1976
This article is about the year 1976. For the comic set in this year, see
'76. For the unrelated comic book characters, see
Spirit of '76 (comics).
Year 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. It was also the 1976th year of the Common Era, the 976th year of the 2nd millennium, the 76th year of the 20th century, and the 7th year of the 1970s. In Europe the summer of this year was particularly long, warm and dry.
Events
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
- July 2 – North Vietnam and South Vietnam unite to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
- July 3 – Gregg v. Georgia: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the death penalty is not inherently cruel or unusual and is a constitutionally acceptable form of punishment.
- July 3 – The great heat wave in the United Kingdom, which is currently suffering from drought conditions, reaches its peak.
- July 4
- July 6 – The first class of women is inducted at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.
- July 7 – German left-wing terrorists Monika Berberich, Gabriella Rollnick, Juliane Plambeck and Inge Viett escape from the Lehrter Straße maximum security prison in West Berlin.
- July 10
- Three British and 1 American mercenaries are shot by firing squad in Angola.
- An explosion in Seveso, Italy, causes extended pollution to a large area in the neighborhood of Milano, with many evacuations and a large number of people affected by the toxic cloud.
- July 12 – Barbara Jordan is the first black person to keynote a political convention.
- July 15 – Jimmy Carter is nominated for U.S. President at the Democratic National Convention in New York City.
- July 16–July 20 – Albert Spaggiari and his gang break into the vault of the Societe Generale Bank in Nice, France.
- July 17
- July 18 – Nadia Comăneci earns the first of 7 perfect scores of 10 at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
- July 19 – Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.
- July 20 – Viking program: The Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.
- July 21 – A bomb kills Christopher Ewart-Biggs, British ambassador to the Irish Republic.
- July 26 – In Los Angeles, Ronald Reagan announces his choice of liberal U.S. Senator Richard Schweiker as his vice presidential running mate, in an effort to woo moderate Republican delegates away from President Gerald Ford.
- July 27
- July 28 – The Tangshan earthquake flattens Tangshan, China, killing 242,769 people, and injuring 164,851.
- July 29 – In New York City, the "Son of Sam" pulls a gun from a paper bag, killing 1 and seriously wounding another, in the first of a series of attacks that terrorize the city for the next year.
- July 30 – In Santiago, Chile, Cruzeiro from Brazil beats River Plate from Argentina and are the Copa Libertadores de América champions.
- July 31
August
- August 1
- August 2 – A gunman murders Andrea Wilborn and Stan Farr and injures Priscilla Davis and Gus Gavrel, in an incident at Priscilla's mansion in Fort Worth, Texas. T. Cullen Davis, Priscilla's husband and one of the richest men in Texas, is tried and found innocent for Andrea's murder, involvement in a plot to kill several people (including Priscilla and a judge), and a wrongful death lawsuit. Cullen goes broke afterwards.
- August 5 – The Great Clock of Westminster (or Big Ben) suffers internal damage and stops running for over nine months.
- August 6 – Former UK Postmaster General John Stonehouse is sentenced to 7 years' jail for fraud, theft and forgery.
- August 7 – Viking program: Viking 2 enters into orbit around Mars.
- August 8 – As part of the ABA-NBA merger agreement, a dispersal draft was conducted to assign teams for the players on the two ABA franchises which had folded.
- August 14
- August 16 – The Ramones, made their first "professional" performance at CBGB.
- August 18 – At Panmunjom, North Korea, 2 United States soldiers are killed while trying to chop down part of a tree in the Korean Demilitarized Zone which had obscured their view.
- August 19 – U.S. President Gerald Ford edges out challenger Ronald Reagan to win the Republican Party presidential nomination in Kansas City.
- August 24 – In Uruguay, the army captures Marcelo Gelman and his pregnant wife. Marcelo is later killed and his wife (and unborn child) disappear.
- August 25 – Jacques Chirac resigns as Prime Minister of France; he is succeeded by Raymond Barre.
- August 26
- August 30 – James Alexander George Smith "Jags" McCartney was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
September
October
- October 4 – The brand new Intercity 125 High Speed Train is introduced in the United Kingdom.
- October 6
- October 10 – Taiwan Governor Hsieh Tung-ming is injured by a letter bomb from a pro-independence activist.
- October 12 – The People's Republic of China announces that Hua Guofeng is the successor to Mao Zedong, as Chairman of the Communist Party of China.
- October 13 – The United States Commission on Civil Rights releases the report, Puerto Ricans in the Continental United States: An Uncertain Future, that documents that Puerto Ricans in the United States have a poverty rate of 33 percent in 1974 (up from 29 percent in 1970), the highest of all major racial-ethnic groups in the country (not including Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory).
- October 18 – Ford officially launches volume production of Fiesta car at its Valencia plant.
- October 19
- October 20 – The Mississippi River ferry MV George Prince is struck by a ship while crossing from Destrehan, LA to Luling, LA, killing 78 passengers and crew.
- October 21 – The Cincinnati Reds sweep the New York Yankees in four games to win the 1976 World Series.
- October 22 – Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, the 5th President of Ireland, resigns after being publicly insulted by the Minister for Defense.
- October 25 – Clarence Norris, the last known survivor of the Scottsboro Boys, is pardoned.
November
December
Date unknown
Births
January
- January 2
- January 4 – Shiro Amano, Japanese manga artist/writer
- January 6 – Johnny Yong Bosch, American actor
- January 7
- January 8 – Jenny Lewis, American actress and singer (Rilo Kiley)
- January 10 – Adam Kennedy, American baseball player
- January 13
- January 19 – Marsha Thomason, English actress
- January 20
- January 21 – Emma Bunton, English musician (Spice Girls)
- January 22
- January 23
- January 27 – Mohamed Aly, Egyptian reformist & writer
- January 28 – Mark Madsen, American basketball player
- January 30 – Andy Milonakis, American Internet and MTV star
- January 31 – Buddy Rice, American race car driver
February
- February 1 – Muteba Kidiaba, Congolese football goalkeeper
- February 2
- February 5
- February 6 – Kim Zmeskal, American Olympic gymnast
- February 10 – Lance Berkman, American baseball player
- February 12
- February 14 – Erica Leerhsen, American actress
- February 15 – Brandon Boyd, American rock musician (Incubus)
- February 16 – Kyo, Japanese rock musician (Dir en grey)
- February 20 – Gail Kim, Canadian professional wrestler
- February 21 – Michael McIntyre, British stand-up comedian
- February 23 – Jeff O'Neill, Canadian hockey player
- February 24 – Zach Johnson, American golfer
- February 25 – Rashida Jones, American actress, writer, model, and musician
- February 27 – Tamura Yukari, Japanese seiyu and songwriter
- February 28
March
- March 1 – Luke Mably, English actor
- March 3 – Fraser Gehrig, Australian rules footballer
- March 4
- March 5 – Sarunas Jasikevicius, Lithuanian basketball player
- March 6 – Mr. Kennedy, American professional wrestler
- March 8 – Freddie Prinze Jr., American actor
- March 10 – Haifa Wehbe, Lebanese model, actress and singer
- March 12 – Zhao Wei, Chinese singer and actress
- March 13 – Danny Masterson, American actor
- March 14 – Merlin Santana, American actor (d. 2002)
- March 16
- March 17
- March 19
- March 20 – Chester Bennington, American singer Linkin Park
- March 22
- March 23
- March 24
- March 26 – Amy Smart, American actress
- March 27 – Carl Ng, Hong Kong/British actor and model
- March 30 – Ty Conklin, American ice-hockey player
April
- April 2
- April 3 – Will Mellor, English Actor
- April 5 – Henrik Stenson, Swedish golfer
- April 6 – Candace Cameron, American actress
- April 9 – Kris Radlinski, English rugby league player
- April 12 – Andrei Lipanov, Russian ice skater
- April 13 – Yoo Ji-tae, South Korean actor
- April 14 – Anna DeForge, American basketball player
- April 15
- April 16 – Shu Qi, Taiwanese actress and singer
- April 18
- April 20 – Joey Lawrence, American actor
- April 21 – Rommel Adducul, Filipino basketball player
- April 22 – Michał Żewłakow, Polish footballer
- April 23 – Darren Huckerby, English footballer
- April 25
- April 29 – Jay Orpin, Swedish composer and record producer
May
- May 3 – Beto, Portuguese footballer
- May 4 – Jason Michaels, American baseball player
- May 8 – Martha Wainwright, Canadian-American folk-pop singer
- May 10 – Udo Mechels, Belgian singer
- May 14 – Martine McCutcheon, British actress and singer
- May 15
- May 17 – Daniel Komen, Kenyan athlete
- May 19 – Kevin Garnett, American basketball player
- May 20 – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- May 22
- May 25
- May 26 – Paul Collingwood, English cricketer
- May 28 – Alexei Nemov, Russian gymnast
- May 31
June
- June 1 – Angela Perez Baraquio, Miss America 2001
- June 2
- June 5 – Ian Bavitz, better known as Aesop Rock, an American hip-hop artist
- June 6 – Geoff Rowley, English skateboarder
- June 8 – Lindsay Davenport, American tennis player
- June 10
- June 11 – Gran Naniwa, Japanese professional wrestler
- June 13
- June 14 – Alan Carr, English comedian
- June 17 – Peter Svidler, Russian chess grandmaster
- June 20 – Juliano Haus Belletti, Brazilian footballer
- June 21 – Antonio Cochran, American football player
- June 23
- June 26 – Chad Pennington, American football quarterback
July
- July 1
- July 2 – Krisztián Lisztes, Hungarian footballer
- July 3
- July 4 – Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
- July 5 – Nuno Gomes, Portuguese footballer
- July 8 – Ellen MacArthur, English yachtswoman
- July 9
- July 10
- July 11 – Eduardo Nájera, Mexican basketball player
- July 16
- July 17 – Marcos Senna, Brazilian footballer
- July 20 – Alex Yoong, Malaysian race car driver
- July 23 – Judit Polgar, Hungarian chess player
- July 25
- July 26 – Martha Roby, American U.S. Representative for Alabama's 1st congressional district
- July 28 – Jacoby Shaddix, American singer
- July 31 – Annie Parisse, American actress
August
September
- September 1 – Ivano Brugnetti, Italian race walker
- September 3 – Jevon Kearse, American football player
- September 4 – Brian Myrow, American baseball player
- September 5 – Carice van Houten, Dutch actress
- September 6 – Naomie Harris, British actress
- September 7 – Stevie Case, American video game celebrity
- September 8 – Sjeng Schalken, Dutch tennis player
- September 10 – Gustavo Kuerten, Brazilian tennis player
- September 12 – Maciej Żurawski, Polish footballer
- September 16 – Tina Barrett, English singer
- September 19
- September 20 – Yui Horie, Japanese seiyu (voice actress)
- September 22 – Ronaldo, Brazilian footballer
- September 23 – Rob James-Collier, British actor and model
- September 24 – Stephanie McMahon-Levesque, American wrestling promoter
- September 25 – Chauncey Billups, American basketball player
- September 26 – Michael Ballack, German footballer
- September 27 – Francesco Totti, Italian footballer
- September 28 – Fedor Emelianenko, Russian mixed martial arts fighter
- September 29 – Andriy Shevchenko, Ukrainian footballer
October
November
- November 5 – Sean Brown, Canadian ice-hockey player
- November 6
- November 7 – Mark Philippoussis, Australian tennis player
- November 8 – Brett Lee, Australian cricket player
- November 11 – Mike Leon Grosch, German singer
- November 12 – Mirosław Szymkowiak, Polish footballer
- November 16 – Mario Barravecchia, Italian singer
- November 18 – Shagrath, Norwegian black metal musician (Dimmu Borgir)
- November 19 – Jun Shibata, Japanese singer and songwriter
- November 20
- November 22
- November 24
- November 25 – Grégory Havret, French golfer
- November 27 – Jaleel White, American actor
- November 29 – Anna Faris, American actress
December
- December 1 – Matthew Shepard, American murder victim (d. 1998)
- December 3
- December 4 – Kristina Groves, Canadian speed skater
- December 6 – Alicia Machado, Miss Universe 1996
- December 7 – Georges Laraque, Canadian ice-hockey player
- December 8 – Dominic Monaghan, English actor
- December 13 – Radosław Sobolewski, Polish footballer
- December 14 – Leland Chapman, American bail bondsman
- December 15 – Baichung Bhutia, Indian footballer
- December 17 – Takeo Spikes, American football player
- December 23 – Jamie Noble, American professional wrestler
- December 24 – Angel Matos, former Cuban taekwondo athlete.
- December 25
- December 27 – Fernando Pisani, Canadian ice-hockey player
Deaths
January
- January 8 – Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China (b. 1898)
- January 10 – Howlin' Wolf, African-American musician (b. 1910)
- January 12 – Agatha Christie, English writer (Murder On The Orient Express) (b. 1890)
- January 13 – Margaret Leighton, English actress (b. 1922)
- January 19 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese electrical engineer (b. 1886)
- January 21 – John Gould Moyer, American naval officer, 31st Governor of American Samoa (b. 1893)
- January 23 – Paul Robeson, African-American actor, singer, writer, and activist (b. 1898)
- January 26
- January 29 – James Edmonson, American vaudevillian and comedian (b. 1910)
- January 30 – Mance Lipscomb, American singer (b. 1895)
- January 31 – Ernesto Miranda, American defendant in the court case Miranda v. Arizona (b. 1941)
- February 1
February
March
- March 4 – Walter H. Schottky, German physicist (b. 1886)
- March 5
- March 6 – Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom, American boxer and actor (b. 1903)
- March 7 – Wright Patman, American politician (b. 1893)
- March 8 – Alfons Rebane, Estonian military commander (b. 1908)
- March 10 – Andris Andreiko, Latvian draughts player (b. 1942)
- March 14 – Busby Berkeley, American choreographer and director (b. 1895)
- March 17 – Luchino Visconti, Italian theatre and film director (b. 1906)
- March 19 – Paul Kossoff, British rock guitarist (Free) (b. 1950)
- March 24
- March 25 – Josef Albers, German-American artist (b. 1888)
- March 28 – Richard Arlen, American actor (b. 1898)
- March 31 – Paul Strand, American photographer (b. 1890)
April
May
June
- June 2
- June 6
- June 7 – Bobby Hackett, American jazz musician (b. 1915)
- June 9 – Sybil Thorndike, British actress (b. 1882)
- June 10 – Adolph Zukor, Hungarian-born film producer (b. 1873)
- June 11 – Toots Mondt, American WWF promoter (b. 1886)
- June 14 – Knud, Hereditary Prince of Denmark (b. 1900)
- June 15 – Jimmy Dykes, American baseball player and manager (b. 1896)
- June 17 – Francisco Urondo, Argentine writer (b. 1930)
- June 23 – DeHart Hubbard, American Olympic athlete (b. 1903)
- June 24 – Imogen Cunningham, American photographer (b. 1883)
- June 25 – Johnny Mercer, American songwriter (b. 1909)
- June 28 – Stanley Baker, British actor (b. 1928)
- June 30 – Firpo Marberry, American baseball player (b. 1898)
July
August
September
October
November
December
- December 2 – Danny Murtaugh, American baseball player and manager (b. 1917)
- December 3 – Mary Nash, American actress (b. 1884)
- December 4
- December 6 – João Goulart, President of Brazil (b. 1918)
- December 8 – Henryk Jasiczek, Polish writer and political activist (b. 1919)
- December 12 – Jack Cassidy, American actor of stage, film, and screen (b. 1927)
- December 15 – Gregoire Kayibanda, former President of Rwanda (b. 1924)
- December 20 – Richard J. Daley, American Mayor of Chicago (b. 1902)
- December 24 – Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, claimant to the throne of Portugal (b. 1907)
- December 25
- December 26 – Phil Hart, U.S. Senator (b. 1912)
- December 28 – Katharine Byron, U.S. Congresswoman (b. 1903)
Date unknown
Nobel Prizes
In fiction
References