Tom Stoppard's play Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land premieres.

Francois Truffaut's film Small Change premieres.

Nicholas Roeg's film The Man Who Fell to Earth premieres.

Lina Wertmuller's film Seven Beauties premieres.

Manuel Puig's novel Kiss of the Spider Woman is published.

Muriel Spark's novel The Takeover is published.

Chaos and political maneuvers for power follow the deaths in China of both Mao Tse-tung and Chou En-lai.

Civil war between Communist and non-Communist factions in Angola breaks out.

Civil war and sectarian violence plague Beirut and other areas of Lebanon. Syria intervenes with armed troops.

India normalizes relations with China.

The supersonic Concorde begins transadantic service.

Britain and Iceland engage in a brief "cod war" — a dispute over North Atlantic fishing rights.

Vietnam formally reunifies.

The Seychelles become independent.

Negotiations are conducted to turn Rhodesia over to black majority rule.

Liechtensteiner women gain the right to vote in local elections.

1 Jan.