News and Events of 1974

View a 1974 calendar

World Statistics

Population: 4.012 billion
population by decade

Nobel Peace Prize:
Eisaku Sato (Japan); Sean MacBride (Ireland)

More World Statistics...

• OPEC ends the oil embargo begun in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War (Mar. 18).
• Nixon and Brezhnev meet in Moscow to discuss arms limitation agreements. Background: nuclear disarmament
• Leftist revolution ends almost 50 years of dictatorial rule in Portugal (launched Apr. 25).
• India successfully tests an atomic device, becoming the world's sixth nuclear power (May 18). 
• Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is deposed. A collective military dictatorship assumes power (Sept. 12).

More History...

U.S. Statistics

President: Richard M. Nixon
Vice President: Gerald R. Ford
Population: 213,853,928
Life expectancy: 72.0 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 48.5
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 43.9

More U.S. Statistics...

• Patricia Hearst, 19-year-old daughter of publisher Randolph Hearst, kidnapped by Symbionese Liberation Army (Feb. 5).
• House Judiciary Committee adopts three articles of impeachment charging President Nixon with obstruction of justice, failure to uphold laws, and refusal to produce material subpoenaed by the committee (July 30).
• Richard M. Nixon announces he will resign the next day, the first President to do so (Aug. 8).
• Vice President Gerald R. Ford of Michigan is sworn in as 38th President of the US (Aug. 9).
• Ford grants "full, free, and absolute pardon" to ex-President Nixon (Sept. 8).

More History...

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $1,496.90 billion
Federal spending:   $269.36 billion
Federal debt:   $483.9 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $11,197 
Consumer Price Index:   49.3
Unemployment:   5.6%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.08 ($0.10 as of 3/2/74)

More Economics...

Sports Links

Pro Football Summary

Pro Basketball Summary

Pro Baseball Summary

Super Bowl

Miami d. Minnesota (24-7)

World Series

Oakland A's d. LA Dodgers (4-1)

NBA Championship

Boston d. Milwaukee (4-3)

Stanley Cup

Philadelphia d. Boston (4-2)

Wimbledon

Women: Chris Evert d. O. Morozova (6-0 6-4)
Men: Jimmy Connors d. K. Rosewall (6-1 6-1 6-4)

Kentucky Derby Champion

Cannonade

NCAA Basketball Championship

N.C. State d. Marquette (76-64)

NCAA Football Champions

Oklahoma (AP) (11-0-0) & USC (UPI, FW, NFF) (10-1-1)

World Cup

W. Germany d. Holland (2-1)

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Music: Notturno, Donald Martino

Oscars awarded in 1974
Academy Award, Best Picture: The Sting, Tony Bill, Michael Phillips and Julia Phillips, producers (Universal)

Nobel Prize for Literature: Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson (both Sweden)

1974 Emmy Awards

1974 Tony Awards

Grammys awarded in 1974
Record of the Year: "Killing Me Softly With His Song," Roberta Flack
Album of the Year: Innervisions, Stevie Wonder (Tamla/Motown)
Song of the Year: "Killing Me Softly With His Song," Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, songwriters

Miss America: Rebecca Ann King (CO)

More Entertainment Awards...

Events

• Patti Smith releases what is considered to be the first punk rock single, "Hey Joe."
• People magazine debuts, with Mia Farrow gracing the cover.
• Premier Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defects and joins the American Ballet Theatre.

Movies

• Chinatown, The Godfather Part II, Day for Night, Blazing Saddles, The Towering Inferno

Music

• Patti Smith, "Hey Joe"

Books

• Robert Creeley, Sitting Here
• Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
• Gail Godwin, The Odd Woman
• Stephen King, Carrie
• Toni Morrison, Sula
• Grace Paley, Enormous Changes at the Last Minute
• Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
• Gary Snyder, Turtle Island

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: Paul J. Flory (US), for developing analytic methods to study properties and molecular structure of long-chain molecules

Physics: Antony Hewish (UK), for discovery of pulsars; Martin Ryle (UK), for using radiotelescopes to probe outer space with high degree of precision

Physiology or Medicine: George E. Palade, Christian de Duve (both US), and Albert Claude (Belgium), for contributions to understanding inner workings of living cells

• For safety reasons, the National Academy of Sciences calls for a temporary ban on some types ofgenetic engineering research.
• A new elementary particle psi (now called J) is discovered by Burton Richter of Stanford University.

• Bud Abbott
• Dizzy Dean
• Duke Ellington
• Charles Lindbergh
• Ed Sullivan