The following events occurred in March 1976:
March 1, 1976 (Monday) The House of Commons of the United Kingdom voted, 249 to 139, to make the wearing of seat belts mandatory in the UK for drivers and passengers in the front seat of a motor vehicle."Commons Votes Seat-Belt Bill", by Bernard Weinraub, The New York Times, March 2, 1976, p. 5 In the United Kingdom, Home Secretary Merlyn Rees announced that Special Category Status for those sentenced for scheduled terrorist crimes relating to the civil violence in Northern Ireland, introduced in 1972, would be phased out, in accordance with the recommendations of the Gardner Committee. The Norwegian drilling rig Deep Sea Driller ran aground off Bergen, breaking off a leg and killing six crew members. It would later be repaired and returned to service. The Association of Tennis Professionals began issuing its rankings of individual men who were the best in doubles play, after having ranked singles play for men beginning on August 23, 1973. Bob Hewitt of South Africa became the first player named as #1 in doubles. At the time, Jimmy Connors of the U.S. continued to be listed by the ATP as the #1 ranked male player in the world. The Women's Tennis Association, which had Chris Evert ranked as the #1 individual, would not make doubles player rankings until 1984.
March 2, 1976 (Tuesday) A TAM – Transporte Aéreo Militar IAI Arava 201 (registration TAM-76) on a military flight crashed in the Bolivian jungle, killing 19 of the 22 people on board. The plane's wreckage was found two days later.Aviation Safety Network Accident Description Steam locomotive train service ended permanently in Japan after more than a century, as the last two steam engines in non-heritage service, Japanese National Railways Class 9600s numbered 39679 and 79602 are retired from switching duties in Hokkaido. Former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter temporarily lost his front-runner status in the race for the 1976 Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. presidential election, as U.S. Senator Henry M. Jackson of Washington won the Massachusetts Primary, finishing ahead of Alabama Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama and Congressman Morris K. Udall of Arizona. Carter finished in fourth place. In the Republican primary, U.S. President Ford won uncontested, although one-sixth of the voters cast a write-in ballot for former California Governor Ronald Reagan."Jackson Beats Wallace and Udall, Carter Is 4th in Massachusetts Vote; Ford Tops Reagan", by John Kifner, The New York Times, March 3, 1976, p. 1
March 3, 1976 (Wednesday) Police in Spain fired into a crowd of Basque demonstrators in Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of the Basque region, killing five and wounding 150. The National Police Corps used tear gas against striking workers, before it began firing."Two Are Killed in Basque City As Police Battle Demonstrators", The New York Times, March 4, 1976, p. 2«Masacre del 3 de marzo en Vitoria-Gasteiz (1976)» , Biblioteca i Centre de Documentació de l'Artium, Vitòria. (Spanish) Carlsbad Skatepark, the first facility in the U.S. state of California to be designed for skateboarding, opened in the San Diego suburb of Carlsbad, California. Born: Natalia Kukulska, Polish pop music singer; in Warsaw
March 4, 1976 (Thursday) The Maguire Seven, members of a family resident in West Kilburn, London, UK, were found guilty of possessing explosives used in IRA terrorist activity; their sentences would eventually be reversed in 1991. Winegrowers in the French village of Arquettes-en-Val rioted over the importation of "cheap Italian and Spanish wines" by France, and fought a gun battle with police that killed one civilian and one policeman; 29 people were injured, most of them police."French Riot Over Wine Imports", The New York Times, March 5, 1976, p.1 The funeral for Emile Pouytes, a 52-year old winemaker who was killed in the gunfight, was attended by 10,000 people."10,000 in France Attend Funeral Of a Winegrower Killed in Clash", by Flora Lewis, The New York Times, March 7, 1976, p. 2 The policeman killed was Captain Joel Ligoff. The United States Senate narrowly voted, 47 to 46, to reject a resolution that would have declared the 1974 U.S. Senate race for Oklahoma in doubt, clearing the way for Henry Bellmon, a Republican, to begin a second term, after nine Democrats join the Senate's 37 Republican Senators. Oklahoma had had only one U.S. Senator since January 1975 because of doubts over whether Bellmon or Democrat Ed Edmondson had won the race."Senator Bellmon Retains His Seat", The New York Times, March 5, 1976, p. 8 In the first criminal indictment of an airline on charges relating to an accident, a federal grand jury in New York brought charges against Pan American World Airways and four other companies for the November 3, 1973 crash of a Boeing 707 cargo plane, in which the three-man crew was killed."Pan Am Indicted in Boston Crash", by Max H. Seigel, The New York Times, March 5, 1976, p. 1 The United Nations Statistics Division announced that the number of people on Earth would reach a population of almost eight billion by the year 2010 if the present 1.9% annual growth rate continued, more than double the population of 3,890,000,000 reported for 1974."Nearly Eight Billion Population By 2010 Projected by the U.N.", The New York Times, March 5, 1976, p. 4 In the 35 years that followed, the growth rate would be slowed somewhat by increased education on and availability of contraception, and the United Nations Population Fund would record the world's population at 6.9 billion people in 2010, with recognition of reaching 7,000,000,000 people as of October 31, 2011"Day of Seven Billion", United Nations Population Fund and a forecast of 2027 as the year to top eight billion people. The Medal of Honor was presented to three American officers who had been prisoners of war during the Vietnam War, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral James Stockdale, U.S. Air Force Captain George "Bud" Day, and, posthumously, to U.S. Air Force 2nd Lieutenant Lance Sijan. Born: Mohsen Namjoo, Iranian film score composer; in Torbat-e Jam, Razavi Khorasan Province Died: Walter H. Schottky, 89, German physicist
March 5, 1976 (Friday) For the first time in history, the value of the British pound sterling was worth less than two United States dollars. At 2:39 in the afternoon, the milestone was crossed on the London Stock Exchange and as of closing, the worth of £1.00 was $1.975."Value of the Pound Drops Below $2 for First Time", by Peter T. Kilborn, The New York Times, March 6, 1976, p.1 On the final day of the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the composition of the ruling Communist Party Politburo was changed by vote of the Central Committee. The most notable alteration was the removal of the Soviet Minister of Agriculture, Dmitry Polyansky, from the 15 full members of the Politburo, apparently because of the failure of the 1975 grain harvest."Soviet Agriculture Chief Is Ousted From Politburo", The New York Times, March 6, 1976, p.1 New full members, both promoted from candidate member status, were General Dmitry Ustinov and 53-year-old Leningrad Party Secretary Grigory Romanov, raising the number of Politburo members to 16. Mohamed Lamine Ahmed was named as the first head of government for the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic, declared in February by Polisario Front guerrillas who were fighting for independence of the area, recently annexed by Morocco after the withdraw of Spanish colonial forces."Group in Sahara Names Government", The New York Times, March 6, 1976, p.6 With the inflation rate in Argentina now equivalent to 240% per annum, the government of the South American republic announced a new devaluation of the Argentine peso. Formally valued at 76 pesos to a dollar, the new rate was 250 pesos."Argentina Announces and Emergency Economic Plan", The New York Times, March 6, 1976, p.6 Toni Innauer of Austria set a world record for the longest ski jump, at in West Germany at Oberstdorf. Two days later, he broke his own world record with a jump of .
March 6, 1976 (Saturday) All 111 people on board Aeroflot Flight 909 were killed when the airplane crashed while flying from Moscow to the Armenian SSR capital at Yerevan. The Ilyushin Il-18 jet crashed at night near Verkhnyaya Khava in the Soviet Union after an electrical fault caused the failure of several major instruments, including the compass, the main gyroscopes and the autopilot, causing the crew to lose control.Aviation Safety Network Accident Description
Wilfred Benitez, a 17-year-old American high school student, won the World Boxing Association light welterweight championship when he defeated Antonio Cervantes in a bout in San Juan, Puerto Rico, becoming the youngest professional boxing world champion in history."Puerto Rican youngest ring champ at 17", San Francisco Examiner, March 7, 1976, p. 1C Nigerian Army Lieutenant Colonel B. S. Dimka, was arrested after a three week-long manhunt and charged with treason for the February 13 assassination of President Murtala Muhammed and the attempted overthrow of the government."Nigeria Arrests Leader of Coup", The New York Times, March 7, 1976, p.7 He would be executed on May 15. The South African Grand Prix took place at the Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg, and was won by Niki Lauda. Died: Maxie Rosenbloom, 68, American light heavyweight boxing champion 1930 to 1934, later a TV actor
March 7, 1976 (Sunday) India's government released opposition leader Charan Singh, who had been under house arrest for more than eight months since Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had declared a state of emergency."Gandhi Regime Frees An Opposition Leader", The New York Times, March 8, 1976, p.6 Singh would later become the Prime Minister of India for a brief period in 1979 and 1980. Eight high school students from Minster, Ohio, were killed and four injured when a car plowed into them while they were walking on a road in Mercer County. The dead and injured had been among 50 students from Minster High School who had been traveling together in several cars to go to a dance."Students Stop, Hit By Car", AP report in Lexington (Ky.) Leader, March 8, 1976, p. 1 The nucleus of Comet West, which had made its closest approach to the Sun on February 25, split into two fragments while being observed from the Earth by astronomers, apparently having been affected by the Sun's gravitational field."C/1975 V1 (West)", Gary W. Kronk's Cometography"Comet Expected in Sky for Week— Maximum Visibility Would Be in East Before Sunrise", The New York Times, March 2, 1976, p. 17 Born: Brittany Daniel and Cynthia Daniel, American TV and film actresses known as the stars of the Fox and UPN television series Sweet Valley High; in Gainesville, Florida Roman Sakin, Russian sculptor; in Kursk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union Died: Wright Patman, 82, the oldest member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Congressman for Texas since 1929."Wright Patman, 82, Dean of House, Dies", by Eileen Shanahan, The New York Times, March 8, 1976, p.1 General Nam Il, 60, Vice Premier of North Korea and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a car accident Jacques Duboin, 97, French economist who pioneered the theory of "distributive economy" Ivan Borkovský, 78, Ukrainian-born Czech archaeologist
March 8, 1976 (Monday) A meteor shower of over 100 extraterrestrial objects took place over China with large meteorites falling over an area of in the Jilin province in Manchuria, with one weighing , the largest ever to have been observed during its descent."A Meteor Shower Hits Rural China", by Fox Butterfield, The New York Times, April 22, 1976, p. 15