1976 in Michigan


Events from the year 1976 in Michigan.
The Associated Press selected the top Michigan news stories of 1976 as follows:
  1. United Auto Workers strikes against Ford Motor Company lasting 28 days and General Motors lasting 12 hours ;
  2. A forest fire lasting for two months from July until September that blackened 65,000 acres in the Seney National Wildlife Refuge in the Upper Peninsula with state and federal firefighting costs reaching $7.5 million;
  3. Continued fallout from the Michigan PBB contamination incident in which a flame retardant chemical was mixed with livestock feed, distributed to Michigan farms, and fed to 1.5 million chickens, 30,000 cattle, 5,900 pigs, and 1,470 sheep;
  4. Voter approval on November 2 of a ballot proposal banning throwaway beverage containers;
  5. Gerald Ford's November 2 loss to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 U.S. Presidential election, though Ford took Michigan's 21 electoral votes with 51.8% of the state's votes to 46.4% for Carter;
  6. A March 3 ice storm that left 200,000 homes in southern Michigan without power and caused millions of dollars in damage;
  7. Congressman Donald Riegle's election to replace retiring U.S. Senator Philip Hart after defeating Secretary of State Richard H. Austin and Congressman James G. O'Hara in the Democratic primary on August 3 and Marvin Esch in the general election on November 2;
  8. A violent melee on August 15 that erupted following a concert at Cobo Hall featuring Average White Band and Kool & the Gang with multiple robberies and beatings and two gang rapes;
  9. The prosecution of two Filipina nurses, Filipina Narciso and Leonora Perez, in the Ann Arbor Hospital Murders in which 10 patients at the Veterans Hospital in Ann Arbor died mysteriously from respiratory failure; and
  10. The state's fiscal year is extended by three months to avoid a deficit.
The AP also selected the state's top sports stories as follows:
  1. The success of rookie pitcher Mark Fidrych who won 19 games for the Detroit Tigers, was the starting pitcher for the American League in the All-Star Game, led the American League with a 2.34 earned run average, and was named American League Rookie of the Year;
  2. The NCAA's imposition of three years of probation against the Michigan State Spartans football team for illegal recruiting and the firing of head coach Denny Stolz and athletic director Burt Smith;
  3. The 1976 Michigan Wolverines football team that compiled a compiled a 10–1 record in the regular season and was ranked No. 1 before being upset by Purdue;
  4. The 1975–76 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team that compiled a 25–7 record and advanced to the Final Four, losing to Indiana in the championship game;
  5. Ron LeFlore compiling a 30-game hitting streak, the longest in the American League in 27 years, and stealing 56 bases for the Detroit Tigers;
  6. Detroit speedskater Sheila Young winning gold, silver and bronze medals at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria;
  7. Rick Forzano's resignation as head coach of the Detroit Lions on October 4, the hiring of Tommy Hudspeth as head coach on October 5, and the team compiling a 6–8 record;
  8. The 1975-76 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team compiling a 25-3 record and advancing to the Sweet 16 round of the 1976 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament before narrowly losing to No. 2 ranked Marquette;
  9. The Detroit Pistons selection of Marvin Barnes on August 5 with the fourth overall pick in the ABA dispersal draft; and
  10. Bo Schembechler undergoing open heart surgery to perform four bypasses on May 20 and deciding to continue coaching.

    Office holders

State office holders

Sports

Baseball

Music

Albums and singles by Michigan artists or centered on Michigan topics that were released or became hits in 1976 include the following:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Births

Deaths