- (Jan 1st) In San Francisco gay celebrants held a Mardi-Gras themed costume ball at California Hall on Polk Street as a benefit for the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, co-founded in 1964 by Rev. Robert Cromey and Rev. Ted McIlvenna. Police set up flood lights at the entrance and harassed some 500 couples that entered. Mayor Shelley soon called for a full accounting of the episode from Police Chief Thomas Cahill.
- (Jan 2nd) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr began a drive to register black voters.
- (Jan 3rd) UC Berkeley officials announced a new campus policy that allowed political activity on campus.
- (Jan 4th) President Johnson outlined the goals of his "Great Society" in his State of the Union address. The "Great Society" was to be achieved through a vast program that included an attack on diseases, a doubling of the war on poverty, greater enforcement of Civil Rights Law, immigration law reform and greater support of education.
- The Vietnam War was going on as well (so that will be mentioned a lot throughout the year.)
- Malcom X was assassinated.
- (Jan 3rd) Following eight years of inactivity, Bob Dylan and The Band began his 2-month concert tour in Chicago, IL. The tour was recorded and later released as a double-LP set titled, “Before the Flood."
- (Feb 4th) Chimpanzee Nim Chimsky signs his 1st word, at 2½ months
- (Feb 8th) After a record 84 days in orbit, the crew of Skylab 4 returns to Earth.
- (Feb 12th) U.S. District Court Judge Geoerge Boldt rules that Native American tribes in Washington State are entitled to half of the legal salmon and steelhead catches, based on treaties signed by the tribes and the U.S. government.
- (Mar 12th) Ted Bundy victim Donna Manson disappears from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington (body never found)
- (Mar 29th)Chinese farmers discover the Terracotta Army near Xi'an, 8,000 clay warrior statues buried to guard the tomb of China's 1st emperor, Qin Shi Huang
- (April 3rd) The 1974 Super Outbreak, the second-largest series of tornadoes in history, hits 13 U.S. states and one Canadian province. By the time the last of 148 tornadoes hit early the following morning, 315 die and over 5,000 are injured.
- (April 5th) Stephen King's first novel "Carrie" is published.
- (June 30th) Alberta Williams King, mother of the late Martin Luther King, Jr., is killed during a church service in Atlanta, Georgia.
- (July 14th) In Issaquah, Washington, serial killer Ted Bundy abducts Janice Ott and Denise Naslund in broad daylight at Lake Sammamish State Park.
- (July 15th) Christine Chubbuck, television presenter for WXLT-TV Sarasota, Florida, draws a revolver and shoots herself in the head during a live broadcast. She dies in a hospital 14 hours later, the first person to commit suicide on live television.
- (Aug 5th) Watergate scandal: The "smoking gun" tape of June 23, 1972, is revealed, in which President Richard Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman discuss using the Central Intelligence Agency to block a Federal Bureau of Investigation inquiry into Watergate. Nixon's support in Congress collapses.
- (Nov 2nd) 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.
- (Jan 9th) John Lennon single "Nobody Told Me" released posthumously
- (Jan 10th) US re-establishes full diplomatic relations with Vatican after almost 117 years
- (Jan 19th) California Supreme Court rejects the request of quadriplegic Elizabeth Bouvia's to starve herself to death in a public hospital
- (Jan 23rd) Hulk Hogan defeats Iron Sheik to win his 1st World Wrestling Federation title at Madison Gardens, New York
- (Feb 2nd) 1st Soap Opera Digest Awards - Days of Our Lives wins.
- Tetris was first released. (That's right, it's only 36 years old!)
"On an express train rolling through Manhattan, four African-American youths approached Queens native Bernhard Goetz, who pulled out a handgun and shot them, wounding all four. He claimed they attempted to rob him; they claimed they'd just been panhandling and asking for change. It sparked a national debate about race and crime. Some viewed Goetz as a hero; some believed the four men's version of events; and still others believed the men had indeed been attempting a robbery, but felt like Goetz overreacted. No matter how you felt about it, there was no escaping the incident, which remained on the front page of New York City papers for months."
(May 12th) South African prisoner Nelson Mandela sees his wife for 1st time in 22 years
(June 9th) Cyndi Lauper gets her first US #1 hit with "Time After Time"
(Jul 20th) Vanessa Williams [the first African-American Miss America Winner] is asked to resign as Miss America. (The scandal, in my opinion, is entirely ridiculous, really.) Click for a quick overview.
(Aug 2nd) The United States performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
(Aug 7th) Japan beats USA, 6-3 in the final of the Los Angeles Olympic baseball demonstration event [USA literally created this sport and still managed to lose. I hope I'm not the only person amused by this.]
(Aug 7th) The USA collects its first Olympic gold medal in women's basketball history with a 85-55 win over South Korea in the final at the LA Games
(Sep 18th) Joe Kittinger completes 1st solo balloon crossing of Atlantic ocean
(Oct 2nd) Richard Miller becomes 1st (former) FBI agent to be charged with espionage
(Oct 3rd) USA government shuts down due to lack of agreement over passage of bills
(Oct 31st) Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh at her home in New Delhi
(Nov 2nd) Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962
(Nov 12th) Paul McCartney releases "We All Stand Together"
(Nov 28th) Over 250 years after their deaths, William Penn and his wife Hannah Callowhill Penn are made Honorary Citizens of the United States
(Dec 20th) 33 unknown Bach keyboard works found in Yale library
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| Art by @body21 |
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| Art By Lacy Chenault |Twitter Handle: @LacyChenault| |
