April 1975

April 1, 1975 (Tuesday)

• Neak Leung fell to Khmer Rouge insurgency, cutting off a critical supply line to the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Cambodia's President Lon Nol left that nation forever, eventually settling in Hawaii. Senate President Saukam Khoy took over from Lon Nol as President of Cambodia, serving until April 12, when he was able to escape the approaching Khmer Rouge on the same helicopter as the American ambassador.
• The American "Freedom Train" began its tour of the United States in celebration of the United States Bicentennial, starting with a display in Wilmington, Delaware, and then proceeding westward. After reaching San Diego on January 14, the train began its return trip, stopping in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1976, and finishing its tour on December 31 in Miami. In all, 7,000,000 visitors would see the train and its exhibits.
• Died: George Parr, 74, Texas politician known as "The Duke of Duval", by suicide. His manipulation of election results in Duval County, Texas, helped future U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson become a U.S. Senator for Texas in 1948.

  April 2, 1975 (Wednesday)

• The CN Tower was topped off at 1,185.4 feet or 553.33 meters in height, as the last section was put into place by a helicopter, making the building the largest free-standing structure in the world. The Tower would open on June 26, 1976.
• A bus, carrying French pilgrims on its way back from Notre Dame de la Salette to Loiret, lost its brakes, then plunged 80 feet into a ravine near Vizille, killing 27 people.
• Born:
• *Pedro Pascal, Chilean-American actor, in Santiago, Chile
• * Adam Rodríguez, American TV actor in Yonkers, New York
• Died: Dong Biwu, 89 Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China since 1959

  April 3, 1975 (Thursday)

• Bobby Fischer refused to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov in Manila, turning down a chance to receive at least $1,500,000 and becoming the first world chess champion to voluntarily give up his title. At Amsterdam, the FIDE voted to award Karpov the world chess championship title. Fischer had not defended the title since winning it in 1972, and Karpov became the new champ "without moving a pawn".
• At the request of John Gunther Dean, the American ambassador to Cambodia, U.S. President Ford ordered the evacuation of all Americans from Phnom Penh.
• Israel and South Africa signed SECMENT, a secret mutual defense agreement, following a meeting in Jerusalem between the defense ministers, P. W. Botha of South Africa and Shimon Peres of Israel.
• Born:
• *Koji Uehara, Japanese star baseball pitcher, Central League Rookie of the Year 1999; later a relief pitcher for MLB Orioles and Rangers, in Neyagawa; and
• *Yoshinobu Takahashi, Japanese baseball outfielder, in Chiba. Both Uehara and Takahashi won the Mitsui Golden Glove Award multiple times while playing for the Yomiuri Giants.
• Died: Mary Ure, 42, Scottish film actress and wife of actor Robert Shaw, died of an overdose of alcohol and barbiturates.

  April 4, 1975 (Friday)

• Bill Gates and Paul Allen incorporated Micro-Soft, Inc., in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• The first military Operation Babylift flight, C5A 80218, crashed 27 minutes after takeoff, killing 144 of the 305 people on board, including 78 of the 243 children. Two cargo doors blew off of the jet, largest in the world at the time, as it reached 23,000 feet during the evacuation of civilians in the closing days of the Vietnam War.
• South Vietnam premier Tran Thien Khiem resigned, and was replaced by Nguyễn Bá Cẩn.
• For the first time since the 1973 War Powers Resolution had taken effect, an American President delivered the required report to Congress about military action. President Ford advised of his sending of U.S. Marines, ships, and helicopters to evacuate refugees from South Vietnam.
• At least 20 people were killed and 80 injured in the Lithuanian SSR, in what is still the worst rail disaster in Lithuania. At 5:35 in the evening local time, near the village of Žasliai, passenger Train 513 on the Vilnius–Kaunas Railway hit a cargo train from behind, rupturing a tank car which had not fully been pulled off the main track. The locomotive and the first passenger car of Train 513 derailed, but the third car and its passengers slid into the fire, which spread to two other passenger cars.
• Born:
• *Delphine Arnault, French billionaire businesswoman and executive vice president of the Louis Vuitton company; in Neuilly-sur-Seine
• *Scott Rolen, American MLB third baseman, NL Rookie of the Year 1997; in Evansville, Indiana
• Died: Pierre Galopin, 43, French Army Commandant and negotiator who had been kidnapped on August 4 by rebels while in Chad, was hanged after the trial by the rebels.

  April 5, 1975 (Saturday)

• The Soviet crewed space mission Soyuz 18a ended in failure during its ascent into orbit when a critical malfunction occurred when the third stage of the booster rocket failed to separate. The spacecraft and cosmonauts, Vasily Lazarev and Oleg Makarov, landed in Mongolia and their Soyuz spacecraft having to be ripped free from the vehicle.
• The first Super Sentai series, Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, is premiered.
• Died:
• *Chiang Kai-shek, 87, President of the Republic of China, who later relocated to the island of Taiwan after the Communist takeover of the mainland.
• *Harold Osborn, 75, American track athlete, decathlon winner in 1924 Olympics

  April 6, 1975 (Sunday)

• Yen Chia-kan was sworn in as the new President of Nationalist China, as a 30-day period of official mourning began for the late Chiang Kai-shek.
• With the conquest of South Vietnam imminent, elections were held in North Vietnam for the 492 seats available in the National Assembly. All 492 candidates were unopposed members of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front.
• Born: Zach Braff, American TV actor ; in South Orange, New Jersey
• Died: Ernst Bergmann, 71, Israeli atomic scientist

  April 7, 1975 (Monday)

• Cambodia's Prime Minister Long Boret met with representatives of the Khmer Rouge while in Bangkok, Thailand. He returned to Cambodia the next day, refused to leave when officials were offered a chance to escape, and was executed nine days later by the new regime.
• Beverly Sills, the most famous of American opera singers of her day, made her first appearance at "The Met".
• Born:
• *Ronde Barber, American NFL cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and
• *Tiki Barber, American NFL running back for the New York Giants, identical twins in Roanoke, Virginia

  April 8, 1975 (Tuesday)

• Frank Robinson became the first African-American to manage a Major League Baseball team. Robinson, who was both manager and a player for the Cleveland Indians, placed himself into the lineup as a designated hitter, and hit a home run in his first at-bat, to help the Indians beat the Yankees 5–3.
• At the Academy Awards, Art Carney won Best Actor for Harry and Tonto, Ellen Burstyn won Best Actress for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and The Godfather Part II became the first sequel to win an Oscar for Best Picture.
• In an interview on the CBS Morning News, U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater said that the Vietnam War "would have been over in a month" if he had been elected president in 1964.
• Josephine Baker danced before a crowd of celebrities at the Bobino Theatre in Paris. Days later, the African-American dancer who had become a beloved citizen of France, had a cerebral hemorrhage and died on April 12 at the age of 68.

  April 9, 1975 (Wednesday)

• The Philippine Basketball Association, Asia's first professional basketball league, played its first game before a crowd of 18,000 at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, with the Mariwasa-Noritake Porcelain Makers defeating the Concepcion Carriers, 101 to 98 in the opener of a doubleheader, followed by the Toyota Comets' 105–101 defeat of the Universal Textile Weavers. Gregorio Dionisio of the Carriers scored the first basket.
• The National Association of Broadcasters voted 12–3 to designate the first hour of weeknight network television as "Family Viewing Hour, starting with the 1975–76 season.
• Eight people in South Korea, who were involved in the People's Revolutionary Party Incident, were hanged. The executions came the day after President Park ordered Korea University closed.
• The Battle of Xuân Lộc, the last major battle of the Vietnam War, began. South Vietnamese forces held out against superior North Vietnamese forces before finally withdrawing on April 19.
• Troops from the Indian Army invaded the Kingdom of Sikkim in response to an appeal by the Himalayan kingdom's prime minister and disarmed the 400 guards of the King of Sikkim at his palace in Gangtok. The King Palden Thondup Namgyal was confined to the royal palace under house arrest.
• Born: Robbie Fowler, British footballer and fourth highest goalscorer in Premier League history; in Liverpool
• Died: "Joey", 34, the world's oldest canary. Joey spent his entire life in a cage at the home of a Mrs. Ross in Hull, England.

  April 10, 1975 (Thursday)

• The legislature for the Kingdom of Sikkim, located in the Himalayan Mountains, voted to abolish the monarchy and to make the nation one of the states of India.
• Lee Elder became the first African-American golfer to play in the Masters' Tournament
• Born:
• *David Harbour, American film actor known for Hellboy and Stranger Things; in White Plains, New York
• *Matthew Phillips, New Zealand native who later became a player for the Italy national rugby union team; in Kaitaia
• Died:
• *Marjorie Main, 85, American actress best known as Phoebe "Ma" Kettle in ten "Ma and Pa Kettle" films between 1947 and 1957
• *Walker Evans, 71, American photographer