Angola was admitted as the 146th member of the
United Nations. Its initial application had been vetoed by the United States in the UN Security Council because of the continued presence of Cuban troops in the African nation, but the U.S. abstained as the UN General Assembly approved the entry unanimously (116 to 0).[3] Elisio de Figueriredo was the first Angolan ambassador to the UN, serving until 1988.[4]
The
Sex Pistols achieved public notoriety, as guitarist
Steve Jones unleashed several "
four-letter words" on live television on
Bill Grundy's early evening (6:00 pm) show on
Thames Television (ITV network), Today, with Grundy's encouragement. Viewers in the London area, the only site to see the live broadcast, flooded the network's telephone switchboard with angry phone calls over "the filthiest language ever used on British television."[6][7][8] The uproar propelled the Sex Pistols to widespread fame. Today was cancelled two months later, and Grundy's television career came to an end.[9]
The purchase by the government of
Libya of 10 percent ownership of the stock in the Italian automobile manufacturer Fiat was announced by Fiat Chairman of the Board Giovanni Agnelli. The oil exporting North African nation paid Fiat $207 million for 10% of the shares of Fiat stock, as well as investing an additional $208 million for future options.[10]
The government of Indonesia announced the release of 2,650 Indonesian Communist Party members who had been jailed without trial for 11 years, since an attempted coup d'etat in 1965. A spokesman for the government said that 29,000 people remained imprisoned but would be released within three years.[11]
A terrorist bomb exploded at the officers' club building at the Rhein-Main U.S. Air Force Base in West Germany, destroying the structure and causing minor injuries to nine people who had been dining inside at lunchtime, and nine firemen and a security guard who had responded to the damage.[12]
Laura Ling, American journalist who was imprisoned in
North Korea for five months before her release was secured by former U.S. President Bill Clinton; in
Carmichael, California
Alya Rohali, Indonesian television host and actress who served as Miss Indonesia in international beauty show competitions from 1996 to 1999; in
Jakarta.
Thursday, December 2, 1976
The government of China dismissed Foreign Minister
Qiao Guanhua (Chiao Kuan-hua) for collaboration with the Gang of Four, and replaced him with
Huang Hua, its Ambassador to the United Nations.[13]
Esther Norma Arrostito, a leader of the
Montoneros Argentine terrorist group who was wanted for the 1970 kidnapping and murder of former President
Pedro Aramburu, was captured alive after a gun battle with a patrol of the Army of Argentina, but the Argentine government reported that she had been killed in the crossfire.[14]
The new constitution of Cuba took effect, eliminating the position of
Prime Minister of Cuba (Chairman of the
Council of Ministers) and merging it with the office of
President (Chairman of the
Council of State).
Fidel Castro, who had been Prime Minister became President, with the job of chairing both councils and succeeding
Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, who had been head of state since Castro took power in 1959. The offices would be separated again in 2019 after the death of Castro. The constitution also created the
National Assembly of People's Power (Asamblea Nacional del Poder Popular) as the first parliament since the
Congress of Cuba had been abolished 18 years earlier.
Alexander Zinoviev was expelled from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union after publishing his book Yawning Heights, a satire of the Soviet way of life, in August. Accused of anti-Soviet activity for "extremely cynical slanderous fabrications about Soviet reality, the theory and practice of communist construction, and offensive attacks against Vladimir Lenin, our party and its leadership", Zinoviev was subsequently deprived of his academic titles and privileges.
Leslie H. "Bud" King, the biological half-brother of incumbent U.S. President
Gerald R. Ford, was killed near
Lebanon, Tennessee while driving while intoxicated, after he drove his car the wrong way on Interstate Highway 40 and was in a head-on crash with a truck.[15] Ford, whose name had birth had been Leslie Lynch King, Jr., before his adoption, was ten years older than his half-brother, whom he had seen most recently at the 1976 Republican National Convention; both had been sired by Leslie Lynch King, Sr.
Died:
Danny Murtaugh, 59, American baseball coach who managed the Pittsburgh Pirates to two World Series championships.[16]
Ramases (stage name for K. Barrington Frost), 42, British psychedelic musician and cult figure
South Korea's President
Park Chung-hee fired Shin Jik-soo, the Director of the
Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) after charges that the KCIA had been intimidating South Korean citizens living abroad, including those in the United States. Park replaced Shin with Lieutenant General
Kim Jae-gyu.[19] Kim would later assassinate President Park at a dinner party on October 26, 1979.
Tommy Bolin, 25, American rock guitarist and songwriter, from an overdose of cocaine
Sunday, December 5, 1976
Voting took place in Japan for the 511-member
House of Representatives (the Shūgiin), with the background of policy split between members of the longtime ruling
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP of Jimintō).[23] For the first time in more than 18 years, the LDP lost its majority, falling by 22 seats from 271 members of parliament to 249, less than 50 percent but still the party with the greatest number of seats. Prime Minister
Takeo Miki retained his post. The second-place finisher, the
Japan Socialist Party had 118 seats, a gain of five, while the remaining opposition was divided among four parties and a group of independent candidates.
A disgruntled member of the
Royal Australian Navy, 19-year-old Able Seaman John Trent, destroyed 12 of the Navy's 13 S-2 antisubmarine patrol airplanes by setting fire to the hangar at the
Nowra Naval Air Station south of
Sydney. [24] Trent would tell a court-martial panel later that he opened the fuel tanks of two planes, then "got a piece of paper, made
an airplane, set it alight and threw it," adding "I really do now know why I did it. I do not know what came over me." Navy men were able to pull five of the twin-engine Grumman subtracker planes from the burning building, but the five aircraft were damaged beyond repair, while the seven inside the hangar were completely destroyed. The Grummans were worth $1,000,000 USD apiece. [25]
Pieter Menten, a wealthy art dealer from the Netherlands, was arrested at a hotel in
Switzerland in the town of
Uster, on charges that he was responsible for the Nazi German killing of 120 Jews during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. While being interrogated by Swiss authorities about his past, Menten (who had served eight months imprisonment in the Netherlands in 1950 for collaboration with the Nazis) attempted suicide by swallowing a large dose of sleeping pills. He and his wife had fled from
Amsterdam in November when he learned that he was being sought for questioning.[26] The Swiss cabinet authorized the return of Menten to Dutch authorities on December 22.[27]
Voting was held by the 292 incoming Democratic Party members of the U.S. House of Representatives (including the four delegates from non-states) for a new Speaker of the House to replace Carl Albert, who had not run for re-election, and for the
House Majority Leader. Although the election as Speaker of majority leader
Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill of Massachusetts "was a foregone conclusion", four Congressmen vied to replace O'Neill.
Phillip Burton of California, the expected winner, went against
Jim Wright of Texas,
Richard Bolling of Missouri and
John J. McFall of California. With 147 needed for a majority, Burton had 106 votes, Bolling 81 and Wright 77 on the first ballot, while McFall was out after finishing fourth. On the next ballot, Burton had 107, while Wright finished ahead of Bolling by two votes, 95 to 93. On the third and final ballot Wright defeated Burton by a single vote, 148 to 147.[28] Wright would later succeed O'Neill as Speaker in 1987 before resigning amid scandal.
What turned out to be the embalmed body of American bank robber
Elmer McCurdy was found at the
fun house at
The Pike, an amusement park in
Long Beach, California, where it had been on display for five years as a mummy "painted with a fluorescent material". A prop man, preparing for the filming of an episode of the TV show The Six Million Dollar Man, had discovered that what appeared to be a dummy was actually a corpse, and the matter had been referred to Dr.
Thomas Noguchi, the Los Angeles County coroner, for an autopsy.[29] Three days later, the owner of Entertainment Ventures, Inc., which had formerly owned the body, said that he was aware that the corpse was that of McCurdy and that the petrified body had been sold to a carnival by an Oklahoma City sheriff.[30] On April 13, 1977, Dr. Noguchi's office announced that the body had been confirmed to be that of McCurdy, who had been killed in a gunfight on October 17, 1911, and then spent the next 65 years being displayed at carnival sideshows and at a wax museum.[31]
Voting was held in the tiny South American nation of
Grenada of the 15 seats of the
House of Assembly, which was controlled by Prime Minister
Eric Gairy's
Grenada United Labour Party which had 14 of the 15 seats. An alliance of the three opposition parties (
New Jewel Movement, the
Grenada National Party and the United People's Party) won six seats and reduced the GULP's majority to 9 to 6, despite fraud and harassment of opposition members by Gairy's private militia, the Volunteer Constables, nicknamed "The
Mongoose Gang".[32]
United Nations Secretary-General
Kurt Waldheim was approved for a second five-year term by the UN Security Council, against a challenge by former Mexican President
Luis Echeverría Álvarez. Waldheim received 12 of the 15 votes, and Echeverría 3.[33]
The
Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976, the first Australian law that legally recognized the Aboriginal system of land ownership, and legislated the concept of inalienable freehold title, was passed by
Parliament.
Afghanistan Army General
Mir Ahmad Shah Rizwani was arrested after the failure of an attempted coup d'etat against President
Mohammed Daoud Khan. After Daoud's overthrow, Rizwani would be executed in 1978 by the new Communist government.
In
a yes/no election in Algeria, voters overwhelmingly approved the re-election of
Houari Boumediene to a new six-year term. The vote, with no choice of candidates, was the first in 13 years and had a reported turnout of 96 percent of eligible citizens.[36]
Died: Danny Thompson, 29, American major league baseball player who played for three seasons after being diagnosed with
leukemia. Thompson had played 98 games the 1976 season for the
Texas Rangers, and died a little more than two months after his final game on October 2, when he was used as a pinch hitter.
Saturday, December 11, 1976
Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines, said in an address that he intended to require the United States to pay rent to the Philippine government for all U.S. military bases in the Asian nation. The U.S. had agreed a week earlier to provide one billion dollars in foreign aid in exchange for the right to maintain the bases, but Marcos rejected the offer.[37]
Antonio María de Oriol, the former chairman of the Spanish Council of State since 1973, and a former Minister of Justice, was kidnapped from his Madrid office by Marxist-Leninist terrorists who were members of Grupos de Resistencia Antifascista Primero de Octubre (GRAPO) and held for ransom, four days before the scheduled referendum for political reform.[38] Oriol would be rescued on February 11 in a raid by Spanish security forces.[39]
Marc-André Bédard, the provincial Minister of Justice for the Canadian province of
Quebec announced that he would dismiss all charges against Dr.
Henry Morgentaler, who had refused to comply with Canada's
criminal law regarding abortion, which allowed pre-natal termination of pregnancy but only if a three-member "
therapeutic abortion committee" approved the
abortion.[40] Morgentaler, who performed abortions at his private clinic regardless of approval, had been tried and acquitted three times, and was awaiting a fourth trial when Bedard determined that the abortion law was effectively unenforceable. Morgentaler later brought a suit which would result in a 1988 Supreme Court of Canada decision, R v Morgentaler, finding the law unconstitutional.
Turkey and
Greece reopened the
hotline between the two nations' tactical air commands, more than two years after cutting off service during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.[41]
Thirteen people in Argentina, riding in the back of a truck while returning from a wedding reception, were killed when the driver attempted to cross ahead of an oncoming train.[42]
Died: Elmyr de Hory, 70, Hungarian-born painter and master at
art forgery, committed suicide with an overdose of barbiturates.[43] He was later profiled by
Clifford Irving (who had attempted to publish a fake autobiography of Howard Hughes) in the biography Fake! The Story of Elmyr de Hory the Greatest Art Forger of Our Time.
Sunday, December 12, 1976
Walter Stolle of West Germany completed the
longest bicycle tour on record, almost 18 years after beginning on January 24, 1959.[44] During that time, Stolle had ridden more than 402,000 miles (647,000 km) in 159 countries.[45]
Died: Jack Cassidy, 49, American singer and stage and television actor, died in a fire at his apartment in
West Hollywood, California, after falling asleep while smoking a cigarette.[46]
The first Congress of the ruling
Vietnamese Workers Party since 1960 opened in
Hanoi, with
Le Duan, the General Secretary of the Party and the de facto leader of the Communist nation, delivered a six-hour address, outlining plans to reach out to the West from the Communist nation for foreign trade and investment, and to rebuild both the former South Vietnam and North Vietnam after damage from the Vietnam War.[47] The Party approved a five-year plan to transform the defeated former South Vietnam "into a vast rice bowl" with more than one million people to be forcibly resettled from the former
Saigon to "new economic zones" and conversion of large sections of urban property into farmland.[48] At the close of the congress, the delegates approved a plan to call the organization the Vietnamese Communist Party.[49]
Evangelos Mallios, formerly the director of Greece's security police during the military rule of the European nation, was shot to death outside his home by two members of the terrorist group
17N. Mallios had been convicted of torturing political prisoners who had opposed the regime of
George Papadopoulos during the dictatorship .[51]
Helmut Schmidt narrowly won re-election as
Chancellor of West Germany within the 496-member
Bundestag, barely receiving the majority of at least 249 votes of approval from legislators. Schmidt had 250 in his favor from his coalition of his own 214
Social Democrats (SPD) and the 39
Free Democrats, and all 243 of the
CDU/CSU voted against him. One SPD member abstained, the ballot of another was declared invalid and another legislator was unable to attend the session because of illness.[53]
Denis Healey, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced to the British Parliament that he had successfully negotiated a loan of 2.3 billion pounds (or 3.9 billion dollars) for the United Kingdom from the
International Monetary Fund, in return for a reduction of government spending and the sale of shares of government-owned stock in the
British Petroleum company.[56]
The
Montoneros terrorist group in
Argentina infiltrated Argentine Defense Ministry headquarters in
Buenos Aires and planted a bomb in a lecture hall that killed 11 people, including Air Force Major General Angel Luchessi and injured 23 others.[57]
More than 230 people were injured in
Syria, and three were killed, when a time bomb inside a suitcase exploded in the baggage claim area at the airport in
Baghdad. The suitcase had been placed on an
Egyptair flight from
Damascus in Syria, and had apparently been set to destroy the airliner in midair, but the jet had arrived in Baghdad 30 minutes ahead of schedule.[58]
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) of the United States announced that it was suspending the nationwide immunization program against
swine flu after reports from 14 states of a total of 51 recent cases (four of them fatal) of
Guillain–Barré syndrome in people who had received the shots only three weeks earlier. Another 31 cases were found in people who had not been vaccinated, and the status of 12 others could not be established.[59] A subsequent investigation found 223 cases of paralysis nationwide from Guillain-Barre.[60]
Three masked burglars broke into the
Louvre museum in
Paris, reaching the second floor by climbing a scaffold left by maintenance workers and stole the diamond-studded
coronation sword of King
Charles X of
France, made in 1824.[61] The sword had 1,576 white diamonds, which were presumably removed from the artifact and resold.[62] Although other stolen items have been recovered, the coronation sword was still missing as of 2021.[63]
The
Bank of America announced that its U.S. credit card, the
BankAmericard, would change its name to the VISA card in a 32-month process to start on March 1, 1977, with a worldwide advertising program to begin on February 15. [64] At the time, the Bank's subsidiaries, National BankAmericard Inc. and Ibanco had a "somewhat confusing array of blue-white-and-gold cards issued under different names in 22 countries around the world," [65] (including Chargex in Canada, Carte Bleue in France, and Barclaycard in the UK). The change was made to create a name recognized universally regardless of language.
Friday, December 17, 1976
Takeo Miki, the
Prime Minister of Japan, announced his resignation in the wake of the loss of the Liberal Democratic Party's loss of a majority in the December 5 elections.[66]
The
Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India, authorizing dictatorial powers to the national government led by Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi, was signed into law by President
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, after having been ratified by more than half of India's 22 states, to go into effect on January 3, 1977. The new rules gave the Indian Parliament authority to amend the Constitution without requiring ratification, as well as prohibiting the Indian courts from reviewing any amendments and requiring a two-thirds majority to repeal existing laws.[70]
The
Soviet Union and
Chile made an exchange of political prisoners after the U.S. served as an intermediary. Soviet dissident
Vladimir Bukovsky, who had been imprisoned for almost six years after his arrest on March 29, 1971, was flown to Switzerland. At the same time, Chile released
Luis Corvalán, the General Secretary of the Chilean Communist Party and both men were set free at the airport in
Zürich. The exchange was "the first involving political prisoners in the history of East‐West relations," as opposed to previous exchanges of captured spies who had been convicted of espionage.[71]
Sunday, December 19, 1976
An airplane crashed into the upper stands of
Memorial Stadium in
Baltimore at 5:05 in the afternoon, only six minutes after an NFL playoff game that the
Pittsburgh Steelers had won, 40 to 14, over the
Baltimore Colts. The pilot, Donald Kroner, had posted bail after having been arrested five days earlier on a charge of reckless flying and making a threat against former Colts player Bill Pellington.[72] Three policemen and the pilot were injured when the single-engine Piper Cherokee struck Section 41 of the stadium, but most of the crowd of 60,000 had left early because of the lopsided loss for the Colts.[73] Kroner would be convicted of malicious destruction of property and reckless flying in February later sentenced to two years in prison [74] and paroled in July on condition that he receive counseling.[75]
Guerrillas of the
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) attacked a group of black Rhodesian workers at a tea plantation outside the village of
Melsetter (now Chimanimani) near the border with
Mozambique and killed 27 of them. The murders, by machine gun and bayonet, were carried out after the workers refused to quit their jobs in protest, as demanded by the guerrillas. Eleven of the 38 men escaped death by hiding under the corpses of the people killed.[76]
For the first time, women were selected as
Rhodes Scholars, almost 75 years after the scholarship for academically successful student athletes had been established by the will of
Cecil Rhodes.[77]
The body of former President of Argentina
Juan Perón, kept in a crypt on the grounds of the
Casa Rosada, the official presidential residence since shortly after his death on July 1, 1974, was given a burial as the military government that had overthrown his wife took his coffin to the cemetery at the
Chacarita section of
Buenos Aires. On October 22, the military had removed the body of former First Lady
Eva Perón from the Casa Rosada and placed it in a family mausoleum in another cemetery. President
Jorge Rafael Videla had avoided the Casa Rosada because of the presence of the two bodies.[78]
Monday, December 20, 1976
Israel's Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin announced his resignation, dissolved the Israeli Parliament (the
Knesset) and called for
new elections. Rabin had ended his government by expelling cabinet members from the National Religious Party, who had abstained rather than voting against the motion of no confidence. Rabin said that he would lead a caretaker government until voting could take place in May or June. The elections, originally scheduled for November, would take place on May 17, 1977.[79]
Richard J. Daley, 76,
Mayor of Chicago and political boss for 21 years, died of a sudden heart attack while at the office of his personal physician after suffering chest pains.[80][81] After hosting a Christmas breakfast for city officials, working in his office, and attending the dedication of a new gymnasium, Daley was in the office of Dr. Thomas J. Coogan when he was stricken. Dr. Coogan had been arranging to send the mayor to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and was unable to revive Daley. [82] Because of a dispute between Wilson Frost, president pro tempore of the City Council, and Kenneth Sain, the Deputy Mayor over who could act as the temporary mayor,[83] the 48-member Council elected
Michael Bilandic as Acting Mayor of Chicago on December 28.[84]
Pope Paul VI announced that a consistory of
cardinals had formally approved the
canonization of Bishop
John Neumann as the first American man to become a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, with the ceremony to take place on June 19, 1977. Neumann was the third American saint overall, after
Frances Cabrini and
Mother Seton.[86]
The use of the
Catalan language in the four provinces of
Spain in the
Catalonia region was approved by the Spanish government. Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez announced that the regional government officials in the
provinces of
Barcelona,
Girona,
Lleida, and
Tarragona could use Catalan equally with
Spanish and declared that "The Government understands that bilingualism in Spanish and Catalan, which is normal in family, social and cultural life, can also be normal in official life," marking a change in policy from the 40-year rule of
Francisco Franco, who prohibited the official use of Catalan.[87]
Born: Jang Hyuk (stage name for Jeong Yong-jun), South Korean TV and film actor, rap music artist; in
Busan
A major oil spill was caused by the breaking apart of the Liberian-registered oil tanker
MV Argo Merchant, which had run aground on the
Nantucket Shoals off of the coast of the U.S. state of
Rhode Island on December 15.[88] While the crew was evacuated, the shallow waters and weather conditions made it impossible to offload the oil and when the tanker ship fell apart, its entire cargo of 7.7 million U.S. gallons (29 million liters) of fuel oil was emptied into the sea. Fortunately, winds from the northwest blew the oil slick away from the coast and the oil dissipated.[89]
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and John Artis, who had both been convicted of a 1966 murder and then won the right to a retrial because of prosecutor misconduct in 1967, were convicted a second time on three counts of first degree murder.[90] In 1985, a federal court would set aside the convictions and Carter and Artis would be set free.
"
Women Artists: 1550-1950", the first international art exhibition made up entirely of art created by professional female artists, began an 11-month tour of six art museums, opening in the
Los Angeles County Museum of Art with works from 83 female artists from 12 nations.
Born: Mirela Maniani, Albanian-born Greek track athlete, 1999 and 2003 world champion in the women's javelin competition; in
Durrës
Died:
Munro Leaf (pen name for Wilbur Monroe Leaf), 71, American children's book writer known for the popular 1936 work The Story of Ferdinand, which created the character of "Ferdinand the Bull"
Emil Savundra, 53, Sri Lankan-born British con man who founded Fire, Auto and Marine Insurance Company and profited from its collapse
Wednesday, December 22, 1976
Edwin Moore II, a retired employee of the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was arrested and charged in federal court with unauthorized possession of defense-related materials and theft of U.S. government property, after being seen leaving a package of classified documents at the residence of a Soviet resident of Washington, along with a note promising to supply more documents for $200,000. Fearing that a bomb had been left on his home, the Soviet man called the police, who traced the package— photocopies of a directory of CIA agents— to Moore.[91][92] Although initially given a life sentence, Moore would have his penalty reduced to 15 years.[93]
The
Ilyushin Il-86 wide body jet airliner (or
airbus), comparable to the American DC-10, made its first flight.
The Egyptian passenger ship
MV Patra, with 387 passengers and 94 crew aboard, sank in the
Red Sea. While 341 were rescued, the other 140 were missing and presumed to have gone down with the ship, which was sailing from the Saudi Arabian port of
Jeddah toward
Suez.[94] The sinking occurred after a fire broke out in the engine room and passengers were advised to jump into the sea. An hour later, a series of explosions was followed by the ship going down.[95]
The "
Tripoli Agreement" between the
Government of the Philippines and the
Moro National Liberation Front was signed in the capital of Libya, though never ratified, with the intent of establishing an autonomous region on the island of
Mindanao for Muslims in 13 provinces, including Basilan, Palawan and Sulu, with limited self-government.[96] The plan failed because of the decision by President
Ferdinand Marcos to require a referendum in each province affected in each area that was to be included in the autonomous region. Most of the regions did not have a Muslim majority.
A new volcano,
Murara, erupted in eastern
Zaire. a small, short-lived, cinder cone on the flank of Mount Nyamuragira. At its highest, on January 18, the cone was measured as 150 metres (490 ft).
The
codice fiscale, a 16-character identification passcode of letters and number, was implemented in Italy for all citizens for purposes of tax returns. The code is similar to a
social security number in the United States or the
national insurance number issued in the United Kingdom.
Takeo Fukuda was narrowly elected as the new
Prime Minister of Japan by the two houses of Japan's Parliament, the
National Diet. After being unanimously picked by the Liberal Democratic Party members to succeed
Takeo Miki (who had resigned after the LDP lost its absolute majority) as LDP leader, Fukuda only barely got a majority, receiving 256 out of 508 votes cast in the
House of Representatives, while 10 ballots were left blank as a protest, and Tomomi Narita got 122. In the
House of Councillors he got 125 of the 246 votes.[98]
Prince
Jean de Broglie, Foreign Minister of France from 1966 to 1967, was murdered by a gunman who shot him three times.[99] The killing was traced to his financial advisor and was determined to have been motivated by greed, rather than a political assassination. The arrests of six people, including Broglie's two business partners, Pierre de Varga and Patrick de Ribemont, was made on December 29. A private detective, Guy Simonet, had arranged the murder and then attempted to blame it on a right-wing organization, the
Club Charles Martel.[100]
India's
Gujarat state was released from
President's rule, which had been imposed on March 12 and the ruling Congress Party appointed a new Chief Minister and state government. Only two of India's 22 states,
Tamil Nadu and
Orissa, remained under president's rule.[101]
EgyptAir Flight 864 crashed into an industrial complex in
Bangkok on its arrival from
Mumbai, killing all 52 people on board and 19 in a textile factory.[102] The Boeing 707 was on a multi-stop flight that had originated in
Rome with a final scheduled destination of
Tokyo.[103][104]
Twenty-two residents of Chafe's Rest Home, a nursing home in the Canadian town of
Goulds, Newfoundland were killed in a fire.[105]
Larry Kenon of the
San Antonio Spurs set an NBA record that still stands, with 11 steals in one game, a 110 to 105 win over the
Kansas City Kings.[106] The record would be tied by
Kendall Gill of the New Jersey Nets on April 3, 1999, but has not been broken.
Died:
U.S. Senator
Philip Hart, 64, "The Conscience of the Senate" who had represented Pennsylvania since 1959, died of cancer. The
Hart Senate Office Building would be named in his honor.[107]
Soviet Air Force Lieutenant General
Leonid I. Beda, 56, Soviet Union war hero, was killed in an auto accident
The government of the Soviet Union announced that the ruling Communist Party and the government-controlled trade unions had approved a plan to increase the wages of one-third of the nation's work force by 28 percent over a five year period, affecting 31 million people including teachers, nurses, store employees and social workers. The first raises took effect in February for workers in the remote areas of the USSR in the north near the Arctic Circle and in the far eastern parts of the country.[108]
Died: Main Bocher, 86, American fashion designer who founded the Mainbocher clothing label in 1929 and pioneered dress innovations in the 1930s such as the strapless evening gown and short evening dresses.[109]
Tuesday, December 28, 1976
The first local government elections in the history of
Nigeria took place across the nation, the most populous in Africa, as voters selected members of "local councils". The creation of elections of local officials, rather than appointment, was the first reform implemented by the President, Lieutenant General
Olusegun Obasanjo to give Nigeria's 60 million citizens a closer connection to the government and a promise to return to civilian rule by 1979.[110]
Albania promulgated
a new constitution declaring the Balkan nation to be the People's Socialist Republic of Albania.
South Africa's white police force completed the release of 102 black activists who had been imprisoned since August, without being charged, under the nation's Internal Security Act. The first group had been freed on December 20. More than 300 remained incarcerated.[111]
Thursday, December 30, 1976
All 38 crew of the Taiwanese oil tanker
SS Grand Zenith were killed when the ship sank off of the coast of Cape Sable in the Canadian province of
Nova Scotia. [112][113]
Pakistan State Oil, the government-owned petroleum producing company, was created by the merger of State Oil Company Limited and Premier Oil Company Limited (which had been created by merging Pakistan National Oil and Dawood Petroleum Limited).
Spain's Court of Public Order, which had tried and convicted hundreds of opponents of President Francisco Franco since 1936, was abolished by the new Spanish government and democratic reforms continued.[114]
Died: Sergei Ogoltsov, 76, disgraced former First Deputy Minister of State Security of the Soviet Union. Ogoltsov had been removed from office in 1954 and stripped of his rank and medals in 1959.
Friday, December 31, 1976
Less than three weeks before the expiration of his term, U.S. President Gerald Ford issued a statement calling for the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to be admitted as the 51st state of the United States. His statement marked the first time a U.S. president had appealed for statehood for Puerto Rico, which had been a U.S. territory since 1898.[115] Ford said in his statement "I will recommend to the 95th Congress the enactment of legislation providing for the admission of Puerto Rico as a state of the Union. The common bonds of friendship, tradition, dignity, and individual freedom have joined the people of the United States and the people of Puerto Rico. It is now time to make these bonds permanent through statehood, in accordance with the concept of mutual acceptance which has historically governed the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States." [116]
The celebration of the United States bicentennial came to an end with the last admission of a visitor to the
American Freedom Train that had been going from one U.S. city to the next since April 1, 1975, closing out at
Miami
The very last of the Bicentennial Minutes that had been a regular feature on the CBS television in the United States since July 4, 1974. President Ford recorded the final Bicentennial Minute.
^"Americans Who Swept 5 Nobels Get $160,000 Prizes", The New York Times, December 11, 1976, p. 3
^"99.5 Percent of Algerians Re-elect Boumediene", The New York Times, December 12, 1976, p. 5
^"U.S. to Give Manila $1 Billion in Aid To Keep Right to Use Military Bases", The New York Times, December 4, 1976, p. 1
^"Leading Spanish Aide Kidnapped in Madrid", by James M. Markham, The New York Times, December 12, 1976, p. 1
^"Spain Frees 2 Government Officials Held by Guerrillas— Arrests Made in Kidnaping of Men Who Were Held Hostage for Release of 171 Political Prisoners", Los Angeles Times, February 11, 1977, p. 8
^"Quebec Halts Trial of Abortion Doctor— Province, in Ruling on Morgentaler, Calls Federal Law on Ending Pregnancies 'Unenforceable'", The New York Times, December 12, 1976, p. 21
^"Turkey and Greece Reopen Telephone Connection", The New York Times, December 12, 1976, p. 5
^"13 Die as Train Hits Truck", The New York Times, December 12, 1976, p. 24
^"Police Report Art Forger, Facing Extradition Order, Killed Himself on Ibiza", The New York Times, December 12, 1976, p. 38
^"18-year ride into a record", Evening Standard (London), December 13, 1976, p. 5
^Norris McWhirter, The Guinness Book of World Records (Bantam Books, 1983), p601
^"Jack Cassidy, Actor, Dies at 49 In Fire at Los Angeles Apartment", The New York Times, December 13, 1976, p. 38
^"Hanoi Leaders Vow A Rebuilding Drive", by David A. Andelman, The New York Times, December 15, 1976, p. 1
^"Vietnamese Plan Resettlement of a Million People From Southern Cities and Creation of Bigger 'Rice Bowl'", by David A. Andelman, The New York Times, December 16, 1976, p. 10
^"Hanoi Renames Party, Adds to Its Politburo and Adjourns First Congress Since 1960", by David A. Andelman, The New York Times, December 21, 1976, p. 3
^"Electoral Vote Given To Reagan as Protest", The New York Times, December 15, 1976, p. 18
^"Athens Reports Slaying Of Ex-Police Official", The New York Times, December 16, 1976, p. 7
^"Spaniards Give a Resounding 'Yes' In Referendum on Free Elections", The New York Times, December 16, 1976, p. 1
^"Schmidt, Under Attack From Own Party, Wins Re-election by 2 Votes", The New York Times, December 16, 1976, p. 14
^"Incumbent Premier Appears the Clear Victor in Jamaican Election", The New York Times, December 16, 1976, p. 8
^"Western Samoa Becomes 147th Member of U.N.", The New York Times, December 16, 1976, p. 7
^"Britain Again Curbs Spending in Effort to Revive Economy— Will Sell Much of British Petroleum Stock in Belt-Tightening Plan to Get $3.9 Billion I.M.F. Loan", by Peter T. Kilborn, The New York Times, December 16, 1976, p. 1
^"Argentine Aide Blamed For Bomb That Killed 11", The New York Times, December 19, 1976, p. 5
^"Toll From Baghdad Blast Put at 3 Killed, 230 Hurt", The New York Times, December 17, 1976, p. 4
^"Swine Flu Program Suspended in Nation; Disease Link Feared— 94 Cases of Paralysis Cited", by Lawrence K. Altman, The New York Times, December 17, 1976, p. 1
^"Tally of Paralytic Cases Is Now Put at 223", The New York Times, December 24, 1976, p. 8
^"Sword of Charles X Stolen From the Louvre", The New York Times, December 17, 1976, p. 8
^"Miki Will Resign As Japan's Leader", by Andrew E. Malcolm, The New York Times, December 17, 1976, p. 1
^"Tanker Blows Up in L.A. Harbor— At Least Two Killed, 49 Injured; Windows Broken 21 Miles Away", by Richard West, Los Angeles Times, December 18, 1976, p.I-1
^"Tanker Blast Remains Mystery; Damages Will Run Into Millions", by Jerry Cohen, Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1976, p.I-1
^"Mrs. Gandhi's Government Is Granted New Power", The New York Times, December 19, 1976, p. 4
^"Bukovsky and Corvalan Exchanged at Zurich Airport", The New York Times, December 19, 1976, p. 3
^"Plane slams into Stadium after Colts loss— 4 injured; most of fans were exiting", The Sun (Baltimore), December 20, 1976, p. 1
^"Plane Crashes Into Stands; Pilot Is Hurt", The New York Times, December 20, 1976, p. B7
^"Stadium-Crash Pilot Gets Two Years", The Evening Sun (Baltimore) March 15, 1977, p. A1
^"Pilot In Stadium Crash Appeals, Pleads Guilty", The Evening Sun (Baltimore) November 4, 1977, p. D4
^"Slaying of 27 Black Workers Arouses Rhodesians", The New York Times, December 22, 1976, p. 3
^"A First for the Rhodes Scholars: 13 Women Are Among the Winners", The New York Times, December 20, 1976, p. A16
^Argentine Military Buries Juan Peron 2 Years After Death", The New York Times, December 20, 1976, p. A4
^"Rabin Resigns Post; Vote Is Due by June", by William E. Farrell, The New York Times, December 21, 1976, p. 1
^"Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago Dies at 74; Last of the Big-City Democratic Bosses Has Heart Attack", The New York Times, December 21, 1976, p. 1
^"Mayor Daley dies— Body to Lie in state Tuesday", by William Griffin and Timothy McNulty, Chicago Tribune, December 21, 1976, p. 1
^"Mayor Daley's last day was typically busy", Chicago Tribune, December 21, 1976, p. 9
^"Chicago Politicians Maneuver Over Daley Succession", by Seth King, The New York Times, December 22, 1976, p. 14
^"Bilandic, Lawyer and Daley Friend, Named Acting Mayor of Chicago", The New York Times, December 29, 1976, p. 10
^"Leftists Defeat Premier In Mauritius Election", The New York Times, December 23, 1976, p. 5
^"U.S. Bishop Granted Approval as a Saint", by Alvin Shuster, The New York Times, December 21, 1976, p. 1
^"Madrid Accepts the Use of Catalan", by James M. Markham, The New York Times, December 21, 1976, p. 10
^"Split Tanker Leaves 60-Mile Oil Slick Off Nantucket", The New York Times, December 22, 1976, p. 1
^"Wind Sends Oil Spill to Sea Again After Driving It Closer to East Coast", The New York Times, December 27, 1976, p. A20
^"Rubin Carter Is Convicted With Artis in 3 Murders; Passaic County Jury Deliberates for Nine Hours Verdict Returned in '67 Trials Affirmed", The New York Times, December 22, 1976, p. 1
^"Ex-C.I.A. Agent Seized on Espionage Charge— Retired Employee Reportedly Left Secret Data at Soviet Complex With Note Seeking $200,000", by John M. Crewdson, The New York Times, December 23, 1976, p. 9
^Moore would be convicted of espionage on May 5, 1977, "Jury finds Moore guilty of espionage", Wilmington (DE) Morning News, p. 25
^"Moore given 15 years for espionage", Baltimore Sun, December 9, 1977, p. D8
^"Egyptian Ship Sinks And 140 Are Missing", The New York Times, December 25, 1976, p. 3
^"100 Reported Dead in Red Sea Sinking", The New York Times, December 26, 1976, p. 4
^"Philippine Vote Set On Giving Moslems Autonomous Area", The New York Times, December 24, 1976, p. 11
^"Singapore's Ruling Party Wins Its 5th Victory", The New York Times, December 24, 1976, p. 7
^"New Prime Minister Is Selected in Japan by a Narrow Margin", The New York Times, December 25, 1976, p. 1
^"High French Aide Is Killed in Paris", The New York Times, December 25, 1976, p. 2
^"French Say Politician Was Slain For Life Insurance, Not Politics", The New York Times, December 30, 1976, p. 3
^"New Delhi Relinquishes Its Control in Gujarat", The New York Times, December 25, 1976, p. 3
^"81 Die as Egypt Jet Crashes Into Plant In Bangkok Suburb", The New York Times, December 25, 1976, p. 2
^"Jetliner Crash in Bangkok in 1976 Is Officially Laid to Pilot Error", The New York Times, May 14, 1978
^"Nursing‐Home Fire In Newfoundland Kills at Least 20", The New York Times, December 27, 1976, p. A9
^"Spurs rally for 110- 105 win over KC", by Jim Hutton, San Antonio (TX) Express, December 27, 1976, p. 1-D
^"Senator Philip A. Hart Dies at 64; Was Called 'Conscience of Senate'", The New York Times, December 27, 1976, p. D11
^"Soviet Announces Plans for Wide Wage Increases", The New York Times, December 28, 1976, p. 8
^"Mainbocher, Fashion Designer for Notables Since the 1930's, Is Dead in Munich at 85", The New York Times, December 29, 1976, p. 14
^"Nigerians Elect Local Councils As a Step Toward Civilian Rule", The New York Times, December 29, 1976, p. 5
^"More Blacks Are Released By South African Police"The New York Times, December 30, 1976, p. 5
^"Search Begins off Nova Scotia for Tanker Missing Five Day", Los Angeles Times, January 4, 1977, p.I-10
^"Missing Tanker Probably Sank, Coast Guard Says", Los Angeles Times, January 7, 1977, p.I-11
^"Madrid Frees Red Leader on Bail And Abolishes Franco-Era Court", The New York Times, December 31, 1976, p. 1
^"President Proposes Puerto Rican State; Urges U.S. Initiative— Plan Comes as a Surprise", by Phil Shabecoff, The New York Times, January 1, 1977, p. 1
^"Text of Statement by Ford on Statehood for Island", The New York Times, January 1, 1977, p. 5