At the risk of sounding like an ego maniac, I was curious about the historical significance of the day, month and year I was born. I'm a bit of a research junkie, and a quick Wikipedia search revealed some pretty interesting stuff:
Events of 1975
- January – Altair 8800 is released, sparking the era of the microcomputer.
- January – Volkswagen introduces the Golf, its new front-wheel-drive economy car, in the United States and Canada as the Volkswagen Rabbit.
- March 10 – The Rocky Horror Show opens on Broadway in New York City with 4 performances.
- April 9 – Asia's first professional basketball league, the Philippine Basketball Association, plays its first game at the Araneta Coliseum.
- April 30 – Vietnam War: The Fall of Saigon: The Vietnam War ends as Communist forces take Saigon, resulting in mass evacuations of Americans and South Vietnamese. As the capital is taken, South Vietnam surrenders unconditionally.
- July 17 – Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: An American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft dock in orbit, marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the 2 nations.
- July 31 – In Detroit, Michigan, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing.
- August 20 – Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.
- September 5 – In Sacramento, California, Lynette Fromme, a follower of jailed cult leader Charles Manson, attempts to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford, but is thwarted by a Secret Service agent.
- September 30 – The Hughes Helicopters (later McDonnell-Douglas, now Boeing IDS) AH-64 Apache makes its first flight.
- October 1 – Thrilla in Manila: Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in a boxing match in Manila, Philippines.
- October 11 – NBC airs the first episode of Saturday Night Live (George Carlin is the first host; Billy Preston and Janis Ian the first musical guests).
- October 21 – 1975 World Series: The Boston Red Sox defeat the Cincinnati Reds in Game Six off Carlton Fisk's twelvth inning home run to cap off what many consider to be the best World Series game ever played.
- October 22 The Reds defeat the Red Sox four games to three in a broadcast that breaks records for a televised sporting event.
Fictional Events of 1975
- March 12 – Wrongly convicted murderer Andrew Dufresne escapes from Shawshank State Prison.
Events of October 28th
- 1538 – The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is established.
- 1636 – A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes the first college in what would become the United States, today known as Harvard University.
- 1848 – The first railroad in Spain – between Barcelona and Mataró – is opened.
- 1885 – First porcelain toilet was built
- 1886 – In New York Harbor, President Grover Cleveland dedicates the Statue of Liberty.
- 1962 – President John F. Kennedy and the United Nations Secretary reached an agreement with the Soviets, ending the Cuban Missle Crisis.
- 2007 – Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner becomes the first woman elected President of Argentina.
Births
- 1949 – Bruce Jenner, American athlete
- 1955 – Bill Gates, American software executive
- 1967 – Julia Roberts, American actress
- 1967 – John Romero, American video game designer
- 1974 – Joaquin Phoenix, Puerto Rican actor
