1970s
decade (1970-1979)
The 1970s was the decade that started on January 1, 1970, and ended on December 31, 1979.

Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory after he resigned because of the Watergate scandal in 1974; refugees on a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; the 1973 oil crisis causes economic damage throughout the developed world; both the leaders of Israel and Egypt shake hands after the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978; the 1970 Bhola cyclone kills around 500,000 people in the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (which would become independent as Bangladesh in 1971) in November 1970; the Iranian Revolution of 1979 causes Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi to be removed, who is later replaced by an Islamic theocracy led by Ayatollah Khomeini; disco music becomes more popular.
Millennium: | 2nd millennium |
Centuries: | 19th century – 20th century – 21st century |
Decades: | 1940s 1950s 1960s – 1970s – 1980s 1990s 2000s |
Years: | 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 |
Categories: | Births – Deaths – Architecture Establishments – Disestablishments |
EventsEdit
- Throughout the decade: decolonization continued: Angola, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Oman, the Bahamas, and many other countries gained independence.
- 1970, December 15 – spaceship Venera 7 lands on Venus
- 1971 – Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
- December 16 – Partition of Pakistan of East and West Pakistans into Bangladesh and Pakistan
- 1972, March 2 – Pioneer 10 is launched (sent into space). It becomes the first spaceship to fly near Jupiter and the asteroid belt.
- 1972 – Munich massacre
- 1973, April 6 – Pioneer 11 is launched. It becomes the first the first spaceship to fly near Saturn.
- 1974 – August 9 Richard Nixon resigned as President of the United States due to the Watergate scandal.
- 1973 – 1973 Arab-Israeli War
- 1975 – end of the Vietnam War
- 1975 – communists take power in Cambodia
- 1976, July 20 – spaceship Viking 1 lands on Mars
- 1977, August 20 – Voyager 2 is launched. It becomes the first spaceship to fly near Uranus and Neptune.
- 1977, September 5 – Voyager 1 is launched. It is now the farthest spaceship from the Earth.
- 1977: The last cases of smallpox of the world.
- 1978 – year with three popes
- 1978, October 1 – Vietnam invades Cambodia
- 1979 – the World Health Organization says it has eliminated smallpox
PeopleEdit
- ABBA, Swedish band
- Sex Pistols, British punk band
- The Clash, British punk band
- The Ramones, American punk band
- Boney M, disco group
- John Travolta, American actor
- Edward Heath, Prime Minister of United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974
- Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of United Kingdom from 1974 to 1976
- James Callaghan, Prime Minister of United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979
- Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of United Kingdom beginning 1979
- Fidel Castro, Cuban leader
- Augusto Pinochet, dictator of Chile
- Willy Brandt, German chancellor until 1974
- Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union beginning in 1964
- Jimmy Carter, President of the United States beginning in 1977
- Cher, American singer
- Elizabeth II, British queen since 1952
- Gerald Ford, President of the United States until 1977
- Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel until 1977
- Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India until 1977
- Golda Meir, prime minister of Israel until 1974
- Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader
- Germaine Greer, Australian feminist
- Hirohito, emperor of Japan
- Pope John Paul I, pope only in the year 1978
- Pope John Paul II, pope 1978–2005
- Norman Lear, American TV producer
- Pete Maravich, United States basketball player
- Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain until 1975
- Deng Xiaoping, leader in China beginning in 1978
- Mao Zedong, leader in China until 1976
- Richard Nixon, President of the United States until 1974
- Pope Paul VI, pope until 1978
- Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran until 1979
- Ayatollah Khomeini
- Juan Perón, President of Argentina until 1974
- Jorge Rafael Videla, dictator of Argentina beginning 1976
- Muammar al-Gaddafi, dictator Libyan
- Pelé, Brazilian football player
- Pol Pot, prime minister of Cambodia from 1976 to 1979
- Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt beginning in 1970
- Helmut Schmidt, German chancellor beginning in 1974
- Georges Pompidou, president of France from 1969 to 1974
- Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of France beginning in 1974
- Gloria Steinem, American feminist
- Pierre Trudeau, Canadian prime minister until 1979
- Elvis Presley, American singer