Premier Golda Meir’s Labor party lost ground in Israel’s crucial parliamentary elections, but appeared certain of dominating the next coalition government. In heavy balloting, Labor lost votes to smaller parties on the right and left. The Likud, the rightist alliance that was the principal opposition group, gained at Labor’s expense. Judging from early returns, it seemed likely that the Labor alignment would be the only party in a position to form a new coalition government. Election analysts estimated that Labor would emerge with 50 or 51 Parliamentary seats. It now has 56.
The United Nations command in the Middle East reported that there had been a sharp increase in shooting incidents along the Israeli-Egyptian cease-fire line the day before the Israeli parliamentary elections. A United Nations spokesman in Cairo said there were a total of 72 incidents on Sunday, including 22 outbreaks of sometimes intense artillery fire,
In a move apparently reflecting a tough new French policy against Basque militants in the aftermath of the assassination of Premier Luis Carrero Blanco of Spain, six Basque refugees were rounded up in the French Basque region and sent under police guard to live in northern France, far from the Spanish border. Police sources in Bordeaux, France, said an investigation had located in nearby Talence the villa used last week for a secret press conference by four Basque militants who said they killed Spanish Premier Luis Carrero Blanco. Police declined to confirm or deny they had found the villa, but they announced that six militants of the Basque separatist organization, ETA, had been required to leave for northern France for suspected militant action. Police sources said the men had returned to the area from an earlier northern exile only in the last four months on condition they abstained from political activities.
In Italy, Itavia Airlines Flight 897 crashed, killing 38 of the 42 people aboard. Flying in a heavy fog, the Fokker F28 Fellowship jet was approaching a landing at Turin on a flight from Bologna when it struck the top of a tree and then impacted at a building under construction. Flames engulfed the plane, trapping most on board. The survivors were in a hospital in serious condition.
The refusal of British coal miners to work overtime has caused an economic crisis. The government blames the miners for the country’s problems, and Prime Minister Heath refuses to give into the miners. Negotiations have been continuing, but without success. Miners claim they are prepared to compromise, but Mr. Heath isn’t.
New Year’s Day was celebrated as a public holiday in the United Kingdom for the first time nationwide, as England and Wales joined in making the first day of the year a paid legal holiday. Scotland had celebrated New Year’s Day as a public holiday for years, and the order was applied to all of Britain by an October 8 amendment to existing wage laws.
As Queen Elizabeth cited William Whitelaw, the architect of the compromise settlement in Northern Ireland, by making him a Companion of Honor in the traditional New Year’s honor list, Northern Ireland’s new power-sharing executive assumed power in the province amid incidents of gunfire and bomb blasts.
The Executive of the 1974 Northern Ireland Assembly, comprising Brian Faulkner’s moderate Ulster Unionist Party and the non-violent nationalists of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, was formed in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Bombs and gunfire rattled through Northern Ireland and the Provisional wing of the Irish Republican Army pledged to increase its campaign of violence in 1974. A 200-pound bomb was detonated in Belfast’s biggest shopping center after an army demolition squad was unable to defuse it. A bomb exploded without warning at a Roman Catholic parochial school hall 13 miles west of Belfast, injuring 11 persons at a New Year’s dance. The year’s first fatality was John Whyte, 24, a Catholic passerby slain by a sniper shooting at an army patrol in Belfast.
An American-owned oil rig sank in bad weather in the North Sea off Scotland, officials reported. They said all 56 crew members were evacuated safely. The rig, Transocean 3, sank 100 miles east of the Orkney Islands, which lie to the northeast of Scotland. The cause of the sinking was not immediately determined.
On the seventh annual World Day of Peace, Pope Paul VI gave a sermon at St. Anthony’s Church in Rome, saying that peace “deals with life itself, more even than the physical safety of populations, of their honor, of their name, of their history… Will peace last: yes, or no?”
The Canadian Stock Exchange merged with the Montreal Stock Exchange, with the merged entity operating under the latter name.
Ernst Brugger became President of the Swiss Confederation.
Woodsworth College at the University of Toronto was founded, formally integrating part-time degree students into the University.
Maurice Nadon, who had been the Acting Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) since December 29, was formally appointed as the 16th commissioner, becoming the first French Canadian to hold the post.
With effect from this date the New Zealand government terminates all tariff preferences previously granted to South Africa.
A South Korean army sergeant shot up a tearoom in Taegu, seized about 30 hostages and was holding off 200 policemen, the Defense Ministry said. Two men were killed and two others wounded in the initial outburst of shooting, the ministry said. Police said the sergeant was Cho Hyo-suk of the 6th Military Police Battalion in Taegu and that he was armed with a carbine and about 120 rounds of ammunition. Cho reportedly held a grudge against his company commander and said he would not free the hostages until he was given the opportunity to see him.
Gunmen assassinated a local leader of the ruling Awami League and wounded Bangladesh Prime Minister Mujibur Rahman’s political secretary in Bhola, about 70 miles south of Dacca. The secretary was reported in critical condition. The identity of the gunmen was not indicated.
At the driving of the first pile for the Komtar building in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein said that the tower “would change the face of the city”.
Uruguayans were granted a 33% pay raise by the military-backed government of President Juan Bordaberry but large price increases were also granted, including fuel, 122%; electricity, 60%; drinking water, 42%, and road and rail travel, 25%. Prices of food and other consumer goods are expected to be raised soon.
Venezuelan President Rafael Caldera urged the nation’s incoming president to nationalize foreign oil companies operating in the country. Caldera, in his final state of the union address, said it was advisable and necessary that the $2 billion oil industry be nationalized now rather than in 1983 when leases held by such companies as Exxon, Anglo-Dutch Shell and Mobil begin to expire. He said the action should be carried out by President-elect Carlos Andres Perez, who takes office March 11, rather than by his own lame-duck administration.
Effective today, crude-oil prices in some producing countries rose by 60 to 90 percent to record levels as Libya, Indonesia and Bolivia adjusted their export prices following a pattern set by the major Persian Gulf producers a week ago. Libya, the principal North African producer, announced a posted price of $18.77 a barrel.
Due to the oil crisis, large numbers of gas stations throughout the United States were closed on New Year’s Day. Mrs. Judith Kathleen Bovard of Lake Jackson, Texas, was killed when her car crashed and burned while she was carrying a can of gasoline.
The holiday traffic death toll dropped because of the fuel shortage and lower speed limits.
The White House said that President Nixon had violated the law when he named his wife to serve on the new National Voluntary Service Advisory Council. The White House statement, which did not explain how the illegality was discovered, said the law prohibited a President from appointing a relative to a government position.
A dispute over the price canners will pay for the 1974 tuna catch kept the American tuna fishing fleet from participating in the traditional New Year’s Day opening of the internationally controlled yellowfin fishing season in the eastern Pacific. Fleet owners rejected an offer of $556 a ton, $55 more than the 1973 price, and were demanding $675 a ton — a level a canners’ spokesman called “utterly unrealistic.”
The skiing business has been hurt by the energy crisis. Business is down considerably at Stowe, Vermont, from last year, and the area’s economy is dependent upon skiing. In Vail, Colorado, however, the energy crisis seems far away; Vail’s ski business is up 40%. Vice President Gerald Ford, vacationing in Vail, said that a state which is dependent on recreation should receive special fuel allocations.
CBS reporters questioned Mrs. Edward Nixon about her husband’s involvement with President Nixon’s search for a suitable presidential library site; Mrs. Nixon reacted angrily.
Representative Les Aspin charged that the oil industry contributed millions to President Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign, and that is why the President can’t effectively deal with the energy crisis.
Passengers were stranded on two Amtrak trains which stalled in Galesburg, Illinois, and Klamath Falls, Oregon.
President Nixon is expected to sign a bill increasing Social Security benefits and taxes. The tax hike will hit middle income families the hardest; the elderly will benefit from the increase.
The old year ended with another round of price increases that pushed the family grocery bill to a level 13% higher than it was last March, an Associated Press market basket survey shows. The news agency has surveyed prices of 15 food and nonfood items in 13 cities at the beginning of each month since March. The average increase was 2% in December alone, with the increases ranging from a fraction of a percent in Miami to 5% in Atlanta. The only decline came in Seattle, where the bill was down 1%.
A man shot himself to death while driving a car at 40 m.p.h. trying to escape from the police. He was under indictment in Fort Worth, Texas, on a charge of false swearing, officials disclosed. William H. Baker, 29, was being chased by police in Tucumcari, New Mexico, when he pulled out a .357 magnum pistol, placed it to his head and pulled the trigger. The car went through an open field and crashed into a railroad embankment. Three teenage hitchhikers riding with Baker escaped without injury. Texas authorities said Baker was manager of a Fort Worth jewelry store last August when he disappeared with $35,000 in jewelry. He was named in an indictment after he told police that kidnappers had driven him to another town, where he managed to escape from the car trunk.
Famed criminal lawyer Percy Foreman was jailed briefly in Houston on New Year’s Eve on a drunken driving charge after his car collided with another that had stopped on a freeway, police said. “I haven’t been drunk since I was 15 years old,” Foreman, 71, said in denying the charge. He did say, however, that he had had two drinks earlier on a plane flight. Police said Foreman refused to take blood, urine or breath analysis tests. Foreman said he declined because that was the advice he would have given a client. No one apparently was hurt in the collision.
Sixteen persons, including six policemen, were slightly injured and 34 youths were arrested after police dispersed crowds of New Year’s revelers in Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Police said about 3,000 youths gathered on a highway at Fort Lauderdale and began rocking cars, throwing bottles and rocks. They finally were dispersed by tear gas. The disturbance lasted two hours and resulted in 27 arrests and 14 injuries. In Miami Beach, a crowd of about 2,500 youths began smashing windows on Collins Avenue, stopping vehicles and assaulting pedestrians. Police again used tear gas to scatter the crowd.
New York Mayor John Lindsay was replaced today by Abraham Beame. Lindsay passed out free drinks at his farewell party; Beame charged $1.75 per drink at his incoming celebration.
A cold wave which dropped temperatures to record lows gave the Midwest a shivering start to the New Year. McGrath, Minnesota, with a morning temperature of 45 below zero, was the nation’s coldest spot as records tumbled as far south as Midland, Texas, where it was 14 above. Other records were 30 below at Minneapolis-St. Paul; 26 below at Lincoln, Nebraska; 22 below at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 13 below at Columbia, Missouri. Meanwhile, a major storm developed in the Southwest, blowing snow across parts of Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. More than 4 inches of snow whipped into Las Vegas as heavy snow warnings were posted for Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and Oklahoma.
NBC radio begins on the hour news 24 hours a day (following CBS lead).
A small crowd cheered in the New Year at Times Square in New York; the older crowd generally stayed inside, where the Waldorf-Astoria offered Guy Lombardo as entertainment. Little sign of the energy crisis was shown in Los Angeles. The new year was ushered in with the same enthusiasm as last year.
Jimmy Connors of the U.S. defeated Australia’s Phil Dent, and Australia’s Evonne Goolagong defeated Chris Evert of the U.S., to win the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne.
Lee MacPhail takes over as American League president, succeeding Joe Cronin, who retires.
Ernie DiGregorio of Buffalo hands out 25 assists in the Braves’ 120—119 win over Portland, establishing an NBA single-game record for assists by a rookie.
40th Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida: Penn State 16, Louisiana State 9. In the 1974 Orange Bowl, favored Penn State took the lead in the first half and won, 16—9. Steve Rogers gave LSU an early lead on his touchdown run, but Penn State responded with a field goal by Chris Bahr by the end of the first quarter to make it 7—3. Early in the second quarter, Chuck Herd caught a 72-yard touchdown pass from Tom Shuman to give the Nittany Lions a lead they did not relinquish; John Cappelletti scored from a yard out to extend the lead to 16—7, the score at halftime. The only scoring in the second half came on a safety when Penn State punter Brian Masella chased down and fell on a poor snap in the third quarter; the Tigers could not muster up points despite outgaining the Nittany Lions by over ninety yards.
60th Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California: Ohio State 42, Southern California 21. The Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference defeated the USC Trojans of the Pacific-8 Conference, 42–21, in the Rose Bowl. The game was tied at 14—14 at halftime, then dominated by the victor in the second half. USC regained the lead briefly at 21—14 early in the third quarter, then Ohio State scored four unanswered touchdowns to win 42—21. Kicker Chris Limahelu’s first quarter 47-yard field goal was the longest ever by a Trojan, breaking a 64-year-old record (Limahelu died of prostate cancer in 2010 at age 59). This was the last time Ohio State defeated USC until 2017 in the Cotton Bowl. The Trojans won the next seven meetings from 1974 to 2009, including three Rose Bowls (January 1975, 1980, 1985). This was the second of three consecutive Rose Bowls involving these two teams, and USC won the other two. Ohio State stopped a four-game winning streak by the Pac-8 (now Pac-12), but the next Big Ten victories were seven and fourteen years away.
38th Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas: Nebraska 19, Texas 3. After playing to a 3—3 tie in the first half, Nebraska pulled away to beat Texas 19—3 in the 1974 Cotton Bowl Classic. The temperature in Dallas for the 12 noon CST kickoff was around 30 °F (−1 °C). Texas scored first on a 22-yard field goal by Billy Schott. With nine minutes later in the half came a hit that led to three points. Longhorn fullback Roosevelt Leaks was hit hard while Texas was driving at the 29, and the ball shot up into the air. Husker defensive end Steve Manstedt saw the ball pop into the air, grabbed the ball, and returned it 65 yards to the Texas 6. Though they could not find the end zone, Nebraska scored with a 24-yard field goal by Rich Sanger, and the teams went to halftime tied at three each. At halftime, Osborne replaced David Humm with senior reserve Steve Runty, a better rushing quarterback. The second half was dominated by Nebraska, with 16 points added and none allowed. Ritch Bahe scored on a 12-yard run late in the quarter to make it 10—3. With 1:23 left in the quarter, Tony Davis scored from three yards out to increase the lead to 16—3. Texas could not respond, as they turned the ball over five times and gained less than 200 yards. Sanger added a field goal midway through the fourth quarter to complete the scoring at 19—3. This remains the Huskers’ only Cotton Bowl Classic win.
Born:
Kevin Beirne, MLB pitcher (Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers), in Houston, Texas.
Neil Wagner, MLB pitcher (Oakland A’s, Toronto Blue Jays), in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Jonah Peretti, U.S. Internet entrepreneur, co-founder of BuzzFeed and The Huffington Post; in Contra Costa County, California.
Marco Schreyl, German television host of Deutschland sucht den Superstar since 2005; in Erfurt, East Germany.
Derek Kilmer, U.S. Representative for Washington since 2013; in Port Angeles, Washington.
Christian Paradis, Canadian Member of Parliament for Quebec from 2006 to 2015, Minister of Industry 2011-2013 in the Stephen Harper cabinet; in Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada.
Died:
Charles E. Bohlen, 69, U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union 1953 to 1957, to the Philippines 1957-1959 and to France, 1962-1968.
Charles M. Teague, 64, U.S. Representative for California since 1955, died at home during a recess in Congress.
History Diaries 