World Events

  • Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge take over Cambodia (April).
  • The city of Saigon is surrendered and remaining Americans are evacuated, ending the Vietnam War (April 30).
  • American merchant ship Mayaguez, seized by Cambodian forces, is rescued in operation by US Navy and Marines, 38 of whom are killed (May 15).
  • Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft take off for US-Soviet link-up in space (July 15).
U.S. Events
  • Watergate cover-up (Jan. 1); sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail (Feb. 21).
  • President Ford escapes assassination attempt in Sacramento, Calif. (Sept. 5).
  • President Ford escapes second assassination attempt in 17 days (Sept. 22).
Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $1,630.60 billion
Federal spending:   $332.33 billion
Federal debt:   $541.9 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $11,800
Consumer Price Index:   53.8
Unemployment:   8.5%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.10 ($0.13 as of 12/31/75)

Sports

Super Bowl
Pittsburgh d. Minnesota (16-6)

World Series
Cincinnati d. Boston Red Sox (4-3)

NBA Championship
Golden St. Warriors d. Washington Bullets (4-0)

Stanley Cup
Philadelphia d. Buffalo (4-2)

Wimbledon
Women: Billie Jean King d. E. Cawley (6-0 6-1)
Men: Arthur Ashe d. J. Connors (6-1 6-1 5-7 6-4)

Kentucky Derby Champion
Foolish Pleasure

NCAA Basketball Championship
UCLA d. Kentucky (92-85)

NCAA Football Champions
Oklahoma (11-1-0)

Entertainment

Events

  • ABC, CBS and NBC agree to create a “family hour,” an early evening time slot that is free of violence and sex.
  • Saturday Night Live premieres on NBC. George Carlin hosts the first show.
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest sweeps the top Oscars, winning Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Actress.

Movies

  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jaws, Nashville, Dog Day Afternoon, Barry Lyndon

Books

  • Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift
  • E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime
  • Galway Kinnell, The Avenue Bearing the Initial of Christ into the New World
  • William Safire, Before the Fall
  • Anne Sexton, The Awful Rowing Toward God
Science
  • Home videotape systems (VCRs) are developed in Japan by Sony (Betamax) and Matsushita (VHS).
  • The Altair home computer kit allows consumers to build and program their own personal computers. Background: Computers and Internet
Deaths
  • Aristotle Onassis
  • Haile Selassie
  • Casey Stengel

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The movie “Jaws” came out
(Roy Scheider)