THE YEAR 1974

Cost of Living 

Yearly Inflation Rate – 11.3% 
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average – 616 
Average Cost of new house –$34,900 
Average Income per year – $13,900
Average Monthly Rent – $185
Cost of a gallon of Gas – 42 cents 
Buick Station Wagon – $4,371 
A Dozen Eggs – 45 cents 
Average House Price  – $9,942 



News and Key Events

• A major US Bank Franklin National Bank is declared insolvent
• 55 MPH Speed Limit imposed to preserve gas usage US wide
• The Brisbane river floods large areas of the Brisbane business district and more than 8,500 homes were flooded in Brisbane and Ipswich.
• Worldwide Inflationhelps to cause dramatic increases in the cost of fuel, food and manufacturing
• Sears Tower in Chicago becomes the worlds tallest building
• President Ford announces an amnesty program for Vietnam War deserters and draft evaders
• The Global Recession Deepens
• Gasoline shortages and price increases throughout the world help to cause problems in most of the western worlds economies
• Governments and people around the world spend more time debating the use of Nuclear Energy to combat problems with Oil Prices and Supply
• Estimate of The Worlds Population reaches 4 billion
• Smallpox Epidemic in India causes the deaths of between 10,000 and 20,000 people
• Henry Kissenger convinces Syria and Israel agree to a ceasefire on the Golan Heights on June 5th
• Turkey Invades Northern Cyprus
• Patricia Hearst Kidnappers Demand $70 of food be given to every needy Californian
• In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving timecommences nearly four months early in the United States..
• Charles de Gaulle Airportopens in Paris, France.
• The largest series of tornadoesin history, hits 13 U.S. states and one Canadian province. By the time the last of 148 tornadoeshit early the following morning, 315 died and over 5,000 were injured.
• British Coal Miners join many other unions striking for higher wages
• India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon on May 18thbecoming the sixth nation to do so.
• Cyclone Tracy strikes on 25th December almost completely destroys Darwin, Australia
• Famine caused by drought threatens millions in Africa
• The French President Georges Pompidou dies while in Office
• Following a crippling strike, Northern Ireland's first power-sharing assembly collapses
• Work begins on the 800 mile long Alaska Oil pipeline
• Bloodless Military coup led by General Antoniio de Spinola, in Portugal
• President Isabela Peron ( Evita ), Juan Peron's third wife, becomes President of Argentina when her husband died.
• West Germany Wins 1974 World Cup in West Germany
• Soviet authorities expel Alexander Solzhenitsyn revoking his Russian citizenship
• Elvis Presley's Aloha From Hawaii television special is seen around the world by more than 1 billion viewers

Popular Culture

Sports

NFL ― Minnesota Vikings

AFL ― Miami Dolphins

Super Bowl ― Miami defeats Minnesota in Super Bowl VII (1973 season)

NCAA Football ― Notre Dame

MLB ― Oakland Athletics

NCAA Baseball ― USC

NBA ― New York Knicks

NCAA Basketball ― NC State

NHL ― Philadelphia Flyers

NCAA Hockey ― University of Minnesota

Golf
Masters Tournament – Gary Player

U.S. Open – Hale Irwin
British Open – Gary Player
PGA Championship – Lee Trevenio
LPGA Championship – Sandra Haynie
U.S. Women's Open – Sandra Haynie

Popular Films

• The Sting
• The Exorcist
• Papillon
• Herbie Rides Again
• Blazing Saddles
• The Great Gatsby
• Serpico
• Death Wish
• The Godfather, Part II
• Murder on the Orient Express

Popular Musicians and songs

• ABBA
• Beach Boys
• David Bowie
• Carpenters
• Eric Clapton with " I Shot The Sheriff "
• Alice Cooper
• Deep Purple
• Donovan
• Ella Fitzgerald
• Genesis
• Grateful Dead
• Joni Mitchell
• Van Morrison
• Dolly Parton
• Queen
• Minnie Riperton
• Roxy Music
• Sparks
• Supertramp
• Jethro Tull
• The Velvet Underground
• Barry White
• Paul McCartney with " Band on the Run "
• Stevie Wonder

Popular TV Programs

Kung Fu
The Price Is Right
The Waltons
Kojak
Last of the Summer Wine
The Six Million Dollar Man


Born This Year

• Leonardo DiCaprio – November 11th
• Alanis Morissette – June 1st
• Jimmy Fallon – September 19th
• Victoria Beckham – April 17th 

Technology

• MRI Scanner( Magnetic Resonance Imaging } developed USAEthiopia
• Lucy an almost complete hominid skeleton over 3 million years old is discovered in Africa.
• More Information and Timeline for Lucy Discovery 
• Paleontologist Donald Johanson discovers a 3.2 million year old hominid skeleton in Ethiopia on November 24, 1974. The skeleton was about forty percent complete and was identified as the early human ancestor species Australopithecus afarensis. The scientists named the skeleton “Lucy.” At the time of the discovery Lucy was the oldest known example of a human ancestor to have been found. Based off of the skeletal evidence, Lucy was likely a female, walked upright, was about three and a half feet tall, and had ape-like facial features. It was a huge scientific discovery at that time. 
• After 84 days in space, the last crew of the temporary American space station Skylab return to EarthPocket calculators start to appear in shops
• Offices start using a very primitive word processor that resembles a typewriter
• Lucy an almost complete hominid skeleton over 3 million years old is discovered in Africa
• The first use of UPC or Universal product Code BAR CODE UPC scanner installed in Marshes Supermarket in Troy Ohio ( check 1952 for first bar code use not UPC ) or the standard used today

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