March 1975 - March 1, 1975 (Saturday)

March 1, 1975 (Saturday)

• Color television broadcasting was officially introduced in Australia, where black and white TV had started in 1956. ATV (Australia) used the slogan "First in Color" while the Nine Network described its new programming as "Living Color".
• The Covenant of the Goddess was founded in Oakland, California, by 40 witches from 15 Wicca covens.
• The popularity of CB radio in the United States was fueled by a decision of the Federal Communications Commission to lower the cost of the required citizens band radio license from twenty dollars to four dollars.
• Vietnam War: The army of North Vietnam, led by General Van Tien Dung, began an attack on the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, starting at Pleiku, before moving on to Ban Me Thuot.
• Aston Villa won the Football League Cup at Wembley, beating Norwich City 1–0 in the final.
• The factory of the Sponge Rubber Products Company, located in Shelton, Connecticut, was destroyed by a bomb planted by the Weather Underground terrorist group. The three security guards at the plant were overpowered and kidnapped by three masked men, who detonated the bombs, and freed the men later. Although nobody was hurt, the destruction caused the loss of 1,100 jobs.
• An Iraqi Airways airliner was hijacked by three Kurdish gunmen, shortly after taking off from Mosul to Baghdad with 93 people on board. The hijackers (Ahmad Hasan, Taha Naimi and Faud al-Qeitan) demanded that 85 Kurdish political prisoners be released, that they receive five million dollars, and that they be flown to Iran. After the plane made a forced landing in Tehran on a blocked runway, a gunbattle ensued between Iraqi security guards onboard and the gunmen. One passenger were killed and ten others wounded, including Hasan, who later died of his wounds. Taimi and al-Qeitan were executed a month later by a firing squad in Iran.
• Died: Clarence Ray Carpenter, 69, American primatologist