36 Fun Facts About 1976

Israeli commandos freed hostages taken from a hijacked Air France jet at Entebbe airport in which country?

Uganda's president Idi Amin collaborated with the hijackers, and the raid cost the lives of commander Yonatan Netanyahu and three hostages.

Which city's American Legion convention gave its name to a new pneumonia?

Philadelphia's outbreak led to the discovery of Legionella, which also explained an earlier illness among health department workers in Pontiac, Michigan.

Who priced the first Apple computer at $666.66 because he liked repeating digits?

Steve Wozniak, not Jobs, chose the price, and he has said it had nothing to do with the number of the beast.

North Korean soldiers killed two US Army officers at Panmunjom who were leading a work party trimming what?

A poplar tree was the target, and after three days of deliberations the US sent hundreds of men, backed by B-52 bombers, just to cut it down.

Which Austrian city staged a second Winter Olympics in 12 years after Colorado voters refused to fund the original host?

Innsbruck had hosted in 1964, and the IOC picked it again over a rival bid from Lake Placid.

Which TV series' fans wrote to the White House to rename the first space shuttle, which was to be called Constitution?

Star Trek fans got their Enterprise, but the orbiter was built only for atmospheric test flights and never went into space.

Anita Roddick opened the first branch of which chain, selling lotions in urine-sample bottles bought from a hospital?

The Body Shop opened in Brighton with nothing tested on animals, and running short of the hospital bottles is what created its refillable-bottle policy.

Muhammad Ali fought a 15-round draw in Tokyo with which Japanese wrestler, who lay on his back kicking Ali's legs?

Antonio Inoki was docked points for fouls while fighting from the canvas, and the bout was scored a draw.

Which shark species was discovered when one became tangled in a US Navy research vessel's sea anchor off Oahu?

The megamouth shark was hauled up from about 165 metres on 15 November 1976, and scientists had to create a new family, genus and species for it.

Which virus, named after a river, was first identified in simultaneous outbreaks in Sudan and present-day DR Congo?

Ebola is named after the Ebola River near Yambuku, and the simultaneous outbreak in Sudan turned out to be a different virus, now called Sudan virus.

Fearing a 1918 repeat, the US began mass vaccination against which flu after a soldier died at Fort Dix, New Jersey?

Swine flu vaccination ended after cases of Guillain–Barré syndrome turned up among people who had received the jab.

Microsoft, founded a year earlier, was registered as a company name in November with which state's Secretary of State?

New Mexico was home because Microsoft began in Albuquerque beside its first customer, MITS, and it moved to Bellevue, Washington, only in 1979.

Which US note came back in 1976 with John Trumbull's painting Declaration of Independence on its back?

The $2 bill kept circulating after 1976, but it was printed less often than other notes, and many wrongly came to believe it had been discontinued.

Which president said in a 1976 TV debate that there was 'no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe'?

Gerald Ford made the gaffe in the second debate; in the first, a technical failure cut the sound and halted the broadcast for almost half an hour.

Who became the first woman to co-anchor a US network evening newscast, joining ABC on a five-year, $5 million contract?

Barbara Walters sat beside Harry Reasoner, who privately dismissed her hiring as a gimmick, and the deal made her the highest-paid news anchor of either sex.

Which reclusive tycoon died mid-flight from Acapulco to Houston?

Howard Hughes had grown emaciated after years as a recluse, and his aides were flying him to hospital when he died.

Whose separation from Lord Snowdon was announced in March, after she holidayed on Mustique with Roddy Llewellyn?

Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon's separation statement said there were no plans for divorce, yet they divorced in 1978.

Which famous clock's chiming mechanism broke on 5 August when a fully wound four-ton weight spun its winding drum loose?

Big Ben's air-brake speed regulator failed from torsional fatigue after more than a century of use, and the clock was shut down for 26 days over nine months before full service resumed on 9 May 1977.

Which body did Callaghan's government turn to in 1976 as the pound plunged?

The IMF demanded massive public spending cuts in return for its loan, a deal that shored up the pound.

Which ex-MP, nearly bankrupted by a failed investment, wrote Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less to pay off his debts?

Jeffrey Archer's novels went on to restore his fortune, turning an ex-MP who had faced bankruptcy into a bestselling author.

Which writer's novel Sleeping Murder, locked away during the war, was published months after her death in 1976?

Agatha Christie had left Sleeping Murder to her husband Max, and Poirot's farewell, Curtain, to her daughter Rosalind.

Halifax inventor Percy Shaw, who died in September, had patented which road-safety device in 1934?

Cat's eyes reputedly came to Shaw when a cat's eyes caught his headlights as he drove home in the dark, saving him from a crash.

Which actor, born in 1976, is a distant cousin of Richard III and read a poem at the king's 2015 reburial?

Benedict Cumberbatch went on to play Richard III himself in the BBC's The Hollow Crown.

Which Spice Girl, born in 1976, got her nickname as the group's youngest member, in pigtails?

Emma Bunton's Baby Spice name came from Top of the Pops magazine, which gave all five members nicknames that the group then embraced.

Which Brazilian striker, born in 1976, scored both goals in the 2002 World Cup final in Yokohama?

Ronaldo beat Oliver Kahn in the 67th and 79th minutes, completing a comeback from knee injuries that had sidelined him for years.

Which actress debuted on screen in Dino De Laurentiis's remake of King Kong, beating Goldie Hawn to the role?

Jessica Lange was a New York model when De Laurentiis spotted her, and she won the Golden Globe for New Star of the Year even though the film and her performance were widely panned.

Which gangster musical cast only children, Jodie Foster among them, and armed them with cream-firing 'splurge guns'?

Bugsy Malone came about after Alan Parker's son suggested the heroes should be kids, and it starred Jodie Foster and Scott Baio.

Laurence Olivier's Nazi dentist in Marathon Man drills Dustin Hoffman's teeth while repeating which three-word question?

"Is it safe?" comes from Szell, who tortures Babe because he fears Babe's brother told him about the diamonds Szell has hidden in New York.

Which British group won Eurovision in The Hague with 'Save Your Kisses for Me'?

Brotherhood of Man's winner ends with a twist: the girl the singer hates leaving for work turns out to be his three-year-old daughter.

Which guitarist's drunken call at a Birmingham gig to vote for Enoch Powell led to the founding of Rock Against Racism?

Eric Clapton had had a 1974 hit with a cover of Bob Marley's 'I Shot the Sheriff', and an outraged letter to NME from Red Saunders and friends turned an idea into a movement in August.

Which city's Lesser Free Trade Hall hosted the Sex Pistols in June 1976?

Manchester's gig is credited with inspiring bands such as Joy Division and the Smiths, and with leading on to Factory Records.

Derek Jacobi played the title emperor in which BBC adaptation of Robert Graves, with John Hurt as the lunatic Caligula?

I, Claudius was written by Jack Pulman, and Hurt turned Caligula down at first, changing his mind only after director Herbert Wise lured him to a pre-production party to meet the cast.

Leonard Rossiter faked his own drowning at West Bay, Dorset, in which sitcom about a Sunshine Desserts executive?

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin gave Britain CJ's 'I didn't get where I am today', and David Nobbs wrote the novel before MP John Stonehouse faked his own drowning the same way in 1974.

Which Second Division club won the FA Cup through Bobby Stokes's 83rd-minute goal?

Southampton had finished sixth in the Second Division while their opponents, United, came third in the First, one of the Cup's greatest upsets.

Which British player won the 1976 French Open?

Sue Barker turned to broadcasting after her playing days and presented the BBC's Wimbledon coverage until 2022.

Which British royal rode Goodwill in the eventing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics?

Princess Anne didn't approach a medal in Montreal, though she had won individual European gold at Burghley in 1971.