Important Events in 1975
- Feb 11 Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for leadership of the British Conservative Party
- Mar 21 Ethiopia abolishes its monarchy after 3,000 years
- Apr 4 Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800
- Apr 29 Vietnam War: US begins to evacuate its citizens from Saigon in Operation Frequent Wind in response to advancing North Vietnamese forces, bringing an end to US involvement in the war
- Nov 11 Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam removed from office by Governor General Sir John Kerr - 1st elected PM removed in 200 yrs
More Historical Events
1975 in Film & TV
- Jan 6 "Wheel Of Fortune" debuts on NBC-TV
- Mar 1 Colour television transmissions begin in Australia.
- Mar 7 "Mirror", Russian film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, starring Margarita Terekhova and Ignat Daniltsev, is released
- Jun 7 Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder for sale to the public
1975 in Music
- Jul 5 At Knebworth Festival in England, Pink Floyd debut their album "Wish You Were Here" with pyrotechnics and an exploding plane which flies into the stage
- Sep 25 Pink Floyd's concept album "Wish You Were Here" reaches No. 1 in the US, goes on to sell 13 million copies
- Oct 19 "A Chorus Line", held record longest-running Broadway show (6,137 performances), premieres on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre in New York
- Nov 6 First performance by punk band The Sex Pistols at St Martins College, London
1975 in Sport
- Apr 3 Bobby Fischer stripped of world chess title for refusing to defend it
- Oct 1 "The Thrilla in Manila"; Muhammad Ali stops Joe Frazier in 14 rounds in Quezon City, the Philippines to retain his WBC/WBA heavyweight title
Famous People in 1975
Betty Ford
Time Person
of the YearDaniel Johns
Oscar for Best ActorLouise Fletcher
Oscar for Best ActressPete Rose
Sportsperson
of the YearStevie Wonder
Grammy for Album of the Year
World Leaders in 1975
Gerald Ford
38th US PresidentLeonid Brezhnev
Soviet General SecretaryMao Zedong
Chinese Revolutionary and Chairman of the Communist Party
Famous Weddings in 1975
- Jan 21 Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor (57) weds toy inventor Jack Ryan (48) (div. 1976)
- Feb 21 Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench (27) weds Vickie Chesser in Cincinnati, Ohio
- Mar 8 5th Earl of Lichfield Patrick Anson (35) weds Lady Leonora Grosvenor (26), daughter of the 5th Duke of Westminster at Chester Cathedral in England
Famous Divorces in 1975
- Mar 21 American country singer Tammy Wynette (33) divorces American country singer-songwriter George Jones (43), after 6 years of marriage
- Jun 26 Cher divorces Sonny Bono
- Jul 10 Cher files for divorce from Gregg Allman, 10 days after their marriage
More Weddings & Divorces
1975 in Articles and Photos
Arise, Sir Charlie Chaplin
He waited a lifetime for it, but on this day silent screen star Charlie Chaplin was finally honoured by the country where he was born.
March 4, 1975Founding of Microsoft
Paul Allen and Bill Gates, the founders of Microsoft
April 4, 1975The Fall of Saigon
South Vietnamese civilians scramble to board a CIA helicopter during the evacuation of the US embassy in Saigon
April 30, 1975