1974

1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday.

Events

January

January 4 - Citing executive privilege, U.S. President Richard Nixon refuses to surrender 500 tapes and documents which have been subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
January 5 - Dungeons & Dragons; is officially released.
January 6 - In response to the energy crisis, Daylight Saving Time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
January 27 - Brisbane Qld Australia is flooded.
January 30 - G. Gordon Liddy is found guilty of Watergate charges.

February

February 1 - Fire breaks out in the Joelman Bank Building in São Paulo, Brazil - 177 dead, 293 injured, 11 die later of their injuries.
February 3 - The second Bathurst Gaol riots; prisoners destroy much of the facility with petrol bombs.
February 4 - The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patricia Hearst, the 19-year-old granddaughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst.
February 8 - After 84 days in space, the crew of Skylab 4 returns to Earth.
February 12 - U.S. District Court Judge George Boldt rules that Native American tribes in Washington State are entitled to half of the legal salmon and steelhead catches, based on treaties signed by the tribes and the U.S. government.
February 13 - Nobel Prize winning writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn is expelled from the Soviet Union (he returns May 27, 1994).
February 17 - A soccer stampede occurs in Cairo, killing 49.
February 20 - Following a visit to his home from a woman wearing a strange pendant, Phillip K. Dick begins to receive a series of visions which he refers to as 2-3-74, shorthand for February/March of 1974.
February 21 - The long-running comic strip "Sazae-san" is published in the Asahi Shimbun for the final time, after 28 years of daily installments.
February 23 - The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
February 27 - People magazine is published for the first time.
February 28 - The United Kingdom general election results in an almost dead-heat. Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister again, despite his Labour Party (UK) having received fewer votes than the Conservative Party (UK).
February 28 - Ethiopian prime minister Tsehafi Aklilu Habte-Wold, who has held the position since 1961, is dismissed by Emperor Haile Selassie and replaced with Endelkachew Makonnen.

March

March 1 - Watergate scandal: Seven former White House officials are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
March 1 - Pierre Messmer finishes his first term as Prime Minister of France.
March 3 - A Turkish Airlines DC-10 travelling from Paris to London crashes in a wood near Paris, killing all 346 aboard.
March 8 - The Brady Bunch, starring Robert Reed & Florence Henderson, is cancelled after 5 seasons.
March 8 - Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.
March 10 - Ten miners die in a methane gas explosion at Golborne Colliery near Wigan, Lancashire.
March 10 - Japanese World War Two soldier, Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, surrenders in the Philippines.
March 18 - Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a 5-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.
March 20 - Ian Balls fails in his attempt to kidnap Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace.
March 29 - Mariner 10 approaches Mercury.

April

April 1 - The Local Government Act 1972 comes into effect in England and Wales, creating six new metropolitan counties and comprehensively redrawing the administrative map.
April 2 - French President Georges Pompidou dies; Senate President Alain Poher becomes Acting President for the second time.
April 3 - The Super Outbreak, the largest series of tornadoes in history, hits 13 U.S. states and one Canadian province. By the time the last of 149 tornadoes hit early the following morning, 315 die and over 5,000 are injured.
April 6 - ABBA starts their road to fame, after winning The Eurovision Song Contest.
April 8 - Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves broke Babe Ruth's home run record by hitting his 715th career home-run off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
April 10 - In Israel, Golda Meir resigns as Prime Minister.
April 15 - In San Francisco, members of the Symbionese Liberation Army rob a branch of the Hibernia National Bank, joined by Patricia Hearst, their erstwhile captive.
April 17 - Three Symbionese Liberation Army members die when their apartment catches fire during a shootout with the LAPD.
April 25 - A coup in Portugal restores democracy (see Carnation Revolution).

May

May 4 - An all female Japanese team summits Manaslu in Nepal, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000 metre peak.
May 4 - The Expo '74 World's Fair opens in Spokane, Washington.
May 7 West German Chancellor Willy Brandt resigns.
May 9 - The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against U.S. President Richard M. Nixon.
May 15 German Foreign Minister Walter Scheel is elected President of Germany for term beginning July 1st.
May 16 Helmut Schmidt is elected West German Chancellor.
May 17 - Los Angeles, California police raid Symbionese Liberation Army headquarters, killing 6 members, including Camilla Hall.
May 17 - Thirty-three people die in the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings in Ireland. Members of the UVF are behind the blast.
May 18 - Nuclear test: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon, becoming the sixth nation to do so.
May 18 - The Warsaw radio mast is completed, the tallest construction ever built (it collapses on August 8, 1991).
May 19 - In the second round of the presidential elections in France, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing wins over François Mitterrand, but by a close margin.
May 19 - The Philadelphia Flyers defeat the Boston Bruins, thereby becoming the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup.
May 28 - The Italian fascist organization Ordine Nuovo bombs demonstrators in Brescia, killing 6.
May 30 - NASA's ATS-6 satellite is launched.

June

June 1 - Flixborough disaster: An explosion at a chemical plant in Flixborough, UK, kills 28 people.
June 4 - The Cleveland Indians attempt an ill-advised ten cent beer promotion for a game against the Texas Rangers at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Cleveland forfeits after alcohol-fueled mayhem and violence spreads from the stands onto the field.
June 6 - A new Instrument of Government is promulgated, making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy.
June 15 - The Red Lion Square disorders: Members of the fascist National Front clash with leftist counter-protesters in London's West End; one student is killed.
June 16 - The first Darwin beer-can regatta is held in Darwin, Australia; 63 crafts made of beer cans participate.
June 17 - A bomb explodes at the Houses of Parliament in London, damaging Westminster Hall. The Irish Republican Army claims responsibility for planting the bomb.
June 26 - The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time, to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.
June 29 - Isabel Peron becomes interim president of Argentina, when Juan Peron falls seriously ill.
June 30 - Alberta Williams King, mother of the late Martin Luther King, Jr, is assassinated during a church service.

July

July 7 - West Germany beats the Netherlands 2-1 to win the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
July 15 - Christine Chubbuck, U.S. television presenter for WXLT-TV, draws a revolver and shoots herself in the head during a live broadcast. She dies in a hospital 14 hours later.
July 15 - A military coup overthrows President Makarios in Cyprus.
July 17 - A bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army explodes in the White Tower at the Tower of London, killing one person and injuring 41. Another bomb explodes outside a government building in South London.
July 20 - The Turkish occupation of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after the coup d'etat by EOKA B.
July 22 - Ethiopian Prime Minister Endelkachew Makonnen is replaced with Mikael Imru.
July 23 - The Greek military junta government collapses.
July 24 - Constantine Karamanlis is sworn in as interim Prime Minister of Greece.
July 24 - Watergate Scandal: The United States Supreme Court unanimously rules, in United States v. Nixon, that President Richard Nixon did not have the authority to withhold subpoenaed White House tapes and they order him to surrender the tapes to the Watergate special prosecutor.
July 27-July 30 - Watergate Scandal: The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee adopts 3 articles of impeachment charging President Richard M. Nixon with obstruction of justice, failure to uphold laws, and refusal to produce material subpoenaed by the committee.

August

August 4 - A bomb explodes in an Italicus Expressen train between Italy and West Germany. Italian neo-fascist terrorists take responsibility.
August 5 - Watergate scandal: The "smoking gun" tape of June 23, 1972 is revealed, in which U.S. President Richard Nixon and H.R. Haldeman discuss using the CIA to block an FBI inquiry into Watergate. Nixon's support in Congress collapses.
August 7 - Three Republican congressional leaders (Barry Goldwater, Hugh Scott and John Rhodes) visit President Nixon in the White House. They inform him that he lacks the votes to escape impeachment in the House of Representatives and conviction in the Senate.
August 8 - Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his resignation (effective August 9).
August 9 - Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office, an action taken to avoid being removed by impeachment in response to his role in the Watergate scandal. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, takes the oath of office and becomes the 38th President.
August 14 - Turkey invades for the second time in Cyprus, and occupies 37% of the territory of the island.
August 28 - Geir Hallgrímsson became Prime Minister of Iceland
August 30 - An express train bound for Germany from Belgrade derails in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), killing more than 150 passengers.

September

September 1 - Daredevil Bob Gill fails a world-record attempt to jump Appalachia Lake in West Virginia.
September 8 - Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office.
September 8 - TWA Flight 841 crashes into the Ionian Sea, 18 minutes after take off from Athens, after a bomb explodes in the cargo hold, killing 88 people.
September 8 - Professional stuntman Evel Knievel fails to cross the Snake River Canyon in Idaho, when a drogue parachute deploys prematurely on his rocket-powered Skycycle X-2.
September 13 - Japanese Red Army members seize the French Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands. They secure the release of member Yatuka Fumiya, $300,000 and a flight to Aden.
September 23 - Ceefax is started by the BBC - one of the first public service information systems.

October

October 5 - The Guildford pub bombings at The Horse and Groom and The Seven Stars kill five people, and lead to the wrongful conviction and imprisonment of the Guildford Four the next year.
October 10 - The second United Kingdom general election of the year results in a narrow victory for Labour, still led by Harold Wilson.
October 15 - U.S. President Gerald Ford signs a campaign reform bill, which sets new regulations for federal campaigns, in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
October 30 - The "Rumble in the Jungle" between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman takes place in Kinshasa, Zaire. Using his new "rope-a-dope" strategy, Ali knocks down an exhausted Foreman after eight rounds, and regains the Heavyweight Boxing Title.

November

November 5 - Democrats make significant gains in the U.S. Congressional midterm elections, as voters punish the Republican Party over the Watergate scandal.
November 7 - Lord Lucan disappears.
November 7 - An IRA bomb explodes at the Kings Arms, Woolwich.
November 8 - In Salt Lake City, Utah, Carol DaRonch narrowly escapes abduction by serial killer Ted Bundy.
November 10 - Members of the Movement 2 June try to kidnap Günter von Drenkmann, the president of West Germany's Superior Court of Justice, at his home, but he is fatally shot during the attempt.
November 13 - Ronald DeFeo, Jr murders his parents and his 4 siblings in what would later become known as "The Amityville Horror House".
November 16 - The Arecibo radio telescope sends an interstellar radio message towards the M 13 Great Globular Cluster.
November 17 - Irish President Childers dies suddenly of a heart attack in the Republic of Ireland, in the middle of a public speech.
November 20 - The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T;. This suit later leads to the break up of AT&T; and the Bell System.
November 21 - In Birmingham, England, 2 pubs are bombed, killing 21 people (the Birmingham Six are later sentenced to life in prison for this).
November 22 - The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.
November 27 - The Prevention of Terrorism Act is passed in the United Kingdom.
November 30 - A skeleton from the hominid species Australopithecus afarensis is discovered and named Lucy.

December

December 1 - A Boeing 727 carrying TWA Flight 514 crashes 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Dulles International Airport during bad weather, killing all 92 people on board.
December 8 - Greek voters reject a proposal to restore the Greek monarchy.
December 19 - Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh becomes the fifth President of Ireland, in a state inauguration in Dublin Castle.
December 19 - Former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States.
December 23 - Former British minister John Stonehouse, who faked his drowning in Florida, is arrested in Melbourne, Australia.
December 24-December 25 - Darwin, Australia is almost completely destroyed by Cyclone Tracy.
December 31 - Restrictions on holding private gold within the United States, implemented by Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, are removed.

Unknown date

The Milgram experiment first described by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram in his 1974 book Obedience to Authority; An Experimental View.
Baltimore police strike
Volkswagen's Golf automobile first enters production. VW will go on to sell 22 million Golfs, and the model is still in full scale production as of 2006.
World population reaches four billion
The Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra is founded by Toronto Symphony Orchestra conductor Victor Feldbrill

Births

January

January 3 - Alessandro Petacchi, Italian professional road cyclist
January 10- Hrithik Roshan, Bollywood Actor
January 11 - The Rosenkowitz sextuplets (Cape Town, South Africa), the first sextuplets known to survive their infancy.
January 11 - Cody McKay, Canadian baseball player
January 12 - Tor Arne Hetland, Norwegian cross-country skiier
January 16 - Kate Moss, English model
January 17 - Ladan and Laleh Bijani, Iranian conjoined twins (d. 2003)
January 23 - Tiffani Thiessen, American actress
January 27 - Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lankan cricketer
January 28 - Tony Delk, American basketball player
January 30 - Christian Bale, Welsh actor
January 31 - Ian Huntley, English murderer

February

February 7 - Steve Nash, Canadian basketball player
February 7 - J Dilla, also known as Jay-Dee, American hip-hop producer (d. 2006)
February 8 - Seth Green, American actor
February 8 - Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, French disc jockey
February 11 - D'Angelo, American singer
February 13 - Robbie Williams, English singer
February 15 - Seattle Slew, American racehorse (d. 2002)
February 22 - Chris Moyles, English disc jockey
February 15 - Ugueth Urbina, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
February 24 - Chad Hugo, American musician and producer (The Neptunes)

March

March 1 - Mark-Paul Gosselaar, American actor
March 4 - Edward Hancock II, American author
March 5 - Jens Jeremies, German footballer
March 7 - Alberto Rabagliati, Italian singer and actor
March 8 - Fardeen Khan, Bollywood Actor
March 11 - Bobby Abreu, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
March 11 - Russ Haas, American wrestler (d. 2001)
March 20 - Paula Garces, Colombian actress
March 20 - Andrzej Pilipiuk, Polish writer
March 20 - Carsten Ramelow, German footballer
March 22 - Marcus Camby, American basketball player
March 22 - Kidada jones, American actress, model, fashion designer
March 24 - Alyson Hannigan, American actress
March 25 - Lark Voorhies, American actress
March 25 - Tapani Mokko, Finnish Artist

April

April 1 - Richard Christy, American musician and radio writer
April 4 - Dave Mirra, American athlete
April 9 - Jenna Jameson, American actress
April 11 - Trot Nixon, baseball player
April 14 - Tricia Helfer, Canadian actress and model
April 14 - Da Brat, American rapper
April 14 - George D. Sax, American bank innovator
April 15 - Josh Todd, American musician and singer (Buckcherry)
April 17 - Victoria Beckham, English singer (Spice Girls)
April 22 - Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-born bassist (System of a Down)
April 28 - Penélope Cruz, Spanish actress
April 28 - Richel Hersisia, Dutch boxer

May

May 8 - Korey Stringer, American football player (d. 2001)
May 11 - Billy Kidman, American Professional Wrestler
May 17 - Andrea Corr, Irish singer (The Corrs)
May 21 - Havoc, American rapper (Mobb Deep)
May 23 - Ken Jennings, American game show winner
May 23 - Jewel, American singer
May 23 - Monica Naranjo, Spanish singer
May 24 - Daniel Lorenz Johnson, Social activist/artist
May 26 - Lars Frölander, Swedish swimmer
May 27 - Danny Wuerffel, American football player
May 30 - Big L, American rapper
May 31- Adrian Tomine American Cartoonist

June

June 1 - Alanis Morissette, Canadian singer
June 2 - Gata Kamsky, American chess player
June 7 - Mahesh Bhupathi, Indian tennis player
June 10 - James Spix, American author
June 12 - Hideki Matsui, Japanese baseball player
June 13 - Brande Roderick, American actress
June 13 - Takahiro Sakurai, Japanese voice actor
June 13 - Steve-O, American actor, Jackass
June 20 - Steve 'Flash' Juon, American webmaster and writer
June 21 - Natasha Desborough, British radio personality
June 25 - Karisma Kapoor, Indian actress
June 26 - Derek Jeter, baseball player

July

July 2 - Matthew Reilly, Australian writer
July 2 - Rocky Gray, American musician
July 4 - La'Roi Glover, American football player
July 4 - Gackt, Japanese singer
July 8 - Allen Skillicorn, American race car driver
July 12 - Gregory Helms, American Profesional Wrestler
July 19 - Preston Wilson, baseball player
July 22 - Daddy Kev, American record producer
July 23 - Maurice Greene, American athlete
July 23 - Rik Verbrugghe, Belgian professional road racing cyclist
July 26 - Daniel Negreanu, Canadian poker player
July 27 - Eason Chan, Hong Kong singer
July 30 - Hilary Swank, American actress
July 31 - Emilia Fox, English actress
July 31 - Jonathan Ogden, American football player

August

August 2 - Jeremy Castle, American singer and songwriter
August 7 - Sek Loso, Thai singer, songwriter and guitarist
August 9 - Matt Morris, baseball player
August 14 - Christopher Gorham, American actor
August 15 - Natasha Henstridge, Canadian actress and model
August 20 - Maxim Vengerov, Russian violinist
August 23 - Ray Park, Scottish actor
August 24 - Jennifer Lien, American actress
August 25 - Eric Millegan, American actor
August 25 - Kenzo Suzuki, Japanese Professional Wrestler
August 27 - Jose Vidro, baseball player
August 27 - Mase, American rapper
August 28 - Johan Andersson, Swedish game programmer
August 28 - Carsten Jancker, German footballer

September

September 1 - Jhonen Vasquez, American comic book artist
September 2 - Lisa Snowdon, English television presenter
September 6 - Tim Henman, English tennis player
September 6 - Nina Persson, Swedish singer
September 10 - Ben Wallace, American basketball player
September 14 - Hicham El Guerrouj, Moroccan athlete
September 17 - Rasheed Wallace, American basketball player
September 18 - Sol Campbell, English footballer
September 18 - Xzibit, American rapper
September 19 - Victoria Silvstedt, Swedish model
September 19 - Jimmy Fallon, American actor and comedian
September 23 - Matt Hardy, American professional wrestler
September 29 - Brian Ash, American screenwriter and producer

October

October 7 - Allison Munn, American actress
October 10 - Dale Earnhardt, Jr, American race car driver
October 11 - Terje Haakonsen, Norwegian snowboarder
October 16 - Paul Kariya, Canadian hockey player
October 21 - Lera Auerbach, Russian composer, pianist, and poet
October 23 - Sander Westerveld, Dutch soccer player
October 26 - LISA, Japanese musician
October 28 - Joaquin Phoenix, American actor
October 29 - Michael Vaughan, English cricketer

November

November 1 - VVS Laxman, Indian cricketer
November 2 - Beverley Mahood, Canadian singer and songwriter
November 4 - Louise Redknapp, English singer
November 5 - Ryan Adams, American singer and songwriter
November 5 - Jerry Stackhouse, American basketball player
November 9 - Uncle Kracker, American singer
November 11 - Leonardo DiCaprio, American actor
November 11 - Bettina Goislard, French UN worker (d. 2003)
November 22 - David Pelletier, Canadian figure skater
November 23 - Jamie Sharper, American football player
November 27 - Zsófia Polgár, Hungarian-born chess player

December

December 1 - Costinha, Portuguese footballer
December 7 - Nicole Appleton, Canadian singer (All Saints)
December 8 - Maya Mishalska, Mexican actress
December 10 - Meg White, drummer (The White Stripes)
December 11 - Rey Mysterio, American professional wrestler
December 13 - Nicholas McCarthy, English-born guitarist (Franz Ferdinand)
December 14 - Billy Koch, baseball player
December 18 - Peter Boulware, American football player
December 18 - Euroboy, Norwegian musician (Turbonegro)
December 19 - Jake Plummer, American football player
December 19 - Ricky Ponting, Australian cricketer
December 21 - Karrie Webb, Australian golfer
December 23 - Aimee Nezhukumatathil, American poet
December 24 - Ryan Seacrest, American television host
December 24 - Marcelo Salas, Chilean footballer
December 27 - Bojan Sarcevic, Bosnian-French Sculptor
December 28 - Wilson Kirwa, Kenyan-born Finnish athlete
December 29 - Jenny Barker, British radio presenter
December 29 - Richie Sexson, baseball player
December 29 - Brad Hodge, Australian cricketer

Deaths

January

January 2 - Tex Ritter, American actor and singer (b. 1905)
January 12 - Princess Patricia of Connaught (b. 1886)
January 31 - Samuel Goldwyn, Polish-born film studio executive (b. 1879)

February

February 11 - Anna Q. Nilsson, Swedish actress (b. 1888)
February 15 - Kurt Atterberg, Swedish composer (b. 1887)
February 21 - Tim Horton, Canadian hockey player (b. 1930)
February 23 - Harry Ruby, American composer and writer (b. 1895)

March

March 1 - Bobby Timmons, American jazz pianist (b. 1935)
March 4 - Adolph Gottlieb, American abstract expressionist painter (b. 1903)
March 5 - Sol Hurok, Russian-born impresario (b. 1888)
March 6 - Ernest Becker, American cultural anthropologist
March 9 - Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr, American physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
March 12 - George D. Sax, Drive-in bank innovator
March 20 - Chet Huntley, American television journalist (b. 1911)
March 22 - Peter Revson, American race car driver (b. 1939)