March 1976

[March 1], 1976 (Monday)

• In the United Kingdom, Home Secretary Merlyn Rees announces that Special Category Status for those sentenced for scheduled terrorist crimes relating to the civil violence in Northern Ireland, introduced in 1972, will be phased out, in accordance with the recommendations of the Gardner Committee.
• The Norwegian drilling rig Deep Sea Driller runs aground off Bergen, breaking off a leg and killing six crew members. It would later be repaired and returned to service.

  [March 2], 1976 (Tuesday)

• A TAM – Transporte Aéreo Militar IAI Arava 201 on a military flight crashes in the Bolivian jungle. The plane's wreckage is found two days later. Three of the 22 people on board survive.

  [March 3], 1976 (Wednesday)

• A "massacre" occurs in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, the capital of the Basque region, when the National Police Corps uses tear gas against striking workers, and subsequently fire on them. Five people are killed and 150 injured.

  [March 4], 1976 (Thursday)

• The Maguire Seven, members of a family resident in West Kilburn, London, UK, are found guilty of possessing explosives used in IRA terrorist activity; their sentences would eventually be quashed in 1991.
• Died: Walter H. Schottky, 89, German physicist

  [March 5], 1976 (Friday)

• Died: Otto Tief, 86, Estonian politician and military commander

  [March 6], 1976 (Saturday)

• Aeroflot Flight 909, an Ilyusin Il-18V, crashes at night near Verkhnyaya Khava in the Soviet Union after an electrical fault causes the crew to lose control. All 111 people on board are killed.
• The South African Grand Prix takes place at the Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg, and is won by Niki Lauda.

  [March 7], 1976 (Sunday)

• Cyclone Colin dissipates off the Australian coast, having forced the suspension of shipping services into Brisbane and causing winds of up to 93 km an hour, resulting in one death.

  [March 8], 1976 (Monday)

• Born: Freddie Prinze Jr., US actor, in Los Angeles

  [March 9], 1976 (Tuesday)

• Cavalese cable car disaster : Cavalese, Italy, is the site of the worst cable car disaster in recorded history. 43 people are killed, the only survivor being a 14-year-old girl, Alessandra Piovesana, who was on a school trip.
• The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is officially dissolved, and direct rule of Northern Ireland from London resumes.
• In Letcher County, Kentucky, United States, an explosion in the Scotia mine kills 15 workers.

  [March 10], 1976 (Wednesday)

• Died: Haddon Sundblom, 76, US artist of Swedish descent

  [March 11], 1976 (Thursday)

• A second explosion at the Scotia mine in Letcher County, Kentucky, kills a further 11 workers.

  [March 12], 1976 (Friday)

• The 11th Tirreno–Adriatico cycle race starts in Santa Marinella, Italy.
• Born: Zhao Wei, Chinese singer and actress, in Wuhu City.

  [March 13], 1976 (Saturday)

• An earthquake of magnitude 5.4 kills four people and injures 50 in Guatemala.

  [March 14], 1976 (Sunday)

• In the second round of the 1976 French cantonal elections, the Socialist Party wins a convincing 194 seats.
• Died: Busby Berkeley, 80, US film director and choreographer

  [March 15], 1976 (Monday)

• In Argentina, the Montoneros terrorist group detonates a bomb at Army headquarters, killing one person and injuring a further 29.

  [March 16], 1976 (Tuesday)

• UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson unexpectedly resigns at the age of 60, claiming mental and physical exhaustion; in later years, there would be speculation that Wilson was aware of having early symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease.
• Born: Zhu Chen, Chinese chess grandmaster, in Wenzhou

  [March 17], 1976 (Wednesday)

• A Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 makes the first non-stop flight from Tokyo to New York City. The journey takes 11.5 hours.
• Born: Stephen Gately, Irish singer, in Dublin
• Died: Luchino Visconti, 69, Italian theatre, opera and film director

  [March 18], 1976 (Thursday)

• A second trial is ordered by the New Jersey Supreme Court for boxer Rubin Carter and his associate John Artis, who were originally convicted of murder in 1967.
• In Australia, Queensland Federal Treasurer Phillip Lynch tries to reassure investors, saying there is no reason for the suspension of five building societies to affect other States.
• Ireland's Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave and his wife, beginning an official visit to the United States, are greeted by President Gerald Ford and Mrs Betty Ford at the White House.

  [March 19], 1976 (Friday)

• The 67th Milan–San Remo cycle race is won by Eddy Merckx.
• After a long period of speculation, it is announced that Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, and her husband Lord Snowdon are to separate.
• Died: Paul Kossoff, 25, English rock guitarist. Kossoff's father, David Kossoff, afterwards worked for charity in memory of his son.

  [March 20], 1976 (Saturday)

• Kidnap victim Patty Hearst is convicted of robbery and receives a prison sentence.
• Alice Cooper marries choreographer Sheryl Goddard in Acapulco, Mexico.
• The 1976 E3 Harelbeke cycle race is held in Harelbeke, Belgium, and is won by Walter Planckaert.
• A major tornado outbreak occurs in the US states of Illinois and Indiana. One F4 threatens Lafayette, Indiana. Slight activity continues into March 21 when the system moves across Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

  [March 21], 1976 (Sunday)

• In the Polish legislative elections, the Front of National Unity wins all seats.

  [March 22], 1976 (Monday)

• Filming of the original Star Wars film begins in the Tunisian desert.
• Born: Reese Witherspoon, US actress, in New Orleans

  [March 23], 1976 (Tuesday)

• Norman Bethune Square is inaugurated in Montreal, Canada, commemorating the noted surgeon.
• The Indian Navy INS Godavari runs aground in the Maldives and is irreparably damaged.

  [March 24], 1976 (Wednesday)

• Isabel Martínez de Perón, President of Argentina, is deposed, after being detained at an Air Force base in Jorge Newbery International Airport.
• A general strike takes place in the People's Republic of the Congo, resulting in the formation of the political movement M 24.
• Died: Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, 88, British Army commander in World War II.

  [March 25], 1976 (Thursday)

• Born: Wladimir Klitschko, Ukrainian boxer, in Semey
• Died: Josef Albers, 88, German-born US artist

  [March 26], 1976 (Friday)

• General Jorge Rafael Videla, the head of a military junta that deposed President Isabel Martínez de Perón two days earlier, assumes the presidency of Argentina.
• The Toronto Blue Jays baseball team is founded when the American League awards a franchise to a group consisting of Imperial Trust, Ltd., Labatt's Breweries, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
• The first branch of The Body Shop opens in Brighton, England, UK.

  [March 27], 1976 (Saturday)

• With Operation Savannah at an end, the South African Defence Force formally withdraws from Angola.
• The Washington Metro opens between Farragut North and Rhode Island Avenue stations.
• A first cosmetics retail store, The Body Shop open in Briton, England.

  [March 28], 1976 (Sunday)

• The 1976 United States Grand Prix West is held in Long Beach, California, and is won by Clay Regazzoni.

  [March 29], 1976 (Monday)

• Born: Jennifer Capriati, US tennis player, in Wesley Chapel, Florida

  [March 30], 1976 (Tuesday)

• The US National Football League begins its annual expansion draft, delayed on this occasion because of a lawsuit brought by the owners of the Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the players' union.

  [March 31], 1976 (Wednesday)

• The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that Karen Ann Quinlan, suffering from irreversible brain damage, can be disconnected from her ventilator. She would live a further nine years without ever regaining consciousness.
• The United Nations Security Council decides that "the act of aggression committed by South Africa against the People's Republic of Angola" requires South Africa to pay compensation for war damages.
• Sallins Train Robbery: Around IR£200,000 is stolen from a Cork to Dublin mail train is robbed near Sallins in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland.