March 1976 - Patty Hearst, Kiss, Family

Dig it, Man, it's March 1976!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in March 1976 was 'Dream Weaver' by Gary Wright.

March 1 – Bradford Bishop allegedly murders five of his family members in Bethesda, Maryland. The crime goes undiscovered for 10 days and the suspect is never caught. In 2014, he is placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

March 9 - Family tv show premieres on ABC.

March 9–11 – Two coal mine explosions claim 26 lives at the Blue Diamond Coal Co. Scotia Mine in Letcher County, Kentucky.

March 11 - Gable and Lombard, Robin and Marian movies are released.

March 12 - I Will, I Will... for Now movie released.

March 14 - Buzby Berkley (director/choreographer) dies.

March 16 - Harold Wilson announced his resignation as Prime Minister of Great Britain.  He had been Labour leader for 13 years and Prime Minister for nearly 8 years.

March 18 - The Man Who Fell to Earth movie released.  Filmed mostly in New Mexico, it starred David Bowie, who's stated he was using cocaine at the time.

March 20 – Patty Hearst is found guilty of armed robbery of a bank.

March 22 – Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film. In one of the most lucrative business decisions in film history, Lucas declines his directing fee of $500,000 in exchange for complete ownership of merchandising and sequel rights.

March 26 - Ride a Wild Pony and Sky Riders movies released.

March 29 - At the 48th Academy Awards, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest wins best picture.  Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher win best actor and actress for their work in that movie.  George Burns wins best supporting actor for The Sunshine Boys.  Lee Grant wins best supporting actress for Shampoo.

March 31 – The New Jersey Supreme Court rules that persistent vegetative state patient in the Karen Ann Quinlan case can be disconnected from her ventilator. She remains comatose and dies in 1985.

March 31 - W.C. Fields and Me movie released.

Albums released in March (album / artist):
A Love Trilogy / Donna Summer
Nobody's Fools / Slade
Wings of Love / The Temptations
Destroyer / Kiss
I Want You / Marvin Gaye
Takin' It to the Streets / The Doobie Brothers
The Sun Sessions / Elvis Presley (recorded 1954–55)
Sad Wings of Destiny / Judas Priest
Wings at the Speed of Sound / Wings
Amigos / Santana
Jailbreak / Thin Lizzy
Moonmadness / Camel
Presence / Led Zeppelin

Nielsen top 10 for the week of March 14: 1 Rich Man, Poor Man 2 Welcome Back, Kotter 3 The Wizard of Oz 4 All In The Family 5 Happy Days 6 ABC Sunday Movie (High Plains Drifter) 7 (tie) M-A-S-H and Laverne and Shirley 9 (tie) Barney Miller and Police Woman

National Geographic for March:

McCall's for March:

People magazine for March 29th:

Playboy playmate of the month, Ann Pennington and Playgirl man for March, Marc Rodriguez:

1976 Volkswagen Beetle:

Incredible Hulk comic for March:

Sonny and Cher dolls (released in 1976):

Peanuts comic strip from March 1976:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in March 1976, check out this really good site:  ultimate70s.com

February 1976 - Taxi Driver, Sesame Street, Sal Mineo

Boogie Down in February 1976!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in February 1976 was '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover' by Paul Simon.

Cost of Living in 1976
Average yearly household income $14,922
Minimum wage (per hour) $2.30
Average cost of a new home $48,100
Postage stamp $0.13
Gas (1 gallon) $0.59
Gold (1 oz.) $124.80
Movie ticket $2.13

February 1 - The miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man debuts on ABC, becoming a critical and ratings success over its 12-episode run.

February 2 - Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, and Art Carney reunite in an ABC special, The Honeymooners – The Second Honeymoon.

February 4 - Next Stop, Greenwich Village movie released.

February 5 – Nearly 2,000 students become involved in a racially charged riot at Escambia High School in Pensacola, Florida; 30 students are injured in the 4-hour fray.

February 8 - Taxi Driver movie released.

February 10 - The controversial "Episode 847" of Sesame Street featuring Margret Hamilton reprising her role as The Wicked Witch of the West from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz is broadcast. The episode would only air once due to a barrage of complaints leveled at the Children's Television Workshop from parents who felt that Hamilton's performance was too traumatizing for their children.

February 11 – Clifford Alexander, Jr. is confirmed as the first African-American Secretary of the United States Army.

February 11 - Lee J. Cobb, actor, dies. (born 1911)

February 12 - Sal Mineo, film actor in Rebel Without a Cause, dies. (born 1939)

February 13 - Sara premieres on CBS.

February 13 - Jack and the Beanstalk movie released.

February 19 - CBS affiliate KXLY-TV in Spokane, Washington is given a "notice of termination" by the network, stripping KXLY-TV of its affiliation effective August 19. CBS cites business reasons (KXLY-TV had been airing several network programs out of pattern in recent years) as the reason they stripped KXLY-TV. In the end, CBS decides to affiliate with ABC affiliate KREM-TV, while KXLY-TV joins ABC. The move takes effect August 8 at the request of KREM-TV, who wanted to air ABC Sports' entire coverage of the 1976 Summer Olympics.

February 22 – Florence Ballard, singer (The Supremes) dies. (born 1943)

February 25 - Soviets admit transmitting microwaves at the American Embassy in Moscow to disrupt U.S. eavesdropping equipment.

February 27 - Griffin and Phoenix TV movie was shown on ABC, starring Peter Falk and Jill Clayburgh.  It was such a success that it also had a limited theatrical release.  Sadly, in 2010, Jill died from the same cancer her character has in this movie. 

February 28 - The 18th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held.  Record of the Year was Love Will Keep Us Together by Captain & Tennille.  Album of the Year was Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon.  Song of the Year was Send In the Clowns by Judy Collins.  Best New Artist was Natalie Cole.

February 29 - The movie The Sound of Music is televised for the first time, on ABC.

Cosmopolitan issue for February:

Sports Illustrated for February 16th:

Playgirl Man for February, Gary Earle, and Playboy playmate of the month, Laura Lyons:

1976 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray:

Happy Days trading cards (released in 1976):

Albums released in February (album / artist):

The Third Reich 'n Roll / The Residents

Gimme Back My Bullets / Lynyrd Skynyrd

A Trick of the Tail / Genesis

Jesse Come Home / James Gang

Diana Ross / Diana Ross

Smokey's Family Robinson / Smokey Robinson

Shamal / Gong

Dreamboat Annie / Heart

Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) / Eagles

Come On Over / Olivia Newton-John

Action Comic for February:

Nielsen top ten for the week ending February 29: 1 The Sound of Music 2 All In The Family 3 Laverne and Shirley 4 Happy Days 5 Maude 6 Rich Man, Poor Man 7 Rhoda 8: (tie) Mary Tyler Moore and Phyllis 10 Jeffersons 

Peanuts comic strip from February 1976:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in February 1976, check out this really good site: ultimate70s.com

January 1976 - NBC, Bionic Woman, Agatha Christie

Getting Funky in January 1976!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in January 1976 was 'Convoy' by C.W. McCall.

1976 Federal Government
President: Gerald Ford (R-Michigan)
Vice President: Nelson Rockefeller (R-New York)
Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger (Minnesota)
Speaker of the House of Representatives: Carl Albert (D-Oklahoma)
Senate Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield (D-Montana)

January 1 - NBC officially replaces its snake and peacock logos with a "modern N," composed of blue and red trapezoids—and nearly identical to the logo for Nebraska Educational Telecommunications' TV network, prompting NET to sue NBC for trademark infringement.

January 1 - UCLA beats Ohio State 23-10 in the Rose Bowl.

January 5 – Beatles associate Mal Evans is fatally shot by police amid a disturbance at his Los Angeles home.

January 11 – Flyers-Red Army game: The Philadelphia Flyers play the Soviet Red Army team.  The Red Army left the ice for a portion of the game and the Flyers won 4–1.

January 11–12 Eleanor and Franklin, a two-part miniseries starring Jane Alexander and Edward Herrmann, airs on ABC.

January 12 - Agatha Christie dies.  The author of 74 novels, in her early days she enjoyed surfing with husband Archie!

January 14 - The Bionic Woman premieres on ABC.

January 15 – Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison.

January 17 - The Blues Brothers make their debut on NBC's Saturday Night Live, singing Slim Harpo's song 'I'm a King Bee' in their Killer Bees costumes. Their first appearance as The Blues Brothers proper occurred in 1978.

January 18 – Super Bowl X: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Dallas Cowboys 21–17 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.  Highlights:  SUPER BOWL X

January 19 – Jimmy Carter wins the Iowa Democratic Caucus.

January 27 – The United States vetoes a United Nations resolution that calls for an independent Palestinian state.

January 27 - Laverne and Shirley premieres on ABC.

January 28 - The Dumplings premieres on NBC.

Playboy playmate of the month, Daina House, and Playgirl man for January, Jim Cavaretta:

1976 Chevrolet Vega:

Moon phase calendar for January 1976:

Dynamite magazine cover for January:

Tiger Beat cover for January:

Donny and Marie Osmond dolls from Mattel (released 1976):

The Nielsen top ten network television programs for the week ending Jan 11:

1: All In The Family; 2: Maude; 3: Phyllis; 4: Rhoda; 5: Mary Tyler Moore; 6; M-A-S-H; 7: One Day At A Time; 8: Kojak; 9: Welcome Back, Kotter; 10: CBS Reports Inquiry The American Assassins (Part 4, on the shooting of Robert F. Kennedy and George C. Wallace)

Albums released in January 1976 (Album / Artist)

The Longhorn Jamboree Presents: Willie Nelson & His Friends / Willie Nelson

Look into the Future / Journey

Let the Music Play / Barry White

Desire / Bob Dylan

Frampton Comes Alive! / Peter Frampton

Elvis: A Legendary Performer Volume 2 / Elvis Presley

Songs for the New Depression / Bette Midler

M.U. – The Best of Jethro Tull / Jethro Tull

Wanted! The Outlaws / Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson,

Jessi Colter & Tompall Glaser

Coney Island Baby / Lou Reed

Station to Station / David Bowie

Futuristic Dragon / T.Rex

Batman comic for January:

Agatha Christie's 'Curtain' was at the top of the New York Times fiction best seller list.

Peanuts comic strip from January 1976:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in January 1976, check out this really good site:  ultimate70s.com

April 1978 - Panama Canal, Neutron Bomb, WAC

I Caught Night Fever in April 1978!

A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in April 1978 was 'Night Fever' by the Bee Gees.

April 2 – The CBS soap opera Dallas is launched.

April 3 – The 50th Academy Awards are held with Annie Hall winning Best Picture.  Best actor is Richard Dreyfuss for Goodbye Girl, best actress is Diane Keaton for Annie Hall, best supporting actor is Jason Robards for Julia, best supporting actress is Vanessa Redgrave for Julia.  Richard Dreyfuss became the youngest man to win an Oscar for best actor.  This was Bob Hope's 19th, and final, time hosting the event.

April 3 - Pass the Buck game show debuts on NBC.  Hosted by Bill Cullen, four contestants competed to give a list of items that fit into a specific category announced at the beginning of each round (e.g., first names with exactly five letters, things that make people laugh). 

April 5 - Pretty Baby movie premieres.

April 7 – Jimmy Carter decides to postpone production of the neutron bomb – a weapon which kills people with radiation but leaves buildings relatively intact.

April 8 - The Ted Knight Show debuts on CBS.

April 9 - Rabbit Test movie premieres.

April 10 – Volkswagen becomes the second (after Rolls-Royce) non-American automobile manufacturer to open a plant in the United States, commencing production of the Rabbit, the North American version of the Volkswagen Golf, at the Volkswagen Westmoreland Assembly Plant near New Stanton, Pennsylvania.

April 16–19 - Holocaust, starring James Woods and Meryl Streep, first airs on NBC.

April 18 – The senate votes 68–32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control on December 31, 1999.

April 20 - Dawn of the Dead movie premieres.

April 21 – Thomas Wyatt Turner, civil rights activist, biologist and educator; first African American to receive a doctorate from Cornell, dies. (born 1877)

April 22 - The Blues Brothers make their first appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live.

April 24 - Card Sharks game show debuts on NBC.

April 26 - F.I.S.T. movie premieres.

April 25 - Vega$ tv series debuts on ABC.

April 28 - FM movie premieres.  Some AM radio stations played an edited version of the movie's title song in which an overdubbed "A" was substituted for the "F" of FM.

April 28 – WAC abolished; women integrated into regular Army.

1978 Dodge Magnum XE:

Star Wars comic for April:

Superman pinball game (released 1978):

Playboy playmate of the month, Pamela Jean Bryant, and Playgirl man for April, Brian Dawson:

Albums released in April (album / artist):
For You / Prince
Heavy Horses / Jethro Tull
Almighty Fire / Aretha Franklin
Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture / Various Artists
Come Get It! / Rick James
Bad Boy / Ringo Starr
Showdown / The Isley Brothers

Nielsen top 10 for the week ending April 16th: 1 Three's Company; 2 Laverne and Shirley; 3 M-A-S-H; 4 Holocaust Part I; 5 Happy Days; 6 One Day at a Time; 7 Charlie’s Angels; 8 Baby I'm Back; 9 Amazing Spider Man; 10 60 Minutes.

Cool YouTube video of some commercials from April 1978:  
1978 Commercials

Teen Beat for April:

Us magazine for April 18th:

Vogue magazine for April:

Peanuts comic strip from April 1978:

For detailed news/info on what happened each day in April 1978, check out this really good site: ultimate70s.com