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A nostalgic day-by-day glance at some of the events which took place this month during the unforgettable year that was 1976 – a whole half-century ago!
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1st May 1976
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On this day in 1976 second division Southampton stunned giants Manchester United, beating them 1-0 at Wembley to win the FA Cup. The second division was the equivalent of today’s Championship. Meanwhile at Hampden Park Rangers beat Hearts 3-1 to win the Scottish Cup.
Former California Governor Ronald Reagan beat the incumbent President Gerald Ford in the Republican primary in Texas.
The 102nd Kentucky Derby was won by Bold Forbes, ridden by Puerto Rican jockey Angel Cordero Jr.
The African nation of Togo announced the creation of the Togolese National Navy, with two patrol boats to guard its 34 miles of coastline.
British heavy metal band Iron Maiden made its live debut at St. Nick’s Hall in Poplar, before securing a regular slot at the Cart & Horses pub in Stratford.
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2nd May 1976
On this day in 1976, the German cargo ship Nordhuk (formerly the Meteor) ran aground off the Inner Hebrides and was wrecked. All twelve crew members were rescued safely.
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3rd May 1976
On this day in 1976 a Pan American Boeing 747SP took off from New York’s John F. Kennedy airport on the first leg of its record round the world flight. Arriving back at JFK some 46 hours after departing, it beat the previous best time by over 16 hours, and would have arrived back even sooner had it not been delayed in Tokyo due to an airport workers’ strike.
British rock band Wings, led by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, began their Wings Over America tour with a performance at Fort Worth in Texas.
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4th May 1976
On this day in 1976 the Spanish daily newspaper El Pais was published for the first time in Madrid, aiming to promote democratic ideals in post-Franco Spain.
The Leonard Bernstein musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue opened on Broadway, but was not well received and only ran for four days.
Liverpool won the English Football League following a 3-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers. Queen’s Park Rangers finished the season in second place.
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5th May 1976
On this day in 1976, Anderlecht beat West Ham United 3-1 to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup Final at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) opened in Nairobi, Kenya with delegates attending from 150 countries.
Argentinian novelist and screenwriter Haroldo Conti was arrested in Buenos Aires, having been deemed a subversive agent by the government. He was never seen again.
Nine members of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) escaped from Long Kesh prison after tunnelling through the night. One was later apprehended when a car he attempted to hitch a lift with on the M1 motorway turned out to be driven by police officers.
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6th May 1976
On this day in 1976 a major earthquake in northern Italy resulted in the deaths of nearly 1,000 people, with over 150,000 being made homeless.
Eight members of the Special Air Service (SAS) were arrested after having crossed the border into the Republic of Ireland. The soldiers claimed that they had misread a map.
Local elections held throughout the United Kingdom saw Labour losing 829 seats, while the Conservatives gained 1,044 seats.
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7th May 1976
On this day in 1976 David Bowie performed at the Empire Pool, Wembley as part of his Isolar I (Station to Station) tour. Click on photo for more on Bowie’s work in 1976.
Benjamin Gimbert, hero of the 1944 Soham rail disaster and recipient of the George Cross, sadly passed away aged 73.
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8th May 1976
On this day in 1976, Japanese inventor Kazuo Hashimoto patented the Caller ID system, having previously invented the first practical telephone answering machine.
Lebanon’s Chamber of Deputies voted to select Elias Sarkis as President of the Lebanon. Despite the vote, incumbent Suleiman Frangieh still refused to vacate the post until the expiration of his six-year term on September 22nd.
