1975
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1 January 1975 John Mitchell, former US Attorney General and chairman of the Committee to Re-elect the President, HR Haldeman, former White House Chief of Staff, John Ehrlichman, former advisor to the President, and Robert Mardian, former assistant Attorney General and lawyer for the Committee to Re-elect the President, are found guilty of a variety of offenses stemming from the conspiracy to cover-up the Watergate scandal. Kenneth Parkinson, a lawyer for the Committee to Re-elect the President, is found not guilty.
Venezuela nationalizes its US-owned iron mining industry.
3 January 1975 Cornelius Cardew (38) begins a month-long tour of North America which will include seventeen recitals, along with lectures and interviews.
4 January 1975 Khmer Rouge forces advance to within 16 km of Phnom Penh.
5 January 1975 The three liberation movements of Angola sign an agreement in Mombasa, Kenya which allows for negotiation with Portugal on independence.
From the Diary of Virginia Woolf for voice and piano by Dominick Argento (47) is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis. See 5 May 1975.
7 January 1975 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces capture Phuoc Binh, the capital of Phuoc Long Province.
8 January 1975 Classes resume at South Boston High. The 500 police stationed within are called upon to break up several fights through the day.
San Francisco Polyphony for orchestra by György Ligeti (51) is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.
9 January 1975 The ruling Left-Liberal Party of Prime Minister Poul Hartling gains 20 seats in balloting for the Danish Folketing, but leftist parties win enough to take the balance of power.
225 police battle students of both races at Hyde Park High in Boston. 15 people are arrested.
10 January 1975 The Soviet Union announces that it will not honor a 1972 trade agreement with the US because of restrictions placed on it by the American government. The Congress has limited the amount of credit the USSR may receive, and linked freer Soviet immigration to most-favored-nation status.
11 January 1975 Two former ministers in the Allende cabinet, and three other former officials are deported by the US-backed military dictatorship in Chile and sent to Romania.
12 January 1975 Elegiac Songs for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra by John Harbison (36) to words of Emily Dickinson is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.
13 January 1975 A Fantasy About Purcell’s Fantasia Upon One Note for brass quintet by Elliott Carter (66) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.
14 January 1975 Archbishop Makarios returns to the presidency of Cyprus, replacing Glafkos Clerides.
Former junta leader General Demetrios Ioannides is arrested by the Greek government and charged with treason for his role in the 1967 coup.
The Ninety-fourth Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. The opposition Democratic Party controls both houses.
15 January 1975 In Alvor, Portugal, the three Angolan liberation movements sign an agreement with Portugal providing for the independence of Angola on 11 November.
Canticle V “The Death of St. Narcissus” op.89 for solo voice and harp by Benjamin Britten (61) to words of Eliot is performed for the first time, at Schloss Elmau, Upper Bavaria.
16 January 1975 Instruments 1 for alto flute/piccolo, oboe/english horn, trombone, percussion, and celesta by Morton Feldman (49) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR originating in Cologne.
17 January 1975 Chu Teh (Zhu De) replaces Dong Biwu as Head of State of the People’s Republic of China.
18 January 1975 An airlift of Turkish Cypriots from the British military base at Episkopi begins. They are to be brought to Turkey and then allowed to resettle in Cyprus. This sparks violent protests by Greek Cypriots. About 5,000 set fire to the US embassy in Nicosia, British consular offices, and the British Council. US Marines battle the mob at the US embassy when Greek Cypriot security forces do nothing to intervene. Protesters ransack the British embassy in Athens and attempt to set it alight.
19 January 1975 Three Arab terrorists engage in a gun battle with French police after an unsuccessful attack on an Israeli jet at Orly Airport. The terrorists then take ten hostages and force them into an airport bathroom.
Thomas Hart Benton dies in Kansas City, Missouri at the age of 85.
Tubes I for 1-5 trombones by Ross Lee Finney (68) is performed for the first time, at Towson State College, Maryland.
20 January 1975 Three Arab terrorists release their hostages from a bathroom in Orly Airport in Paris after assurances of safe conduct. They are put on a plane and sent to the Middle East. After six Arab countries refuse to let them land, the plane ends up in Baghdad. 20 people are injured in the entire action.
Former dictator Georgios Papadopoulos and four other Greek junta members are imprisoned, charged with insurrection and treason.
The British government announces it has cancelled plans for a Channel tunnel.
46 political refugees, most from the Italian embassy, leave Santiago de Chile for Rome.
US President Richard Nixon is inaugurated for a second term.
21 January 1975 In a ceremony in London, Krzysztof Penderecki (41) receives a fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music.
22 January 1975 Former CIA director Richard Helms testifies to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he “withheld the truth” from them in 1973 about the CIA involvement in the overthrow and murder of President Allende of Chile.
Harmonia for orchestra by Isang Yun (57) is performed for the first time, in Herford.
23 January 1975 US President Ford raises tariffs on imported oil.
23 political refugees from the Italian and Colombian embassies are expelled from Chile.
24 January 1975 Puerto Rican terrorists bomb Fraunces Tavern on Wall Street, New York. Four people are killed, 55 injured.
25 January 1975 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman replaces Mohammad Mohammadullah as President of Bangladesh. The constitution is amended to give him full executive power and making his Awami League the sole political party.
18 political refugees from the Italian embassy depart Santiago de Chile for Sweden.
Excerpts from Etudes Australes for piano by John Cage (62) are performed for the first time, in New York. See 25 April 1982.
26 January 1975 Mohammad Mansoor Ali replaces Mujibur Rahman as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
String Quartet and Orchestra for string quartet and orchestra by Morton Feldman (49) is performed for the first time, in Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo.
27 January 1975 A US warship cancels a visit to Corfu after two of its officers are “nearly lynched” by 4,000 demonstrators.
28 January 1975 The Folketing votes 86-85 to call for the resignation of the Danish government.
The French government institutes a 10-year plan to reduce dependence on foreign fuels.
29 January 1975 Prime Minister Poul Hartling of Denmark resigns.
The Weather Underground explodes a bomb at the State Department in Washington. No one is injured.
...from behind the unreasoning mask for trombone, percussion, assistant, and four-track tape by Roger Reynolds (40) is performed for the first time, in Las Vegas. The assistant is the composer.
30 January 1975 Five Pieces for Brass Quintet by Werner Egk (73) is performed for the first time, in Porto.
31 January 1975 Major fighting begins between Eritrean rebels and the Ethiopian army as rebels attack three military installations in Asmara and Kagnew.
A transitional government is installed in Luanda to guide Angola to independence.
Symposium for orchestra by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (35) is performed for the first time, in New York conducted by Pierre Boulez (49).
2 February 1975 Ethiopian troops capture Asmara, capital of the rebel province of Eritrea, and force rebel troops from the city.
3 February 1975 President Nguyen Van Thieu of the Saigon government closes five opposition newspapers and arrests 24 journalists.
Four more members of the Greek junta are imprisoned, charged with insurrection and treason.
4 February 1975 39 political refugees from the embassies of Italy, Colombia, and Venezuela depart Chile from Santiago.
The first two volumes of Makrokosmos by George Crumb (45) are heard together for the first time, in Wichita, Kansas. See 12 June 1980.
5 February 1975 Peruvian troops surround the barracks of striking paramilitary police in Lima and gun battles ensue. Thousands riot in the capital burning and looting until they are dispersed by tanks and soldiers. A state of emergency is declared.
6 February 1975 22 people, including 18 children, are killed when a Khmer Rouge rocket hits a school in downtown Phnom Penh. 50 people are injured.
Three important Renaissance paintings are stolen from the Ducal Palace in Urbino.
A revised version of Antony and Cleopatra, an opera by Samuel Barber (64) to words of Zeferelli after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, in New York. See 16 September 1966.
7 February 1975 Laude for concert band by Howard Hanson (78) is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.
8 February 1975 Three Choruses on Biblical Texts for chorus and orchestra by Roger Sessions (78) is performed for the first time, in Amherst, Massachusetts.
10 February 1975 The IRA begins a unilateral cease-fire in Northern Ireland.
11 February 1975 Rebel police ambush and kill President Richard Ratsimandrava of Madagascar in Tananarive. He is replaced by Gilles Andriamahazo.
12 February 1975 According to results announced by the government, the South Korean electorate approves continued martial law led by President Park Chung Hee.
With the Khmer Rouge tightening the stranglehold on the Mekong River, the United States doubles its airlift of military supplies to Phnom Penh. A Khmer Rouge rocket hits a marketplace in Phnom Penh killing 13 people and injuring 34.
For the first time since 9 January, racial violence erupts at Hyde Park High in Boston. It will continue for three days.
13 February 1975 Government forces in Madagascar destroy the rebellion in the Antanimora Military Camp.
Social Democrat Anker Jørgensen replaces Left-Liberal Poul Hartling as Prime Minister of Denmark.
The Turkish Federated State of Cyprus is declared in the Turkish occupied sector of the island.
27 political prisoners are released by the Chilean dictatorship and deported to Venezuela.
14 February 1975 An agreement signed today between the US government and local leaders creates the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
15 February 1975 Ethiopia declares a state of emergency in Eritrea amidst continuing fighting with Eritrean rebels.
16 February 1975 Two works for piano by Charles Ives (†20) are performed for the first time, in New York: March no.6 with Here’s to Good Old Yale and Invention in D.
17 February 1975 Several paintings by major artists are stolen from the Municipal Museum of Milan.
18 February 1975 The Constitutional Court of Italy rules that the country’s abortion law is “partly unconstitutional.” Abortion will be allowed if the mother’s physical or psychological health is threatened.
Four Red Brigade members invade a prison near Alessandria and liberate one of their leaders, Renato Curcio.
Songs of Praise and Lamentation for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by George Perle (59) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
19 February 1975 Morning. Luigi Dallapiccola dies of a pulmonary edema in Florence, aged 71 years and 16 days.
Vier Gedichte aus Atemwende for voice and piano by Wolfgang Rihm (22) is performed for the first time, in Freiburg.
21 February 1975 Heavy fighting begins between Ethiopian government troops and Eritrean rebels.
Former US Attorney General John Mitchell and former presidential aides HR Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are all sentenced in federal court in Washington to from two-and-a-half to eight years in prison for their part in the Watergate cover-up. Former assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian is sentenced to from ten months to three years in prison.
Still and Moving Lines of Silence in Families of Hyperbolas for voices, instruments, dancers, and percussion by Alvin Lucier (43) is performed for the first time, in New York.
23 February 1975 Several works by Maurice Ravel (†37) are performed for the first time, in Colden Auditorium, Flushing, New York during the centennial year of the composer’s birth: Ballade de la Reine morte d’aimer for voice and piano to words of de Marès (1893), Sérénade grotesque for piano (1893), Sonata for violin and piano (1897), Chanson du rouet for voice and piano to words of de Lisle (1898), Si morne! for voice and piano to words of Verhaeren (1898), and Chanson hébraïque for voice and orchestra, a 1924 transcription of one of the Chansons populaires of 1910. See 19 December 1910.
Lyric Fantasies for string orchestra by Norman Dello Joio (62) is performed for the first time.
24 February 1975 The US ends its arms embargo against India and Pakistan.
26 February 1975 Seni Pramoj replaces Sanya Thammasak as Prime Minister of Thailand.
John Patrick Egan, an honorary US consul in Córdoba, Argentina, is kidnapped by Montonero guerrillas who attempt to bargain for his release.
Triplum II for orchestra by Gunther Schuller (49) is performed for the first time, in Lyric Theatre, Baltimore.
27 February 1975 The United States begins flying food aid from Saigon to the besieged capital of Phnom Penh.
Peter Lorenz, CDU candidate for mayor of West Berlin, is kidnapped by leftist terrorists who demand a 707 jet and the release of six of their comrades.
Attorney General Edward Levi tells a US House committee that former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover kept files on presidents, congressmen and other public figures. He also said that three presidents used the FBI for political purposes.
28 February 1975 The Khmer Rouge take Tuol Leap, 20 km west of Phnom Penh and Prek Luong, eight km from downtown.
A neo-fascist is shot to death in Rome, presumably by leftists, during demonstrations outside the trial of leftists accused of firebombing the home of a neo-fascist.
A treaty of cooperation between member states of the European Economic Community and 46 African, Caribbean, and Pacific States is signed in Lomé, Togo. It will become known as the Lomé Convention.
After the Argentine government refuses to negotiate for the release of US consul John Patrick Egan, the Mononeros holding him kill him and leave his body on the side of a road in Córdoba.
1 March 1975 Rainbow Rising for orchestra by Robert Erickson (57) is performed for the first time, at the University of California, San Diego.
2 March 1975 The Shah of Iran decrees a one-party state for at least two years under a new organization called the National Resurrection Party.
Four Soundscapes for orchestra by Gunther Schuller (49) is performed for the first time, in Poughkeepsie, New York conducted by the composer.
3 March 1975 Khmer Rouge rockets kill 19 people and injure 25 in Phnom Penh.
The demands of the 27 February hostage takers are met when five radicals are released from prison and flown out of Frankfurt airport to the Middle East.
4 March 1975 The military government of Ethiopia nationalizes all rural lands.
A bomb explodes at the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe causing great damage but no injuries.
Leftist terrorists who kidnapped Peter Lorenz in West Berlin on 27 February release him.
5 March 1975 North Vietnamese forces begin a major offensive in the Central Highlands.
Eight Arab terrorists attack a hotel in Tel Aviv. Six hours later, Israeli troops attack the building. 18 people, including seven of the terrorists, are killed, eleven injured. One terrorist is captured.
6 March 1975 Cambodian government troops retreat from a beachhead on the Mekong River, their last major position on the river.
The Italian Chamber of Deputies votes to lower the voting age to 18.
New works are performed for the first time, at the opening of the Mandeville Center for the Arts at the University of California at San Diego: Crow Two-A Ceremonial Opera for specialized and non-specialized performers by Pauline Oliveros (42), and My, My What a Wonderful Fall for five dancers/acrobats, text, tape, sculpted light, and gym mat by Kenneth Gaburo (48) to his own words.
7 March 1975 Khmer Rouge forces capture the last Cambodian government beachhead on the lower Mekong River, the supply line from Phnom Penh to South Vietnam.
8 March 1975 Bryce for flute, two harps, marimba, and percussion by Toru Takemitsu (44) is performed for the first time, in Toronto.
Child of Tree by John Cage (62) is performed for the first time, in Detroit by the composer.
11 March 1975 A military coup led by the conservative Antônio Sebastião Bibeiro de Spínola is easily crushed by the Portuguese government. Spínola is captured and sent to Spain.
The Promised Land for organ or orchestra by Robert Ward (57) is performed for the first time, in Nashville.
12 March 1975 Maurice Stans, former US Secretary of Commerce and finance chairman for President Nixon’s campaign committee, pleads guilty to five counts of violating campaign laws. He will be fined $5,000.
13 March 1975 Khmer Rouge rockets hit an ammunition dump at Pochenton Airport igniting tons of explosives.
14 March 1975 Kukrit Pramoj replaces Seni Pramoj as Prime Minister of Thailand.
The Board of National Salvation, which has been ruling Portugal for almost a year, is abolished and replaced by the Council of the Revolution. It nationalizes most banks in the country.
Quintet Concerto for two trumpets, french horn, trombone, tuba, and orchestra by Ulysses Kay (58) is performed for the first time, in New York.
15 March 1975 Cambodian government troops recapture Tuol Leap, eight km from Phnom Penh’s airport.
The Portuguese Council of the Revolution nationalizes most insurance companies in the country.
The Brazilian State of Guanabara is joined with the State of Rio de Janeiro.
16 March 1975 The American space probe Mariner 10 makes its third encounter with Mercury reaching to 327 km from the surface.
17 March 1975 Saigon government leaders decide to retreat from the Central Highlands.
France withdraws almost all of its embassy staff from Phnom Penh.
Interns and residents at 21 hospitals in New York go on strike for shorter shifts. It will last four days.
18 March 1975 The US Supreme Court rules that the City of Chattanooga erred when it banned a performance of the musical Hair without a hearing to determine if it was obscene.
The FBI makes public 3,000 pages of documents detailing its efforts to destroy the Socialist Workers Party of the United States.
20 March 1975 In a television address, President Nguyen Van Thieu announces his army has abandoned the Central Highlands.
Turbae ad passionem gregorianam for tenor, baritone, bass-baritone, boys’ chorus, chorus, and orchestra by Alberto Ginastera (58) is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia.
21 March 1975 North Vietnamese forces reach to within 65 km of Saigon.
The new government of Ethiopia formally abolishes the monarchy.
Duo for violin and piano by Elliott Carter (66) is performed for the first time, in Cooper Union, New York.
22 March 1975 The Saigon government abandons Gia Nghia, capital of Quang Duc Province, 170 km northeast of Saigon.
US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger suspends his efforts to reach a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. The two sides are too intractable.
A fire at the Brown’s Ferry nuclear reactor in Decatur, Alabama causes $100,000,000 in damage. The loss of electricity lowers the cooling waters to dangerous levels.
Chamber Music for percussion and electronics by Lukas Foss (52) and Joel Chadabe is performed for the first time, in Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo.
24 March 1975 North Vietnamese forces take Tam Ky and Quang Ngai, cutting off Da Nang.
Family Portrait for brass quintet by Virgil Thomson (78) is performed for the first time, in the Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.
25 March 1975 North Vietnamese forces enter Hue after it was abandoned by the Saigon government. They now control all of Thau Thien Province.
King Faisal ibn Abdul-Aziz al-Sa’ud of Saudi Arabia is shot to death by his nephew Prince Musad Abdul-Aziz in the royal palace, Riyadh. He is succeeded by his brother Khalid ibn Abdul-Aziz al-Sa’ud. The assassin, who has a history of mental illness, will be publicly beheaded in June.
26 March 1975 The fourth cabinet since the overthrow of the fascist dictatorship is sworn in in Lisbon. It is predominantly leftist.
27 March 1975 Ten days of talks between officials of Surinam and the Netherlands end in The Hague. They agree that Surinam will gain independence in November.
28 March 1975 Bao Loc, capital of Lam Dong Province, is captured by the North Vietnamese.
Musik im Bauch no.41 for six percussionists by Karlheinz Stockhausen (46) is performed for the first time, in Royan.
A band of Chinese musicians and dancers cancels a US tour when asked by the State Department to delete a song concerning the conquest of Taiwan.
30 March 1975 North Vietnamese forces enter Da Nang as Saigon troops flee in chaos.
31 March 1975 Süleyman Demirel replaces Mahmut Sadi Irmak as Prime Minister of Turkey.
1 April 1975 President Lon Nol of Cambodia flees the country to exile in Indonesia. Saukham Khoy is named interim President.
After a siege of three months, Khmer Rouge rebels capture Neak Luong, the last base on the Mekong River between Phnom Penh and South Vietnam held by the Cambodian government.
Canada begins a gradual transition to the metric system.
A Ceremony of Sounds for audience by Pauline Oliveros (42) is performed for the first time, at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
2 April 1975 Saigon government troops abandon Qui Nhon, South Vietnam’s third largest city.
The Canadian National Tower in Toronto is completed. At 553 meters, it is the world’s tallest free standing structure.
Rituel: In memoriam Bruno Maderna for orchestra by Pierre Boulez (50) is performed for the first time, in London, conducted by the composer.
Parable XV op.128 for english horn by Vincent Persichetti (59) is performed for the first time, in Tempe, Arizona.
3 April 1975 The last two ports serving the Saigon government, Cam Ranh and Nha Trang are cut off by the North Vietnamese.
Japan and South Korea close their missions in Phnom Penh. The US begins evacuating staff and dependents.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, a film directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, is released in Great Britain.
Dybbuk Suite no.1 for tenor, bass-baritone, and orchestra by Leonard Bernstein (56) to words of various Jewish texts, is performed for the first time, in Avery Fisher Hall, New York conducted by the composer.
4 April 1975 The US Air Force begins an airlift of thousands of orphans out of Saigon. One plane crashes today, killing over 200 people.
President Nguyen Van Thieu of the Saigon government sacks his cabinet, including Prime Minister Tran Thien Khiem. He names Nguyen Ba Can as Prime Minister.
Micro-Soft is founded in Alberquerque, New Mexico by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
Al gran sole carico d’amore, a scenic action by Luigi Nono (51) to words of various authors, is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
Violin Concerto by George Rochberg (56) is performed for the first time, in Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh.
5 April 1975 President Chiang Kai-shek of the Republic of China dies of a heart attack in Taipei. He is replaced by Yen Chia-kan (Yan Jiagan).
Communist forces begin widespread attacks in the Mekong Delta.
A bomb explodes in a Catholic pub in Belfast killing two people. Later in the day, four people are killed when a bomb explodes in a Protestant pub in Belfast.
Amen op.35 for chorus by Henryk Górecki (41) is performed for the first time, in Poznan.
An der Schwelle for baritone, female chorus, organ, flute, oboe, trumpet, trombone, and percussion by Isang Yun (57) to words of Haushofer is performed for the first time, in Kassel.
6 April 1975 28 of the paintings stolen from the Municipal Museum of Milan on 17 February are recovered.
7 April 1975 Khmer Rouge forces capture several government positions six km north of Pochentong Airport. They also enter Kompong Spieu, 50 km southwest of Phnom Penh.
Chants Parallèles for tape by Lucian Berio (49) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
8 April 1975 United Brands Co. admits to the Wall Street Journal that it paid a $1,250,000 bribe to a Honduran official (reportedly President Oswaldo López Arellano) for a reduction in the export tax on bananas. They will be charged by the US government with filing false reports.
9 April 1975 Eight men convicted of plotting to overthrow the South Korean government of President Park Chung Hee are hanged in Seoul. 13 others receive prison terms.
Concerto for solo percussionist and orchestra by Lukas Foss (52) is performed for the first time, in Fine Arts Building Auditorium, Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey.
10 April 1975 Xuan Loc, 61 km east of Saigon, is heavily damaged by about 1,000 North Vietnamese artillery shells. Furious fighting for the city ensues.
11 April 1975 Leaders of Portugal’s six major political parties sign an agreement for three more years of military rule as a transition to democracy.
12 April 1975 The United States evacuates its embassy in Phnom Penh. Along with them go 50 government officials including President Saukham Khoy. In all, 276 people are flown by helicopter to Bangkok.
Prime Minister Long Boret of Cambodia forms a new government dominated by the military. Lt. General Saksut Sakhan becomes President. The Parliament votes full powers to the new government for three months.
A bomb explodes in a Catholic pub in Belfast killing five people.
13 April 1975 With the airport under constant attack, US planes begin to drop supplies to Phnom Penh and other areas of Cambodia.
Adventures Underground for soprano, folk group, and orchestra by David Del Tredici (38) to words of Carroll, is performed for the first time, in Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo.
14 April 1975 Khmer Rouge forces reach to within five kilometers of Phnom Penh. A government pilot defects and drops two bombs on command headquarters in the capital killing seven people.
Pathet Lao forces attack government positions about 160 km north of Vientiane. It is the first significant violation of the 1973 Laotian truce.
A referendum in Sikkim reportedly votes to abolish the monarchy and become an Indian state.
15 April 1975 For the first time, Bien Hoa air base, 24 km east of Saigon, is hit by North Vietnamese artillery.
President Nguyen Van Thieu forms a new government headed by Prime Minister Nguyen Ba Can.
Malta for tuba and tape by Lejaren Hiller (51) is performed for the first time, in San Diego.
16 April 1975 Communist forces take the port of Phan Rang, 275 km northeast of Saigon.
The Cambodian government calls for a cease-fire and handing over of power to Prince Norodom Sihanouk.
The Portuguese government announces the nationalization of power, oil, and transport companies.
Rumore e silenzio for harpsichord, celesta, and percussion by Sofia Gubaidulina (43) is performed for the first time, in Leningrad.
Concerto for alto saxophone, winds, harp, celesta, and percussion by Ross Lee Finney (68) is performed for the first time, at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
17 April 1975 The government of Cambodia surrenders to the Khmer Rouge. A communist administration is established in Phnom Penh.
30,000 leftists riot in Milan to protest the murder yesterday of one of their comrades by a fascist. Members and offices of the fascist Italian Social Movement are particular targets.
Dybbuk Suite no.2 for orchestra by Leonard Bernstein (56) is performed for the first time, in Avery Fisher Hall, New York conducted by the composer.
Two Butterflies for amplified orchestra by Morton Subotnick (42) is performed for the first time, in Los Angeles.
18 April 1975 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations recognizes the new government of Cambodia.
19 April 1975 Communist forces take the port of Phan Thiet, northeast of Saigon.
India announces that it has launched its first satellite.
A Communist Party member is shot to death in a gun battle with police in Florence.
Nicolaas Diederichs replaces Jacobus Fouché as President of South Africa.
Les Boréades (sometimes called Abaris), a tragédie en musique by Jean-Philippe Rameau (†210) to words possibly by Cahusac and possibly by Decroix, is performed very likely for the first time, in London.
Al fresco for band by Karel Husa (53) is performed for the first time, at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York.
21 April 1975 Nguyen Van Thieu resigns as President of the Republic of Vietnam. He is replaced by Tran Van Huong.
22 April 1975 Saigon government forces abandon Xuan Loc, 61 km east of Saigon.
A general strike takes place throughout Italy to protest neo-fascism.
The Italian Parliament approves a new family law making husband and wife legally equal.
Ensembles for 17 for soprano and instrumental ensemble by Shulamit Ran (25) to words of Shakespeare is performed for the first time, at the University of Chicago conducted by Ralph Shapey (54).
23 April 1975 The cabinet in Saigon headed by Prime Minister Nguyen Ba Can resigns.
Thailand sends reinforcements to the Cambodian border to stem the flow of refugees.
The State of Victoria in Australia abolishes the death penalty.
24 April 1975 German extreme leftists take over the West German embassy in Stockholm, demanding the release of 26 of their comrades. After 12 hours and the blowing up the top floor of the building, the invaders surrender. Two embassy officials and one guerrilla are killed in the siege.
25 April 1975 In the first free elections in Portugal for almost 50 years, Socialists win the largest number of seats in the constituent assembly. 91.7% of eligible voters turn out.
The Spanish government declares a three-month state of emergency in the Basque country after two security officials were killed.
26 April 1975 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces begin a massive attack against Phuoc Le, 60 km southeast of Saigon.
The Indian Parliament annexes Sikkim pending ratification by half of the states.
27 April 1975 Rockets hit the center of Saigon for the first time since the 1973 cease-fire. Ten people are killed and the ensuing fire leaves 5,000 homeless.
28 April 1975 Communist forces attack the outer defenses of Saigon, sending rockets into Tan Son Nhut air base. The office of the United States military attache is hit, killing two marines, the last American military to die in Vietnam.
General Duong Van Minh replaces Tran Van Huong as President of the Saigon government.
The Courtship of Yongly Bongly Bo for voice and piano by Virgil Thomson (78) to words of Lear is performed for the first time, in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church Chapel, New York.
Ukiyo-e for solo harp by George Rochberg (56) is performed for the first time, at Grape Stake Art Gallery, San Fransisco.
29 April 1975 President Ford orders the evacuation of all US personnel from Saigon. In the next 19 hours, over 6,000 people, mostly Vietnamese, are airlifted by helicopter to US ships off shore. At least 74 Saigon government air force planes fly to Thailand carrying about 2,000 refugees.
Greece and the United States announce that Athens will no longer be the home port for the US Sixth Fleet and that the US air base at Athens International Airport will be closed.
30 April 1975 On orders of President Duong Van Minh, the Saigon government unconditionally capitulates to the Viet Cong. American helicopters evacuate about 6,500 people from Saigon. Viet Cong forces enter and take control of Saigon.
Breakfast Rhythms I&II for six players by Joan Tower (36) is performed for the first time, in Town Hall, New York.
1 May 1975 Elections to an assembly intended to write a new constitution for Northern Ireland is won overwhelmingly by Protestant hard-liners.
2 May 1975 Three days of fighting between rival Angolan groups in Luanda causes 500 deaths and 700 injuries.
Ave maris stella for flute, clarinet, piano, marimba, viola, and cello by Peter Maxwell Davies (40) is performed for the first time, at the Theatre Royal in Bath.
Twelve Duos for two or four trombones by Leslie Bassett (52) are performed for the first time, in Boston.
3 May 1975 Members of the Progressive Labor Party march through South Boston to the home of an anti-busing leader. 1,000 local citizens attack the marchers with clubs. 300 police take hours to quell the violence.
5 May 1975 The first television transmission in South Africa takes place in Johannesburg.
Dominick Argento (47) wins the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. See 5 January 1975.
6 May 1975 Hungarian Cardinal Jószef Mindszenty dies in exile in Vienna.
Für Paul Dessau for tape by Luigi Nono (51) is performed for the first time, in Teatro Giuseppe Verdi, Pisa.
7 May 1975 30,000 Vietnamese refugees arrive at Subic Bay, Philippines aboard US Navy ships. 20,000 arrive in Guam.
When a black student waves the flag of the Progressive Labor Party at Hyde Park High in Boston, white students go on a two-day rampage.
Paradiso Choruses, an oratorio by Donald Martino (43) to words of Dante and the Latin Mass, is performed for the first time, at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston.
8 May 1975 Foreigners reaching Bangkok report that the new Khmer Rouge government in Cambodia is forcing the population of the cities into the countryside. There are also unconfirmed reports of wholesale executions of the former government.
9 May 1975 Five right-wing members of the coalition government of Laos resign, leaving power in the hands of the Pathet Lao.
The Spanish government announces industrial workers may strike under limited conditions.
10 May 1975 The Betamax home video system is introduced by Sony.
Four Verses of Captain Lebyadkin op.146 for bass and piano by Dmitri Shostakovich (68) to words of Dostoyevsky is performed for the first time, in Moscow Conservatory Malyi Hall. This is the composer’s last public appearance.
Six Easy Pieces for violin and piano by Lejaren Hiller (51) is performed for the first time, in Buffalo.
The Steadfast Tin Soldier, a ballet by Karel Husa (53) to a story by Hans Christian Andersen, is performed for the first time, in Boulder, Colorado the composer conducting.
11 May 1975 Israel becomes the first Mediterranean country to sign a trade agreement with the EEC.
12 May 1975 The American merchant ship Mayaguez is seized by Cambodian naval forces 100 km off Cambodia and forced to port.
14 May 1975 The Portuguese government announces the nationalization of cement, cellulose, and tobacco companies. It also sets wage and price controls.
A request by New York City for a short-term federally guaranteed loan of $1,000,000,000 is denied by President Ford.
15 May 1975 United States forces retake the Mayaguez from Cambodians and also liberate its crew. Three Cambodian gunboats are sunk.
György Lázár replaces Jenö Fock as Prime Minister of Hungary.
After weeks of fighting by rival independence groups, Portugal declares martial law in Angola.
Kyrie: Orbis Fact/or: a very odd do: synthetic composition for chorus generated by one voice in a small cave around Mandy’s villa, for tape by Kenneth Gaburo (48) is performed for the first time, at the University of California at San Diego.
16 May 1975 Pathet Lao forces occupy the southern Laotian city of Pakse.
The first part of Atmen gibt das Leben no.39 for chorus by Karlheinz Stockhausen (46) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg, the composer conducting. See 22 May 1977.
17 May 1975 Fragment for organ by Isang Yun (57) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg-Wellingsbüttel.
19 May 1975 Fighting resumes between guerrillas and Lebanese Christians.
20 May 1975 Pathet Lao forces occupy Savannakhet, in the central part of Laos.
Two works by David Diamond (59) are performed for the first time, in celebration of the 60th year of the composer: Hebrew Melodies, a cycle for voice and piano by words of Byron, and Sonata for solo cello.
21 May 1975 Great Britain announces that it will grant independence to the Solomon Islands by the middle of 1977.
In Space for soprano and instrumental ensemble by William Bergsma (54) is performed for the first time, in Meany Hall, Studio Theatre, Seattle.
22 May 1975 Fighting between various Lebanese groups and Palestinian guerrillas spreads to three suburbs of Beirut.
The Portuguese Socialist Party begins to boycott cabinet meetings because of undue Communist influence over the political life of the country.
The International Olympic Committee votes to ban Rhodesia from the 1976 games because it practices racial discrimination.
23 May 1975 President Suleiman Franjieh of Lebanon appoints a military cabinet to deal with widespread fighting in his country. It is headed by Nureddin Rifai as Prime Minister.
The government of Spain announces it will grant independence to Spanish Sahara.
26 May 1975 After intense pressure from Moslems, Lebanese Prime Minister Nureddin Rifai resigns.
27 May 1975 The latest round of fighting in Lebanon begins to peter out.
The US National Academy of Sciences reports a drastic reduction in the number of abortion related deaths since its legalization.
28 May 1975 The US agrees to end all operations of the Agency for International Development in Laos by 30 June in exchange for the release of three Americans surrounded by protesters in the AID compound in Vientiane.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is established by Dahomey (Benin), Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire), Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Upper Volta (Burkina Faso).
Rashid Karami replaces Nureddin Rifai as Prime Minister of Lebanon.
La cubana, oder Ein Leben für die Kunst, a vaudeville by Hans Werner Henze (48) to words of Enzensberger, after Barnet, is staged for the first time, in the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz, Munich. See 4 March 1974.
Wishes, Wonders, Portents, Charms for chorus by William Bergsma (54) is performed for the first time, in Lincoln Center, New York.
29 May 1975 Gustáv Husák replaces Ludvik Svoboda as President of Czechoslovakia.
30 May 1975 Several Laotian government officials resign and are replaced by Pathet Lao.
31 May 1975 Three men are sentenced to death in a Cairo court for conspiracy to overthrow the government of President Anwar Sadat. 29 defendants receive prison terms. 60 others are acquitted.
The European Space Agency is formed by ten countries when the European Launch Development Organization is merged with the European Space Research Organization.
1 June 1975 Eleven people are killed by Rhodesian security forces when they fire into crowds of rival African nationalist groups in three African townships near Salisbury.
A Reliquary for Igor Stravinsky (†4) for orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (36) is performed for the first time, in Ojai, California.
2 June 1975 President Idi Amin of Uganda ends all private ownership of land.
3 June 1975 France concludes the withdrawal of its military from the Malagasy Republic.
Heaven Music for many flutes by Larry Austin (44) is performed for the first time, in Tampa.
4 June 1975 The US promises to remove all of its remaining forces from Thailand by next March.
The coalition government of Finnish Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa resigns over economic differences. They remain in a caretaker capacity.
Five days of fighting between three liberation groups erupts in Luanda, Angola. At least 200 people are killed.
5 June 1975 President Sadat of Egypt ceremonially reopens the Suez Canal, exactly eight years after it was closed during the Six-Day War.
Fighting between Palestinian guerrillas and Lebanese Christians ends in Beirut.
Northrop Corporation admits paying $450,000 in bribes to two Saudi Arabian generals.
67% of British voters support continued membership in the EEC.
6 June 1975 The Provisional Revolutionary Government formally assumes power in Saigon.
7 June 1975 The Greek Parliament approves a new republican constitution.
String Quartet in D by Benjamin Britten (61) is performed for the first time, at Snape Maltings, 44 years after it was composed. Britten revised it last year.
9 June 1975 The trial of six Irish Catholics charged with the Birmingham pub bombings of last November begins in Lancaster.
10 June 1975 A commission headed by Vice President Nelson Rockefeller finds that the CIA has engaged in actions which were “plainly unlawful and constituted improper invasions upon the rights of Americans.”
11 June 1975 The first oil from British wells in the North Sea is pumped ashore at Sullom Voe, Shetland.
Tens of thousands of workers strike in Bilbao to protest police brutality and torture during the state of emergency in the Basque country.
12 June 1975 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India is found guilty in Allahabad of violating elections laws.
Greece applies for full membership in the EEC.
13 June 1975 Keijo Anfero Liinamaa replaces Tasito Kalevi Sorsa as Prime Minister of Finland in a caretaker capacity pending elections in September.
Soundtrack, a film-radio play by Mauricio Kagel (43), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR.
Auf-und Ablehnung for orchestra by Ernst Krenek (74) is performed for the first time, in the Meistersingerhalle, Nuremberg.
Suite on English Folk Tunes “A Time There Was” op.90 for orchestra by Benjamin Britten (61) is performed for the first time, at Snape Maltings.
14 June 1975 Magnificat and Nunc dimittis for chorus and organ by William Walton (73) is performed for the first time, in Chichester Cathedral.
15 June 1975 Arab terrorists fight their way into Kfar Yuval and take an Israeli family hostage in their home. Israeli troops storm the building, killing all four terrorists. Three members of the family are also killed. Israel launches strikes against terrorist staging areas in southern Lebanon.
17 June 1975 Voters in the Mariana Islands approve the establishment of a Commonwealth in association with the United States. Residents of the islands will become US citizens.
Cubans battle police in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Seven people are injured, 143 arrested.
18 June 1975 White and black gangs battle in East Boston.
20 June 1975 Konstantinos Dimitriou Tstasos replaces Michail Dimitriou Stasinopoulos as President of Greece.
21 June 1975 The three warring liberation movements in Angola sign a peace agreement in Nairobi.
23 June 1975 Fighting begins again in Beirut between Christian militia and Lebanese supporters of the Palestinian guerrillas.
25 June 1975 The Peoples Republic of Mozambique, under President Samora Machel and Prime Minister Joaquim Chissano, is proclaimed independent of Portugal in ceremonies in Lourenço Marques, thus ending 500 years of colonial rule.
26 June 1975 In response to pressure from the Pathet Lao, the United States ends its economic aid program in Laos.
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India announces a nationwide “state of emergency.” 676 opponents of her regime are arrested. Freedom of the press and other rights are suspended.
Lev Sergeyevich Termen (Leon Theremin) (78) receives a Soviet patent for a “polyphonic termenvox.”
President Alfonso López Michelsen declares a national state of siege in the face of student and worker unrest, kidnappings, and guerrilla fighting.
27 June 1975 The Indian government suspends the civil rights of its citizens.
29 June 1975 Rioting takes place in New Delhi by protesters demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The death toll in a week of fighting in Beirut between rival Lebanese factions reaches 90. Palestinian terrorists kidnap a US Army officer and demand a ransom.
Empreintes for orchestra by Iannis Xenakis (53) is performed for the first time, in La Rochelle.
Parable XVI op.130 for viola by Vincent Persichetti (60) is performed for the first time, in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
30 June 1975 India orders the expulsion of a Washington Post reporter for an article he wrote six days before censorship was imposed.
1 July 1975 Thailand and China establish diplomatic relations.
While at his dacha outside Moscow, Dmitri Shostakovich (68) suffers a severe heart attack and is hospitalized.
The French Parliament authorizes divorce by mutual consent.
After a week of fighting, a cease-fire goes into effect in Beirut.
2 July 1975 The Supreme Court of Greece exonerates 104 officials of the late dictatorship of complicity in the 1967 coup.
A federal court rules that a New York state law prohibiting the sale of contraceptives to anyone under 16 years of age is unconstitutional.
4 July 1975 The Indian government bans 26 opposition parties.
A bomb planted by Arab terrorists detonates in the center of Jerusalem killing 13 and injuring 72.
Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet cancels a visit to the country by a group from the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
5 July 1975 In India, formerly the world’s largest democracy, government agents seize the offices of several organizations opposed to Indira Gandhi.
The Republic of Cape Verde, under President Aristedes Pereira and Prime Minister Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires, is declared independent of Portugal ending over 500 years of colonial rule.
The Portuguese government announces the expropriation of all farms over 700 hectares.
Fourth of July, 1900 (later retitled Hurray), a ballet to Virgil Thomson’s (78) Symphony no.2, is performed for the first time, at the Blossom Music Center, Cleveland. See 17 November 1941.
6 July 1975 The Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros is unilaterally declared independent of France by its assembly.
7 July 1975 An Israeli amphibious operation attacks Arab terrorist staging areas south of Tyre (Sour), Lebanon. At least 13 people are killed.
About 100 black youths rampage in Boston attacking every white motorist they find.
8 July 1975 Ten days of protest and a 38-hour general strike in cities throughout Argentina result in the approval of recently negotiated wage increases by President Isabel Perón. It is the first general strike against a Peronist government.
9 July 1975 Heavy fighting between rival liberation groups resumes in Luanda, Angola.
10 July 1975 Companhia Uniao Fabril, the largest conglomerate in Portugal, is nationalized.
Piano Sonata no.1 by Lejaren Hiller (51) is performed for the first time, in Buffalo, 29 years after it was composed. Hiller revised it in 1968.
11 July 1975 The Socialist Party leaves the Portuguese government, citing increasingly dictatorial rule by the Armed Forces Movement.
12 July 1975 The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, under President Manuel Pinto da Costa and Prime Minister Miguel dos Anjos da Cunha Lisboa Trovoada, is declared independent of Portugal after 500 years of colonial rule.
A US Army officer is released in Beirut 13 days after being kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists.
15 July 1975 In heavy fighting, the MPLA gains control of the Angolan capital Luanda. Portugal sends two planeloads of reinforcements to Angola to safeguard Portuguese interests. An emergency airlift of thousands of Portuguese nationals begins from Angola to Portugal.
16 July 1975 16 parties from across the Spanish political spectrum call for the establishment of a democratic, pluralistic society and the end of the Franco dictatorship.
17 July 1975 The Popular Democratic Party leaves the Portuguese government. This leaves only two parties in power, the Communists and their close ally, the Portuguese Democratic Movement.
An IRA bomb kills four British soldiers in Armagh, Northern Ireland.
17:09 UTC Soviet and American spacemen link their Apollo and Soyuz crafts and join hands in orbit around the Earth.
Satiric Dances for a Comedy by Aristophanes for band by Norman Dello Joio (62) is performed for the first time, in Concord, Massachusetts. The work was commissioned by the Concord Band in honor of the bicentennial of the Battle of Concord.
22 July 1975 Emergency rule is approved by the upper house of India’s Parliament.
23 July 1975 Emergency rule is approved by the lower house of India’s Parliament.
It is disclosed that in 1970, US President Nixon ordered the CIA to ensure the defeat of Salvador Allende Gossens in the Chilean presidential election.
24 July 1975 The Indian Parliament approves a constitutional amendment placing the current state of emergency above any court challenges. Opposition parties boycott the vote.
In the midst of peace overtures between Egypt and Israel, the Security Council votes to extend the mandate of the UN Emergency Force in Sinai by three months.
FNLA forces capture Caxito, 50 km northeast of Luanda.
Incidental music to Blasco Ibáñez’ play Sónnica, la cortesana by Joaquín Rodrigo (73) is performed for the first time, in Teatro Romano de Sagunto, Valencia.
25 July 1975 Kuldip Nayar, senior editor of Indian Express is arrested at his home.
After the United States refuses to end the arms embargo against Turkey, the Turkish government announces that all joint US-Turkish installations, except Incirlik, will be taken over by Turkey.
27 July 1975 FNLA forces capture Malange in eastern Angola from the MPLA after heavy fighting. They also take Lucala, 275 km southeast of Luanda.
28 July 1975 Blacks riot for two days in Detroit. One person is killed, 63 arrested.
29 July 1975 A military coup led by Muritala Rufai Mohammed overthrows the Nigerian government of General Yakubu Gowon.
The Portuguese government imposes press censorship on all news from Angola.
The Organization of American States votes to lift economic and diplomatic sanctions against Cuba.
In Wonderland, scenes 2, 3, and 5 from An Alice Symphony for amplified soprano and orchestra by David Del Tredici (38), is performed for the first time, in Aspen, Colorado.
30 July 1975 Students protesting the holding of the Miss Universe pageant in San Salvador are gunned down by the Salvadoran military. 37 people are killed.
31 July 1975 Protestant terrorists ambush a Dublin popular music group near Newry. Three musicians are killed. Two terrorists are killed when their bomb explodes prematurely.
A three-man junta is established in Portugal led by Provisional President Francisco da Costa Gomes.
James R. (Jimmy) Hoffa, former President of the Teamsters’ union, is reported missing by his family near Detroit.
1 August 1975 The leaders of 33 European countries, Canada, and the United States sign the Charter of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, in Helsinki.
Dmitri Shostakovich (68) returns home after a month in the hospital with a heart ailment. He is very weak.
2 August 1975 An agreement is reached in Helsinki by which Poland will allow 120,000 ethnic Germans to emigrate to West Germany in return for $500,000,000 and $400,000,000 in trade credits.
3 August 1975 The Indian government changes the laws under which Indira Gandhi was convicted, retroactively.
4 August 1975 Five members of the Japanese Red Army take over the US consulate in Kuala Lampur and seize 52 hostages.
After MPLA forces attack UNITA in Cassamba, UNITA announces it will join in the fighting for control of Angola. An airlift to evacuate all 300,000 Portuguese refugees begins from Luanda.
South African authorities establish a refugee center at Oshakati, South-West Africa to accommodate whites fleeing from Angola.
After choking on a peach causing further deterioration of his heart, Dmitri Shostakovich (68) re-enters the Kremlin Hospital.
Le pavillon au bord de la rivière, a chamber opera by Betsy Jolas to words of Raoul-Davis after Kuan Han Chin, is performed for the first time, in Avignon on the eve of the composer’s 49th birthday.
5 August 1975 Israeli forces launch amphibious assaults on terrorist targets around Tyre (Sour), Lebanon.
6 August 1975 The Indian Parliament passes a law effectively vacating the conviction of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
8 August 1975 Two dams burst on the Ru River in Honan (Henan Province), China causing the subsequent failure of 62 other dams inundating 12,000 sq km. Somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 people are killed. The events are caused by a year’s worth of rain falling in 24 hours.
After four days of negotiations, Japanese Red Army terrorists release their hostages in the US consulate in Kuala Lampur in exchange for the release of five of their comrades imprisoned in Japan and a flight to Libya.
9 August 1975 The FNLA and UNITA withdraw from the three-part transitional coalition in Angola. Coupled with the absence of the Portuguese High Commissioner, the colony is without an effective government.
The worst violence in two years in Northern Ireland erupts on the fourth anniversary of the policy of internment.
18:30 Dmitry Dmitryevich Shostakovich dies in the Kremlin Hospital, Moscow of lung cancer, aged 68 years, ten months, and 15 days. Although his heart ailment was well known, Shostakovich had kept his cancer secret.
10 August 1975 President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed of India signs a constitutional amendment banning lawsuits challenging the election of a prime minister.
After some racial incidents at Carson Beach in South Boston, about 2,000 Blacks march to the beach asserting their right to use it. They battle about 4,000 whites and 800 police on the beach. The melee lasts two hours with 40 people injured, ten arrested.
11 August 1975 As part of widespread anti-communist violence, hundreds of protestors in Braga, Portugal break through troops protecting Communist Party headquarters and set fire to the building.
The British government buys 80% of British Leyland Motor Company making it British Leyland Ltd.
14 August 1975 In the “absence of any functioning government”, Portugal reasserts control over Angola.
The body of Dmitri Shostakovich lies in state in the Bolshoy Hall of Moscow Conservatory as thousands file past. After an official service, his mortal remains are buried in Novodevichy Cemetery.
15 August 1975 President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh, his wife and five of their children are killed in a coup by right-wing army officers. Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed becomes President.
A court in Lancaster, England finds six Irish Catholics guilty of the Birmingham pub bombings of last November. They are all sentenced to life in prison.
16 August 1975 Anti-communists in Alcobaça, Portugal surround a stadium wherein a Communist rally is being held, trapping 2,000-3,000 inside.
19 August 1975 Reports say that 15,000 refugees have arrived in South-West Africa from Angola, over half of them during the last two days.
Afrikaaner poet Breyten Breytenbach is arrested by South African authorities for his opposition to apartheid.
20 August 1975 My Lady Lothian’s Lilte for mezzo-soprano and six players by Peter Maxwell Davies (40) is performed for the first time, in Dartington, Devon the composer conducting.
21 August 1975 In Kinshasa, UNITA declares war on its fellow Angolan independence movement, the MPLA.
Battles between police and Corsican separatists in Aleria leave two policemen dead, three injured.
23 August 1975 The Pathet Lao celebrate their complete takeover of the country, in ceremonies in Vientiane.
A Greek court sentences Georgios Papadopoulos, leader of the conservative military dictatorship of 1967-1973, to death by firing squad for insurrection and treason. Also sentenced to death are Stylianos Patakos and Nikolaos Makarezos. Demetrios Ioannides is sentenced to life in prison. Seven others are given prison terms ranging from five to 20 years. Two others are acquitted.
25 August 1975 The Greek government commutes the death sentences of Georgios Papadopoulos and two others to life imprisonment.
26 August 1975 Centrists take power in Portuguese Timor. The Portuguese depart.
27 August 1975 Haile Selassie, formerly the Emperor of Ethiopia, dies at Menelik Palace in Addis Ababa at the age of 83.
29 August 1975 Bowing to increasingly violent anti-communist pressure, President Francisco da Costa Gomes of Portugal sacks Prime Minister Vasco Gonçalves and replaces him with José Baptista Pinheiro de Azevedo, the navy chief of staff. Gonçalves continues as a caretaker until a new government can be formed.
Two alleged members of ETA are sentenced to death for killing a civil guardsman in 1974. Protests and strikes ensue in the Basque country and beyond, including Belgium, France, and Portugal.
President Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru is overthrown by the military and replaced by Prime Minister Francisco Morales Bermúdez.
President Carlos Andrés Pérez of Venezuela signs into law a bill nationalizing the country’s oil industry.
30 August 1975 After two weeks of fighting, the Revolutionary Front for the Independence of Eastern Timor claims it has taken control of the Portuguese colony.
31 August 1975 Euntes Ibant et Flebant op.32 for chorus by Henryk Górecki (41) to words of the Psalms is performed for the first time, in Wroclaw.
1 September 1975 Quatrain for clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and orchestra by Toru Takemitsu (44) is performed for the first time, in Kosei Nenkin Hall, Tokyo.
2 September 1975 Over a week of fighting begins between Christians and Moslems in northern Lebanon.
4 September 1975 A US-negotiated disengagement agreement is signed between Egypt and Israel in Geneva. Israel agrees to give up the Gidi and Mitla passes and the Abu Rudeis oil field. Egypt agrees to allow non-military Israeli cargoes through the Suez Canal and promises to keep open Bab el Mandeb. Those areas given up by Israel will be demilitarized.
5 September 1975 The PLO calls President Sadat of Egypt a “traitor and conspirator” for seeking a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict.
A bomb explodes in the London Hilton Hotel, killing two people and injuring 63 others. The IRA is suspected.
Lynette Alice Fromme attempts to fire a gun at President Gerald Ford in Sacramento but she is restrained by Secret Service agents.
6 September 1975 An earthquake centered at Lice in eastern Turkey kills over 2,000 people.
Prime Minister Vasco dos Santos Gonçalves of Portugal and his caretaker cabinet resign.
7 September 1975 After a rally at City Hall in Boston by 10,000 opponents of busing, gangs attack the Fargo Building in South Boston where the National Guard is housed. 300 youths battle police at South Boston High.
8 September 1975 Protestant leaders in Northern Ireland vote to oppose any form of power sharing with Catholics in the province.
The second year of racial desegregation begins in Boston. Police battle white demonstrators at Charlestown High School. 300 whites march up Breed’s Hill overturning and setting fire to cars. At night, the Warren Prescott School in Charlestown is firebombed. Whites stone firemen who arrive to battle the blaze. Gangs in South Boston begin nightly mayhem.
9 September 1975 Prince Norodom Sihanouk returns to Phnom Penh from Peking. He was ousted by an American-backed coup in 1970.
About 400 white women engage in an anti-busing prayer march in the Charlestown section of Boston. They are stopped by police and ordered to disperse. Negotiations ensue for an hour. About 100 of the women accept a face-saving compromise. Those remaining march towards the police. After some scuffling, the crowd is broken up by police.
The legislature of the State of New York agrees to a financial bailout of New York City to save it from default.
Two chamber works by Kurt Weill (†25) are performed for the first time in the Akademie der Künste, Berlin: String Quartet in b minor (1919) and Sonata for cello and piano (1920).
12 September 1975 After a month-long trial, 16 members of the Greek military are sentenced to prison terms of from five months to 23 years for engaging in torture at a prison camp during the period of dictatorship. 15 others, mostly enlisted men, are acquitted.
Three leftists are sentenced to death in Madrid for the murder of a policeman last July.
Feiertags-Kantate for speaker, mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus, and orchestra by Ernst Krenek (75) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
13 September 1975 President María Estela Martínez Cartas de Perón of Argentina begins a leave of absence, reportedly for health reasons. Senate President Italo Argentino Luder becomes interim President.
Ragtimes and Habaneras for brass by Hans Werner Henze (49) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.
14 September 1975 Indonesian troops intervene in the fighting in Portuguese Timor.
Fighting between Moslems and Christians moves from northern Lebanon to Beirut.
Pope Paul VI creates Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton a saint before 70,000 people in St. Peter’s Square. She is the first saint born in the United States.
Sacred and Profane op.91 for chorus by Benjamin Britten (61) to medieval words, is performed for the first time, at Snape Maltings.
15 September 1975 Four Arab terrorists invade the Egyptian embassy in Madrid. They threaten to destroy the embassy and kill the ambassador and two other hostages unless Egypt renounces the disengagement agreement signed 4 September.
Mare nostrum, Entdeckung, Befriedung und Conversion des Mittelmeerraumes durch einen Stamm aus Amazonien by Mauricio Kagel (43) is performed for the first time, in the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin.
Five Chorale Preludes for soprano, clarinet, basset horn, and bass clarinet by Harrison Birtwistle (41) after JS Bach (†225) is performed for the first time, in London.
16 September 1975 Four Arab terrorists and five of their hostages are flown from Madrid to Algiers, their demands unmet. The four are turned over to representatives of the PLO who promptly free them.
Papua New Guinea, under Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Michael Somare, is proclaimed independent of Australia. Ceremonies take place in Port Moresby attended by Prince Charles.
The Republic of Cape Verde, the Peoples Republic of Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe are admitted to the United Nations.
18 September 1975 FBI agents arrest heiress Patricia Hearst and three others in San Francisco. Hearst was kidnapped 19 months ago.
Olivier Messiaen (66) and his wife Yvonne Loriod travel to New Caledonia to collect bird song.
Broadway musicians go on strike for higher wages.
19 September 1975 José Baptista Pinheiro de Azevedo replaces Vasco dos Santos Gonçalves as Prime Minister of Portugal.
20 September 1975 An exhibition of unofficial art is closed in Moscow by the artists after Soviet authorities remove 41 of the paintings for being “pro-Zionist, pornographic, anti-Soviet, or otherwise objectionable.” It will reopen tomorrow after a compromise is reached.
FNLA forces recapture Calixto, 50 km north of Luanda.
The original version of Anton Bruckner’s (†78) Symphony no.4 “Romantic” is performed completely for the first time, in Linz 101 years after it was composed. See 12 December 1909.
A Portfolio for diverse performers and tapes by Lejaren Hiller (51) is performed for the first time, in Reykjavik.
21 September 1975 18-year-olds are allowed to vote for the first time in a Finnish election.
22 September 1975 Sara Jane Moore fires a gun at US President Gerald Ford in San Francisco. The bullet misses after her hand is deflected by a bystander and the President is unharmed.
Drei Lieder op.216 for solo voice and piano by Ernst Krenek (75) to words of von Sauter are performed for the first time, in Vienna.
23 September 1975 In ceremonies in Geneva, Egypt signs the Sinai disengagement agreement. Israel initials them, pending final US approval of 200 observers.
24 September 1975 Meeting in New York, members of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization agree to phase out the alliance “in view of the changing circumstances.”
The Select Committee on Intelligence of the US Senate reveals that over a period of 20 years, the CIA opened and copied letters of several prominent Americans and organizations. Those whose rights were violated include Richard Nixon, Edward Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Martin Luther King and his wife, John D. Rockefeller IV, Arthur Burns, Bella Abzug, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and Harvard University.
25 September 1975 Fighting between Christians and Moslems in Lebanon slows after mediation by Syria. In the last six months, 3,200 people have been killed.
Ethiopian security forces fire into demonstrating airline workers in Addis Ababa killing seven and injuring 19.
The EEC votes to suspend trade negotiations with Spain over impending executions there.
The Select Committee on Intelligence of the US Senate reveals that the FBI committed at least 238 illegal burglaries against US citizens over 25 years.
Viola Sonata op.147 by Dmitri Shostakovich (†0) is performed for the first time, privately at his home on what would have been his 69th birthday. See 1 October 1975.
26 September 1975 Norway and the Netherlands recall their ambassadors in Madrid over impending executions. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim and General Assembly President Gaston Thorn make personal appeals for clemency. Demonstrations erupt across western Europe. Rioters ransack the Spanish embassy in Brussels. The Spanish consulate in Lisbon is set afire and a bomb goes off at the Banco Español in Paris.
27 September 1975 In the face of protest from across Europe, Spain executes two Basque separatists and three leftists. Denmark, both Germanys, Sweden, and the United Kingdom recall their ambassadors from Madrid.
28 September 1975 Six people are killed by police in demonstrations by Basques against yesterday’s executions. The Swedish Social Democratic Party announces it will donate $46,000 to anti-Franco forces in Spain, calling the Spanish government “satanic murderers.”
29 September 1975 Prime Minister José Pinheiro de Azevedo of Portugal orders a military occupation of all television and radio stations. Some soldiers refuse to carry out the order.
30 September 1975 Austria recalls its ambassador from Spain. A bomb damages the office of the Spanish airline Iberia in Boston.
In the face of growing student and labor protests, the Ethiopian government declares a state of emergency in Addis Ababa.
American astronomers Charles T. Kowal and Elizabeth Roemer discover Themisto, the fourteenth moon of Jupiter to be observed from Earth. (Themisto will be lost by astronomers until being rediscovered in 2000)
Rondell for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon by Isang Yun (58) is performed for the first time, in Bayreuth.
1 October 1975 UNESCO sponsors the first International Day of Music.
Great Britain grants internal self-government to the Seychelles Islands.
Generalissimo Francisco Franco tells a crowd of supporters that foreign and domestic protests against his government were the result of a “leftist Masonic conspiracy” with “communist terrorist subversions.” Three policemen are killed by anti-fascists in Madrid. Greece withdraws its ambassador from Madrid. Intercoop stops buying Spanish fruits and vegetables.
Viola Sonata op.147 by Dmitri Shostakovich (†0) is performed publicly for the first time, in the Glinka Concert Hall, Leningrad. It was his last work, completed a month before his death. See 25 September 1975.
2 October 1975 Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet sends expressions of support to his fellow fascist, Generalissimo Francisco Franco of Spain. He denounces those who criticize the recent executions.
Ernst Krenek (75) receives the Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst (Cross of Austria), Austria’s highest award.
3 October 1975 President Khandakar Mushtaque Ahmed of Bangladesh announces that all political prisoners will be released immediately and that elections will be held in February 1977.
300,000 Spaniards march in support of the government in Seville. East Germany breaks diplomatic relations with Spain over the recent executions.
4 October 1975 Four Arab terrorists attempt to hijack an Egyptian airliner and take Egyptians hostage at Beirut airport. Lebanese security kill one and capture three others. Two civilians and several security men are killed.
Mirabel International Airport opens 55 km north of Montreal.
Piano Sonata no.2 by Karel Husa (54) is performed for the first time, in Washington.
5 October 1975 A bomb explodes under a car carrying five Civil Guards in Aranzazu, near Bilbao, Spain. Three are killed, two seriously injured. In retaliation, conservative terrorists kill a bar owner near Bilbao, the brother of an ETA leader.
Parliamentary elections in Austria leave the parties completely unchanged. The government of Social Democrat Bruno Kreisky continues in power.
Frank Church, chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence Activities of the US Senate, reveals that the CIA made several attempts to kill Fidel Castro.
Left wing Monteneros attack an army garrison, airport and prison in Formosa, Argentina apparently attempting to free imprisoned comrades. The attempt fails and 30 people are killed.
In Memory for strings, percussion, tape, and slides by Ben Johnston (49) is performed for the first time, at the dedication of Erlanger House in Urbana, Illinois.
A Preview of Coming Attractions for orchestra by Lejaren Hiller (51) is performed for the first time, in Buffalo.
8 October 1975 25 people are killed in Moslem-Christian fighting in and around Beirut. 14 people are killed in fighting near Tripoli.
Terrorists attack a police station in Barcelona. Two policemen and three bystanders are killed.
200 members of the leftist Peoples Revolutionary Army attack military posts in Tucumán Province, Argentina. Eight bombs explode in the city of Tucumán. 31 people are killed.
9 October 1975 Andrei Sakharov wins the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Symphonic Hymn for orchestra by Karl Amadeus Hartmann (†11) is performed for the first time, in Munich, 33 years after it was composed.
10 October 1975 Papua New Guinea is admitted to the United Nations.
In ceremonies in Jerusalem, Israel signs the Sinai disengagement agreement after US approval of 200 observers.
Dis-Kontur for orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (23) is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart.
11 October 1975 The strike by Broadway musicians ends after 25 days after disputes over wages and minimum orchestra size are negotiated.
Gending for gamelan orchestra by Ton de Leeuw (48) is performed for the first time, in Hilversum.
Assembly and Fall for solo oboe, trumpet, timpani, viola, and orchestra by Ned Rorem (51) is performed for the first time, in the Raleigh, North Carolina Memorial Auditorium.
12 October 1975 The Seven Brightnesses for clarinet by Peter Maxwell Davies (41) is performed for the first time, at William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia.
13 October 1975 Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada announces severe wage and price controls.
15 October 1975 Violence flares again in Beirut. Twelve people are killed.
Three Studies for percussion by Peter Maxwell Davies (41) is performed for the first time, at Gosforth High School, Northumberland.
16 October 1975 The World Court rules that neither Morocco nor Mauritania have established “any tie of territorial sovereignty” over Spanish Sahara. They say that the wishes of the people of the province should be preeminent. After the ruling, King Hassan II announces plans for a march of hundreds of thousands of citizens into Spanish Sahara to claim it for Morocco.
President María Estela Martínez Cartas de Perón of Argentina returns to her post after a month-long leave of absence, against the advice of the country’s political and military leaders.
Futuristie, a “manifestation sonore et visuelle en hommage à Luigi Russolo” by Pierre Henry (47) is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre National de Chaillot.
17 October 1975 String Quartet no.9 by Peter Sculthorpe (46) is performed for the first time, in the Everest Theatre, Sydney.
Less than an hour before it goes into default, New York City is saved by its teachers’ union which uses its pension fund to buy Municipal Assistance Corp. bonds.
Chemins IV for oboe and eleven strings by Luciano Berio (49) is performed for the first time, in London directed by the composer.
An expanded version of Lamia for soprano and orchestra by Jacob Druckman (47) to words of Ovid, Wagner, and elsewhere is performed for the first time, in New York. Pierre Boulez (50) is one of the conductors.
18 October 1975 Kantrimiusik, Pastorale für Stimmen und Instrumente by Mauricio Kagel (43), is performed for the first time, in the Donauhalle, Donaueschingen.
Open House, a cycle for tenor and chamber orchestra by William Bolcom (37) to words of Roethke, is performed for the first time.
19 October 1975 Variations on a memory for chamber orchestra by Ross Lee Finney (68) is performed for the first time, at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
20 October 1975 The first two movements of Polonaise, Adagio & Finale for four winds and string quintet by Werner Egk (74) are performed for the first time, in Munich. See 30 September 1976.
21 October 1975 Suffering from influenza and endocarditis, Generalissimo Francisco Franco has a heart attack.
22 October 1975 Two members of the US mission to Lebanon are kidnapped off the streets of Beirut.
Three Armenian gunmen burst into the Turkish embassy in Vienna and kill Danis Tunaligil, ambassador of Turkey to Austria. They escape.
The Soviet space probe Venera 9 makes a soft landing on Venus and sends back the first pictures taken from the surface.
Four Irish Catholics are convicted of the bombings in Guildford, England last October. They are sentenced to life in prison.
23 October 1975 Suffering from influenza and endocarditis, Generalissimo Francisco Franco has a second heart attack. His designated successor, Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón, refuses to take power temporarily.
The TAZARA (Great Uhuru) Railway is officially opened from Dar es Salaam to Zambia. Ceremonies take place at the Zambian terminus, New Kapiri Mposhi. The railway was built largely by China.
24 October 1975 Lebanese army units are stationed at strategic locations throughout Beirut in an attempt to halt battles between sectarian paramilitaries.
Suffering from influenza and endocarditis, Generalissimo Francisco Franco has a third heart attack.
Ismail Erez, ambassador of Turkey to France, and his chauffeur are killed in their car by Armenian gunmen in Paris.
Symphony no.26 by Alan Hovhaness (66) is performed for the first time, in San Jose, California.
25 October 1975 21 people are killed in heavy fighting in downtown Beirut.
The Soviet space probe Venera 10 makes a soft landing on Venus and sends back pictures taken from the surface for a little more than an hour.
27 October 1975 Fighting over the last two days in Beirut has caused at least 128 deaths with 300 people injured.
15,000 students go on strike at the University of São Paulo to protest the death in custody of Vladimir Herzog and the wave of arrests and torture over the last two months. The Brazilian government claims that Herzog, news director at a São Paulo television station, hanged himself in his cell after confessing to membership in the Communist Party. Tomorrow, the University’s faculty will join the students on strike.
28 October 1975 Arab terrorists armed with hatchets attack an Israeli settlement on the Golan Heights. They are captured and tell the Israelis that they intended to use the hatchets to behead their victims and carry the heads back to Syria.
The Dutch Parliament votes to grant independence to Surinam on 25 November.
29 October 1975 About 160 guests in the Beirut Holiday Inn are moved by armored convoy to safety as fighting flares around them. A cease-fire is arranged between the warring factions which slowly takes effect over the next week.
30 October 1975 Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón takes office as Head of State of Spain, acting for Generalissimo Francisco Franco.
1 November 1975 Thailand and Cambodia establish full diplomatic relations.
Parson Weems and the Cherry Tree, a ballet by Virgil Thomson (78) to a scenario by Hawkins, is performed for the first time, in the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
3 November 1975 In a ceremony in Dyce, near Aberdeen, Queen Elizabeth II begins the flow of oil between the North Sea oil fields and a refinery at Grangemouth.
Olympus, a Greek freighter carrying the first cargo bound for Israel to pass through the Suez Canal since 1959, arrives in Elath.
4 November 1975 Negotiations between Spain and Morocco over the future of Spanish Sahara end in failure.
6 November 1975 President Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed of Bangladesh is forced to resign by the military. They replace him with former Chief Justice Abu Sadat Mohammed Sayem.
At the urging of King Hassan II, tens of thousands of Moroccans assemble at Tarfaya and cross the border into Spanish Sahara, to bolster Morocco’s claims over the territory. They stop seven miles into the province at a military boundary of barbed wire and land mines set up by the Spanish. The UN Security Council calls on Morocco to withdraw its citizens.
7 November 1975 The Supreme Court of India unanimously reverses the June conviction of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for violating election laws.
9 November 1975 King Hassan II of Morocco calls off the march of hundreds of thousands of his subjects into Spanish Sahara. They begin returning north.
Concerto for oboe by John Corigliano (37) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
Symphony no.5 “We are the Echoes” for mezzo-soprano and orchestra by Samuel Adler (47), to words of his wife, Carol Stalker Adler, is performed for the first time, in Ft. Worth.
10 November 1975 Two Roman Catholic priests are arrested in Pamplona for telling their parishioners that they were not required to pray for the recovery of Generalissimo Franco.
The UN General Assembly votes 72-35-32 to equate Zionism with racism. Assembly President Gaston Thorn says the vote destroyed a climate of conciliation which has recently developed at the UN.
11 November 1975 After a month-long government crisis in Australia, Governor General John Kerr sacks Prime Minister E. Gough Whitlam and replaces him with opposition leader John Malcolm Fraser. He dissolves both houses of Parliament and calls a general election for 13 December.
Angola is proclaimed independent of Portugal but it is unclear which of three rival factions will form the legitimate government. The MPLA, which holds the capital Luanda, names its leader Agostinho Neto as President of the Peoples Republic of Angola. In Nova Lisboa, now renamed Huambo, the FNLA and UNITA proclaim the Peoples Democratic Republic of Angola led by a National Revolutionary Council. Today ends the 400-year presence of Portugal on the African continent.
Roman Catholic bishops in São Paulo declare 14 November a day of fasting to protest government sponsored torture and murder in Brazil.
12 November 1975 The Republic of the Comoros is admitted to the United Nations.
13 November 1975 A bomb planted by Arab terrorists explodes in Jerusalem killing six children and wounding 42 others.
14 November 1975 Joint FNLA/UNITA forces capture Novo Redondo, 240 km south of Luanda.
Bicentennial Fanfare for orchestra by Walter Piston (81) is performed for the first time, in Cincinnati.
15 November 1975 The Group of Six (G-6) industrialized nations is formed by France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Seasons for guitar by William Bolcom (37) is performed for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
16 November 1975 By a proclamation of Prince Juan Carlos of Spain, all regional languages are now official national languages.
17 November 1975 The first of the annual economic summits of industrialized nations concludes at Rambouillet, near Paris. Attending are heads of government of France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The armed forces of Argentina announce a new campaign against leftists.
18 November 1975 The Spanish Parliament votes to remove all forces from Spanish Sahara and end colonial rule by next March.
The Select Committee on Intelligence of the US Senate reveals that the FBI carried on a six-year illegal campaign to discredit Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Shafik al-Hout, vice-chairman of the PLO delegation to the UN, announces in Ottawa that the PLO has no plans for terrorism at the Montreal Olympics next year. “We are keen to correct our image.”
Sonata for piano by Otto Luening (75) is performed for the first time, in Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York 20 years after it was composed.
19 November 1975 Milos Forman’s film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is shown for the first time, in New York and Los Angeles.
20 November 1975 Arab terrorists attack an Israeli settlement on the Golan Heights. Three people are killed, two injured.
Generalissimo Francisco Franco, fascist dictator of Spain for the last 36 years, dies in Madrid at the age of 82. He is replaced as head of state by a regency council headed by Alejandro Rodríguez de Valcárcel y Nebreda.
The Select Committee on Intelligence of the US Senate submits an interim report. It finds that the intelligence services of the US government tried to assassinate five foreign leaders, Fidel Castro, Patrice Lumumba, Rafael Trujillo, Rene Schneider, and Ngo Dinh Diem. They could not find any direct orders from any US president but evidence strongly suggests the President Eisenhower authorized the murder of Patrice Lumumba.
21 November 1975 After citizens of Mayotte refuse to join the Comoro Islands, Comoroan forces attack but are beaten off by French troops.
When white students occupy the front stairs of Charlestown High in Boston, police enter and forcibly evict them, throwing some down the staircase.
Piano and Orchestra for the forces inherent in the title by Morton Feldman (49) is performed for the first time, in Metz.
22 November 1975 Juan Carlos de Bourbón y Bourbón is proclaimed King of Spain by the Spanish Parliament. He replaces the regency council set up two days ago.
Clarinetist Henri Akoka, who played the famous premiere of Olivier Messiaen’s (66) Quatour pour la fin du temps, dies in Paris at the age of 63. See 15 January 1941.
23 November 1975 By Bernstein, a revue consisting of unpublished theatre songs by Leonard Bernstein (57), is performed for the first time, in New York.
24 November 1975 Left wing elements of the Portuguese military attempt to seize the government. The coup will be crushed 26 November.
25 November 1975 The Republic of Surinam, under President Johan Henry Eliza Ferrier and Prime Minister Henck Alphonsus Eugène Arron, is proclaimed independent of the Netherlands after 300 years of colonial rule.
King Juan Carlos I of Spain declares a limited amnesty for both political prisoners and common criminals.
Robert S. Ledley receives a US patent for the diagnostic X-ray system, also known as the Computed Axial Tomography (CAT) scan.
26 November 1975 About 860,000 public transportation and communication workers in Japan go on a ten-day strike over the right of government workers to strike.
Bangladesh security forces defeat an attempt by Maoists to kidnap the Indian ambassador in Dacca. Four attackers are killed and two captured. The ambassador is slightly wounded.
A revolt by leftist elements of the armed forces is crushed in Portugal.
Author and poet Breyten Breytenbach is sentenced to nine years in prison by a court in Pretoria for conspiracy to overthrow the government and eleven other crimes.
A jury in federal court in Sacramento finds Lynette Alice Fromme guilty of attempting to kill President Gerald Ford. She will be sentenced to life in prison.
27 November 1975 As Spanish forces withdraw in Spanish Sahara, Moroccan troops take over the town of Smara in the north of the province.
Ross McWhirter, co-editor of the Guiness Book of World Records, is shot to death, presumably by Irish terrorists. He recently offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for recent bombings in England. He also led an organization devoted to bringing back the death penalty for terrorists.
Film directors Carlo Ponti and George Pan Cosmatos, and author Robert Katz are found guilty of criminal libel by an Italian court for defaming Pope Pius XII in their film Massacre in Rome. The film, and the book it was based on, claimed Pope Pius did not do enough to prevent the killing of 335 Italians by the Germans in 1944. The defendants receive suspended sentences.
28 November 1975 Citizens of Portuguese Timor unilaterally declare the Democratic Republic of East Timor independent of Portugal under President Francisco Xavier do Amaral and Prime Minister Nicolau dos Reis Lobato.
William Bolcom (37) marries Joan Clair Morris, his third wife.
30 November 1975 Martti Johannes Miettunen of the Center Party replaces Tasito Kalevi Sorsa as Prime Minister of Finland. He heads a five-party coalition which ends a six-month government crisis.
The Republic of Dahomey changes its name to the People’s Republic of Benin. Its government says it will be guided by Marxist-Leninist principles.
Israel withdraws from the Abu Rudeis oil fields in Sinai, according to the disengagement agreement.
2 December 1975 Six South Moluccan separatists commandeer a Dutch train and take 23 people hostage. Three people are killed.
Israel carries out raids against terrorist staging areas of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon and Nahr el-Bared and Badawi near Tripoli in the north of Lebanon.
3 December 1975 Japanese public employees end their strike two days earlier than planned, the goals not met.
Leaders of the Pathet Lao end the coalition government and establish the Peoples Democratic Republic of Laos. Prince Souphanouvong becomes President, replacing King Savang Vatthana, and Kaysone Phoumvihan replaces Souvanna Phouma as Prime Minister.
South Moluccan separatists occupy the Indonesian consulate in Amsterdam. They are surrounded by Dutch authorities.
4 December 1975 Seven South Moluccans enter the Indonesian consulate in Amsterdam and take 30 people hostage.
The Republic of Surinam is admitted to the United Nations.
A report by the Select Committee on Intelligence of the US Senate details the eleven-year campaign by the CIA to defeat and discredit Salvador Allende and his party in Chile.
5 December 1975 After four years, the British government suspends its policy of detention without trial in Northern Ireland.
South Moluccans holding hostages in the Indonesian consulate in Amsterdam release all but four of the children among the hostages.
Prelude in Memory of DD Shostakovich (†0) by Alfred Schnittke (41) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
Air Music for orchestra by Ned Rorem (52) is performed for the first time, in Cincinnati. See 3 May 1976.
6 December 1975 Communal fighting flares again in Beirut. Over 150 people are killed today.
The state of emergency in Addis Ababa is ended.
7 December 1975 Indonesian troops invade and occupy the former Portuguese colony of East Timor. Portugal breaks diplomatic relations with Indonesia.
Elegiac Symphony (Symphony no.2) for orchestra by Lou Harrison (58) is performed for the first time, in the Paramount Theatre, Oakland.
8 December 1975 Mass in Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Norman Dello Joio (62) is performed for the first time, in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington.
9 December 1975 The Lebanese army enters the fighting in Beirut and is fired on by all sides.
Cornelius Cardew (39) is divorced from his second wife, Stella Sargent Underwood Cardew. They have been estranged since May 1974.
US President Ford signs a bill loaning $2,300,000,000 annually to New York.
The UN General Assembly votes 95-11-23 to demand that human rights be restored in Chile.
A federal judge fires the headmaster of South Boston High and places the school in federal receivership. At night, four white men firebomb the Boston headquarters of the NAACP and the home of a black minister.
10 December 1975 Yelena Bonner, wife of Andrei Sakharov, accepts his Nobel Prize in Oslo.
11 December 1975 In an apparent breach of their agreement with Spain and Mauritania, Morocco occupies Laayoune, the capital of Spanish Sahara, and announces the annexation of the entire region.
12 December 1975 The UN General Assembly demands that Indonesia withdraw from East Timor.
Robert Muldoon replaces Wallace Rowling as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
The British embassy in Beirut urges all of its citizens to leave the country.
A large crowd tries to storm South Boston High but are prevented by police.
In a San Francisco courtroom, Sara Jane Moore pleads guilty to attempting to kill President Gerald Ford. She will be sentenced to life in prison.
13 December 1975 Voting for both houses of Parliament in Australia strongly endorses the new Liberal/National Country government of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. They win 91 seats to the Labor Party’s 36 in the House of Representatives and also take the Senate.
14 December 1975 Six South Moluccan separatists surrender their 23 hostages on a Dutch train which they commandeered on 2 December.
Cantus perpetuus for keyboard and percussion by Alfred Schnittke (41) is performed for the first time.
Fantasia for violin and piano by Charles Wuorinen (37) is performed for the first time, at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the composer at the piano.
15 December 1975 Gunther Guillaume, an associate of former Chancellor Willy Brandt, is found guilty of espionage by a West German court. His wife is found complicit. They receive prison terms of 13 and eight years respectively.
18 December 1975 Amidst a wave of increased fighting in northern Lebanon, the Governor of North Lebanon, Sheik Kassem Imad, is murdered.
Twelve countries walk out of a UNESCO conference on mass media when Arab and Communist states add an equation of Zionism with racism into proposed guidelines for the media.
Conservative air force officers begin a coup against President María Estela Martínez de Perón of Argentina by taking over Jorge Newbry airport and Moron air base at Buenos Aires. They call on army leader General Jorge Videla to form a new government.
Stanley Kubrick’s film Barry Lyndon is released in Great Britain and the United States.
19 December 1975 The 16-day occupation of the Indonesian consulate in Amsterdam by South Moluccan separatists ends peacefully with their surrender.
Planes piloted by rebel air force officers begin buzzing Buenos Aires and dropping leaflets attacking the administration of President Perón.
21 December 1975 Six gunmen, supporters of the Palestinian Arabs, enter a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna. They kill three people, injure seven others and take 81 hostages, including eleven OPEC ministers.
Gargoyle for piano by Frank Bridge (†34) is performed for the first time, at Glasgow University, 47 years after it was composed.
22 December 1975 The pro-Palestinian gunmen take over an Austrian jet and fly to Algiers where they release all 41 of the Austrians they hold. They then fly to Algiers where they release more hostages, to Tripoli, Libya, releasing still more, then finally back to Algiers where they release all the remaining hostages and surrender to authorities.
Unable to bring the rest of the military to their cause, rebel air force officers give up their coup attempt at two airfields around Buenos Aires.
23 December 1975 CIA station chief Richard Welch is shot and killed by three gunmen outside his home in suburban Athens.
Leftist guerrillas attack a military arsenal outside Buenos Aires in an attempt to gain weapons. They are eventually defeated by the Argentine military. The official death toll is 107 although media reports place it as high as 150.
26 December 1975 The first supersonic transport goes into service as a Soviet Tupolev-144 flies from Moscow to Alma Ata (Almaty).
29 December 1975 A bomb explodes in a baggage claim area at La Guardia airport in New York killing eleven people and injuring 74.
30 December 1975 Three generals, Demetrios Ioannides, Stavros Varnavas, and Nikolaos Dertilis, are sentenced to life in prison for their part in putting down the uprising at Athens Polytechnic University in 1973. 29 other defendants, including former President Georgios Papadopoulos, receive prison terms.
31 December 1975 The Ellice Islands are separated from the Gilbert Islands and renamed Tuvalu.
France announces that it will grant independence to its Afars and Issas Territory.
Moz-Art for flute, clarinet, three violins, viola, cello, double bass, organ, and percussion by Alfred Schnittke (41) after Mozart (†184) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
23 January 2012
Last Updated (Monday, 23 January 2012 07:42)