Events Date 1975 January | History by KabAstro

Jan 1 41st Orange Bowl: #9 Notre Dame beats #2 Alabama, 13-11
Jan 1 61st Rose Bowl: #5 Southern California beats #3 Ohio State, 18-17

Newcombe's 7th Grand Slam

Jan 1 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Home favourite John Newcombe wins 7th and last career Grand Slam singles title; beats Jimmy Connors of the US 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6

Watergate Convictions

Jan 1 H. R. Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell and Mardian convicted of Watergate crimes

Nixon's White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman

Jan 1 International Women's Year begins
Jan 1 Sweden adopts constitution
Jan 1 U.S. Federal oil depletion allowance eliminated for large producers
Jan 2 US Department of Interior designates grizzly bear a threatened species
Jan 4 Ice thickness measured at 4776 m, Wilkes Land, Antarctica
Jan 4 New Orleans Jazz set a then NBA record (with 24-second shot clock) by scoring only 20 points in the first half of a 111-89 loss in Seattle; unwanted record stands for nearly 25 years
Jan 4 NHL Boston Bruins Dave Forbes becomes 1st athlete indicted for criminal assault for excessive violence during play; stick butt-end the face of Minnesota North Star Henry Boucha caused permanent vision damage; court case ends in hung jury, and a civil settlement is eventually reached
Jan 4 NHL Montreal Canadiens shutout Washington Capitals 10-0

"Gypsy"

Jan 4 Revival of Jules Styne and Stephen Sondheim's "Gypsy" closes at Winter Garden Theater, NYC. after 120 performances, and a Tony Award for Angela Lansbury

Jan 4 Revival of Ray Henderson, B.G. DeSylva, and Lew Brown's musical "Good News" closes at St James Theater, NYC, after 16 performances
Jan 4 Richard Sherman and Robert Sherman's musical "Over Here!", closes at Shubert Theater, NYC; runs for 341 performances and was the top-grossing production of the year
Jan 4 US President Gerald Ford signs Executive Order on CIA activities within the US (No 11828)
Jan 5 14 die when British freighter "Lake Illawarra" rams pylon bridge between Derwent & Hobart, Tasmania & ship sinks
Jan 5 Charlie Smalls' musical "The Wiz", an updated take on "The Wizard of Oz", starring Stephanie Mills, Stu Gilliam, and Dee Dee Bridgewater, opens at Majestic Theater, NYC; runs for 1672 performances, winning 7 Tony and 6 Drama Desk Awards
Jan 5 Salyut 4 with crew of 2 is launched for 30 days
Jan 6 "AM America" premieres on ABC-TV with Bill Beutel as host
Jan 6 "Wheel Of Fortune" debuts on NBC-TV
Jan 6 A thousand Led Zeppelin fans, waiting overnight inside the lobby of the Boston Garden for tickets to the group's February 4th gig to go on sale, cause a riot and an estimated $30,000 damage
Jan 7 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to AR Ammons (Sphere)
Jan 7 Gary Geld and Peter Udell's musical "Shenandoah", based on the film of the same name, closes at Alvin Theater, NYC; runs for 1050 performances and wins 2 Tony Awards
Jan 7 Led Zeppelin fans riot before Boston concert causing $30,000 damage

Watergate Figures Released

Jan 8 Judge John Sirica orders release of Watergate's John Dean III, Herbert W. Kalmbach and Jeb Stuart Magruder from prison

Jan 9 600 employees of Royal Canadian Mint go on strike
Jan 9 Australia beat England by 171 runs in 4th Test to regain Ashes
Jan 11 Soviet Soyuz 17 carries 2 cosmonauts to space station Salyut 4
Jan 12 Chrysler Corp offers 1st car rebates
Jan 12 Super Bowl IX, Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, LA: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Minnesota Vikings, 16-6; MVP: Franco Harris, Pittsburgh, RB

Kissinger Hints Action Over Oil

Jan 13 US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger hints at military action against oil countries in case of "actual strangulation of the industrialized world" in the wake of oil shock

US Secretary of State and Political Scientist Henry Kissinger

Jan 14 17-year-old Lesley Whittle is kidnapped in Shropshire, England

25th NBA All-Star Game

Jan 14 25th NBA All-Star Game, Arizona Vets Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Az: East beats West, 108-102; MVP: Walt Frazier, NY Knicks, PG

Jan 14 Anita Wold (Norway) sets women's ski jump distance record-98 m
Jan 14 USSR breaks trade agreement with US

Diller's Hollywood Star

Jan 15 Pioneering American female comedian Phyllis Diller gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Jan 15 Portugal signs accord for Angola's independence
Jan 15 Space Mountain opens at Disney World in Orlando, Florida
Jan 18 "The Jeffersons" spinoff from "All in the Family" premieres on CBS
Jan 19 4 mail truck assault on El Al B-747 in Paris, escape to Iraq
Jan 19 Triple J begins broadcasting in Sydney, Australia.
Jan 20 25th NFL Pro Bowl, Miami Orange Bowl: NFC beats AFC, 17-10; MVP: James Harris, LA Rams, QB
Jan 20 Terrence McNally's play "Ritz" premieres in NYC
Jan 21 28th NHL All-Star Game, Montreal Forum: Wales Conference beats Campbell Conference, 7-1; MVP: Syl Apps Jr., Pittsburgh, C
Jan 22 Landsat 2, an Earth Resources Technology Satellite, launched
Jan 23 "Barney Miller" premieres on ABC TV

Baseball Hall of Fame

Jan 23 Former Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Ralph Kiner is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

Jan 24 "Hot l Baltimore" situation comedy premieres on ABC TV
Jan 24 Fastest Earth-bound object, 7200 kph, in vacuum centrifuge, England

Potvin's Hat Trick

Jan 25 10th hat trick in NY Islander history, Denis Potvin's 1st

32nd Golden Globes

Jan 25 32nd Golden Globes: "Chinatown", Jack Nicholson, and Gena Rowlands win

Rahman Disposed

Jan 25 Bangladeshi parliament disposes of premier Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

Founding Father of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

"Seascape"

Jan 26 Edward Albee's play "Seascape" premieres in NYC

Jan 28 1975 NFL Draft: Steve Bartkowski from University of California first pick by Atlanta Falcons
Jan 28 8th ABA All-Star Game: East 151 beats West 124 at San Antonio
Jan 29 First American Annual Comedy Awards, hosted by Alan King