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Period: to
1970
U.S. President Richard Nixon orders an invasion of Cambodia, widening the war in Vietnam.
The U.S. Senate repeals the Gulf of Ton kin resolution that had given Presidents Johnson and Nixon sweeping powers in the Vietnam War. -
Period: to
1971
U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously that busing students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation of schools.
Anti-war militants attempt to shut down government in Washington.
The Pentagon Papers are published detailing the military's secret, negative assessment of the Vietnam War.
War between India and Pakistan begins. -
Period: to
1972
President Nixon makes an unprecedented eight-day visit to Communist China and meets with Mao Zedong.
Five men are caught breaking in to the Watergate Complex where the Democratic Party offices are – the start of the Watergate Scandal.
Eleven Israeli athletes are killed at the Munich Olympic Games. Five terrorists and one policeman are also killed.
Eleven Israeli athletes are killed at the Munich Olympic Games. Five terrorists and one policeman are also killed. -
Period: to
1973
U.S. signs peace pact and troops pull out of Vietnam. Bombing of Cambodia stops, ending 12 years of U.S. combat in Southeast Asia.
Supreme Court rules on Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion.
Great Britain, Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, the EU.
Israel and Arab states fight the Yom Kippur War in October. In November, America brokers a cease-fire accord.
The mobile phone is invented. -
Period: to
1974
The House Judiciary Committee indicts President Richard Nixon for impeachment over the Watergate Scandal. In August, Nixon resigns his office, the first president to do so. -
Period: to
1975
North Vietnamese enter Saigon. The last group of Americans are evacuated by helicopter at the last minute from the roof of the embassy. The War in Vietnam is over.
Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge take over in Cambodia and begin a blood bath
Three of Nixon's aides are found guilty of Watergate charges. -
Period: to
1976
Jimmy Carter is elected the 39th President.
The Supreme Court rules that the death penalty is not inherently cruel or unusual punishment, so it's a constitutionally acceptable form of punishment.
The Viking 2 spacecraft lands on Mars. -
Period: to
1977
Scientists report genetic engineering techniques to make insulin.
Elvis Presley is found dead.
President Carter pardons Vietnam era draft evaders.
Nuclear proliferation pact that curbs the spread of nuclear weapons is signed by 15 countries, including the U.S. and USSR. -
Period: to
1978
Egypt's president Anwar Sadat and Israeli premier Menachem Begin sign a "Framework for Peace" after meeting for 13 days with Jimmy Carter at Camp David. Later they win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Californians vote in the referendum known as Proposition 13 and cut property taxes by 60 percent. This sets the stage for a series of budget crises.
Cult leader Jim Jones' followers commit mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. -
Period: to
1979
Margaret Thatcher, a conservative, becomes the first woman prime minister of Britain.
At Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, a nuclear power plant comes close to melting down and releases some radiation into the atmosphere.
In November, Iranian militants seize the U.S. embassy in Tehran and hold hostages.
In December, Soviet troops invade Afghanistan to prop up a Communist leader.
1980