Wednesday, July 9, 1975. The start of the Angolan Civil War.

Angolan liberation movements broke out in civil war, with the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), attacking the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), led by Holden Roberto.   The country had not yet officially received independence. 

Dutch photographer and artist Bas Jan Ader left Cape Cod in an attempt to make an unassisted voyage from west to east of the North Atlantic Ocean.  He would disappear and never be heard from again.

Rock musician John Anthony Gillis, better known as Jack White, was born.

Last edition:

Thursday, July 3, 1975. The U.S. Civil Service Commission ended restrictions on hiring homosexuals.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Disaster, Government, homosexuality, Las Vegas Nevada, Nevada (Las Vegas), television, U.S. Civil Service Commission, Weather

Thursday, July 3, 1975. The U.S. Civil Service Commission ended restrictions on hiring homosexuals.

The U.S. Civil Service Commission ended restrictions on hiring homosexuals.

It's almost shocking to think that there was such a ban, but indeed there was. The stated purpose of the ban was to prevent embarrassment to the agency.

Las Vegas endured a terrible flash flood.

Alex Trebek before Jeopardy, in an example from today:

Last edition:

Wednesday, July 2, 1975. Dead Savage Spring.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Death, fishing, Geology, Place names, United States Geological Survey, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park

Wednesday, July 2, 1975. Dead Savage Spring.

A child fishing with his father found the body of Old Faithful Lodge cook Donald Watt Cressey, the senior cook at Old Faithful Lodge in a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park.

Cressey had died in the same hot spring in which Yellowstone Park concessioner employee Brian Parsons had been fatally burned in July 1967. 

After Cressey's death the hot spring was named "Dead Savage Spring" by the U.S. Geological Survey, "savage" being Yellowstone Park lexicon for a park concessioner employee.

Last edition:

Tuesday, July 1, 1975. ARPANET.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Conservation, Growing up in the 1970s, Internet, Personalities

Tuesday, July 1, 1975. ARPANET.

The ARPANET, the proto Internet, was declared operational within the Department of Defense.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Former President Richard Nixon said, in an affidavit to federal court, that he had secretly begun taping Oval Office conversations at the suggestion of his predecessor, President Lyndon Johnson.

Advice columnist Ann Landers announced that she and her husband were divorcing.

The name "Ann Landers" was a pen name, and was actually started by the Chicago Sun Times for their advice columnist Ruth Crowley, who died in 1955 at age 48.  After that, the column was taken over by Esther Pauline Lederer, who is the person commonly associated with the pen name.

Lederer early in her career as Ann Landers.

Lederer's twin sister, Pauline Esther Phillips,  followed her lead and started writing as Abigail Van Buren shortly thereafter, leading to a longstanding rift between the two.

It's hard to appreciate the extent to which both sisters, Lederer in particular, became major cultural figures.  Both sisters associated with cultural figures of the the day.

Last edition:

Monday, June 30, 1975. Changes in the Service.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Aircraft, Korean War, Military, U.S. Air Force, Vietnam War, Women, World War Two

Monday, June 30, 1975. Changes in the Service.

Women could no longer be involuntarily discharged from the United States Armed Forces as a result of pregnancy, by orders of the U.S. Secretary of Defense.

30 June 1975: The last operational Douglas C-47 Skytrain transport in service with the United States Air Force, 43-49507, was retired and flown to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

This Day In Aviation.

Last edition:

June 28, 1975. Death of Rod Serling.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Health, In Memoriam, Paratroopers, Personalities, Smoking, television, The written word, tobacco, World War Two

June 28, 1975. Death of Rod Serling.

American screenwriter and television producer Rod Sterling died at age 50 of a heart attack.

Serling was an extremely heavy smoker, which was no doubt the cause of his death.  He'd been a paratrooper during World War Two, serving in the Pacific.

He's best remembered for The Twilight Zone.

Serling in 1959, at which time he would have only been 34 years old.  This photo gives us a good example of what we've noted elsewhere, about how people aged more rapidly in the past.  The cigarette in hand would have helped contribute to that.  World War Two probably didn't help either.  Serling's bracelet features Army jump wings.

Last edition:

Thursday, June 12, 1975. Searching for the meaning of Vietnam.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Australia, It was because of Vietnam, law, Marriage, The relationship between men and women, Vietnam War

"We were the last eleven"

Thursday, June 12, 1975. Searching for the meaning of Vietnam.

The New York Review of Books ran an issue on The Meaning of Vietnam.

The disaster of no fault divorce spread to Australia with the Family Law Act 1975.

Last edition:

Wednesday, June 11, 1975. North Sea Oil. Reeducation. Gas Tax Rejection. MKUltra.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, Central Intelligence Agency, Gerald Ford, MKUltra, North Sea, Petroleum, The Cold War, United Kingdom, Vietnam, Vietnam War

Wednesday, June 11, 1975. North Sea Oil. Reeducation. Gas Tax Rejection. MKUltra.

The United Kingdom became an oil producing nation as the first oil was produced in the North Sea's Argyll field.

The U.S House of Representatives voted 209 to 187 to reject President Ford's proposal for a .23 per gallon federal fuel tax Ford saw as a way of ending US dependency on imported oil by 1985.

Alice Olson, the widow of Frank Olson, learned for the first time that her husband had been the subject of secret CIA experiments with the hallucinogenic drug LSD as part of the illegal clandestine program MKUltra.  Olson had leaped to his death in 1953.  The CIA was hoping to find drugs that could be used for interrogation purposes.

Vietnam sent an order to all "puppet soldiers" of  Army of the Republic of Vietnam to attend three days of "re-education" (hoc tap), and for former officers to bring supplies for one month of training.  Most officers who reported were held for more than one month.

Last edition:

Tuesday, June 10, 1975. Refugees.

Labels: 1770s, 1775, 1970s, 1975, Army, baseball, Disaster, Gerald Ford, It was because of the Vietnam War, Jazz, Music, Refugees, Vietnamese Diaspora, Weapons

Tuesday, June 10, 1975. Refugees.

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass held a concert at Camp Talega, Camp Pendleton, to entertain Vietnamese refugees.

President Ford reported that 3,341 refugees had been relocated to third countries, with a majority going to Canada.

An artillery salute at Shea stadium for the Army's 200th anniversary went wrong.

Last edition:

Sunday, June 8, 1978. Võ Văn Ba.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Espionage, North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam War

Sunday, June 8, 1978. Võ Văn Ba.

Major South Vietnamese spy, Võ Văn Ba, who had infiltrated the North Vietnamese and who had served, in that capacity, as the Communist Party secretary for Phu Kuong district, Tây Ninh province with responsibility for recruiting members of the Cao Dai religious sect, committed suicide in captivity.

Last edition:

Tuesday, June 3, 1975. New rules for boys and girls.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, children, Department of Health, Education, Education and Welfare, Ethiopia, Growing up in the 1970s, Growing up in the 1980s, Marriage, Sex, Teenagers, Uganda

Tuesday, June 3, 1975. New rules for boys and girls.

The Department of Health, Education and Welfare promulgated rules prohibiting separate physical education classes for boys and girls and schools from excluding pregnant students from the classroom.

I can't recall this happening, and I wonder if there were nuances to it.  In junior high, which I was just going into, PE classes were definitely separated into male and female.  They were not in high school.

I can only recall one pregnant student while in high school, and she was married.

Uganda nationalisted all land holdings.

Sultan Alimirah Hanfere, leader of Ethiopia's Afar people and of the Afar Liberation Front, declared war on the Ethiopian government.

Last edition:

Saturday, May 31, 1975. Laying down arms.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Laos, Laotian Civil War, Pathet Lao, Royal Lao Army

Saturday, May 31, 1975. Laying down arms.

Neutralist Laotian Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma ordered the Royal Lao Army to lay down their arms and cease further resistance as the Pathet Lao took Savannakhet.

Last edition:

Wednesday, May 28, 1975. "NATO is the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy and has the unwavering support of the American public and of our Congress. Our commitment to this alliance will not falter."

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Gerald Ford, It was because of the Vietnam War, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, United States, Vietnam, Vietnam War

Wednesday, May 28, 1975. "NATO is the cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy and has the unwavering support of the American public and of our Congress. Our commitment to this alliance will not falter."

Gerald Ford.

The statement was issued to calm NATO fears that the US might back out of its commitments to Europe, the way it had in Vietnam.

Last edition:

Tuesday, May 27, 1975. Americans out of Laos.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Diplomacy, Domino Theory, Laos, Laotian Civil War, United States

Tuesday, May 27, 1975. Americans out of Laos.

The US and Laos reached an agreement which included that all Americans were to leave Laos,by June 30, 1975.

The nation was not yet fully controlled by the Pathet Lao.

Falling like dominoes.  

Last edition:

Monday, May 26, 1975. Memorial Day.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Daily Living, Gerald Ford, Growing up in the 1970s, Memorial Day

Monday, May 26, 1975. Memorial Day.

Gerald Ford issued the following proclamation:

Proclamation 4375—Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, May 26, 1975

May 22, 1975

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

At the height of the Civil War, President Lincoln proclaimed at a battlefield cemetery "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain." Shortly after that tragic war, a day was set aside each year to honor those who gave their lives.

Over 100 years have passed since that simple but moving ceremony at Gettysburg. There have been many Memorial Days, and many more Americans have died in defense of what we believe in. As Thomas Paine said, "Those who would reap the blessings of freedom must . . . undergo the fatigue of supporting it." Today, because of the sacrifice and courage of American men and women, we are a free Nation at peace.

Let us dedicate ourselves today, and every day, to honoring those valiant Americans who died in service to their country. Let us gain strength from their sacrifice and devote ourselves to the peaceful pursuits which freedom allows and progress demands.

With faith in ourselves, future Memorial Days will find us still united in our purpose. Let us join together in working toward the greatest memorial we can construct for those who lay down their lives for us-a peace so durable that there will be no need for further sacrifices.

In recognition of those Americans to whom we pay tribute today, the Congress, by joint resolution of May 11, 1950 (64 Stat. 158), has requested that the President issue a Proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and to designate a period during that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer.

Now, Therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, 1975, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11 o'clock in the morning of that day as a time to unite in prayer.

I urge all of America's news media to assist in this observance.

I direct that the flag of the United States be flown at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels of the Federal Government throughout the United States and all areas under its jurisdiction and control.

I also call upon the Governors of the fifty States, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and appropriate officials of all local units of government to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on all public buildings during the customary forenoon period; and I request the people of the United States to display the flag at half-staff from their homes for the same period.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-ninth.

GERALD R. FORD

It was my father's 46th birthday.

As it was a day he didn't have to work, my guess is that we went fishing on the North Platte. 

Last edition:

Sunday, May 25, 1975. A Sunday in May.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Automobile racing, Growing up in the 1970s

Sunday, May 25, 1975. A Sunday in May.

Bobby Unser won the 1975 Indianapolis 500, which was halted after 435 miles due to a rainstorm.  My father likely would have watched this on television.

There was a lunar eclipse.

I turned 12 years old, although I don't remember it.  In 1975 we probably went to Mass the evening prior.  As this was a Sunday in May, we may have gone fishing on the river during the day.  We wouldn't have had a party or anything, but my parents would have gotten me a few gifts and likely my mother made some sort of a cake.

Last edition:

Saturday, May 24, 1975. Virus variola major.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Disease, India, Somalia

Saturday, May 24, 1975. Virus variola major.

The last naturally occurring case of the smallpox virus variola major was found on a woman named Saiban Bibi in the Assam state of India. 

The last case of variola minor was found in Somalia, at Merca, in October 1977.

The elimination of the disease is a scientific triumph that occured in an era in which the lethality of diseases was still widely appreciated.  

Last edition:

Friday, May 23, 1975. Leaving Laos.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, 1990s, 1992, Cambodia, Crime, Diplomacy, Gerald Ford, Laos, Laotian Civil War, Lebanon, Refugees, Unions, United States, Vietnam

Friday, May 23, 1975. Leaving Laos.

Most American employees of the U.S Embassy in Laos were ordered to evacuate.

The U.S. has an embassy in Laos presently.  In fact, the countries never severed diplomatic relations and normalized them in 1992.

The Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975 was signed into law by President Ford. The act provided for resettlement of South Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees into the United States. In 1975 it would be amended to include include refugees from Laos.

A military government was appointed to govern Lebanon.

Former President of the Teamsters Union Dave Beck was pardoned by President Ford.

Last edition:

Thursday, May 15, 1975. The Raid on Koh Tang.

Labels: 1960s, 1964, 1970s, 1975, Cambodia, Gulf of Tonkin Incident, Khmer Rouge, Mayaguez Incident, The Mayaguez Incident, U.S. Air Force, United States Marine Corps, Vietnam War

Tuesday, May 20, 1975. Seas of blood.

The Khmer Rouge began to purge Cambodians associated with the former government, a move that would feature mass execution.

This is commonly viewed as the beginning of the Cambodian Genocide.

The House of Representatives voted 303-96 to admit women to the previously all-male service academies.   The move was quite controversial at the time.

The Senate would follow suit, with the first women entering the academies in the summer of 1976.

The final episode of the police series Adam-12 was broadcast.

The series had run for 12 years, and in many ways formed the concept for those raised in the 60s, and even the 70s, as to what being a policeman was all about.  Much more gritty television police dramas, and even comedies, would come in during the 70s and change much of that view.

Last episode.

Monday, May 19, 1975. Executive Order 11860—Establishing the President's Advisory Committee on Refugees.

Labels: 1970s, 1975, Executive Orders, Gerald Ford, It was because of the Vietnam War, Refugees