At A Glance

8 May 1974 at a glance

Day of the week
8 May 1974 was a Wednesday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “The Loco-Motion” by Grand Funk.
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 8 May is Taurus.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 8 May 1974 fell in the Year of the Tiger.
Birthstone
The birthstone for May is Emerald.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 8 May 1974 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 8 May

  • 1970 The Beatles release their 12th and final studio album Let It Be.
  • 1972 Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his order to place naval mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.
  • 1973 A 71-day standoff between federal authorities and the American Indian Movement members occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota ends with the surrender of the militants.
  • 1976 The rollercoaster The New Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
  • 1978 The first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.

Famous people born on May 8

  • David Attenborough, English environmentalist and television host (born 1926)
  • Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (1884–1972)
  • Fulton J. Sheen, American archbishop (1895–1979)
  • Enrique Iglesias, Spanish-American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (born 1975)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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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.

Life in the US in 1974

President

Richard Nixon

Gas (per gallon)

$0.53

Loaf of Bread

$0.34

Average House

$25,900

Weekly Wage

$176

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.

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

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