Historical Events in 1970

Events 1 - 200 of 660

• Jan 1 "The Epoch" (Time 0 for UNIX systems, Midnight GMT)
• Jan 1 Afro-American Historical Calendar Series Established
• Jan 1 Charles "Chub" Feeney becomes president of baseball's National League

• Jan 1 Revised calendar for Western (RC) Church goes into effect
• Jan 1 The Netherland Christian Workers Union (NCW) forms
• Jan 1 The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), an infantry regiment of the British Army, comes into existence
• Jan 1 The University College of Zululand, formerly affiliated to the University of South Africa, attains full academic autonomy as the University of Zululand.
• Jan 1 US Federal oil depletion allowance reduced from 27.5 to 22.0 percent
• Jan 2 Dutch premiere of Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni and James Rado's hippie musical "Hair" in Amsterdam
• Jan 2 US population is 293,200,000; African American population: 22,600,000 (11.1%)
• Jan 3 Marxist government takes over in Congo
• Jan 3 WHAG TV channel 25 in Hagerstown, MD (NBC) begins broadcasting

• Jan 4 More than 15,000 people are killed in Tonghai County, China after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake
• Jan 4 NYC transit fare rises from 20 cents to 30 cents, new larger tokens used

• Jan 5 23,000 Belgian mine workers strike
• Jan 5 American daytime soap opera "All My Children" premieres on ABC

• Jan 5 KPTS TV channel 8 in Hutchinson-Wichita, Kansas (PBS) begins broadcasting
• Jan 6 Australian boxer Johnny Famechon retains his WBC featherweight title with a 14th-round knockout of Fighting Harada in Tokyo; re-match of questionable 15-round decision in 1969 in his first title defense
• Jan 9 Constitution of Singapore enacted
• Jan 10 Preview Center opens at Walt Disney World, Florida - first building to open
• Jan 11 Irish republican political party Sinn Féin party splits between those in favor of abstentionism (of not taking any seats won in the parliaments) and those where against
• Jan 11 Super Bowl IV, Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, LA: KC Chiefs beat Minnesota Vikings, 23-7; MVP: Len Dawson, Kansas City, QB
• Jan 13 Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu flees Biafra into exile, leaving his deputy Philip Effiong to surrender to the Nigerian army, unofficially ending the Nigerian Civil War
• Jan 13 Riots begin in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast
• Jan 14 Royal Ulster Constabulary officers patrol the Falls Road area of Belfast for the first time since 1969

• Jan 15 Nigerian civil war officially ends after 2 1/2 years of fighting when the Republic of Biafra disbands and joins Nigeria
• Jan 15 Riots break out in the Ardoyne area of Belfast
• Jan 16 4 months after leading a coup against monarchy, Muammar Gaddafi takes over rule of Libya
• Jan 16 AAU player Steve Myers makes a basketball field goal of 92'3½" from out of bounds, Tacoma-it shouldn't have counted, but was allowed
• Jan 16 Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects

• Jan 16 Inaugural Buffalo Sabres owners Seymour H. Knox III and Northrup Knox hire former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager and head coach Punch Imlach in the same capacities for their new NHL franchise
• Jan 16 NFL realigns into 3 divisions (down from 4)
• Jan 17 357 baseball players are available in the free-agent draft
• Jan 17 John M Burgess installed as bishop of Protestant Episcopals (Mass)

• Jan 18 Hasse Borjes skates world record 500m in 38.9 sec
• Jan 19 Eight Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands say there should be room in the church for both married priests and celibate priests

• Jan 20 Super Fight, computer mock championship between Ali & Marciano; Marciano won.
• Jan 22 1st commercial Boeing 747 flight, Pan American World Airways flies from New York City to London in 6½ hours
• Jan 23 Australia's 1st amateur radio satellite (Oscar 5) launched (California)
• Jan 23 Member of Dutch feminist group Dolle Mina burn their bras in Amsterdam
• Jan 23 US launches 2nd generation weather satellite, ITOS 1
• Jan 23 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Jan 24 Valeri Muratov skates world record 500m (38.99 sec)

• Jan 26 "Bridge over Troubled Water" 5th and final studio album by Simon & Garfunkel is released (Grammy Award Album of the Year, Best Engineered Non-Classical Album 1971)
• Jan 26 Pendleton, Ford & Cryer's "Last Sweet Days of Isaac," premieres in NYC
• Jan 27 Movie rating system modifies "M" rating to "PG"
• Jan 27 NFL Draft: Louisiana Tech quarterback Terry Bradshaw #1 pick by Pittsburgh Steelers
• Jan 28 Lubomír Strougal succeeds Cernik as premier of Czechoslovakia
• Jan 29 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
• Jan 31 Grateful Dead members and entourage busted, down on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on LSD charges [1]
• Feb 1 Former MLB Commissioner Ford Frick as well as ex-players Earle Combs and Jesse Haines are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

• Feb 1 Stalled commuter train rammed by express in Argentina, 139 die
• Feb 1 West-Germany & USSR sign gas contract
• Feb 1 WMAA TV channel 29 in Jackson, MS (PBS) begins broadcasting

• Feb 4 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Feb 5 1st Test Cricket ton of Barry Richards, 126, 164 balls, 20 fours 1 six
• Feb 5 Test Cricket debut of John Traicos, South Africa v Australia, Durban
• Feb 5 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Feb 5 WSCV TV channel 51 in Fort Lauderdale, FL (IND) suspends broadcasting
• Feb 6 Graeme Pollock completes 274 v Australia at Durban
• Feb 6 NBA expands to 18 teams with Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston & Portland
• Feb 7 "Hollywood Palace" last airs on ABC TV
• Feb 7 "Jingle Jangle" hits #10 on the pop singles chart by Archies
• Feb 7 LSU's "Pistol" Pete Marovich scores 69 pts in losing cause
• Feb 10 26.4 cm precipitation falls on Mount Washington NH (state record)
• Feb 10 Dry powder avalanche moving at 120 mph smashes into youth hostel at Val d'Isere, France, killing 40 Belgian, French, & German youths
• Feb 11 26.37 cm (10.38") of rainfall, Mt Washington, NH (state 24-hr rec)
• Feb 11 Japan becomes 4th nation to put a satellite (Osumi) in orbit

• Feb 12 Anthony Shaffer's "Sleuth" premieres in NYC
• Feb 13 Man-eating tiger is reported to have killed 48, 80 km from New Delhi
• Feb 13 NL offices begins move from Cincinnati to San Francisco (completed Feb 23)

• Feb 15 Dominican DC-9 crashes into sea at Santo Domingo, kills 102
• Feb 15 KAMU TV channel 15 in College Station, TX (PBS) begins broadcasting
• Feb 15 Nationalists disrupt UN session on Congo

• Feb 17 Robert Marasco's "Child's Play" premieres in NYC
• Feb 17 US army officer Jeffrey MacDonald murders his pregnant wife and two small daughters
• Feb 18 Chicago 7 defendants found innocent of inciting to riot
• Feb 18 US President Richard Nixon launches the "Nixon doctrine"

• Feb 19 USSR launches Sputnik 52 & Molniya 1-13 communications satellite
• Feb 21 Jackson 5 make TV debut on "American Bandstand"
• Feb 21 Pathet Lao conquers Xieng Khuang & Muong Suy

• Feb 23 Guyana becomes a republic (National Day)
• Feb 23 Holy Eucharist given by women for 1st time in Roman Catholic service
• Feb 24 29 Swiss Army officers die in avalanche (Reckingen, Switzerland)
• Feb 24 Dutch schlager singer Heintje Simons (14) wins his 7th gold record
• Feb 24 KVDO TV channel 3 in Salem, OR (IND) begins broadcasting
• Feb 26 The Beatles release "Hey Jude" compilation album in US (originally to be titled "Beatles Again")
• Feb 27 NY Times (falsely) reports US army has ended domestic surveillance
• Feb 28 Bicycles permitted to cross Golden Gate Bridge
• Feb 28 Caroline Walker runs world female record marathon (3:02:53)
• Feb 28 KIIN (now KUN) TV channel 12 in Iowa City, IA (PBS) 1st broadcast
• Feb 28 WUTR TV channel 20 in Utica-Rome, NY (ABC) begins broadcasting

• Mar 1 Dutch speed skater Atje Keulen-Deelstra becomes Women's Allround World Champion at West Allis, Wisconsin, US, winning her first of four titles
• Mar 1 End of US commercial whale hunting
• Mar 1 Kreisky's Social Democrats win Austrian parliamentary election
• Mar 1 Minnesota coach Charlie Burns becomes the final player/coach in NHL history, when he plays in the North Stars' 8-0 win over Toronto Maple Leafs; remains in role for final month of the season
• Mar 2 American Airlines begins their first service using a Boeing 747, between New York's JFK International Airport and Los Angeles International

• Mar 2 Supreme Court ruled draft evaders can not be penalized after 5 years
• Mar 2 White government of Rhodesia declares itself a republic
• Mar 4 French submarine "Eurydice" explodes off Cape Camarat in the Mediterranean, all 57 crew lost
• Mar 4 Jacksonville is 1st college basketball team to avg 100+ pts per game
• Mar 4 NY Rangers set then NHL record of 126 games without being shut-out

• Mar 5 Dubnium atoms are first detected conclusively.
• Mar 5 Edison Theater opens at 240 W 47th St NYC
• Mar 5 Nuclear non-proliferation treaty goes into effect
• Mar 5 SDS Weathermen terrorist group bomb 18 West 11th St in NYC
• Mar 6 A Catholic man is shot dead by British soldiers in Belfast, North Ireland
• Mar 6 Beatles release single "Let it Be" in UK
• Mar 7 Ice Dance Championship at Ljubljana won by Pakhomova & Gorshkov (URS)
• Mar 7 Ice Pairs Championship at Ljubljana won by Rodnina & Ulanov (URS)
• Mar 7 Ladies' Figure Skating Champ in Ljubljana won by Gabriele Seyfert (GDR)
• Mar 7 WXOW TV channel 19 in La Crosse, WI (ABC) begins broadcasting
• Mar 8 WTCI TV channel 45 in Chattanooga, TN (PBS) begins broadcasting

• Mar 10 Members of the Stormont Parliament of Northern Ireland given police protection
• Mar 10 South Africa cricket team complete 4-0 series drubbing of Australia in South Africa, in the country's last official international cricket test for 22 years

• Mar 11 Iraqi Ba'th Party recognizes Kurd nation
• Mar 12 US lowers voting age from 21 to 18
• Mar 13 100 year Beehive anniversary ends in brawl in Amsterdam
• Mar 13 Digital Equipment Corp introduces PDP-11 minicomputer
• Mar 13 San Francisco city employees begin 4-day strike
• Mar 15 Expo '70 opens in Osaka, Japan
• Mar 16 Oxford University Press and Cambridge University press co-publish The Old Testament of the New English Bible, and Complete New English Bible, incorporating the New Testament first published in 1961
• Mar 16 WNIN TV channel 9 in Evansville, Indiana (PBS) begins broadcasting
• Mar 17 Peter O'Malley becomes CEO of LA Dodgers
• Mar 17 US casts their 1st UN Security Council veto (Support England)
• Mar 18 Cambodia military coup under General Lon Nol, Prince Sihanuk flees
• Mar 18 Five Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs), including William Craig and Harry West, are expelled from the Unionist Parliamentary Party, Northern Ireland
• Mar 18 KAEC TV channel 19 in Lufkin, Texas (ABC) suspends broadcasting
• Mar 18 NFL selects Wilson as official football & scoreboard as official time
• Mar 18 Two-week US postal strike begins; it is against the government and is the largest wildcat strike in US history
• Mar 19 W German chancellor & E German premier meet
• Mar 21 Vinko Bogataj crashes during a ski-jumping championship in Germany; his image becomes that of the "agony of defeat guy" in the opening credits of ABC's Wide World of Sports.
• Mar 22 "Blood Red Roses" opens & closes at John Golden Theater NYC

• Mar 23 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Mar 24 Dutch cartoonist Frans Piet ends "Sjors & Sjimmie" strip
• Mar 25 Concorde makes its 1st supersonic flight (700 MPH/1,127 KPH)
• Mar 26 500th nuclear explosion announced by the US since 1945
• Mar 26 Folk singer Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary) pleads guilty to "taking immoral liberties" with a 14-year-old girl and serves 3 months in prison; granted a presidential pardon in 1981
• Mar 26 Golden Gate Park Conservatory made San Francisco city landmark
• Mar 26 The Police (Northern Ireland) Act becomes law; the act provides for the disarmament of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the establishment of an RUC reserve force

• Mar 27 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
• Mar 28 1,086 die when 7.4 quake destroys 254 villages in Gediz Turkey
• Mar 30 American television soap opera "Another World in Somerset" premieres on NBC, runs until 1976

• Mar 30 USSR wins its 8th straight Ice Hockey World Championship, in Stockholm, Sweden; 10th overall win
• Mar 31 Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit
• Mar 31 Federal bankruptcy court allows Seattle Pilots to be sold to Milwaukee
• Mar 31 Following an Orange Order parade, intense riots erupt on the Springfield Road in Belfast; violence lasts for three days, and the British Army use CS gas for the first time in large quantities
• Apr 1 Federal Bankruptcy Referee Sidney Volinn declares MLB's Seattle Pilots bankrupt; car dealer Bud Selig buys franchise for $10.8 million and moves club to Milwaukee (Brewers)
• Apr 1 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release hoax they are having dual sex change operations
• Apr 1 Serious riots continue in the Ballymurphy estate in Belfast between Catholic residents and the British Army
• Apr 1 US President Richard Nixon signs bill limiting cigarette advertisements from 1st Jan 1971
• Apr 2 2 men begin ascent of south face of Annapurna I, highest final stage in a wall climb in world
• Apr 2 Meghalaya becomes autonomous state within India's Assam state
• Apr 3 As part of a new 'get tough' policy in Northern Ireland, Ian Freeland of the British Army, warned that those throwing petrol bombs could be shot dead
• Apr 3 Miriam Hargrave of England passes her drivers test on 40th attempt
• Apr 4 Firestone World Tournament of Champions won by Don Johnson
• Apr 5 WSNS TV channel 44 in Chicago, IL (IND) begins broadcasting

• Apr 7 MLB Milwaukee Brewers (former Seattle Pilots) 1st game, lose to Angels 12-0
• Apr 8 Senate rejects Nixon's nomination of Judge G. Harrold Carswell to US Supreme Court

• Apr 11 Apollo 13 launched to Moon; unable to land, returns in 6 days
• Apr 11 Beatles' "Let It Be" single goes #1 & stays #1 for 2 weeks
• Apr 11 San Francisco beats Cincinnati 2-1, only day Reds aren't in 1st place in 1970

• Apr 13 Apollo 13 announces "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here", as Beech-built oxygen tank explodes en route to Moon
• Apr 13 Greek composer and counter-revolutionary Mikis Theordorakis freed from Oropos concentration camp, and allowed to be exiled to France
• Apr 13 Oakland uses gold-colored bases during the club's home opener: Rules Committee subsequently bans this innovation
• Apr 15 Libyan leader Gadaffi launches "Green Revolution"
• Apr 15 WMGZ TV channel 16 in Mayaguez, PR ([M]) begins broadcasting
• Apr 15 WPSJ TV channel 14 in Ponce, PR ([P]) begins broadcasting
• Apr 16 70 die in a snow crush (France)

• Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next

• Admirals
• Aviators
• Gangsters
• Generals
• Industrialists
• Suffragists