1975

• There are no US quarters with 1975 as the mint year because commemorative 1976 bicentennial quarters were being minted early in anticipation of collectors snatching the coins from circulation. All quarters from 1975 and 1976 were dated as 1776-1976. 
• The laser printer was invented. 
• Kodak invented the first digital camera in 1975 and patented it in 1977, instead of marketing it they focused on their film business. #badmove 
• Miller Lite was originally sold as “Gablinger’s Diet Beer” by New York’s Rheingold Brewery in 1967, and then by Meister Brau as “Meister Brau Lite” before the recipe was sold to Miller Brewing and launched nationally as “Lite Beer” in 1975.
• While accepting the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1976, Paul Simon thanked Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album that year. Wonder had won the award in 1974 and 1975, and would win it again 1977. 
• Kool-Aid man began appearing in commercials for Kool-Aid, although the smiling pitcher was the face of Kool-Aid since 1954. 
• Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather is the only fictional character to have received more than one Oscar for its portrayal. In 1973 by Marlon Brando, and in 1975 by Robert De Niro as Young Vito. Both legendary actors never bothered to attend the ceremony, with Brando rejecting the award. 
  
• Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge was named after George La Forge, a quadriplegic Trek Trek fan who passed away in 1975. 
• Stevie Nicks, in 1979, wrote one of her best-known songs about the child she had conceived with Eagles frontman Don Henley in 1975. She named her Sara, terminated the pregnancy, and then wrote the song of the same name to the spirit of the baby.  
• Only three films that have won all of the Big Five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Writing (Original or Adapted). Those films were: It Happened One Night (1934), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). 

• The role of the Pinball Wizard in The Who’s 1975 Rock Opera, Tommy, was initially offered to Rod Stewart, who turned it down on the advice of a friend. That friend was Elton John, who had wanted the role all along, and took it. 
• President Ford survived two assassination attempts in the same month. On Sept. 5, 1975, Lynette Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, fired a pistol at the president in a crowd in Sacramento, but Ford was unharmed. On Sept. 22, Sara Jane Moore pulled a revolver on him in San Francisco. 
• Bank robber John Wojtowicz plotted some of his robbery based on scenes in The Godfather (1972) starring Al Pacino. Al Pacino later went on to play John in 1975’s Academy Award winning movie Dog Day Afternoon, based on the robbery. 
• Union Teamster Jimmy Hoffa disappeared.
• Odyssey 200 Game Console, Mood rings, Pay Day, Pong (home version), Six Million Dollar Man action figures, Playmobil, Pet Rocks, Trac Ball, Electronic Television Tennis Game
• Betamax (Beta) video tape was released.
• The Ford F-150 truck was introduced.
• Soldier of Fortune Magazine began publication.
• George Carlin was the first host of Saturday Night Live (SNL) when it aired October 11th 1975. It was the only episode to date in which the host did not appear (at his request) in sketches. 
• The Herman Goelitz company introduced the gourmet jelly bean. The original flavors were: Licorice, Lemon, Grape, Root Beer, Cream Soda, Gren Apple, Tangerine and Very Cherry. It was rebranded the ‘Jelly Belly’ in 2001. 
• Playboy magazine’s annual opinion poll, its readers voted Karen Carpenter the Best Rock Drummer of the year, outvoting Led Zep’s John Bonham. 
• The United States Gold Reserve Act of 1934 outlawed most private possession of gold, forcing US citizens to sell it to the Treasury. Americans could not freely own and trade gold again until 1975. 
• The ring-tab beer (and soda) can design was discontinued in 1975, after injuries were caused by people swallowing the metal tabs. 

When Queen wanted to release Bohemian Rhapsody, various executives suggested to them that, at 5 minutes and 55 seconds, it was too long and would never be a hit. 

1975/76 Biggest Television Shows
1. All in the Family (CBS)
2. Rich Man, Poor Man (ABC)
3. Laverne & Shirley (ABC)
4. Maude (CBS)
5. The Bionic Woman (ABC)
6. Phyllis (CBS)
7. Sanford and Son (NBC)
8. Rhoda (CBS)
9. The Six Million Dollar Man (ABC)
10. ABC Monday Night Movie (ABC)
11. Happy Days (ABC)

• Song of the Year: Captain and Tennille, “Love Will Keep Us Together”
• Album of the Year: Paul Simon, “Still Crazy After All These Years”
• Movies: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Jaws,” “Nashville.” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Barry Lyndon”
• “Saturday Night Live” premieres on NBC; George Carlin hosts the first show.
• “A Chorus Line” appears on Broadway.
• “All in the Family” is America’s top television show for the fifth straight year.
• President: Gerald R. Ford
• Vice President: Nelson A. Rockefeller
• Population: 215,973,199
• Unemployment: 5.6%
• Cost of first-class stamp: $.10
• Quart of milk: $.46; loaf of bread: $.33
• Vietnam War ends (April 30)
• Super Bowl: Pittsburgh Steelers 16, Minnesota Vikings
• World Series: Cincinnati Reds 4, Boston Red Sox
• NBA Championship: Golden State Warriors def. Washington Bullets 4-0
• Arthur Ashe wins Wimbledon and World Court Championships; Billie Jean King wins sixth Wimbledon crown and retires from singles.
• Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.