1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game, The game
A goodwill get-together before the game was fraught with tension. Flyers announcer Gene Hart, who spoke Russian, taught Flyers owner Ed Snider to say a phrase in Russian wishing the best for both teams in the upcoming game. When the time came, there was no mingling whatsoever between the Soviet contingent and Flyers staff and players. When Snider took to the podium, he spoke tersely and omitted the phrase Hart had taught him. Snider later said, "when I looked at all those cold faces, I just couldn't do it." Clarke later said that he, too, "really hated those bastards" on the Soviet side and could not wait to take to the ice against them once again.


1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game, The game
The Flyers dictated the game's tempo and were able to take the body on the Soviet players and avoid getting caught in the Soviet up-tempo transition game. In the first period, with the game still scoreless, Flyers defenseman Ed Van Impe, who had just finished serving a penalty for hooking, left the box and immediately placed a hard hit that knocked out CSKA player Valeri Kharlamov. Kharlamov lay prone on the ice for a minute. The replay suggests Van Impe elbowed Kharlamov in the head. Van Impe later joked "He basically ran into my elbow with his head".


1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game, The game
When Lloyd Gilmour, the referee, refused to call a penalty, maintaining that Van Impe's check was clean, Red Army coach Loktev protested by pulling the team from the ice. This led to commentator Bob Cole saying, "They're going home!" repeatedly. In a 2016 interview with the CBC, Bob Cole said "he got caught up in the moment" and started saying those words even though he had no idea what was going on at ice level. After the game he thought he might be fired for making those comments on the air.


1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game, The game
Many believe Snider got into a shouting match with the president of the Soviet Hockey Federation, threatening to not pay for the series if they did not return to the ice. However, NHL President Campbell denied he had ever told Koloskov about the money. Campbell and Eagleson were the first to arrive to speak to the Soviets. Snider was never the main negotiator and never spoke directly to either Koloskov or Loktev. The Soviets prolonged the game stoppage by arguing to make their return to the ice conditional on the referee canceling their impending delay of game bench penalty. Eventually, they accepted the penalty and came back to the ice.


1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game, The game
The Flyers scored quickly after play resumed. Flyer head coach Fred Shero decided to stand up the Red Army attack at the Flyers defensive blue line rather than just back off the line, which caught the Red Army off guard since no other NHL team had tried this tactic. The Flyers outshot the Red Army 49–13 and achieved a 4–1 victory.


1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game, The game
Soviet referee Yury Karandin officiated the game as a linesman.


1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game, After the game
Flyers head coach Fred Shero jokingly told low-scoring defenseman Joe Watson that he had set the Soviet hockey program back 25 years by scoring a shorthanded goal on the great Vladislav Tretiak. Amidst the Flyers' pride in their convincing victory against an outstanding team, the seeds of contentiousness had grown even further. To this day, Tretiak, who views the tie game in the Montreal Forum as the highpoint of the series, says that the Flyers won by playing "rude hockey." Coach Loktev called the Flyers "a bunch of animals." The Flyers, meanwhile, left with the belief that the Soviet team had confirmed their feelings that Russian players were skilled but soft.


1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game, After the game
Milt Dunnell of the Toronto Star had written this comment after the close of the series: "The Moscow Musketeers had to put a big fat zero on their aptitude test by pulling one [of] the dumbest tricks in sports. They hauled their team off the ice. Loktev knew the conditions before he came. Nobody loves playing in Philadelphia. Once he accepted a game with the Flyers, under NHL rules, with an NHL referee, he was in the same boat as the Toronto Maple Leafs or Vancouver Canucks when they come to town. Loktev wanted his team to know what's it's like to play the Flyers in Philly under NHL conditions. Well...that's what it's like."


1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game, Legacy
A little more than a decade after the showdown in the Spectrum, the Soviet Union was crumbling politically. In order to raise funds, the Soviet hockey program started to negotiate to auction off selected prominent national team veterans to be dispersed to NHL teams. The Sniders refused to get the Flyers involved in seeking to acquire any Soviet players, citing the fact that the Soviet officials were demanding a large portion of the players' NHL salaries be diverted into their hands rather than being given to the players. Later, of course, the Flyers began to scout and draft Soviet players on the same basis as they would players from any hockey country.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak
The 1976 Legionnaires disease outbreak, occurring in the late summer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States was the first occasion in which a cluster of a particular type of pneumonia cases were determined to be caused by the Legionella pneumophila bacteria.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak
Previous outbreaks were retroactively diagnosed as being most probably caused by Legionella bacteria.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, Background
On July 21, 1976, the American Legion opened its annual three-day convention at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More than 2,000 Legionnaires, mostly men, attended the convention. The date and city were chosen to coincide with America’s celebration of the 200th anniversary of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia in 1776.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, Background
On July 27, three days after the convention ended, Legionnaire Ray Brennan, a 61-year-old retired US Air Force captain and an American Legion bookkeeper, died at his home of an apparent heart attack. Brennan had returned home from the convention on the evening of July 24 complaining of feeling tired. On July 30, another Legionnaire, Frank Aveni, aged 60, also died of an apparent heart attack, as did three other Legionnaires. All of them had been convention attendees. Twenty-four hours later, on August 1, six more Legionnaires died. They ranged in age from 39 to 82, and, like Ray Brennan, Frank Aveni, and the three other Legionnaires, all had complained of tiredness, chest pains, lung congestion, and fever.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, Background
Three of the Legionnaires had been patients of Ernest Campbell, a physician in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, who noticed that all three men had been at the Legionnaires convention in Philadelphia. He contacted the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Officials at the American Legion also began getting notices of the sudden deaths of several members, all at the same time. Within a week, more than 130 people, mostly men, had been hospitalized, and 25 had died.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, Background
Both the first week and later, there were 149 Legionnaires who became sick and 33 other persons associated with the hotel or in the area who also became sick. Of these total of 182 cases, 29 persons died.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, Epidemiology
The U.S. Center for Disease Control mounted an unprecedented investigation and, by September, the focus had shifted from outside causes, such as a disease carrier, to the hotel environment itself. In January 1977, the Legionella bacterium was finally identified and isolated and was found to be breeding in the cooling tower of the hotel’s air conditioning system, which then spread it through the building. This finding prompted new regulations worldwide for climate control systems.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, Epidemiology
Complicating the situation was a fear among the public that the original cluster of 14 cases, six of whom died within a few days of each other, represented an outbreak of swine flu. The total number of cases reached 211, and of those, 29 had died. At the time of the outbreak, epidemiological investigation protocols did not include active participation by both the laboratory specialists and investigators. No effective communication existed between scientists in the field interviewing patients, and those in the laboratory testing specimens.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, Discovery of Legionella pneumophila
While the Centers for Disease Control responded rapidly, as did the Pennsylvania Health Department, it took six months for the CDC microbiologist Joseph McDade to discover the cause of the outbreak. He initially thought the cause was viral because blood and tissues from the victims failed to grow bacteria when incubated in culture medium. His subsequent attempts to isolate the viral agent in eggs included antibiotics to kill off "contaminating" bacteria. It was only when he omitted the antibiotics that the bacteria grew in eggs. Attempts to reproduce the disease in mice, the standard laboratory animal model, also failed. The disease was finally produced in guinea pigs. The CDC announced the discovery at a press conference on January 18, 1977. The bacterium was later named Legionella pneumophila.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, Discovery of Legionella pneumophila
Legionella pneumophila is the most common cause, but sometimes other species of Legionella bacteria also cause Legionnaires' disease. The terms "Philadelphia fever" and "Legion fever" appear to have been used at the time of the outbreak and for shortly thereafter, although at least one 2008 source which covers disease in a historical narrative sense also included "Legion Fever" as alternate name. Both the World Health Organization in 2018 and the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2017 only use the term Legionnaires' disease to refer to the serious version with pneumonia.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, Retrospective diagnosis of earlier outbreaks as Legionnaires' disease
CDC investigators quickly discovered outbreaks of respiratory disease caused by L. pneumophila dating back to 1959. An outbreak of what was dubbed Pontiac fever occurred in a health department in Pontiac, Michigan in July 1967. No one died. Although caused by the same bacterium, Pontiac fever is a milder ailment than Legionnaires' disease. Pneumonia is absent in those with Pontiac fever.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, Retrospective diagnosis of earlier outbreaks as Legionnaires' disease
An outbreak of pneumonia in July–August, 1965, at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, DC, which killed 16 persons out of 78 infected was later determined to be Legionnaires' disease.


1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak, Retrospective diagnosis of earlier outbreaks as Legionnaires' disease
A September 1974 convention of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was also held at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. Out of approximately 1,500 members who attended, 20 developed pneumonia and two died. A later article in The Lancet reported: "Illness [high fever and pneumonia] was significantly associated with attendance at one convention activity held on Monday morning, September 16, 1974, in the grand ballroom of the hotel." Oddly, staff members of the hotel seemed immune to infection and the CDC has yet to discover the reason for this apparent immunity.


1976 Philadelphia Phillies season
The 1976 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 94th season in the history of the franchise. The Phillies won their first National League East title, as they compiled a record of 101–61, nine games ahead of the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates, and won 100 games or more for the first time in franchise history.


1976 Philadelphia Phillies season
The Phillies lost the NLCS, 3–0 to the Cincinnati Reds. Danny Ozark managed the Phillies, as they played their home games at Veterans Stadium, where the All-Star Game was played that season.


1976 Philadelphia Phillies season, Regular season
The final 9-game margin masks how competitive the season actually was. In a scary echo of 1964, the Phillies saw a 15+1⁄2-game August lead dwindle to just 3 games as their offense dried up on two late-year road trips.


1976 Philadelphia Phillies season, Regular season
Mike Schmidt hit 12 home runs in Philadelphia's first 15 games, including 4 in one game on April 17. No one had hit this many home runs so quickly. In that game, the Phillies and Chicago Cubs combined for thirty-four runs in a game which featured nine home runs. Schmidt's home run feat was later tied by Alex Rodriguez in 2007.


1976 Philadelphia Phillies season, Regular season
Schmidt also won his first of 10 Gold Gloves that year, and carried the Phillies to the 1976 NLCS where he hit .308. The Phillies hit a major league-leading seven grand slams.


1976 Philadelphia Phillies season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1976 Philadelphia Phillies season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1976 Philadelphia Phillies season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1976 Philadelphia Phillies season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1976 Philippine Open
The 1976 Philippine Open was a men's tennis tournament played an outdoor clay courts in Manila, Philippines. It was the fourth edition of the tournament and was held from 15 November through 21 November 1976. The tournament was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit and categorized as Two Star. Sixth-seeded Brian Fairlie won the singles title and the $10,500 first prize money.


1976 Philippine Open, Finals, Doubles
Ross Case /  Geoff Masters defeated  Anand Amritraj /  Corrado Barazzutti 6–0, 6–1


1976 Philippine constitutional referendum
A national referendum-plebiscite was held on October 16–17, 1976 in the Philippines in which the majority of the barangay voters approved the continuation of Martial Law and ratified the proposed amendments to the Constitution substituting the Regular Batasang Pambansa with the Interim Batasang Pambansa, pursuant to Presidential Decrees Nos. 991, 1031, and 1032.


1976 Philippine constitutional referendum, Background
For purposes of Philippine law, a ballot question on amending, revising or approving a constitution is a plebiscite; other ballot questions asked through a nationwide electorate are referendums:


1976 Philippine constitutional referendum, Background, Referendum
There was a referendum if voters are in favor of extending martial law.


1976 Philippine constitutional referendum, Background, Constitutional plebiscite
This was a constitutional plebiscite for approving amendments to the constitution:


1976 Philippine constitutional referendum, Aftermath
In 1977, another referendum asked the people if President Marcos should continue as president after the organization of the Interim Batasang Pambansa.


1976 Philippine constitutional referendum, Aftermath
In 1978, a parliamentary election was held, the first in almost 7 years. The election led to the organization of the Interim Batasang Pambansa.


1976 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship
The 1976 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship was the 13th World Match Play Championship. It was played from Thursday 7 to Saturday 9 October on the West Course at Wentworth. Eight players competed in a straight knock-out competition, with each match contested over 36 holes. There was a large increase in the prize money with the champion receiving £25,000 compared to £10,000 the previous year. In the final, David Graham beat defending champion Hale Irwin after 38 holes.


1976 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship
For the first time there was a play-off between the losing semi-finalists for third place. It was played over 36 holes and was won by Gary Player.


1976 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship
This was the last World Match Play Championship sponsored under the Piccadilly name.


1976 Piccadilly World Match Play Championship, Prize money
The winner received £25,000, the runner-up £15,000, third place £8,500, fourth place £6,500 and the first round losers £5,000, making a total prize fund of £75,000.


1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team
The 1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1976 NCAA Division I football season and is recognized as a consensus national champion. Pitt was also awarded the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy as the best Division I team in the East.


1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team
During the 1970s, the top-ranked team won its bowl game only three times: Pittsburgh joined Nebraska (1971) and USC (1972).


1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team, Regular season
The previous season saw Pitt win the Sun Bowl over Kansas for an 8–4 record, highlighted by wins at Georgia and Notre Dame. The stage was set for 1976, with Pitt ranked ninth in the AP preseason poll, for the Panthers to make a run for the national championship.


1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team, Regular season
In the first game of the 1976 season, the Panthers faced off against Notre Dame in  South Bend, Indiana. A year earlier, Tony Dorsett had finished with 303 yards rushing in Pitt's 34–20 victory over the Irish. "They even grew the grass high," said Carmen DeArdo, a diehard Pitt alumnus, "and everyone knew Tony would get the ball." "They didn't let that grass grow long enough," Dorsett said later. He darted 61 yards on his first run of the season and tacked on 120 more by the end of the 31–10 Pitt win.


1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team, Regular season
The season continued with a 42–14 win at Georgia Tech and a 36–19 win over Miami. The Panthers traveled to Annapolis on October 23 to face Navy and Dorsett broke the NCAA career rushing record on a 32-yard touchdown run in the 45–0 victory. Dorsett's achievement prompted a mid-game celebration in which even Navy saluted the feat with a cannon blast. Pitt won a tough, hard-fought battle against struggling rival Syracuse.


1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team, Regular season
On November 6, the second-ranked Panthers hosted Army at Pitt Stadium and won handily, but the significant action was taking place several hundred miles west, in West Lafayette, Indiana, where the Purdue Boilermakers held off the top-ranked Michigan Wolverines 16–14 in the closing seconds. The Pitt Stadium crowd erupted in celebration when the stadium public address announcer dramatically gave the final score from Purdue. For the first time in the modern era, Panther fans could legitimately claim, "We're number one!" Pitt defended its ranking in a close Backyard Brawl against West Virginia to go 10–0 heading into the regular season finale on national television against instate rival Penn State (7–3).


1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team, Regular season
At a packed Three Rivers Stadium on the night after Thanksgiving, the Nittany Lions scored first and held Dorsett to 51 yards in the first half; the game was tied at seven at halftime. Majors adjusted for the second half by shifting Dorsett from tailback to fullback, enabling him to explode for an additional 173 yards as Pitt rolled to a 24–7 victory to cap an undefeated regular season.


1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team, Regular season
In December, Dorsett became the first (and remains the only) Pitt Panther to win the Heisman Trophy as the nation's best college football player. Dorsett also won the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, and was named UPI Player of the Year. He led the nation in rushing with 1,948 yards and was selected as an All-American. Dorsett finished his college career with 6,082 total rushing yards, then an NCAA record for career rushing.


1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team, Sugar Bowl
The 11–0 Panthers accepted an invitation to the Sugar Bowl to face fifth-ranked Georgia. Pitt defeated the Bulldogs 27–3 and was voted number one by both the Associated Press and Coaches polls, claiming their ninth national championship. This was Pitt's first undefeated national championship since 1937. The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) named Majors the 1976 Coach of the Year. Following this historic season, Majors returned to his alma mater, the University of Tennessee, to take the head coaching job.


1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team, Game summaries, Louisville
Matt Cavanaugh sustained a hairline fracture in the left ankle during the first half.


1976 Pittsburgh Pirates season
The 1976 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 90th in the National League, and the 95th in franchise history. The Pirates compiled a 92–70 record during the season, as they finished in second place in the NL East, nine games behind their cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies. As a result, their run of five division titles in a six-year span came to an end. It was also the final season for Danny Murtaugh as the Pirates' manager.


1976 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases


1976 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg.= Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in;  SB = Stolen bases


1976 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1976 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1976 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season
The 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 44th in the National Football League. The Steelers started the season looking to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to win three-straight league championships (and first since the 1929–1931 and 1965–1967 Green Bay Packers). However, many thought that would be in doubt after the team started 1–4 and saw quarterback Terry Bradshaw injured in the week 5 loss to the Cleveland Browns after a vicious sack by Joe "Turkey" Jones that has since become immortalized in NFL Films as part of the Browns-Steelers rivalry. The 1976 Steelers' 9.9 points allowed per game in the regular season is the best in franchise history.


1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Season
Despite the setbacks, the Steelers would turn it around behind the strength of the Steel Curtain and its dual threat at running back in Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, who each rushed for over 1,000 yards with the latter having the best season of his career, Pittsburgh finished 10–4 and posted five shutouts, the most in a single season in the Super Bowl era. Rookie quarterback Mike Kruczek wound up going 6–0 starting in place of Bradshaw, largely due to the strength of the ground game. This would also stand as an NFL record for best start for a rookie quarterback until 2004—when the Steelers' own Ben Roethlisberger more than doubled that record and went 13–0 as a starter his rookie season.


1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Playoffs
However, injuries to both Bleier and Harris in the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Baltimore Colts sidelined them both for the following week's AFC Championship game against the Oakland Raiders. Without both of their 1,000-yard rushers, the Steelers lost to the Raiders by a score of 24-7. Even with Pittsburgh coming up short, many Steelers fans—including the Rooney family themselves—consider the 1976 Steelers the best team in franchise history, even better than all six world championship teams.


1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Playoffs
Jack Lambert, who won 4 Super Bowls with the Steelers between 1974 and 1979, claimed that the 1976 Steelers team was the best team that he ever played for, and subsequently, the loss to the Raiders in the AFC Championship game was the most painful loss of his career. He (Lambert) is convinced that they would have beaten the Raiders and gone on to win that season's Super Bowl had Harris and Bleier both been healthy and available for said AFC Championship game.


1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Playoffs
In 2007, ESPN.com named the 1976 Steelers the greatest defense in NFL history, noting, "the 1976 unit was the best (slightly better than the '75 squad). Here's why: 28. That's how many points the Steel Curtain surrendered in the last nine games of the season. That's a total. As a result, Pittsburgh, which started the season 1–4, made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game. Only 1 of the 7 teams the Steelers played during the streak finished the season with a winning record (Cincinnati) and none made the playoffs.


1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Playoffs
However the defensive dominance did extend to the Divisional playoff with a resounding 40-14 defeat of the AFC East Champion Baltimore Colts. The Steelers' defense had Hall of Famers Mean Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham and Mel Blount. And eight Steelers defensive players made the 1976 Pro Bowl team: cornerback J.T. Thomas, defensive end L. C. Greenwood, Greene, Ham, Lambert, defensive back Glen Edwards, safety Mike Wagner, and Blount."


1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5 (Sunday, October 10) at Cleveland Browns
Terry Bradshaw was injured on a sack by Turkey Jones and missed six weeks.


1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 7 (Sunday October 24, 1976): at New York Giants
NOTE: This was the first of 5 wins by shutout.


1976 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Postseason, Game summaries, AFC Divisional Playoff (Sunday December 19, 1976): at Baltimore Colts
Notes: Pittsburgh gained an NFL record 524 total yards, Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier were lost to injuries.


1976 Plymouth City Council election
The 1976 Plymouth City Council election took place on 6 May 1976 to elect members of Plymouth City Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. Voting took place across 22 wards, each electing 3 Councillors. The Conservative Party retained control of the Council after winning a majority of seats.


1976 Polish legislative election
Parliamentary elections were held in Poland on 21 March 1976. The results, like with the other elections in communist Poland, were controlled by the communist government. The results of the 1976 election would be duplicated, exactly, by the 1980 election, and were only marginally different from those of the preceding years, and from the 1985 election.


1976 Polish legislative election, Results
As the other parties and "independents" were subordinate to PZPR, its control of the Sejm was total.


1976 Pontins Professional
The 1976 Pontins Professional was the third edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament which took place in May 1976 in Prestatyn, Wales.


1976 Pontins Professional
The tournament featured eight professional players. The quarter-final and semi-final matches were contested over the best of 13 frames, and the final was the best of 19 frames.


1976 Pontins Professional
Ray Reardon won the event for the third time in a row, beating Fred Davis 10–9 in the final.


1976 Portland Timbers season
The 1976 Portland Timbers season was the second season for the Portland Timbers in the now-defunct North American Soccer League.


1976 Portland Timbers season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


1976 Portland Timbers season, North American Soccer League, Pacific Conference, Western Division standings
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = PointsSource:


1976 Portuguese legislative election
The Portuguese legislative election of 1976 took place on 25 April, exactly one year after the previous election, and two years after the Carnation Revolution. With a new Constitution approved, the country's main aim was economic recovery and strengthening its democratic institutions. The election renewed all 263 members of the Assembly of the Republic.


1976 Portuguese legislative election
The Socialist Party won a plurality of votes, almost 35%, and legislative seats, and its leader Mário Soares became the Prime Minister of the 1st Constitutional government on 23 July 1976. The lack of a socialist majority forced his party to form an unexpected coalition with the Democratic and Social Center, a right-wing party.


1976 Portuguese legislative election
The nature of this coalition, between a socialist party and a conservative party that voted against the new constitution because of its socialist influences, surprised most Portuguese voters and marked the start of the Socialist Party's right-wing turn that would soon be attacked by all the left due to the new government's measures against left-wing reforms following the Carnation Revolution, mainly concerning agrarian reform, in what was called the PS' putting "Socialism in the drawer".


1976 Portuguese legislative election
The Social Democratic Party (then known as the Democratic People's Party, PPD) won the second most votes and seats, 24% of the votes, but polled 10 points below the PS. The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) achieved considerable gains that reflected its growing influence, mainly in the south of the country, gaining 14% of the votes. The big surprise in the elections was the strong showing of the Democratic and Social Center (CDS), which polled ahead of PCP and gathered 16% of the votes. Only 19 years later, in 1995, would the CDS surpasse the PCP in number of votes.


1976 Portuguese legislative election
Voter turnout fell to 83.5%, compared with the 91.7% just a year before.


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Background
The previous elections, held on April 25, 1975, elected a new assembly to write a new Constitution. The election results gave the two main moderate parties (PS and PPD) a clear majority in Parliament, with almost 38% for the PS and more than 26% for the PPD. The PCP achieved a weak result, just 12.5%, while the CDS polled ahead of the MDP. The election results started a conflict of legitimacy between parties, the Armed Forces Movement and the Revolutionary Council. It was the start of the Ongoing Revolutionary Process, which culminated in the "Hot summer of 1975".


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Background
On May 1, 1975, the PS and the PCP held separate rallies and some violent clashes occurred between PS and PCP supporters. A few days later, in what was called "The República case", far-left supporters invaded the headquarters of República newspaper. The reason was a strike by the typographers and other workers, many close to the far-left UDP, accusing the editorial board of being too aligned with the PS. The case drew widespread international attention, and the PS started a full blown attack against the PCP and Prime  Minister Vasco Gonçalves government.


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Background
Positions become extreme as Vasco Gonçalves led the Ongoing Revolutionary Process. He started facing big opposition from the so-called "reactionaries", (the Catholic Church, groups close to the former Estado Novo regime and, unofficially, from the PS, PPD and CDS. ), therefore, Vasco Gonçalves continued and forced his Democratic socialism policies with the nationalization of huge parts of the Portuguese economy.


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Background
By the beginning of the summer of 1975, the country was deeply divided. The "Hot summer of 1975" was starting. During this period, huge clashes between left and right supporters spread all across the country, some with big violence. The possibility of the country entering in a full blown Civil war was feared by many. On 19 July 1975, the PS held a massive rally in Lisbon, with the help of the Catholic Church and others, to fight against the PCP and Vasco Gonçalves government. Mário Soares, PS leader, accused the Gonçalves government, and those who support it, of being "Paranoids", "Demented" and "Irresponsibles who do not represent the Portuguese people".


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Background
During the summer of 1975, headquarters of the PCP, and other left-wing parties, in many cities in the North and Center of the country were vandalized and destroyed. Many leftwing supporters were also violently beaten by anti-left protesters. The violence and increased tensions across the country were damaging Vasco Gonçalves leadership in the government and divisions between the Armed Forces Movement and the Revolutionary Council were starting to show. When COPCON commander, Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, withdrew his support from Gonçalves, the government was on its last days.


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Background
On 20 September, Gonçalves leaves the government and Pinheiro de Azevedo is nominated as Prime Minister. Shortly after, on 26 September, the assault of the Spanish embassy in Lisbon by far-left supporters, in retaliation to the attacks on left-wing parties headquarters in the North and Center, drew widespread attention as it was broadcast by US network CBS.


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Background
The new government was unable to control the tensions in the country and by mid November the government made the extraordinary announcement that they were on strike because there were no conditions to govern the country. Just before this announcement, construction workers unions surrounded Parliament and blocked MPs from leaving the building for two days.


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Background
All of this culminated in the events of the Coup of 25 November 1975. The coup was an attempted by left-wing activists who hoped to hijack the Portuguese transition to democracy in favor of Communists. The coup failed and shortly after a counter-coup led by Ramalho Eanes, a pro-democracy moderate, and supported by PS leader Mário Soares, re-established the democratic process.


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Background
By March 1976, the Constitutional Assembly finally drafted the Constitution text and was sent to approval in April 1976. The Constitution draft was heavily ideological, with many references to Socialism and with many phrases that echoed Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto. On 2 April 1976, the new Constitution was approved with the votes of all parties with the exception of CDS, which voted against citing the ideological content of the document. However, the party agreed to abide by it in the interim.


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Electoral system
The Assembly of the Republic has 263 members elected to four-year terms. The total number of MPs increased to 263 from the 1975 total of 250 MPs. Governments do not require absolute majority support of the Assembly to hold office, as even if the number of opposers of government is larger than that of the supporters, the number of opposers still needs to be equal or greater than 132 (absolute majority) for both the Government's Programme to be rejected or for a motion of no confidence to be approved.


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Electoral system
The number of seats assigned to each district depends on the district magnitude. The use of the d'Hondt method makes for a higher effective threshold than certain other allocation methods such as the Hare quota or Sainte-Laguë method, which are more generous to small parties.


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Electoral system
For these elections, and compared with the 1975 elections, the MPs distributed by districts were the following:


1976 Portuguese legislative election, Parties
The table below lists the parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic during the  during the Constitutional Assembly (1975-1976) and that also, some, contested the elections:


1976 Portuguese local elections
The Portuguese local elections of 1976 took place on 12 December. They were the first local elections in Portugal. The democratic revolution of 1974 introduced the concept of democratic local power, that should be exerted by the citizens in their towns and cities.


1976 Portuguese local elections
The elections were meant to elect for the first time the administration of the about 300 municipalities of the country and of the about 4000 parishes that composed those 300 municipalities. They consisted of three elections in each of the municipalities; the election for the municipal chamber, the election for the municipal assembly and the lower-level election for the parish assembly.


1976 Portuguese local elections
The Socialist Party gathered the majority of the voting and mandates, beating the Social Democratic Party, although both parties tied in number of elected mayors, 115. The Communists led coalition, the Electoral Front United People, dominated the election in the South of the country. The right-wing Democratic Social Center achieved its best result ever in local elections.


1976 Portuguese local elections
Turnout in these elections was quite low, as 64.7% of the electorate cast a ballot, compared with the 83.5% turnout rate of the 1976 general elections in April.


1976 Portuguese local elections, Results, Municipal Councils, City control
The following table lists party control in all district capitals, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants. Population estimates from the 1970 Census.


1976 Portuguese local elections, Results, Maps
The first and the second most voted parties in Municipal Councils in each district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown)


1976 Portuguese local elections, Results, Maps
The first and the second most voted parties in Municipal Assemblies in sech district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown)


1976 Portuguese local elections, Results, Maps
The first and the second most voted parties in Parish Assemblies in each district. (Azores and Madeira are not shown)


1976 Portuguese presidential election
The Portuguese presidential election of 1976 was held on 27 June.


1976 Portuguese presidential election
With a broad base of support that comprised the center-left and the center-right, Ramalho Eanes won the election on the first round and became the first elected President of Portugal after the Carnation Revolution.


1976 Portuguese presidential election
The Portuguese Communist Party presented its own candidate, Octávio Pato, a well known anti-fascist. One of the major responsibles for the military operations during the Carnation Revolution, in 1974, Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, was also a candidate.


1976 Portuguese presidential election, Procedure
Any Portuguese citizen over 35 years old has the opportunity to run for president. In order to do so it is necessary to gather between 7500 and 15000 signatures and submit them to the Portuguese Constitutional Court.


1976 Portuguese presidential election, Procedure
According to the Portuguese Constitution, to be elected, a candidate needs a majority of votes. If no candidate gets this majority there will take place a second round between the two most voted candidates.


1976 Portuguese presidential election, Candidates, Unsuccessful candidacies
There was also one candidate rejected by the Portuguese Constitutional Court for not complying with the legal requirements:


1976 Portuguese presidential election, Results, Maps
Strongest candidate by municipality: Eanes - magenta; Otelo - dark red; Octávio Pato - red.


1976 Pot Black
The 1976 Pot Black was a professional invitational snooker tournament, which was held in the Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham, and featured eight professional players. All matches were one-frame shoot-outs.


1976 Pot Black
Broadcasts were on BBC2 and started at 21:00 on Friday 21 May 1976  Alan Weeks presented the programme with Ted Lowe as commentator and Sydney Lee as referee.


1976 Pot Black
Willie Thorne made his debut in this year's tournament against Fred Davis in the first show of the series. John Spencer won his third title beating Dennis Taylor 69-42


1976 Prague Skate
The International Figure Skating Competition was held in November 5–7, 1976. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles and ladies' singles.


1976 Preakness Stakes
The 1976 Preakness Stakes was the 101st running of the $200,000 Grade 1 Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race. The race took place on May 15, 1976, and was televised in the United States on the CBS television network. Elocutionist, who was jockeyed by John L. Lively, won the race by three and one half lengths over runner-up Play The Red. Approximate post time was 5:40 p.m. Eastern Time. The race was run on a fast track in a final time of 1:55 flat. The Maryland Jockey Club reported total attendance of 62,256, this is recorded as second highest on the list of American thoroughbred racing top attended events for North America in 1976.


1976 Preseli District Council election
An election to Preseli District Council was held in May 1976. It was preceded by the 1973 election and followed by the 1979 election. On the same day there were elections to the other local authorities and community councils in Wales.


1976 President's Cup Football Tournament
The 1976 President Park's Cup International Football Tournament (Korean: 제6회 박대통령컵 쟁탈 국제축구대회) was the sixth competition of Korea Cup. It was held from 11 to 22 May 1976, and the opening ceremony was held at the Dongdaemun Stadium. South Korea and Paulista under-21 (São Paulo state) played out a 0–0 draw and shared the trophy.


1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
The 1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were announced on 27 May 1976 to mark the resignation of the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson. The list of honours became known satirically as the "Lavender List".


1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, Controversy
The list caused controversy as a number of recipients were wealthy businessmen whose principles were considered antithetical to those held by the Labour Party at the time.


1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, Controversy
Roy Jenkins notes that Wilson's retirement "was disfigured by his, at best, eccentric resignation honours list, which gave peerages or knighthoods to some adventurous business gentlemen, several of whom were close neither to him nor to the Labour Party."


1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, Controversy
One businessman on the list, Lord Kagan, was convicted of fraud in 1980; Sir Eric Miller committed suicide while under investigation for fraud in 1977. Another beneficiary was the buccaneering financier James Goldsmith. Nearly all of the other names on the list such as actor John Mills were, however, uncontroversial. Dismissing the notoriety of these two names, both of Wilson's academic biographers, Professor Ben Pimlott and Philip Ziegler, writing in the 1990s long after the purported events stress that there was never any question at the time or subsequently of financial impropriety in the drawing up of the list.


1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, Controversy
The origin of the name "Lavender List" derived from the claim made by former press secretary and journalist Joe Haines that the head of Wilson's political office, Lady Falkender, had written the original draft on lavender-coloured notepaper. No documentary evidence has been proffered to support this claim and Wilson and Falkender denied it. Joe Haines expressly denied any financial impropriety in the compilation of the list on national television in an interview on BBC's Panorama on 14 February 1977. In 2001 Joe Haines altered his allegations with an entirely new version of the "Lavender List".


1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, Controversy
Lady Falkender sued Joe Haines for libel in 2007 over the statement that she was the author of the list. Many statements in the media were subject to litigation by both Wilson and Falkender during the 1970s, which later gave rise to a long complaint by Wilson published in The Times that his administration had been subject to an alleged smear campaign. Wilson's suspicions were later partially corroborated by former MI5 Assistant Director Peter Wright in his book Spycatcher, a book that was initially banned from publication in the UK.


1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, Controversy
According to a letter from Edith Summerskill published in The Times on 27 May 1977, the members of the Political Honours Scrutiny Committee "...were astounded when we read the list of proposed honours. We told the civil servant present that we could not approve of at least half of the list, and would he see that this was conveyed to the Prime Minister", and that "... it astonished us to find that, with one exception, the original list of recipients was published unchanged." But she comments that "we were in fact faced with a fait accompli which we had no power to upset."


1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, Political and Public Services List
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged by honour.


1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours, Docudrama
The Lavender List is a British television docudrama broadcast on BBC Four in March 2006 based on the version of events put forward by Joe Haines in 2001, events that he claimed led to the drafting of the 1976 Resignation Honours. Lady Falkender threatened to sue the BBC for libel over the programme, and in line with BBC policy in the wake of recent libel defeats, the BBC opted to settle out of court rather than contest the libel action. In addition to a financial settlement, the BBC agreed to never rebroadcast the programme.


1976 Primera División de Chile
The 1976 Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol Profesional was Chilean top tier's 44th season. Everton was the tournament's champion, winning its third title.


1976 Primera División de Chile, Liguilla Pre-Copa Libertadores, Play-off match
Universidad de Chile qualified to 1977 Copa Libertadores due to its better Liguilla's goal difference


1976 Princeton Tigers football team
The 1976 Princeton Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Princeton University during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. Princeton tied for last place in the Ivy League.


1976 Princeton Tigers football team
In their fourth year under head coach Robert Casciola, the Tigers compiled a 2–7 record and were outscored 152 to 63. Daniel E. Fournier was the team captain.


1976 Princeton Tigers football team
Princeton's 2–5 conference record placed it in a four-way tie for fifth place, at the bottom of the Ivy League standings. The Tigers were outscored 118 to 56 by Ivy opponents.


1976 Princeton Tigers football team
Princeton played its home games at Palmer Stadium on the university campus in Princeton, New Jersey.


1976 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The 1976 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe was a horse race held at Longchamp on Sunday 3 October 1976. It was the 55th running of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.


1976 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
The winner was Jacques Wertheimer's Ivanjica, a four-year-old filly trained in France by Alec Head and ridden by the trainer's son Freddy Head. Alec Head was recording his third win in the race following Nuccio (1952) and Saint Crespin (1959). Freddy was also winning the race for third time after Bon Mot in 1966 and San San in 1972.


1976 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, The contenders
In French racing, horses in the same ownership are usually "coupled" and treated as a single entry for betting purposes. The favourites for the race were the French-trained three-year-old colts Youth and Exceller, who were coupled in the betting as both were owned by Nelson Bunker Hunt. Youth had won four of his five races in 1976 including the Prix Lupin, Prix du Jockey Club and Prix Niel, whilst Exceller had won the Grand Prix de Paris by four lengths.


1976 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, The contenders
Also strongly fancied was Bruni a British four-year-old who had won the St Leger Stakes by ten lengths in 1975 and added victories in the Yorkshire Cup and Cumberland Lodge Stakes in 1976. The other leading French contenders were the Daniel Wildenstein entry of Crow (St Leger Stakes) and Pawneese (Oaks Stakes, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes) and the Jacques Wertheimer entry comprising Riverqueen (Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, Prix Saint-Alary, Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud) and Ivanjica, winner of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix Vermeille in 1975. The other international challengers included Noble Dancer from Norway and Duke of Maralade from Italy. Youth/Exceller headed the betting at odds of 2/1, with Bruni on 2.5/1, Crow/Pawneese on 5.25/1 and Riverqueen/Ivanjica on 7.1/1.


1976 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, The race
Pawneese started quickly and disputed the lead with the outsider Kasteel with the pair drawing clear of the rest of the field at half way with Youth, Crow and Bruni prominent among the chasing group. The leaders' advantage diminished as they approached the final turn and although  Pawneese led the field into the straight, she was soon overtaken by Kasteel who was in turn headed by Youth, with Crow and Bruni also moving forward. Ivanjica, who had been last in the early stages after tracking sharply to the right from her outside draw, was making steady progress along the inside.


1976 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, The race
Crow moved past Youth and Bruni 400 metres from the finish and looked the likely winner, but Ivanjica produced a "brilliant finishing burst" to take the lead 100 metres from the finish and won going away by two lengths from Crow, with Youth taking third ahead of Noble Dancer and Bruni.


1976 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Full result
* Abbreviations: ns = nose; shd = short-head; hd = head; snk = short neck; nk = neck


1976 Prize of Moscow News
The 1976 Prize of Moscow News was the eleventh edition of an international figure skating competition organized in Moscow, Soviet Union. It was held December 8–12, 1976. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating and ice dancing.


1976 Pro Bowl
The 1976 Pro Bowl was the NFL's 26th annual all-star game which featured the outstanding performers from the 1975 season. The game was played on Monday night, January 26, 1976, at the new Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, with 32,108 in attendance. The final score was NFC 23, AFC 20. It was also the first Pro Bowl game played indoors.


1976 Pro Bowl
The game featured the best players in the National Football League as selected by the league's coaches. John Madden of the Oakland Raiders led the AFC team against an NFC team led by Los Angeles Rams head coach Chuck Knox.


1976 Pro Bowl
The AFC's Billy "White Shoes" Johnson was named the game's MVP on the strength of a 90-yard punt return touchdown and a second punt return of 55 yards that set up a field goal. The referee was Fred Silva.


1976 Pro Bowl
Players on the winning NFC team received $2,000 apiece while the AFC participants each took home $1,500.


1976 Pro Bowl, Rosters
The 40-man Pro Bowl squads consisted of the following players:


1976 Pro Bowl, Number of selections by team
Note: these numbers include players selected to the team but unable to play as well as replacements for these injured players, so there are more than 40 players in each conference.


1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election
The 1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held at the Ottawa Civic Centre in Ottawa on February 22, 1976, to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to replace Robert Stanfield, who had resigned after losing the 1968, 1972, and 1974 elections. It unexpectedly elected a 36-year-old, little-known PC Member of Parliament from Alberta as the party's new leader. Joe Clark defeated Claude Wagner on the fourth ballot of the convention by a margin of 65 votes.


1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election
The convention's delegates were elected by the party's riding associations, along with the party's youth, campus and women's associations. There were also numerous ex officio delegates, including PC Members of Parliament, defeated candidates from the previous election, members of provincial legislatures, members of the party's national executive and the executives of provincial parties affiliated to the federal party. Delegates cast secret ballots, so their votes were not "tied" to any candidate. After each ballot, the candidate winning the fewest votes was removed from the ballot for the next round. Several candidates withdrew voluntarily when it became clear that they would not be able to win.


1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election, Candidates
Richard Quittenton, president of St. Clair College in Windsor, had also been a candidate but withdrew before the first ballot and endorsed Wagner.


1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election, Results
The first ballot was widely expected to be a close contest between Wagner and MacDonald, though it was thought unlikely that either of them would have a decisive lead. The result proved a shock to everyone at the convention, as while Wagner did about as well as had been expected, MacDonald did far worse than even the most pessimistic predictions had indicated, coming in sixth place; the phenomenon of delegates promising their votes to one candidate and then voting for another has become known in Canadian politics as the "Flora Syndrome". Mulroney was slightly ahead of the rest of the chasing pack, but still over seven percentage points behind Wagner, who was now the clear front-runner. Grafftey was automatically eliminated after finishing in last place, with Gillies and Stevens dropping out of their own accord; all three endorsed Clark.


1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election, Results
While Wagner extended his delegate count on the second ballot, Clark saw the most dramatic improvement in his delegate count, nearly doubling it from the first round. Mulroney dropped down to third place and made only minimal gains.


1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election, Results
MacDonald, having remained on the second ballot in the hope that she might pick up some Red Tory delegates from the candidates who dropped out, likewise earned only a small number of extra delegates; realizing that the situation was hopeless and that she would most likely be eliminated next if she remained on the ballot, she withdrew and threw her support behind Clark, as did Fraser, who was automatically eliminated in this round. Nowlan withdrew and initially intended to endorse Horner, but the latter, sensing that the momentum was with Clark, persuaded Nowlan that they should both endorse Wagner to prevent a split in the right-wing vote. Hellyer followed their lead and also endorsed Wagner.


1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election, Results
The third round had Wagner continuing to lead, but only barely, with both he and Clark having picked up large numbers of delegates since the previous round, albeit Clark having done slightly better in that regard. Conversely, any momentum that Mulroney had completely stalled, causing him to actually lose delegates and be automatically eliminated.


1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election, Results
While it was now clear that Mulroney was in a position to be the kingmaker, he simply left the convention after his elimination was announced and did not endorse either Wagner or Clark; this created an unpredictable scenario, as about half of Mulroney's delegates were favourable to Wagner because he was a fellow Quebecer, while the remaining half were favourable to Clark due to his political positions being closer to Mulroney's.


1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election, Results
Ultimately, Mulroney's delegates were sufficiently favourable to Clark to afford him a narrow victory on the final ballot. Clark's majority over Wagner was just 2.8%, making this the most closely contested election for the leadership of a major Canadian political party until that point, surpassed in the years since only by Andrew Scheer's victory over Maxime Bernier (with a majority of 1.9%) in the 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election.


1976 Puerto Rican general election
The 1976 Puerto Rican general elections were held in Puerto Rico on 2 November 1976. Carlos Romero Barceló of the New Progressive Party (PNP) was elected Governor, whilst the PNP also won a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Voter turnout was 86.1%.


1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team
The 1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University in the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth season under head coach Alex Agase, the Boilermakers compiled a 5–6 record (4–4 against conference opponents) and finished in a four-way tie for third place in the Big Ten standings.


1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team
Running back Scott Dierking led the team with 1,000 rushing yards and 66 points scored. He was selected by his teammates as the team's most valuable player and finished second to Rob Lytle in the voting for the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, awarded to the Big Ten's most valuable player. Dierking was also named by the Associated Press (AP) as a second-team All-American and by the AP and United Press International (UPI) as a first-team running back on the 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team.


1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team
Other statistical leaders included quarterback Mark Vitali with 1,184 passing yards. In addition to Dierking, three other Purdue players received honors on the 1976 All-Big Ten team: offensive guard Connie Zelencik (AP-1, UPI-2); defensive end Blane Smith (AP-1, UPI-2); and defensive back Paul Beery (AP-2, UPI-1).


1976 Purdue Boilermakers football team, Game summaries, at Wisconsin
Paul Beery's fourth interception and Rock Supan's 20-yard field goal with a little over two minutes remaining lifted Purdue to victory.


1976 Quebec general election
The 1976 Quebec general election was held on November 15, 1976 to elect members to National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. It was one of the most significant elections in Quebec history, rivalled only by the 1960 general election, and caused major repercussions in the rest of Canada. The Parti Québécois, led by René Lévesque, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Premier Robert Bourassa.


1976 Quebec general election
The Parti Québécois's campaign focused on providing good government, in  contrast the many scandals that had plagued the Liberals since 1973, The PQ's stated goal of achieving independence for Quebec from Canada was portrayed as only secondary, but the election of a sovereigntist government in Quebec caused great upset in the rest of Canada and led to extensive discussions about reforming the Canadian Confederation and finding ways of accommodating Quebec.


1976 Quebec general election
The Parti Québécois used its term in office to introduce numerous bills to implement its agenda. The first bill introduced in the new session of the National Assembly was legislation to confirm French as the sole official language of Quebec, and to implement measures to make this a social reality. The legislative number of this bill, "Bill One," was intended to signify the importance of the bill for the new government.


1976 Quebec general election
The bill was withdrawn and significantly altered, however, and was eventually re-introduced as "Bill 101" (or la Loi 101 in French), also known as the Charter of the French Language. With some modifications, the Charter of the French Language remains in effect today and has shaped modern Quebec society in far-reaching ways.


1976 Quebec general election
The 1976 election also set the stage for the 1980 Quebec referendum on the PQ's proposal for political independence in an economic union with the rest of Canada called sovereignty-association. The proposal was soundly defeated in the referendum.


1976 Quebec general election
Bourassa had called the election after only three years, well before the maximum possible term of five years. It is possible that he may have counted on a boost from his successful rescue of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal after cost overruns and construction delays by the Montreal municipal government of Mayor Jean Drapeau. If so, he badly miscalculated. He not only lost the election, but was resoundingly defeated in his own riding by a PQ challenger. Bourassa resigned as Liberal leader, and his political career appeared to be over. He left Quebec and took up teaching positions in the United States and Europe. However, he later made a remarkable comeback in the 1985 general election.


1976 Quebec general election
The once-powerful Union Nationale made a modest comeback after being evicted from the legislature three years earlier. It won 11 seats under Rodrigue Biron and, for the first time, won significant support from some anglophone voters. An anglophone UN member, William Shaw was elected to the National Assembly. However, this proved to be the party's last hurrah. Successive floor-crossings, retirements, and resignations reduced the UN to only five members during the term. The party lost all of those remaining seats five years later, never to return; it would continue to exist nominally until 1989.


1976 Quebec general election, Results
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.


1976 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia)
The Queen's Birthday Honours 1976 for Australia were appointments to recognise and reward good works by citizens of Australia and other nations that contribute to Australia. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's Official Birthday celebrations and were announced on 12 June 1976 in Australia.


1976 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia)
The recipients of honours are displayed as they were styled before their new honour and arranged by honour with grades and then divisions i.e. Civil, Diplomatic and Military as appropriate.


1976 Queen's Birthday Honours (Australia), Order of Australia
The following appointments were made for the Order of Australia.


1976 Race of Champions
The 1976 Race of Champions was a non-championship Formula One race held at Brands Hatch on 14 March 1976. The 40-lap race was won by James Hunt, driving a McLaren-Cosworth, with Alan Jones second in a Surtees-Cosworth and Jacky Ickx third in a Hesketh-Cosworth entered by Wolf-Williams Racing.


1976 Race of Champions, Classification
1 Brambilla and Nilsson were both penalised one minute for jumping the start.


1976 Railway Cup Hurling Championship
The 1976 Railway Cup Hurling Championship was the 50th staging of the Railway Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1927. The cup began on 15 February 1976 and ended on 17 March 1976.


1976 Railway Cup Hurling Championship
On 17 March 1976, Munster won the cup following a 4-09 to 4–08 defeat of Leinster in the final. This was their 33rd Railway Cup title overall and their first title since 1970.


1976 Rally Sweden
The 1976 Swedish Rally (formally the 26th International Swedish Rally) was the second round of the 1976 World Rally Championship season. Swedish driver Per Eklund took the only WRC win of his career.


1976 Republican National Convention
The 1976 Republican National Convention was a United States political convention of the Republican Party that met from August 16 to August 19, 1976, to select the party's nominee for President. Held in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, the convention nominated President Gerald Ford for a full term, but only after narrowly defeating a strong challenge from former California Governor Ronald Reagan. The convention also nominated Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for vice president, instead of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, who did not seek nomination for a full term. The keynote address was delivered by Tennessee Senator Howard Baker.


1976 Republican National Convention
Other notable speakers included Minnesota Representative Al Quie, retired Lieutenant Colonel and former Vietnam  prisoner of war Raymond Schrump, former Texas Governor John Connally, Providence, Rhode Island mayor Vincent Cianci and Michigan Senator Robert P. Griffin. It is the last national convention by either of the two major parties to feature a seriously contested nomination between candidates.


1976 Republican National Convention, History
Kansas City had not hosted a major party convention since the 1928 Republican National Convention that nominated Herbert Hoover. Its premier venue, Kemper Arena, was diminutive by national standards but it was new, and the city aggressively courted the convention planners of both parties. The Democrats demurred early on, citing a lack of hotel accommodations, but Republicans were more receptive because the city had a reliably enthusiastic base of the party, and "fit the Midwestern image of Jerry Ford".


1976 Republican National Convention, History, Situation at the opening of the convention
Going into the convention, Ford had won more primary delegates than Reagan, as well as a plurality in popular vote. However, Ford did not have enough delegates to secure the nomination (1,130 delegates were needed to win the presidential nomination), and as the convention opened both candidates were seen as still having a chance to win. Because of this, both Ford and Reagan arrived in Kansas City before the convention opened to woo the remaining uncommitted delegates in an effort to secure the nomination.


1976 Republican National Convention, History, Situation at the opening of the convention
Reagan benefited from his highly committed delegates, notably "Reagan's Raiders" of the Texas delegation. They and other conservative Western and Southern delegates particularly faulted the Ford Administration's foreign policy of détente towards the Soviet Union, criticizing his signing of the Helsinki Accords and indirectly blaming him for the April 1975 Fall of Saigon.


1976 Republican National Convention, History, Situation at the opening of the convention
The pro-Reagan Texas delegates worked hard to persuade delegates from other states to support Reagan.


1976 Republican National Convention, History, Situation at the opening of the convention
Ford, meanwhile, used all of the perks and patronage of the presidency to win over wavering delegates, including trips aboard Air Force One and personal meetings with Ford himself. White House Chief of Staff Dick Cheney proved to be an important figure in working to build support among those state delegations on the fence between Ford and Reagan, including the Mississippi delegation. White House political advisor Harry Dent also played a central role in helping President Ford work with the state delegations, who met with Ford and his aides in a Presidential office set up on-site at the convention in Kansas City.


1976 Republican National Convention, History, Situation at the opening of the convention
Headlines during the Republican convention in Kansas City hinted at the still-simmering debates within the rank-and-file of the Republicans as to whether or not a new party might be formed out of the weaknesses of the Republicans. "Conservatives Seek a New Party if Reagan Loses," The Chicago Tribune's Wednesday, August 18, 1976 headlines told readers during the Kansas City convention, which quoted both White House aides as well as critics in the Republican Party who debated the possibility of a new party emerging out of that year's division in the Republican ranks.


1976 Republican National Convention, History, Situation at the opening of the convention
Newspaper headlines also told the story of the uncommitted delegates whose "wavering" at the convention made them the focus of both the Ford and the Reagan camps. "New 'Stars' Stealing GOP Show," The Chicago Tribune's Wednesday, August 18, 1976 headlines told readers. Estimates ranged from 93 to as many as 115 delegates uncommitted at the time of the convention. The largest block of uncommitted delegates were from Mississippi and another block were from Illinois's delegation.


1976 Republican National Convention, History, Situation at the opening of the convention
Wednesday, August 18, 1976 saw the uncommitted delegates break on the 1st ballot for President Gerald Ford, who won the nomination on the 1st roll call of delegates by a vote of 1,187-1,070.


1976 Republican National Convention, History, Richard Schweiker gambit and the search for an alternative
Reagan had promised, if nominated, to name Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his running mate, in a bid to attract liberals and centrists in the party. This move backfired, however, as many conservatives (such as Senator Jesse Helms) were infuriated by Reagan's choice of the "liberal" Schweiker, while few moderate delegates switched to Reagan. Helms promptly began a movement to draft Conservative Senator James L. Buckley of New York as the presidential nominee.


1976 Republican National Convention, History, Platform and rules votes
The key vote of the convention occurred when Reagan's managers proposed a rules change that would have required Ford to publicly announce his running mate before the presidential balloting. Reagan's managers hoped that when Ford announced his choice for vice president, it would anger one of the two factions of the party and thus help Reagan. Ford's supporters derisively described the proposed rules change as the "misery loves company" amendment. The proposed rules change was defeated by a vote of 1180 to 1069, and Ford gained the momentum he needed to win the presidential nomination. The balloting was still close, however, as Ford won with 1187 votes to 1070 votes for Reagan (and one for Elliot L. Richardson of Massachusetts).


1976 Republican National Convention, History, Platform and rules votes
Conservatives succeeded in inserting several key planks into the party platform, some of which were implicitly critical of the President's own policies. Reagan and North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms successfully had a "moral foreign policy" plank inserted. In light of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the 1976 Republican platform became the first to advocate a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution, despite the fact the Roe v. Wade was a 7–2 decision, and 5 of the 7 (Burger, Stewart, Brennan, Blackmun, and Powell) had been appointed to the Supreme Court by Republican presidents.


1976 Republican National Convention, Balloting, Vice Presidential
Ford selected Kansas Senator Robert J. Dole as his running mate, as unelected incumbent Vice President Rockefeller had announced the previous fall that would not be a candidate for vice president in 1976.


1976 Republican National Convention, Balloting, Vice Presidential
After Ronald Reagan lost the presidential ballot to incumbent Gerald Ford, 103 of his delegates walked out of the convention, and the remainder decided to scatter their votes among 30 people. Bob Dole prevailed by an overwhelming margin.


1976 Republican National Convention, Reagan's concession speech
There was no scheduled time slot for the runner-up to deliver a formal concession speech; however, when Ford and Reagan met on the dais after Ford's acceptance speech, the president insisted that the former governor accompany him to the podium to deliver a few remarks.


1976 Republican National Convention, Reagan's concession speech
Reagan gave an eloquent and stirring speech that overshadowed Ford's own acceptance address, despite being little more than five minutes long. Some delegates later stated that they left the convention wondering if they had voted for the wrong candidate. A contemporary media account stated that if a motion to reconsider the nomination had been in order, it might have passed.


1976 Republican National Convention, Aftermath
Ford and Dole went on to lose to Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale in the general election of 1976. Reagan defeated Carter in the 1980 election to become president, and won again in 1984, beating Democratic challenger Mondale. Dole ran for president in 1980, 1988, and 1996, gaining the nomination the last time, but losing to Bill Clinton by a large margin.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries
From August 16 to August 19, 1976, voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for president in the 1976 United States presidential election. The major candidates were incumbent President Gerald Ford and former Governor of California Ronald Reagan. After a series of primary elections and caucuses, neither secured a majority of the delegates before the convention.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries
The 1976 election marks the first time that Republican primaries or caucuses were held in every state; the Democrats had done so in 1972. It was also the last election in which the Republican nominee was undetermined at the start of the party's national convention.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, August 1974 – February 1975: The Ford presidency begins
Following the Watergate scandal and resignation of President Richard Nixon, Vice President Gerald Ford was elevated to president on August 9, 1974. Because Ford had been appointed vice president by Nixon following the resignation of Spiro Agnew from the position, he became the only president inaugurated without having been previously voted into either the presidential or vice presidential office by the Electoral College.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, August 1974 – February 1975: The Ford presidency begins
On September 8, Ford's first major act in office was to grant a full and unconditional pardon for any crimes Richard Nixon might have committed against the United States while President. Following his pardon of Nixon, Ford's approval ratings among the American public dropped precipitously. Within a week, his approval rating fell from 69 percent to 49, the steepest decline in history.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, August 1974 – February 1975: The Ford presidency begins
The economy was in dire condition upon Ford's elevation, marked by the worst peacetime inflation in American history and the highest interest rates in a century. The Dow Jones had declined 43 percent from October 1973 to September 1974. To combat inflation, Ford first proposed a tax increase and later, in response to Democratic calls for a permanent cut in taxes, a temporary moderate decrease. Reagan publicly criticized both proposals.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, August 1974 – February 1975: The Ford presidency begins
Race and education divided public opinion, especially over issues such as forced integration and changes to public school curriculum. Political violence over education policy broke out in Boston and Charleston, West Virginia. Abortion also became a nationally salient issue after the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision, which was announced two days after Nixon's resignation and struck down state restrictions on abortion nationwide.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, August 1974 – February 1975: The Ford presidency begins
In the 1974 midterm elections, the Democratic Party dramatically expanded its majorities in both the House and Senate. The elections were seen as a referendum on the Republican Party post-Watergate and on the political establishment more generally. Newly-elected members of Congress became known as "Watergate Babies" and aggressively pursued procedural and oversight reforms.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, August 1974 – February 1975: The Ford presidency begins
During this period, Ronald Reagan concluded his second term in office as Governor of California. His administration was marked by efforts to dismantle the welfare state and a high-profile crackdown on urban crime and left-wing dissent, especially at the University of California, Berkeley. He also led an effort to enforce the state's capital punishment laws but was blocked by the California Supreme Court in the People v. Anderson decision. Following Reagan's retirement from office in January 1975, he began hosting a national radio show and writing a national newspaper column.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, March–July 1975: Conservatives revolt and Reagan rises
Conservative opposition to Ford within the Republican Party began to surface in December 1974, following his appointment of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller as vice president. For more than a decade, Rockefeller had represented the party's liberal establishment, and the appointment faced immediate criticism from right-wing senators like Jesse Helms, Barry Goldwater and John Tower, though Rockefeller's confirmation in the Senate was largely undeterred.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, March–July 1975: Conservatives revolt and Reagan rises
Discontent reached a fever pitch at the second annual Conservative Political Action Conference in February. Speaking there, Reagan dismissed calls to seek the presidency on a third-party ticket: "Is it a third party that we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which could make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all the issues troubling the people?" Speakers at CPAC also criticized Ford administration policy, Vice President Rockefeller, and First Lady Betty Ford's public campaign in support of abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, March–July 1975: Conservatives revolt and Reagan rises
In March, discussion began to build around Reagan's presidential prospects following an appearance on The Tonight Show and a profile in Newsweek that called him, "the most kinetic single presence in American political life." In defense, the administration drafted a letter of support for President Ford that received the signatures of 113 of 145 GOP Representatives and 31 of 38 Senators. Ford formally announced he would run for election on July 8.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, March–July 1975: Conservatives revolt and Reagan rises
More than any domestic issue in 1975, foreign policy drove a wedge between the President and his conservative critics. Following the American evacuation of Saigon and the collapse of South Vietnam, these criticisms grew vociferous. On his radio show, Reagan compared the withdrawal from Saigon to the Munich Agreement and warned that it would "tempt the Soviet Union as it once tempted Hitler and the military rulers of Japan." While Ford regained some support from conservatives following the rescue of the SS Mayaguez in Cambodia, he soon drew the ire of the party's right wing with a series of foreign policy moves designed to improve relations with the Soviet Union.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, March–July 1975: Conservatives revolt and Reagan rises
First, President Ford refused to meet with Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on his visit to the United States on June 21. In response, Reagan publicly criticized Ford by name for the first time in his national newspaper column, contrasting the popular Solzhenitsyn to other "guests the President had entertained in the White House, "the Strawberry Queen of West Virginia and the Maid of Cotton." The day after this column ran, Senator Paul Laxalt announced the formation of a committee named "Friends of Ronald Reagan," organized for the purpose of drafting Reagan to run for president.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, March–July 1975: Conservatives revolt and Reagan rises
Ford followed the Solzhenitsyn affair with an overseas trip to Eastern Europe, where he signed the Helsinki Accords, a treaty establishing that the current boundaries of Eastern European nations were "inviolable by force." Conservatives and anti-communists harshly criticized Ford for capitulating to Soviet demands and formally recognizing the Eastern bloc. The Wall Street Journal called the Helsinki agreement the "new Yalta." By late August, Ford's approval rating was polled at 34%.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, March–July 1975: Conservatives revolt and Reagan rises
On September 5 in Sacramento, Ford survived the first of two attempts on his life by lone assassins. A second attempt followed on September 21. Neither assassin struck Ford.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, September–December 1975: Reagan enters the race
In September, Reagan began to actively campaign in key early states. He stumped in New Hampshire for Louis Wyman in the special election for Senate and began to assemble a campaign staff led by campaign manager John Sears. He secured the endorsement of New Hampshire's conservative governor Meldrim Thomson Jr. and state party chairman, as well as support from moderate former governor Hugh Gregg.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, September–December 1975: Reagan enters the race
On November 4, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller announced he would not seek nomination as Ford's running mate in 1976. That same day, Ford fired Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger, whose critical comments on the Helsinki summit had been leaked to the press earlier in the fall. That week, Ford traveled to Massachusetts and pledged to campaign in every primary in the nation.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Background, September–December 1975: Reagan enters the race
On November 20, Ronald Reagan officially announced his campaign for president.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Candidates
This was the last time during the 20th century (and the last time to date) that a primary season had ended without a presumptive nominee.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign results
Ford narrowly defeated Reagan in the New Hampshire primary, and then proceeded to beat Reagan in the Florida and Illinois primaries by comfortable margins. By the time of the North Carolina primary in March 1976, Reagan's campaign was nearly out of money, and it was widely believed that another defeat would force him to quit the race. But with the help of U.S. Senator Jesse Helms's powerful political organization, Reagan upset Ford in North Carolina and then had a string of impressive victories, including Texas, where he won all delegates at stake in its first binding primary.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign results
Four other delegates chosen at the Texas state convention went to Reagan and shut out U.S. Senator from Texas John G. Tower, who had been named to manage the Ford campaign on the convention floor. Ford bounced back to win in his native Michigan, and from there the two candidates engaged in an increasingly bitter nip-and-tuck contest for delegates. By the time the Republican Convention opened in August 1976 the race for the nomination was still too close to call.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Campaign results
Reagan was the first candidate to win a presidential primary against an incumbent actively running for reelection since Estes Kefauver defeated Harry Truman in the 1952 New Hampshire primary.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Convention
The 1976 Republican National Convention was held in Kansas City. As the convention began, Ford was seen as having a slight lead in delegate votes, but fewer than the 1,130 he needed to win. Reagan and Ford competed for the votes of individual delegates and state delegations. In a bid to woo moderate Northern Republicans, Reagan shocked the convention by announcing that if he won the nomination, Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania, from the northern liberal wing of the party, would be his running mate.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Convention
The move backfired, however, as few moderates switched to Reagan while many conservative delegates were outraged. The key state of Mississippi, which Reagan needed, narrowly voted for Ford; it was believed that Reagan's choice of Schweiker led Clarke Reed, Mississippi's chairman, to switch to Ford. Ford then narrowly won the nomination on the first ballot. He chose Senator Robert Dole of Kansas as his running mate. After giving his acceptance speech, Ford asked Reagan to say a few words to the convention.


1976 Republican Party presidential primaries, Convention, Vice-presidential nomination
President Ford chose Senator Robert J. Dole of Kansas as his running mate, while Reagan chose Pennsylvania Senator Richard Schweiker.


1976 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection
This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Republican nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 1976 election. At the 1976 Republican National Convention, incumbent President Gerald Ford narrowly won the presidential nomination over former California Governor Ronald Reagan. Ford had decided not to choose Vice President Nelson Rockefeller as his running mate, due to Rockefeller's unpopularity with the right wing of the Republican Party. He instead chose Senator Bob Dole of Kansas.


1976 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection
Dole was acceptable to the conservative wing of the party, and Ford hoped that Dole would help the ticket win the western states and the agricultural vote. The Ford-Dole ticket lost the general election to the Carter-Mondale ticket. Though he would not win the presidential nomination, Reagan announced before the convention that he would pick Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his running mate. Dole went on to become Senate Republican leader, and the Republican presidential nominee in 1996, losing the general election to incumbent President Bill Clinton.


1976 Rhode Island Rams football team
The 1976 Rhode Island Rams football team was an American football team that represented the University of Rhode Island in the Yankee Conference during the 1976 NCAA Division II football season. In their first season under head coach Bob Griffin, the Rams compiled a 3–5 record (2–3 against conference opponents) and finished in a tie for third place in the conference.


1976 Rhode Island gubernatorial election
The 1976 Rhode Island gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1976. Democratic nominee J. Joseph Garrahy defeated Republican nominee James L. Taft Jr. with 54.82% of the vote.


1976 Rhodesian Grand Prix
The 1976 Rhodesian Grand Prix was held at Donnybrook Raceway in Salisbury, Rhodesia on the 31 July 1976. It was a non-championship round of the South African Formula Atlantic series. It was won by Roy Klomfass driving a British-built Ralt RT1.


1976 Rhodesian Grand Prix, Qualifying
1. Roy Klomfass (F/Atl), 1.03.6    2. Tony Martin (F/Atl), 1.04.5    3. Dave Charlton (F/Atl, 1.04.9    4. Nols Nieman (F/Atl), 1.04.9    5. John Gibb (F/Atl), 1.06.3 No other driver posted a time.


1976 Rice Owls football team
The 1976 Rice Owls football team was an American football team that represented Rice University in the Southwest Conference during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. In their first year under head coach Homer Rice, the team compiled a 3–8 record.


1976 Riverside 400
The 1976 Riverside 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 13, 1976, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. The California 150 for sportsman cars was run prior to this race. The winner was Ivan Baldwin followed by Dan Clark and Jim Sanderson.


1976 Riverside 400
Most of the vehicles that raced in this event had Chevrolet as their manufacturer. Roy Smith was the only Canadian competitor out of the 35-driver grid; the rest of them were American-born males.


1976 Riverside 400
This was the first Riverside race whose distance was measured in kilometers instead of miles. From the driver's standpoint, it sure beat the 400-and-500 mile marathons that they had endured for so many years.


1976 Riverside 400, Background
Riverside International Raceway was a race track or road course in Moreno Valley, California. The track was in operation from September 22, 1957, to July 2, 1989. The original course design proved to be dangerous, and it was partially reconfigured in 1969.


1976 Riverside 400, Race report
The five drivers that dominated the 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season were David Pearson (average finish of 7th place), Cale Yarborough (average finish of 8th place), Richard Petty (average finish of 9th place), Benny Parsons (average finish of 10th place) and Bobby Allison (average finish 12th place).


1976 Riverside 400, Race report
Pearson's qualifying speed of 114.437 miles per hour (184.168 km/h) would earn him the pole position while the average speed of the actual race was 106.279 miles per hour (171.039 km/h). Richard Petty would become proficient on turn 6 throughout the race; despite ending the race outside of the "top five."


1976 Riverside 400, Race report
Junie Donlavey's #90 Truxmore Ford team and driver Dick Brooks missed this race because they were in France competing in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans the same weekend. The team became the first, and only, Winston Cup team ever to enter the 24-hour classic but Brooks, retired NASCAR racer Dick Hutcherson, and French local Marcel Mignot were sidelined during the first half of the race by a gearbox failure.


1976 Riverside 400, Race report
Hershel McGriff also missed this race to enter his NASCAR Winston West team at Le Mans partnered with his son Doug McGriff. His Olympia Beer Dodge Charger blew an engine right after the start of the race.


1976 Riverside 400, Race report
David Pearson managed to defeat Bobby Allison by a time of 1.6 seconds in front of 29,500 people. As a result, Pearson would to sweep the Winston Cup series' two visits to Riverside in 1976. Pearson won three races and seven poles at Riverside but this was the only time he ever won from the pole on the twisty SoCal road course. The race took two hours and twenty minutes to complete; with the event's only caution flag lasting for a duration of four laps.


1976 Riverside 400, Race report
The victor would take home $15,150 in winnings ($68,069 when adjusted for inflation) while last-place paid a meager $665 ($2,988 when adjusted for inflation). Ron Esau would acquire the last-place finish due to a clutch problem on lap 6 out of the 95 that made up the regulation length of the course.


1976 Riverside 400, Race report
Safe driving habits and remarkable efforts with keeping the oil products away from the track helped to keep most of the race under the green flag.


1976 Riverside 400, Race report
John Dineen and Ernie Stierly would make their NASCAR Cup Series debut at this racing event. Final NASCAR appearances by Jim Danielson, Bill Polich, and Don Reynolds were also memorable moments from this racing event. Notable crew chiefs on attendance for this race included Richard Elder, Jake Elder, Dale Inman, Travis Carter, Bud Moore and Len Wood.


1976 Riverside 400, Race report
A little-known fact was that Darrell Waltrip was listed down as a resident of Daytona Beach, Florida for the purpose of tracking the starting grid instead of using his hometown of Owensboro, Kentucky. A race that Waltrip would end up winning later in his career would have him as listed as a resident Franklin, Tennessee - which is located exactly 127 miles (204 km) to the south of Owensboro.


1976 Roller Hockey World Cup
The 1976 Roller Hockey World Cup was the twenty-second roller hockey world cup, organized by the Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports. It was contested by 12 national teams (6 from Europe, 2 from South America, 2 from Oceania, 1 from North America and 1 from Asia). All the games were played in the city of Oviedo, in Spain, the chosen city to host the World Cup.


1976 Romika Cup
The 1976 Romika Cup, also known by as the Bavarian Tennis Championships, was a men's tennis tournament that was part of the Two Star category of the 1976 Grand Prix tennis circuit. The tournament was held at the MTTC Iphitos in Munich, West Germany and ran from  4 May through 9 May 1976. Manuel Orantes won the singles title.


1976 Romika Cup, Finals, Doubles
Juan Gisbert Sr. /  Manuel Orantes defeated  Jürgen Fassbender /  Hans-Jürgen Pohmann 1–6, 6–3, 6–2, 2–3 (Meiler and Pohmann retired)


1976 Romika Cup – Doubles
Wojtek Fibak and Jan Kodeš were the defending champions, but Fibak did not participate this year. Kodeš partnered Jiří Hřebec, losing in the semifinals.


1976 Romika Cup – Doubles
Juan Gisbert, Sr. and Manuel Orantes won the title, defeating Jürgen Fassbender and Hans-Jürgen Pohmann 1–6, 6–3, 6–2, 2–3(r) in the final.


1976 Romika Cup – Singles
Guillermo Vilas was the defending champion, but did not participate this year.


1976 Romika Cup – Singles
Manuel Orantes won the title, defeating Karl Meiler 6–1, 6–4, 6–1 in the final.


1976 Rose Bowl
The 1976 Rose Bowl was the 62nd edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Thursday, January 1. The UCLA Bruins of the Pacific-8 Conference defeated the top-ranked and undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference 23–10 in a rare bowl rematch of a regular season game. UCLA quarterback John Sciarra was named the  Player of the Game.


1976 Rose Bowl
This was the first post season that teams from the Big Ten and Pac-8 could appear in other bowl games since the Cotton Bowl in January 1949. Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes made his final appearance in the Rose Bowl, as Michigan represented the Big Ten in the next three editions.


1976 Rose Bowl, Teams
This was the second meeting between the teams that season; Ohio State handed UCLA its first loss of the season, 41–20, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 4. After the game, Hayes prophetically told his Buckeyes that they would be facing UCLA again in the Rose Bowl; they were the only opponent to score more than fourteen points against Ohio State, and they did it twice.


1976 Rose Bowl, Teams, Ohio State Buckeyes
Hayes brought an 11–0 Ohio State team to Pasadena, featuring two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin. It was a record fourth consecutive appearance for the 62-year-old Hayes, and his eighth and final appearance in the Rose Bowl. It was also a record fourth Rose Bowl start for Griffin; he was the only player to start in four until joined by Brian Cushing of USC in January 2009.


1976 Rose Bowl, Teams, Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State capped an undefeated regular season with a  21–14 win over rival Michigan in Ann Arbor for Hayes' last outright Big Ten championship, and also his last victory over former assistant Bo Schembechler. The Wolverines held the Buckeyes scoreless in the second and third quarters. Tied at 14–14, and having already tied two non-conference opponents, the Wolverines needed a win to advance to Pasadena.


1976 Rose Bowl, Teams, Ohio State Buckeyes
With less than three minutes remaining, Michigan's freshman quarterback Rick Leach was intercepted by sophomore safety Ray Griffin, who returned it thirty yards down to the 3-yard line, and fullback Pete Johnson ran it in for the winning touchdown. Michigan was the Big Ten runner-up for a fourth straight year; in the previous three, they stayed home during bowl season because of conference rules. This year, #5 Michigan (8–1–2) was invited to the Orange Bowl to face #3 Oklahoma, the Big Eight champion.


1976 Rose Bowl, Teams, Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State was a heavy favorite to win the Rose Bowl, by two touchdowns or more.


1976 Rose Bowl, Teams, UCLA Bruins
In his second season as head coach, Dick Vermeil made his only Rose Bowl appearance; weeks later he left for the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. In addition to the 41–20 loss to Ohio State, UCLA also fell at home to Washington 17–13 and was tied by Air Force 20–20, but won their other six conference games, including a fumble-plagued 25–22 win over cross town rival USC to clinch the Rose Bowl berth. In that Friday night after Thanksgiving game, the Bruins fumbled 11 times and lost 8 of them, but their maligned defense bailed them out time and time again.


1976 Rose Bowl, Teams, UCLA Bruins
UCLA ended up tied with California for the Pac-8 championship, but advanced to the Rose Bowl on the strength of their 28–14 win in an October matchup with the Golden Bears. The 1975 USC-UCLA game was legendary coach John McKay's final game at the Coliseum; he left for the NFL's expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As it turned out, it was also Vermeil's last game there.


1976 Rose Bowl, Teams, UCLA Bruins
This was UCLA's first Rose Bowl appearance in a full decade; in the 1966 edition, they also defeated a team which they had lost to earlier in the season, top-ranked Michigan State.


1976 Rose Bowl, Game summary
Both teams wore their home uniforms, Ohio State in scarlet jerseys, and UCLA in powderkeg blue jerseys. The weather was clear and 60 °F (16 °C).


1976 Rose Bowl, Game summary
Ohio State dominated the first half, but could only muster an field goal on its opening possession. UCLA did not gain a first down until late in the second quarter, but a couple of Ohio State turnovers and a key stop on 4th and 1 by the Bruin defense kept them in the game. The Buckeyes took a slim 3–0 lead to the locker room at halftime.


1976 Rose Bowl, Game summary
The second half saw underdog UCLA open up its offense, utilizing play-action and passing on first down. This helped open up their veer option rushing attack, and on their first possession of the third quarter, the Bruins marched to a tying field goal. After stopping Ohio State, UCLA then marched for a touchdown and a 9–3 lead (missed PAT). After stopping the Buckeyes again, the Bruins struck for the big play, a 67-yard touchdown pass from Sciarra to speedy flanker Wally Henry, and the 15½-point-underdog Bruins were up 16–3.


1976 Rose Bowl, Game summary
Ohio State, which inexplicably began passing the ball with regularity, returned to its dominating ground attack and scored early in the fourth quarter to cut UCLA's lead to 16–10. The Buckeyes got the ball right back, but again tried to resume an air attack.