The following events occurred in October 1974:
October 1, 1974 (Tuesday) Nigeria's president, Yakubu "Jack" Gowon, announced that the government pledge to return the West African nation to civilian rule by 1976 was being postponed indefinitely. Gowon would be overthrown seven months later. Houston reporter Anita Martini became the first female journalist admitted to the locker room of a major league sports team after the Los Angeles Dodgers had defeated the host Houston Astros, 8 to 5, to end the season in first place in the National League West. Martini followed male reporters to the locker room and announced that she wanted to interview Jimmy Wynn and was told, as she expected, that she would have to wait until Wynn got dressed and came out to see her. She asked the attendant to take a message to Wynn, who got the approval of Dodgers manager Walt Alston and allowed Ms. Martini to come in. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden was inaugurated in Washington, D.C., to display the art collection donated by Joseph Hirshhorn, who was present for the event. U.S. President Gerald Ford, whose wife, Betty Ford, was recovering from breast cancer surgery, was unable to attend. A chicken house fire in Pittsfield, Maine, killed 29,000 hens and caused over $50,000 in damage. Died: Spyridon Marinatos, 72, Greek archaeologist, discoverer of the ruined city of Aktotiri, died of a skull fracture from an accidental fall at an excavation on the island of Santorini. Clifford McIntire, 66, former member of the United States House of Representatives from Maine Frederick Moosbrugger, 73, United States Navy vice admiral, World War II commander of destroyer squadrons This source gives Moosbrugger's day of death as October 2.
October 2, 1974 (Wednesday) The Soviet Union detonated a 1.7-kiloton atomic bomb near the village of Udachny as part of a dam construction project. Plans for further atomic blasts were halted after the radioactivity from fallout proved to be much larger than expected. The Cleveland Indians became the first team in Major League Baseball history to name an African-American manager, with the announcement that they had hired Frank Robinson to guide the team in the 1975 season. The hiring came five days after Cleveland manager Ken Aspromonte's contract expired and was not renewed. Edwin Reinecke, the Lieutenant Governor of California, resigned the same day he received probation and a suspended 18-month jail sentence following his criminal conviction for perjury. United Artists released the crime drama film The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, starring Walter Matthau and directed by Joseph Sargent. Paramount Pictures released the crime drama film The Gambler, starring James Caan and directed by Karel Reisz. Born: Rachana Banerjee (born Jhumjhum Banerjee), Indian film actress; in Calcutta, West Bengal Died: Nurul Amin, 81, the only Vice President of Pakistan, known for serving 13 days as Prime Minister in 1971 and eight days as acting president in 1972. William Lipkind, 69, American anthropologist and children's author Vasily Shukshin, 45, Soviet actor, writer, screenwriter and director from the Altai region, died of a heart attack while filming the war epic They Fought for Their Country. Carl R. Woodward, 84, former president of the University of Rhode Island
October 3, 1974 (Thursday) An 8.1 magnitude earthquake in Peru killed 78 people and injured 2,414 others. The epicenter was located west-southwest of Lima. Born: Marianne Timmer, Dutch speed skater who won three Olympic gold medals and three world championships, primarily for the 1000m, between 1997 and 2006; in Sappemeer, Groningen Woody Aragón (stage name for Emilio de Paz Aragón), Spanish magician and illusionist; in Madrid Adel Ferdosipour, Iranian TV producer and journalist known for the Iranian programs Navad and Football 120; in Rafsanjan Died: Bessie Louise Pierce, 86, American historian, author of A History of Chicago
October 4, 1974 (Friday) Deng Xiaoping, who had fallen into disfavor during the Cultural Revolution in China after serving as a high-ranking government official in the 1950s, was named as the Primary Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China by Premier Zhou Enlai, with the approval of Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong, and would later become the paramount leader of the People's Republic. The conservative New Democracy (Néa Dimokratía) political party was founded in Greece by former Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis after the end of rule by the nation's military junta. Died: Anne Sexton, 45, American poet and writer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning., cited in Robert Lee Moore, 91, American mathematician
October 5, 1974 (Saturday) Dave Kunst became the first person verified to have traveled around the world on foot, arriving back at his home at Waseca, Minnesota, after having left there, with his brother John, on June 20, 1970. Kunst covered an estimated in his journey. John had been shot to death by bandits in Afghanistan in 1972. The Provisional Irish Republican Army bombed two pubs frequented by British Army personnel in Guildford, Surrey in England, killing five people and injuring 54. All of the dead and most of the injured were inside The Horse and Groom at 8:30 in the evening when the first bomb detonated, left under a table by two terrorists posing as a man and woman on a date. The second bomb exploded at The Seven Stars, which had been evacuated after the first bombing, but was being searched by pub employees. Two more pubs were bombed in London on October 11, without fatalities. Born: Christian Core, Italian professional rock climber; in Savona Died: Zalman Shazar (born Shneur Zalman Rubashov), 84, President of Israel from 1963 to 1973. Miguel Enríquez, 30, Chilean physician, general secretary of the Revolutionary Left Movement, was killed by security forces during a 2-hour gun battle in a suburb of Santiago. Robert G. Robinson, 78, United States Marine Corps first lieutenant, World War I Medal of Honor recipient Ebe Stignani, 71, Italian mezzo-soprano opera singer Virgil Miller, 87, American cinematographer on 157 films
October 6, 1974 (Sunday)
Argentine Formula One racing driver Carlos Reutemann won the 1974 United States Grand Prix at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi secured the win of the 1974 World Championship of Drivers with his fourth-place finish. The race was marred by the death of 25-year-old Austrian driver Helmut Koinigg, who was decapitated after crashing on the 10th lap; his car broke through two catch fences and then went under a guard rail. A yes or no election was held in Albania for the 250 seats of the Kuvendi. Only one candidate was nominated in each constituency, and all 250 were members of the Democratic Front of Albania. The Albanian government announced that all 1,248,530 of the eligible voters had cast their ballots, and that 1,248,528 of the ballots were valid. David Pearson won the 1974 National 500 stock car race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. Born: Hoàng Xuân Vinh, Vietnamese sports shooter and the first, and only, Vietnamese athlete to win an Olympic gold medal; in Sơn Tây, Hanoi. Xuan won gold for the Men's 10 meter air pistol competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Jeremy Sisto, TV American actor best known for his roles as Cyrus Lupo in Law and Order, Billy Chenowith in Six Feet Under and Jubal Valentine in FBI; in Grass Valley, California. Died: V. K. Krishna Menon, 78, India's Ambassador to the United Nations 1952 to 1962 Luther H. Hodges, 76, U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 1961 to 1965 and Governor of North Carolina from 1954 to 1961. C.J. Latta CBE, 80, British film executive and managing director of the Associated British Picture Corporation David Wallace, 66, American sociologist and marketing research specialist, died of a stroke.
October 7, 1974 (Monday) King Bhumibol Adulyadej promulgated Thailand's ninth Constitution, but issued a memorandum objecting to its provision that the president of the Privy Council countersign the monarch's order appointing senators.
Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, attended the East German Republic Day Parade of 1974, a military parade on Karl-Marx-Allee in East Berlin, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of East Germany. The United States, Great Britain and France, which did not recognize the right of East Germany to have soldiers in East Berlin, condemned the parade. Wilbur Mills, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives for almost 17 years, had his political career ended by a bizarre incident of public intoxication. Mills was drunk when police pulled over the car he was riding in, along with his extramarital mistress, Fanne Foxe. Although he won re-election as a Congressman from Arkansas, he compounded his reputation for drinking irresponsibly on November 30 as reporters followed him and would resign on December 1. Born: Shannon MacMillan, American soccer football midfielder, 1996 Olympic gold medalist and 1999 World Cup champion with 177 caps for the U.S. national team; in Syosset, New York Amit Agrawal, Indian inventor and mechanical engineer leading the development of diagnostic microdevices; in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh Franco Simon (stage name for Franco Simon Neelankavil), Indian composer and vocalist for Malayalam language films; in Thrissur, Kerala Charlotte Perrelli, Swedish singer; in Hovmantorp Died: Henry Cadbury, 90, American Bible scholar and Quaker who co-founded the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), died of a cerebral hemorrhage following a fall down the stairs at his home. In 1947, Cadbury accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo when it was awarded to the AFSC and the British Friends Service Council. This source incorrectly gives Cadbury's day of death as October 9. Kenneth Leslie, 81, Canadian poet, songwriter and political activist
October 8, 1974 (Tuesday) In the largest bank failure in U.S. history, Franklin National Bank on Long Island, adjacent to New York City, collapsed after becoming insolvent and having insufficient assets to pay the interest on a one-billion-dollar loan from the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. The United Mexican States added Baja California Sur as its 30th state and Quintana Roo as its 31st state, after ratification by the Congress of Mexico and by a majority of the legislatures of the other states of Mexico. President Luis Echeverría Álvarez signed the decree to confer statehood on both former territories. U.S. President Gerald Ford launched his "Whip Inflation Now" (WIN) campaign in conjunction with a speech to Congress to reduce the federal deficit by reducing federal spending and raising the income tax for corporations and wealthy individuals by five percent. The "WIN" campaign was intended to encourage Americans to save money by reducing personal spending. The next day in major newspapers, a button that said "WIN" on it was offered to anyone who signed and mailed back a pledge that said, "Dear President Ford: I enlist as an inflation fighter and Energy Saver for the duration. I will do the very best I can for America." In La Paz, Bolivia, a bomb destroyed a statue of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy on the Avenue of the Americas. There were no injuries. Born: Koji Murofushi, Japanese athlete in the hammer throw, 2004 Olympic gold medalist and 2011 World Champion; in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture Zoran Zaev, Prime Minister of North Macedonia from 2020 to 2022; in Strumica, SR Macedonia, SFR Yugoslavia Died: Harry Carney, 64, American jazz saxophonist Paul G. Hoffman, 83, American businessman and statesman, administrator of the Marshall Plan and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
October 9, 1974 (Wednesday)