50 Fun Facts About 1975

Which climber, buried by an avalanche twelve days earlier, became the first woman to summit Everest on 16 May?

Junko Tabei later became the first woman to complete the Seven Summits, the highest peak on every continent, finishing on Puncak Jaya. She reached the top with her sherpa guide Ang Tsering.

Which 'Bayonne Bleeder' was finally floored with 19 seconds left in the 15th round against Muhammad Ali?

Chuck Wepner's stand moved Sylvester Stallone to write Rocky, released the following year. The nickname began as an insult about his facial cuts, and he adopted it as his own.

Which Soviet grandmaster became world champion on 3 April by forfeit, after the American holder refused FIDE's terms?

Anatoly Karpov, determined to prove himself a legitimate champion, played nearly every major tournament for the next ten years. FIDE president Max Euwe made the declaration.

Which company's engineer Steven Sasson built the first self-contained digital camera, needing 23 seconds per image?

Kodak's 1975 prototype weighed 8 pounds, used a 100-by-100-pixel sensor, 0.01 megapixels, and recorded each picture to cassette tape. Sasson designed it to run on batteries.

Which Sony home-video format went on sale in Japan on 10 May, with early tapes limited to an hour of recording?

Betamax lost the format war to VHS, yet Sony kept making recorders until August 2002 and blank cassettes until March 2016. The first US model came bundled with a 19-inch Trinitron television.

Which band's 'Bye, Bye, Baby' was the UK's best-selling single of the year, spending six weeks at number one from March?

The Bay City Rollers' chart-topper was a cover of a 1965 single by the Four Seasons.

Which BBC sitcom, first shown on 4 April, has a 40-year-old plastics designer quit the rat race to go self-sufficient?

The Good Life starred Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal, and its 1978 farewell episode was recorded as a Royal Command Performance before the Queen and Prince Philip.

Which 18-year-old, beaten by Chris Evert in the US Open semi-finals, went to a New York immigration office to defect?

Martina Navratilova was stripped of her Czechoslovak citizenship for seeking political asylum and became a US citizen in 1981. Her nine Wimbledon singles titles remain a record.

Which North American Soccer League club brought Pelé out of semi-retirement to debut against Dallas Tornado on 15 June?

Pele scored on his New York Cosmos debut in a 2-2 draw at Downing Stadium, played his last official match there on 28 August 1977 in a 2-1 Soccer Bowl win over Seattle, and bowed out in an exhibition against Santos that October.

Which side won the first Cricket World Cup final at Lord's, helped by Clive Lloyd's 82-ball century, by 17 runs?

The West Indies beat Australia in a game that ended at 8:43pm after nearly ten hours, with Viv Richards, who had failed with the bat, running out three batsmen.

Which Bryan Forbes film of an Ira Levin novel has Katharine Ross find her new town's men replacing their spouses?

The Stepford Wives put a phrase into the language, with 'she's a real Stepford wife' becoming a common jibe; the men explain that they do it 'because they can'.

Which trio topped the US chart in March with 'Lady Marmalade', an Allen Toussaint production with a French chorus?

Labelle's refrain 'Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?' translates as 'Do you want to sleep with me, tonight?' and was written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. The single spent one week on top.

Which golfer, invited after winning the 1974 Monsanto Open, became the first Black player to compete in the Masters?

Lee Elder returned to Augusta in April 2021 to take part in the Masters' traditional ceremonial start, 46 years after his debut.

Which footballer, born in Leytonstone on 2 May, was given the middle name Robert in honour of Bobby Charlton?

David Beckham's parents were such fanatical Manchester United supporters that they drove 200 miles from London to Old Trafford for home matches. He signed for the club as a trainee in July 1991.

Which actress, born on 4 June, had a bit part aged seven in her father Jon Voight's Lookin' to Get Out?

Angelina Jolie was born Angelina Jolie Voight at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, the daughter of Voight and the actress Marcheline Bertrand.

Which golfer, born in Cypress, California on 30 December, putted against Bob Hope on TV before turning three?

Tiger Woods was nicknamed after his father's South Vietnamese army friend, colonel Vuong Dang Phong, also known as 'Tiger'. The 1978 putting contest came on The Mike Douglas Show.

Which Merv Griffin game show, based on hangman, premiered on NBC on 6 January with Chuck Woolery as host?

Wheel of Fortune has aired continuously since, with Pat Sajak taking over on 28 December 1981 and Vanna White named Susan Stafford's successor a year later. Griffin's 1973 pilot was titled Shopper's Bazaar.

Which club won the FA Cup 2–0 against a Fulham side including Bobby Moore, with both goals scored by Alan Taylor?

West Ham United were facing their former captain: the Wembley final on 3 May was Bobby Moore's last appearance at the stadium. Fulham had never reached the final before.

Which team beat the Boston Red Sox in a seven-game World Series famed for Carlton Fisk waving his Game 6 homer fair?

The Cincinnati Reds, the 'Big Red Machine', had won a franchise-record 108 games that season and took their first title since 1940. Fisk's ball struck the foul pole above the Green Monster.

Which Euston Films series, launched on ITV on 2 January, takes its name from the rhyming slang for the Flying Squad?

The Sweeney starred John Thaw as Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman as George Carter, and grew out of Regan, a 1974 film made for Thames's Armchair Cinema strand.

Which Ken Russell film of a Who rock opera had Elton John play the Pinball Wizard in gigantic Dr. Martens boots?

Tommy's Ann-Margret won a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination, while Elton John reportedly took the part on condition he could keep the boots. Roger Daltrey played the deaf, mute and blind title role.

Which Gerry Anderson series, Britain's costliest yet, has a nuclear-waste explosion hurl the Moon out of Earth's orbit?

Space: 1999 starred the American couple Martin Landau and Barbara Bain and carried a £6.8 million budget over two series. The blast propels the Moon 'like an enormous booster rocket'.

Which Kojak actor took a spoken-word reading of Bread's ballad 'If' to two weeks at UK number one in March?

Telly Savalas's hit, written by David Gates in 1971, also reached number one in Ireland. Bread had first popularised the song.

Which sitcom's Windsor Davies and Don Estelle, in character, took 'Whispering Grass' to UK number one for three weeks?

It Ain't Half Hot Mum's Battery Sergeant Major Williams and Gunner 'Lofty' Sugden revived a 1940 song written by Fred Fisher and his daughter Doris, first recorded by Erskine Hawkins.

Which BBC drama from Winston Graham's novels has Robin Ellis reviving derelict copper mines in 18th-century Cornwall?

Poldark paired Ellis with Angharad Rees as Demelza and ran from 1975 to 1977. The hero is Captain Ross Vennor Poldark.

Which creator of the Daleks debuted in Terry Nation's serial Genesis of the Daleks, opposite Tom Baker's Doctor?

Davros, played by Michael Wisher, forces the Doctor to ask whether he has the right to commit genocide against the Daleks; a 1998 Doctor Who Magazine poll voted the serial the greatest story ever.

Which club won the League title in Dave Mackay's first full season as manager, a second championship in four years?

Derby County took the 1974–75 title with 53 points from 42 games, winning 21, drawing 11 and losing 10.

Which club retained the European Cup in Paris, beating Leeds United 2–0 with late goals from Franz Roth and Gerd Müller?

Bayern Munich were held until the 71st minute, after Leeds had a Peter Lorimer goal disallowed for offside against Billy Bremner and two penalty appeals refused.

Which Soviet lander sent the first pictures from another planet's surface, lasting 53 minutes on Venus on 22 October?

Venera 9 measured a surface pressure of about 90 atmospheres and a temperature of 485 °C before radio contact through its orbiter was lost.

Which Soviet hydrogen-bomb designer won the Nobel Peace Prize but was refused permission to collect it in Oslo?

Andrei Sakharov's wife, Yelena Bonner, read his speech at the ceremony in his place. His 'Third Idea' design matched the Teller–Ulam configuration used in the United States.

Which field, the first big oil find in Britain's North Sea sector, was formally inaugurated by the Queen on 3 November?

Forties began producing in September and sends its oil through a 36-inch pipeline to landfall at Cruden Bay, north of Aberdeen, and on across Scotland to Grangemouth.

Which body did the Sex Discrimination Act, in force from 29 December, set up to work towards eliminating discrimination?

The Equal Opportunities Commission policed a law that covered employment, training, education, harassment, goods and services and the disposal of premises, for men and women alike.

Which Governor-General dismissed Australia's prime minister on 11 November, appointing Malcolm Fraser as caretaker?

Sir John Kerr's decision drew the famous reply from the Parliament House steps, 'Well may we say God save the Queen, because nothing will save the Governor-General'; Fraser's coalition then won a record 91 seats in December.

Which comic novelist was knighted in the New Year Honours aged 93, then died at a Long Island hospital six weeks later?

P. G. Wodehouse's KBE was secured by Harold Wilson, and The Times read it as 'official forgiveness for his wartime indiscretion'. He died of a heart attack on 14 February.

Which country gained independence from Australia on 16 September, keeping Michael Somare as its first prime minister?

Papua New Guinea has 840 known spoken languages, making it the most linguistically diverse country in the world.

Which Frenchman won the first Tour de France to finish on the Champs-Élysées, dropping Merckx on the Pra-Loup climb?

Bernard Thévenet denied Merckx a record sixth Tour, with the Belgian finishing second, in the first year the mountains leader wore a white jersey with red polka dots.

Which New Zealander ran the first sub-3:50 mile, clocking 3:49.4 in Gothenburg on 12 August?

John Walker went on to win the 1500 m at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, holding off Ivo Van Damme after an African boycott removed his rival Filbert Bayi, whose record he had broken.

Which Dutch group won Eurovision in Stockholm with 'Ding-a-dong', at the first contest using 12-point top marks?

Teach-In's win on 22 March came as the United Kingdom finished second for a record-extending ninth time. Each jury gave 12, 10, then 8 down to 1 point.

Which Kurosawa film, shot with Mosfilm in the Russian Far East, won the foreign-language Oscar as a Soviet entry?

Dersu Uzala was shot on 70 mm from explorer Vladimir Arsenyev's 1923 memoir, and because the Academy treated it as Soviet it competed against the Japanese film Sandakan No. 8.

Which Genoese poet, whose first collection was 1925's Ossi di seppia, won the Nobel Prize in Literature?

Eugenio Montale was cited 'for his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has interpreted human values under the sign of an outlook on life with no illusions'.

Which Himalayan protectorate voted 97.5% to abolish its monarchy and became India's 22nd state on 16 May?

Sikkim, India's least populous state, borders Bhutan, Nepal and Tibet, and its highest point is the summit of Kangchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak.

Which colt beat Bustino by half a length at Ascot on 26 July, a race The Observer ranked the second-greatest ever?

Grundy's winning time of 2:26.98 broke the race record by almost two and a half seconds, and he never won again, finishing a tired fourth next time out before retiring to stud.

Which composer of Psycho and Vertigo died in his sleep on 24 December, the day after recording his Taxi Driver score?

Bernard Herrmann had that evening viewed a rough cut of Larry Cohen's God Told Me To, his next assignment, and dined with Cohen; both Scorsese and Cohen dedicated their films to him.

Which underdog team swept the favoured Washington Bullets 4–0 in the NBA Finals, with Rick Barry named series MVP?

The Golden State Warriors' sweep brought the franchise its first championship since 1956.

Which actress took a third Oscar for Murder on the Orient Express, then said Valentina Cortese should have won it?

Ingrid Bergman's supporting-actress award came at the 8 April ceremony at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, her first Oscar since Anastasia in 1956.

Which Jhabvala novel, whose narrator traces her grandfather's first wife Olivia in India, won the Booker Prize?

Heat and Dust was filmed in 1983 with Jhabvala writing the screenplay herself; Olivia's story is told in flashback.

Which Kensington store, famed for its Rainbow Room and up to a million customers a week, was closed by British Land?

Biba was the creation of Polish-born Barbara Hulanicki and her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon, and had filled the seven-storey Derry & Toms building at the site of the Kensington Roof Gardens.

Which island gave Typically Tropical a UK number one in August, a song the Vengaboys later reworked as a trip to Ibiza?

'Barbados' was made by two Trojan Records audio engineers, Jef Calvert and Geraint Hughes, and entered the chart at 37 before climbing to number one five weeks later.

Which singer's 'Lovin' You', begun as a distraction for her baby daughter, hit US number one on 5 April?

Minnie Riperton's daughter grew up to be the comedian Maya Rudolph, whose name is sung at the end of the album version; Stevie Wonder co-produced the track. Its bridge shows off her whistle register.

Which waterway reopened on 5 June after eight years, freeing the fifteen 'Yellow Fleet' cargo ships trapped since 1967?

The Suez Canal's first northbound convoy to Port Said was led by an Egyptian destroyer carrying President Anwar Sadat; Egypt had shut it at the start of the Six-Day War.