1974

Events in 1974 63

• 1890 – 1974 Vannevar Bush (1890-1974) Died 28 June 1974, aged 84 Vannevar Bush was an American engineer who directed the US Office of Scientific Research and Development during the Second World War, overseeing the early atomic bomb effort. His 1945 essay "As We May Think" anticipated hypertext and the modern computer.
• 1891 – 1974 Earl Warren (1891-1974) Died 9 July 1974, aged 83 Earl Warren served as Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969, presiding over landmark rulings including Brown v. Board of Education. He also chaired the commission that investigated the assassination of President Kennedy.
• 1891 – 1974 James Chadwick (1891-1974) Died 24 July 1974, aged 82 James Chadwick was a British physicist who discovered the neutron in 1932, earning the Nobel Prize in Physics. He later led the British contribution to the Manhattan Project.
• 1894 – 1974 Jack Benny (1894-1974) Died 26 December 1974, aged 80 Jack Benny was an American comedian whose radio and television programs made him one of the most popular entertainers of the mid-20th century. His deadpan timing and running gags shaped generations of American comedy.
• 1894 – 1974 Walter Brennan (1894-1974) Died 21 September 1974, aged 80 Walter Brennan was an American character actor who won three Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor, more than any other male performer. He appeared in over 200 films across a career spanning five decades.
• 1895 – 1974 Juan Perón (1895-1974) Died 1 July 1974, aged 78 Juan Perón was a former Argentine army officer who served as president of Argentina across three terms. He died in office during his third term, triggering a succession crisis that led to his wife Isabel Perón becoming president.
• 1895 – 1974 Marcel Pagnol (1895-1974) Died 18 April 1974, aged 79 Marcel Pagnol was a French novelist, playwright and filmmaker known for works including the Marseille trilogy and the Jean de Florette novels. He was the first filmmaker elected to the Académie française.
• 1896 – 1974 Georgy Zhukov (1896-1974) Died 18 June 1974, aged 77 Georgy Zhukov was the Soviet Union's most celebrated Second World War commander, leading the defense of Moscow, Stalingrad and the final assault on Berlin. He later served as Soviet defense minister before falling from political favor.
• 1897 – 1974 Bud Abbott (1897-1974) Died 24 April 1974, aged 76 Bud Abbott was an American comedian and the straight man of the duo Abbott and Costello, famed for the "Who's on First?" routine. The pair were among the most popular film and radio comedy acts of the 1940s.
• 1899 – 1974 Duke Ellington (1899-1974) Died 24 May 1974, aged 75 Duke Ellington was an American composer and bandleader widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in jazz history. He led his orchestra for over fifty years and wrote thousands of compositions.
• 1900 – 1974 Agnes Moorehead (1900-1974) American actress of Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre, famous as Endora in Bewitched.
• 1901 – 1974 Vittorio De Sica (1901-1974) Died 13 November 1974, aged 73 Vittorio De Sica was an Italian film director central to the Italian neorealist movement, directing classics including Bicycle Thieves. He won multiple Academy Awards for his films.
• 1902 – 1974 Lindbergh Transatlantic solo flight Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in 1927, flying from New York to Paris in 33.5 hours.
• 1908 – 1974 Oskar Schindler (1908-1974) Died 9 October 1974, aged 66 Oskar Schindler was a German industrialist credited with saving over a thousand Jewish workers from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. He was later recognized by Israel as Righteous Among the Nations.
• 1909 – 1974 U Thant (1909-1974) Died 25 November 1974, aged 65 U Thant was a Burmese diplomat who served as the third Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971. His tenure spanned the Cuban Missile Crisis and much of the Vietnam War.
• 1911 – 1974 Georges Pompidou (1911-1974) Died 2 April 1974, aged 62 Georges Pompidou served as president of France from 1969 until his death from a blood disorder while still in office. He had previously been prime minister under Charles de Gaulle.
• 1941 – 1974 Cass Elliot (1941-1974) Died 29 July 1974, aged 32 Cass Elliot, known as Mama Cass, was an American singer and a member of the folk-rock group The Mamas & the Papas. She died suddenly in London while pursuing a solo career.
• 1963 – 1974 Black holes confirmed From theoretical curiosity to observed reality Einstein's general relativity predicted black holes in 1916, but they were dismissed as mathematical artifacts. The discovery of quasars (1963) and pulsars (1967) — both objects requiring extreme gravity — made black holes plausible. The term "black hole" was coined by John Wheeler in 1967. By the 1970s, X-ray binaries like Cygnus X-1 provided compelling evidence. The first direct image of a black hole was captured in 2019.
• 1969 – 1974 Nixon presidency 37th President — resigned 1974 Richard Nixon served as the 37th President from January 20, 1969 until his resignation on August 9, 1974 — the only US president to resign. He opened relations with China, ended the Vietnam War, and created the EPA before Watergate destroyed his presidency.
• 1973 – 1974 Tal's 95-game unbeaten streak All-time record in competitive chess Between 1973 and 1974 Mikhail Tal went 95 consecutive games without a loss in competitive chess — a record that stood for over 40 years until broken by Magnus Carlsen.
• 1973 – 1974 Watergate scandal Nixon resigns The break-in at the Watergate complex and subsequent cover-up led to the only resignation of a sitting US President, Richard Nixon, in August 1974.
• 1974 – present Banksy Street Art · United Kingdom Banksy (born c. 1974) is an anonymous British street artist whose satirical stencil works appear on walls worldwide. His identity remains unknown. His self-destructing Girl with Balloon sold at Sotheby's for £18.6 million in 2021.
• 1974 – present General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon The lightweight fighter Small, cheap and agile — the lightweight fighter that became the most widely used fighter of its era, with more than 4,600 built for some 25 air forces.
• 1974 Pepsi first American brand in the USSR Cold War cola diplomacy — 1974 In 1974, Pepsi became the first American consumer product to be manufactured and sold in the Soviet Union, after a pioneering deal struck by PepsiCo CEO Donald Kendall with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the 1959 "Kitchen Debate" in Moscow finally bore fruit. Pepsi traded cola syrup for Stolichnaya vodka import rights.
• 1974 Rubik's Cube invented Ernő Rubik creates his puzzle cube in Budapest Hungarian architect Ernő Rubik built a working prototype of his three-dimensional puzzle while researching structural problems. It later became one of the best-selling toys in history after commercial release.
• 1974 The 1974 Constitution Instrument of Government Stripped the King of all remaining political powers, making the Swedish monarch a purely ceremonial figure.
• 1974 Willis Reed retires After a loss to Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals, Reed announces his retirement, closing the championship era.
• 1974 Joni Mitchell releases Court and Spark Biggest seller Jazz-tinged pop, her best-selling album.
• 1974 YF-16 unplanned first flight Edwards Air Force Base During a high-speed taxi test, pilot Phil Oestricher lifts off to save the prototype from damage and flies it for six minutes — two weeks before the official first flight.
• 1974 Patty Hearst kidnapped by the SLA Newspaper heiress abducted in Berkeley Members of the Symbionese Liberation Army seized 19-year-old Patricia Hearst from her Berkeley apartment. She later appeared in SLA propaganda and took part in a bank robbery, becoming one of the era's most sensational criminal cases.
• 1974 Grenada gains independence Caribbean island ends British colonial rule Grenada became an independent nation within the Commonwealth, ending its status as a British colony. Eric Gairy became the country's first prime minister.
• 1974 – present Steve Nash MV-Steve 2-time MVP who led the high-octane "7 Seconds or Less" Suns.
• 1974 – present Yevgeny Kafelnikov The Iron Man First Russian to win a Grand Slam (1996 French Open).
• 1974 UK general election produces hung parliament February 1974 vote returns Harold Wilson to power A snap general election called over the miners' strike produced Britain's first hung parliament since 1929. Harold Wilson formed a minority Labour government after Edward Heath failed to secure a coalition.
• 1974 – present Percy Montgomery Springbok fullback, world-record goal-kicker and 2007 Rugby World Cup winner Percy Montgomery is a former South African rugby union player widely regarded as one of the finest fullbacks of his generation. Over an international career spanning more than a decade, he became the Springboks' all-time leading Test points-scorer and the first South African to reach 100 Test caps. Renowned for his metronomic goal-kicking, he set a world record for consecutive successful kicks and was a key figure in South Africa's 2007 Rugby World Cup triumph. After retiring as a player he moved into broadcasting and coaching, later serving as a kicking consultant within the Springbok setup.
• 1974 Terracotta Army discovered Farmers unearth Qin Shi Huang's buried army Farmers digging a well near Xi'an uncovered fragments of the buried terracotta army guarding the tomb of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. Excavation revealed thousands of life-sized clay soldiers, becoming one of the great archaeological finds of the 20th century.
• 1974 1974 Super Outbreak Record tornado outbreak strikes the US Midwest and South A record 148 tornadoes touched down across 13 US states and Canada over 18 hours, killing over 300 people. It stood as the largest tornado outbreak on record until 2011.
• 1974 ABBA wins Eurovision with Waterloo Swedish pop group launches to international stardom ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, England with the song "Waterloo." The victory launched the group to global fame and is widely seen as a turning point for the contest's prestige.
• 1974 Hank Aaron breaks the home run record Aaron hits his 715th career home run Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run in Atlanta, surpassing Babe Ruth's long-standing record. Aaron had endured racist threats in the lead-up to breaking the record.
• 1974 1974 World Snooker Championship Reardon Title 3 Winner: Ray Reardon; Runner-up: Graham Miles. Score: 22–12.
• 1974 Carnation Revolution 25 de Abril The peaceful military coup that overthrew the dictatorship and brought democracy and decolonization.
• 1974 India conducts first nuclear test Smiling Buddha detonated at Pokhran India detonated its first nuclear device at the Pokhran test range, codenamed Smiling Buddha and officially described as a peaceful nuclear explosion. It made India the sixth country to demonstrate nuclear weapons capability.
• 1974 Giscard d'Estaing elected French president Narrow runoff victory following Pompidou's death Valéry Giscard d'Estaing narrowly defeated Socialist François Mitterrand in a presidential runoff, following the death of President Georges Pompidou earlier that year. He became France's youngest president since Napoleon III.
• 1974 – 1999 Big L (1974-1999) Died 15 February 1999, aged 24 Lamont Coleman, known as Big L, was a Harlem rapper regarded as an influential figure in 1990s hip-hop lyricism. He was shot and killed near his childhood home in Harlem, New York, in an unsolved murder. His posthumous reputation grew substantially in the following decades.
• 1974 Heimlich maneuver published Surgeon Henry Heimlich describes his anti-choking technique Surgeon Henry Heimlich published a description of an abdominal thrust technique for dislodging objects from a choking person's airway. The maneuver quickly became standard first-aid practice worldwide.
• 1974 First UPC barcode scanned at retail A pack of gum inaugurates the barcode era A ten-pack of Wrigley's chewing gum became the first retail product scanned using the Universal Product Code, at a supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The barcode system went on to transform retail inventory and checkout worldwide.
• 1974 1974 FIFA World Cup Final West Germany beats the Netherlands in Munich West Germany defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the World Cup final in Munich, denying Johan Cruyff's "Total Football" side the title. It was West Germany's second World Cup win.
• 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus Turkey lands troops after a Greek-backed coup Turkey invaded northern Cyprus days after a coup backed by the Greek military junta tried to unite the island with Greece. The conflict left Cyprus partitioned, with a ceasefire line still dividing the island today.
• 1974 Greek military junta collapses Metapolitefsi restores Greek democracy Facing disaster in Cyprus, Greece's ruling colonels handed power to civilian politician Konstantinos Karamanlis. The transition ended seven years of dictatorship and began Greece's return to parliamentary democracy.
• 1974 Philippe Petit walks between the Twin Towers High-wire artist crosses the World Trade Center French high-wire artist Philippe Petit illegally rigged a cable between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and walked between them, roughly 1,350 feet above the street. The stunt was later chronicled in the documentary Man on Wire.
• 1974 Nixon resigns Nixon resigns Richard Nixon resigned on 9 August 1974, the only American president to do so, three days after the release of a tape proving he had ordered the FBI investigation of the Watergate break-in to be obstructed. Impeachment and conviction were by then certain. Gerald Ford pardoned him a month later.
• 1974 Evel Knievel attempts the Snake River Canyon jump Rocket-powered motorcycle stunt fails to clear the canyon Daredevil Evel Knievel attempted to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho aboard a steam-powered rocket cycle. His parachute deployed prematurely and he drifted down into the canyon, surviving with minor injuries.
• 1974 Ford pardons Nixon Gerald Ford grants Richard Nixon a full pardon President Gerald Ford granted his predecessor Richard Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes committed during the Watergate scandal. The pardon proved deeply controversial and is often cited as a factor in Ford's 1976 election loss.
• 1974 Portugal recognises Guinea-Bissau independence Former colony formally becomes independent Portugal formally recognized the independence of Guinea-Bissau, a year after the territory had unilaterally declared itself a sovereign state during its war of independence. It became a member of the United Nations shortly after.
• 1974 Haile Selassie deposed Ethiopian monarchy ended by the Derg A committee of military officers known as the Derg deposed Emperor Haile Selassie, ending a reign of nearly 44 years and Ethiopia's ancient monarchy. He was held under house arrest until his death the following year.
• 1974 Jackson Browne releases Late for the Sky Masterpiece A song cycle about love's endings, used in Taxi Driver.
• 1974 UK holds second general election of the year October 1974 vote gives Labour a slim majority Harold Wilson called a second general election within the year, securing Labour a narrow three-seat majority. It was the last UK general election held twice in one calendar year.
• 1974 It's Only Rock 'n Roll Twelfth album — October 18, 1974 It's Only Rock 'n Roll was released on October 18, 1974. Mick Taylor's final album with the band before his departure in December 1974. Ron Wood of the Faces contributed to the title track, presaging his eventual permanent role.
• 1974 The Rumble in the Jungle Muhammad Ali knocks out George Foreman Muhammad Ali regained the world heavyweight title by knocking out the previously unbeaten George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire. Promoted by Don King, the fight became one of the most famous sporting events of the century.
• 1974 Lucy fossil discovered Australopithecus afarensis skeleton found in Ethiopia Paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson discovered the partial skeleton of an early hominin at Hadar, Ethiopia. Nicknamed Lucy, the 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis reshaped understanding of human origins.
• 1974 The Man with the Golden Gun — Roger Moore Bond hunts Francisco Scaramanga, an elite assassin with a golden gun. The film introduces the legendary henchman Nick Nack and features a spectacular spiral car jump — later discovered to have been achieved in a single take without CGI. Budget: $7 million. Box office: $97.6 million.
• 1974 Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin Category 4 cyclone destroys most of an Australian city Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin, Australia on Christmas Eve, destroying more than 70 percent of the city's buildings and killing over 60 people. It remains one of the most destructive cyclones in Australian history.
• 1974 Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks join Fleetwood Mac New line-up The Californian duo transforms the band.