Thursday, March 1, 2018

THE YEAR 1975

Cost of Living

Yearly Inflation Rate ― 9.2%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average ― 858
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve ― 7.25%
Cost of a gallon of Gas ― 44 cents
Average cost new car ― $4,250
Average Cost of new house ― $39,300
Average Income per year ― $14,100
Average Monthly Rent ― $200




Events of 1975 ― 

After OPEC agrees to raise crude oil prices by 10%. Oil Prices around the world spike up.
On February 11th of 1975 Margaret Thatcher became the leader of the opposition for the Conservative party of which she had been a member and represented the party in parliament since 1959. She won the title after successfully challenging the leadership of former Prime Minister Edward Heath, making her the first woman in that role. In 1979 the Conservative party regained their majority and Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She resigned as the leader in 1990.

The battle of Ban Me Thuot between South Vietnam and North Vietnam ends on March 10th of 1975. North Vietnam began enacting a campaign to take the city of Ban Me Thuot earlier in the year in an effort to destabilize South Vietnam. On March 4th, North Vietnam launched its offensive against the city despite a cease fire having been agreed upon two years earlier. Ban Me Thuot quickly fell and it became clear that South Vietnam would have difficulty defending itself against the North in further attacks. By the end of the next month South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam, ending the state of war between the two that had existed since 1955.

The War in Vietnam comes to an end at the end of April in 1975 as a series of events leads to the fall of Saigon. During the previous month the North Vietnamese Army began an aggressive campaign against South Vietnam and by the end of April, North Vietnam took Saigon. After realizing that it would be impossible to defend the South against North Vietnam, the South Vietnamese president resigned and South Vietnam surrendered unconditionally to the North. The United States’ involvement in the war ended on the last day in April of 1975 after about twenty years as the last American military members escaped in helicopters taking off from the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.

"Operation Babylift" The US Carries out Vietnam "Operation Babylift" bringing Vietnamese orphans to the US

Sony introduces Betamax videotapes and Matsushita / JVC introduce VHS.More Information for Betamax Videotapes.
During May of 1975, electronics manufacturer Sony released their Betamax video cassette recording system for sale in Japan. The system originally retailed for several thousand dollars and not long after the release other companies began selling their own systems using a different format, the VHS (Video Home System). Sony’s Betamax was somewhat popular throughout the late 1970’s but by the mid-1980’s VHS had won the so-called “Videotape Format War.” Betamax quickly faded into obscurity, effectively becoming obsolete in 1988 when Sony began to manufacture their own VHS systems. Despite relatively little demand for the Betamax format after the late 1980s, Sony continued to sell Betamax recording systems until 2002.

The hit film Jaws had its theatrical release in June of 1975. It was one of the first blockbuster films and at the time of its release it had become the highest grossing film of all time. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider, and Robert Shaw. The plot revolved around a killer shark terrorizing a small town and those who would hunt it. It was nominated for several Academy Awards and won three of them. Known for its dramatic score, superior editing and suspenseful premise, the film Jaws is considered by many critics to be one of the greatest films ever made.

General Francisco Franco, the dictatorial leader of Spain, died at the age of 82 in November of 1975. Franco had taken power as Spain’s head of state in 1939 after his Nationalist forces defeated the Republic during the Spanish Civil War. Franco’s early regime was characterized by harsh political oppression but as he aged more progressive ideas and reforms were allowed. During World War II he aligned Spain with the Axis powers but managed to keep his country only minimally involved in the conflict. After his death the monarchy was restored and King Juan Carlos took power as per Franco’s instructions. Democracy was established soon after his death.

The IRA bombs London Hilton Hotel In Park Lane.
The IRA murders Ross McWhirter the co-founder of the Guinness Book of Records.

Newspaper heiress Patty Hearst is found in a San Francisco apartment and arrested for armed robbery in September of 1975. She had been kidnapped in Berkeley, California on February 4, 1974 and in April of 1974 she sent letters to the media stating that she was joining the leftist group SLA (Symbionese Liberation Army) of her own free will. Later that month, a surveillance camera took a photo of her participating in an armed robbery of a San Francisco bank, making her a wanted criminal by the FBI. Following Hearst’s capture by the FBI, she went on trial for her crimes and was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison. She served two years and had her sentence commuted, she was later pardoned by President Clinton.


More News and Key Events ― 

  • Suriname Gains Independence From Netherlands
  • The Suez Canal reopens for the first time since the Six-Day War
  • "The Green March" with 350,000 unarmed Moroccans cross the border into the Spanish controlled area of Western Sahara demanding the return of Moroccan Sahara Desert
  • The Unemployment Rate in the US reaches 9.2% and recession is recognized by President Ford
  • King Faisal of Saudi Arabia Assassinated
  • Baader-Meinhof guerrillas take 11 hostages at West German embassy in Stockholm
  • The First ever strike by Doctors in the US causes hospitals to reduce services
  • Britains inflation rate jumps 25% An example of this is seen when Coal Miners recieve a 35% pay rise also reflected in other industries
  • The first oil pipeline to serve Forties oilfield starts pumping North Sea Oil
  • Cod War breaks out between Britain and Iceland when Iceland extends it's fishing rights to 200 miles
  • New York City avoids bankruptcy when President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion loan
  • US Pulls out of Cambodia
  • Dutch elm disease destroys more than three million Elm trees in the UK
  • Beginning of 15 years of civil war between Maronite Christians and Muslim militias in Lebanon
  • Indira Gandhi India Prime Minister is found guilty of electoral corruption
  • The UK implements the Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Act
  • London underground train crashed into a brick wall on February 28th at Moorgate in London's Financial district
  • The United Kingdom votes yes in a referendum June 6th on staying in the European Community
  • Angola Gains Independence From Portugal
  • Jimmy Hoffa ex teamsters boss disappears never to be seen again


Popular Culture 1975 ― 


Sports

NFC  Dallas Cowboys

AFC  Pittsburgh Steelers


Super Bowl  Pittsburgh defeats Minnesota in Super Bowl IX (1974 season)


NCAA Football  USC

MLB  Cincinnati Reds

NCAA Baseball  University of Texas

NBA  New York Knicks

NCAA Basketball  UCLA

NHL  Philadelphia Flyers

NCAA Hockey  Michigan Tech

Golf

Masters Tournament – Jack Nicklaus

U.S. Open – Lou Graham

British Open – Tom Watson

PGA Championship – Jack Nicklaus

LPGA Championship – Kathy Whitworth

U.S. Women's Open – Sandra Palmer


Popular Films

  • Jaws
  • The Towering Inferno
  • Benji
  • Young Frankenstein
  • The Godfather Part II
  • Funny Lady
  • Murder on the Orient Express
  • The Return of the Pink Panther
  • Tommy
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Popular Musicians and songs

  • Minnie Riperton
  • Aerosmith
  • Black Sabbath
  • Chicago
  • Bob Dylan
  • David Bowie with " Fame "
  • Alice Cooper
  • The Eagles with " Best of My Love "
  • Jefferson Starship
  • Elton John with Island Girl and " Lucy in the sky with Diamonds "
  • Kiss
  • Led Zeppelin
  • John Lennon
  • Bob Marley and the Wailers
  • Paul McCartney and Wings
  • Pink Floyd
  • Paul Simon
  • Queen
  • Bruce Springsteen
  • The Who
  • ZZ Top

Popular TV Programs

  • The Six Million Dollar Man
  • Kojak
  • The Jeffersons
  • All in the Family
  • Maude
  • Good Times
  • M*A*S*H
  • The Carol Burnett Show

Born This Year

  • Jimmie Johnson ― September 17th
  • Tiger Woods ― December 30th
  • Angelina Jolie ― June 4th
  • Kate Winslet ― October 5th

Technology
  • Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins
  • Bill Gates and Paul Allen develop a BASIC program for the Altair 8800
  • Motorolla obtains patent for the first portable mobile phone
  • The name "Micro-soft" (for microcomputer software) and Microsoft becomes a registered trademark
  • NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.
  • US Apollo and Soviet Soyuz 9 spacecraft link up in space and Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts shake hands
  • BIC launches first disposable Razor
  • The Microcomputer Altair 8800 is released
  • Work on the Alaskan Oil Line begins
  • Sony introduces Betamax videotapes and Matsushita / JVC introduce VHS
  • Tuvalu Gains Independence From Great Britain
  • Mozambique Gains Independence From Portugal
  • Cray-1, the first commercially developed supercomputer, invented by Seymour Cray
  • Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )
  • Personal Computer USA Microsoft 
  • The Digital Camera Steven Sasson and Kodak Company 
  • Laser Printer 

No comments: