Kidnapped Heiress (Feb. 5): Patricia Hearst, daughter of publishing magnate Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She is not seen again until April 15, when she turns up during an armed bank robbery in San Francisco. It's unclear whether she is a willing participant in the robbery.

SKU'ed (May 5): NCR Corp. introduces the bar-code scanner at the annual convention of the Super Market Institute.

	Aaron

Home Run Hank (April 4): Henry "Hank" Aaron of the Atlanta Braves ties Babe Ruth's record with his 714th career home run. Four days later, Aaron smacks his 715th homer for an all-time record.

Nuclear Threat (May 18): India detonates an atomic bomb and becomes the world's sixth nuclear power.

Shuttle Diplomacy (May 31): A peace agreement signed by Israel and Syria ends eight months of sporadic fighting between the two nations. U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wins fame for shuttling between the two countries to negotiate the truce.

	Nixon hugging daughter Julie shortly after his resignation

President Resigns (Aug. 8): The Watergate scandal climaxes when President Nixon announces in a televised address that he will resign the presidency at noon the next day. He says he had felt it his duty to persevere in the fight against impeachment, but "in the last few days it was evident that I no longer had a strong political base in Congress to continue with the effort." Three days earlier, Nixon admitted to ordering a halt in the investigation of the Watergate burglary, which took place June 17, 1972, at the Democratic Party's national headquarters. He says the order was for political as well as security reasons. Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign. On Aug. 9, Vice President Gerald Ford assumes the presidency, becoming the first man in U.S. history to lead the nation without winning a national election.

Cover Girl (August): Vogue makes Beverly Johnson the first black model to appear on the cover of a major fashion magazine.

Diamond Girls (June 12): Little League baseball announces that its teams will be open to girls.

Big Step (June 30): Mikhail Baryshnikov defects to the West while he is in Toronto as a guest artist with the Soviet Union's Bolshoi Ballet.

So Long, Slide Rule: Calculators become more advanced, more streamlined and more affordable, selling about 12 million the first year.

Priestly Prominence (July 29): Eleven women are ordained as Episcopal priests in Philadelphia. The House of Bishops declares the ordinations illegal, but in October endorses the principle of female priests.

New Ballgame (Oct. 3): Frank Robinson becomes the first black manager in major league baseball when he signs a $175,000-a-year contract as player-manager for the Cleveland Indians.

Opening Up (Nov. 21): Congress passes the Freedom of Information Act over President Ford's veto.