This Day In 1970's History: Tuesday December 21, 1976
- Three Carter cabinet choices were announced at a news conference in Plains, Ga., as the President-elect confirmed his pledge to cut defense spending by $5 billion to $7 billion. He named Harold Brown of the California Institute of Technology as Secretary of Defense. For Housing and Urban Development he picked Patricia Roberts Harris, a Washington lawyer. Ray Marshall, a University of Texas labor economist, was named Secretary of Labor. [New York Times]
- Griffin Bell, the Atlanta lawyer and Attorney General-designate, belongs to two clubs there that list no blacks as members and few if any Jews. He said he was "concerned" and would "do something" about membership before going to Washington. President-elect Carter said at his news conference that he hoped his cabinet officers would give up membership in organizations that discriminated, but would not require them to do so. [New York Times]
- A tanker broke in half under the pounding of high seas after running aground last Wednesday on the Nantucket shoals. Some five million gallons of thick, heavy crude oil were released from the Liberian-flag vessel Argo Merchant. As the wind shifted the oil slick drifted first toward and then away from the area's prime commercial fishing grounds, but the spill was nevertheless ranked as a major disaster with other threats to fishing and recreation along the coast. [New York Times]
- The November consumer price rise was a relatively moderate three-tenths of 1 percent, the same as in October, while food prices actually dropped, according to the Department of Labor. For the 12-month period ending in November, the overall consumer price index rose just 5 percent -- the smallest increase since March 1973. [New York Times]
- New durable goods orders rose by 1.7 percent in November, the Department of Commerce said, while shipments rose 2.8 percent, also for the second straight month. In the defense goods sector, there was a drop of 2.7 percent while new orders for non-defense capital goods rose by 4.9 percent. [New York Times]
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