istoryworld
All Events
Ba'thist leader Hafiz al-Assad takes power in a military coup in Syria
US feminist Kate Millett's Sexual Politics is her doctoral dissertation on the exploitation of women
Russian ballerina Natalia Makarova defects to the west while on tour with the Kirov company in London
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is formed in northern Ireland as a coalition of Catholic nationalists and civil-rights campaigners
Polish composer Witold Lutoslawksi writes a cello concerto for Mstislav Rostropovich
Nasser dies of a sudden heart attack and is succeeded as Egypt's president by Anwar el-Sadat
King Hussein of Jordan orders the disarming of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) after violent clashes with his own troops
Alexander Solzhenitsyn wins the Nobel Prize for Literature but declines collecting it in Stockholm for fear of being denied re-entry to Russia
A Quebec government minister, Pierre Laporte, is murdered by the Front de Libération du Québec
Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima commits suicide in the traditional Samurai manner
Michael Tippett's opera The Knot Garden has its premiere at Covent Garden
Mujibur Rahman and his Awami League win on an independence platform in the election in East Pakistan
In the Pakistan election, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto wins a clear majority in West Pakistan
The outgoing Pakistan government, led by Yahya Khan, rejects the election result and sends troops to East Pakistan
Awami League leader Mujibur Rahman declares unilaterally that Bangladesh (East Pakistan) is an independent state
The Dance Theatre of Harlem, founded by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook, gives its first performance at the Guggenheim Museum in New York
Idi Amin leads a successful coup against the president of Uganda, Milton Obote
US and South Vietnamese troops cross the border to invade Laos
Joe Frazier becomes the first boxer to beat Muhammad Ali in a professional fight, at New York's Madison Square Gardens
Hip-hop originates as a dance style in New York among young African Americans
Indian sitar-player Ravi Shankar composes the first of his two concertos for sitar and orchestra
The Soviets put into orbit the first space station, Salyut 1, but the crew of three die on returning to earth
The 19-year-old Jean Claude Duvalier, succeeding his father as president of Haiti, becomes known as Baby Doc
Duel, about a motorist terrorized by a truck driver, launches Stephen Spielberg's career as a film director in Hollywood
With support from Moscow, Erich Honecker takes Walter Ulbricht's place as leader of East Germany
