Year by year · 20th century
1974
1974 in world history: 16 events, 1 birth, 20 deaths, 1 work, 4 states founded and 4 that came to an end. 224 recorded states existed that year.
Events
Skylab 4 crew return after 84 days in space
Gerald Carr, Edward Gibson and William Pogue splashed down after the longest crewed mission yet. Their experience of long-duration flight informed later space stations.
Soviet authorities arrest Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Weeks after 'The Gulag Archipelago' appeared in Paris, the Nobel laureate was arrested in Moscow and charged with treason. The next day he was stripped of citizenship and deported to West Germany.
Carnation Revolution topples Portugal's dictatorship
A largely bloodless coup by army officers ended the Estado Novo regime. Democracy followed, and Portugal's African colonies gained independence within two years.
Greece's military junta collapses after the Cyprus crisis
Discredited by its coup in Cyprus and the Turkish invasion that followed, the Greek junta handed power to civilians. Konstantinos Karamanlis returned from exile the next day to restore democracy.
Supreme Court orders Nixon to hand over the Watergate tapes
In United States v. Nixon the Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that the president must surrender the tapes. Their contents destroyed his remaining support, and he resigned 16 days later.
Richard Nixon announces his resignation
In a televised address, Richard Nixon said he would resign the presidency at noon the next day. Released tapes had proved his role in the Watergate cover-up, leaving him facing certain impeachment.
Gerald Ford becomes president after Nixon resigns
Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th president, telling Americans 'our long national nightmare is over'. His pardon of Nixon a month later probably cost him the 1976 election.
Gerald Ford pardons Richard Nixon
President Ford granted Nixon a full pardon for any crimes he 'committed or may have committed' in office. Ford said it would end the national ordeal; it damaged his own popularity.
Fossil hunters find 'Lucy' in Ethiopia
At Hadar, Donald Johanson and Tom Gray found the partial skeleton of a 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis. Named Lucy, she showed that human ancestors walked upright long before brains enlarged.
Event
Hurricane Fifi
Hurricane Fifi was a tropical cyclone that skirted the north coast of Honduras in September 1974, bringing torrential rain that caused catastrophic flooding and landslides.
In the profiles
Ethiopian EmpireThe Derg deposes Haile Selassie; the monarchy is abolished in March 1975
Portuguese EmpireThe Carnation Revolution topples the dictatorship and opens the way to African independence
Wars and longer events
Born in 1974 1
Died in 1974 20
Peng Dehuai1898–1974
Juan Perón1895–1974
David Alfaro Siqueiros1896–1974
Messali Hadj1898–1974
Miguel Ángel Asturias1899–1974
Norman Kirk1923–1974
Pavel Bermondt-Avalov1877–1974
U Thant1909–1974
Yadavindra Singh1913–1974
Aman Andom1924–1974
Ayub Khan1907–1974
Eurico Gaspar Dutra1883–1974
George Grivas1897–1974
Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar1919–1974
Juozas Ambrazevičius1903–1974
Kurt Hahn1886–1974
Patrick Buchan-Hepburn, 1st Baron Hailes1901–1974
Sibyl Hathaway1884–1974- Antanas Sniečkus1903–1974
- Hiralal Shastri1899–1974
Works 1
States founded 4
States that came to an end 4
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1974. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1974
- MLA
- “1974.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1974. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “1974.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1974.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1974’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1974 (Accessed: ).