World History 1974

About the history of the world in 1974, India develops nuclear weapons, Solzhenitsyn expelled from Russia, Patricia Hearst is kidnapped.

TWO CENTURIES OF WORLD HISTORY: 1778-1978

1974

* Former U.S. Sen. Eugene McCarthy: "From 1789 to 1972, roughly, we went from Washington to Nixon, from John Adams to Spiro Agnew, from Alexander Hamilton to John Connally, from John Jay to John Mitchell. You have to begin to . . . wonder how much of that kind of progress you can stand."

* India joined the family of nuclear nations when it tested its first atomic bomb.

* King of Kings Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was overthrown by the military.

Feb. Nobel Prize-winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn became the second Soviet citizen ever to be expelled by his country (the first: Leon Trotsky in 1929) for "systematically performing actions that are incompatible with being a citizen of the U.S.S.R." Apparently because he was too world-renowned a figure to banish to Siberia or to lock up in an insane asylum, Soviet authorities adopted the relatively lenient policy of exiling the novelist, even allowing his family to follow him. Soon after he closed his apartment door on Moscow's Kozitsky Lane for the last time, Solzhenitsyn was showered with offers of asylum. Eventually he chose the U.S.

Feb. 4 Patricia Hearst was kidnapped from her Berkeley residence by the radical Symbionese Liberation Army. While in captivity, she announced that she herself was joining the SLA and adopted the name Tania.

Apr. 25 In Portugal, Gen. Antonio de Spinola led a bloodless coup against Prime Minister Caetano.

July The military government of Greece failed to topple President Makarios from power in Cyprus and unite that island with Greece. Shortly thereafter the Greek military cabinet resigned in favor of former Premier Caramanlis.

July Terrorism in Northern Ireland continued to spread to London as members of the Irish Republican Army planted a 10-lb. time bomb beneath the huge 18th-centry Royal George cannon on display in the historical Tower of London. On detonation, the 3-ton relic lifted 5 ft. in the air during visiting hours and splintered into the flesh of tourists, wounding 37, among them 8 children, and killing 1 woman. Beneath the cannon lay a child's severed foot. Other IRA bombings wracked London and cities elsewhere in England.

July 27 The House Judiciary Committee voted 27--11 to recommend the impeachment of President Nixon for his part in the Watergate cover-up.

Aug. 9 In the face of almost certain impeachment, Richard Nixon, the world's most powerful unindicted coconspirator, became the first U.S. president ever to resign his office. Gerald Ford became the 38th president of the U.S.

Sept. 8 President Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for any crimes he may have committed while president. The unpopular act partially contributed to Ford's defeat at the hands of Jimmy Carter two years later.

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