What Happened in December 1976

Historical Events

Dec 1 Angola admitted to the UN

Ziaur Rahman

Dec 1 Bangladeshi Army Chief of Staff Ziaur Rahman declares himself Chief Martial Law Administrator and de facto leader

Sex Pistols

Dec 1 Sex Pistols using profanity on TV, gets them branded as "rotten punks"

Castro President

Dec 2 Communist revolutionary Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba, replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado

Cuban Revolutionary and President Fidel Castro

Dec 3 Patrick J Hillery elected President of Ireland

Pieter Menten Arrested

Dec 6 Dutch war criminal Pieter Menten arrested in Zurich, Switzerland

Security Council Endorses Waldheim

Dec 7 UN Security Council endorses Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General for second 5 year term

4th Secretary-General of the United Nations Kurt Waldheim

Dec 8 Asylum Records releases The Eagles fifth studio album "Hotel California"; it spawns two #1 singles and sells over 30 million copies
Dec 8 UN General Assembly re-elects Kurt Waldheim Secretary-General
Dec 8 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

First Nobel Lecture in Mandarin

Dec 10 Samuel C. C. Ting is the first person to deliver a Nobel Prize lecture in Mandarin, during the ceremony to award him and Burton Richter the Nobel Prize for Physics for discovering the J/ψ particle

Physicist and Nobel Laureate Samuel C. C. Ting

Dec 10 Wings release triple album "Wings Over America"

Namath's Last Game

Dec 12 Quarterback Joe Namath plays his last game with the NY Jets

Dec 12 Spaniard Manuel Orantes beats Wojtek Fibak of Poland 5–7, 6–2, 0–6, 7–6, 6–1 to win his first and only season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis title in Houston, Texas
Dec 13 Golden Gate Bridge District starts ferry service to Larkspur
Dec 13 Longest non-stop passenger airflight (Sydney to San Francisco 13h 14m)
Dec 14 Dutch 1st Chamber condemns Dutch Liberal/social dem abortion laws
Dec 15 Jamaica premier Manley wins elections
Dec 15 Oil tanker Argo Merchant runs aground on the Nantucket Shoals, spilling 7.6 m million gallons of fuel oil - one of the largest oil spills at sea
Dec 15 Samoa becomes a member of the UN
Dec 16 Andrew Young named Ambassador & Chief US Delegate to UN

Finley vs. Kuhn Suit

Dec 16 Charlie Finley's $10 million damage suit against Bowie Kuhn begins

Dec 16 Government halts swine flu vaccination program following reports of paralysis
Dec 16 Liberian tanker stranded at Nantucket, 180,000 barrels oil in sea
Dec 17 Superstation WTBS in Atlanta went national
Dec 18 "Wonder Woman" debuts on ABC

A Star is Born

Dec 18 Second remake of "A Star is Born" film, directed by Frank Pierson and starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, premieres

Singer-Songwriter and Actress Barbra Streisand

Country Singer-Songwriter Kris Kristofferson

Dec 18 Soviet dissident Viktor Bukovskiexchanged for Chile CP-leader Corvalan
Dec 19 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Santiago, Chile: Paolo Bertolucci & Adriano Panatta give Italy unassailable 3-0 lead; beat Patricio Cornejo & Jaime Fillol of Chile 6-3, 2-6, 9-7, 6-3; ends, 4-1
Dec 19 John Lever takes 7-46 in 1st Test Cricket innings, v India Delhi
Dec 19 Piper Cherokee plane crashes into Baltimore Memorial Stadium upper stands, 10 minutes after Colts lose 40-14 to Pittsburgh Steelers, no one seriously hurt

Brezhnev Honored

Dec 19 Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev receives his 5th Order of Lenin

Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev

Rabin Resigns

Dec 20 Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin resigns

5th Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin

Dec 20 Richard Adler and Will Holt's musical "Music Is", based on William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 8 performances
Dec 21 20th Islander shut-out opponent-Billy Smith 3-0 vs Bruins
Dec 21 Patricia R Harris named secretary of HUD
Dec 21 UN General Assembly passes a resolution declaring 1979-Year of Child
Dec 21 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Dec 22 "Your Arm's Too Short..." opens at Lyceum NYC for 429 performances
Dec 22 35 Unification church couples wed in NYC
Dec 22 East Germany grants rock singer Nina Hagen her request to leave the country, after refusing her stepfather re-entry
Dec 25 6th Fiesta Bowl: #8 Oklahoma beats Wyoming, 41-7
Dec 25 Egyptian SS Patria sinks in Red Sea, about 100 killed
Dec 25 Takeo Fukuda becomes Japanese premier

Raiders Beat Steelers

Dec 26 AFC Championship, Oakland Coliseum: Oakland Raiders beat Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-7

Dec 26 NFC Championship, Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington: Minnesota Vikings beat Los Angeles Rams, 24-13
Dec 26 Richard Adler and Will Holt's musical "Music Is" based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest", starring Christopher Hewitt, and directed by George Abbott, closes at St James Theater, NYC after 8 performances
Dec 26 The Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) is founded.
Dec 27 Albania constitution goes into effect

Ballon d'Or

Dec 28 Ballon d'Or: Bayern Munich defender Franz Beckenbauer wins title of Europe's best football player for a 2nd time; beats Anderlecht winger Rob Rensenbrink and Dukla Prague goalkeeper Ivo Viktor

Dec 28 Genie Francis joins "General Hospital" as Laura Vining

Music Premiere

Dec 28 Revival of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's musical "Fiddler on the Roof", starring Zero Mostel, opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 167 performances

Musical Theater Lyricist Sheldon Harnick

Dec 28 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

Winnie Mandela Banished

Dec 28 Winnie Mandela banished in South Africa

Anti-Apartheid Activist and Politician Winnie Mandela

Dec 30 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Dec 31 The Cars played their 1st gig
Dec 31 TV soap "Somerset" ends 6 year run

Events in 1976

Famous Birthdays

Dec 1 Brently Heilbron, American satirist
Dec 1 Konerak Sinthasomphone, Jeffrey Dahmer's victim, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Dec 1 Matthew Shepard, American murder victim (d. 1998)
Dec 1 Tomasz Adamek, Polish boxer (WBC light heavyweight title 2005-07; IBF, Ring magazine and lineal cruiserweight title 2008-09), born in Żywiec, Poland
Dec 3 Byron Kelleher, New Zealand rugby union halfback (57 caps; Highlanders, Chiefs, Toulouse), born in Dunedin, New Zealand
Dec 3 Mark Boucher, South African cricket wicketkeeper (147 Tests, record 555 dismissals; 295 ODIs), born in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Dec 4 Amie Comeaux, American country music singer, born in Brusly, Louisiana (d. 1997)
Dec 4 Betty Lennox, American basketball guard (WNBA champion, WNBA Finals MVP 2004, Seattle Storm), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dec 4 Kristina Groves, Canadian speed skater (Olympic silver 1,500m, team pursuit 2006, silver 1500m bronze 3000m 2010), born in Ottawa, Ontario
Dec 5 Amy Acker, American actress (Root-Person of Interest), born in Dallas, Texas
Dec 5 Evonne Hsu, Taiwanese-American Mando-pop singer, born in Longview, Texas
Dec 5 Xavier Garbajosa, French rugby union outside back (32 Tests, Grand Slam 1998, 2002; Toulouse RFC, Aviron Bayonnais), born in Toulouse, France
Dec 6 Alicia Machado, Venezuelan-American actress, winner of Miss Universe 1996 and Donald Trump critic, born in Maracay, Venezuela
Dec 6 Colleen Haskell, American television personality (Survivor: Borneo 2000 contestant), born in Bethesda, Maryland
Dec 6 Lindsay Price, American actress (Bold & Beautiful, All My Children), born in Arcadia, California
Dec 7 Alan Faneca, American football player (Pittsburgh Steelers), born in New Orleans, Louisiana

Dec 7 Brent Johnson, Canadian football player (BC Lions), born in Kingston, Ontario
Dec 7 Derek Ramsay, British-Filipino actor (No Other Woman), TV personality ("Eat Bulaga!"), and ultimate frisbee player, born in Enfield, England
Dec 7 Georges Laraque, Canadian ice hockey player (Edmonton Oilers), born in Montreal, Quebec
Dec 7 Mark Duplass, American filmmaker and musician (The Morning Show), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 7 Sunny Sweeney, American country music singer-songwriter ("From a Table Away"; "Drink Myself Single"), born in Houston, Texas
Dec 8 Dominic Monaghan, English actor (The Lord of the Rings, Lost), born in Berlin, West Germany
Dec 8 Naimee Coleman, Irish singer and songwriter, born in Dublin, Ireland
Dec 9 Chris Booker, American baseball player, born in West Virginia
Dec 11 Shareef Abdur-Rahim, NBA forward (Vancouver Grizzlies), born in Marietta, Georgia
Dec 12 Dan Hawkins, British rock guitarist (The Darkness), born in Chertsey, England
Dec 12 Lloyd Owusu, English-Ghanaian football player, born in Slough, England
Dec 13 Josh Fogg, American baseball player, born in Lynn, Massachusetts
Dec 13 Radosław Sobolewski, Polish footballer, born in Białystok, Poland
Dec 13 Søren Friis, Danish footballer (AC Horsens)
Dec 14 André Couto, Portuguese racing driver, born in Lisbon, Portugal

Dec 14 Leland Chapman, American bounty hunter, born in Groom, Texas
Dec 14 Santiago Ezquerro, Spanish footballer (Athletic Bilbao), born in Calahorra, Spain
Dec 15 Baichung Bhutia, Indian soccer striker (80 caps; SC East Bengal, AC Mohun Bagan), born in Tinkitam, India
Dec 15 Elix Skipper, American professional wrestler, born in Roosevelt, New York

Ashens (47 years old)

Dec 16 English YouTube personality (Ashens, Ashens and the Quest for the GameChild), born in Norwich

Dec 17 Andrew Simpson, British sailor (Olympic gold Star class 2008; World C'ship gold 2010), Chertsey, England (d. 2013)
Dec 17 Nir Davidovich, Israeli footballer
Dec 17 Patrick Müller, Swiss soccer defender (89 caps; Servette FC, Lyon), born in Geneva, Switzerland
Dec 17 Takeo Spikes, American football player
Dec 18 Koyuki, Japanese actress and model
Dec 20 Adam Powell, Welsh computer programmer and game designer (Neopets), born in Newport, Wales
Dec 20 Aubrey Huff, American baseball player, born in Marion, Ohio
Dec 20 Jang Hyuk, Korean actor, born in Busan, South Korea
Dec 20 Ramon Stoppelenburg, Dutch traveler and author, born in Leiden, Netherlands
Dec 21 Mirela Manjani, Greek javelin thrower, born in Durrës, Albania
Dec 22 Brian A. Alexander, American screenwriter and director
Dec 22 Jason Lane, American baseball player, born in Santa Rosa, California
Dec 22 Katleen De Caluwé, Belgian athlete, born in Rumst, Belgium
Dec 23 Brad Lidge, American baseball player, born in Sacramento, California
Dec 23 Dimitris Mavrogenidis, Greek footballer, born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Dec 25 Armin van Buuren, Dutch DJ and producer, born in Leiden, Netherlands
Dec 25 Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish rock keyboardist and songwriter (Nightwish), born in Kitee, Finland
Dec 26 Lea De Mae, Czech actress, born in Prague, Czech Republic (d. 2004)
Dec 27 Aaron Stanford, American actor
Dec 27 Fernando Pisani, Canadian/Italian ice hockey player
Dec 28 Joe Manganiello, American actor (Spider-Man, Magic Mike XXL, True Blood), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Dec 29 Danny R. McBride, American actor, writer, and producer, born in Statesboro, Georgia
Dec 29 Saqlain Mushtaq, British-Pakistani cricketer (Pakistan Test off-spinner 1995), born in Lahore, Pakistan
Dec 30 A.J. Pierzynski, American baseball player
Dec 31 Craig Reucassel, Australian comedian, member of The Chaser, born in South Africa

Born in 1976

Famous Weddings

Elizabeth Taylor

Dec 4 English-American actress Elizabeth Taylor (44) marries for the 7th time to American politician John Warner (49); divorce in 1982

Famous Deaths

Dec 1 George Earnshaw, American baseball pitcher (World Series 1929-30; Philadelphia Athletics), dies at 76
Dec 2 Danny Murtaugh, American baseball infielder (NL stolen base leader 1941 Philadelphia Phillies) and manager (World Series 1960, 71; Pittsburgh Pirates), dies from a stroke at 59
Dec 2 William Tannen, American actor (Jailhouse Rock, Sitting Bull), dies at 65
Dec 3 Mary Nash, actress (Philadelphia Story, Till the Clouds Roll By), dies at 91
Dec 4 Ace Gutowsky, Russian/American football fullback (Portsmouth Spartans, Brooklyn Dodgers; NFL C'ship 1935, Detroit Lions), dies of cancer at 67
Dec 4 Tommy Bolin, American rock guitarist and songwriter (Deep Purple), dies of heroin and other substances overdose at 25
Dec 4 W. F. McCoy, Northern Irish politician (b. 1886)

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

Dec 4 English composer (The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra; Peter Grimes), dies of heart failure at 63

Dec 5 Benjamin Thackston "Tack" Knight, American cartoonist ("Little Folks"), dies at 81
Dec 6 João Goulart, Brazilian politician (President of Brazil, 1961-94), dies mysteriously at 57
Dec 9 Nino Martini, Italian actor (The Gay Desperado, Here's to Romance), dies from a heart attack at 71

Wes Ferrell (1908-1976)

Dec 9 American baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1933, 37; no-hitter 1931; record 37 career HRs hit by a pitcher), dies at 68

Dec 12 John "Jack" Cassidy, American stage and screen actor and Grammy Award-winning singer (Shangri-La; The Eiger Sanction: She Loves Me; Columbo), dies in an apartment fire at 49
Dec 12 Vinko Zganec, Croatian ethnomusicologist (b. 1890)
Dec 13 Eduard Claudius, writer, dies
Dec 16 George, a goose that lived to 49 years 8 months, dies
Dec 16 Réal Caouette, French Canadian politician (Social Credit Party of Canada), dies at 59
Dec 20 Richard J Daley, American politician (38th Mayor-Chicago-D:1955-76), dies of a heart attack at 74
Dec 20 Walter Fitzgerald, actor (Adv of Sadie, Fallen Idol), dies at 80
Dec 21 Edward Bartlett, cricketer (WI Test batsman in 5 Tests 1928-31), dies
Dec 22 Martin Luis Guzman, Mexican novelist (Eagle & the Serpent), dies at 89
Dec 23 Frank Forest [Hayek], American actor (Big Broadcast of 1937, Champagne Waltz), dies at 80
Dec 23 Walter Bauer, German Canadian writer, dies at 72
Dec 24 Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza, unfulfilled claimant to the throne of Portugal, dies at 69
Dec 24 Victor Stanitsin, actor (War & Peace, Jubilee), dies at 79
Dec 25 Arthur Mitchell, English cricket batsman (6 Tests, 2 x 50; Yorkshire CCC), dies at 74
Dec 25 Frankie Darro [Frank Johnson], American actor (Radio Ranch, Wild Boys of the Road, Valley of Wanted Men), dies of a heart attack at 58
Dec 26 Philip Hart, American lawyer and politician (U.S. Senator (D) from Michigan, 1959-76), dies from cancer at 64
Dec 27 Main Rousseau Bocher, American uniform designer (Red Cross, Girl Scouts, Waves), dies at 86
Dec 28 Freddie King, American blues singer (Hideaway), dies at 42
Dec 28 Katharine Byron, U.S. Congresswoman, dies at 73
Dec 29 Ivo van Damme, Belgian 800/1500 m sprinter (Olympic silver 1976), dies at 22

On This Day