Year by year · 20th century

1976

1976 in world history: 14 events, 2 births, 13 deaths, 1 work, 1 state founded and 4 that came to an end. 207 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 21 January

    Concorde begins commercial supersonic service

    British Airways flew Concorde from London to Bahrain and Air France from Paris to Rio de Janeiro via Dakar. Flying at twice the speed of sound, Concorde served passengers until 2003.

    Rio de JaneiroBahrainLondon

  2. 24 March

    Military coup overthrows Isabel Perón in Argentina

    A junta led by General Jorge Videla took power and began the 'Dirty War'. Thousands of people, estimated at up to 30,000, were 'disappeared' before military rule ended in 1983.

    Argentina

  3. 1 April

    Jobs, Wozniak and Wayne found Apple Computer

    Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne signed the partnership that created Apple Computer in California. Its first product was the hand-built Apple I; Wayne sold his share within days.

  4. 16 June

    Police fire on students in Soweto

    Police shot at schoolchildren marching against compulsory Afrikaans teaching, killing 13-year-old Hector Pieterson among others. The uprising spread, and hundreds died in the months that followed.

  5. 20 July

    Viking 1 makes the first successful landing on Mars

    NASA's Viking 1 lander touched down on Chryse Planitia and sent back the first photographs from the Martian surface. It operated for more than six years.

  6. Revolt

    Soweto uprising

    The Soweto uprising began on 16 June 1976, when thousands of Black schoolchildren in Soweto, near Johannesburg, marched against the compulsory use of Afrikaans as a language of instruction.

  7. Crisis

    Loyada hostage crisis

    The Loyada hostage crisis took place in February 1976, when militants of the Front for the Liberation of the Somali Coast seized a school bus carrying children of French military personnel in Djibouti and drove it to Loyada, on the border with Somalia.

ProfileState203 states with a known seat in 1976Open the atlas at 1976 →

In the profiles

Wars and longer events

Born in 1976 2

Died in 1976 13

Works 1

States founded 1

States that came to an end 4

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1976. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1976
MLA
“1976.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1976. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1976.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1976.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1976’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1976 (Accessed: ).