• The airbag jacket was born on this day. The jacket and vest with an airbag for motorcyclists (horseriders) is a Hungarian invention. It was officially registered on 3 August 1976. Inventor: Tamás Straub. You can look at the original documents of the invention on this website.

• On the Gazette of Patents (official journal of the Hungarian Patent Office) volume 1977 Nr.9. Tamás Straub published his invention: "Protective garment, mainly for motorcyclists". It can be clearly stated that the now widely manufactured and used airbag jackets work the same way as described by this patent application.

• From this time the airbag jacket is public intellectual property because the protection of Tamás Straub's patent application basically ended, therefore it can be manufactured freely by anybody since then.

• In the (hungarian) Autó-motor magazine was published a whole-page article and introduced Tamás Straub's invention.

• Honda began research and development on motorcycle (fuel tank) mounted airbag system.

• In Japan began research and development work of a wearable airbag system for motorcyclists.

• The prototype vest with an airbag was completed.

• In this year(?) the Japanese Patent Office (and later, the patent offices of several European and American countries) granted to a japanese person patent protection to the airbag jacket. Therefore more then two decades after Tamás Straub's patent application the Japanese solution was actually a plagiarism (Intellectual Property Theft). The patent offices made a serious mistake because they did not complete an appropriate and thorough novelty research (prior art search) in the course of the registration of the patent.

• The airbag jacket awarded Gold and Silver Medals at the World Exhibition of Inventions in Belgium and a Gold Medal in the Safety Protection Life Saving Division.

• The airbag jacket has launched in Europe.

• Dainese already featured its core technical solutions, adopting a system based on airbag technology that was capable of activation without any physical connections to the motorcycle.

• The airbag vest awarded Gold Trophy at the "Salon du Cheval" in Paris.

• Began sales of motorcycle jacket with airbag system around the world.

• Supplied the Police Headquarters in Japan with airbag vests for the motorcycle police.

• Supplied the Spanish Police with the airbag vests.

• The airbag jacket awarded the highest prize at the JPMS (Journées professionnelles moto, quad et scooter) Motorcycle Show in France.

• The first real crash test at the Adria International Raceway with a professional stuntman.

• The first professional rider to crash during a race in Valencia, 125cc class Michael Ranseder

• In this year was the first documented case of Airbag Jacket saving life. (Joseph McPhatter was riding on the Interstate 83 in Maryland, when was cut off by a car. He was ejected from his motorcycle, hitting the ground at 140 mph.)

• Miss Zara Phillips (Queen Elisabeth's granddaughter) was protected by airbag jacket.

• Valentino Rossi was protected by airbag jacket in Italian GP at Mugello.

• The Olympic equestrian teams at London used airbag jackets to ensure safety.

• Marc Marquez was protected by airbag jacket in Italian GP at Mugello.

• The use of “Air Bag Systems” which conform to the FIS rules and specifications will be permitted in all levels of FIS competitions, including World Cup.

• It was the first time a safety airbag was inflated during a Ski World Cup and prevented Olympic champion Matthias Mayer from serious injury during a nasty crash.