An Eastern Airlines jet crashes near John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, killing 115 people on this day in 1975. The Boeing 727 was brought down by wind shear, a sudden change in wind speed or direction. On the afternoon of June 24, the New York area experienced severe thunderstorms with heavy […]
Continue ReadingJaws Released
The ominous tones of the now-famous “shark theme” (composed by John Williams and performed by tuba player Tommy Johnson) mark the arrival of Hollywood’s first major summer blockbuster on this day in 1975, when the director Steven Spielberg’s thriller Jaws debuts in U.S. theaters. Based on the best-selling book by Peter Benchley, Jaws takes place […]
Continue ReadingJaws Released
On this day in 1975, Jaws, a film directed by Steven Spielberg that made countless viewers afraid to go into the water, opens in theaters. The story of a great white shark that terrorizes a New England resort town became an instant blockbuster and the highest-grossing film in movie history until it was bested by […]
Continue ReadingLinda Ronstadt Has Her First #1 Hit On The Country-Music Charts
By the end of the 1970s, the decade of her greatest commercial success, Linda Ronstadt was being hailed with honors like “the First Lady of Rock” and “Top Female Pop Singer of the Decade.” But neither of those titles captured the true breadth of her musical pursuits or of her popularity. As synonymous as she […]
Continue ReadingIndira Gandhi Convicted Of Election Fraud
Indira Gandhi, the prime minister of India, is found guilty of electoral corruption in her successful 1971 campaign. Despite calls for her resignation, Gandhi refused to give up India’s top office and later declared martial law in the country when public demonstrations threatened to topple her administration. Gandhi was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the […]
Continue ReadingAngelina Jolie Born
On this day in 1975, the Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie (Voight) is born in Los Angeles, California. Jolie’s father, the actor Jon Voight, had been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for Midnight Cowboy (1969); he won the award for Coming Home (1978). Her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, was also an actress; the couple divorced […]
Continue ReadingGrizzly Bear Is Classified As A “Threatened” Species
In 1975, the grizzly bear–once the undisputed king of the western wilderness–is given federal protection as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Before the Anglo-Americans began invading their territory, the grizzly bear inhabited most of the country west of the Mississippi from Mexico north to the Arctic Circle. Its only serious competitors for […]
Continue ReadingJapanese Woman Scales Everest
Via the southeast ridge route, Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world.
Continue ReadingA Nurse Steals Another Woman’s Unborn Baby
Norma Jean Armistead checks herself into Kaiser Hospital in Los Angeles, California, with a newborn that she claims to have given birth to at home. Some staff members were already aware that Armistead, a nurse at the hospital, had a pregnancy listed on her medical charts the previous year, but dismissed it as a mistake […]
Continue ReadingThe Inventor Of Western Swing Dies
Bob Wills, one of the most influential musicians in the history of country-western music, is born on a small farm near Kosse, Texas. Born James Robert Wills in 1905, he was trained to be a musician from an early age. His father was a champion fiddle player, and he began giving Wills lessons as soon […]
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