Some highlights from 1976
The Winter Olympics opened in Innsbruck, Austria.
Clifford Alexander Jr. is confirmed as the first African-American Secretary of the U.S. Army.
Patty Hearst is found guilty of armed robbery of a San Francisco bank.
Soweto riots in South Africa mark the beginning of the end of apartheid.
The Viking 2 spacecraft lands and takes the first close-up, color photos of Mars' surface.
Little known company Microsoft is officially registered with the Office of the Secretary of State of New Mexico.
The Damned release "New Rose," the first-ever single released and marketed as "punk rock."
In popular culture, Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers was one of the biggest songs of the year, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on of the biggest films, Happy Days one of the most popular TV shows and Trinity by Leon Uris one of the best-selling books.
And that, as they say, was the year that was.