Top News Stories from 1970
World Events
World Statistics
Population: 4.378 billion
population by decade Nobel Peace Prize: Norman E. Borlaug (US)
More World Statistics... - Biafra surrenders after 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria (Jan. 12).
- Rhodesia severs last tie with British Crown and declares itself a racially segregated republic (March 1).
- US troops invade Cambodia (May 1). Background: Vietnam War
- A Palestinian revolt erupts in Jordan. Forces loyal to King Hussein suppress the revolt and expel the PLO from the country.
- Earthquake kills more than 50,000 in Peru (May 31).
- Egyptian President Nasser dies and is replaced by Anwar el-Sadat.
- Tonga (June 4) and Fiji (Oct. 10) gain independence from Britain.
U.S. Events
U.S. Statistics
President: Richard M. Nixon
Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew
Population: 205,052,174
Life expectancy: 70.8 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 39.8
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000) 36.2
Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 8.3
More U.S. Statistics... - Four students at Kent State University in Ohio slain by National Guardsmen at demonstration protesting incursion into Cambodia (May 4).
- Senate repeals Gulf of Tonkin resolution (June 24).
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $1,035.60 billion
Federal spending: $195.65 billion
Federal debt $380.9 billion
Median Household Income(current dollars):
$8,734
billion Consumer Price Index: $38.8
Unemployment: 3.5%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.06
Sports
Super Bowl
Kansas City d. Minnesota, (23-7)
World Series
Baltimore d. Cincinnati(4-1)
NBA Championship
New York d. LA Lakers(4-3)
Stanley Cup
Boston d. St. Louis(4-0)
Wimbledon
Women:Margaret Court d. B.J. King
(14-12 11-9)Men: John Newcombe d. K. Rosewall (5-7 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-1)
Kentucky Derby Champion
Dust CommanderNCAA Basketball Championship
UCLA d. JacksonvilleNCAA Football Champions
Nebraska (AP, FW) (11-0-1); Texas (UPI, NFF-tie), (10-1-0) & Ohio St. (NFF-tie), (9-1-0)World Cup
Brazil d. ItalyEntertainment
Entertainment Awards
Pulitzer Prizes Fiction:
Collected Stories, Jean Stafford
Music: Time's Encomium, Charles Wuorinen
Drama: No Place to Be Somebody, Charles Gordone
Oscars awarded in 1970 Academy Award, Best Picture: Midnight Cowboy,, Jerome Hellman, producer (United Artists)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (USSR)
Record of the Year:
"Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In," 5th Dimension
Album of the Year: Blood, Sweat and Tears, Blood, Sweat and Tears (Columbia)
Song of the Year: "Games People Play," Joe South, songwriter
Miss America: Pamela Anne Eldred (MI)
More Entertainment Awards... Events
- The Beatles break up. By the end of the year, each member had released a solo album.
- George C. Scott gives one of film's most memorable performances in Patton. He won the Best Actor Oscar for his turn as the title character, but refused the gold statuette.
- Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin both die drug-related deaths at age 27.
- FCC regulations require separate ownership of television networks and studios.
- Monday Night Football debuts on ABC, with Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford, and Don Meredith giving play-by-play.
- Midnight Cowboy wins the Best Picture Oscar, the first and only time an X-rated movie received the honor.
Movies
- M*A*S*H, Patton, Love Story, Airport
Books
- Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- John Berryman, Love and Fame
- Nikki Giovanni, Black Talk/Black Judgement
- Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
- Gail Godwin, The Perfectionist
- John Updike, Bech: A Book
Science
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Luis F. Leloir (Argentina), for discovery of sugar nucleotides and their role in biosynthesis of carbohydrates
Physics: Hannes Alfvén (Sweden), for theories in plasma physics; and Louis Néel (France), for discoveries in antiferromagnetism and ferromagnetism
Physiology or Medicine:
More Nobel Prizes in 1998... Julius Axelrod (US), Ulf S. von Euler (Sweden), and Sir Bernard Katz (UK), for studies of how nerve impulses are transmitted within the body
- Biochemist Hamilton O. Smith (US) discovers a restriction enzyme that will allow biologist Daniel Nathans (US) to map a complete viral genome. Background: genetic engineering
- IBM introduces the floppy disk. Background: Computers and Internet
- Bar codes (computer-scanned binary signal code) are introduced for retail and industrial use in England.
- The LCD (liquid crystal display) is invented by Hoffmann-La Roche (Switzerland).
- The Food and Drug Administration warns that birth control pills may cause blood clots. Background: Birth & Contraception
- Lithium is approved by the FDA for the treatment of manic-depression.
