At A Glance

20 January 1974 at a glance

Day of the week
20 January 1974 was a Sunday.
Australian No. 1 (Kent retrospective)
“Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)” by Helen Reddy was No. 1 on David Kent's retrospective Australian chart. This chart was compiled later by David Kent from radio station charts.
Top Film of 1974
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1974 was The Towering Inferno.
Star sign
The star sign for 20 January is Aquarius.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 20 January 1974 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 20 January 1974 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 20 January

  • 1972 Pakistan launches its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
  • 1974 China gains control over all the Paracel Islands after a military engagement between the naval forces of China and South Vietnam.
  • 1986 In the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
  • 1986 Leabua Jonathan, Prime Minister of Lesotho, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by General Justin Lekhanya.
  • 1990 Protests in Azerbaijan, part of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Famous people born on 20 January

  • J. J. McCarthy, American football player (born 2003)
  • David Lynch, American director, producer, and screenwriter (1946–2025)
  • Evan Peters, American actor (born 1987)
  • Sid Wilson, American musician (born 1977)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1974 in Australia

A selection from Wikipedia's '1974 in Australia'. Not a complete list.

  • 24 January – Cyclone Wanda makes landfall near Double Island Point. Large parts of South East Queensland, particularly Brisbane, and northern New South Wales are flooded.
  • 26 February – Mungo Man, a human skeleton estimated to be 40,000 years old, uncovered at Lake Mungo
  • 25 March – The Liberal Party led by Charles Court wins the 1974 Western Australian state election.
More events of 1974 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in Australia in 1974

Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam

Monarch

Queen Elizabeth II

Petrol (per litre)

$0.09

Loaf of Bread

$0.31

Average House

$22,000

Weekly Wage

$110.00

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1970s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Heath Ledger4 April 1979ActorView their day →Patrick Brammall30 March 1976ActorView their day →Rose Byrne24 July 1979ActressView their day →Isla Fisher3 February 1976Actress & authorView their day →Sam Worthington2 August 1976ActorView their day →Toni Collette1 November 1972Actress & musicianView their day →Joel Edgerton23 June 1974ActorView their day →Natalie Imbruglia4 February 1975Singer & actressView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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