Fred Hutch Cancer Center turns 50 this year. So does Microsoft. Each has shaped Seattle in distinct yet complementary ways, reinforcing the city’s reputation as one of innovation and impact.

The birth of those two Seattle institutions notwithstanding, 1975 is a year one many longtime Seattleites probably prefer to forget. It was a turbulent 12 months, to say the least, due to a mix of economic, political, and social factors.

Here are a few items that dominated headlines that year:

• University of Washington student Hallie Ann Seaman was murdered. DNA evidence solved the case, but only a year ago. Her killer was executed for a different crime in 1994.
• More than 1,000 UW students marched to protest the firing of the director of the Chicano division at the Office of Minority Affairs. Many Chicano staffers resigned in protest.
• A gasoline tanker blew up on the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Daryl McClary wrote on Historylink.org that the driver lost control near Pier 48, “spilling 3,700 gallons of gasoline onto the roadway, which erupts into a wall of flames.” Property damage was estimated at $750,000.
• A bomb exploded in a Capitol Hill Safeway store in retaliation for the arrest of Patty Hearst. The New York Times reported that three people were injured.
• Seattle Schools levies went down to defeat — twice. The Seattle Times reported that music, arts, and athletic programs suffered as a result, and budget issues led to a “prolonged period of labor strife.”
• Seattle Police were trying to find elusive serial killer Ted Bundy.
• Seattle City Light electricians went on strike. A piece on Historylink.org by David Wilma noted that 700 workers belonging to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers wanted a 15% pay hike. They got that a few months later, but not before a terrorist group bombed the Laurelhurst substation.
• Second-term Seattle Mayor Wes Uhlman, considered a young progressive leader, easily survived a recall attempt.
• The Seattle Police Department was mired in corruption scandals.

There were, of course, some positive developments. Seattle Opera produced the first complete cycle of Wagner’s Ring in just one week, the first time that had happened in the United States since 1939. The NBA’s Seattle Supersonics made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, and even won their first playoff series before losing to eventual champion Golden State.

That brings us back to Microsoft and Fred Hutch. Imagine Seattle without either of them, much less both. Hutch pioneered bone marrow transplantation, paving the way for breakthrough medical research. It also created a biotech boom and positioned Seattle as a leader in global health.

And while Microsoft was founded in Albuquerque and didn’t relocate to the Seattle area until 1979 — it couldn’t recruit top programmers to New Mexico — it established the region as a global tech hub, creating tens of thousands of high-paying jobs and fueling real estate booms, transit expansion and cultural investments.

The takeaway? Even in tempestuous times, stars can shine brightest in the darkest nights. It’s a lesson we’ll all do well to remember as 2025 gets off to a decidedly bumpy start.