Chronology of Events

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JANUARY

1 A Middle East Airlines Boeing 707 crashed in Saudi Arabia, killing all 82 persons aboard.
1 Venezuela formally nationalized its oil industry.
1 The Liberty Bell was formally installed in a new pavilion.

3 An Aeroflot TU-134 crashed soon after taking off from Vnukovo Airport, Moscow, Russia, killing all 56 persons aboard.

5 Cambodia was officially renamed "Democratic Cambodia (Kampuchea)."

7 The Cabinet of Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro resigned.
7 A series of explosions and a fire at an aerosol can factory in Elkhart, Indiana, injured about three dozen people.

8 Chinese Premier Chou En-lai died.

9 A Chicago (Illinois) Transit Authority train plowed into a parked commuter train, killing 1 person and injuring about 400.

10 A gas leak caused an explosion and fire that destroyed a hotel in Fremont, Nebraska, and killed 18 persons.

11 General Guillermo Rodriguez Lara, President of Ecuador, was deposed in a bloodless coup.

12 The coalition government of Thai Prime Minister Kukrit Pramoj resigned.
12 Author Agatha Christie died.

15 A Colombian passenger plane crashed near Bogota, Colombia, killing all 13 persons aboard.

17 The U. S.-Canadian Communications Technology Satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

18 The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in Super Bowl X.

20 An Ecuadoran passenger plane crashed near Loja, Ecuador, killing 34 of the 42 persons aboard.

21 A Chinese airliner crashed near Shanghai, China, killing all 40 persons aboard.

22 Lebanese President Suleiman Franjieh announced an agreement ending the nation's civil war.

23 An explosion at the Farm Bureau Service grain elevator in Zilwaukee, Michigan, killed 5 persons and injured 12 others.
23 Singer Paul Robeson died.

24 The United States and Spain signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.

30 Fire in a Chicago, Illinois, nursing home killed 18 residents.

FEBRUARY

4 A magnitude 7.5 earthquake killed more than 22,000 people in Guatemala.
4 The 12th Winter Olympic Games opened in Innsbruck, Austria.

5 Fire in a Cicero, Illinois, nursing home killed 6 residents and injured at least 27 others.

6 A U. S. Air Force KC-135A crashed and burned while attempting to land at Madrid, Spain, killing all 7 crewmen aboard.

7 A camper truck was struck by a freight train at an ungated crossing in Becekmeyer, Illinois, killing 12 youngsters and injuring 4 others.

9 An Aeroflot TU-104A crashed soon after taking off from Irkutsk, Russia, killing 24 of the 124 persons aboard.

13 Nigerian chief of state General Murtala Ramat Mohammed was assassinated during an attempted coup.

18 The patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abuna Theophilos, was arrested and removed from office by the country's ruling miltary junta.

20 SEATO was formally disbanded.

21 Former U. S. President Richard Nixon arrived in Peking, China.

22 An explosion inside a grain elevator in Galena Park, Texas, killed 7 persons, injured 25, and left 2 missing.
22 An earthen dam ruptured and sent a wall of water crashing into Newfound, North Carolina, killing four members of a family in their sleep.

26 Portuguese military and political officials signed an agreement ending military rule.
26 Spain formally withdrew all of its officials from the former Spanish Sahara.

MARCH

2 A Bolivian airliner crashed into the jungle in southeastern Bolivia, killing 19 of the 22 persons aboard.

6 An Aeroflot airliner crashed near Voronezh, Russia, killing all 111 persons aboard.

8 An explosion, believed to have triggered by lightning, at a manufacturing plant in East Camden, Arkansas, killed 3 persons and injured 21 others.

9 Fifteen miners were killed in an explosion in a mine near Whitesburg, Kentucky.

11 Eleven miners were killed in an explosion in the same mine near Whitesburg, Kentucky, where 15 miners were killed on the 9th..

16 Harold Wilson announced his resignation as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

20 Patricia Hearst was convicted in San Francisco, California, of robbing a bank and using a firearm to commit the robbery.

21 Kentucky defeated North Carolina-Charlotte 71-67 in the final game of the National Invitation Tournament.

22 Representatives of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization engaged in debate in the United Nations Security Council for the first time.

24 Argentinian President Isabel Martinez de Perón was deposed in a military coup.

25 A general offensive by Muslim troops forced Lebanese President Suleiman Franjieh to vacate the presidential palace.

26 A tractor-drawn wagon carrying a wedding party plunged into a canal in Pune, India, killing 45 persons.

29 Eight Ohio National Guardsmen were indicted for shooting 4 Kent State students.
29 Indiana defeated Michigan 86-68 for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship.

APRIL

5 James Callaghan was elected to succeed Harold Wilson as Labour Party leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
5 An Alaska Airlines B-727-81 overshot the runway and crashed while landing at Ketchikan, Alaska, killing 1 of the 50 persons aboard.
5 Billionaire Howard Hughes died.

7 Hua Kuo-feng was named Premier of Communist China.

10 A tornado in Bangladesh killed 19 persons and injured more than 200.

11 Fire swept through a hotel in Abu Dhabi, killing 5 persons and injuring 9 others.
11 Ray Floyd won the Masters Tournament at Augusta, Georgia.

13 An explosion at an ammunition factory in Lapua, Finland, killed 45 workers and injured 70 others.
13 The U. S. Treasury began issuing $2 bills to mark the nation's Bicentennial.

14 A plane owned by the Argentine state oil company crashed in southern Argentina, killing all 34 persons aboard.

15 A survival capsule launched from a sinking oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico capsized, drowning 13 men.
15 A passenger bus skidded into a pond near Gonda, India, drowning 50 persons.

21 Rubber workers across the United States went on strike.
21 An express train hit a bus in central Taiwan, killing 40 bus passengers and injuring 42 others.

22 A bomb was exploded at the Suffolk County (Massachusetts) Court House.

25 Portugal held its first free legislative election in 50 years.
25 Voters in North and South Vietnam elected a joint National Assembly.

27 An American Airlines jetliner crashed while landing at Charlotte Amalie in the U. S. Virgin Islands, killing 37 of the 88 persons aboard.

28 Prime Minister Ian Smith named seven blacks to Rhodesia's formerly all-white Cabinet.

30 The government of Italian Premier Aldo Moro resigned.

MAY

1 Bold Venture won the Kentucky Derby.

4 A Dutch commuter train collided with the Rhine Express near Schiedam, Netherlands, killing 23 persons.

6 A magnitude 6.5 earthquake killed about 1,000 people in northeastern Italy.

8 Elias Sarkis was elected President of Lebanon.

9 An Iranian Air Force 747 cargo jet crashed near Madrid, Spain, killing all 17 persons aboard.

10 Jeremy Thorpe resigned of Britain's Liberal Party.

11 A tanker truck loaded with ammonia crashed at a Houston, Texas, highway interchange and exploded, killing 4 persons and injuring at least 95 others.

15 An Aeroflot AN-24 crashed at Chernigov, Ukraine, killing all 52 persons aboard.

13 The New York Nets won the American Basketball Association title.

16 The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 to win the Stanley Cup.

20 Typhoon Olga struck the northern Philippines.

21 A school bus smashed through a guard rail and plunged 30 feet to the ground in Martinez, California, killing 28 members of a high school choir.

22 A typhoon destroyed 80% of the structures on the island of Guam and killed 3 persons.

23 A fuel truck collided with a train in Seoul, South Korea, killing at least 19 people.
23 Hijackers detonated grenades in a Philippine passenger plane at Zambuanga, Philippines, killing 14 of the 87 persons aboard and 3 persons on the ground.

24 Two Concordes landed at Dulles International Airport, near Washington, D. C.

25 Nadine Chavel, daughter of Belgium's ambassador to Mexico, was kidnapped.

28 The U. S. National Park Service officially re-opened Ellis Island to guided tours.

JUNE

1 An Aeroflot TU-154A crashed into a mountain after taking off from Nacias Nguema, Equatorial Guinea, killing all 45 persons aboard.

4 An Air Manila passenger jet struck a truck during takeoff from the Guam airport, killing 45 persons on the plane and the truck driver.

5 The Teton Dam in Idaho broke, sending a 15-foot-high wall of water downstream that left at least 9 people dead.

6 A plane crash on the island of Borneo killed 12 persons, including the entire leadership of the state of Sabah.
6 The Boston Celtics defeated the Phoenix Suns for the NBA Championship.

12 Uruguayan President Juan María Bordaberry was removed from office by the armed forces.

13 Arizona Republic reporter Don Bowles died of injuries sustained when a bomb exploded under his car (on June 2).

16 U. S. Ambassador to Lebanon Francis E. Meloy, Jr., was shot to death in Beirut.
16 An underground gasoline pipeline in Los Angeles, California, exploded, destroying a city block, killing 4 persons and injuring at least 17 others.

20 The U. S. Navy evacuated more than 250 Americans and other foreign nationals from Beirut, Lebanon.
20 Jerry Pate won the U. S. Open at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth, Georgia.

26 A magnitude 7.1 earthquake killed 422 persons in Irian Jaya, Indonesia.

27 Four terrorists hijacked Air France Flight 139, with 248 passengers and 12 crew members aboard, and forced it fly to Entebbe, Uganda.
27 A train derailment in Soignies, Belgium, killed 11 persons and injured 29 others.
27 General António Ramalho Eanes was elected President of Portugal.

28 The Seychelles Islands became an independent republic.

July-December

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This page was last updated on January 15, 2019.