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...

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
World Series
Baltimore d. Cincinnati
NBA Championship
New York d. LA Lakers
Stanley Cup
Boston d. St. Louis
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 Commander
NCAA Basketball Championship
UCLA d. Jacksonville
NCAA 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. Italy

Entertainment

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)

1970 Emmy Awards

1970 Tony Awards

Grammys awarded in 1970

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

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:

Julius Axelrod (US), Ulf S. von Euler (Sweden), and Sir Bernard Katz (UK), for studies of how nerve impulses are transmitted within the body

More Nobel Prizes in 1998...
  • 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.

Death

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