On July 30, 1976, American Bruce Jenner wins gold in the decathlon at the Montreal Olympics. His 8,617 points set a world record in the event. The secret to Jenner’s success was his preparation. In the 1970s, most decathletes trained with other decathletes. Bruce Jenner, however, trained with some of […]
Continue ReadingYearly Archives: 1976
Son Of Sam Terrorizes New York
The so-called “Son of Sam” pulls a gun from a paper bag and fires five shots at Donna Lauria and Jody Valenti of the Bronx while they are sitting in a car, talking. Lauria died and Valenti was seriously wounded in the first in a series of shootings by the […]
Continue ReadingWorst Modern Earthquake
At 3:42 a.m., an earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 magnitude on the Richter scale flattens Tangshan, a Chinese industrial city with a population of about one million people. As almost everyone was asleep in their beds, instead of outside in the relative safety of the streets, the quake was […]
Continue ReadingLegionnaires Gather In Philly
On this day in 1976, members of the American Legion arrive in Philadelphia to celebrate the bicentennial of U.S. independence. Soon after, many began suffering from a mysterious form of pneumonia. Their ailment would come to be known as Legionnaires’ disease. About 4,000 delegates from the Pennsylvania chapter of the […]
Continue ReadingViking 1 Lands On Mars
On the seventh anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the Viking 1 lander, an unmanned U.S. planetary probe, becomes the first spacecraft to successfully land on the surface of Mars. Viking 1 was launched on August 20, 1975, and arrived at Mars on June 19, 1976. The first month […]
Continue ReadingFemale Cadets Enrolled At West Point
For the first time in history, women are enrolled into the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. On May 28, 1980, 62 of these female cadets graduated and were commissioned as second lieutenants. The United States Military Academy–the first military school in America–was founded by Congress in […]
Continue ReadingWomen Inducted Into U.S. Naval Academy
In Annapolis, Maryland, the United States Naval Academy admits women for the first time in its history with the induction of 81 female midshipmen. In May 1980, Elizabeth Anne Rowe became the first woman member of the class to graduate. Four years later, Kristine Holderied became the first female midshipman […]
Continue ReadingThe Clash Play Their First Live Gig
Formed as the first shots of the punk revolution were being fired, The Clash storm onto the UK scene with their debut performance on the Fourth of July, 1976, at The Black Swan in Sheffield, England, as the opening act for The Sex Pistols. While America celebrated the bicentennial anniversary […]
Continue ReadingEbola Breaks Out In Sudan
A factory storekeeper in the Nzara township of Sudan becomes ill on this day in 1976. Five days later, he dies, and the world’s first recorded Ebola virus epidemic begins making its way through the area. By the time the epidemic is over, 284 cases are reported, with about half […]
Continue ReadingNew York Magazine Publishes The Story That Becomes Saturday Night Fever
Disco as a musical style predated the movie Saturday Night Fever by perhaps as many as five years, but disco as an all-consuming cultural phenomenon might never have happened without the 1977 film and its multi-platinum soundtrack featuring such era-defining hits as the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” and Yvonne Elliman’s […]
Continue ReadingCeltics Battle Suns Through Three Overtimes In NBA Finals
On June 4, 1976, in Game Five of the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics defeat the Phoenix Suns 128–126 in three overtimes. The game is considered by many to be the greatest in the history of the NBA Finals. The Celtics, then the most successful team in the NBA’s short […]
Continue ReadingFour Dozen People Witness “The Gig That Changed The World”
It seems millions of people claim to have been at Woodstock when only 500,000 or so were really there, but the biggest pop-culture event of the 1960s has nothing on one of the most pivotal of the 1970s: the Sex Pistols’ appearance at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester, […]
Continue ReadingA Young Woman And Her Married Lover Kill Her Family
Patricia Columbo and Frank DeLuca are arrested for the brutal slaying of Columbo’s parents and brother in Elk Grove, Illinois. Twenty-year-old Columbo had left her family home two years earlier to live with DeLuca, a 36-year-old married man. The pair later killed Frank, Mary, and Michael Columbo in order to […]
Continue ReadingThe Theme Song From Welcome Back, Kotter Is The #1 song In America
In 1975, John Sebastian, former member of the beloved 60s pop group the Lovin’ Spoonful, was asked to write and record the theme song for a brand-new ABC television show with the working title Kotter. As any songwriter would, Sebastian first tried working that title into his song, but somehow […]
Continue ReadingMike Schmidt Hits Four Consecutive Homers
On this day in 1976, Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hits four consecutive home runs in a game against the Chicago Cubs. Schmidt was only the fourth player in the history of Major League Baseball to accomplish this feat. After attending Ohio University, Schmidt was drafted by the Phillies […]
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