March 24, 1975 (Monday)
- Chuck Wepner, a relatively unknown boxer, went up against world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in a bout in Cleveland. Wepner, a "club fighter" who had been selected as an easy opponent for the champ, knocked Ali down to the canvas in the ninth round, then went on to do what few of Ali's opponents had been able to do, "going the distance" for the full 15 rounds. The Ali-Wepner fight was watched on closed circuit TV by an out of work actor, Sylvester Stallone, who turned his own idea about an obscure boxer, getting a title shot, into the film Rocky, with Stallone portraying the Wepner-like Rocky Balboa.
- After it had sent back photographs of the planet Mercury, Mariner 10 was switched off at 1221 UTC. Nearly an hour earlier, it had exhausted its supply of fuel to its attitude control system, preventing it from maintaining a steady fix on the planet. Further such exploration of Mercury would not take place again until 2008, after the 2004 launch of the satellite MESSENGER.
- The beaver became the official "symbol of the sovereignty of Canada", after Royal Assent was given, by the Governor-General, to legislation passed by both houses of Parliament.
- Alexander Mitchell, a 50 year old bricklayer in the English town of King's Lynn, literally died laughing, while viewing a TV episode of the British comedy The Goodies. Mitchell laughed for 25 minutes before his heart failed. His widow reportedly sent a letter to the comic group, thanking them for making his final moments happy.
- Born: Kenny Kimes, American murderer
- Died: Willie Ritchie, 84, former world lightweight boxing champion (1912–14)
Read more about this topic: March 1975
Famous quotes containing the word march:
“At the earliest ending of winter,
In March, a scrawny cry from outside
Seemed like a sound in his mind.
He knew that he heard it,
A bird’s cry, at daylight or before,
In the early March wind.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)