against the military regime in Athens, Greece. November 25 – Greek dictator Georgios Papadopoulos is ousted in a military coup led by Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannidis. November 27 – The United States Senate votes 92–3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. November 29 – 104 people are killed in a Taiyo department store fire in Kumamoto, Kyūshū, Japan. November – Queen Sisowath Kossamak of Cambodia is released from house arrest to Beijing. December December – Chile breaks diplomatic contacts with Sweden. December 1 – Papua New Guinea gains self-government from Australia. December 3 – Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter. December 6 – The United States House of Representatives votes 387–35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States; he is sworn in the same day. December 14 – Rhodesia executes two Blacks at Salisbury Central Prison for murder December 18 Soviet space program: Soyuz 13 (Pyotr Klimuk, Valentin Lebedev) is launched. The Islamic Development Bank is created as a specialized agency of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) (effective August 12, 1974). December 20 – Spanish prime minister Luis Carrero Blanco is assassinated in Madrid by the separatist organization ETA. December 28 – The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States. December 30 – Terrorist Carlos fails in his attempt to assassinate British businessman Joseph Sieff. Date unknown A large Song dynasty trade ship of c. 1277 A.D. is dredged up from the waters near the southern coast of China with 12 compartments in its hull. It confirms the descriptions of bulkheaded hull compartments for junks in Zhu Yu's Pingzhou Table Talks of 1119. Births January January 1 – Shelda Bede, Brazilian beach volleyball player January 9 – Sean Paul, Jamaican singer January 11 – Rahul Dravid, Indian cricket player and coach. January 12 – Hande Yener, Turkish singer January 13 – Nikolai Khabibulin, Russian ice hockey player January 14 – Giancarlo Fisichella, Italian racing driver January 15 Essam El Hadary, Egyptian goalkeeper Tomáš Galásek, Czech football player January 17 – Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Mexican footballer and politician, Governor of Morelos 2018-2024 January 19 Ann Kristin Aarønes, Norwegian footballer Wang Junxia, Chinese long-distance runner Yevgeny Sadovyi, Russian swimmer January 20 – Queen Mathilde of Belgium January 22 – Rogério Ceni, Brazilian football player and coach January 26 – Brendan Rodgers, Northern Irish football