At A Glance

19 August 1974 at a glance

Day of the week
19 August 1974 was a Monday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “The Night Chicago Died” by Paper Lace.
Top Film of 1974
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1974 was The Towering Inferno.
Bestselling Novel of 1974
“Centennial” by James A. Michener was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1974.
Top-Rated TV Show
“All in the Family” (CBS) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1974–75 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 19 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 19 August 1974 fell in the Year of the Tiger.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 19 August 1974 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 19 August

  • 1960 Cold War: In Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.
  • 1964 Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, is launched. Two months later, it would enable live coverage of the 1964 Summer Olympics.
  • 1965 Japanese prime minister Eisaku Satō becomes the first post-World War II sitting prime minister to visit Okinawa Prefecture.
  • 1981 Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States F-14A Tomcat fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra.
  • 1981 Silvio Santos launches a new Brazilian television channel in São Paulo, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão.

Famous people born on August 19

  • Bill Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas, 42nd President of the United States (born 1946)
  • Kirk Cousins, American football player (born 1988)
  • Matthew Perry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (1969–2023)
  • Kyra Sedgwick, American actress and producer (born 1965)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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

Events of 1974 in the United States

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

  • January 15 – Happy Days, a sitcom about life in the 1950s, debuts on ABC.
  • March 4 – People magazine's first issue is published in the U.S., with Mia Farrow on the cover.
  • 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.
More events of 1974 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in the US in 1974

President

Gerald Ford

Gas (per gallon)

$0.53

Loaf of Bread

$0.34

Average House

$25,900

Weekly Wage

$176

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Famous Faces Born in the 1970s

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

Keri Russell23 March 1976ActressView their day →Tupac Shakur16 June 1971Rapper & actorView their day →Zoe Saldaña19 June 1978ActressView their day →Christopher Nolan30 July 1970FilmmakerView their day →Jon Bernthal20 September 1976ActorView their day →Jason Sudeikis18 September 1975Actor & comedianView their day →Milo Ventimiglia8 July 1977ActorView their day →Sarah Paulson17 December 1974ActressView their day →

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

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