army Faction members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe to life imprisonment.


date: April 30

text: April 30 – The Cold War between Cambodia and Vietnam evolves into the Cambodian–Vietnamese War.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – The Taksim Square massacre in Istanbul results in 34 deaths and hundreds of injuries.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – Moluccan terrorists take over a school in Bovensmilde, northern Netherlands (105 hostages), and a passenger train on the Bovensmilde–Assen route nearby (90 hostages) at the same time. The children are released on May 26. On June 11, Dutch Royal Marines storm the train, and six terrorists and two hostages are killed.


date: June 5

text: June 5 – A bloodless coup installs France-Albert René as President of the Seychelles.


date: July 9

text: July 9 – The Pinochet dictatorship in Chile organises the youth event of Acto de Chacarillas, a ritualised act reminiscent of Francoist Spain.


date: July 13

text: July 13 – Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ethio-Somali War.


date: July 21

text: July 21–24 – The Libyan–Egyptian War, sparked by a Libyan raid on Sallum, begins.


date: July 22

text: July 22 – The purged Chinese Communist leader Deng Xiaoping is restored to power nine months after the "Gang of Four" was expelled from power in a coup d'état.


date: July 30

text: July 30 – Left-wing German terrorists Susanne Albrecht, Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Christian Klar assassinate Jürgen Ponto, chairman of the Dresdner Bank in Oberursel, West Germany.


date: September 4

text: September 4 – The Golden Dragon massacre, involving rival Chinatown gangs, takes place in San Francisco, United States. Five are killed.


date: September 19

text: September 19 – Under pressure from the Carter Administration, President of Nicaragua Anastasio Somoza Debayle lifts the state of siege in Nicaragua.


date: September 20

text: September 20 – The Petrozavodsk phenomenon is observed in the Soviet Union and some northern European countries.


date: October 28

text: October 28 – Hong Kong police attack the ICAC headquarters.


date: November 9

text: November 9 – Gen. Hugo Banzer, president of the military government of Bolivia, announces that the constitutional democracy will be restored in 1978 instead of 1980 as previously provided.


date: September 18

text: September 18 – Courageous (U.S.), skippered by Ted Turner, sweeps the Australian challenger Australia in the 24th America's Cup yacht race at Newport, Rhode Island.


date: December

text: December – The Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific (CESDAP) is implemented.


date: February 23

text: February 23 – Óscar Romero, an outspoken opponent of violence, becomes Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador.


date: January 11

text: January 11 – The first episode of Finnish children's TV show Pikku Kakkonen ("Little Number Two") is aired on Yle TV2.


date: January 18

text: January 18 – Australia's worst railway disaster at Granville, a suburb of Sydney, leaves 83 people dead.


date: April 11

text: April 11 – London Transport's Silver Jubilee AEC Routemaster buses are launched.


date: May 29

text: May 29 – Indianapolis 500: A. J. Foyt becomes the first driver to win the race four times.


date: September 15

text: September 15 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic, as an Italian company in Turin, Centro Studi e Laboratori Telecomunicazioni (CSELT) begins operation of two telephone exchanges.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – The European Patent Institute is founded.


date: November 6

text: November 6 – The Kelly Barnes Dam, located above Toccoa Falls Bible College near Toccoa, Georgia, United States, fails, killing 39 people.


date: November 22

text: November 22 – British Airways inaugurates regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.


text: November 22 – The TCP/IP test succeeds, connecting 3 ARPANET nodes (of 111), in what eventually becomes the Internet protocol. See Packet Radio Van


date: February 7

text: February 7 – The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 24 (Viktor Gorbatko, Yury Glazkov) to dock with the Salyut 5 space station.


date: March 10

text: March 10 – The rings of Uranus are discovered.


date: April 18

text: April 18 – An annular solar eclipse was visible in Africa, and was the 29th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 138.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – Scientists report using bacteria in a lab to make insulin via gene splicing.


date: May 25

text: May 25 - Star Wars is released in the United States by director George Lucas, It immediately became a major pop culture phenomenon, and became a major box office hit for the next 6 years.


date: August 12

text: August 12 – The NASA Space Shuttle, named Enterprise, makes its first test free-flight from the back of a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space; the event is named the Wow! signal for a notation made by a volunteer on the project.


date: August 17

text: August 17 – The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.


date: August 20

text: August 20 – Voyager program: The United States launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.


date: September 5

text: September 5 – Voyager program: Voyager 1 is launched after a brief delay.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Energy Research and Development Administration combines with the Federal Energy Administration to form United States Department of Energy.


date: October 7

text: October 7 – Pelé plays his final professional football game, as a member of the New York Cosmos.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Space Shuttle program: Last test taxi flight of Space Shuttle Enterprise, over California.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – 2060 Chiron, first of the outer Solar System asteroids known as Centaurs, is discovered by Charlie Kowal.


date: January 18

text: January 18 – Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires' disease.


text: August 15 – Nazi war criminal Herbert Kappler escapes from the Caelian Hill military hospital in Rome.


text: October 26 – The last natural smallpox case is discovered in Merca district, Somalia. The WHO and the CDC consider this date the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, a great success of vaccination and, by extension, of modern science.


date: November 2

text: November 2 – The worst storm in Athens' modern history causes havoc across the Greek capital and kills 38 people.


date: April 7

text: April 7 – German Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback and his driver are shot by Red Army Faction members while waiting at a red light near his home in Karlsruhe. The "Ulrike Meinhof Commando" later claims responsibility.


date: May 16

text: May 16 – A 20-passenger S-61L topples sideways at takeoff from the roof of the Pan Am Building in Midtown Manhattan. Four passengers are killed by the turning rotors and a woman at street level is killed by a falling blade.


date: May 27

text: May 27 – A demonstration and coup attempt in Angola takes place. Thousands are killed by the government and Cuban forces.


date: July 27

text: July 27 – The Soviet Politburo orders Boris Yeltsin to demolish the Ipatiev House, where Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family were shot in 1918. Yeltsin later refers to this as a barbarian act.


text: September 5 – German Autumn: Employers Association President Hanns Martin Schleyer is kidnapped in Cologne, West Germany. The kidnappers kill three escorting police officers and his chauffeur. They demand the release of Red Army Faction prisoners.


date: September 8

text: September 8 – Interpol issues a resolution against the copyright infringement of video tapes and other material, which is still cited in warnings on opening pre-credits of videocassettes and DVDs.


date: September 10

text: September 10 – Murderer Hamida Djandoubi is the last person executed by guillotine in France (at Marseille) and the last legal beheading in the Western world.


date: September 19

text: September 19 – North Korean agents abduct Yutaka Kume from Noto Peninsula starting the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens.


date: October 17

text: October 17–18 – German Autumn: GSG 9 troopers storm the hijacked Lufthansa passenger plane in Mogadishu, Somalia; three of the four hijackers die.


date: October 18

text: October 18 – German Autumn: Red Army Faction members Andreas Baader, Jan-Carl Raspe and Gudrun Ensslin commit suicide in Stammheim prison; Irmgard Möller fails (their supporters still claim they were murdered). They are buried on October 27.


date: October 19

text: October 19 – German Autumn: Kidnapped industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer is found murdered in Mulhouse, France.


date: January 17

text: January 17 – 49 Navy and Marine enlisted members on a landing craft from the and are killed by a collision in Barcelona harbour, Spain.


text: January 18 – SFR Yugoslavia Prime minister Džemal Bijedić, his wife and 6 others are killed in a plane crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina.


date: January 19

text: January 19 – An Ejército del Aire CASA C-207C Azor (registration T.7-15) plane crashes into the side of a mountain near Chiva, on approach to Valencia Airport in Spain, killing all 11 people on board.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Eleven CTA commuters are killed when an elevated train derails from the Loop in central Chicago, United States.


date: March 27

text: March 27 – Tenerife disaster: A collision between KLM and Pan Am Boeing 747s at Tenerife, Canary Islands, kills 583 people. This becomes the deadliest accident in aviation history.


date: April 4

text: April 4 – Southern Airways Flight 242 crashes on a highway in New Hope, Georgia, United States, killing 72 people.


date: May 14

text: May 14 – An IAS Cargo Boeing 707 airplane crash in Lusaka, Zambia, kills all six on board.


text: May 27 – The 1977 Aeroflot Ilyushin 62 airplane crash in Cuba kills 69 people.


date: May 28

text: May 28 – The Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, United States, is engulfed in fire; 165 are killed inside.


date: July 13

text: July 13 – New York City is affected by a complete electricity blackout lasting through the following day that results in citywide looting and other criminal activity, including arson.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – German Autumn: Four Palestinians hijack Lufthansa Flight 181 to Somalia and demand the release of 11 Red Army Faction members.


date: November 19

text: November 19 – TAP Portugal Flight 425 crashes at Madeira Airport, Funchal, Portugal, killing 131 and leaving 33 survivors.


date: December 4

text: December 4 – Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 is hijacked and crashes in Tanjung Kupang, Johor, Malaysia, killing all 100 passengers and crew on board.


date: December 13

text: December 13 – a chartered Douglas DC-3 aircraft carrying the University of Evansville basketball team to Nashville, Tennessee, crashes in rain and dense fog about 90 seconds after takeoff from Evansville Regional Airport; 29 people die in the crash, including 14 members of the team and head coach Bob Watson.


date: December 18

text: December 18 – SA de Transport Aérien Flight 730, an international charter service from Zurich to Funchal Airport (Madeira), hits the sea during a landing attempt. Many of the 36 who die drown, trapped inside the sinking aircraft. Twenty-one people survive with the help of rescuers and by swimming to the shore.


date: December 22

text: December 22 – A grain elevator explodes in Westwego, Louisiana, United States, killing 36 people.


date: January 10

text: January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).


date: February 3

text: February 3 – In northern Japan a blizzard piles snow on rooftops, causing many to collapse killing at least 31 people.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – The 1977 Vrancea earthquake in the Vrancea Mountains of Romania kills over 1,500 people.


date: April 24

text: April 24 – In northern Bangladesh, a cyclone kills 13 people and injures about 100 others.


date: July 1

text: July 1 – The East African Community is dissolved.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – A temperature of 48.0 C F, a record for continental Europe, is recorded in Greece.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – The 5.9 Bob–Tangol earthquake rocks Iran, killing at least 584 people and injuring 1,000.


date: March 12

text: March 12 – The Centenary Test between Australia and England begins at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.


date: April 2

text: April 2 – Horse racing: Red Rum wins a record third Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in the UK.


date: June 25

text: June 25 – The 1977 Rugby League World Cup culminates in Australia's 13–12 victory over Great Britain at the Sydney Cricket Ground before about 24,450 spectators.


text: July 1 – The Championships, Wimbledon (tennis) – Virginia Wade wins the women's singles title in the centenary year of the tournament, Wade's first and only Wimbledon title and her third and final Grand Slam title overall; she remains the last British woman to win the singles title at Wimbledon.


date: September 28

text: September 28 – The Porsche 928 debuts at the Geneva Motor Show.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – Three members of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd die in a charter plane crash outside Gillsburg, Mississippi, three days after the release of their fifth studio album Street Survivors.


date: October 27

text: October 27 – British punk band Sex Pistols release Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols on the Virgin Records label. Despite refusal by major retailers in the UK to stock it, it enters the UK Album Charts at number one the week after its release.


date: November 8

text: November 8 – San Francisco elects City Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official of any large city in the U.S.


text: November 8 – Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina.


date: November 30

text: November 30 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is founded as a specialized agency of the United Nations.


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Giorgia Meloni, Italian politician

source_section: Births › January


date: February 2

text: February 2 – Shakira, Colombian singer-songwriter and musician

source_section: Births › February


date: February 24

text: February 24 – Floyd Mayweather Jr., American boxing champion


date: March 10

text: March 10 – Robin Thicke, American-Canadian R&B singer-songwriter and actor

source_section: Births › March


date: April 23

text: April 23 – John Cena, American professional wrestler, actor and rapper

source_section: Births › April


date: June 8

text: June 8 – Kanye West, American rapper and record producer

source_section: Births › June


text: June 25 – Layla El, English dancer, model, and retired professional wrestler


date: July 12

text: July 12 – Brock Lesnar, American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist

source_section: Births › July


date: August 3

text: August 3 – Tom Brady, American football player and entrepreneur

source_section: Births › August


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Bowie Jane, Australian DJ, singer, producer, lawyer and contestant on Big Brother Season 25

source_section: Births › October


date: October 10

text: October 10 – Brandon Vera, Filipino-American retired mixed martial artist and former ONE Heavyweight World Champion


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Brad Delson, American musician (Linkin Park)

source_section: Births › December


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Donald Trump Jr., American businessman and son of former U.S. president Donald Trump


text: December 31 – Psy, South Korean singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer and record producer


date: January 5

text: January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government).

source_section: Events › January


date: January 22

text: January 22 – Ethiopia declares the ambassador of West Germany persona non grata.


date: February 15

text: February 15 – Rhodesia, one of only two remaining white-ruled African nations (the other being South Africa), announces that it will accept multiracial democracy within 2 years.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 25

text: February 25 – The first Legislative Assembly election is held in Arunachal Pradesh, India.


date: March 15

text: March 15 – Somalia and Ethiopia sign a truce to end the Ethio-Somali War.


date: March 28

text: March 28 – San Francisco's City Council signs the United States's most comprehensive gay rights bill.


date: April 30

text: April 30 – The "Democratic Republic of Afghanistan" is proclaimed, under pro-communist leader Nur Muhammad Taraki.

source_section: Events › April


date: May 22

text: May 22 – Exiled leaders Ahmed Abdallah and Muhammad Ahmad return to the Comoros.

source_section: Events › May


date: September 5

text: September 5 – Camp David Accords: Hosted by U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egypt's President Anwar Sadat met at Camp David in Maryland to discuss a peace agreement between the two nations.

source_section: Events › September


date: September 16

text: September 16 – General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq officially assumes the post of President of Pakistan.


date: September 17

text: September 17 – The Camp David Accords are signed between Israel and Egypt.


date: September 20

text: September 20 – General Rahimuddin Khan assumes the post of martial law Governor of Balochistan.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Tuvalu becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 7

text: October 7 – Wranslide in New South Wales: the Wran government is re-elected with an increased majority.


date: October 9

text: October 9 – P.W. Botha succeeds John Vorster as Prime Minister of South Africa.


date: October 10

text: October 10 – Daniel arap Moi becomes president of Kenya.


text: October 10 – John Vorster becomes State President of South Africa.


text: October 10 – United States President Jimmy Carter signs a bill that authorizes the minting of the Susan B. Anthony dollar.


date: October 14

text: October 14 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter signs a bill into law which allows homebrewing of beer in the United States.


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Thorbjörn Fälldin steps down as Prime Minister of Sweden, and is succeeded by Ola Ullsten, the Leader of the liberal People's Party ("Folkpartiet").


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin win the Nobel Peace Prize for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord.


date: December 6

text: December 6 – Spanish transition to democracy: The Spanish Constitution officially restores the country's democratic government.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 16

text: December 16 – The Mystery of Mamo is released in cinemas in Japan.


date: December 27

text: December 27 – The Constitution of Spain is approved in a referendum, officially ending 40 years of military dictatorship.


date: February 6

text: February 6 – King Dragon operation in Arakan: Burmese General Ne Win targets Muslim minorities in the village of Sakkipara.


date: February 11

text: February 11 – Somalia mobilizes its troops to deal with an apparent Ethiopian attack.


date: February 19

text: February 19 – Egyptian raid on Larnaca International Airport: Egyptian Special Forces attempt to rescue several hostages in Larnaca, Cyprus; 20 Egyptian commandos are injured or killed.


date: March 3

text: March 3 – Ethiopia admits that its troops are fighting with the aid of Cuban soldiers, against Somalian troops in the Ogaden.

source_section: Events › March


text: March 3 – Rhodesian Bush War: Rhodesia attacks Zambia.


date: March 11

text: March 11 – Coastal Road massacre: Palestinian terrorists kill 34 Israelis.


date: March 14

text: March 14 – Operation Litani: Israeli forces invade Lebanon.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – The control tower and some other facilities of New Tokyo International Airport, which were scheduled to open on March 31, are illegally occupied and damaged in a terrorist attack by New Left activists, forcing a rescheduling of its opening date to May 20.


date: April 14

text: April 14 – Thousands of Georgians demonstrate against an attempt by Soviet authorities to change the constitutional status of the Georgian language.


date: April 18

text: April 18– 30 – The Khmer Rouge massacres 3,157 civilians in Ba Chúc, Vietnam.


date: May 4

text: May 4 – South African Border War: The Battle of Cassinga occurs in southern Angola.


date: May 12

text: May 12 – Shaba II: In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining centre of the province of Shaba. The Zairean government asks the U.S., France and Belgium to restore order.


text: May 12–13 – A group of mercenaries, led by Bob Denard, oust Ali Soilih in the Comoros; ten local soldiers are killed. Denard forms a new government.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Students of the University of Tehran riot in Tabriz; the army stops the riot.


date: May 19

text: May 19–20 – French Foreign Legion paratroopers land in Kolwezi, Zaire, to rescue Europeans in the middle of a civil war.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – First Unabomber attack: A bomb explodes in the security section of Northwestern University, wounding a security guard.


date: June 21

text: June 21 – A shootout between Provisional IRA members and the British Army in Northern Ireland leaves one civilian and three IRA men dead.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 26

text: June 26 – A bombing by Breton nationalists causes destruction in the Palace of Versailles.


date: August 22

text: August 22 – Sandinistas seize the Nicaraguan National Palace.

source_section: Events › August


date: November 18

text: November 18 – In Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple cult in a mass murder–suicide in his commune, Jonestown, that claims 918 lives in all, 909 of them at Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Representative Leo J. Ryan is assassinated by members of Peoples Temple shortly beforehand.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 27

text: November 27 – Moscone-Milk assassinations: San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by disgruntled former Supervisor Dan White.


date: December 11

text: December 11 – Iranian Revolution: Two million demonstrate against the Shah in Iran.


date: December 22

text: December 22 – Argentina begins Operation Soberanía against Chile, but Argentinian forces quickly withdraw.


date: December 25

text: December 25 – Vietnam launches a major offensive against the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia.


date: May 8

text: May 8 – Reinhold Messner (Italy) and Peter Habeler (Austria) make the first ascent of Mount Everest, without supplemental oxygen.


date: May 20

text: May 20 – Mavis Hutchinson, 53, becomes the first woman to run across the U.S.; her trek took 69 days.


date: August 26

text: August 26 – Pope John Paul I succeeds Pope Paul VI as the 263rd Pope.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – Pope John Paul II succeeds Pope John Paul I as the 264th pope, resulting in the first Year of Three Popes since 1605. He is the first Polish pope in history, and the first non-Italian pope since Pope Adrian VI (1522–1523).


date: April 1

text: April 1 – New Zealand National Airways Corporation (the domestic airline of New Zealand) is merged with New Zealand's international airline, Air New Zealand.


date: June 19

text: June 19 – Garfield's first comic strip, originally published locally as Jon in 1976, goes into nationwide syndication.


date: February 2

text: February 2 - the Reunion Tower opens in Dallas Texas.


date: February 8

text: February 8 – United States Senate proceedings are broadcast on radio for the first time.


date: February 9

text: February 9 – The Budd Company unveils its first SPV-2000 self-propelled railcar in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.


date: March 8

text: March 8 – The first radio episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, is transmitted on BBC Radio 4.


text: April 1 – Dick Smith of Dick Smith Foods tows a fake iceberg to Sydney Harbour.


date: April 18

text: April 18 – The U.S. Senate votes, 68–32, to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on December 31, 1999.


date: April 27

text: April 27 – Willow Island disaster – In the deadliest construction accident in United States history, 51 construction workers are killed when a cooling tower under construction collapses at the Pleasants Power Station in Willow Island, West Virginia.


text: May 8 – Norway opens a natural gas field, in the Polar Sea.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – First Timezone Opens in Perth, Western Australia


date: May 28

text: May 28 – Indianapolis 500: Al Unser wins his third race, and the first for car owner Jim Hall.


date: October 8

text: October 8 – Australia's Ken Warby sets the current world water speed record of 317.6 mph (511.13 km/h) at Blowering Dam, Australia.


date: October 31

text: October 31 – The South African Railways sets a still unbeaten world rail speed record on Cape gauge.


date: November 2

text: November 2: 8:00 pm – The Republic of Ireland's second television channel RTÉ 2 goes on air (renamed Network 2, 1988; RTÉ Network Two, 1995; N2, 1997; and RTÉ Two in 2004).


text: In Seoul, South Korea, construction begins on Seoul Subway Line 2.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Soviet satellite Kosmos 954 burns up in Earth's atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada's Northwest Territories.


date: February 27

text: February 27 – The first global positioning satellite, the Rockwell International-built Navstar 1, is launched by the United States.


date: March 2

text: March 2 – Soyuz 28 (Aleksei Gubarev, Vladimír Remek) is launched on a rendezvous with Salyut 6, with the first cosmonaut from a country other than the US or USSR (Czechoslovak Vladimír Remek).


date: March 3

text: March 3 – The New York Post publishes an article about David Rorvik's book The Cloning of Man, about a supposed cloning of a human being.


date: April 22

text: April 22 – Izhar Cohen & the Alphabeta win the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 for Israel with their song A-Ba-Ni-Bi.


date: June 21

text: June 21 – 1978 Iranian Chinook shootdown: Iranian helicopters stray into Soviet airspace and are shot down.


date: June 22

text: June 22 – Charon, a satellite of Pluto, is discovered.


date: August 17

text: August 17 – Double Eagle II becomes the first balloon to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean, flying from Presque Isle, Maine, to Miserey, France.


date: October 10

text: October 10 – A massive short circuit in Seasat's electrical system ends the satellite's scientific mission.


text: Myriodontium keratinophilum is first isolated in Italy during the screening of soil microbes.


date: June 19

text: June 19 – England cricketer Ian Botham becomes the first man in the history of the game to score a century and take eight wickets in one innings of a Test match.


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Louise Brown, the world's first test tube baby, is born in Oldham, Greater Manchester, UK.

source_section: Events › July


date: September 12

text: September 12 – The Declaration of Alma Ata is signed and released in the Capital City of Kazakh, USSR. Known as the core document on Primary Health Care Practices and Equity in Healthcare, it paved the way for the modern-day State-sponsored Healthcare System.


date: September

text: September – Attempted poisoning of 500 members of the African National Congress by South African government infiltrators.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – The Soviet Union launches a major Russification campaign throughout all union republics.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – China starts an experimental "household responsibility system", in Anhui Province.


text: Synthetic insulin is developed.


date: January 18

text: January 18 – The European Court of Human Rights finds the British government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Film director Roman Polanski skips bail in the United States and flees to France, after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Charlie Chaplin's remains are stolen from Cosier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland.


date: March 16

text: March 16 – Former Italian Premier Aldo Moro is kidnapped by the Red Brigades; 5 bodyguards are killed.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan, is sentenced to death by hanging, for ordering the assassination of a political opponent.


date: March 28

text: March 28 – Stump v. Sparkman (435 U.S. 349): The Supreme Court of the United States hands down a 5–3 decision, in a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.


date: April 9

text: April 9 – Somali military officers stage an unsuccessful coup against the government of Siad Barre; security forces thwart the attempt within hours, and several conspirators are arrested.


date: April 27

text: April 27 – Saur Revolution – Afghanistan's president Mohammad Daoud Khan and his family are murdered; Nur Muhammad Taraki succeeds him, beginning the Afghan conflict.


date: May 4

text: May 4 – Communist activist Henri Curiel is murdered in Paris.


date: May 9

text: May 9 – In Rome, the corpse of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro, is found in a red Renault 4.


date: May 17

text: May 17 – Charlie Chaplin's coffin is found some 15 km mi from the cemetery from which it was stolen, near Lake Geneva.


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Soviet dissident Yuri Orlov is sentenced to 7 years' hard labor, for distributing 'counterrevolutionary material'.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – American basketball player center Bill Walton of the Portland Trail Blazers was named the National Basketball Association regular season MVP.


date: May 29

text: May 29 – Ali Soilih is found dead in the Comoros, allegedly shot when trying to escape.


date: September 19

text: September 19 – Police in the West Midlands of England launch a massive murder hunt, when 13-year-old newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater is shot dead after disturbing a burglary.


date: September 23

text: September 23 – California Angels outfielder Lyman Bostock is shot to death at age 27 while visiting friends in Gary, Indiana during an Angels' road trip in Chicago, Illinois.


date: September 27

text: September 27 – The last Forest Brother guerrilla movement fighter is discovered and killed in Estonia.


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Finnair Flight 405 aircraft is hijacked by Aarno Lamminparras in Oulu, Finland.


date: September

text: September – Serial criminal Lawrence Singleton commits heinous crime against Mary Vincent.


date: December 4

text: December 4 – Dianne Feinstein succeeds the murdered George Moscone, to become the first woman mayor of San Francisco; she will remain in office until January 8, 1988.


date: December 11

text: December 11 – Lufthansa heist: Six men rob a Lufthansa cargo facility in New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport.


date: December 15

text: December 15 – Superman: The Movie is released in cinemas in the United States.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – Former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi is arrested and jailed for a week for breach of privilege and contempt of parliament.


date: December 22

text: December 22 – Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was subsequently convicted of the murder of 33 young men and boys committed between 1972 and 1978, is arrested.


date: January 1

text: January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.


date: February 11

text: February 11 – Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a Boeing 737-200, crashes in Cranbrook, British Columbia, killing 44 of the 50 people on board.


date: February 13

text: February 13 – Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing: A bomb explodes outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Australia, killing a policeman and two civilians, and injuring several other people.


date: March 17

text: March 17 – An oil tanker, Amoco Cadiz, runs aground on the coast of Brittany.


date: April 7

text: April 7 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter decides to postpone production of the neutron bomb, a weapon that kills people with radiation, but leaves buildings relatively intact.


date: April 20

text: April 20 – A Soviet air defense plane shoots down Korean Air Lines Flight 902; the plane makes an emergency landing on a frozen lake.


date: June 2

text: June 2 – Japan Air Lines 115 had its tail struck on the runway on the airport it landed in. The same aircraft would be involved in a 2nd accident 7 years later


date: July 11

text: July 11 – At least 217 tourists die in an explosion of a tanker-truck at a campsite in Costa Daurada, Spain.


date: September 25

text: September 25 – PSA Flight 182, a Boeing 727, collides with a small private airplane and crashes in San Diego, California; 144 are killed.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 Skylane over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.


date: November 26

text: November 26 – Two British commercial divers, Michael Ward and Tony Prangley, die of hypothermia and drowning in the East Shetland Basin after their diving bell plunges to the seabed at a depth of over 100 m.


date: December 16

text: December 16 – Train 87 from Nanjing to Xining collides with train 368 from Xi'an to Xuzhou near Yangzhuang railway station in China, killing 106, injuring 218.


date: January 25

text: January 25–27 – The Great Blizzard of 1978 strikes the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes, killing 70.


date: February 5

text: February 5–7 – The Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978 hits the New England region and the New York metropolitan area, killing about 100, and causing over US$520 million in damage.


date: June 20

text: June 20 – The 6.2 Thessaloniki earthquake shakes Northern Greece with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). Fifty people were killed.


date: September 16

text: September 16 – The 7.4 Tabas earthquake killed at least 15,000 people in the city of Tabas in Iran. The quake was measured with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).


date: January 6

text: January 6 – The Holy Crown of Hungary (also known as Stephen of Hungary Crown) is returned to Hungary from the United States, where it was held since World War II.


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Rose Dugdale and Eddie Gallagher become the first convicted prisoners to marry in prison since the establishment of the Republic of Ireland.


date: February 11

text: February 11 – The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – California Jam II is held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, attracting more than 300,000 fans.


date: April 1

text: April 1 – The Philippine College of Commerce, through a presidential decree, is converted to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.


date: April 2

text: April 2 – Dallas debuts on CBS, and gives birth to the modern day primetime soap opera.


date: April 3

text: April 3 – The 50th Academy Awards are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, with Annie Hall winning Best Picture.


date: April 22

text: April 22 – The One Love Peace Concert is held at National Heroes Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica.


date: April 25

text: April 25 – St. Paul, Minnesota becomes the second U.S. city to repeal its gay rights ordinance, after Anita Bryant's successful 1977 anti-gay campaign in Miami-Dade County, Florida.


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Sarajevo is selected to host the 1984 Winter Olympics, and Los Angeles is selected to host the 1984 Summer Olympics.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – In a rematch of the previous season, the Montreal Canadiens again defeat the Boston Bruins, this time four games to two, to win the Stanley Cup.


date: May 26

text: May 26 – In Atlantic City, New Jersey, Resorts International, the first legal casino in the eastern United States, opens.


date: June 1

text: June 1 – The 1978 FIFA World Cup starts in Argentina.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – Affirmed holds off Alydar to win the Belmont Stakes and becomes the last horse to win the U.S. Triple Crown of Horse Racing until 2015.


date: June 15

text: June 15 – King Hussein of Jordan marries 26-year-old Lisa Halaby, who takes the name Queen Noor.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – The Gay & Lesbian Solidarity March is held in Sydney, Australia to mark the 9th Anniversary of the Stonewall riots (which later becomes the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras; later incorporating a festival).


date: June 25

text: June 25 – Argentina defeats the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time to win the 1978 FIFA World Cup.


text: June 25 – The rainbow flag of the LGBT movement flies for the first time (in its original form) at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.


date: July 24

text: July 24 – In Acapulco, Mexico, Margaret Gardiner of South Africa is crowned Miss Universe.


date: September 24

text: September 24 – Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello makes its first appearance on Live from the Met, in a complete production of the opera starring Jon Vickers. This is the first complete television broadcast of the opera in the U.S. since the historic 1948 one.


date: October 2

text: October 2 – Mommie Dearest, written by Christina Crawford that discusses her adoptive mother Joan Crawford's abusive nature, is published. It is the first celebrity tell-all memoir.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – The first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is held as a protest march and commemoration of the Stonewall riots.


date: December 22

text: December 22 – The pivotal Third Plenum of the 11th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party is held in Beijing, with Deng Xiaoping reversing Mao-era policies to pursue the reform and opening up.


text: Abortion is legalized in Italy for the first time.


date: February 3

text: February 3 – Amal Clooney, British-Lebanese barrister, activist and author

source_section: Births › February


date: February 10

text: February 10 – Don Omar (stage name for William Omar Landrón Rivera), Puerto Rican American rapper known as the "King of Reggaeton"; in San Juan


date: May 22

text: May 22 – Katie Price (Jordan), English model and television personality

source_section: Births › May


date: May 31

text: May 31 – Sara Duterte, 15th Vice President of the Philippines


date: June 4

text: June 4 – Scott Cawthon, video game developer, creator of the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise

source_section: Births › June


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Nikola Vujčić, Croatian basketball player and team manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv


date: July 25

text: July 25 – Louise Brown, British citizen, first human born through in vitro fertilisation

source_section: Births › July


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Abelardo de la Espriella, Colombian politician, President of Colombia (2026-present)


date: August 23

text: August 23 – Kobe Bryant, American basketball player (d. 2020)

source_section: Births › August


date: September 14

text: September 14 – Ron DeSantis, American politician, 46th Governor of Florida

source_section: Births › September


date: November 8

text: November 8 – Moses Michael Levi Barrow (born Jamal Michael Barrow), better known by his stage name Shyne, Belizean rapper and politician

source_section: Births › November


date: November 16

text: November 16 – Santiago Peña, President of Paraguay


date: December 5

text: December 5 – Neil Druckmann, Israeli-American video game writer and programmer, founder of Naughty Dog

source_section: Births › December


date: December 17

text: December 17 – Riteish Deshmukh, Indian actor, architect, producer and entrepreneur


date: March 11

text: March 11 – Claude François, French entertainer born 1939, dies by electrocution in his home in Paris.


date: March 22

text: March 22 – Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies, after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.


date: August 6

text: August 6 – Pope Paul VI dies at Castel Gandolfo.


date: August 22

text: August 22 – Kenya's first president and founding father, Jomo Kenyatta, dies aged 89 in Mombasa.


date: September 7

text: September 7 – In London, UK, a poison-filled pellet, supposedly injected using an umbrella, fatally poisons Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov; he dies four days later.

source_section: Events › September


date: September 28

text: September 28 – Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days as the Roman Catholic Pontiff.


date: January 1

text: January 1 – The United States and the People's Republic of China establish full diplomatic relations.

source_section: Events › January


date: February 18

text: February 18 – The Khomeini government in Iran cuts diplomatic relations with Israel.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 22

text: February 22 – Saint Lucia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – In a ceremony at the White House, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel sign an Egypt–Israel peace treaty.

source_section: Events › March


date: March 28

text: March 28 – In Britain, James Callaghan's minority Labour government loses a motion of confidence by one vote, forcing a general election which is to be held on 3 May.


date: March 31

text: March 31 – The last British soldier (belonging to the Royal Navy) leaves the Maltese Islands, after 179 years of presence. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).


date: April 1

text: April 1 – Iran's government becomes an Islamic Republic by a 98% vote, overthrowing the Shah officially.

source_section: Events › April


date: May 1

text: May 1 – Greenland is granted limited autonomy from Denmark, with its own Parliament sitting in Nuuk.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 3

text: May 3 – The 1979 United Kingdom general election for the House of Commons takes place, giving the Conservatives a majority, and designating Margaret Thatcher the nation's first woman prime minister, ending the rule of James Callaghan's Labour government.


date: June 1

text: June 1 – The first black-led government of Rhodesia in 90 years takes power, in succession to Ian Smith and under his power-sharing deal, in the unrecognized republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 4

text: June 4 – Following the "Muldergate" Information Scandal, John Vorster resigns as State President of South Africa.


text: June 4 – Joe Clark becomes Canada's 16th and youngest Prime Minister.


date: June 7

text: June 7 – 1979 European Parliament election: The first direct elections to the European Parliament begin, allowing citizens from across all nine (at this time) member states of the European Communities to elect 410 MEPs. It is also the first international election in history.


date: June 18

text: June 18 – Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT II agreement in Vienna.


date: July 16

text: July 16 – Iraqi President Hasan al-Bakr resigns and Vice President Saddam al-Tikriti, more commonly referred to in the Western press as "Saddam Hussein", assumes the presidency.


date: July 21

text: July 21 – Nicaraguan Revolution: The Sandinista National Liberation Front concludes a successful revolutionary campaign against the Somoza dynasty and assumes power in Nicaragua.


date: July 28

text: July 28 – Morarji Desai resigns as India's prime minister and Charan Singh succeeds him.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – The Polisario Front signs a peace treaty with Mauritania. Mauritania withdraws from the Western Sahara territory it had occupied, and cedes it to the SADR.

source_section: Events › August


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Nigeria terminates military rule, and the Second Nigerian Republic is established.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 12

text: October 12 – Thorbjörn Fälldin returns as Prime Minister of Sweden, replacing Ola Ullsten who is named Foreign Minister of Sweden.


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains independence from the UK.


date: December 5

text: December 5 – Jack Lynch resigns as Taoiseach of Ireland; he is succeeded by Charles Haughey.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 12

text: December 12 – The unrecognised state of Zimbabwe Rhodesia returns to British control and resumes using the name Southern Rhodesia.


date: December 13

text: December 13 – The Canadian Progressive Conservative minority government of Prime Minister Joe Clark, falls in a non-confidence motion.


date: January 22

text: January 22 – Uganda–Tanzania War: Battle of Mutukula: The Tanzanian military captures the Ugandan border town of Mutukula after a short battle.


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile.