March 25, 1975: King Faisal of Saudi Arabia is assassinated, by his nephew, at his palace in the national capital of Riyadh. He was a few days short of his 69th birthday.
Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was born on April 14, 1906, 4 days before the San Francisco Earthquake, in Riyadh. He was the 3rd son of Ibn Saud, the Emir of Nejd, who founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. His eldest son, Turki, having died in 1919 in the Spanish Flu Epidemic, he was succeeded in 1953 by his 2nd son, his eldest surviving son, Saud bin Abdulaziz. He was succeeded in 1964 by the 3rd son, Faisal. Why the crown did not pass to Saud's eldest son Fahd, who was an adult, is not clear.
Faisal emerged as an influential royal politician during his father's reign. He served as Viceroy of Hejaz and Foreign Minister, and as Crown Prince under his brother he outlawed slavery in the kingdom. (This may be less true than the West realizes.)
He, um, persuaded King Saud to abdicate in his favor in 1964, with the help of other members of the House of Saud, including his maternal cousin, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al ash-Sheikh, the country's Grand Mufti, the most senior and most influential Muslim religious and legal authority. And how did King Faisal thank his cousin? By abolishing the position in 1969. (It was restored in 1993.)
Faisal implemented a policy of modernization and reform. He was anti-Communist, which, along with is country's massive oil production, brought the United States closer to him. But he was also pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel. Angry at American and other Western support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War of October 1973, he led the oil embargo which caused worldwide inflation.
The embargo ended in March 1974, with the price of oil per barrel having gone up from $3 to almost $12. This had such an effect on the American economy that, when Time magazine named its Man of the Year for 1974, 9 months after the end of the embargo and 4 months after President Richard Nixon was forced to resign the Presidency, it didn't name Nixon; or his replacement, Gerald Ford; or any of Nixon's opponents, such as the new Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski, or House Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter Rodino, or, collectively, the U.S. Supreme Court. It named King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.
On March 25, 1975, having recently returned from a visit to the U.S. and meeting with Ford, the King hosted a majlis, meaning "a place for sitting," an event where the King or leader opens up his residence to the citizens to enter and petition him. (This is not quite the same thing as what American organized crime would call a "sitdown.")
In the waiting room, Prince Faisal bin Musaid Al Saud, son of the King's half-brother Musa'id bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, talked to Kuwaiti representatives who were also waiting to meet the King. When the Prince went to embrace him, King Faisal leaned in to kiss his nephew, in accordance with Saudi custom. At that instant, Prince Faisal took out a pistol and shot him. The first shot hit the King's chin, and the second one went through his ear. A bodyguard hit Prince Faisal with a sheathed sword. Both before and after the attack, the assassin was reported to be calm.
King Faisal was quickly taken to Central Hospital in Riyadh. He was still alive as doctors massaged his heart and gave him a blood transfusion. Their efforts were unsuccessful, and he died shortly afterward. He was buried in Al Oud cemetery on March 26. During the funeral, the newly ascended King Khalid, who had nothing to do with the assassination, wept over his murdered brother's body.
One theory for the King's murder was avenging the death of Prince Khalid bin Musaid, the brother of Prince Faisal bin Musaid. King Faisal instituted secular reforms that led to the installation of television, which provoked violent protests. Prince Khalid led an attack on a television station in 1966, and he was shot dead by a policeman.
Prince Faisal bin Musaid was captured directly after the attack. He was at first officially declared insane, but following the trial a panel of Saudi medical experts decided that he was sane when he shot the King. The nation's high religious court convicted him of regicide, and sentenced him to execution. He was publicly beheaded in Deera Square in Riyadh on June 18. He was 31.
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March 25, 1975 was a Tuesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 7 games played in the NBA:
* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 105-89 at The Omni in Atlanta.
* The New Orleans Jazz beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 112-110 at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium. "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 36 for the Jazz, while Nate "Tiny" Archibald scored 40 for the Kings.
* The Buffalo Braves beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 118-103 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Bob McAdoo scored 48 points to lead all scorers on the night, and added 20 rebounds.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 89-84 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Houston Rockets, 112-94 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 92-87 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 34 and grabbed 21 rebounds for the Bucks.
* And the Golden State Warriors beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, 139-122 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Rick Barry scored 40 for the Warriors.
There were 2 games in the American Basketball Association. The Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Sounds, 97-95 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. And the Utah Stars beat the Indiana Pacers, 112-97 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.
There were 3 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders played the Montreal Canadiens to a tie, 3-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Kansas City Scouts, 2-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* And the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
And there were 5 games played in the World Hockey Association:
* The New England Whalers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).
* The Toronto Toros beat the Vancouver Blazers, 8-4 at the Varsity Arena in Toronto.
* The Winninpeg Jets beat the Indianapolis Racers, 4-3 in overtime at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* The San Diego Mariners beat the Chicago Cougars, 6-4 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.
* And the Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Baltimore Blades, 5-4 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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