July 1, 1976 (Thursday) Carlos Arias Navarro, who had been Prime Minister of Spain since his appointment by Francisco Franco in 1974, resigned at the request of Franco's successor, King Juan Carlos I."Spanish Premier Resigns, Apparently at King's Wish", by Henry Giniger, The New York Times, July 1, 1976, p. 1 Arias, who had blocked the King's attempts at reform, was given the concession of a title of nobility the next day. The day after freeing 47 hostages, the hijackers of Air France Flight 139 freed another 101 passengers from captivity and extended their deadline for release of 53 prisoners to 2:00 in the afternoon for Sunday, as Israel continued to negotiate for the safety of the remaining 110 people on board. After the June 27 hijacking, the group from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine had set a July 1 ultimatum for their demands to be met or for the hostages to be killed."Hijackers of a French Jet Release 101 More Hostages", The New York Times, July 2, 1976, p. 3 Israel's cabinet of ministers had voted to open negotiations with the terrorists, reversing a long-held policy after members of the hostages' families had forced their way into Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's office."Israel, Yielding, Tells Hijackers It Will Negotiate; Cabinet Reluctantly Breaks Its Long-Standing Policy to Reject Such Talks", by Terence Smith, The New York Times, July 1, 1976, p. 1 Mrs. Dora Bloch, a 74-year old retiree and one of the hostages held at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda after the hijacking of Air France 139, became choked while eating lunch and was taken to a hospital in Kampala for treatment. She had dual Israeli and British citizenship after having married a Briton, and had been on her way to New York City to attend her son's wedding when the airplane was hijacked by terrorists, and was not at the airport when the Israeli rescue of hostages took place. After the other hostages were flown back to Israel in a rescue mission, Mrs. Bloch was taken from her hospital bed on July 4 by Ugandan soldiers and murdered."Drama in Hijacking of Jet to Uganda; A Long Week of Terror and Tensions", The New York Times, July 11, 1976, p. 1, p. 16 Tina Turner escaped her abusive husband and singing partner Ike Turner after he had beaten her on their way to the Statler Hilton Hotel in Dallas, where they were scheduled to perform as a duo. Tina Turner would go on to launch a successful solo career, with more success than she had had as half of the duo of Ike and Tina Turner."Tina Turner: The Shocking Story of a Battered Wife Who Escaped to Fame and Fortune", Ebony magazine (November 1986) Born: Patrick Kluivert, Dutch national soccer football team striker; in Amsterdam Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dutch national soccer football team striker; in Oss Justin Lo, American-born Hong Kong singer; in Syracuse, New York Haaz Sleiman, Lebanese-born American actor; in Beirut Kellie Bright, English soap opera actress known for EastEnders; in Brentwood, Essex Died: Zhang Wentian, 75, former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 1935 to 1943, later persecuted during the Cultural Revolution Anneliese Michel, 23, West German woman who died from malnutrition after her parents asked two Roman Catholic priests to treat her for psychosis by exorcism"Germans Stirred by Death of Woman in Exorcism", The New York Times, August 8, 1976, p. 10
July 2, 1976 (Friday) The Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, which had been installed after the fall of Saigon to the Viet Cong and to the North Vietnamese Army, was dissolved and the former Republic of South Vietnam was reunited with the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam."2 Parts of Vietnam Officially Reunited; Leadership Chosen", The New York Times, July 3, 1976, p. 1 Huynh Tan Phat, who had been the head of government of South Vietnam's Communist state, became the first vice president of the new SRV, with North Vietnam's president Ton Duc Thang as the SRV president. A bomb placed by the Monteneros terrorist group killed 24 members of the Policía Federal Argentina in the Balvanera neighborhood of Buenos Aires, and injured 70 others."A Bomb Kills 18 in Buenos Aires", The New York Times, July 3, 1976, p. 1 On orders of Horacio Verbitsky and Rodolfo Walsh, José María Salgado, a former PFA officer who had joined the Montoneros operative used his badge to gain entry into the dining hall of the Superintendencia de Seguridad Federal. Salgado placed a time bomb, loaded with of explosives and shrapnel and wrapped in an overcoat, beneath a chair. The bomb exploded at 1:20 in the afternoon as PFA cadets were eating lunch."A 45 años del atentado de Montoneros al comedor de la Policía Federal: 9 kilos de explosivos, un agente infiel y 24 muertos sin justicia" ("45 years after the Montoneros attack on the Federal Police dining room: 9 kilos of explosives, an unfaithful agent and 24 dead without justice), by Hugo Martin, Infobae.com, July 2, 2021 More than 800 people were killed during an unsuccessful attempt by rebellious officers in the north African nation of Sudan to overthrow the government of President Jaafar Nimeiry. At 5:00 in the morning, Nimeiry had arrived at the Khartoum airport after concluding official visits to the United States and France, and was driven back to the presidential palace. A force of 17 rebels drove up to the airport at 5:10, firing their way into the terminal with plans to kill Nimeiry as he was disembarking from his flight. Troops from the nearby military camp in Shagara attempted to capture him, even surrounding the presidential palace with tanks, before other troops loyal to Nimeiry suppressed the rebellion."Nimeiry Said to Thwart Coup in Sudan", The New York Times, July 3, 1976, p. 3 Investigators concluded that Nimeiry's life had been saved because his airplane had arrived 15 minutes ahead of schedule due to tail winds on his flight back to Khartoum, and he had already landed and exited his plane; "He was in a building 100 yards from the main terminal when the shooting began and was whisked away in an unmarked car." Death sentences were carried out on August 4 and 5 against 98 conspirators who were shot by a firing squad including the coup leader, Brigadier General Mohammed Nur Saeed of Sudan's Army, who had led the effort involving more than 1,000 troops who had been trained in camps in Libya."Sudanese Term Executions Just— Death Verdicts Are Regarded in Khartoum as Retribution for July Coup Attempt", The New York Times, August 8, 1976, p. 5 The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Gregg v. Georgia, holding by a 7 to 2 majority that the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual and was a constitutionally acceptable form of punishment, partially overturning the Furman v. Georgia case of 1972."Justices Uphold Death Penalty; Require Guidance for Imposing It, Limit Laws Making It Mandatory", by Lesley Oelsner, The New York Times, July 3, 1976, p. 1 Chris Evert of the United States won the Wimbledon women's singles championship, defeating Evonne Goolagong of Australia in a third set that went into extra games, 6-3, 4-6, 8-6."Miss Evert Wins Title", The New York Times, July 2, 1976, p. 1, 11 Born: Krisztián Lisztes, Hungarian national soccer football team striker; in Budapest
July 3, 1976 (Saturday) The heat wave in the United Kingdom, at the time in a state of drought conditions, reached its hottest day, with a temperature of in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. West German serial killer Joachim Kroll, who confessed to having killed 14 people since 1955 (including nine girls) was arrested at his apartment in the Huckingen section of Duisburg. Police had been conducting a house-to-house search for a missing child when they received a tip from a neighbor about Kroll's behavior and a blocked drainage pipe."Joachim Kroll, The Cannibal Serial Killer from Germany, Horror Galore website Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş was sworn in as the first president of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus, a breakaway republic that had been proclaimed in 1975 in the northern portion of the island republic of Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea after Turkey's invasion of Cyprus following the 1974 overthrow of the government by Greek Cypriots seeking union with Greece."Turkish Cypriots Swear In Leader", The New York Times, July 4, 1976, p. 7 In the second phase of Spain's transition to democracy after the end of the government of Francisco Franco, King Juan Carlos I selected Adolfo Suárez, who had been the deputy secretary-general of Movimiento Nacional, Spain's only legal political party, during the Franco regime."Prime Minister Named in Spain; King Designates Suarez, a Personal Friend and Head of the National Party", by Henry Giniger, The New York Times, July 4, 1976, p. 15 Because of Suárez's Francoist background, he was viewed by the King as being the most likely to persuade the more conservative legislators of the Cortes Españolas of the need for reform. Björn Borg of Sweden won the men's singles championship at Wimbledon, defeating Ilie Nastase of Romania in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2 and 9-7."Borg Wins Wimbledon", The New York Times, July 4, 1976, p. 1 Born: Henry Olonga, Zambian-born Zimbabwean national cricket team bowler; in Lusaka Bobby Skinstad, Zimbabwean-born South African national rugby union flanker; in Bulawayo, Rhodesia Andrea Barber, American TV actress; in Los Angeles Died: Revol Samuilovich Bunin, 52, Soviet Russian classical music composer, from a bronchial asthma attack. Bunin, the author of nine symphonies and an opera, had been working on a second opera, The People's Will, at the time of his sudden death.
July 4, 1976 (Sunday)
A rescue mission at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda ended successfully as airplanes landed safely in Israel with 102 of the remaining 106 hostages from Air France Flight 139, which had been hijacked a week earlier on June 27."Hostages Freed As Israelis Raid Uganda Airport— Commandos in 3 Planes Rescue 105— Casualties Unknown", by Terence Smith, The New York Times, July 4, 1976, p. 1 A 29-man assault team from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Sayeret Matkal special forces unit, led by Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu, landed at Entebbe on Saturday night at 11:00 pm local time (2000 UTC July 3), flew out 53 minutes later and landed in Kenya at Nairobi. Along with three of the hostages at Entebbe, all seven of the hijackers, at least 33 Ugandan Army soldiers and Lt. Col. Netanyahu— whose younger brother Benjamin Netanyahu would become Prime Minister of Israel almost 20 years later— were killed in the raid. The raiding team arrived in three C-130 transport airplanes. Among the ruses used by the Israelis were to transport a Mercedes limousine and two Land-Rover jeeps by cargo plane to Entebbe, where an agent in a Ugandan Army uniform impersonated President Idi Amin and was accompanied by faux bodyguards."Israelis Say Raider Impersonated Amin", by Terence Smith, The New York Times, July 13, 1976, p. 1
The U.S. celebrated its bicentennial, in recognition of the 200th anniversary of the July 4, 1776 adoption of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain."Nation and Millions in City Joyously Hail Bicentennial", The New York Times, July 5, 1976, p. 1 Voters in Mexico participated in elections for President and for the Congress of the Union (consisting of the 64-member Senate and 237-member Chamber of Deputies). The Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), which had maintained a monopoly on the government since 1929. José López Portillo, the former Finance Minister of Mexico, was elected without opposition as the 58th president and would be inaugurated on December 1."Lopez Portillo Is Elected Mexico Chief", The New York Times, July 6, 1976, p. 9