28 August — by a resolution of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers, “On Measures for the Further Improvement of the Passport System in the USSR,” a decision is adopted to introduce, starting in 1976, a new-format USSR citizen’s passport. This provision established that all Soviet citizens who had reached the age of 16 were required to have a USSR citizen’s passport. The issuance and exchange of the new documents were to be carried out from 1976 to 1981.
13 February — a decision is made to expel the writer A. I. Solzhenitsyn from the USSR.
13 March — the European Monetary System enters into force.