Directory

1970 CE

Apollo 13 suffers a near-fatal malfunction but returns safely; the Kent State shootings kill four students and trigger nationwide outrage; the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico crowns Brazil champions for the third time; the break-up of the Beatles becomes official with Paul McCartney’s departure; the 1970 Ancash earthquake and 1970 Huascarán debris avalanche kill tens of thousands in Peru; the Dawson's Field hijackings shock the world as multiple planes are seized; Ohsumi marks Japan’s first satellite launch; the 1970 Polish protests erupt over economic hardship; and the 1970 Bhola cyclone devastates East Pakistan, becoming the deadliest cyclone ever recorded.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • March 5 – The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect, after ratification by 56 nations.source
  • March 6 – Süleyman Demirel of AP forms the new government of Turkey (32nd government).source
  • March 19 – Ostpolitik: The leaders of West Germany and East Germany meet at a summit for the first time since Germany's division into two republics. West German Chancellor Willy Brandt is greeted by cheering East German crowds as he arrives in Erfurt for a summit with his counterpart, East German Ministerpräsident Willi Stoph.source
  • May 6 – Feyenoord win the European Cup in association football after a 2–1 win over Celtic.source
  • May 31 – The 1970 FIFA World Cup in association football is inaugurated in Mexico. Tactical substitutes are first permitted.source
  • September 4 – Chilean Socialist Senator Salvador Allende wins 36.2% of the vote in his run for presidency defeating former right-wing President Jorge Alessandri with 34.9% of the votes and Christian Democrat Radomiro Tomic with 27.8% of the votes.source
  • September 9 – Guinea recognizes the German Democratic Republic.source
  • September 22 – Tunku Abdul Rahman resigns as prime minister of Malaysia, and is succeeded by his deputy Tun Abdul Razak.source
  • October 6 – Bolivian President Alfredo Ovando Candía resigns; General Rogelio Miranda takes over but resigns soon after.source
  • October 7 – General Juan José Torres becomes the new President of Bolivia.source
  • October 13 – Saeb Salam forms a government in Lebanon.source
  • October 24 – Salvador Allende is elected President of Chile by a run-off vote in the National Congresssource
  • October 28 – In Jordan, the government of Ahmad Toukan resigns; the next prime minister is Wasfi al-Tal.source
  • November 3 – Salvador Allende takes office as president of Chile.source
  • November 13 – Hafez al-Assad comes to power in Syria, following a military coup within the Ba'ath Party.source
  • November 19 – The six European Economic Community nation prime ministers meet in Munich to begin the new programme of European Political Cooperation (EPC), a unified foreign policy for a future European Union.source
  • November 21 – Syrian Prime Minister Hafez al-Assad forms a new government but retains the post of defense minister.source
  • November 21 – 1970 Australian Senate election: The Liberal/Country Coalition government led by Prime Minister John Gorton and the Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam each end up with 26 seats, both suffering a swing against them. The Democratic Labor Party wins an additional seat and holds the balance of power in the Senate. This is the last occasion on which a Senate election is held without an accompanying House of Representatives election.source
  • December 1 – The Italian Chamber of Deputies accepts a new divorce law.source
  • December 1 – Luis Echeverría becomes president of Mexico.source
  • December 7 – Pakistan's general elections are held.source
  • December 23 – Law 70-001 is enacted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, amending article 4 of the constitution and making the country a one-party state.source
  • December 23 – The Bolivian government releases Régis Debray.source
  • December 27 – President of India V. V. Giri declares new elections.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 15 – After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafran forces under Philip Effiong formally surrender to General Yakubu Gowon, ending the Nigerian Civil War.source
  • March 18 – General Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and holds Queen Sisowath Kossamak under house arrest.source
  • April 8 – Israeli Air Force F-4 Phantom II fighter bombers kill 47 Egyptian school children at an elementary school in what is known as Bahr el-Baqar massacre. The single-floor school is hit by five bombs and two air-to-ground missiles.source
  • April 29 – Cambodian campaign: The U.S. incursion into Cambodia begins.source
  • May 4 – Kent State shootings: Four students at Kent State University in Ohio, are killed and nine wounded by Ohio National Guardsmen at a protest against the U.S. incursion into Cambodia.source
  • May 6 – Arms Crisis in the Republic of Ireland: Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney are dismissed as members of the Irish Government for accusations of their involvement in a plot to import arms for use by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.source
  • May 14 – Jackson State killings: In the second day of violent demonstrations at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, state law enforcement officers fire into the demonstrators, killing 2 and injuring 12.source
  • June 8 – A coup in Argentina brings a new junta of service chiefs; on June 18, Roberto M. Levingston becomes President.source
  • July 23 – 1970 Omani coup d'état: Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, is deposed in a bloodless palace coup by his son, Qaboos, with covert British support. Among the reforms he introduces is the abolition of chattel slavery in Oman.source
  • September 1 – An assassination attempt against King Hussein of Jordan precipitates the country's Black September crisis.source
  • September 3–6 – Israeli forces fight Palestinian guerillas in southern Lebanon.source
  • September 5 – Vietnam War: Operation Jefferson Glenn: The United States 101st Airborne Division and the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division initiate a new operation in Thua Thien Province (the operation ends in October 1971).source
  • September 17 – Black September: King Hussein of Jordan orders the Jordanian Armed Forces to oust Palestinian fedayeen from Jordan.source
  • September 19 – Kostas Georgakis, a Greek student of geology, sets himself ablaze in Matteotti Square in Genoa, Italy, as a protest against the dictatorial Greek junta led by Georgios Papadopoulos.source
  • September 21 – Palestinian armed forces reinforce guerillas in Irbidi, Jordan.source
  • October 3 – In Lebanon, the government of Prime Minister Rashid Karami resigns.source
  • October 9 – The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia, escalating the Cambodian Civil War between the government and the Khmer Rouge.source
  • November 21 – In Ethiopia, the Eritrean Liberation Front kills an Ethiopian general.source
  • November 21 – Vietnam War – Operation Ivory Coast: A joint Air Force and Army team raids the 4Sơn Tây prison camp in an attempt to free American prisoners of war thought to be held there (no Americans are killed, but the prisoners have already moved to another camp; all U.S. POWs are moved to a handful of central prison complexes as a result of this raid).source
  • November 22 – Guinean president Ahmed Sékou Touré accuses Portugal of an attack when hundreds of mercenaries land near the capital Conakry. The Guinean army repels the landing attempts over the next three days.source
  • November 25 – In Tokyo, author and Tatenokai militia leader Yukio Mishima and his followers take over the headquarters of the Japan Self-Defense Forces in an attempted coup d'état. After Mishima's speech fails to sway public opinion towards his right-wing political beliefs, including restoration of the powers of the Emperor, he commits seppuku (public ritual suicide).source
  • November 28 – The Montreal Alouettes defeat the Calgary Stampeders, 23–10, to win the 58th Grey Cup in Canadian football.source
  • December 16 – The Ethiopian government declares a state of emergency in the region of Eritrea over the activities of the Eritrean Liberation Front.source
  • December 30 – In Biscay in the Basque country of Spain, 15,000 go on strike in protest at the Burgos trial death sentences. Francisco Franco commutes the sentences to 30 years in prison.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • March 15 – The Expo '70 World's Fair opens in Suita, Osaka, Japan.source
  • May 17 – Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II, to cross the South Atlantic.source
  • July 12 – Thor Heyerdahl's papyrus boat Ra II arrives in Barbados.source
  • September 27 – Richard Nixon begins a tour of Europe, visiting Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain, the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.source
  • Women's movement starts in Oman with the establishment of the Omani Women's Association.source
  • The Sweet Track is discovered in England. It is the world's oldest engineered roadway at the time of its discovery.source
  • The first Regional Technical Colleges open in Ireland.source

Religion & Belief

  • September 27 – Pope Paul VI names Saint Teresa of Ávila (d. 1582) as the first female Doctor of the Church.source
  • October 3 – Pope Paul VI names Saint Catherine of Siena (d. 1380) as the second female Doctor of the Church.source
  • December 5 – The Asian and Australian tour of Pope Paul VI ends.source

Economy & Finance

  • February – Multi-business conglomerate Virgin Group is founded as a discount mail-order record retailer by Richard Branson in the UK.source
  • June 21 – Penn Central, America's largest railroad, files for chapter 77 bankruptcy; the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcy at this time.source
  • December 31 – Paul McCartney sues in Britain to dissolve The Beatles' legal partnership.source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • March 12 – Citroën introduces the Citroën SM, the world's fastest front-wheel drive auto at this time, at the annual Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland.source
  • June 19 – The Patent Cooperation Treaty is signed into international law, providing a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions.source
  • July 1 – Xerox PARC computer laboratory opens in Palo Alto, California, United States.source
  • July 16 - Three Rivers Stadium opens in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, home to NFL Steelers and MLB Pirates.source
  • July 21 – The Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed.source
  • October 4 – Jochen Rindt becomes Formula One World Driving Champion, the first to earn the honor posthumously.source
  • October 14 – A Chinese nuclear test is conducted in Lop Nor.source
  • October 15 – A section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses into the river below, killing 35 construction workers.source
  • October 28 – Gary Gabelich drives the rocket-powered Blue Flame (part fuelled by LNG) to an official land speed record of 622.407 mph km/h on the dry lake bed of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The record, the first above 1,000 km/h, stands for nearly 13 years.source
  • November 14 – The Soviet Union enters the International Civil Aviation Organization, after having resisted joining the UN Agency for more than 25 years. Russian becomes the fourth official language of the ICAO.source
  • November 16 – The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar flies for the first time.source
  • December 21 – The Grumman F-14 Tomcat makes its first flight.source

Science & Discovery

  • February 11 – Ohsumi, Japan's first satellite, is launched on a Lambda-4 rocket.source
  • March 31 – NASA's Explorer 1, the first American satellite and Explorer program spacecraft, reenters Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.source
  • April 11 – Apollo program: Apollo 13 (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert) is launched from the United States toward the Moon.source
  • April 13 – An oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 spacecraft explodes, forcing the crew to abort the mission and return in four days.source
  • April 15 - The Apollo 13 crew sets the record for the farthest humans have traveled, 400,171 mi km, which would stand until the Artemis II lunar flyby in 2026.source
  • April 17 – Apollo 13 splashes down safely in the Pacific.source
  • April 24 – China's first satellite (Dong Fang Hong 1) is launched into orbit using a Long March-1 Rocket (CZ-1).source
  • May 26 – The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.source
  • June 1 – Soyuz 9, a two-man spacecraft, is launched from the Soviet Union for an orbital flight of nearly 18 days, an endurance record at this time.source
  • August 17 – Venera program: Venera 7 is launched from the Soviet Union toward Venus. It later becomes the first spacecraft to transmit data from the surface of another planet successfully.source
  • August 31 – Solar eclipse of August 31, 1970: An annular solar eclipse is visible in Oceania, and is the 14th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 144.source
  • September 20 – Luna 16 lands on the Moon and lifts off the next day with samples, landing back on Earth September 24.source
  • October 3 – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is formed in the United States and the Weather Bureau is renamed to National Weather Service as part of NOAA.source
  • October 20 – The Soviet Union launches the Zond 8 lunar probe.source
  • November 9 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 17 for the moon.source
  • November 17 – Luna programme: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world, and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.source
  • December 2 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency is established.source
  • December 15 – The USSR's Venera 7 becomes the first spacecraft to land successfully on Venus and transmit data back to Earth.source
  • December 20 – An Egyptian delegation leaves for Moscow to ask for economic and military aid.source

Health & Medicine

  • July 30 – Thalidomide scandal: Damages totalling £485,528 are awarded to 28 Thalidomide victims in the UK.source
  • October 4 – American rock singer Janis Joplin is found dead of an overdose, age 27, in her hotel room in Hollywood.source
  • October 16 – October Crisis: The Canadian government declares a state of emergency and outlaws the Quebec Liberation Front.source
  • October 17 – A cholera epidemic breaks out in Istanbul.source
  • October 28 – A cholera outbreak in eastern Slovakia causes Hungary to close its border with Czechoslovakia.source
  • December 7 – The U.N. General Assembly supports the isolation of South Africa for its apartheid policies.source
  • December 29 – U.S. President Richard Nixon signs into law the Occupational Safety and Health Act.source

Crime & Justice

  • April 4 – Fragments of burnt human remains believed to be those of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, Joseph Goebbels, Magda Goebbels and the Goebbels children are crushed and scattered in the Biederitz river at a KGB center in Magdeburg, East Germany.source
  • June 1 – Assassination of Pedro Eugenio Aramburu: Former de facto President of Argentina is extrajudicially executed by Montoneros three days after being kidnapped from his Buenos Aires apartment.source
  • September 6 – Dawson's Field hijackings: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacks four passenger aircraft from Pan Am, TWA and Swissair on flights to New York from Brussels, Frankfurt and Zurich and flies them to a desert airstrip in Jordan.source
  • September 29 – In Berlin, Red Army Faction members rob three banks, with loot totaling over DM 200,000.source
  • October 5 – The Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnaps British trade commissioner James Cross in Montreal and demands release of all imprisoned FLQ members, beginning Quebec's October Crisis. The next day the Canadian government announces that it will not meet the demand.source
  • October 10 – October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.source
  • October 17 – October Crisis: Quebec politician Pierre Laporte is found murdered by the FLQ in south Montreal.source
  • December 1 – The Basque ETA (separatist group) kidnaps West German Eugen Beihl in San Sebastián.source
  • December 3 – Burgos Trial: In Burgos, Spain, the trial of 16 Basque terrorism suspects begins.source
  • December 3 – October Crisis: In Montreal, kidnapped British trade commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de libération du Québec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return the Government of Canada grants 5 terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to Cuba.source
  • December 7 – Giovanni Enrico Bucher, the Swiss ambassador to Brazil, is kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro; kidnappers demand the release of 70 political prisoners.source
  • December 22 – Franz Stangl, the ex-commander of Treblinka extermination camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment.source
  • December 25 – ETA releases Eugen Beihl in Spain.source
  • December 28 – The suspected killers of Pierre Laporte, Jacques and Paul Rose and Francis Sunard, are arrested near Montreal.source
  • Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the Federal collection of contemporary art, is established in Germany.source

Disasters & Accidents

  • February 1 – The Benavídez rail disaster near Buenos Aires, Argentina (a rear-end collision) kills 236.source
  • March 4 – All 57 men aboard the French submarine Eurydice are killed when the vessel implodes while making a practice dive in the Mediterranean Sea.source
  • March 31 – Japan Airlines Flight 351, carrying 131 passengers and 7 crew from Tokyo to Fukuoka, is hijacked by Japanese Red Army members. All passengers and crew are eventually freed.source
  • April 8 – A huge gas explosion at a subway construction site in Osaka, Japan, kills 79 and injures over 400.source
  • July 3 – All 112 people on board Dan-Air Flight 1903 are killed when the chartered British De Havilland Comet crashes into mountains north of Barcelona through navigational error.source
  • July 5 – Air Canada Flight 621 crashes near Toronto International Airport, Toronto, Ontario through pilot error; all 109 passengers and crew are killed.source
  • October 2 – The Wichita State University football team's "Gold" plane crashes in Colorado, killing most of the players. They were on their way (along with administrators and fans) to a game with Utah State University.source
  • October 25 – The wreck of the Confederate submarine Hunley is found off Charleston, South Carolina, by 22-year-old pioneer underwater archaeologist, Dr. E. Lee Spence. Hunley is the first submarine in history to sink a ship in warfare.source
  • November 1 – The Club Cinq-Sept fire in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, France, kills 146.source
  • November 14 – Southern Airways Flight 932 crashes in Wayne County, West Virginia; all 75 on board, including 37 players and 5 coaches from the Marshall University football team, are killed.source
  • December 15 – The South Korean ferry Namyong Ho capsizes off Korea Strait; 308 people are killed.source
  • December 30 – Hurricane Creek mine disaster, near Hyden, Kentucky, USAsource

Climate & Environment

  • January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 14,621 are killed and 30,000 injured.source
  • February 10 – An avalanche at Val-d'Isère, France, kills 41 tourists.source
  • April 11 – An avalanche at a tuberculosis sanatorium in the French Alps kills 74, mostly young boys.source
  • April 21 – The Principality of Hutt River "secedes" from Australia (it remained unrecognised by Australia and other nations, and is dissolved in 2020).source
  • May 11 – Lubbock tornado: A strong, multi-vortex F5 tornado impacts areas of Lubbock, Texas, after dark, resulting in 26 fatalities and over 1,500 injuries.source
  • May 31 – The 7.9 Ancash earthquake shakes Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Between 66,794 and 70,000 are killed and 50,000 injured.source
  • October 30 – In Vietnam, the worst monsoon to hit the area in six years causes large floods, kills 293, leaves 200,000 homeless and virtually halts the Vietnam War.source
  • November 3 – The 1970 Bhola cyclone makes landfall in modern-day Bangladesh around high tide, causing $86.4 million in damage (1970 USD, $576 million 2020 USD) and becomes the world's deadliest storm killing over 500,000 people.source
  • November 13 – 1970 Bhola cyclone: A 120-mph (193 km/h) tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (modern-day Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people (considered the 20th century's worst cyclone disaster). It gives rise to the temporary island of New Moore / South Talpatti.source
  • December 12 – A landslide in western Colombia leaves 200 dead.source

Culture & Society

  • March 16 – The complete New English Bible is published in the UK.source
  • March 20 – The Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique (ACCT) is founded.source
  • March 21 – "All Kinds of Everything", sung by Dana (music and lyrics by Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith), wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 (staged in Amsterdam) for Ireland.source
  • April 10 – In a press release written in mock-interview style, that is included in promotional copies of his first solo album, Paul McCartney announces that he has left The Beatles.source
  • April 26 – The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is founded.source
  • June 21 – Brazil defeats Italy 4–1 to win the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. As 3-times winner, they keep the Jules Rimet Trophy permanently (but it is subsequently stolen and lost).source
  • July 31 – Black Tot Day, the last daily distribution of one-eighth of an imperial pint of rum to sailors of the British Royal Navy, an amount that had been dispensed since 1866.source
  • August 11 – Creation of the International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts in Confolens, France.source
  • September 22 – The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is founded.source
  • December 5 – Fluminense win the Brazil Football Championship.source

Births

  • January 7 - Andy Burnham, British politician, Prime Minister and Mayor of Greater Manchester (2017–2026)source
  • February 4 – Hunter Biden, American attorney and son of U.S. president Joe Bidensource
  • March 5 – Aleksandar Vučić, President of Serbiasource
  • March 30 – Karim Ahmad Khan, British barrister and prosecutor, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (2021–2026)source
  • April 26 – Melania Trump, Slovenian model, First Lady of the United Statessource
  • July 17 – Gavin McInnes, Canadian writer and political commentator (co-founder of Vice Media)source
  • July 19 – Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland (2014–present)source
  • July 19 – Christopher Luxon, 42nd Prime Minister of New Zealandsource
  • August 2 – Kevin Smith, American screenwriter, film director and actorsource
  • August 27 – Jim Thome, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame membersource
  • September 14 – Ketanji Brown Jackson, American jurist and associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United Statessource
  • October 8 – Sadiq Khan, British politician; 3rd Mayor of London (2016–present)source
  • October 26 – Chavo Guerrero Jr., Mexican-American professional wrestlersource
  • December 22 – Ted Cruz, Canadian-American politician, U.S. Senator (R-Tx.) from 2013 and 2016 presidential candidatesource

Deaths

  • January 5 – Max Born, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)source
  • January 25 – Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese film director and special effects designer (b. 1901)source
  • February 2 – Bertrand Russell, British logician and philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1872)source
  • February 16 – Francis Peyton Rous, American pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1879)source
  • February 17 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)source
  • May 9 – Walter Reuther, American labor union leader and president of the United Auto Workers (b. 1907)source
  • August 1 – Frances Farmer, American actress and television host (b. 1913)source
  • August 1 – Otto Heinrich Warburg, German physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (b. 1883)source
  • September 3 – Vince Lombardi, American football player and coach (b. 1913)source
  • September 7 – Yitzhak Gruenbaum, leader of the Zionist movement in the interwar period (b. 1879)source
  • September 16 – Death of Jimi Hendrix: American rock musician Jimi Hendrix gives his last public performance, two days before his drug-related death in London.source
  • October 19 – Lázaro Cárdenas, 44th President of Mexico (b. 1895)source
  • November 23 – Yusof Ishak, Singaporean politician, 1st President of Singapore (b. 1910)source
  • December 14 – William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, British field marshal and 13th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1891)source