World Events

• OPEC ends the oil embargo begun in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War (Mar. 18).
  
  
• Nixon and Brezhnev meet in Moscow to discuss arms limitation agreements. Background: nuclear disarmament
  
  
• Leftist revolution ends almost 50 years of dictatorial rule in Portugal (launched Apr. 25).
  
  
• India successfully tests an atomic device, becoming the world's sixth nuclear power (May 18).
  
  
• Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is deposed. A collective military dictatorship assumes power (Sept. 12).
  
  

U.S. Events

• Patricia Hearst, 19-year-old daughter of publisher Randolph Hearst, kidnapped by Symbionese Liberation Army (Feb. 5).
  
  
• House Judiciary Committee adopts three articles of impeachment charging President Nixon with obstruction of justice, failure to uphold laws, and refusal to produce material subpoenaed by the committee (July 30).
  
  
• Richard M. Nixon announces he will resign the next day, the first President to do so (Aug. 8).
  
  
• Vice President Gerald R. Ford of Michigan is sworn in as 38th President of the US (Aug. 9).
  
  
• Ford grants "full, free, and absolute pardon" to ex-President Nixon (Sept. 8).
  
  

Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $1,496.90 billion
Federal spending:   $269.36 billion
Federal debt:   $483.9 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $11,197
Consumer Price Index:   49.3
Unemployment:   5.6%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.08 ($0.10 as of 3/2/74)

Sports

Super Bowl

Miami d. Minnesota (24-7)

World Series

Oakland A's d. LA Dodgers (4-1)

NBA Championship

Boston d. Milwaukee (4-3)

Stanley Cup

Philadelphia d. Boston (4-2)

Wimbledon

Women: Chris Evert d. O. Morozova (6-0 6-4)
Men: Jimmy Connors d. K. Rosewall (6-1 6-1 6-4)

Kentucky Derby Champion

Cannonade

NCAA Basketball Championship

N.C. State d. Marquette (76-64)

NCAA Football Champions

Oklahoma (AP) (11-0-0) & USC (UPI, FW, NFF) (10-1-1)

World Cup

W. Germany d. Holland (2-1)

Entertainment

Events

• Patti Smith releases what is considered to be the first punk rock single, "Hey Joe."
• People magazine debuts, with Mia Farrow gracing the cover.
• Premier Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defects and joins the American Ballet Theatre.

Movies

• Chinatown, The Godfather Part II, Day for Night, Blazing Saddles, The Towering Inferno

Music

• Patti Smith, "Hey Joe"

Books

• Robert Creeley, Sitting Here
• Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
• Gail Godwin, The Odd Woman
• Stephen King, Carrie
• Toni Morrison, Sula
• Grace Paley, Enormous Changes at the Last Minute
• Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
• Gary Snyder, Turtle Island

Science

• For safety reasons, the National Academy of Sciences calls for a temporary ban on some types of genetic engineering research.
• A new elementary particle psi (now called J) is discovered by Burton Richter of Stanford University.

Deaths

• Bud Abbott
  
  
• Dizzy Dean
  
  
• Duke Ellington
  
  
• Charles Lindbergh
  
  
• Ed Sullivan

Read more: Top News Stories from 1974 | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com