At A Glance

28 August 1974 at a glance

Day of the week
28 August 1974 was a Wednesday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Love Me for a Reason” by The Osmonds.
Top Film of 1974
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1974 was The Towering Inferno.
Star sign
The star sign for 28 August is Virgo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 28 August 1974 fell in the Year of the Tiger.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 28 August 1974 was Waxing Gibbous.

On this day: 28 August

  • 1957 U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond begins a filibuster to prevent the United States Senate from voting on the Civil Rights Act of 1957; he stopped speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes later. This would remain the longest speech ever conducted by a single Senator until Cory Booker spoke for 25 hours and five minutes, beginning on March 31, 2025.
  • 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives his I Have a Dream speech.
  • 1968 Police and protesters clash during 1968 Democratic National Convention protests as protesters chant "The whole world is watching".
  • 1990 Gulf War: Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province.
  • 1993 NASA's Galileo probe performs a flyby of the asteroid 243 Ida. Astronomers later discover a moon, the first known asteroid moon, in pictures from the flyby and name it Dactyl.

Famous people born on 28 August

  • David Fincher, American director and producer (born 1962)
  • Shania Twain, Grammy Award-winning Canadian Country Singer-Songwriter (born 1965)
  • Jack Kirby, Comic Book Artist and Writer (1917–1994)
  • Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican actor (born 1956)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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

Events of 1974 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1974 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 1 January – 7 March – The Three-Day Week is introduced by the Conservative Government as a measure to conserve electricity during the period of industrial action by coal miners.
  • 7 February – Grenada becomes independent of the United Kingdom.
  • 28 February – The general election results in the first hung parliament since 1929, with the Conservative government having 297 seats – four fewer than Labour, who have 301 – and the largest number of votes.

Life in 1974

Prime Minister

Harold Wilson

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

22p

Loaf of Bread

14p

Average House

£10,990

Weekly Wage

£48.50

Or

Browse by Year

Famous Faces Born in the 1970s

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

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

About The Day You Were Born

Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.

About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →