1974

Events

January

• January 13: Metropolitan Serafim of Ioannina is elected Archbishop of Athens and all Greece.
• January 28: Archbishop Makarios III declares a 3-day mourning period, throughout Cyprus, over the death of his political opponent Georgios Grivas.

March

• March 3: Olympiakos thrash Fostiras 11-0 in a Greek League match at Karaiskaki Stadium. Nikos Gioutsos and Yves Triantafillos score 3 goals each.

April

• April 25: Archbishop Makarios III declares EOKA B' to be an illegal organisation.
• April 28: Greece and World Champions Brazil play to a 0-0 draw before 100,000 spectators at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

May

• May 16: Work starts on the Athens Metro.

June

• June 4: Archbishop Makarios III announces his intent to decrease the strength of the Cypriot National Guard and replace the Junta-appointed mainland officers.

July

• July 2: Archbishop Makarios III demands that Greece remove all its Cypriot National Guard officers except for 100 to remain in an advisory and training capacity.
• July 15: The Cyprus National Guard overthrows President Makarios and installs Nikos Sampson in his place.
• July 19: In a speech at the UN, Archbishop Makarios III calls the coup d'etat of July 15 a "foreign invasion" by Greece that "affects all Cypriots, Greeks and Turks".
• July 20: Turkey invades Cyprus.
• July 21: Greek athlete Giorgos Katsanis is killed in a battle near St. Hilarion Castle during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. His club, Iraklis Thessaloniki will rename their volleyball stadium in his honour.
• July 22: The Security Council of the UN calls for a ceasefire in Cyprus.
• July 22: The Turkish army overruns Kerynia.
• July 23: The military government in Greece collapses and former prime minister Constantine Karamanlis is invited to return.
• July 23: Nikos Sampson, junta-appointed President of Cyprus, resigns and is replaced by Parliament President Glafkos Clerides
• July 24: Thousands of people welcome Constantine Karamanlis arriving from Paris, France at Hellenikon Airport at 2:00 AM. He is sworn in as Prime Minister at 4:15 AM by President Phaedon Gizikis.
• July 30: Foreign ministers from Greece, Turkey and the UK sign a peace agreement to settle the Cyprus crisis.

August

• August 6: Despite the ceasefire in effect, Turkish troops assault and take Lapithos and Karavas.
• August 14: Turkish military launch the second phase ("Attila 2") of their invasion of Cyprus resulting in the occupation of one-third of the island's territory. 200,000 Greeks are displaced from their homes.
• August 15: Turkish troops overrun Ammochostos.
• August 16: Morphou is occupied by Turkish troops, its inhabitants flee.
• August 16: Andreas Papandreou returns to Greece.
• August 16: The military base of ELDYK is assaulted and taken by Turkish forces.
• August 19: US Ambassador, Rodger Davies, and his Cypriot secretary, Antoinette Varnava, are killed in Lefkosia during anti-US riots in the aftermath of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
• August 30: An unsuccessful attempt is made on the life of Dr. Vasos Lyssaridis, a Cypriot politician.

September

• September 3: The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) is established.
• September 20: Georgios Mavros is elected leader of the Centre Union party.
• September 23: Greeks and Turks exchange POWs in Lefkosia.
• September 25: Communist daily "Rizospastis" ("Radical") reappears on the newstands after an absence of 27 years.

October

• October 4: The New Democracy Party is founded by Constantine Karamanlis.
• October 23: Former Junta strongmen George Papadopoulos, Stylianos Pattakos and Nikolaos Makarezos are exiled to the island of Kea.

November

• November 6: Olympiakos humble Anderlecht 3-0 in the 2nd Leg of their European Champions' Cup matchup. Hungarian referee Palotay disallows two other goals by Olympiakos who are thus eliminated.

December

• December 7: Archbishop Makarios III returns to Cyprus for the first time since the July 15 coup d'etat that overthrew him.
• December 8: In a democratic referendum held, 69.2% of Greek people confirmed the monarchy's abolition.
• December 18: Michail Stasinopoulos is appointed president of Greece after the resignation of Gen. Phaedon Gizikis.
• December 18: Greece break a 40 year-old tradition by defeating Bulgaria 2-1 at Karaiskaki Stadium (Sarafis, Antoniadis)
• December 29: Costas Mourouzis coaches for the 40th, and last, time the National Basketball Team (22 wins – 18 losses) in the game against Yugoslavia (58-71) in Salonica for the Balkan Championship. He will be succeeded by Vangelis Nikitopoulos.

Births

January

• January 23: Rebekah Elmaloglou, Greek-Australian actress

March

• March 16: Giorgos Anatolakis, footballer
• March 27: George Koumantarakis, Greek-South African footballer.

May

• May 30: Kostas Chalkias, footballer

June

• June 1: Akis Zikos, footballer
• June 11: Frangiskos Alvertis, basketball player

July

• July 12: Stelios Giannakopoulos, footballer.

August

• August 14: Giorgos Doukas, singer

October

• October 6: Alexis Georgoulis, actor

Deaths

January

• January 27: Georgios Grivas, military figure and EOKA commander

April

• April 17: Sotiris Spatharis, master of the "shadow theatre" (Karagiozis)

October

• October 1: Spyros Marinatos, archaeologist
• October 10: Athina Mary Livanos, heiress, wife to Onassis and Niarchos.

December

• December 16: Kostas Varnalis poet/writer