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
Great Train robber Ronnie Biggs was arrested on February 1st in Brazil
Eleven people were feared dead after an explosion on a coach on the M62
near Bradford. Later in the year, Judith Ward was sent to prison accused
of the bombing.
The Grand Jury in Washington said Nixon was involved in a Watergate cover-up
The miners' strike ended with a 35% pay increase whilst the rest of Britain
returned to a
five-day working week
The 50mph speed limit was re-introduced onto motorways in the country.
Labour was back in power - Harold Wilson began his third term as Prime
Minister, James Callaghan was Foreign Secretary and Denis Healey Chancellor
of the Exchequer
Inflation soared to a post war record 16%.
US jazz musician Duke Ellington died aged 75
The first Laura Ashley shop was opened in San Francisco
Nurses received pay rises of up to 58% (overall in the last twelve months,
wages in the UK had risen 20.7%)
on the chart
The band of the year were Mud - they had 11 top ten hits
The Wombles, those animals from Wimbledon Common, turned human and appeared
on Top of the Pops - somehow they had eight top ten hits!
Ray Stevens wrote a song called "The Streak" after reading about
the craze in an American student magazine
Barry White married his second wife, Glodean James
The Eurovision Song Contest winners were Abba from Sweden with Waterloo
on the tv and at the cinema
Tom Baker took over as Doctor Who
The final episode of Monty Python was transmitted
The top programmes of the year were: This Is Your Life, Love Thy Neighbour,
Miss World, Bless This House and the Des O'Connor Show
Also on the television this year for the first time: Bagpuss, It Ain't
Half Hot Mum (featuring Windsor Davis and Don Estelle) and Porridge (with
Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale) Steven Spielberg began filming Jaws at Martha's
Vineyard
Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor divorced
The Sting won the Oscar for Best Picture
Other box office hits included Enter The Dragon, The Three Musketeers,
Mary Poppins, The Man With The Golden Gun and Last Tango In Paris
sports achievements and milestones
Sir Alfred Ramsay was sacked as England's football manager
The first professional football matches were played on a Sunday because
of power shortages
West Germany won the World Cup
Leeds United won the First Division title, Liverpool were the FA Cup champions
Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert won Wimbledon - they were engaged to each
other at the time
Red Rum won the Grand National
Emerson Fittipaldi was the Formula 1 World Champion
and finally
Miss World, Helen Morgan, resigned when it was revealed that she had
an illegitimate child
A picture was published that was reported to be the Loch Ness Monster
Zaire cancelled Christmas
Word processors and disposable razors were launched
Also new for 1974: the airbus and McDonald's first hamburger restaurant
in London
your memories
Seen something that has jogged your memory or reminded you of something
you thought you'd forgotten? Please tell us about it!
