| 28th February 1974 | The general election results in an almost dead-heat. The Labour Party wins despite receiving fewer votes than the Conservatives. Harold Wilson becomes Prime Minister for the second time following his break from office. |
| 8th March 1974 | Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris. |
| 18th March 1974 | Ten miners die in a methane gas explosion at Golborne Colliery near Wigan. |
| 20th March 1974 | Ian Ball fails in his attempt to kidnap Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace. |
| 6th April 1974 | ABBA wins the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Waterloo”. |
| 24th April 1974 | Stephen King publishes his first novel, “Carrie“, which is written under his own name. |
| 16th May 1974 | Helmut Schmidt is elected West German Chancellor. |
| 7th July 1974 | Host nation West Germany beats the Netherlands 2-1 to win the 1974 FIFA World Cup. |
| 9th August 1974 | Richard M. Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office, which he does to avoid being removed by impeachment in response to his role in the Watergate scandal. Vice President Gerald R. Ford becomes the 38th President, taking the oath of office in the East Room of the White House. |
| 8th September 1974 | Stuntman ‘Evel Knievel’ fails in his attempt to rocket across the Snake River Canyon in Idaho. |
| 23rd September 1974 | Ceefax, one of the first public service information systems, is started by the BBC. |
| 5th October 1974 | Bombs explode at The Horse And Groom and The Seven Stars pubs in Guildford, killing five people. This leads to the wrongful conviction and imprisonment of the ‘Guildford Four’ in 1975. |
| 10th October 1974 | The second general election of the year results in a narrow victory for Labour, with Harold Wilson still leading the vote. |
| 30th October 1974 | The ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ takes place in Kinshasa, Zaire. Muhammad Ali knocks out George Foreman in eight rounds to regain the Heavyweight title that had been stripped from him seven years earlier. |
| 8th November 1974 | Richard Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, disappears in England. |
| 27th November 1974 | The Prevention of Terrorism Act is passed in the United Kingdom. |
| 23rd December 1974 | Former British minister John Stonehouse, who faked his drowning in Florida, is arrested in Melbourne, Australia. |