In 1974....
• The Cold War was ongoing.
• The U.S. population was just more than two hundred million.
• The U.S. was still in the midst of the Space Race.
• The death penalty was still briefly suspended in the United States (from 1972-1976).
• The energy crisis of the 1970s was ongoing. Gas was sometimes limited in the United States.
• Pioneer 11 made its famous fly-by of Jupiter. Sending back some of the most famous images of the giant gas planet.
• The Sting won best picture.
• The F-16 made its first flight.
• Teruo Nakamura and Hiroo Onoda, two of the last known Japanese soldiers from World War II, who still believed the war to be ongoing, either surrendered or were captured.
• The Oakland Athletics won the World Series. The Miami Dolphins won the Super Bowl. The Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship. The Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup.
• Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record.
• Patty Hearst was kidnapped and then joined her kidnappers in the Symbionese Liberation Army in a famous case of Stockholm Syndrome.
• Odd-even rationing of gas was ongoing, as a result of the 1973 oil crisis. Drivers with odd-numbered license plates were allowed to purchase gas only on odd-numbered days of the month, and vice versa.
• The most popular baby name was Jennifer.
• All in the Family was the most popular show.
• Stephen King's first novel to be published, Carrie, came out.
• Connect Four was trademarked and first sold.
• Christian Bale was born.
• Cee Lo Green was born.
• Mark-Paul Gosselaar was born.
• Leonard DiCaprio was born.
• Seth Green was born.
• Alyson Hannigan was born.
• BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti was born.
• Penelope Cruz was born.
• Derek Jeter was born.
• Amy Adams was born.
• Jimmy Fallon was born.
• Duke Ellington died.
• Charles Lindberg died.
• India tested an atomic bomb.
• The Warsaw radio mast, a giant radio broadcaster in Poland became the world's tallest structure.
• The United Nations voted to give the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.
• "Lucy," the 3.2-million-year-old bone remnants of an early hominid, was discovered in Ethiopia.
• Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashed in France killing 346 people.
• The median U.S. home price was between $34,000 and 37,000.
• Car bombings took place in Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland. The bombings, for which a Northern Ireland paramilitary group claimed responsibility for years later, left 43 dead and wounded 300.
• The Rumble in the Jungle took place in Zaire where Muhammed Ali defeated George Foreman to regain the heavyweight title.
