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1976 History

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1976 Inflation continues to be a problem around the world. Concorde enters service and cuts transatlantic flying time to 3 1/2 hours. One year after Microsoft is formed Apple is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. In South Africa Riots in Soweto mark the beginning of the end of apartheid. In music the first of the Punk Bands appear The Damned release New Rose classified as Punk Rock Music

Cost of Living 1976

How Much things cost in 1976
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 5.75%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 1004
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 6.25%
Average Cost of new house $43,400.00
Average Income per year $16,000.00
Average Monthly Rent $220.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas 59 cents
Plymouth Arrow $3,175.00
Polaroid Camera $28.00



What Events Happened in 1976

  • Earthquake in Tabgshan China kills 655,000
  • Earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale strikes in North Eastern Italy
  • Tidal Wave in Philippines kills 5,000
  • The First Commercial Concorde Flights take off
  • Worst Drought on record hits Britain
  • Maria Peron Deposed by Military Coup in Argentina
  • Hurricane Belle Hits US East Coast
  • James Callaghan becomes Britain's Prime Minister
  • 32 Black African Nations Boycott Montreal Olympics in protest to continued sporting links between New Zealand and South Africa
  • In Guatemala and Honduras an earthquake kills more than 22,000.
  • Nadia Comaneci wins 3 gold medals at the Montreal Olympics with seven perfect scores
  • First Legionnaires Disease affects 4,000 delegates in Pennsylvania from a chapter of the American Legion
  • Soweto riots in South Africa mark the beginning of the end of apartheid
  • The world’s first recorded Ebola virus epidemic begins in Sudan
  • Palestinian extremists hijack an Air France plane in Greece with 246 passengers and 12 crew. They take it to Entebbe, Uganda, where Israeli commandos storm the plane freeing the hostages
  • A Hijacked Sabena Boeing is stormed by Israeli soldiers releasing 100 hostages
  • United States Bicentennial
  • Cod Wars between Iceland and United Kingdom
  • Mao Tse-tung Dies the founder of the Chinese Communist Party
  • Argentina Peso, British Pound and Italian Lira all lose value against the US Dollar
  • In New York City, the "Son of Sam" pulls a gun from a paper bag killing one and seriously wounding another in the first of a series of attacks that terrorized the city for the next year.
  • The United States celebrates 200th birthday of independence from British Rule
  • The $2.00 bill Issued
  • Seychelles Gains Independence From Great Britain
  • Princess Margaret Announces Separation
  • Eccentric American billionaire Howard Hughes who had been a recluse for 20 years dies at the age of 70
  • The Winter Olympic Games are held in Innsbruck, Austria

Popular Culture 1976

Popular Films

  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
  • All the President's Men
  • The Omen
  • Taxi Driver
  • The Outlaw Josey Wales
  • Rocky

Popular Musicians

  • Bay City Rollers
  • Barry Manilow
  • Diana Ross
  • Paul Simon
  • The Four Seasons
  • Paul McCartney and Wings
  • Elton John
  • Rod Stewart
  • Queen
  • ABBA

Technology 1976

  • Concorde operated by Britain and France enters service cuts transatlantic flying time to 3 1/2 hours
  • Apple Computer Company is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
  • First laser printer introduced by IBM - the IBM 3800
  • An American Panel warns that CFC's Chloro-fluorocarbons used in Aerosol Cans damage the Ozone layer
  • Cray-1, the first commercially developed supercomputer, invented by Seymour Cray
  • The Olympics, broadcast from Montreal, Canada, draw an estimated one billion viewers worldwide.
  • Matsushita introduces the VHS home video cassette recorder to compete with Sony's Betamax system.
  • Landing Vehicles from the US Spacecraft Viking I and Viking II set down safely on Mars

Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )

  • Ink Jet Printer USA


Research for this year is provided by The People History.
See History By Year and Decade for more prices and information.
Find out more about the 70s at ThePeopleHistory.com.