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Period: to
The 70's
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Aswan High Dam Completed
The Aswan Dam is an embankment dam situated across the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. Since the 1950s, the name commonly refers to the High Dam, which is larger and newer than the Aswan Low Dam, which was first completed in 1902. Following Egypt's independence from the United Kingdom, the High Dam was constructed between 1960 and 1970. It aimed to increase economic production by further regulating the annual river flooding and providing storage of water for agriculture. -
Beatles Break Up
The Beatles' break-up describes the events related to the break-up of The Beatles, one of the most popular and influential musical groups in history.The break-up has become almost as much of a legend as the band itself or the music they created while together. The Beatles were active from their formation in 1960 to the disintegration of the group in 1970.There were numerous causes for the Beatles' break-up. -
US soliders found gulity for murder in My Lei Massacre
On the morning of March 16th Charlie Company landed following a short artillery and helicopter gunship preparation. Though the Americans found no enemy fighters in the village, many soldiers suspected there were NLF troops hiding underground in the homes of their elderly parents or wives. -
BarCodes introduced in the UK on retail products
While it may seem like barcodes have been with us forever, barcodes didn’t really make an impact until the 1970’s. It wasn’t until 1974 that the first barcode scanner was employed and the first product barcoded. -
Computer Floppy Disks Introduced
A floppy disk is a data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible ("floppy") magnetic storage medium sealed in a square or rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles. -
Apollo 13 mjssion suffers huge setback
A ruptured air tank on their way to the moon almost sealed the fate of the three astronauts on board the spacecraft. -
First Earth Day
Ten years ago this month, the environmental issue came of age in American political life. When April 22, 1970, dawned, literally millions of Americans of all ages and from all walks of life participated in Earth Day celebrations from coast to coast. -
Kent State Shootings
On May 4, l970 members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine Kent State students. The impact of the shootings was dramatic. The event triggered a nationwide student strike that forced hundreds of colleges and universities to close. H. R. Haldeman, a top aide to President Richard Nixon, suggests the shootings had a direct impact on national politics. -
18 year olds given the right to vote
On July 1, 1971, when the 26th Amendment was ratified, it became impermissible for states to deny citizens eighteen years of age or older the right to vote. However, Georgia (in 1943) and Kentucky (in 1955) had previously lowered the minimum voting age to 18. States are not prohibited by the the 26th Amendment from lowering the voting age below 18. -
Palestinian Group Hijacks Five Planes
The first hijacked plane, TWA Flight 74, lands with its 145 passengers and ten crewmembers at 6:45pm in Jordan, followed ten minutes later by the Swissair plane with 143 passengers and a crew of 12 -
EPA is Created
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes USEPA) is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.The EPA was proposed by President Richard Nixon and began operation on December 3, 1970, after Nixon submitted a reorganization plan to Congress and it was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate. -
World Trade Center is Complete
The World Trade Center (WTC) was a complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan in New York City that were destroyed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with six new skyscrapers and a memorial to the casualties of the attacks. At the time of its completion, they were the tallest building in the world, surpassing the Empire State Building, which is also in Manhattan. -
South Vietnam and US invade Laos
On 1 January, 1971, the United States Congress outlawed the presence of US troops in Laos or Cambodia. On 19 January, United States forces began a series of air strikes against North Vietnamese Army supply camps in Laos and Cambodia. -
Direct dial between New Youk and London
The telephone industry made a United States "first" in the New Jersey communities of Englewood and Teaneck with the introduction of what is known now as Direct Distance Dialing. Starting on November 10, 1951, customers of the ENglewood 3, ENglewood 4 and TEaneck 7 exchanges (who could already dial New York City and area) were able to dial 11 cities across the United States, simply by dialing the three-digit area code and the seven digit number. -
The Microprecessor is introduced
microprocessor incorporates most or all of the functions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) on a single integrated circuit (IC, or microchip). -
VCRs Intreoduced
The VCR (videocassette recorder) was introduced by the Sony Corporation, a Japanese company, in 1975. It started out with a smaller home "videocorder" known as Betamax, which at first competed heavily with the larger VHS (video home system) format. Competition between the two formats kept prices of the home VCRs too high for most consumers. -
Amtrak created
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak (reporting mark AMTK), is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union Station in Washington, D.C. -
The Pentagon Papers Released:
The Pentagon Papers, officially titled United States–Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, is a top-secret United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. -
End of Gold Standard
The Nixon Shock was a series of economic measures taken by U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1971 including unilaterally cancelling the direct convertibility of the United States dollar to gold that essentially ended the existing Bretton Woods system of international financial exchange. -
First Benefit Concert organized for Bangladesh by George Harrison
Bangladesh was the event title for two benefit concerts organized by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, held at noon and at 7:00 p.m. on August 1, 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York City. -
Attica State Prison Riots
The Attica Prison riot occurred at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, United States in 1971. The riot was based in part upon prisoners' demands for better living conditions, and was led in large part by a small band of political revolutionaries. On September 9, 1971, responding to the death of prisoner George Jackson, a black radical activist prisoner who had been shot to death by corrections officers in California's San Quentin Prison on August 21. -
Disney World Opens
The Walt Disney World Resort, sometimes shortened to Walt Disney World or Disney World, is the world's largest and most-visited recreational resort. Located approximately 21 miles (34 km) southwest of Orlando, Florida, USA, the resort covers an area of 30,080-acre (47.00 sq mi; 121.7 km2) and includes four theme parks, two water parks, 23 on-site themed resort hotels (excluding eight that are on-site, but not owned by the Walt Disney Company). -
London Bridge brought to the U.S
London Bridge is a bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, United States, that is based on the 1831 London Bridge that spanned the River Thames in London, England until it was dismantled in 1967. The Arizona bridge is a reinforced concrete structure clad in the original masonry of the 1830s bridge, that was bought by Robert P. McCulloch from the City of London. -
China joins the UN
By the 1970s, a shift had occurred in international diplomatic circles and the PRC had gained the upper hand in international diplomatic relations and recognition count. On 25 October 1971, the 21st time the United Nations General Assembly debated on the PRC's admission into the UN, -
Cigarette ads are banned on TV
An act of Congress forced cigarette commercials off television.
That move did little to hinder the tobacco industry's advertising
efforts; it just spent more on other media. Ironically, cigarette
sales increased dramatically in 1971, the first year of the
cigarette-ad ban, probably because anti-smoking commercials,
which had indeed caused a decline in cigarette consumption,
could no longer be aired for free. -
Swann V. Charlotte- Mecklenburg Board of ED
Mecklenburg Board of Education, 402 U.S. 1 (1971) was an important United States Supreme Court case dealing with the busing of students to promote integration in public schools. After a first trial going to the Board of Education, the Court held that busing was an appropriate remedy for the problem of racial imbalance among schools, even where the imbalance resulted from the selection of students based on geographic proximity to the school rather than from deliberate assignment based on race -
D.B. Cooper
D. B. Cooper is the name popularly used to refer an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in the airspace between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington, USA on November 24, 1971, extorted USD $200,000[1] in ransom, and parachuted to an uncertain fate. Despite an extensive manhunt and an exhaustive (and ongoing) FBI investigation, the perpetrator has never been located or positively identified. -
Supreme Court rules against death penalty
Washington (CNN) -- A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled against a former death row inmate who sought damages from the state after prosecutors hid crucial blood tests that would have earlier proven his innocence. The 5-4 decision Tuesday involved John Thompson, who came within weeks of execution and had spent 18 years behind bars before being set free after the new forensic evidence came to light. -
Mark Spitz Wins Seven Gold Medals
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KKK riots in NYC
The Hard Hat Riot occurred on May 8, 1970 in Lower Manhattan. . The riot started about noon when about 200 construction workers mobilized by the New York State AFL-CIO attacked about 1,000 high school and college students and others protesting the Kent State shootings, the American invasion of Cambodia and the Vietnam War near the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street. -
Terrorists Attack at the Olympic Games in Munich
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in Southern Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually murdered by the Islamic terrorist group Black September. -
Nixon Visits China
.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China was an important step in formally normalizing relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. It marked the first time a U.S. president had visited the PRC, who at that time considered the U.S. one of its staunchest foes. The visit has become a metaphor for an unexpected or uncharacteristic action by a politician. -
George Wallace shot while campaigning
A 1972 assassination attempt left him paralyzed; he used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He is best known for his Southern populist,pro-segregation attitudes during the American desegregation period, convictions he renounced later in life. -
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) introduced
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues (not Social Security taxes):
It is designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income; and
It provides cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter. -
First successful video game (Pong) launched
Pong (marketed as PONG) is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity. The aim is to defeat the opponent in a simulated table tennis game by earning a higher score. -
The Wars act passed
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 (50 U.S.C. 1541–1548) was a United States Congress joint resolution providing that the President can send U.S. armed forces into action abroad only by authorization of Congress or in case of "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces." -
Pocket Calculaters Introduced
Pocket-sized devices become available in the 1970s, especially after the invention of the microprocessor developed serendipitously by Intel for a Busicom calculator. -
Title IX signed into law by Nixon
Congress enacts Title IX of The Educational Amendments of 1972
20 U.S.C. ß 1681 et seq. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon, June 23, 1972. Prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity, within an institution receiving any type of Federal financial assistance. -
Nixon Visits Soviet Union
In 1971 Nixon made the dramatic announcements that he would visit Peking and Moscow in the first half of 1972. He ... announced progress in the negotiations with the Soviet Union on an arms limitation treaty. The visit to Peking took place in February and he was invited to meet Chairman Mao Zedong, a mark of high respect. In May, he visited Moscow and signed the agreement limiting the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union. -
Watergate Scandal Begins
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. Effects of the scandal ultimately led to the resignation of the President of the United States, Richard Nixon, on August 9, 1974, the first and only resignation of any U.S. President. -
M*A*S*H TV shows Premiers
: MASH was a 1970 feature film adaptation of the original novel. The film was directed by Robert Altman and starred Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye Pierce and Elliott Gould as Trapper John McIntyre. -
HBO launched
Dolan presented his "Green Channel" idea to Time Life management, and though satellite distribution seemed only a distant possibility at the time, he persuaded Time Life to back him. Soon afterwards, on November 8, 1972, "The Green Channel" became "Home Box Office". HBO began using a network of microwave relay towers to distribute its programming. -
Last Man on the Moon
Apollo 17 was the 11th manned space mission in the NASA Apollo program. Launched at 12:33 a.m. EST on December 7, 1972, with a crew of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 remains the most recent manned Moon landing and the most recent manned flight beyond low Earth orbit. -
Abortion Legalized in US
Abortion in the United States has been legal in every state since the United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, on January 22, 1973. Prior to "Roe", there were exceptions to the abortion ban in at least 10 states; "Roe" established that a woman has a right to self-determination (often referred to as a "right to privacy") covering the decision whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term, but that this right must be balanced against a state's interest in preserving fetal life. -
US pulls out of vietnam
President Nixon had been elected on a promise to Vietnamize the war, meaning more fighting would be turned over to the South Vietnamese army, and to start bringing home American troops. When the President ordered US troops into Cambodia and ordered more bombings, the result was a tremendous uproar at home with more marches and demonstrations. Congress reacted to the antiwar feeling and repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave the President the authority to send troops and fight the war. -
OPEC doubles price of oil
Crude oil prices behave much as any other commodity with wide price swings in times of shortage or oversupply. The crude oil price cycle may extend over several years responding to changes in demand as well as OPEC and non-OPEC supply -
UPC barcodes come to US
The Universal Product Code (UPC) is a barcode symbology (i.e., a specific type of barcode), that is widely used in North America, and in countries including the UK, Australia, and New Zealand for tracking trade items in stores. -
Paul Getty Kidnapped
Jean Paul Getty III (4 November 1956[1] — 5 February 2011),[2] also known as Paul Getty, was the eldest of the four children of Paul Getty, Jr. and Abigail (née Harris), and the grandson of oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty. His son is actor Balthazar Getty. -
Sears Towers Built
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Endangered Species act
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Endangered Species Act
The near-extinction of the bison and the rapidly disappearing passenger pigeon helped drive the call for wildlife conservation starting in the 1900s. Ornithologist George Bird Grinnell wrote articles on the subject in the magazine Forest and Stream, while Joel Asaph Allen, founder of the American Ornithologists' Union, hammered away in the popular press. The public was introduced to a new concept: extinction -
Sears Towers
Willis Tower (formerly named, and still commonly referred to as Sears Tower) is a 108-story, 1451-foot (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois.[4] At the time of its completion in 1973, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years. The Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the fifth-tallest freestanding structure in the world, as well as the fifth tallest building in the world to -
the War Powers Act
At least, it usually seems to be called the War Powers Act. It's actually the War Powers Resolution, not that I'm convinced anyone cares. But then the problem seems to be that no one cares one bit about the whole thing... -
U.S. Vice President Resigns
On the domestic front, he implemented the concept of New Federalism, transferring power from the federal government to the states; new economic policies which called for wage and price control and the abolition of the gold standard; sweeping environmental reforms, including the Clean Air Act and creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency; the launch of the War on Cancer and War on Drugs; reforms empowering women, including Title IX; -
Patty Hearst Kidnapped
On February 4, 1974, the 19-year-old Hearst was kidnapped from the Berkeley, California apartment she shared with her fiancé Steven Weed by a left-wing urban guerrilla group called the Symbionese Liberation Army. When the attempt to swap Hearst for jailed SLA members failed, the SLA demanded that the captive's family distribute $70 worth of food to every needy Californian – an operation that would cost an estimated $400 million. -
Freedom, of information act passed over Fords veto
At the beginning of the 93rd Congress in 1973, Representative William S. Moorhead (D-PA), chair of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations and Government Information, and ranking Republican Representative Frank Horton (R-NY) each introduced a bill to amend the FOIA. [xi] By January 1974, a cooperative piece of legislation, H.R. 12471, was put forward in the House of Representatives. It passed the House on 14 March 1974 by a vote of 383-3. -
Girls allowed to play in Little League Baseball
Girls are formally permitted to play in the Little League Baseball program; and a Little League Softball program for both boys and girls is created. -
US president nixon resigns
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, in office from 1969 to 1974. He served as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961, the only person to be elected twice to both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency. A member of the Republican Party, he was the only President to resign the office. -
National speed imit 55
In 1973, Congress enacted a national speed limit of 55 mph (89 km/h). Some states, such as Washington, enacted lower speed limits. -
Gerald Ford pardons Nixon
On September 8, 1974, one month after President Richard Nixon resigned the presidency amid the Watergate scandal, his successor, President Gerald R. Ford, announced his decision to grant Nixon a full pardon for any crimes he may have committed while in office. -
Catalytic convertors introduced on cars
A catalytic converter (colloquially, "cat" or "catcon") is a device used to reduce the array of emissions from an internal combustion engine. A catalytic converter works by using a catalyst to stimulate a chemical reaction in which the by-products of combustion are converted to produce less harmful and/or inert substances, such as the very poisonous carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. -
Microsoft founded
Microsoft was formed soon after the introduction of the Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) Altair, the first "personal computer," a build-it-yourself kit for hobbyists. Bill Gates and Paul Allen seized the opportunity to transform this early PC into a breakthrough -- the Altair needed software, a programming language that could make it perform useful computing tasks. That's when it all began. -
Saigon falls to Communism
Various names have been applied to the incident. Fall of Saigon is the most commonly used name in English, but Liberation of Saigon is sometimes used by communists. It has also been called Sự kiện 30 tháng 4 (April 30 Incident) or Giải phóng miền Nam (The liberation of the south) by the current Vietnamese communist government and Ngày mất nước (The day we lost our country/nation) or Ngày Quốc Hận (National Hatred Day) or Tháng Tư Đen (Black April) by Vietnamese refugees overseas. -
Arthur Ashe First Balck Man to Win Wimbledon
American tennis player Arthur Ashe has become the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles' championship. -
Jimmy Hoffa disappears
James Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa (born February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975, declared legally dead July 30, 1982[1][2]) was an American labor union leader and author. -
President Ford assassination attempts (2)
September 5, 1975: On the northern grounds of the California State Capitol, Lynette Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, drew a Colt M1911 .45 caliber pistol on Ford when he reached to shake her hand in a crowd. There were four cartridges in the pistol's magazine but the firing chamber was empty. She was soon restrained by Secret Service agent Larry Buendorf. Fromme was sentenced to life in prison, but was released from custody on August 14, 2009, nearly 3 years after Ford's death. -
September 22, 1975
In San Francisco, California, Sara Jane Moore fired a revolver at Ford from 40 feet (12 m) away.[15] A bystander, Oliver Sipple, grabbed Moore's arm and the shot missed Ford.[16] Moore was sentenced to life in prison.[17] She was later paroled from a federal prison on Monday, December 31, 2007 (370 days after Ford's death) after serving more than 30 years. -
Computerized Supermarket checkouts begin to appear
During the 70s, the first computerized supermarket checkouts are installed and food packages begin carrying bar codes. Private labels were waning in the late 60s. In response, many retailers like Kroger, Loblaw and Bohack begin dropping their own label prepared frozen vegetable lines in the early part of the decade -
Francisco Franco dies
Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo de Franco y Bahamonde Salgado-Araujo y Pardo de Andrade (4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975), commonly known as Franco (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈθisko ˈfɾaŋko]), was a Spanish military general and head of state of Spain from October 1936 (whole nation from 1939 onwards), and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November 1975. -
Legionnaire’s disease strikes 182, kills 29
The first appearance of the flu like disease struck at an American Legion convention in Philadelphia -
Apple Computer launched
In the last few decades, computers have made huge strides in improving and making the world more accessible to the general population. In the 1970s, few people had no idea what their computer technology would lead to. Even fewer of them probably had the vision that they would have been made into what they are now. But in the 1970s, the popularity of computers was just beginning to take hold. -
North and South Vietnam Join to Form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
On April 23, 1975, President Gerald Ford told the American people: "Today Americans can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by refighting a war that is finished." Two days later. President Thieu, accusing the United States of betrayal, resigned and left the country. He was quickly followed by other South Vietnamese leaders and the remaining American advisers. -
Betamax VCR’s released
Betamax (sometimes called Beta) is a home videocassette tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain 1/2-inch (12.7mm)-wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional 3/4-inch (19.05mm) U-matic format. The format is generally considered obsolete, though it is still used in specialist applications by a small minority of people. -
Mao Tse-tung dies
The communist leader of China died in 1976 after over 25 years of rule -
Entebbe Air Raid
Operation Entebbe was a hostage-rescue mission carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976.[1] A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France plane with 248 passengers was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists and supporters and flown to Entebbe, near Kampala, the capital of Uganda. Shortly after landing, all non-Jewish passengers were released. -
Karen Ann Quinlan
Karen Ann Quinlan had been in a coma for over a year before her parents won the right to remove the life support equipment keeping her alive. It took 9 years for her to die afterwards. -
West Point admits women
On October 8, 1975 , the President of the United States signed into law a bill directing that women would be admitted to America ’s service academies. -
Nadia Comaneci Given Seven Perfect Tens
Nadia Elena Comăneci (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈnadi.a koməˈnet͡ʃʲ]; born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian gymnast, winner of three Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics, and the first gymnast ever to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She is also the winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics. She is one of the best-known gymnasts in the world . -
Miniseries Roots Airs
Roots remains one of television's landmark programs. The twelve-hour mini-series aired on ABC from 23-30 January 1977. For eight consecutive nights it riveted the country. ABC executives initially feared that the historical saga about slavery would be a ratings disaster. Instead, Roots scored higher ratings than any previous entertainment program in history. It averaged a 44.9 rating and a 66 audience share for the length of its run. -
Neutron bomb funding began
A neutron bomb, or enhanced radiation weapon, is a type of nuclear weapon designed specifically to release a large portion of its energy as energetic neutron radiation rather than explosive energy. Although their extreme blast and heat effects are not eliminated, it is the enormous radiation released by ERWs that is meant to be a major source of casualties. Such radiation is able to penetrate buildings and armored vehicles to kill personnel that would otherwise be protected from the explosion. -
Red Dye #2 is banned
: Without it, instant chocolate pudding would be greenish, artificially flavored grape soda would look blue, and cake mixes would have a lemony-green tinge. The substance is Red Dye No. 2, which has been used for decades to brighten up innumerable products, including frankfurter casings, pet foods, ice cream, gravies, makeup and myriad red pills. About 1 million pounds of the coal-tar-based stuff—a $5 million industry in itself—have ended up annually in more than $10 billion worth of foods, drug -
Alaskan Pipeline completed
The pipeline was built between 1974 and 1977 after the 1973 oil crisis caused a sharp rise in oil prices in the United States. This rise made exploration of the Prudhoe Bay oil field economically feasible. Environmental, legal, and political debates followed the discovery of oil at Prudhoe Bay in 1968, and the pipeline was built only after the oil crisis provoked the passage of legislation designed to remove legal challenges to the project -
Star Wars Movie Released
Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year intervals. Sixteen years after the release of the trilogy's final film, the first in a new prequel trilogy of films was released, again at three-year intervals, with the final film released on May 19, 2005 -
First black Miss Universe
don't need to check the record to know that this is the first time in the history of the Miss Universe Pageant that one woman of African descent has succeeded another. This year's winner is Miss Botswana, 19 year-old Mpule Kwelagobe. She succeeds Wendy Fitzwilliam from Trinidad and Tobago, who, when she won last year, was reported as being only the second Black woman to have won the Miss Universe pageant. -
New York City blackout
The New York City Blackout of 1977 was an electricity blackout that affected most of New York City from July 13, 1977 to July 14, 1977. The only neighborhoods in New York City that were not affected were the Southern Queens, and neighborhoods of the Rockaways, which are part of the Long Island Lighting Company System -
Elvis found dead
The Death
Baptist Hospital, Memphis. It was 3-30 P.M. on August 16, 1977.
Elvis Aaron Presley was pronounced dead by his personal physician, Dr. George Nichopoulos. The pronouncement was final. Yet, for the thousands of yarning souls thronged outside the hospital it brought in shock and disbelief. The disbelief that is still being nurtured by many across the world. Not yet ready to believe that the death has brought such an abrupt end to their so beloved idol. -
President Carter pardons Vietnam Draft Dodgers
On this day in 1977, President Jimmy Carter, in his first day in office, fulfilled a campaign promise by granting unconditional pardons to hundreds of thousands of men who had evaded the draft during the Vietnam War by fleeing the country or by failing to register. -
Love Canal in New York declared federal disaster
Love Canal is a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, which became the subject of national and international attention, controversy, and eventual environmental notoriety following the discovery of 21,000 tons of toxic waste that had been buried beneath the neighborhood by Hooker Chemical. Love Canal officially covers 36 square blocks in the far southeastern corner of the city, along 99th Street and Read Avenue. -
Atlantic City permits gambling
In an effort at revitalizing the city, New Jersey voters in 1976 approved casino gambling for Atlantic City; this came after a 1974 referendum on legalized gambling failed to pass. The Chalfonte-Haddon Hall Hotel became Resorts International; it was the first legal casino in the eastern United States when it opened on May 26, 1978. -
Camp David accords for Middle East Peace
The Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, following thirteen days of secret negotiations at Camp David.[1] The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter. -
John Paul II Becomes Pope
The Venerable Pope John Paul II[1] (Latin: Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan Paweł II), born Karol Józef Wojtyła /ˈkaɾɔl ˈjuzɛf vɔiˈtɨwa/ (18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005), reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of The Holy See from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at 84 years and 319 days of age. -
First Test-Tube Baby Born
First Test-Tube Baby Born (1978): Since 1966, Dr. Patrick Steptoe, a gynecologist at Oldham General Hospital, and Dr. Robert Edwards, a physiologist at Cambridge University, had been actively working on finding an alternative solution for conception for women with blocked Fallopian tubes. However, even after they found a way to fertilize an egg outside a human body, they continued to have problems replacing the fertilized egg back into a uterus. -
Jonestown Massacre
Almost three decades ago an unusual series of events led to the deaths of more than 900 people in the middle of a South American jungle. Though dubbed a "massacre," what transpired at Jonestown on November 18, 1978, was to some extent done willingly, making the mass suicide all the more disturbing.
The Jonestown cult (officially named the "People's Temple") was founded in 1955 by Indianapolis preacher James Warren Jones. -
Sony Introduces the Walkman
Walkman is a Sony brand tradename originally used for portable audio cassette, and now used to market Sony's portable audio and video players as well as a line of Sony Ericsson mobile phones. The original Walkman introduced a change in music listening habits by allowing people to carry music with them and listen to music through lightweight headphones. -
Ayatollah Khomeini Returns as Leader of Iran
Religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini has made a triumphant return to Iran after 14 years in exile.
Up to five million people lined the streets of the nation's capital, Tehran, to witness the homecoming of the Shia Muslim imam. -
Jerry Falwell begins Moral Majority
The Moral Majority was a political organization of the United States which had an agenda of evangelical Christian-oriented political lobbying. It was founded in 1979 and dissolved in the late 1980s. -
Nuclear Accident at Three Mile Island
The Three Mile Island accident was a partial core meltdown in Unit 2 (a pressurized water reactor manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979. -
ESPN starts broadcasting
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Margaret Thatcher First Woman Prime Minister of Great Britain
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts; born 13 October 1925) is a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who served from 1979 to 1990. -
The Greensboro Massacre
The Greensboro massacre occurred on November 3, 1979 in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Five protest marchers were shot and killed by members of the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party. The protest was the culmination of attempts by the Communist Workers Party to organize mostly black industrial workers in the area. -
Iran Takes American Hostages in Tehran
Sixty-six Americans were taken captive when Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, including three who were at the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Six more Americans escaped and of the 66 who were taken hostage, 13 were released on November 19 and 20, 1979; one was released on July 11, 1980
