What happened in 1975

World2

• Jul 30Typhoon Nina forms over the Philippine Sea.
• Aug 1The Helsinki Accords, which officially recognize Europe's national borders and respect for human rights, are signed in Finland.

North America7

• Apr 4Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft (at this time known as Micro-Soft) in Albuquerque, New Mexico and release their Altair BASIC interpreter. (Microsoft becomes a registered trademark on November 26, 1976.)]]
• Aug 20Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.
• Sep 5In Sacramento, California, Lynette Fromme attempts to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford, but is thwarted by a Secret Service agent.
• Sep 22In San Francisco, Sara Jane Moore tries to assassinate U.S. President Ford, but is foiled by the Secret Service.
• Sep 30The Hughes Helicopters (later McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing IDS) AH-64 Apache makes its first flight.
• Sep 30(US time) Home Box Office becomes the first pay television network to deliver a continuous signal via satellite by broadcasting the "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match live.
• Nov 10United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379: By a vote of 72–35 (with 32 abstentions), the United Nations General Assembly approves a resolution equating Zionism with racism. The resolution provokes an outcry among Zionists. It is repealed in 1991.

Europe16

• Feb 11Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for the leadership of the opposition UK Conservative Party. Thatcher, 49, is Britain's first female leader of any political party.
• Feb 28A major tube train crash at Moorgate station, London kills 43 people.
• Mar 22"Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In (music by Dick Bakker, lyrics by Will Luikinga and Eddy Ouwens) wins the 20th Eurovision Song Contest 1975 (staged in Stockholm) for the Netherlands.
• Apr 24West German Embassy siege in Stockholm: Six Red Army Faction terrorists take over the West German embassy in Stockholm, take 11 hostages and demand the release of the group's jailed members; shortly after, they are captured by Swedish police.
• May 27The Dibbles Bridge coach crash near Grassington, North Yorkshire, England, results in 32 deaths (the highest toll in a United Kingdom road accident).
• Jun 11After a referendum and seven years of military rule, modern-day Greece is established as the Hellenic Republic.
• Aug 11Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese East Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a UDT coup and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.
• Sep 15The French department of Corse, comprising the entire island of Corsica, is divided into two departments: Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica) and Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica).
• Sep 27Francoist Spain executes five ETA and FRAP members, the last executions in Spain to date.
• Oct 30Juan Carlos I of Spain becomes acting head of state after General Francisco Franco concedes that he is too ill to govern. His death on November 20 effectively marks the end of the dictatorship established following the Spanish Civil War and the beginning of the Spanish transition to democracy.
• Nov 6The Green March begins: 300,000 unarmed Moroccans converge on the southern city of Tarfaya and wait for a signal from King Hassan II of Morocco to cross into Western Sahara.
• Nov 10The Treaty of Osimo is signed between Italy and Yugoslavia, resolving their dispute over Trieste. Under the agreement, a majority of the land area and residents go to Italy.
• Nov 14Madrid Accords: Spain agrees to hand over power of the Spanish Sahara to Morocco and Mauritania by the end of February 1976.
• Nov 15The "Group of 6" industrialized nations (G-6) is formed and holds its 1st summit at the Château de Rambouillet in France.
• Nov 22Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of General Francisco Franco; he will reign until his abdication in 2014.

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USSR / Russia2

• Jul 17Apollo–Soyuz Test Project: A crewed American Apollo spacecraft and the crewed Soviet Soyuz spacecraft for the Soyuz 19 mission dock in orbit, marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the 2 nations.
• Nov 10Lev Leshchenko revives "Den Pobedy", one of the most popular World War II songs in the Soviet Union.

Asia19

• Feb 4The Haicheng earthquake in Haicheng, Liaoning, China, kills 2,041 and injures 27,538, but much of the city has been evacuated in a claimed example of earthquake prediction.
• Mar 10Vietnam War: North Vietnamese troops attack Ban Mê Thuột in South Vietnam on their way to capturing Saigon.
• Mar 13Vietnam War: South Vietnam President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu orders the Central Highlands evacuated. This turns into a mass exodus involving troops and civilians (the "Convoy of Tears").
• Apr 4Vietnam War: The first military Operation Babylift flight, C5A 80218, crashes 27 minutes after takeoff, killing 138 on board; 176 survive the crash.
• Apr 18The Khmer Rouge begins a forcible mass evacuation of the city and starts the Cambodian genocide.
• Apr 25Vietnam War: As North Vietnamese Army forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost 10 years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
• Apr 29Vietnam War: North Vietnam concludes its East Sea Campaign by capturing all of the Spratly Islands that were being held by South Vietnam.
• Apr 30Vietnam War – Fall of Saigon: The Vietnam War concludes as Communist forces from North Vietnam take over Saigon, resulting in mass evacuation of the remaining American troops and South Vietnam civilians. As the capital is taken, South Vietnam surrenders unconditionally and is replaced with a temporary Provisional Government.
• May 16Sikkim accedes to India after a referendum and abolishes the Chogyal, its monarchy.
• Jun 25Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declares a state of emergency in India, suspending civil liberties and elections.
• Jul 21The Parliament of India votes to approve Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's declaration of a state of emergency, with a 301–76 vote in the lower house and a 147–32 vote in the upper house.
• Aug 15Founder President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh is killed during a coup led by Major Syed Faruque Rahman.
• Oct 16The "Balibo Five", Australian television journalists are killed at Balibo by Indonesian Army special forces in the buildup to the Indonesian invasion of East Timor.
• Nov 28Portuguese Timor declares its independence from Portugal as East Timor.
• Dec 7Indonesian invasion of East Timor: Indonesia invades East Timor; the occupation continues until 1999 when U.N. peacekeepers take control, which they did until 2002.

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Middle East4

• Mar 6Algiers Agreement: Iran and Iraq announce a settlement in their border dispute.
• Mar 25King Faisal of Saudi Arabia is shot and killed by his nephew.
• Apr 13Bus massacre: The Kataeb militia kills 27 Palestinians during an attack on their bus in Ain El Remmeneh, Lebanon, triggering the Lebanese Civil War which lasts until 1990.
• Jul 4Zion Square refrigerator bombing. A terrorist attack in downtown Jerusalem kills 15 civilians and wounds 77.

Latin America3

• Jun 6The Georgetown Agreement, formally creating the ACP Group, is signed.
• Nov 25Suriname gains independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
• Dec 21Six people, including Carlos the Jackal, kidnap delegates of an OPEC conference in Vienna.

Africa13

• Jan 15Alvor Agreement: Portugal announces that it will grant independence to Angola on November 11.
• Feb 11Colonel Richard Ratsimandrava, President of Madagascar, is assassinated.
• Feb 28The National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) approaches the South African Embassy in London and requests 40 to 50 artillery pieces to assist their cause in the Angolan Civil War.
• Apr 13A coup d'état in Chad led by the military overthrows and kills President François Tombalbaye.
• May 28Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States.
• Jun 25Mozambique gains independence from Portugal.
• Jul 5Cape Verde gains independence after 500 years of Portuguese rule.
• Jul 6The Comoros declares and is granted its independence from France.
• Jul 12São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal.
• Sep 16Cape Verde, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe join the United Nations.
• Oct 14The South African Defence Force invades Angola during Operation Savannah in support of the FNLA and UNITA prior to the Angolan elections scheduled for November 11.
• Nov 11Angola becomes independent from Portugal and civil war erupts.]]
• Nov 12The Comoros joins the United Nations.

Oceania6

• Jan 5Tasman Bridge disaster: The Tasman Bridge in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, is struck by the bulk ore carrier, causing a partial collapse resulting in 12 deaths.
• Jun 9The Order of Australia is awarded for the first time.
• Sep 16Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.
• Oct 31The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 takes effect in Australia.
• Nov 11Australian constitutional crisis of 1975: Governor-General of Australia Sir John Kerr controversially dismisses the Whitlam Labor government and commissions Malcolm Fraser of the Liberal/National Country Coalition as caretaker Prime Minister.
• Dec 131975 Australian federal election: The Liberal/National Country Coalition led by Malcolm Fraser defeats the recently dismissed Labor government led by Gough Whitlam. The Fraser government achieves what is so far the largest parliamentary majority in federal Australian political history. Whitlam would subsequently survive a leadership challenge against him.