Highlights of our time at USC 1972 - 1976
Fall Semester - 1972
5 SEP 72: Munich massacre. 11 Israeli athletes at the Summer Olympic Games in Munich are killed by Arab terrorists.
11-15 SEP 72: MIDN 4/C indoctrination week for the class of 1976. 36 new midshipmen sworn in.
19 SEP 72: Fall semester begins.
12 OCT 72: Battalion athletic competition won by Charlie Company.
28 OCT 72: Annual Casino Party
14 NOV 72: Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 1,000 for the first time.
24-25 NOV 72: Numerous MIDN work as extras on TV pilot of “Catch 22.” Excellent payday follows.
11 DEC 72: Apollo 17 lands on the Moon as part of the last US manned flight to conduct operations on the Moon.
14 DEC 72: CO’s Battalion inspection. No winners as Alpha and Bravo Companies tie. Sorry Charlie!
17 DEC 72: NROTC flag football team wins USC intermural championship.
Spring Semester - 1973
1 JAN 73: USC finishes unbeaten football season 12-0 by demolishing The Ohio State University in the Rose Bowl.
4 JAN 73: Spring semester classes begin.
6 JAN 73: Annual Winter Formal
11 JAN 73: MYSGT Nelson Callen, USMC retires after 20 years of service.
27 JAN 73: Vietnam War ends with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. U.S. military draft is abolished. MIDN 1/C and 2/C wish they were born in 1954.
30 JAN 73: Rock band Kiss plays their 1st show at the Coventry Club in Queens, NY
27 FEB 73: The American Indian Movement occupies the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, SD. The protest will last 71 days.
17 MAR 73: Drill Team takes second place overall at Air Force Drill Meet in Anaheim.
3 APR 73: The first handheld cellular phone call is made in New York City using a handset that weighed 2kg (4.4 lbs). The first commercial mobile phone would go on sale ten years later.
28 APR 73: 0646: Point Mugu earthquake (5.8)
3 MAY 73: Charlie Company wins drill competition.
4 MAY 73: Annual Ring Dance.
15 MAY 73: Drill Team, led by MIDN 1/C Fisher, beats UCLA for 4th year in a row.
17 MAY 73: Dress parade on Cromwell Field. Charlie Comany (Max Bumgartner CO) wins Color Company award.
5 JUN 73: Finals end.
7 JUN 73: Class of 1973 commissions 18 Ensigns and 2 2nd Lt.
JUL/AUG 73: Third Class Summer Cruise. All expenses paid luxury cruise from San Diego.
Fall Semester - 1973
29 SEP 73: #1 USC vs. #2 Oklahoma with 84,000 fans in the Coliseum results in a 7-7 tie. USC loses #1 ranking.
10 OCT 73: Spiro T. Agnew resigns as Vice President of the United States after pleading no contest to a charge of income tax evasion.
17 OCT 73: Arab oil producers cut production by 5% and instituted an oil embargo against Israel’s allies following the Yom Kippur War won by Israel. Oil prices shoot up to more than $11 per barrel. The resulting shortage of gas, caused the price to approach $1/gal. in California and there were long lines of cars at gas stations.
20 OCT 73: Saturday Night Massacre. President Richard Nixon fires Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Multiple DOJ officials resign.
27 OCT 73: USC loses to ND in South Bend 23-24, ending their 21 game unbeaten streak.
NOV 73: Disco era begins with the release of “Love’s Theme” by Love Unlimited and “Rock the Boat” by The Hues Corporation. Both songs would reach #1 in 1974.
20 NOV 73: The animated Thanksgiving special A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving premieres on CBS.
24 NOV 73: USC (8-1-1)beats UCLA (9-1) 23-13, wins the Pac 8 title and a Rose Bowl berth.
6 DEC 73: Gerald Ford sworn in as VP of the United States.
26 DEC 73: The Exorcist is released to a limited number of theaters.
Spring Semester - 1974
1 JAN 74: USC loses Rose Bowl game 42-21 to Ohio State.
7 FEB 74: Blazing Saddles directed by Mel Brooks and starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder is released in theaters.
29 MAR 74: Chinese farmers discover the Terracotta Army near Xi’an. 8,000 clay warrior statues buried to guard the tomb of China’s 1st emperor, Qin Shi Huang
6 APR 74: Swedish pop group ABBA’s song “Waterloo” wins the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, England, UK.
8 APR 74: Hank Aaron hits 715th HR, off of L.A. Dodger Al Downing, breaking Babe Ruth’s record in Atlanta.
6 JUN 74: 34 members of the Class of 1974 are commissioned as Ensign, USN or 2nd Lt, USMC after graduating from USC earlier in the day.
JUN-SEP 74: 7 new ensigns slated for flight school in Pensacola spend the summer TAD at USC and were assigned to rehab the Wardroom by installing wall to wall walnut paneling among other upgrades.
14 SEP 74: USC begins another season of NCAA football with a loss to Arkansas.
Fall Semester - 1974
14 SEP 74: USC begins the football season with a loss to Arkansas 22-7.
1 OCT: Computer scientist Gary Kildall presents the prototype of his CP/M operating system in his backyard toolshed, the first commercially successful personal computer operating system.
30 OCT 74: Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman for the undisputed heavyweight title. The bout is fought in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo). “The Rumble in the Jungle”
20 NOV 74: The Department of Justice files its final antitrust suit against AT&T. This suit later leads to the breakup of AT&T and the Bell System.
23 NOV 74: USC beats UCLA 34-9 to win the Pac8 championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl.
30 NOV 74: USC was down 24-0 to Notre Dame when Anthony Davis scored for the Trojans with seconds left in the first half. “The Comeback” USC scored 7 touchdowns in the second half to win 55-24.
1 DEC 74: LA ‘Skid Row Slasher’ kills first of eight victims.
20 DEC 74: “The Godfather Part II”, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1975).
31 DEC 74: Singer-songwriters Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks join rock band Fleetwood Mac.
Spring Semester - 1975
1 JAN 75: The fifth-ranked USC Trojans defeated #3 Ohio State Buckeyes 18–17 in one of the most exciting games in the history of the Rose Bowl. The team was subsequently named National Champions.
6 JAN 75: “Wheel of Fortune” premiers on NBC. The show has been on the air continuously since that date with over 8,000 episodes.
4 APR 75: Microsoft founded in Albuquerque by Bill Gates and Paul Allen to market BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800.
30 APR 75: The Vietnam War ends as Communist forces take Saigon, resulting in mass evacuations of Americans and South Vietnamese. As the capital is taken, South Vietnam surrenders unconditionally.
MAY 75: USC Drill team defeats UCLA and takes the Marion Davies Trophy for the 6th straight year.
15 MAY 75: The American merchant ship Mayaguez, seized by Cambodian forces, is rescued by the U.S. Navy and Marines; 38 Americans are killed.
5 JUN 75: Class of 1975 commissioning ceremony for 22 Navy Ensigns and 3 Marine Second Lieutenants.
JUL/AUG 75: First Class Summer Cruise. SWOs to WestPac, Nukes submerge, Airdales to O Clubs, Marines to Quantico. Supply Corps stays home to inventory office supplies.
4 JUL 75: Bicentennial – 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Founding Fathers
30 JUL 75: In Detroit, Michigan, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing. He is never found and is declared dead in absentia in 1982.
Fall Semester - 1975
Spring Semester - 1976
21 JAN 76: Concorde supersonic passenger jet began its first commercial service.
1 APR 76: Apple Computer Company was established by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
24 MAY 76: The Judgment of Paris. California wines triumphed over elite French labels in a blind taste test in Paris, permanently shifting global recognition to Napa and Sonoma winemakers