The following events occurred in February 1976:
February 1, 1976 (Sunday) A group of 12 British mercenary soldiers, recruited by "Colonel Tony Callan" (Costas Georgiou) to fight in the Angolan Civil War as part of a group 100 Britons that arrived on January 27, were executed by their fellow Britons on Callan's orders."Angola Firing-Squad Deaths Recounted”, by Peter T. Kilborn, The New York Times, February 18, 1976, p. 3 UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson told the House of Commons on February 9 about the incident after being briefed by MI-5."13 Britons Reported Shot By Firing Squad in Angola", by Peter T. Kilborn, The New York Times, February 10, 1976, p. 1 Samachar was formed as the news agency of India by the consolidation of four competing agencies— the Press Trust of India, United News of India, Samachar Bharati and Hindustan Samachar."India News Agencies were Quietly Merged", The New York Times, February 1, 1976, p. 2 Operations of the consolidated national news agency began on April 2."News Merger Due In India Friday", The New York Times, March 28, 1976, p. 9 The government of India, having placed the state of Tamil Nadu under President's rule, arrested hundreds of members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) (Dravidian Progress Federation), a political party that was opposed to the rule of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Deposed Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi and his aides transferred government records to incoming appointed government, and they were not arrested."Hundreds Arrested in an Indian State After Takeover", The New York Times, February 2, 1976, p. 9 Five people were killed when a Rossair chartered airplane collided with a private plane as it approached the airport in Parafield, South Australia north of Adelaide. The 24 Hours of Daytona auto endurance race in Daytona Beach, Florida, was halted at 10:10, after nine of the 72 entrants began running into engine trouble from gasoline contaminated by water. After almost three hours, after the tainted fuel was drained and the vehicles refueled, the president of the International Motor Sports Association ruled that the race would be restarted, with all competitors credited as having the number of laps they had completed as of 9:00 in the morning. The team of Peter Gregg and Brian Redman, who had been 16 laps ahead at that hour and were among the cars that had been halted by the tainted fuel, went on to win what one writer described as "one of the most controversial automobile races in history.""BMW Captures Daytona Race; Contaminated Fuel Delays End", by Michael Katz, The New York Times, February 2, 1976, p. 31 Died: Werner Heisenberg, 74, German nuclear physicist and 1932 Nobel Prize laureate; George Whipple, 97, U.S. physician, co-recipient of the 1934 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his finding that pernicious anemia, though incurable, could be controlled by a diet of liver.
February 2, 1976 (Monday) Daniel Patrick Moynihan abruptly resigned from his job as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations."Moynihan Resigns Post at the U.N., Cites Harvard Job", The New York Times, February 3, 1976, p. 1 While initially citing his wish to return to his job as a professor at Harvard University, Moynihan soon showed his real reason for resigning and announced that he would be a candidate for the upcoming Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate for New York. David Bowie's Isolar – 1976 Tour, commonly called the "Thin White Duke Tour",Nicholas Pegg, The Complete David Bowie, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd, 2004, opened in Canada at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. The SZD-42 Jantar 2 glider made its first flight. Died: Barbara Euphan Todd, 86, English children's author known for creating "Worzel Gummidge"
February 3, 1976 (Tuesday) Nigeria's head of state, General Murtala Muhammed, announced the reorganization of the western African republic, with the division of five of the existing 12 states to create a total of 19, "to bring government nearer to the people", and said that a new federal capital would be built to house the government located in Lagos. Divided were the Western State (split into Ogun, Ondo and Oyo); the North-Western State (Niger and Sokoto); the North-Eastern State (Bauchi, Borno and Gongola); the East Central State (Anambra and Imo); and the state of Benue-Plateau (Benue and Plateau). The capital was relocated to the Lagos suburb of Ikeja."Nigeria to Get a New Capital And Seven Additional States", The New York Times, February 4, 1976, p. 4 Because of events 10 days later, General Murtala did not live to see the construction of the new planned city, Abuja, for the federal capital. Four gunmen, seeking independence for the French Territory of the Afars and Issas (now the Republic of Djibouti), seized a school bus in the African city of Djibouti and took the driver, a chaperone and 29 French children as hostages."Gunmen Seize 30 Children in Eastern Africa", The New York Times, February 4, 1976, p. 3 The group was then transported by the guerrillas to the town of Loyada, on the border with Somalia. French Army sharpshooters rescued 28 of the children the next day, killing the six guerrillas holding the hostages, but not before one of the dying assailants fires an automatic weapon, killing a schoolgirl and wounding two adults and four children. Before the rescue, the kidnappers had taken one of the children across the border into Somalia and held him for ransom."French Kill Six Holding Children", The New York Times, February 5, 1976, p. 11 The child, 7-year-old Frank Rutkowski, was released, unharmed, by the guerrillas to the Somali government. On February 7 in Mogadishu, Somalia's Foreign Minister Omar Arteh Ghalib handed Frank over to the French Ambassador."Somalia Releases Last French Child in Guerrilla Hands", The New York Times, February 8, 1976, p. 16 The government of Mozambique, led by President Samora Machel, announced the nationalization of all rental housing in the southeast African nation and a ban against the construction of additional buildings for the purpose of rental. Private ownership of houses was still allowed, but charging a fee for the right of usage of the property was forbidden. On the same day, Machel ordered the name of the Mozambican capital to be changed from its Portuguese designation of Lourenço Marques. Machel announced at a rally, "At 9:35 today, Lourenço Marques died; our capital was called Maputo." A settlement was made in the antitrust lawsuit Robertson v. National Basketball Association, almost six years after the suit had been filed by Oscar Robertson and 13 other NBA players against the league and its teams. The settlement cleared the way for a merger with the rival American Basketball Association (ABA). Merger discussions had been enjoined by order of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York pending a determination of whether a merged league would constitute a monopoly on the sport of professional basketball. The Daily Mail, a London tabloid, made public the "Thorpe affair" that ultimately forced the resignation of Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe. The Daily Mail interview with Peter Bessell, a former member or the House of Commons and colleague of Thorpe, brought evidence that Thorpe had had a homosexual affair with Norman Scott and that Thorpe then conspired to have Scott killed. Born: Isla Fisher, Australian actress; in Muscat. Tim Heidecker, American comedian and film actor, known for the comedy duo Tim & Eric; in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
February 4, 1976 (Wednesday) In Guatemala, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake killed at least 22,000 people. With an epicenter between the towns of Siquinalá and Escuintla, the quake struck at 3:01 in the morning local time and caused its highest death toll in slum areas of Guatemala City."More Than 800 Die in Guatemala Quake", The New York Times, by Alan Riding, February 5, 1976, p. 1"Guatemala Toll of Dead Mounts Amid New Shocks; Estimates Run From 5,000 to 14,000— At Least 200,000 Reported Homeless Amid the Ruins of Towns and Villages", by Alan Riding, The New York Times, February 7, 1976, p. 1"Earthquake Toll in Guatemala Now Nearing 19,000", by James. P. Sterba, The New York Times, February 12, 1976, p. 3
The opening ceremonies for the 1976 Winter Olympics were held in Innsbruck in Austria. Austrians Christl Haas and Josef Feistmantl, both gold medalists in the 1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck, jointly lit the Olympic torch. Reversing a previous ban against allowing the Concorde supersonic airliner to fly to the United States, U.S. Secretary of Transportation William T. Coleman announced that the UK and France could operate Concorde flights to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, and Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., on a 16-month trial basis."Concorde Flights to U.S. Approved for 16 Months; Foes Renew Challenges", The New York Times, February 5, 1976, p. 1 The Lok Sabha, India's lower house of parliament, voted to postpone nationwide elections that had been scheduled to start on March 18, as Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's "emergency rule" continued."Delay in Election was Voted in India— Lower House, Over Strong Opposition, Backs Move Linked to Emergency", by William Borders, The New York Times, February 5, 1976, p. 5 The Communist government of "Democratic Kampuchea" announced a date of March 20 for elections for the new "Cambodian People's Representative Assembly", with all 250 candidates to be selected by the Khmer Rouge government."Cambodia Plans March Election", The New York Times, February 5, 1976, p. 6 Japan attempted to launch its first x-ray astronomy satellite, CORSA-a (Cosmic Radiation Satellite), but the rocket carrying the payload failed shortly after its liftoff from the Kagoshima Space Center. On February 21, 1979, the replacement (CORSA-b, called "Hakucho"), would be put into orbit."Corsa A, B (Hakucho)", Gunter's Space Page] South Korea's Construction Minister Kim Jae-gyu was appointed by President Park Chung-hee to be the new director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA). The choice by President Park was ultimately fatal; Lieutenant General Kim would shoot and kill President Park on October 26, 1979. The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia ruled that individual provinces could not censor movies, overturning the regulation of film by the provincial government."Canadians Debate Censorship Issue", by Robert Trumbull, The New York Times, February 15, 1976, p. 5 The decision would later be affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada. The Rolladen-Schneider LS3 made its maiden flight.Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976–77. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1976. . p 71. Died: Kuzgun Acar, 47, Turkish modern sculptor, died from an intracerebral hemorrhage sustained after falling from a ladder while working on a relief mural
February 5, 1976 (Thursday)
A United States Army recruit at Fort Dix died in mysterious circumstances, and four fellow soldiers were hospitalized for a new strain of influenza, H1N1, referred to in the press as "swine flu". A spokesman for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced that a new strain of the influenza virus, "swine flu", was the cause. Soon after, public health officials in President Ford's administration urged that every person in the United States be vaccinated.Pandemic Pointers. Living on Earth, March 3, 2006. Retrieved December 31, 2006.