1975: A Year in the Collections

Explore items in the Smithsonian's collections related to 1975. In January, The Jeffersons premeired on the CBS network, lasting 11 seasons. In April, North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon, ending the Vietnam War. Five astronauts and cosmonauts participated in the July 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first international joint human spaceflight mission. Two "Missions to Mars" spacecraft, Viking I (August) and Viking II (September), were launched. In September, Patty Hearst was captured by the FBI after being kidnapped in 1974 by the Symbionese Liberation Army. In December, Doug Henning entertained 50 million viewers with a live television special on NBC, The World of Magic, where he escaped Houdini's Water Torture Cell.