random retro-spective
Election winner:
Edward Heath
A surprise general election victory for Edward Heath
in 1970
the retro hour: 1975
We've been through the archive and compiled everything we think you need to know about the year. To make it easier for you to find what you're looking for, everything is organised into categories.
the top stories
Charlie Chaplin and PG Wodehouse were knighted in the New Year's Honours
Britain's second largest oil company, Burmah, collapsed taking with it
one thousand million pounds in shares
Edward Heath resigned as Tory leader, losing 130 votes to 119 in the first
ballot of MPs.
The winner was Margaret Thatcher.
Miners accepted pay rises of up to 35%
Electricity prices rose a record 33%
Unemployment hit the one million mark
Inflation in the UK rose to 25%
Frank Sinatra won substantial damages from the BBC over a programme linking
him to the mafia
Van driver Peter Cook was arrested in connection with seven rapes in Cambridge
Bradford joiner Donald Nielson was charged with killing Lesley Whittle
on the chart
Karen Carpenter was taken ill and The Carpenters tour was cancelled
The Sex Pistols gave their first public performance at St Martin's College
of Art in London
David Bowie scored his first UK number one with Space Oddity and began
his Thin White Duke period with Golden Years
The Eurovision Song Contest of 1975 was won by Ding A Dong from the Netherlands
with the song Teach In
on the tv and at the cinema
Programmes on ITV were blacked out by a technicians' strike
The cost of a colour TV licence went up to £18, whilst a black and
white rose to £7
Sitcom Fawlty Towers made its debut featuring John Cleese, Prunella Scales,
Connie Booth and Andrew Sachs
The top programmes of the year were The Royal Variety Performance, The
Benny Hill Show, Miss World and Love Thy Neighbour
Charlie Chaplin was knighted in the Queen's
New Year's Honours list
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were married for a second time
The Godfather Part II won the Oscar for Best Picture
Other films doing well in 1975 were The Towering Inferno, The Man with
the Golden Gun, Murder on the Orient Express and Tommy
sports achievements and milestones
Czech-born Martina Navratilova requested political asylum in America
Manchester United goalkeeper Alex Stepney dislocated his jaw whilst shouting
at a team-mate
Derby County won the First Division title; West Ham lifted the FA Cup
with 2-0 victory
over London.
The Grand National at Aintree was won by L'Escargot
The West Indies won the inaugural Cricket World Cup beating Australia
in the final
Tiger Woods was born... and Tom Watson won The Open
and finally
London experienced its hottest day for 35 years with a temperature of
32°F on August 7th, however there was a snow shower in June!
The champagne cork popping record was set by Gary Mahan - his cork travelled
103 feet
Betamax videos, portable bleepers and laser printers appeared for the
first time
New words included punk rock, sloane ranger and microchip