1975
1975 (MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar).
Events January February February 4 - The first successfully predicted earthquake occurred in Haicheng , Liaoning , China . February 9 - The Soyuz 17 Soviet Spacecraft returns to Earth. February 11 - Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for the leadership of the UK Conservative Party in the United Kingdom . February 21 - Watergate scandal : Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to between 30 months and 8 years in prison February 23 - In response to the energy crisis , Daylight saving time commences nearly two months early in the United States . February 26 - a fleeing IRA terrorist shoots dead off-duty London police officer Stephen Tibble , 22, as he gives chase February 27 - Movement 2 June kidnaps West German politician Peter Lorenz. He is released on March 4 after most of the kidnappers' demands are met February 28 - A major tube train crash at Moorgate station , London kills 43 people. February 28 - In Lomé , the capital of Togo , the European Economic Community and 46 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries sign a financial and economic treaty, known as the first Lomé Convention . March April-May April 3 - Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov , giving Karpov the title. April 4 - Vietnam War : The first military Operation Babylift flight, C5A 80218, crashes 27 minutes after takeoff. 138 die and 176 live. April 13 - An attack by Phalangists on a Palestinian bus in Ain El Remmeneh, Lebanon sparks over 15 years of civil war. April 17 - Pol Pot proclaims the "Democratic Republic of Kampuchea" in Cambodia and becomes its Prime Minister (1975-1979 ). April 24 - Six Red Army Faction terrorists take over West German embassy in Stockholm , take 11 hostages and demand the release of the group's jailed members. Shortly after they are captured by Swedish police. April 25 - Vietnam War : As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon , the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam. April 30 - Vietnam War : The Vietnam War ends as Communist forces take Saigon and South Vietnam surrenders unconditionally. May 12 - Mayaguez incident : The Cambodian navy seizes the American merchant ship SS Mayaguez in international waters. May 15 - Mayaguez incident : The American merchant ship Mayaguez, seized by Cambodian forces, is rescued by U.S. Navy and Marines. 38 Americans are killed. May 16 - India annexes Sikkim May 16 - Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest May 28 - 15 West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos , creating the Economic Community of West African States . May 30 - 1972 Olympic runner Steve Prefontaine dies in a car accident. June-July August August 8 - The Banqiao Dam , in China's Henan Province , fails after a freak typhoon. Over 200,000 people perish. August 8 - Samuel Bronfman , son of the president of Seagrams , is kidnapped in Purchase, New York August 11 - British Leyland comes under British government control August 11 - Mário Lemos Pires, Governor of Portuguese Timor , abandons the capital Dili following UDT coup and outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin . August 15 - Birmingham Six wrongfully sentenced to life imprisonment August 15 - Mujibur Rahman , president of Bangladesh , is killed during a coup August 20 - Viking program : NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars 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] ] September September 5 - In Sacramento, California , Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme , a follower of incarcerated cult leader Charles Manson , attempts to assassinate US President Gerald Ford , but is thwarted by a Secret Service agent. September 14 - Rembrandt 's painting "The Night Watch " is slashed a dozen times at a gallery in Amsterdam. September 15 - The French department of Corse , comprising the entire island of Corsica , is divided into two departments: Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud . September 20 - End of term for Tuanku Al-Mutassimu Billahi Muhibbudin Sultan Abdul Halim Al-Muadzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah as the 5th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia . September 21 - Sultan Yahya Petra ibni Almarhum Sultan Ibrahim Petra , Sultan of Kelantan becomes the 6th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia . September 22 - President Gerald Ford survives a second assassination attempt, this time by Sara Jane Moore September 30 - Hughes Helicopters (later McDonnell-Douglas , now Boeing IDS ) AH-64 Apache made its first flight. October November thumb November 3 - An independent audit of Mattel , of the United States largest Toy manufacturers, reveals that company officials fabricated press releases and financial information to "maintain the appearance of continued corporate growth." November 3 - First Oil Pipeline opens from Cruder Bay to Grangemouth November 6 - 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 November 10 - United Nations Resolution 3379 : With a vote of 72 to 35 (with 32 abstentions), the United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution equating Zionism with Racism . The resolution provokes an outcry among Jews around the world. November 10 - The 729-foot-long freighter (then, the largest ship on the Great Lakes ) SS Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm 17 miles from the entrance to Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior , killing all 29 crew on board November 11 - Angola becomes independent from Portugal (a deadly Civil war soon erupts) November 11 - Australian constitutional crisis of 1975 : Australian Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam and commissions Malcolm Fraser as Prime Minister November 11 - First annual Vogalonga rowing "race" in Venice , Italy November 14 - Spain abandons Western Sahara November 22 - Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of dictator Francisco Franco . November 25 - Suriname gains independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands November 25 - Irish Republican Army outlawed in Great Britain November 25 - Surinam gains Independence from the Netherlands November 27 - Ross McWhirter , the co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records , is shot dead by the IRA for offering reward money to informers November 28 - Portuguese Timor declares its independence from Portugal as East Timor November 29 - The name "Micro-soft" (for Microcomputer software ) is used by Bill Gates in a letter to Paul Allen for the first time (Microsoft became a registered trademark on November 26 , 1976 ). December Unknown dates Births January-April January 2 - Doug Robb , American singer (Hoobastank ) January 3 - Danica McKellar , American actress January 5 - Bradley Cooper , American actor January 13 - Shazia Mirza , British comedienne January 20 - Mark Allan Robinson , Canadian recall leader January 22 - Balthazar Getty , American actor January 25 - Tim Montgomery , American athlete January 29 - Sara Gilbert , American actress February 2 - Todd Bertuzzi , Canadian hockey player February 2 - Ieroklis Stoltidis , Greek footballer February 4 - Natalie Imbruglia , Australian musician February 5 - Adam Carson , American drummer (Afi ) February 17 - Wish Bone , American rapper February 20 - Brian Littrell , American musician (Backstreet Boys ) February 22 - Drew Barrymore , American actress March 5 - Jolene Blalock , American actress March 5 - Niki Taylor , American model March 9 - Roy Makaay , Dutch football player March 15 - Veselin Topalov , Bulgarian chess player March 17 - Justin Hawkins , British singer (The Darkness ) April 4 - Scott Rolen , baseball player April 4 - Delphine Arnault , billionaire French businesswoman LVMH April 7 - Ronde Barber , American football player April 7 - Tiki Barber , American football player April 9 - Robbie Fowler , British footballer April 22 - Greg Moore , Canadian race car driver (d. 1999 ) May-August May 1 - Marc-Vivien Foé , Cameroonian footballer (d. 2003 ) May 2 - David Beckham , English footballer May 3 - Maksim Mrvica , Croatian pianist May 8 - Enrique Iglesias , Spanish-born singer May 10 - Hélio Castroneves , Brazilian race car driver May 12 - Jonah Lomu , New Zealand rugby player May 14 - Hunter Burgan , American bassist (Afi ) May 15 - Ray Lewis , American football player May 19 - London Fletcher , American football player May 25 - Lauryn Hill , American singer May 27 - Jamie Oliver , British chef and television personality June 4 - Angelina Jolie , American actress June 17 - Chloe Jones , American actress June 9 - Andrew Symonds , Australian cricketer June 18 - Martin St. Louis , Canadian hockey player June 25 - Vladimir Kramnik , Russian chess player July 6 - 50 Cent , American rapper July 11 - Lil' Kim , American rapper July 17 - Konnie Huq , English television presenter July 18 - Torii Hunter , baseball player July 18 - Daron Malakian , American guitarist and singer (System of a Down ) July 22 - Erol Spencer Hofmans , Dutch political scientist July 27 - Shea Hillenbrand , baseball player July 27 - Alex Rodriguez , baseball player July 30 - Graham Nicholls , British artist August 7 - Charlize Theron , South African actress August 15 - Kara Wolters , American basketball player August 24 - Hayato Sakurai , Japanese martial artist September-December September 17 - Jimmie Johnson , American race car driver September 17 - Constantine Maroulis , American singer September 23 - Chris Hawkins , British radio personality September 25 - Matt Hasselbeck , American football player October 5 - Kate Winslet , British actress October 23 - Odalys Garcia , Cuban-born actress November 10 - Markko Märtin , Estonian race car driver November 17 - Diane Neal , American actress November 18 - David Ortiz , Dominican Major League Baseball player November 19 - Sushmita Sen , Indian beauty queen and actress November 20 - Dierks Bentley , American singer and musician November 20 - Timea Vagvoelgyi , Hungarian erotic star November 20 - Davey Havok , American singer (Afi ) December 05 - Ronnie O'Sullivan , British snooker player December 13 - Tom DeLonge , American guitarist and singer (Blink-182 ) December 17 - Milla Jovovich , Ukrainian actress and model December 18 - Masaki Sumitani , Japanese television performer December 23 - Sky Lopez , American actress December 27 - Heather O'Rourke , American actress (d. 1988 ) December 30 - Tiger Woods , American golfer Deaths Unknown date January-March January 8 - Richard Tucker , American tenor (b. 1913 ) January 19 - Thomas Hart Benton , American artist (b. 1889 ) January 24 - Larry Fine , American actor and comedian (b. 1902 ) January 27 - Bill Walsh , American film producer and writer (b. 1913 ) February 4 - Louis Jordan , American musician (b. 1908 ) February 8 - Robert Robinson , British chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886 ) February 10 - Nikos Kavvadias , Greek poet and writer (stroke) (b. 1910 ) February 13 - André Beaufre , French general (b. 1902 ) February 14 - Julian Huxley , British biologist (b. 1887 ) February 14 - P. G. Wodehouse , English writer (b. 1881 ) February 16 - Morgan Taylor , American athlete (b. 1903 ) February 19 - Luigi Dallapiccola , Italian composer (b. 1904 ) February 24 - Nikolai Bulganin , Premier of the Soviet Union (b. 1895 ) February 25 - Elijah Muhammad , American Black Muslim leader (b. 1897 ) February 26 - Stephen Tibble , London police officer (shot) (b. 1953 ) March 7 - Ben Blue , Canadian actor and comedian (b. 1901 ) March 8 - George Stevens , American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1904 ) March 13 - Ivo Andric , Serbo-Croatian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892 ) March 14 - Susan Hayward , American actress (b. 1917 ) March 15 - Aristotle Onassis , Greek shipping magnate (b. 1900 ) March 16 - T-Bone Walker , American musician (b. 1910 ) March 25 - King Faisal of Saudi Arabia (b. 1906 ) April-August April 5 - Chiang Kai-shek , President of the Republic of China April 10 - Walker Evans , American photographer April 13 - N'Garta Tombalbaye , President of Chad April 17 - Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan , Indian philosopher and president April 23 - William Hartnell , British actor (b. 1908 ) April 30 - Gen Paul , French artist May 5 - Moe Howard , American actor (b. 1897 ) May 8 - Avery Brundage , American President of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1887 ) May 13 - Bob Wills , American musician (b. 1905 ) May 18 - Leroy Anderson , American composer (b. 1908 ) May 23 - Moms Mabley , American comedienne (b. 1894 ) May 30 - Steve Prefontaine , American distance runner (b. 1951 ) June 3 - Eisaku Sato , Prime Minister of Japan , recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1901 ) June 26 - Josemaría Escrivá , Spanish priest and founder of Opus Dei (b. 1902 ) June 28 - Rod Serling , American television screenwriter (b. 1924 ) July 17 - Konstantine Gamsakhurdia , Georgian writer and public benefactor (b. 1893 ) July 29 - James Blish , American writer (b. 1921 ) August 8 - Julian Cannonball Adderley , American saxophonist (b. 1928 ) August 9 - Dmitri Shostakovich , Russian composer (b. 1906 ) August 16 - Vladimir Kuts , Soviet runner (b. 1927 ) August 28 - Fritz Wotruba , Austrian sculptor August 29 - Eamon de Valera , third President of Ireland (b. 1882 ) September-December September 10 - George Paget Thomson , English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892 ) September 20 - Saint-John Perse , French diplomat and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887 ) September 24 - Earle Cabell , Texas politician (b. 1906 ) September 27 - Jack Lang , Australian politician (b. 1876 ) October 10 - Norman Levinson , American mathematician (b. 1912 ) October 21 - Charles Reidpath , American athlete (b. 1889 ) October 30 - Gustav Ludwig Hertz , German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887 ) November 2 - Pier Paolo Pasolini , Italian film director (b. 1922 ) November 20 - Francisco Franco , dictator of Spain (b. 1892 ) November 27 - Ross McWhirter , Scottish co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records (b. 1925 ) November 29 - Tony Brise , English racing driver (b. 1952 ) November 29 - Graham Hill , English race car driver (b. 1929 ) December 1 - Anna E. Roosevelt , American radio personality (b. 1906 ) December 1 - Nellie Fox , baseball player (b. 1927 ) December 24 - Bernard Herrmann , American film composer (b. 1911 ) Nobel Prizes
