It was a most, er, unconventional 12 months.
January
Mal Evans, road manager and dear friend of The Beatles, is fatally shot by police during a disturbance at his Los Angeles home.
Rocker Peter Frampton releases his soon-to-be bestselling album, Frampton Comes Alive.
Agatha Christie, one of the world’s most famous mystery playwrights and authors, dies in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, at age 85.
The first commercial flights of the Concorde supersonic passenger jet depart from London and from Paris.
February
Clifford Alexander, Jr., is named the first Black Secretary of the Army.
Actor Lee J. Cobb, best known for his role in Death of a Salesman, dies in California at age 64.
Actor Sal Mineo, 37, dies after being stabbed by a mugger in West Hollywood.
The film The Sound of Music (1965) is shown on television for the first time in the USA after the ABC network pays $15 million to broadcast it a single time.
March
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is named Best Picture at the 48th Academy Awards.
Maxie Rosenbloom, former light-heavyweight boxing champion who became a comic film actor, dies at age 68.
Filming of the original Star Wars movie begins in Tunisia.
Busby Berkeley, film director and choreographer, dies at age 80.
Patricia Hearst is found guilty of armed robbery of a bank, as part of the Symbionese Liberation Army.
For the first time in history, women are appointed to the U.S Naval Academy.
Isabel Peron, president of Argentina, is deposed in a military coup.
Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom becomes the first world leader to send an email.
April
Reclusive billionaire and pioneering aviator Howard Hughes, fittingly, dies in flight at age 70.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak establish Apple Computer Company.
The U.S. Treasury Dept. reintroduces the two-dollar bill.
The Waverly Theatre in New York’s Greenwich Village holds the first midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show, spawning a nationwide fad that lasts years.
Phil Ochs, songwriter and American folk singer, dies at 35.
Bruce Springsteen is escorted from the grounds of Graceland after climbing a wall in an attempt to meet Elvis Presley.
May
Earthquake near Friuli, Italy, north of Venice, leaves nearly 1,000 dead.
The Ulster Volunteer Force bombs two pubs, killing four, in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The Provisional Irish Republican Army kills four members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
The Clipper Liberty Bell, a Boeing 747 operated by Pan Am Airways, flies around the world (with fueling stops) in a record time of 46 hours and 50 seconds.
Singer John Denver and actress Mary Tyler Moore host the annual Emmy Awards.
Rolling Stone Keith Richards is arrested for possession of illegal substances after a car crash in the U.K.
Former Beatle Paul McCartney tours America, with his band Wings, for the first time since The Beatles’ (final) 1966 tour.
Karen Ann Quinlan, the focus of the “Right To Die” movement, is removed from life support, but does not pass away for another nine years.
The Who sets a Guinness Record for “World’s Loudest Band.”
The U.S. Air Force Academy admits women for the first time.
June
Idi Amin announces that he has been named President for Life in Uganda.
A car bomb kills Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles.
The American Basketball Assn. merges with the NBA.
The “Son of Sam” killings begin in New York City.
An American expedition launches the most comprehensive search up to that time for the Loch Ness Monster.
J. Paul Getty, one of the world’s wealthiest men, dies at age 83.
July
England reaches its hottest day on record up to then.
The American Bicentennial is celebrated on July 4.
“Family Feud” debuts on ABC.
American tennis player Chris Evert defeats Australia’s Evonne Goolagong to win the women’s singles championship at Wimbledon.
NASA’s Viking 1 Lander touches down on Mars.
The British ambassador to Ireland is killed by an IRA bomb in Dublin.
The “raid on Entebbe” ends successfully when Israeli commandos rescue hijacked passengers at Entebbe Airport in Uganda.
Beatle John Lennon becomes a permanent resident alien of the United States.
First Legionnaire’s outbreak, in Philadelphia, infects 4,000.
Mobster Mickey Cohen dies from cancer at age 62.
August
London’s Big Ben fails to ring and its clock stops because of “metal fatigue.”
Alex Haley publishes his novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family, later made into a celebrated miniseries.
The Swine Flue inoculation project is signed into law by President Gerald Ford.
The Ramones debut at CBGB in New York.
Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, collapses after trashing his hotel room and is rushed to the hospital.
The Internet, in a very rudimentary form, is born in California.
Rock pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis is arrested after showing up drunk outside of Elvis Presley’s mansion, Graceland, at 3 a.m., armed with a handgun, demanding to see Elvis.
September
The United States launches Enterprise, the first space shuttle.
Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin reunite, at the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, for the first time in 20 years.
Future President George W. Bush is arrested for drunk driving in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Mao Zedong, founder of the People’s Republic of China, dies at 82 after years of ill health.
“Charlie’s Angels” premieres on ABC.
Disco rears its ugly head as the Bee Gees release their single “You Should Be Dancing.”
Muhammed Ali defeats Ken Norton in a unanimous decision for the World Heavyweight Championship in their third match-up.
October
In a debate with Jimmy Carter, Democratic candidate for the Presidential election of 1976, then-President Gerald Ford, a Republican, dooms his own chances of victory when he says, “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration.”
The Cincinnati Reds sweep the New York Yankees in four games to win the World Series and, at the same time, introduce the National League’s first designated hitter.
Sony unveils the videocassette recorder (VCR).
China’s Gang of Four are arrested, effectively ending the 10-year-old Cultural Revolution.
November
Jimmy Carter is elected President in his run against sitting President Gerald Ford.
Brian De Palma’s horror classic Carrie premieres.
The original Smokey Bear, a black bear, dies at age 26 at the Washington National Zoo.
Sculptor Alexander Calder, most famous for his mobiles, dies at age 78.
A million Californians give up smoking for a day, kicking off next year’s Great American Smokeout.
Heiress Patricia Hearst, serving time for bank robbery, is released on appeal.
Microsoft (a portmanteau for microcomputer and software) officially registers its trademark.
Reggie Jackson signs with the New York Yankees.
December
The Sex Pistols become infamous in England, and a punk-rock sensation, after spouting four-letter words during a Thames Television appearance.
The first Rocky film is released.
The Eagles debut Hotel California.
Women are selected as Rhodes Scholars for the first time, 75 years after the scholarship was established.
Spain approves the use of the Catalan language in four provinces of Catalonia.