1970s

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

Events

• 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

People

• ABBA, Swedish band
• Queen, British 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
• Richard Nixon, President of the United States until 1974
• Gerald Ford, President of the United States until 1977
• Jimmy Carter, President of the United States beginning in 1977
• Cher, American singer
• Elizabeth II, British queen since 1952
• 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
• 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