World Events

  • Encouraged by Chairman Mao Zedong, the Cultural Revolution begins in China.
  • OPEC ends the oil embargo begun in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War (Mar. 18).
  • Nixon and Brezhnev meet in Moscow to discuss arms limitation agreements. Background: nuclear disarmament
  • Leftist revolution ends almost 50 years of dictatorial rule in Portugal (launched Apr. 25).
  • India successfully tests an atomic device, becoming the world’s sixth nuclear power (May 18).
  • Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is deposed. A collective military dictatorship assumes power (Sept. 12).
U.S. Events
  • Randolph Hearst, kidnapped by Symbionese Liberation Army (Feb. 5).
  • House Judiciary Committee adopts three articles of impeachment charging President Nixon with obstruction of justice, failure to uphold laws, and refusal to produce material subpoenaed by the committee (July 30).
  • Richard M. Nixon announces he will resign the next day, the first President to do so (Aug. 8).
  • Vice President Gerald R. Ford of Michigan is sworn in as 38th President of the US (Aug. 9).
  • Ford grants “full, free, and absolute pardon” to ex-President Nixon (Sept. 8).
Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $1,496.90 billion
Federal spending:   $269.36 billion
Federal debt:   $483.9 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $11,197
Consumer Price Index:   49.3
Unemployment:   5.6%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.08 ($0.10 as of 3/2/74)

Sports

Super Bowl
Miami d. Minnesota (24-7)

World Series
Oakland A’s d. LA Dodgers (4-1)

NBA Championship
Boston d. Milwaukee (4-3)

Stanley Cup
Philadelphia d. Boston (4-2)

Wimbledon
Women: Chris Evert d. O. Morozova (6-0 6-4)
Men: Jimmy Connors d. K. Rosewall (6-1 6-1 6-4)

Kentucky Derby Champion
Cannonade

NCAA Basketball Championship
N.C. State d. Marquette (76-64)

NCAA Football Champions
Oklahoma (AP) (11-0-0) & USC (UPI, FW, NFF) (10-1-1)

World Cup
W. Germany d. Holland (2-1)

Entertainment

Events

  • Patti Smith releases what is considered to be the first punk rock single, “Hey Joe.”
  • People magazine debuts, with Mia Farrow gracing the cover.
  • Premier Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defects and joins the American Ballet Theatre.

Movies

  • Chinatown, The Godfather Part II, Day for Night, Blazing Saddles, The Towering Inferno

Music

  • Patti Smith, “Hey Joe”

Books

  • Robert Creeley, Sitting Here
  • Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
  • Gail Godwin, The Odd Woman
  • Stephen King, Carrie
  • Toni Morrison, Sula
  • Grace Paley, Enormous Changes at the Last Minute
  • Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
  • Gary Snyder, Turtle Island
Science
  • For safety reasons, the National Academy of Sciences calls for a temporary ban on some types of genetic engineering research.
  • A new elementary particle psi (now called J) is discovered by Burton Richter of Stanford University.
Deaths
  • Bud Abbott
  • Dizzy Dean
  • Duke Ellington
  • Charles Lindbergh
  • Ed Sullivan

RETURN TO THE NOSTALGIA WEB PAGE

Young Frankenstein
(Gene Wilder)