There were a number of major world events in 1975 when Ken and Rosemary Fletcher gave birth to their son Dustin on May 7.

Dustin Fletcher is currently the oldest player in the AFL, so as we celebrate the legend’s 39th birthday today, we take a look back on the events that occurred in the year he was born.

1975

1 January – Watergate Scandal: John N Mitchell, H.R Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up.

11 February – The British Conservative Party chooses its first female leader, Margaret Thatcher.

1 March – Full time colour television broadcasting is launched in Australia.

21 March – Malcolm Fraser replaces Billy Snedden as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.

30 April – The war in Vietnam ends as the government in Saigon announced its unconditional surrender to North Vietnamese forces.

7 May – Dustin Fletcher was born.

16 July – Medibank is introduced in Australia.

16 September – Papua New Guinea gains its independence from Australia.

27 September – North Melbourne win the VFL Premiership, beating Hawthorn by 55 points in the Grand Final.  

11 November – Australian Constitutional Crisis. The Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam. Malcolm Fraser is installed as caretaker Prime Minister.

Other people born in 1975 include singer Natalie Imbruglia, cricketer Michael Hussey, model Megan Gale, actress Drew Barrymore, actor Chris Lilley, footballer David Beckham, chef Jamie Oliver, actress Angelina Jolie, musician Michael Buble and golfer Tiger Woods.