1970s Timeline

In 1970:

• War protests at Kent State University turned violent when National Guardsman opened fire on a group of students.
• The first Earth Day was observed
• The Environmental Protection Agency was created
• The World Trade Center in New York City was created
• Monday Night Football premiered on ABC
• A ruptured air tank on their way to the moon almost sealed the fate of the three astronauts on board the spacecraft Apolo 13
• The Beatles Released their final album "Let It Be"

In 1971:

• A ban on radio and television cigarette advertisements goes into effect in the United States
• All In The Family, a landmark situation comedy show, premiered on CBS
• The 26th Amendment allows 18 year olds to vote
• Disneyworld Opens in Orlando, Florida
• The US and South Vietnam invades Laos in an attempt to to shut down the Ho Chi Minh trail, the North Vietnam supply route. It was unsuccessful.
• George Harrison, former Beatle, organizes a concert for Bangladesh
• The Electric Company debuts on PBS with noted celebrities Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, Skip Hinnant, Morgan Freeman, Jim Boyd and Irene Cara

In 1972:

• President Richard Nixon visits China normalizing relations between China and the US
• Five men arrested for the burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C.
• President Nixon was re elected President of the United States
• Israeli athletes taken hostage/killed at Olympics
• The book, Joy of Sex, is released
• Title IX of the Education Amendments was signed into law 

In 1973:

• Skylab launched as the USA's first space station
• Paris Peace Accords ends direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War
• Tower Number Two of The World Trade Center opens
• Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in Tennis
• Sears Tower in finished in Chicago
• Vice President of the United States, Spiro Agnew, resigns after pleading not contest to charges of tax evasion.

In 1974:

• Daylight Savings Times begins 
• The national speed limit in the US is lowered to 55 mph.
• The House Judiciary Committee votes to impeach President Nixon
• President Nixon resigns, becoming the first and only President of the United States to step down. Vice president Gerald Ford becomes President
• Ford Pardons Nixon
• Heimlich maneuver, which helps victims of choking, is developed
• Dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defects from the Soviet Union

In 1975:

• Construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System begins.
• Bill Gates finds Microsoft
• The War In Vietnam ends with the Fall Of Saigon by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front. Vietnam becomes a communist country
• President Ford survives two assassination attempts in a 17-day time span.
• Saturday Night Live Premiers on NBC
• The boat, the Edmond Fitzgerald, sinks in Lake Superior

In 1976:

• James Earl Carter is elected President of the United States
• The United States celebrates it's Bicentennial
• The popularity of the CB radio, a device often used by truckers to communicate to each other, peaks among the general population
• The communist leader of China, Mao Tse-tung dies after 25 years of rule
• The Copyright Act of 1976 makes sweeping changes to United States copyright law

In 1977:

• Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat visits Israel making him the first Egyptian President to visit the country; beginning the long peace process in the region.
• The first home personal computer, Commodore PET, was released for retail sale
• The Alaskan Pipeline is completed
• A 25 hour blackout in New York City takes place  resulting in looting and other disorder
• Elvis Presley dies
• After a 12 month long killing spree in New York, a paranoid murderer by the name of David Berkowitz"Son of Sam", was arrested.
• The television series, Roots, airs on television bringing record viewers
• President Carter officially pardons all those who avoided the draft during the Vietnam war.

In 1978:

• 909 people in a cult called The People's Temple, lead by James Warren "Jim" Jones, committed mass suicide in a compound named "Jonestown" in Guyana
• The first test tube baby was born
• Egypt, Israel and the US met in the presidential retreat Camp David in Maryland to hammer out a peace agreement between the two leaders.
• Comic strip Garfield debuts 

In 1979:

• Three Mile Island nuclear accident, which is America's most serious nuclear power plant accident in its history
• The Shah flees Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini assumes power and Islamic law is introduced to Iran. This leads to the Iran hostage crises where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days. As a result, a second energy crisis develops, tripling the price of oil and sending gasoline prices over $1 per gallon for the first time.
• Margaret Thatcher becomes British Prime Minister
• The Soviets invade Afghanistan
• Skylab falls into the Indian Ocean