| 1974-04-13
Western Union (in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft) launches the United States' first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, Westar 1.
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| 1974-02-07
Grenada gains independence from the United Kingdom.
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| 1974-08-04
A bomb explodes in the Italicus Express train at San Benedetto Val di Sambro, Italy, killing 12 people and wounding 22.
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| 1974-07-15
In Nicosia, Cyprus, Greek Junta-sponsored nationalists launch a coup d'état, deposing President Makarios and installing Nikos Sampson as Cypriot president.
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| 1974-05-18
Completion of the Warsaw radio mast, the tallest construction ever built at the time. It collapsed on August 8, 1991.
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| 1974-11-02
78 die when the Time Go-Go Club in Seoul, South Korea burns down. Six of the victims jumped to their deaths from the seventh floor after a club official barred the doors after the fire started.
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| 1974-05-07
West German Chancellor Willy Brandt resigns.
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| 1974-02-22
Samuel Byck tries and fails to assassinate U.S. President Richard Nixon.
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| 1974-10-05
Guildford pub bombings: bombs planted by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) kill four British soldiers and one civilian.
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| 1974-08-07
Philippe Petit performs a high wire act between the twin towers of the World Trade Center 1,368 feet (417 m) in the air.
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| 1974-03-20
Ian Ball attempts, but fails, to kidnap Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.
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| 1974-06-27
U.S president Richard Nixon visits the U.S.S.R..
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| 1974-03-26
Gaura Devi leads a group of 27 women of Laata village, Henwalghati, Garhwal Himalayas, to form circles around trees to stop them being felled and giving rise to the Chipko Movement in India.
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| 1974-12-08
A plebiscite results in the abolition of monarchy in Greece.
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| 1974-12-22
The house of former British Prime Minister Ted Heath is attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.
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| 1974-12-25
Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Northern Territory Australia.
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| 1974-06-01
The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine.
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| 1974-09-08
Watergate Scandal: US President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon for any crimes Nixon may have committed while in office.
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| 1974-03-05
Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.
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| 1974-06-09
Portugal and the Soviet Union establish diplomatic relations.
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| 1974-08-05
Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress places a $1 billion dollar limit on military aid to South Vietnam.
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| 1974-01-27
The Brisbane River breaches its banks causing the largest flood to affect the city of Brisbane in the 20th Century
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| 1974-04-29
Watergate Scandal: President Richard Nixon announces the release of edited transcripts of White House tape recordings related to the scandal.
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| 1974-09-12
Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, 'Messiah' of the Rastafari movement, is deposed following a military coup by the Derg, ending a reign of 58 years.
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| 1974-04-18
The Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inaugurates Lahore Dry port.
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| 1974-03-01
Watergate scandal: Seven are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice.
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| 1974-02-02
The F-16 Fighting Falcon flies for the first time.
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| 1974-01-05
Warmest reliably measured temperature in Antarctica of +59°F (+15°C) recorded at Vanda Station
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| 1974-11-21
The Birmingham Pub Bombings kill 21 people. The Birmingham Six are sentenced to life in prison for the crime but subsequently acquitted.
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| 1974-04-25
Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrow the Estado Novo regime.
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| 1974-05-17
Thirty-three people are killed by terrorist bombings in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland.
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| 1974-05-28
Northern Ireland's power-sharing Sunningdale Agreement collapses following a general strike by loyalists.
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| 1974-06-26
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
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| 1974-12-28
Senegalese marxist group Reenu-Rew founds the political movement And-Jëf at a clandestine congress.
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| 1974-05-17
Police in Los Angeles, California, raid the Symbionese Liberation Army's headquarters, killing six members, including Camilla Hall.
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| 1974-07-30
Watergate Scandal: US President Richard M. Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings after being ordered to do so by the United States Supreme Court.
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| 1974-03-29
NASA's Mariner 10 becomes the first spaceprobe to fly by Mercury. It was launched on November 3, 1973.
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| 1974-12-25
Marshall Fields drives a vehicle through the gates of the White House, resulting in a four-hour standoff.
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| 1974-05-09
Watergate Scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opens formal and public impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon.
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| 1974-02-23
The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
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| 1974-12-01
TWA Flight 514, a Boeing 727, crashes northwest of Dulles International Airport killing all 92 people on-board.
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| 1974-02-01
Kuala Lumpur is declared a Federal Territory.
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| 1974-09-17
Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations.
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| 1974-03-03
Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashes at Ermenonville near Paris, France killing all 346 aboard.
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| 1974-07-26
Greek Prime Minister Constantinos Karamanlis forms the country's first civil government after seven years of military rule.
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| 1974-05-16
Josip Broz Tito is re-elected president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This time he is elected for life.
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| 1974-11-30
The fossil known as Lucy is discovered by Donald Johanson, Maurice Taieb, Yves Coppens and Tim White in the Middle Awash of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.
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| 1974-11-22
The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.
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| 1974-09-12
Juventude Africana Amilcar Cabral is founded in Guinea-Bissau.
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| 1974-02-28
After seven years, the United States and Egypt re-establish diplomatic relations.
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| 1974-12-24
Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia.
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| 1974-07-30
Six Royal Canadian Army Cadets killed and fifty-four injured in an accidental grenade blast at CFB Valcartier Cadet Camp.
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| 1974-06-01
Flixborough disaster: an explosion at a chemical plant kills 28 people.
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| 1974-08-15
Yuk Young-soo, First Lady of South Korea, is killed during an apparent assassination attempt upon President of South Korea, Park Chung-hee.
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| 1974-07-24
After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus the Greek military junta collapses and democracy is restored.
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| 1974-01-15
Dennis Rader aka the BTK Killer kills his first victims by binding, torturing and murdering Joseph, Joseph II, Josephine and Julie Otero in their house.
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| 1974-02-21
The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal pursuant to a truce with Egypt.
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| 1974-09-01
The SR-71 Blackbird sets (and holds) the record for flying from New York to London in the time of 1 hour, 54 minutes and 56.4 seconds.
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| 1974-01-05
An earthquake in Lima, Peru, kills six people, and damages hundreds of houses.
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| 1974-09-10
Guinea-Bissau gains independence from Portugal.
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| 1974-11-24
Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discover the 40% complete Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, nicknamed "Lucy" (after The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"), in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Depression.
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| 1974-05-18
Nuclear test: under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
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| 1974-05-04
An all-female Japanese team reaches the summit of Manaslu, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak.
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| 1974-06-29
Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina. Her husband, President Juan Peron, had delegated responsibility due to weak health and died two days later.
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| 1974-12-05
In American football, the Birmingham Americans would win what would eventually be the only World Bowl in World Football League history.
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| 1974-10-19
Niue becomes a self-governing colony of New Zealand.
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| 1974-03-08
Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.
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| 1974-11-20
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 its Bell System.
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| 1974-05-15
Ma'alot massacre: In an Arab terrorist attack and hostage taking at an Israeli school, a total of 31 people are killed, including 22 schoolchildren.
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| 1974-02-04
The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, California.
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| 1974-12-22
Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli vote to become the independent nation of Comoros. Mayotte remains under French administration.
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| 1974-06-29
Mikhail Baryshnikov defects from the Soviet Union to Canada while on tour with Bolshoi Ballet.
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| 1974-04-03
The Super Outbreak occurs, the biggest tornado outbreak in recorded history. The death toll is 315, with nearly 5,500 injured.
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| 1974-10-08
Franklin National Bank collapses due to fraud and mismanagement; at the time it is the largest bank failure in the history of the United States.
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| 1974-10-30
The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman takes place in Kinshasa, Zaire.
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| 1974-07-27
Watergate Scandal: The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee votes 27 to 11 to recommend the first article of impeachment (for obstruction of justice) against President Richard Nixon.
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| 1974-07-20
Turkish occupation of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after a "coup d' etat", organised by the dictator of Greece, against president Makarios. NATO's Council praises the United States and the United Kingdom for attempts to settle the dispute. Syria and Egypt put their militaries on alert.
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| 1974-02-01
A fire in the 25-story Joelma Building in Sao Paulo, Brazil kills 189 and injures 293.
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| 1974-07-24
Watergate scandal: the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled 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.
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| 1974-08-09
As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, becomes president.
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| 1974-02-08
Military coup in Upper Volta.
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| 1974-01-02
President Richard Nixon signs a bill lowering the maximum U.S. speed limit to 55 MPH in order to conserve gasoline during an OPEC embargo
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| 1974-01-06
In response to the 1973 energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
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| 1974-03-18
Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan.
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| 1974-09-15
Air Vietnam flight 727 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board.
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| 1974-08-08
Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his resignation, effective the next day.
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| 1974-12-01
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231, crashes northwest of John F. Kennedy International Airport.
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| 1974-06-04
During Ten Cent Beer Night, inebriated Cleveland Indians fans start a riot, causing the game to be forfeited to the Texas Rangers.
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| 1974-12-13
Malta becomes a republic.
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| 1974-11-17
The Aliança Operário-Camponesa (Worker-Peasant Alliance) is founded in Portugal, as a front of PCP(m-l).
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| 1974-04-27
10,000 march in Washington, D.C., calling for the impeachment of US President Richard Nixon
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| 1974-02-12
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.
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| 1974-01-04
United States President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over materials subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.
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| 1974-10-30
Nolan Ryan throws the fastest baseball pitch ever. It was recorded at 100.9 mph.
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| 1974-01-18
A Disengagement of Forces agreement is signed between the Israeli and Egyptian governments, ending conflict on the Egyptian front of the Yom Kippur War.
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| 1974-04-01
In the United Kingdom, the Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties come into being.
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| 1974-09-18
Hurricane Fifi strikes Honduras with 110 mph winds, killing 5,000 people.
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| 1974-08-30
A Belgrade–Dortmund express train derails at the main train station in Zagreb killing 153 passengers.
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| 1974-06-06
A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy.
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| 1974-02-22
Organisation of the Islamic Conferencesummit begins in Lahore, Pakistan. Thirty-seven countries attend and twenty-two heads of state and government participate. It also recognizes Bangladesh.
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| 1974-02-27
People magazine is published for the first time.
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| 1974-04-08
at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Hank Aaron hits his 715th career home run to surpass Babe Ruth's 39-year-old record.
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| 1974-08-30
A powerful bomb explodes at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries headquarters in Marunouchi, Tokyo, Japan. 8 killed, 378 injured. Eight left-wing activists are arrested on May 19, 1975 by Japanese authorities.
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| 1974-02-08
After 84 days in space, the crew of the first American space station Skylab returns to Earth.
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| 1974-02-17
Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
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| 1974-01-13
Seraphim is elected Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.
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