Events from the year 1970 in the United States.
Incumbents
Federal government President: Richard Nixon (R-California) Vice President: Spiro Agnew (R-Maryland) Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger (Virginia) Speaker of the House of Representatives: John William McCormack (D-Massachusetts) Senate Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield (D-Montana) Congress: 91st
State governments Governors and lieutenant governors Governors
Lieutenant governors
Demographics
Events
January
January 5 – The first episode of All My Children is broadcast on the ABC television network. January 11 – Super Bowl IV: The Kansas City Chiefs beat the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings 23–7. January 14 – Diana Ross & The Supremes perform their farewell live concert together at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, and Ross' replacement, Jean Terrell, is introduced onstage at the end of the last show.
February February 17 – MacDonald family massacre: Jeffrey R. MacDonald kills his wife and children at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, claiming that drugged-out "hippies" did it. February 18 – A jury finds the Chicago Seven defendants not guilty of conspiring to incite a riot, in charges stemming from the violence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Five of the defendants are found guilty on the lesser charge of crossing state lines to incite a riot.
March March 6 – A bomb constructed by members of the Weathermen and meant to be planted at a military dance in New Jersey explodes, killing three members of the organization. March 17 My Lai massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident. The critically wounded pilot of Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320 saves the 68 passengers and five crew of the DC-9 jet, landing safely in Boston despite being shot by a hijacker who killed the co-pilot. March 18 – United States Postal Service workers in New York City go on strike; the strike spreads to the state of California and the cities of Akron, Ohio, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, and Denver; 210,000 out of 750,000 U.S. postal employees walk out. President Nixon assigns military units to New York City post offices. The strike lasts two weeks. March 31 – NASA's Explorer 1, the first American satellite and Explorer program spacecraft, reenters Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.
April
April 1 The 1970 United States census begins. There are 203,392,031 United States residents on this day. President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, banning cigarette television advertisements in the United States, starting on January 1, 1971. American Motors Corporation introduces the Gremlin. April 6 – In the worst day of California law enforcement, 4 California Highway Patrolmen are killed in what is known as the "Newhall Incident". This led to new procedures & training for law enforcement, nationwide. April 7 – The 42nd Academy Awards ceremony is held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, the second in a row with no official host. John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy wins both Best Picture and Best Director, while George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid wins four awards and Charles Jarrott's Anne of the Thousand Days is nominated for ten. It is, to date, the highest-rated televised ceremony, according to Nielsen ratings. April 11 – Apollo program: Apollo 13 (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert) is launched toward the Moon. April 13 – An oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 spacecraft explodes, forcing the crew to abort the mission and return in 4 days. April 17 – Apollo program: Apollo 13 splashes down safely in the Pacific. April 22 – The first Earth Day, founded by U.S. Senator, Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin is celebrated in the U.S. April 29 – The U.S. invades Cambodia to hunt out the Viet Cong; widespread, large anti-war protests occur in the United States.
May May 1 Demonstrations against the trial of the New Haven Nine, Bobby Seale, and Ericka Huggins draw 12,000 people. President Richard Nixon orders U.S. forces to cross into neutral Cambodia, threatening to widen the Vietnam War, sparking nationwide riots and leading to the Kent State Shootings. Colorado State College changes its name to the University of Northern Colorado."Gov. Love signs municipal mall bill; bests deadline", Fort Collins (CO) Coloradoan, April 15, 1970, p.14 May 4 – Kent State shootings: Four students at Kent State University in Ohio are killed and nine wounded by Ohio State National Guardsmen, at a protest against the incursion into Cambodia. May 6 – Robert Rex Vice self-immolates in protest of the Vietnam War and the Kent state killings. May 8 Hard Hat Riot: Unionized construction workers attack about 1,000 students and others protesting the Kent State shootings near the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street and at New York City Hall. The New York Knicks win their first NBA championship, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 113–99 in Game 7 of the world championship series at Madison Square Garden. May 9 – In Washington, D.C., 100,000 people demonstrate against the Vietnam War. Richard Nixon makes an impromptu visit to the Lincoln Memorial to meet with protestors. May 10 – The Boston Bruins win their first Stanley Cup since 1941 when Bobby Orr scores a goal 40 seconds into overtime for a 4–3 victory which completes a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Blues. Self-immolation of George Winne Jr. in San Diego in protest of the Vietnam War May 11 Henry Marrow is killed in an alleged hate crime in Oxford, North Carolina. Lubbock Tornado: An F5 tornado hits downtown Lubbock, Texas, the first to hit a downtown district of a major city since Topeka, Kansas, in 1966; 28 are killed. Race riots erupt in Augusta, Georgia, after the suspicious death of a teenage inmate in the county jail. The disorder, the largest of its kind in the South, results in six fatalities. May 12 – The 1976 Winter Olympics are awarded to Denver, Colorado, but it is later rejected. May 14 – In the second day of violent demonstrations at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, state law enforcement officers fire into the demonstrators, killing two and injuring twelve. May 26 – Pufnstuf, the film adaptation of the TV series H.R. Pufnstuf, is released.
June
June 6 – A D-Day celebration is held in Washington, D.C., on the 26th anniversary of the event. June 11 – The United States gets its first female generals: Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington. June 21 – Penn Central declares Section 77 bankruptcy, the largest ever US corporate bankruptcy up to this date. June 22 – U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970, a measure lowering the voting age to 18. June 23 – Kelly's Heroes is released in the US. June 24 – The United States Senate repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. June 28 U.S. ground troops withdraw from Cambodia. First pride parade in history, Stonewall riot. June 30 – Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati opens.
July July 1 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is subordinated to the Public Health Service. Chemeketa Community College in Oregon opens. July 4 Bob Hope and other entertainers gather in Washington, D.C., for Honor America Day, a nonpartisan holiday event. American Top 40, a nationally syndicated radio program featuring a countdown of the Top 40 hits of the past week according to the Billboard Hot 100, premieres. Hosted by Casey Kasem, the show is a major success. Riots break out in Asbury Park, New Jersey. July 16 – Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh opens. July 31 – NBC anchor Chet Huntley retires from full-time broadcasting.
August August 3 – NBC Nightly News premieres on NBC. August 7 – Harold Haley, Marin County Superior Court Judge, is taken hostage and murdered, in an effort to free George Jackson from police custody. August 13–15 – Special Olympics World Summer Games are held in Chicago. August 17–18 – The U.S. sinks 418 containers of nerve gas into the Gulf Stream near the Bahamas. August 24 – Vietnam War protesters bomb Sterling Hall at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, leading to an international manhunt for the perpetrators. August 26 – The Women's Strike For Equality takes place down Fifth Avenue in New York City. August 29 – The Chicano Moratorium, against the Vietnam War, begins in East Los Angeles, California, and leads to a riot that kills three people, including journalist Rubén Salazar.
September
September 5 – Vietnam War – Operation Jefferson Glenn: The United States 101st Airborne Division and the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division initiate a new operation in Thua Thien Province (the operation ends in October 1971). September 6 – Terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijack four passenger aircraft from Pan Am, TWA and Swissair on flights to New York from Brussels, Frankfurt and Zürich. September 7 – An anti-war rally is held at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, attended by Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland and future Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. September 9 – Elvis Presley begins his first concert tour since 1958, in Phoenix, Arizona, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. September 10 – The Chevrolet Vega is introduced. September 11 – The Ford Pinto is introduced. September 13 The first New York City Marathon begins. The covert incursion of Operation Tailwind is instigated by the American forces in southeast Laos. September 18 – Jimi Hendrix dies at age 27 in London, due to alcohol-related complications. September 21 – Monday Night Football debuts on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television network. The Cleveland Browns defeated the New York Jets by a score of 31–21. September 23 – The first women's only tennis tournament begins in Houston, known as the Houston Women's Invitation. September 24 – American television series The Odd Couple premieres on ABC. September 26 – The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, burning 175,425 acres (710 km2). September 27 – Richard Nixon begins a tour of Europe, visiting Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland. September 29 – The U.S. Congress gives President Richard Nixon authority to sell arms to Israel.
October
October 2 The Wichita State University football team's "Gold" plane crashes in Colorado, killing most of the players. They were on their way (along with administrators and fans) to a game with Utah State University. Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) Corps, one of seven federal uniformed services of the United States, is renamed to NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps under the soon to be formed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). October 4 National Educational Television ends operations, being succeeded by PBS. In Los Angeles, rock musician Janis Joplin dies in her hotel room at age 27 from a heroin overdose. Joplin died exactly 16 days after Jimi Hendrix, both at 27 years of age. October 5 The Public Broadcasting Service begins broadcasting. U.S. President Richard Nixon's European tour ends. October 8 The U.S. Foreign Office announces the renewal of arms sales to Pakistan. Vietnam War: In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects U.S. President Richard Nixon's October 7 peace proposal as "a maneuver to deceive world opinion." October 12 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas. October 15 – The Baltimore Orioles defeat the Cincinnati Reds in Game 5 of the World Series, 9–3, to win the series 4 games to 1 for their 2nd World Championship. October 21 – A U.S. Air Force plane makes an emergency landing near Leninakan, Soviet Union. The Soviets release the American officers, including 2 generals, November 10.