1975

Events from the year **1975 in the United States**.

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: George Wallace (Democratic)
* Governor of Alaska: Jay Hammond (Republican)
* Governor of Arizona: Jack Richard Williams (Republican) (until January 6), Raul Hector Castro (Democratic) (starting January 6)
* Governor of Arkansas:
	+ until January 3: Dale Bumpers (Democratic)
	+ January 3-January 14: Bob C. Riley (Democratic)
	+ starting January 14: David Pryor (Democratic)
* Governor of California: Ronald Reagan (Republican) (until January 6), Jerry Brown (Democratic) (starting January 6)
* Governor of Colorado: John David Vanderhoof (Republican) (until January 14), Richard Lamm (Democratic) (starting January 14)
* Governor of Connecticut: Thomas J. Meskill (Republican) (until January 6), Ella T. Grasso (Democratic) (starting January 6)
* Governor of Delaware: Sherman W. Tribbitt (Democratic)
* Governor of Florida: Reubin Askew (Democratic)
* Governor of Georgia: Jimmy Carter (Democratic) (until January 14), George Busbee (Democratic) (starting January 14)
* Governor of Hawaii: George Ariyoshi (Democratic)
* Governor of Idaho: Cecil D. Andrus (Democratic)
* Governor of Illinois: Dan Walker (Democratic)
* Governor of Indiana: Otis R. Bowen (Republican)
* Governor of Iowa: Robert D. Ray (Republican)
* Governor of Kansas: Robert Docking (Democratic) (until January 13), Robert F. Bennett (Republican) (starting January 13)
* Governor of Kentucky: Julian M. Carroll (Democratic)
* Governor of Louisiana: Edwin W. Edwards (Democratic)
* Governor of Maine: Kenneth M. Curtis (Democratic) (until January 2), James B. Longley (Independent) (starting January 2)
* Governor of Maryland: Marvin Mandel (Democratic)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Francis W. Sargent (Republican) (until January 2), Michael Dukakis (Democratic) (starting January 2)
* Governor of Michigan: William Milliken (Republican)
* Governor of Minnesota: Wendell R. Anderson (Democratic)
* Governor of Mississippi: Bill Waller (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: Kit Bond (Republican)
* Governor of Montana: Thomas Lee Judge (Democratic)
* Governor of Nebraska: J. James Exon (Democratic)
* Governor of Nevada: Mike O'Callaghan (Democratic)
* Governor of New Hampshire: Meldrim Thomson Jr. (Republican)
* Governor of New Jersey: Brendan Byrne (Democratic)
* Governor of New Mexico: Bruce King (Democratic) (until January 1), Jerry Apodaca (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Governor of New York: Hugh Carey (Democratic)
* Governor of North Carolina: James Holshouser (Republican)
* Governor of North Dakota: Arthur A. Link (Democratic)
* Governor of Ohio: John J. Gilligan (Democratic) (until January 13), Jim Rhodes (Republican) (starting January 13)
* Governor of Oklahoma: David Hall (Democratic) (until January 13), David L. Boren (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Governor of Oregon: Tom McCall (Republican) (until January 13), Robert W. Straub (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: Milton Shapp (Democratic)
* Governor of Rhode Island: Philip W. Noel (Democratic)
* Governor of South Carolina: John C. West (Democratic) (until January 21), James B. Edwards (Republican) (starting January 21)
* Governor of South Dakota: Richard F. Kneip (Democratic)
* Governor of Tennessee: Winfield Dunn (Republican) (until January 18), Ray Blanton (Democratic) (starting January 18)
* Governor of Texas: Dolph Briscoe (Democratic)
* Governor of Utah: Cal Rampton (Democratic)
* Governor of Vermont: Thomas P. Salmon (Democratic)
* Governor of Virginia: Mills E. Godwin Jr. (Republican)
* Governor of Washington: Daniel J. Evans (Republican)
* Governor of West Virginia: Arch A. Moore Jr. (Republican)
* Governor of Wisconsin: Patrick J. Lucey (Democratic)
* Governor of Wyoming: Stanley K. Hathaway (Republican) (until January 6), Edgar J. Herschler (Democratic) (starting January 6)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: Jere Beasley (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Alaska: Lowell Thomas Jr. (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas: Bob C. Riley (Democratic) (until January 14), Joe Purcell (Democratic) (starting January 14)
* Lieutenant Governor of California: John L. Harmer (Republican) (until January 6), Mervyn M. Dymally (Democratic) (starting January 6)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Ted L. Strickland (Republican) (until January 14), George L. Brown (Democratic) (starting January 14)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Peter L. Cashman (Republican) (until January 8), Robert K. Killian (Democratic) (starting January 8)
* Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: Eugene Bookhammer (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Florida: Thomas Burton Adams Jr. (Democratic) (until January 7), Jim Williams (Democratic) (starting January 7)
* Lieutenant Governor of Georgia: Lester Maddox (Democratic) (until January 14), Zell Miller (Democratic) (starting January 14)
* Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii: Nelson Doi (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: Jack M. Murphy (Democratic) (until January 6), John V. Evans (Democratic) (starting January 6)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Neil Hartigan (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Robert D. Orr (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Arthur A. Neu (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Dave Owen (Republican) (until January 13), Shelby Smith (Republican) (starting January 13)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: vacant (until December 9), Thelma Stovall (Republican) (starting December 9)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Jimmy Fitzmorris (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Maryland: Blair Lee III (political party unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Donald R. Dwight (Republican) (until January 2), Thomas P. O'Neill III (Democratic) (starting January 2)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: James H. Brickley (Republican) (until month and day unknown), James Damman (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Rudy Perpich (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: William F. Winter (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: William C. Phelps (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: Bill Christiansen (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: Frank Marsh (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Gerald T. Whelan (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Harry Reid (Democratic) (until January 5), Robert E. Rose (Democratic) (starting January 5)
* Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico: Roberto Mondragón (Democratic) (until January 1), Robert E. Ferguson (Democratic) (starting January 1)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Mary Anne Krupsak (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: Jim Hunt (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: Wayne G. Sanstead (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: John William Brown (Republican) (until January 13), Dick Celeste (Democratic) (starting January 13)
* Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: George Nigh (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Ernest P. Kline (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: J. Joseph Garrahy (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Earle Morris Jr. (Democratic) (until January 21), W. Brantley Harvey Jr. (Democratic) (starting January 21)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: William Dougherty (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Harvey L. Wollman (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: John S. Wilder (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: William P. Hobby Jr. (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Utah: Clyde L. Miller (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: John S. Burgess (Republican) (until month and day unknown), Brian D. Burns (Democratic) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: John N. Dalton (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington: John Cherberg (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Martin J. Schreiber (Democratic)

## Events

### January

* January 1 – Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up.
* January 2 – The Federal Rules of Evidence are approved by the United States Congress.
* January 3 – Volkswagen introduces the Golf, its new front-wheel-drive economy car, in the United States and Canada as the Volkswagen Rabbit.
* January 6
	+ *AM America* makes its television debut on ABC.
	+ *Wheel of Fortune* premieres on NBC.
	+ The Indiana Law Enforcement Academy begins operations.
* January 8
	+ Ella Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first woman U.S. governor who did not succeed her husband.
	+ President Gerald Ford appoints Vice President Nelson Rockefeller to head a special commission looking into alleged domestic abuses by the CIA.
* January 12 – Super Bowl IX: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Minnesota Vikings 16–6 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana.
* January 15 – The Carousel of Progress moves to Walt Disney World from Disneyland.
* January 29 – The Weather Underground bombs the U.S. State Department main office in Washington, D.C.
* January 31 – *Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown* premieres on CBS, but did not win the Nielsen Ratings (Rival NBC won that day at the 8PM Hour).

### February

* February 2 – The 7.6 Ms Near Islands earthquake hits the Aleutian Islands in Alaska with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (*Violent*), injuring 15.
* February 13 – Fire breaks out in the World Trade Center.
* February 21 – Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell, and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, are sentenced to between 30 months and 8 years in prison.
* February 23 – In response to the energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly two months early in the United States.

### March

* March 9 – Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins.
* March 10 – *The Rocky Horror Show* opens on Broadway in New York City with 4 performances.
* March 19 – The release of *Tommy*, a musical/drama produced by Ken Russel and Robert Stigwood.
* March 30 – James Ruppert murders 11 family members inside his home on Easter Sunday.

### April

* April 3 – Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title.
* April 4
	+ Vietnam War: The first military Operation Babylift flight, C5A 80218, crashes 27 minutes after takeoff, killing 138 on board; 176 survive the crash.
	+ Bill Gates founds Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
* April 8 – The 47th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Bob Hope, Shirley MacLaine, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra, is held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Francis Ford Coppola's *The Godfather Part II* wins six awards (twice as many as its predecessor), including Best Picture and Best Director for Coppola. The sequel is tied with Roman Polanski's *Chinatown* in receiving 11 nominations. It is the final ceremony aired by NBC.
* 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.

### May

* May 1 – The unemployment rate peaks at 9.0% ending the Post-War Boom.
* May 5 – The Busch Gardens Williamsburg theme park, originally known as Busch Gardens: The Old Country, opens in Williamsburg, Virginia.
* May 12 – Mayaguez incident: Khmer Rouge forces in Cambodia seize the United States merchant ship SS *Mayaguez* in international waters.
* May 15 – Mayaguez incident: The American merchant ship Mayaguez, seized by Cambodian forces, is rescued by the U.S. Navy and Marines; 38 Americans are killed.
* May 25 – Indianapolis 500: Bobby Unser wins for a second time in a rain-shorted 174 lap, 435 mile (696 km) race.
* May 27 – In the National Hockey League, The Philadelphia Flyers defeat the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 in game six of the finals to claim their second straight Stanley Cup.
* May 30 – American distance runner Steve Prefontaine dies in car accident in Eugene, Oregon.

### June

* June 1 – Bee Gees' album, *Main Course* is released in the United States.
* June 10 – In Washington, DC, the Rockefeller Commission issues its report on CIA abuses, recommending a joint congressional oversight committee on intelligence.
* June 20 - Universal Pictures releases Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Peter Benchley's bestseller *Jaws* in 409 cinemas across the United States. The coupling of this broad distribution pattern with the movie's then even rarer national television marketing campaign has yielded a release method virtually unheard-of. Regardless, the film ultimately brings in $123.1 million by the end of its initial run, and is considered to be the first modern blockbuster as a result.
* June 26 – Two FBI agents and one AIM member die in a shootout at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

### July

* 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 two nations. It is also the last Apollo mission and the last manned U.S. space mission until STS-1 (the first Space Shuttle orbital flight).
* July 22 – Stanley Forman takes the photo *Fire Escape Collapse*.
* July 30 – In Detroit, Michigan, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing. He is never found and is declared dead *in absentia* in 1982.

### August

* August 1 – The 5.7 ML Oroville earthquake affects Butte County, California, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (*Severe*), injuring 10 and causing $3 million in damage.
* August 5 – U.S. President Ford posthumously pardons Robert E. Lee, restoring full rights of citizenship.
* August 8 – Samuel Bronfman II, son of Seagram president Edgar Bronfman, is kidnapped in Purchase, New York. He is rescued after a ransom is paid.
* August 20 – Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.
* August 25 – Bruce Springsteen's album *Born to Run* is released.

### September

* 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 14 – Elizabeth Seton is canonized, becoming the first American Roman Catholic saint.
* September 18 – Fugitive Patricia Hearst is captured in San Francisco.
* September 22 – U.S. President Gerald Ford survives a second assassination attempt, this time by Sara Jane Moore in San Francisco.

### October

* 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 twelfth inning home run, but the Reds would go on to win in Game Seven.

### November

* November 3 – An independent audit of Mattel, one of the United States' largest toy manufacturers, reveals that company officials fabricated press releases and financial information to "maintain the appearance of continued corporate growth."
* November 5 – Travis Walton, a 22-year-old logger, is working in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest with six co-workers near Snowflake, Arizona, when he suddenly disappears. Walton is found five days later and says that he has been abducted by extraterrestrial aliens. His book, *The Walton Experience* (1978), will become the basis for a film, *Fire in the Sky* (1993).
* November 10 – The bulk carrier *Edmund Fitzgerald* sinks 15 miles off of Whitefish Point, Michigan, losing all 29 crew on board.
* November 20 – Former California Governor Ronald Reagan enters the race for the Republican presidential nomination, challenging incumbent President Gerald Ford.
* November 29
	+ The name "Micro-soft" (for microcomputer software) is used by Bill Gates in a letter to Paul Allen for the first time (Microsoft becomes a registered trademark on November 26, 1976).
	+ While disabled, the submarine tender USS *Proteus* (AS-19) discharges radioactive coolant water into Apra Harbor, Guam. A Geiger counter at two of the harbor's public beaches shows 100 millirems/hour, 50 times the allowable dose.
	+ The 7.4 Mw Hawaii earthquake hits several of the Hawaiian Islands with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (*Severe*), causing two deaths, up to 28 injuries, and a destructive tsunami.

### December

* December 8 – New York City is approved for a bailout of $2.3 billion each year through to 1978, $6.9 billion total.
* December 23 – United States Congress passes the Metric Conversion Act which encourages, but does not mandate, metrication in the United States and establishes the Metric Board.
* December 25 – The first Family Express opens in Valparaiso, Indiana.
* December 29 – A bomb explosion at LaGuardia Airport kills 11.

## Memoriam

* January 6 – Burton K. Wheeler, attorney and politician (aged 92; Washington, DC, USA)
* January 7 – Harry Gunnison Brown, academic economist (aged 94; Columbia, MO, USA)
* January 8 – Louis P. Lochner, political activist, journalist and author (aged 87; Wiesbaden, (West) Germany)
* January 18 – Evelyn Greeley, silent film actress (aged 86; West Palm Beach, FL, USA)
* January 19 – Thomas Hart Benton, painter (aged 85; Kansas City, MO, USA)
* January 24 – Larry Fine, comedian, actor, and musician (*The Three Stooges*) (aged 72; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* January 27 – Bill Walsh, film producer and writer (aged 61; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* February 4 – Louis Jordan, African American swing band leader (aged 66; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* February 5 – George Rowe, silent film character actor (aged 80; Santa Barbara, CA, USA)
* February 10 – Dave Alexander, musician (aged 27; Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
* February 14 – P. G. Wodehouse, comic writer (aged 93; Southampton, NY, USA)
* February 16 – Morgan Taylor, Olympic hurdler (aged 71; Rochester, NY, USA)
* February 25 – Elijah Muhammad, Nation of Islam leader (aged 77; Chicago, IL, USA)
* March 9 – Alfred E. Driscoll, 43rd Governor of New Jersey (aged 72; Haddonfield, NJ, USA)
* March 14 – Susan Hayward, film actress (aged 57; Beverly Hills, CA, USA)
* March 15 – Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate (aged 69; Neuilly-sur-Seine, France)
* March 30 – Pancho Barnes, pioneer aviator (aged 73; Boron, CA, USA)
* April 19 – Percy Lavon Julian, African American research chemist (aged 76; Waukegan, IL, USA)
* April 20 – John Vachon, photographer (aged 60; New York City, NY, USA)
* May 4
	+ Two Ton Baker, entertainer (aged 59; Hazel Crest, IL, USA)
	+ Moe Howard, comedian and actor (*The Three Stooges*) (aged 77; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* May 30 – Steve Prefontaine, long-distance runner (aged 24; Eugene, OR, USA)
* June 6 – Larry Blyden, actor and game show host (aged 49; Agadir, Morocco)
* June 15 – William Austin, film character actor (aged 91; Newport Beach, CA, USA)
* July 16 – Lester Dragstedt, surgeon (aged 81; Elk Lake, MI, USA)
* September 6 – Shelton Brooks, African American song composer (aged 89; Los Angeles County, CA, USA)
* October 1 – Larry MacPhail, lawyer and baseball executive (aged 85; Miami, FL, USA)
* November 11 – Clinton Anderson, politician (aged 80; Albuquerque, NM, USA)
* November 14 – Harry J. Anslinger, 1st Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (aged 83; Altoona, PA, USA)
* December 24 – Bernard Herrmann, composer and husband of Lucille Fletcher (aged 64; Los Angeles, CA, USA)