Events from the year 1974 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government
President: Richard Nixon (R-California) (until August 9), Gerald Ford (R-Michigan) (starting August 9) Vice President: until August 9: Gerald Ford (R-Michigan) August 9–December 19: vacant starting December 19: Nelson Rockefeller (R-New York) Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger (Minnesota) Speaker of the House of Representatives: Carl Albert (D-Oklahoma) Senate Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield (D-Montana) Congress: 93rd
Events
January
January 4
Citing executive privilege, President Richard Nixon refuses to surrender 500 tapes and documents which have been subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee. Joni Lenz is attacked in her bedroom by serial killer Ted Bundy in Washington; she survives. January 6 – In response to the energy crisis, Daylight Saving Time commences nearly four months early in the United States. January 13 – The Miami Dolphins repeat as National Football League champions, routing the Minnesota Vikings 24–7 in Super Bowl VIII. January 15 – Happy Days, a sitcom about life in the 1950s, debuts on ABC. January 19 – In college (men's) basketball, Notre Dame defeats UCLA 71–70, ending the Bruins' record 88-game winning streak. January 30 – In his State of the Union Address, President Nixon declares, "One year of Watergate is enough."
February
February 4 – Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst is kidnapped from her Berkeley, California apartment by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. February 8 – After a record 84 days in orbit, the crew of Skylab 4 returns to Earth. February 12 – U.S. District Court Judge Geoerge Boldt rules that Native American tribes in Washington state are entitled to half of the legal salmon and steelhead catches, based on treaties signed by the tribes and the U.S. government. February 22 – Samuel Byck attempts to hijack an airplane with the intent to crash it into the White House and assassinate President Nixon. He commits suicide when police storm the plane. February 28 – Egypt and the United States re-establish normal diplomatic relations.
March
March 1 – Watergate scandal: Seven former White House officials are indicted for their role in the Watergate break-in and charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice. March 4 – People magazine's first issue is published in the U.S., with Mia Farrow on the cover. March 18 Oil embargo crisis: Most OPEC nations end a 5-month oil embargo against the United States, Europe and Japan. After 23 consecutive years on television, Lucille Ball appears in the finale of Here's Lucy. March 19 – First recorded crime, a ransacking in Visalia, California, definitely attributable to Joseph James DeAngelo, at this time a police officer, who will commit at least 13 murders, 51 rapes and 120 burglaries up to 1986; he will not be arrested until 2018. March 29 – Mariner 10 approaches Mercury. March 30 – North Carolina State defeats UCLA in the semifinals of the 1974 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, ending the Bruins' record run of seven consecutive national championships.
April
April 2 – The 46th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Burt Reynolds, Diana Ross, John Huston and David Niven, is held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. George Roy Hill's The Sting wins seven awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Hill. The film is tied with William Friedkin's The Exorcist in receiving ten nominations. April 3 – The 1974 Super Outbreak, at the time the largest series of tornadoes in history, occurs in 13 U.S. states and one Canadian province, leaving over 300 people dead, over 5,000 people injured, and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. April 4 – Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth for the all-time home run record with his 714th at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. April 6 – California Jam is held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, attracting 250,000 fans. April 8 – Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves breaks Babe Ruth's home run record, by hitting his 715th career home run off of a pitch by Los Angeles Dodgers' Al Downing at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium. April 15 – In San Francisco, members of the Symbionese Liberation Army rob a branch of the Hibernia Bank, joined by Patricia Hearst. April 20 – Voters in Louisiana approve a new state constitution, replacing a 225,000-word document which had first been adopted in 1921. April 22 – Hi-Fi Murders: Five people are brutally tortured by a group of men during a robbery at a home audio store in Ogden, Utah, resulting in three deaths.