The decline of the automobile industry tied to the 1973 oil crisis with layoffs of more than 200,000 automobile workers;
The re-election of William Milliken as Governor of Michigan despite a general tide in favor of Democrats;
The United States Supreme Court ruling in Milliken v. Bradley reversing a lower court order requiring cross-district busing of public school students among 53 school districts in metropolitan Detroit and instead directing the creation of a desegregation plan limited to the Detroit schools;
Voters' repeal of the state sales tax on food and drugs;
Gasoline shortage;
Contaminated feed forces the slaughter of thousands of farm animals;
Democrats take the Fifth and Eighth Congressional Districts and then hold them in post-Watergate elections resulting in Democrats taking control of the Michigan Legislature and the state's Congressional delegation;
The worst snowstorm of the century hit southern Michigan; and
Utilities suffered lower profit margins and were granted large rate increases.
The AP also selected the state's top sports stories of 1974 as follows:[2]
Al Kaline's retiring after 21 years with 3,007 hits and 399 home runs;
In the 1970 United States census, Michigan was recorded as having a population of 8,875,083 persons, ranking as the seventh most populous state in the country. By 1980, the state's population had grown 4.4% to 9,262,078 persons.
Cities
The following is a list of cities in Michigan with a population of at least 70,000 based on 1970 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1960 and 1980 is included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Cities that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.
The following is a list of counties in Michigan with populations of at least 120,000 based on 1970 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1960 and 1980 are included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Counties that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.
1973–74 Detroit Pistons season – compiled a 52–30 record and finished in third place in the Midwest Division of the NBA's Western Conference; Dave Bing led the team in minutes played and assists
Gar Wood Trophy Race - For the third consecutive year, the Miss Budweiser, piloted by rookie Howie Benns, won the unlimited hydrofoil race on the Detroit River (June 30)[6]
September 27 - Stevie Wonder performed a concert at Olympia Stadium in Detroit; Mayor Young pronounced September 27 Stevie Wonder Day in Detroit and presented Wonder with a key to the city[9]
September 29 - Elvis Presley performed a concert before a crowd of 17,105 at Olympia Stadium in Detroit[10]
October 5 - Alice Cooper attended a party in Bloomfield Hills for the premiere of his film, "Good to See You Again, Alice Cooper".[11]
October 12 - Bachman Turner Overdrive played a sold-out concert at Cobo Arena in Detroit; warm up artist Bob Seger "knocked 'em out with 'Travelin' Man'"[12]
November 13-15 - Elton John performed three sold-out concerts at Olympia Stadium in Detroit[13]
January 15 – The Teamsters began a strike at five supermarket chains representing 80% of the food sales in southeastern Michigan.[22] The strike ended on January 28.[23]
January 16 – Two Detroit police officers were killed in a shootout with a tool and die worker in northeast Detroit.[24]
January 24 – General Motors announced plans to lay off 75,000 hourly workers, 50,000 in Michigan, at 14 plants by March.[25]
January 30 – UAW President Leonard Woodcock called for a temporary curb on foreign automobile imports in the wake of high unemployment in the automobile industry.[26]
January 31 – General Motors announced record profits of $2.4 billion for 1973.[28]
February
February – Michigan's unemployment rate reaches 10.6%, the highest in the country with large layoffs in the automobile industry,[29] including almost 21,000 General Motors workers laid off in Flint alone.[30]
February 8 - Amid violence against independent truckers continuing to drive despite a truckers strike, Gov. Milliken ordered the Michigan National Guard placed on alert and doubled patrols by the Michigan State Police.[31]
February 9 - A foreman at Chrysler's Huber Avenue Foundry in Detroit died from multiple head injuries after being beaten by an auto worker in the plant's finishing room.[32]
February 13 – Detroit Mayor Coleman Young announced the abolition of the Detroit Police Department's controversial STRESS (Stop the Robberies and Enjoy Safe Streets) unit and plans to open 50 "mini-stations" and to increase the Department's black representation to 50% by 1977.[33] The STRESS unit had been accused of killing 22 residents and arresting hundreds more without cause during its two-and-a-half-year existence.[34]
February 15 – The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a plan to sell 2,000 abandoned homes in Detroit to the city for sale to homesteaders at a price of not more than five dollars per house.[35]
February 18 – In a special election to fill Vice President Gerald Ford's Grand Rapids Congressional seat, Democrat Richard Vander Veen upset the Republican in what had long been a safe Republican seat.[36] The result was deemed to be a message that Watergate could lead to significant Republican losses in the fall.[37][38]
March 2 – Amid the gasoline shortage, a survey showed that 58% of the gas stations in the Detroit area were closed and only three percent of the open stations had gas to sell.[40]
March 4 – Signs were posted for Michigan's reduced 55 mile per hour speed limit on 1,550 miles of the state's freeways.[41]
March 6 – The EPA, in its second ever recall order, directed Chrysler to recall 826,000 vehicles to replace temperature sensors in 1973 automobiles.[42]
March 7 – William Milliken announced that he would run for a second four-year term as Governor of Michigan.[43]
March 7 – Hundreds of streakers exposed themselves as part of the growing fad.[44] Five days later, another 60 streakers participated in the "First Annual Streak In" on the Diag at the University of Michigan, and four streakers stopped traffic on State Street in Ann Arbor.[45]Ray Stevens' song The Streak was released later in the month.
March 13 – The Execution of Private Slovik, a television film based on the life of Detroit resident Eddie Slovik who was the only soldier executed for desertion in World War II, aired on ABC.[46]
March 16 – Harvey Leach, chairman of the Joshua Doore furniture company, was killed and found in the trunk of a Lincoln Continental; the crime was considered to be a professional hit. Five months later, a controlling interest in the company was acquired by a firm owned in part by an associate of Mafia boss Anthony Giacolone.[47]
March 27 – Former Detroit Mayor Jerome Cavanagh announced at a press conference that he was calling off his campaign for governor after learning he would be required to undergo surgery to remove a kidney on which a malignant tumor had been discovered.[48] He later re-entered the race but lost the Democratic nomination to Sander Levin.
April 1 – Voters in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti passed amendments to their city charters reducing the penalty for possession or use of marijuana to a fine of five dollars.[49]
April 10 – President Nixon appeared in Michigan's Thumb to campaign for James Sparling in Michigan's 8th Congressional District[51] One week later, Sparling lost to J. Bob Traxler, the first Democrat to win the District since 1932.[52]
April 18 – The U.S Navy suspended Project Sanguine (later known as Seafarer), a proposed extremely low frequency (ELF) radio antenna intended to cover up to 3,000 square miles of the Upper Peninsula.[53]
April 26 – General Motors announced that its first quarter profits were down 85% for the company's worst showing since 1948.[54]
April 29 – Chrysler announced that its first quarter profits were down 98%.[55]
May 5 - The Detroit Free Press reported that Detroit experienced 89 homicides in April, the highest monthly total in city history.[56]
May 5 - Television newsman Bill Bonds was arrested for drunk driving in West Bloomfield.[57] He pleaded guilty to driving while visibly impaired in October.[58]
May 10 - Two Teamsters locals at the Stroh Brewery approved a new contract, ending a 40-day strike at the Detroit brewery.[59]
May 28 - In a growing scandal arising out of cattle feed from the Farm Bureau Service found to be contaminated with the flamer retardant PBB, five more herds of cattle were found to be contaminated.[60] The Public Health Department warned on May 29 that contaminated milk and dairy products from the cows had been distributed statewide and could cause cancer.[61] By May 30, state officials were developing plans to destroy 115,000 chickens, 3,000 cows, and 150 pigs exposed to the contaminated feed.[62][63]
June - The Michigan Institute of Improved Sexual Response in Detroit offered weekly sessions, including sexual intercourse with surrogates, to treat sex problems. City and county officials were investigating the clinic's legality.[64]
June 24 - The Michigan House of Representatives began an investigation into payments totaling more than $70,000 to Rep. John Smeekens.[66] On August 8, the special panel investigating Smeekens recommended that he be censured for being an expense account cheat.[67] The censure was approved on September 19.[68]
July 1 - Detroit became the largest city in the United States to adopt a provision in its city charter banning discrimination against homosexuals in employment, housing, and public accommodations.[69][70]
July 3 - Gordie Howe and his family were presented with the Freedom Award as part of the annual Detroit-Windsor International Freedom Festival.[71]
July 9 - Jac LeGoff, anchorman on Detroit's CBS affiliate (WJBK) since 1962, signed a 10-year contract with the city's ABC affiliate WXYZ at $100,000 a year.[72]
July 9 - Unemployment figures for June showed a 70,000 person increase in unemployment with the state's unemployment rate climbing to 10.9%.[73]
July 19 – A federal judge in Washington, D.C., upheld a presidential ban on Jimmy Hoffa's participation in union affairs until 1980.[74]
July 21 - Bobby Unser won the Michigan 200 automobile race in front of 46,180 spectators at Michigan International Speedway[7]
July 22 - In the 50th Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race, the "Dora IV", a 61-foot customed cutter captained by Lynn Williams of Chicago, was the overall winner, completing the race in 51 hours and 22 minutes, corrected to 49 hours, 20 minutes with its handicap.[8]
July 25 – The United States Supreme Court ruled in Milliken v. Bradley reversed a lower court order requiring cross-district busing of public school students among 53 school districts in metropolitan Detroit and instead directed the creation of a desegregation plan limited to the Detroit schools.[75]
July 28 – Detroit Lions head coach Don McCafferty died of a heart attack while mowing the lawn at his home in West Bloomfield.[76]
July 30 – A station wagon filled with four women, one of whom was pregnant, and four children returning from picking blueberries was struck by a Soo Line freight train in the Upper Peninsula 25 miles southwest of Sault Ste. Marie; only one person survived.[77]
August 5 – U. S. Senate Republican Whip Robert P. Griffin of Michigan held a press conference in which he stated that the national interest and President Nixon's interest would be served by Nixon's resigning.[78]
August 6 – With 61% of the votes in the Democratic primary, Sander Levin won the Democratic nomination for governor.[79]
August 9 – Gerald Ford of Michigan was sworn in as the 38th President of the United States and declared "our long national nightmare is over".[80]
August 12 – President Ford announced that his first priority was a fight against inflation and criticized General Motors for its plan for substantial price increases on 1975 models.[81][82] Ten days later, General Motors agreed to a partial rollback of its price increases.[83]
September
September 7 – Members of the United Steel Workers voted to end a 25-week strike against Dow Chemical Co. in Midland. The strike was the longest in the company's history.[84]
September 24 - Al Kaline of the Detroit Tigers became the 13th member of baseball's 3,000 hit club with a stand-up double off Dave McNally.[85]
September 30 - General Motors named Thomas Murphy as its new chairman and CEO, effective December 1. Pete Estes was named president.[86]
October
October 3 - The federal government gave Detroit $8.7 million to create 700 jobs for persons unemployed or underemployed.[87]
October 4 - A federal bankruptcy judge granted the World Football League permission to find a buyer for the Detroit Wheels after the team filed for bankruptcy.[88]
October 4 - A gambling raid in northeast Detroit resulted in 98 arrests in the city's largest crackdown on gambling since 1968.[89]
October 10 - Four gunmen held the family of Ypsilanti bank manager Richard Green at gunpoint, forcing him to rob his own bank of $35,000 as ransom.[90]
October 13 - A nationwide survey conducted by the University of Michigan found consumer sentiment about the economy to be at its lowest point in 25 years with conditions that "might make for a real recession".[91]
October 20 - Altie Taylor scored two touchdowns, and Errol Mann kicked two field goals, as the Detroit Lions ended a 13-game losing streak against the Minnesota Vikings with a 20–16 victory in Minneapolis.[92]
October 23 - Chrysler announced that it had sustained an $8 million loss in the third quarter.[93]
October 25 - General Motors announced that its third quarter profits were down 94% from $267 million in 1973 to $16 million.[94]
October 25 - The City of Detroit settled a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Detroit Boat Club and Detroit Yacht Club, both of which leased space on Belle Isle from the city; the settlement required both clubs to admit additional black members within 90 days.[95]
November 2 - UAW vice president and civil rights leader Nelson "Jack" Edwards was killed by a stray bullet in a Detroit bar.[96]
November 3 - Dearborn Mayor and segregationist Orville L. Hubbard suffered a stroke and underwent brain surgery the following day.[97] Officially, Hubbard remained mayor until 1978, but the City Council president served as mayor pro tem, running the city on a day-to-day basis, for the rest of Hubbard's final term.
November 5
William Milliken was re-elected as Governor with 51.07% of the vote over Sander Levin who garnered 46.75% of the vote and Zolton Ferency who garnered 1.08% of the vote.
In elections for the U. S. House of Representatives, Democrats gained ground. Democrat James Blanchard (59.0%) unseated Republican incumbent Robert J. Huber (40.4%). Democrat Milton Robert Carr also won in a previously Republican district. Democrat William M. Brodhead won the seat previously held by Martha Griffiths. Donald W. Riegle Jr. was reelected after changing his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat. Democrats Richard Vander Veen and J. Bob Traxler were reelected in historically Republican district which they had won earlier in the year in special elections.
The Democratic Party also won control over the Michigan legislature for the first time since the early 1960s, winning control of the Senate and retaining control of the House of Representatives.[99]
Proposition C, a statewide ballot initiative to repeal the state sales tax on food and drugs, was approved by a margin of 56% to 44%.[100]
November 9 - The Michigan State Spartans football team upset Ohio State (ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll) by a score of 16 to 13 in East Lansing. The Spartans held Ohio State at its own one-yard line as the game ended.[101]
November 19 - Chrysler announced plans to close four of its five automobile assembly plants due to slow sales of its automobiles.[102]
November 21 - Ford Motor announced that it was indefinitely laying off 3,000 white collar workers.[103]
November 22 - Ford Motor announced that it would temporarily lay off an additional 35,000 workers as part of a December production cut back. Ford's announcement raised the total planned layoffs in the automobile industry to more than 200,000 workers.[104]
November 23 - The undefeated Michigan Wolverines football team (ranked No. 2 in the UPI Poll) lost to Ohio State (ranked No. 3 in the UPI Poll) by a score of 12 to 10. With 18 second remaining, Michigan kicker Mike Lantry attempted a 33-yard field goal which was called wide left by the officials.[105]
November 27 - Ford Motor announced plans to lay off an addition 7,950 workers, 2,300 of them indefinitely.[106]
November 29 - General Motors announced plans to place an additional 24,000 hourly workers on indefinite layoff in January. The decision brought the total of General Motors layoffs to 41,000.[108]
December
December 1–2 - A snowstorm dropped 18.9 inches of snow on metropolitan Detroit in a 24-hour period. The snowfall was the most in the area since 1886 and resulted in 32 deaths from heart attacks to persons shoveling snow or pushing automobiles.[109][110]
December 12 - At an automobile industry summit meeting, President Ford pledged support for measures to increase automobile sales, including a freeze on new anti-pollution and safety regulations, a tax cut, and rebates for new car buyers.[111]
December 16 - American Motors announced plans to lay off 15,150 workers in January.[112]
December 18 - General Motors announced additional layoffs, increasing to 132,000 the number of the company's hourly workers to be laid off in the first quarter of 1975.[113]
December 19 - Ford Motor announced additional layoff, increasing to 90,00 the number of its hourly workers to be laid off in the first quarter of 1975.[114]
December 20 - The Pontiac City Commission voted to approve a $7.1 million loan to allow a roof to be added to a stadium (the Pontiac Silverdome) planned for the city to host Detroit Lions games starting in 1975.[115]
December 23 - The Detroit Housing and Urban Development office announced plans to increase demolition of homes in Detroit. It was estimated that 500 HUD houses were being abandoned each month in Detroit.[116]
February 15 - Maurice Sugar, pioneer labor lawyer, general counsel to UAW (1937-1948), at his home on Black Lake at age 81[121]
February 17 - Ralph W. Gerard, neurophysiologist and behavioral scientist, at age 73
March 9 - Felix Schlag, sculptor and designer of the U.S. five cent coin in use from 1938 to 2004), in Owosso at age 82[122]
March 16 - Daniel Frank Gerber, who built baby food manufacturer Gerber Products Co. into a Fortune 500 company, at Gerber Memorial Hospital in Fremont, Michigan, at age 73[123]
June 30 - Gene Gazlay, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, from a heart attack at Groesbeck Golf Course in Lansing, at age 50[132]
August 19 - Augie Bergamo, baseball player, in Grosse Pointe at age 56[133]
October 27 - Jay Datus, artist known primarily for his mural painting in Arizona[137]
November 2 - Nelson "Jack" Edwards, UAW vice president and civil rights leader, in Detroit at age 57[96]
November 15 - Nathaniel B. Wales, inventor credited with inventing the Kelvinator refrigerator and early patents on washers, vacuum cleaners, and a proximity detonator for bombs[138]
November 15 - Myrtle Craig Mowbray, first African American woman to graduate from Michigan Agricultural College
November 23 - Jerry Benjamin, baseball outfielder (3x Negro leagues All-Star), in Detroit at age 65
December 19 - Russell D. Oliver, American football player, in South Bend, IN
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