August 1, 1976 (Sunday) Trinidad and Tobago became a republic, with the Governor-General, Sir Ellis Clarke, becoming the first President. Clarke, who had previously served as the head of state as representative of Queen Elizabeth II, said that he would hold the office of president until the Caribbean island nation could elect a successor."Trinidad and Tobago End Ties to British Monarchy", The New York Times, August 2, 1976, p. 3 Defending F1 World Champion Niki Lauda suffered extensive burns in an accident in the German Grand Prix that nearly cost him his life. Fellow racer Arturo Merzario of Italy pulled Lauda from the flaming automobile and saved his life."Lauda Critically Hurt in Prix", The New York Times, August 2, 1976, p. 19 The United Nations High Commission on Refugees arranged for the evacuation of 49 U.S. citizens and their dependents from Vietnam, as the new Communist government allowed a chartered Air France flight from Tan Son Nhut airport near Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) to Bangkok. The group of 23 U.S.-born Americans and 14 spouses and 14 children had been stranded in South Vietnam when Saigon fell to the Communists on April 30, 1975, and most had waited for more than a year for permission to leave. A few of the Americans said that they "had pleaded to no effect to be allowed to stay in Vietnam," while three others had been held in the Chi Hua Prison"49 U.S. Citizens and Dependents Fly From Saigon", by David A. Andelman, The New York Times, August 2, 1976, p. 1 Syria's Prime Minister Mahmoud al-Ayyubi resigned after almost four years in office, and President Hafez al-Assad appointed Ayyubi's predecessor, retired Major General Abdul Rahman Khleifawi to replace him."Syrian Premier Replaced By a Favorite of the Army", by Henry Tanner, The New York Times, August 2, 1976, p. 3 In Austria, Vienna's Reichsbrücke (translated as the "Empire Bridge") collapsed without warning into the Danube River, blocking river traffic and causing almost constant traffic jams within the city. The fall of the bridge, only 42 years old, occurred at around 5:00 in the morning and the structure was not crowded, but the driver of one vehicle was killed."Collapse of Empire Bridge Haunts Vienna", The New York Times, October 18, 1976, p. 12 A wider replacement bridge would open two years later, despite original forecasts that there would not be a substitute before 1981. The 1976 Summer Olympics ended in Montreal. Among the events that took place on the final day of competition, Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany won the marathon. Teófilo Stevenson of Cuba (who had beaten his other opponents in two rounds or fewer) won the heavyweight boxing gold medal in the third round against Romania's Mircea Șimon, and East Germany beat Poland, 3 to 1, to win the soccer competition."Montreal Olympics That Opened in Strife Close on Brigher Note", by Red Smith, The New York Times, August 2, 1976, p. 15 The Seattle Seahawks played their first American football game, a preseason contest at the Kingdome against the visiting San Francisco 49ers, and lost 27 to 20. The 49ers had played as the "home team" in Seattle for preseason games six times in the 20 years before the Seahawks were founded.Mark L. Ford, A History of NFL Preseason and Exhibition Games: 1960 to 1985 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014) p.170 Born: Iván Duque Márquez, President of Colombia since 2018; in Bogotá Amar Upadhyay, Indian TV and film actor known for the soap opera Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Molkki; in Ahmedabad, Gujarat state Nwankwo Kanu, Nigerian soccer football forward for the Nigerian national team which won the 1996 Olympic gold medal, as well as for England's premier league for Arsenal and Portsmouth, and in the Netherlands for Ajax Amsterdam; in Owerri, Imo State
August 2, 1976 (Monday) A gunman murdered Andrea Wilborn and Stan Farr and injured Priscilla Davis and Gus Gavrel, in an incident at Priscilla's mansion in Fort Worth, Texas. T. Cullen Davis, Priscilla's husband and one of the richest men in Texas, was tried and found not guilty for Andrea's murder, involvement in a plot to kill several people (including Priscilla and a judge), and was exonerated from a wrongful death lawsuit. Cullen went broke afterwards.Gary Cartwight, Blood Will Tell: The Murder Trials of T. Cullen Davis (Harcourt, 1979) Alexander Agyeman of Ghana was installed as the traditional ruler of the Akyem people in Ghana's Eastern Region, and crowned as King Osagyefo Kuntunkununku II. Born: Sam Worthington, English-born Australian film star known for Avatar and Clash of the Titans; in Godalming, Surrey Nigamananda Saraswati, Indian Hindu monk who went on an ultimately-fatal hunger strike to call attention to the pollution of the Ganges River; in Darbhanga, Bihar state (d. 2011) Died: Fritz Lang, 85, Austrian-born film producer known for Metropolis and The Big Heat."Fritz Lang Dies at 85, The New York Times, August 3, 1976, p. 1 Monroe J. Rathbone, 76, President of the largest U.S. oil company, Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (now the Exxon Corporation) from 1953 to 1965"Monroe J. Rathbone Dies at 76; Former Exxon Chief Executive", by Wolfgang Saxon, The New York Times, August 3, 1976, p. 32
August 3, 1976 (Tuesday)
U.S. Congressman Jerry Litton of Missouri won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator, then died in a plane crash while flying to a victory party to celebrate his victory."Rep. Litton dies in plane crash, as he wins voting", St. Petersburg (FL) Times, August 5, 1976, p. 3A"Missouri Senate Nominee Dies In Crash After Upset Victory", The New York Times, August 4, 1976, p. 1 Litton, his wife and their two children, and the pilot and a co-pilot were on a twin-engine Beechcraft airplane that lifted off from the airport in Chillicothe, Missouri shortly after 9:00 p.m., then crashed 19 seconds later after a crankshaft broke in the left engine. The airplane, which had been chartered to fly to a victory party in Kansas City, plummeted into a soybean field and exploded on impact, killing all six people on board. Valery Sablin, a Soviet Navy officer who had led a mutiny in 1975 on the anti-submarine ship Storozhevoy on November 8, 1975, was executed after being found guilty of treason in a court-martial. Born: Anoop Menon, Indian film actor, screenwriter and director in Malayalam films; in Kozhikode, Kerala state
August 4, 1976 (Wednesday) The government of Sudan executed 81 people who had been summarily tried and convicted of participation in a July 2 attempt to overthrow the government of Jaafar Nimeiry."Sudan Executes 81 For Coup Attempt Against Nimeiry", The New York Times, August 4, 1976, p. 1 The next day, an additional 17 people were executed including former Sudanese Brigadier General Mohammed Nur Saeed, who had led the effort involving more than 1,000 troops who had been trained in Libyan camps."Sudanese Term Executions Just— Death Verdicts Are Regarded in Khartoum as Retribution for July Coup Attempt", The New York Times, August 8, 1976, p. 5 Roman Catholic Bishop Enrique Angelelli, of the diocese of La Rioja in Argentina, was assassinated by a group of people in two trucks. As he was returning from a Mass in the city of Chamical with another priest, Father Arturo Pinto, Angelelli's truck was forced off the road at the town of Punta de los Llanos. Pinto survived, but after recovering consciousness, he saw that Bishop Angelelli had been beaten to death. Local police described the death as an accident and closed the case. After the restoration of democracy in Argentina, a new investigation would conclude in 1986 that Angelelli had been murdered on orders from an Argentine Army officer. American serial killer and teenager Montie Rissell murdered the first of five female victims in the Washington, DC suburb of Alexandria, Virginia."Murder Case Suspect Had History of Disturbed Behavior", by Jane Seaberry and Patricia Camp, The Washington Post May 20, 1977 After having sex with Aura Gabor, a 26-year-old prostitute who lived in the same apartment complex where he lived, he drowned her in a nearby ravine. In a period of nine months, he would rape 12 women and kill five of them before being arrested on May 18, 1977. The Sun Belt Conference, a group of college basketball in the southeastern United States, was formed by six universities. Only one of the original members, the University of South Alabama, remains in the now 12-member conference. Died: Lord Thomson of Fleet, Canadian-born British publishing mogul who built the Thomson Organization that owned The Times of London"Lord Thomson Dies; Built Press Empire", The New York Times, August 5, 1976, p. 1
August 5, 1976 (Thursday)
Big Ben, the largest bell within London's Clock Tower of Westminster, failed to ring and the clock stopped at 3:45 in the morning after metal fatigue caused the machinery to stop running."Big Ben 'is silenced for months'", The Evening Standard (London), August 5, 1976, p. 1 Although the hands of the clock's four faces were soon operating again after the repairs made by Westminster's chief engineer, Geoffrey Buggin,"Big Ben Halts Briefly; Chimes Need Repair", The New York Times, August 6, 1976, p. 2 a winding drum fell off, breaking the 110-year-old chiming mechanism."Big Ben Gets Deluge Of Get-Well Messages", The New York Times, November 28, 1976, p. I-19 The bells of Big Ben— which had operated regularly since 1859— would be require multiple repairs over the next nine months, but restored in time for the silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth's coronation in May. An explosion at an underground mine in Yugoslavia's Bosnian republic, at Breza, killed 17 of the 118 workers underground. The blast occurred at a depth of ."17 Yugoslav Miners Killed", The New York Times, August 6, 1976, p. 5 As part of the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger, a dispersal draft was conducted for teams to pick the players who had been under contract for the two ABA franchises which had folded, the Kentucky Colonels and the Spirits of St. Louis (who had announced that they would play in Salt Lake City as the "Utah Rockies" if there was a 1976-77 ABA season). The Chicago Bulls, who had had the worst record during the 1975–76 NBA season, selected Artis Gilmore of the Colonels as the first pick overall; the Bulls had drafted Gilmore in the seventh round of the 1971 NBA draft. Twelve players were selected overall by the 23 NBA teams, with 11 teams electing not to draft anyone at all."Bulls select Gilmore first; New Orleans signs Goodrich", Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal, August 6, 1976, p. C-1 Born: May Sabai Phyu, Myanmar feminist and human rights activist; in Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar) Napoleon Beazley, American murderer known for being executed for a killing committed as a juvenile; in Grapeland, Texas (d. 2002) Died: Mapetla Mohapi, 28, black South African inmate who was the first person to be detained under Section 6 of the new Terrorism Act, was found dead in his cell, supposedly strangled by a pair of jeans. A purported suicide note was later shown to have been a forgery. Singer, Entertainer Betty Clooney (Jack Paar Show) died suddenly on August 5, 1976, aged 45, in Las Vegas, Nevada, from a brain aneurysm. She was the younger sister of Rosemary Clooney, aunt to George Clooney. Dr. Fager, 12, American thoroughbred racehorse and 1968 American Horse of the Year, after winning seven major races that year.
August 6, 1976 (Friday)