The 1970's

The 1970's

Period: Jan 1, 1970 to Dec 31, 1979

18 year olds given the vote

Jun 28, 1970

Sources
A long time ago you had to wait till you were 21 to vote. People back then thought that it was wrong to have to wait that long to vote when you get drafted to fight and possibly die for your country. President Nixon changed that law for 18 year olds to vote while certifying the 26th Amendment.

World Trade Center is Built

Dec 23, 1970

[Sources ](World Trade Center History — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/wtc1.html#ixzz1qRxl60o4)
In order for the World Trade Center to be built they needed16-acres. They had to close off 5 streets and had to demolish 164 buildings. The northern tower was open December of 1970 being dedicated the world's tallest buildings, but only for a short time.

Beatles Break Up

Dec 31, 1970

SourcesThe Beatles Break up was one of the most popular in musical group history. This has become almost as much as a legend as the band itself. There were many reasons for the Beatles to break up. Conflicts came from differences between each member’s artistic visions. All four members had begun working on solo projects by 1970 as they all realized the likelihood the band would not come back together. Paul McCartney made the break up announcement as part of the press release for his first solo album.

London Bridge moves to the U.S

Apr 4, 1971

SourcesAfter they relocated the London Bridge to the U.S the bridge was reconstructed in Lake Havasu City. The Bridge was not reconstructed over a ricer but it was built on land in a position between the main parts of the city. When they completed it the Bridgewater Channel Canal was dredged under the bridge and flooded.

Pentagon Papers Released

Apr 4, 1971

SourcesThe papers were first brought to the public on the front page of New York Times. It was said that the Pentagon Papers were “demonstrated, among other things, that the Johnson Administration had systematically lied, not only to the public but also to the Congress.”

Disney World Opens

Oct 1, 1971

SourcesThe Disney resort or known as Walt Disney World was originally developed by Walt Disney in the 1960s, he came up with this plan so they could have more locations other than Disney Land. Walt Disney died in 1966 so before they could build Disney World. To buy land for this idea of the resort they had to keep it a big secret or the land prices would have been higher than the original price. When Disney world was opened in 1971 it only opened with one theme park, Magic Kingdom

First successful video game (Pong) launched

Jan 29, 1972

SourcesPong was not the first video game to ever come out but it was the first popular video game to come out. Pong was a tennis sports game featuring two-dimensional graphics. Since Pong was so successful video this led to the start of video game industry. After Pong was made, other companies started making games that copied it but soon came out with other games.

M*A*S*H T.V Show Premiers

Sep 17, 1972

SourceThe M*A*S*H series premiered on September 17, 1972. In its first season it was almost cancelled, but season two of this show placed in a better time airing after All in the Family. The show became one of the top ten programs of the year and stayed in the top 20 for the rest of the 11 seasons. This T.V show covered a 3 year military conflict, with 251 episodes and lasted 11 seasons. The finale became the most watched television episode when it ended on February 28, 1983.

• Pocket Calculators Introduced

Sep 21, 1972

SourcesThe Pocket Calculator went on market in September of 1972. These calculators are small, portable, and used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. The first successful calculators were made by Rockwell International and sold by Dataking LC-800, Harden DT/12, Lbico 086 and more. A more successful series of calculators using reflective DSM-LCD was launched in 1972 by the company Sharp Inc.

Sears Tower Built

May 3, 1973

SourceThe Sears Tower was built/completed in May of 1973. This building is 108 stories and 1,451 feet tall in Chicago, Illinois. When it was completed it was ranked for 25 years as the tallest building in the world. The Construction cost approximately $150 million at the time. The Sears Tower stood half-vacant for a decade. This skyscraper is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Chicago; over a million people visit its observation deck each year.

Paul Getty Kidnapped

Jul 10, 1973

Paul Getty was kidnapped on July 10th, 1973 in Rome. The person who kidnapped him wrote a note to his father and was demanding $17 million for Paul to be safely returned. Paul’s father and family did not believe this because they thought it was a joke and Paul was staging his own kidnapping. Paul was blindfolded and kept in a mountain hideout. Since Getty’s Family did not believe this a second note went out to them demanding the money.

Paul Getty Kiddnapping Continued

Jul 10, 1973

source In November 1973, an envelope containing a lock of hair and a human ear was sent out to a daily newspaper with a threat, unless $3.2 million was paid; “This is Paul’s ear. If we don’t get some money within10days, then the other ear will arrive. In other words, he will arrive in little bits.”

U.S Pulls Out of Vietnam

Aug 15, 1973

The U.S Pulled out of Vietnam August 1973 because of the Case-Church Amendment that passed by the U.S. Congress. March 15th of the same year President Nixon implied that the U.S. would intervene militarily if the communist side violated the ceasefire. The reaction to this was not very good with the public and the congress. In April Nixon appointed Graham Martin as U.S ambassador to Vietnam.

U.S Pulls out of Vietnam Continued

Aug 15, 1973

SourceHe was a second string compared to precious ambassadors and his appointment was an early signal that Washington had given up on Vietnam. In June 1973James Schlesinger stated he recommends bombing North Vietnam. The Case-Church Amendment was made to prohibit such intervention.

National Speed Limit 55

Jan 2, 1974

SourcesThe National speed limit turned to 55 mph in the U.S because this was the respinse to oil prices spiking up in 1973 (the oil crisis). This speed limit was signed into law by President Nixon on January 2, 1974 and became effective 60 days later. This was required that 55 mph would be the speed limit on all four lane divided highways unless the road had a lower limit before November 1, 1974.

Patty Hearst Kidnapped

Feb 4, 1974

February 4th, 1974 Patty Hearst was kidnapped from her apartment she shared with her fiancé in Berkeley, California. The group that kid napped her was called the Symbionese Liberation Army. They attempted to swap Hearst for jailed SLA members but it failed. After it failed the SLA demanded the captive’s family to distribute $70worth of food for every needy Californian. This would cost about $400million. Hearst father arranged a donation of $6 million immediately.

Patty Hearst Kidnapped Continued

Feb 4, 1974

SourcesAfter this the SLA refused to release Hearst because they deemed the food to have been poor. On April 3rd, 1974, Hearst audiotaped an announcement that she had join the SLA.

Girls allowed to play in Little League Baseball

Apr 4, 1974

SourcesFrom 1951-1974 girls were not allowed to play in Little League Baseball. In 1974 Little League rules were changed and allowed girls to play. This was the lawsuit filed by the National Organization for Women on behalf of Maria Pepe. Maria was incited to play by Little League coach Jim Farina, but she was asked to leave the team after she was threatened to revoke Hoboken’s charter. This in How the National Organization for Women got involved.

Microsoft Founded

Apr 4, 1975

sourcesMicrosoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation in Redmond, Washington. It develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products related to computing through its product divisions. Microsoft was established April 4th of 1975. It was established to develop and sell Basic interpreters for the Altair 8800.

Jimmy Hoffa Disappears

Jul 30, 1975

SourcesJimmy Hoffa disappeared on July 30, 1975 at 2:45 pm from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox Restaurant in Detroit. He believed he was to meet there with two Mafia leaders. When Hoffa didn’t return home his wife reported him missing. Police found Hoffa’s car at the restaurant. The investigations continued for several years, by several law enforcement groups even the FBI. The Investigations did not conclusively determine Hoffa’s fate. Hoffa was declared dead in 1982 on the seventh anniversary o

Francisco Franco Dies

Nov 20, 1975

Sources
On the 19th of July in 1974 Franco fell ill from various health problems. He soon recovered in September of the same years and took back his duties as Head of State from Juan Carlos. On 30 October 1975 he fell into a coma and was put on life support. At the age of 82 Franco dies just after midnight on November 20, 1975.

Red Dye #2 is banned

Feb 2, 1976

SourcesIn 1976 over 1 million pounds of dye was worth $5million. It was used as a colorant in $10 billion worth of foods, drugs and cosmetics. The United States banned it because it was not safe. The FDA Commissioner Alexander Schmidt defended the dye as he said there is no evidence of public health hazard. They found it increases malignant tumors in female rats given a high dosage of this dye. They discontinued the dye after figuring this out.

Apple Computer launched

Apr 1, 1976

Source
The apple computer was established on April 1 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. This was to sell the Apple l personal computer kit. Wozniak and built they and first showed to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club. Apple l was sold as a motherboard, with CPU, RAM, and other basic textual-video chips. The Apple l went on sale in July of 1976 and war $666.66 at market-price.

Mao Tse-tung dies

Sep 9, 1976

Sources
Mao Tse-tung had poor health for several years. On September 2nd Mao suffered a heart attack. This one was far more severe than his precious two. The X-rays indicated that his current lung infection had worsened. On September 7 Mao’s condition took a turn for worse. He was taken off life support over 12 hours after he fell into a coma. Midnight September 9, 1976 they choose to let Mao die because it was an easy day to remember being

Star Wars Movie Released

May 25, 1977

sources The American movie Star wars was released on May 25, 1977. This epic space opera film series was created by George Lucas. This movie became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon and was followed by two sequels. When this movie first came out it got $460,998,007 only in the United States when released in the movie theaters and more in other countries. Worldwide this movie made $775,398,007.

New York City Blackout

Jul 13, 1977

SourcesThe New York City black out happened on July 13, 1977 to July 14, 1977. The neighborhoods in New York City that was not affected were in southern Queens, and neighborhoods of the Rockaways. Unlike other Blackouts in New York the 1977 black out was localized to New York City and the immediate surrounding.

Elvis Found Dead

Aug 16, 1977

SourcesThe day Presley was found dead he was scheduled to fly out of Memphis to begin another tour. The afternoon of August 16, 1977Alden discovered him unresponsive on the bathroom floor. Attempts to save him failed and he was pronounced dead at 3:30 pm at Baptist Memorial Hospital. Thousands of people gathered outside Graceland to view the open casket. Presley’s cousins, Billy Mann accepted $18,000 to secretly photograph the corpse. This picture appeared on the cover of National Enquirer’s which was

Atlantic City permits gambling

Jun 2, 1978

SourcesNew Jersey voters approved casino gambling for Atlantic City 1976. After the legislation passed, the owners of Chalfonte-Haddon Hall Hotel changed into the Resort International. This was the first legal casino in the eastern United States. It became open on May 26, 1978.

John Paul II Becomes Pope

Oct 16, 1978

SourcesJohn Paul I died after only 33 days as Pope. Ten days after the funeral it was between two strong candidates for the papacy, Giuseppe Cardinal Siri and Giovanni Cardinal Benelli who was a close friend of John Paul I. Supporters knew Benelli would be elected. Benelli came within nine votes of success. However both men faced sufficient opposition that neither was likely to prevail. Franz Cardinal Konig suggested Karol Jozef Wojtyla and he won He choose the name John Paul II.

Jonestown Massacre

Nov 18, 1978

Sources909 Americans died because of Jim Jones. He was in a mass murder-suicide pack in a South American jungle. Jones’ gunmen killed a visiting U.S congressman and four other nearby people. There were 1,000 church members but only 33 survived to see the next day. Jones tried to create a socialist paradise that survivors called a slave camp.

Nuclear Accident at Three Mile Island

Mar 28, 1979

SourcesThis was a partial nuclear meltdown which occurred at the Three Mile Island power plant in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It was the worst accident in U.S commercial nuclear power plant history. The accident began at 4 am on Wednesday March 28, 1979. 40,000 gallons of radioactive waste water was released. It soon became under control, although full details of the accident were not discovered. The total clean up was $1 billion.

ESPN starts broadcasting

Sep 7, 1979

Sources
ESPN was founded by Bill Rasmussen, his son Scott Rasmussen and Aetna insurance agent, Ed Eagan. It launched on September 7, 1979. This was under the direction of Chet Simmons, the network’s President and CEO. ESPN stands for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. This is an American global cable television network on sports. It includes sports talk shows, and other original programming.

The Greensboro Massacre

Nov 3, 1979

SourcesNovember 3, 1979 a rally and march of industrial workers and communists was planned against the Ku Klux Klan. This happened in Greensboro, North Carolina. Communist organizers publicly challenged the Klan to present themselves face to wrath of the people. During this rally, a caravan of cars containing Klansmen and the American Nazi Party drove by the housing projects. Marchers began to attack the Klansmen car by throwing rocks. The first shots were fired from a handgun by an anti-Klan demonstr