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News and Events of 1975

Year by Year: 1900-2012 View a 1975 calendar

World Events

World Statistics

Population: 4.086 billion
population by decade

Nobel Peace Prize:
Andrei D. Sakharov (USSR)

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Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge take over Cambodia (April).
The city of Saigon is surrendered and remaining Americans are evacuated, ending the Vietnam War (April 30).
American merchant ship Mayaguez, seized by Cambodian forces, is rescued in operation by US Navy and Marines, 38 of whom are killed (May 15).
Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft take off for US-Soviet link-up in space (July 15).

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U.S. Events

U.S. Statistics

President: Gerald R. Ford
Vice President: Nelson A. Rockefeller
Population: 215,973,199
Life expectancy: 72.6 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 53.0
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 48.1

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John N. Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman found guilty of Watergate cover-up (Jan. 1); sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail (Feb. 21).
President Ford escapes assassination attempt in Sacramento, Calif. (Sept. 5).
President Ford escapes second assassination attempt in 17 days (Sept. 22).

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Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $1,630.60 billion
Federal spending:   $332.33 billion
Federal debt:   $541.9 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $11,800
Consumer Price Index:   53.8
Unemployment:   8.5%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.10 ($0.13 as of 12/31/75)

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Sports

Sports Links

Pro Football Summary

Pro Basketball Summary

Pro Baseball Summary

Super Bowl

Pittsburgh d. Minnesota (16-6)

World Series

Cincinnati d. Boston Red Sox (4-3)

NBA Championship

Golden St. Warriors d. Washington Bullets (4-0)

Stanley Cup

Philadelphia d. Buffalo (4-2)

Wimbledon

Women: Billie Jean King d. E. Cawley (6-0 6-1)
Men: Arthur Ashe d. J. Connors (6-1 6-1 5-7 6-4)

Kentucky Derby Champion

Foolish Pleasure

NCAA Basketball Championship

UCLA d. Kentucky (92-85)

NCAA Football Champions

Oklahoma (11-1-0)

Entertainment

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara
Music: From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, Dominick Argento
Drama: Seascape, Edward Albee

Oscars awarded in 1975
Academy Award, Best Picture: The Godfather Part II, Francis Ford Coppola, producer; Gray Frederickson and Fred Roos, co-producers (Paramount)

Nobel Prize for Literature: Eugenio Montale (Italy)

1975 Emmy Awards

1975 Tony Awards

Grammys awarded in 1975
Record of the Year: "I Honestly Love You," Olivia Newton-John
Album of the Year: Fulfillingness' First Finale, Stevie Wonder (Tamla/Motown)
Song of the Year: "The Way We Were," Marilyn and Alan Bergman and Marvin Hamlisch, songwriters

Miss America: Shirley Cothran (TX)

More Entertainment Awards...

Events

ABC, CBS and NBC agree to create a "family hour," an early evening time slot that is free of violence and sex.
Saturday Night Live premieres on NBC. George Carlin hosts the first show.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest sweeps the top Oscars, winning Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Actress.

Movies

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Jaws, Nashville, Dog Day Afternoon, Barry Lyndon

Books

Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift
E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime
Galway Kinnell, The Avenue Bearing the Initial of Christ into the New World
William Safire, Before the Fall
Anne Sexton, The Awful Rowing Toward God

Science

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: John W. Cornforth (Australia) and Vladimir Prelog (Switzerland), for research on structure of biological molecules such as antibiotics and cholesterol

Physics: James Rainwater (US), Ben Mottelson, and Aage N. Bohr (both Denmark), for showing that the atomic nucleus is asymmetrical

Physiology or Medicine: David Baltimore, Howard M. Temin, and Renato Dulbecco (all US), for work in interaction between tumor viruses and genetic material of the cell

Home videotape systems (VCRs) are developed in Japan by Sony (Betamax) and Matsushita (VHS).
The Altair home computer kit allows consumers to build and program their own personal computers. Background: Computers and Internet