News of the day: 1975

Friday, Dec. 29, 2000 | 10:33 a.m.

Story: Margaret Thatcher, a blond housewife frequently called the Barry Goldwater of British politics, was elected leader of the opposition Conservative Party Tuesday.

Her victory made her Britain's first woman party chief and put her in the running to become the country's first woman prime minister.

March 16: Lung Infection Kills Onassis

Story: Aristotle Onassis, the rags-to-riches Greek shipping tycoon who courted and won power, fame and the beautiful widow of President John F. Kennedy, died yesterday of a lung infection after a long illness. He was 69.

April 6: Chiang's Successor Takes Taipei Reins

Story: President Chiang Kai-shek of Nationalist China, the last of the major World War II leaders, died of a heart attack yesterday. He was 87.

Vice President C.K. Yen was sworn in as president Sunday, hours after the Nationalist government ordered a "special alert" for garrisons on the islands of Quemoy and Matsu, only a few thousand yards from the Chinese mainland.

April 30: Vietnam War is Over

Story: South Vietnam surrendered yesterday to the Communists and ended the war.

President Doung Van Minh announced the surrender hours after the United States pulled out of Vietnam, where it spent 14 years, $150 billion and more than 50,000 lives trying to stop the Communist takeover. Minh told government soldiers to stop fighting.

Sept. 19: Patty's bail: $1,050,000

Story: Pleading "Don't shoot, I'll go with you," fugitive newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured with three fellow Symbionese Liberation Army comrades yesterday in the final chapter of one of the most bizarre criminal searches in U.S. history.