1974

Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s

Years: 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 - 1974 - 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

• February 4 - Patricia Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army
• February 7 - Grenada becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
• February 8 - After 84 days in space, the crew of the temporary American space station Skylab return to Earth
• February 23 - The Symbionese Liberation Army demand $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
• February 27 - People[?] magazine is published for the first time.
• March 8 - Charles de Gaulle Airport[?] opens in Paris, France
• March 18 - Oil embargo[?]: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.
• March 29 - Mariner 10 approaches Mercury
• April 25 - Coup in Portugal restores democracy (see Carnation Revolution[?])
• May 9 - The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard M. Nixon.
• May 17 - Los Angeles, California police raid Symbionese Liberation Army headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall
• May 17 - Thirty-three people die from bombings in Dublin and Monaghan[?], Ireland.
• May 18 - Nuclear test: Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
• July 30 - The House Judiciary Committee adopts three 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. He announces he will resign the next day, the first president to do so. Vice President Gerald R. Ford is sworn in as 38th President of the United States on August 9.
• September 8 - President Gerald Ford grants a "full, free, and absolute pardon" to ex-president Nixon.
• November 7 - Lord Lucan disappears
• November 17 - President Childers dies suddenly of a heart attack in the Republic of Ireland
• December 19 - Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh becomes the fifth President of Ireland, in a state inauguration in Dublin Castle
• December 24 - Darwin, Australia almost completely destroyed by Cyclone Tracy[?]
• The Milgram experiment first described by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram in his 1974 book Obedience to Authority; An Experimental View.

Politics, Art, Culture & Fashion

• 1974 in film
  • May - George Lucas creates the first draft of what would eventually become Star Wars.
  • The Godfather, Part II
  • Chinatown
  • The Conversation
  • The Towering Inferno
• 1974 in literature
  • Carrie by Stephen King
• 1974 in music
• 1974 in politics
  • January 2 - Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum US speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo.
  • January 4 - United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
  • Turkey invades the country of Cyprus, occupies the northern third of the island, and declares the founding of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
  • February 28 - After seven years, the United States and Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations.
  • March 1 - Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged was conspiracy to obstruct justice.
  • April 25 - Portuguese democratic revolution.
  • May 18 "Smiling Buddha" nuclear weapon test by India
  • Ethiopian Emperor Haile Sellassie ousted in a coup by the Derg[?].
• 1974 in sports
• 1974 in television
  • January 15 - Happy Days premieres on NBC
  • Little House on the Prairie, starring Michael Landon[?].

Births:

• January 16 - Kate Moss[?], supermodel
• January 23 - Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, actress
• January 27 - Bridget Fonda[?], actress
• January 30 - Christian Bale[?], actor
• February 8 - Seth Green, actor
• February 11 - D'Angelo[?], singer
• February 13 - Robbie Williams, singer
• February 19 - Allison Boyer[?], poet
• March 5 - Jens Jeremies, football player, National Team of Germany
• March 20 - Carsten Ramelow, football player, National Team of Germany
• March 20 - Paula Garces[?], actress
• March 24 - Alyson Hannigan, actress
• April 4 - Dave Mirra[?], extreme sports champion
• April 14 - Da Brat, rap singer
• April 28 - Penelope Cruz, actress
• June 1 - Alanis Morissette, singer
• July 14 - Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
• October 11 - Jens Moellenhoff
• August 17 - Asad Makarevic[?], software engineer, chef, auto mechanic, epicurean
• November 11 - Leonardo DiCaprio, actor

Deaths:

• January 31 - Samuel Goldwyn[?], film studio executive
• February 11 - Anna Q Nilsson[?], actress.
• February 23 - Harry Ruby[?], composer, writer
• March 5 - Sol Hurok[?], impresario
• March 20 - Chet Huntley[?], television journalist
• April 2 - Georges Pompidou, President of France
• June 22 - Darius Milhaud, composer
• July 1 - Juan Domingo Perón[?], Argentinean military and politician, president of the Republic 1946 - 1955 and 1973 until his death
• September 2 - J. R. R. Tolkien, British author
• September 3 - Harry Partch, microtonal composer
• November 11 - Alfonso Leng, Chilean composer
• November 13 - Vittorio De Sica, Italian director
• November 17 - Erskine Hamilton Childers, fourth President of Ireland

Nobel Prizes:

• Physics - Sir Martin Ryle[?], Antony Hewish[?]
• Chemistry - Paul J Flory[?]
• Medicine - Albert Claude[?], Christian de Duve[?], George E Palade[?]
• Literature - Eyvind Johnson, Harry Martinson
• Peace - Séan Mac Bride[?] Eisaku Sato
• Economics - Gunnar Myrdal[?], Friedrich von Hayek