Major Stories

January 15: During on-going hearings on Watergate, court-appointed experts announce the 18.5 minutes of missing audio on the Watergate tapes were erased.

February 4: Patricia Hearst is abducted by terrorists from her apartment in Berkeley, California.

February 13: Writer Aleksadr Solzhenitsyn is deported by the Soviet Union.

February 28: The United States normalizes diplomatic relations with Egypt for the first time since 1967.

March 3: A DC-10 loses a cargo door and crashes near Paris. In the worst aviation accident to date, all 346 passengers and crew are killed.

March 18: The OPEC oil embargo against the United States ends.

April 4: NATO celebrates its 25th anniversary.

April 8: Henry "Hank" Aaron overcomes death threats to break Babe Ruth's record of 714 home runs with his 715th off Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Atlanta.

April 15: Newspaper heiress Patty Hearst is kidnapped in California.

July 7: West Germany defeated the Netherlands 2-1 to win soccer's World Cup.

July 20: Turkey invades Cyprus.

August 8: Facing certain impeachment, Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign.

August 9: Gerald Ford, the first unelected vice-president, becomes the only unelected president.

September 4: Diplomatic relations are established with East Germany.

October 17: President Ford pardons Richard Nixon for any crimes he may have committed.

November 8: Former Lieutenant Bill Calley, who had been convicted of murdering 22 civilians in Mylai, Vietnam, is paroled.

November 22: The PLO obtains "observer" status at the United Nations.

December 1: A TWA 727 crashes into hill on approach to Dulles Airport. All 92 aboard are killed.

December 19: Nelson Rockefeller becomes the second unelected vice president.