Spirit of America BookstoreU.S. Timeline – 1969 to 2000
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Woodstock & WaterGate
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Woodstock & WaterGate
- 1969: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a ban on the sweetener cyclamate; the food industry switched to saccharin (in turn restricted by the F.D.A. in 1977).
- 1969 Jan 20: Richard M. Nixon was sworn into office as the 37th President of the United States.
- 1969 March 3: N.A.S.A. Apollo 9 astronauts James McDivitt, David Scott & Russell Schweickart blasted off to orbit the Earth for ten days; splashdown was March 13, east of the Bahamas, north of Puerto Rico.
- 1969 May 18: N.A.S.A. Apollo 10 astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Thomas P. Stafford & John W. Young blasted off to orbit the moon (and test the lunar lander).
- 1969 May 20: U.S. & South Vietnamese forces captured Ap Bia Mountain, one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War, earning the nickname 'Hamburger Hill'.
- 1969 May 26: N.A.S.A. Apollo 10 mission splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
- 1969 June 9: U.S Senate confirmed Warren Burger as the new Chief Justice of The Supreme Court, succeeding Earl Warren.
- 1969 June 22: Ohio's polluted Cuyahoga River caught fire again, this time getting media attention and infamy.
- 1969 June 27: Patrons at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, clashed with police in an incident considered the birth of the gay rights movement.
- 1969 July: Test screenings for "Sesame Street" with humans and the Muppet characters Bert & Ernie.
- 1969 July 16: Liftoff of 'Apollo 11' lunar landing mission from Cape Kennedy; splashdown was July 24 in the Pacific Ocean.
- 1969 July 18: A car driven by Sen. Edward M. 'Ted' Kennedy plunged off the narrow, un-railed Dike Bridge on Chappaquiddick Island near Martha's Vineyard in Massachussets; his 28-year-old passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, was found drowned inside the vehicle the next day; Kennedy had not reported the incident, and pled guilty to a charge of 'leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury', and received a sentence of two months in jail, which was suspended.
- 1969 July 20: Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong & Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin in the lunar lander 'Eagle' touched down on the surface of the moon at 4:18 p.m. EDT. Aldrin & Armstrong were the first men to walk on the moon's surface; astronaut Michael Collins remained overhead in the orbiter module.
- 1969 July 21: Neil Armstrong left the lunar lander and stepped onto the surface of the moon, joined shortly by 'Buzz' Aldrin.
- 1969 July 21: Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong & Aldrin blasted off from the moon's surface aboard the lunar landing module at 1:54 p.m. EDT.
- 1969 July 24: Apollo 11 mission splashed down safely in the South Pacific.
- 1969 Aug 15-17: Woodstock Music & Art Fair outside Bethel, New York.
- 1969 Nov 10: Debut of children's program "Sesame Street".
- 1969 Nov 14: N.A.S.A. Apollo 12 mission blasted off for the moon.
- 1969 Nov 19: Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad & Alan Bean made man's second walk on the moon's surface; astronaut Richard F. Gordon, Jr. stayed overhead in the command module.
- 1969 Nov 21: N.A.S.A. Apollo 12 mission splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
- 1969 Dec 6: Free Rolling Stones concert at Altamont Speedway in California was marred by the deaths of four people, including one stabbed by Hell's Angels 'security'.
- 1970 April 11: The ill-fated Apollo 13 mission to the moon blasted off from Cape Canaveral, with James A. Lovell Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr. & Fred W. Haise, Jr. aboard.
- 1970 April 13: The explosion of a tank of liquid oxygen aboard Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, severely crippled the space craft; the mission was aborted. Heroic efforts at Cape Canaveral and on-board the spacecraft brought the three astronauts back safely to Earth.
- 1970 April 17: N.A.S.A. Apollo 13 mission splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
- 1970 April 22: The first Earth Day event, with millions of Americans participating, was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin.
- 1970 May 4: Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on antiwar protesters at Kent State University, killing four students
and wounding nine others. (The guardsmen were indicted in March 1974 and later acquitted.)
- 1970 May 15: Just after Midnight, two black students at Jackson State College in Mississippi - Phillip Lafayette Gibbs & James Earl Green - were killed by gunfire from state police during an on-campus student protest.
- 1970 June 22: President Nixon signed a law lowering the voting age to 18.
- 1970 June 30: I.B.M. introduced the System/370 mainframe computers, successor to the Systen/360 line.
- 1970 Aug 12: President Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Act, which took effect 1 July 1971.
- 1970 Sept 21: "NFL Monday Night Football" debuted on ABC-TV.
- 1970 Oct 4: Rock singer Janis Joplin [1943-70] was found dead in her Los Angeles hotel room.
- 1970 Dec 2: The Environmental Protection Agency began operations, under director William Ruckelshaus.
- 1970 Dec 28: Passage of the Occupational Safety & Health Act which established O.S.H.A. as part of the Labor
Department, effective 28 April 1971.
- 1971 Jan 31: Apollo 14 blasted off to the moon from Cape Canaveral with astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell & Stuart A. Roosa aboard.
- 1971 March 23: Congress passed the 26th Amendment, making voting age 18 years for federal & state elections.
- 1971 April 20: U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of busing students to achieve racial desegregation in schools.
- 1971 May 1: Amtrack passenger rail service officially began, intending to 'combine and streamline passenger operations of 18 intercity railroads'.
- 1971 May 30: American space probe Mariner 9 blasted off toward Mars from Cape Kennedy, Florida.
- 1971 June 12: The New York Times published the first installment of the secret 'Pentagon Papers', provided to them by Daniel Ellsberg.
- 1971 July 1: 26th Amendment lowering voting age to 18 was ratified.
- 1971 July 1: The Postal Reorganization Act took effect, moving the U.S. Postal Service from a Cabinet-level agency to an independent organization.
- 1971 July 26: Launch of Apollo 15, America's fourth manned mission to the moon.
- 1971 July 31: U.S. Apollo 15 crew members David Scott & James Irwin were the first astronauts to use the Lunar Roving Vehicle on the surface of the Moon.
- 1971 Aug 15: President Nixon announced the end of the Gold Standard for U.S. dollars; the dollar dropped 8 percent in value.
- 1971 Aug 15: President Nixon announced a 90-day freeze on wages, prices, and rents (as an attempt to halt inflation).
- 1971 Aug 23: Secret publication of the Powell Memorandum, written by U.S. Supreme Court nominee Lewis F. Powell, that outlined long-term strategies for expansion of corporate privilege by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other neo-conservative organizations.
{text of the Powell Memo}
- 1971 Sept 8: Debut event at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
- 1971 Sept 9: Prisoners at the Attica, New York Correctional Facility rioted; ten hostages and 29 inmates died.
- 1971 Oct 1: Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida.
- Autumn of 1971: The first email was sent by Ray Tomlinson, with content 'of no significance, something like QWERTYUIOP'.
- 1971 Oct 25: The United Nations General Assembly voted to admit mainland China {People's Republic of China) and expel Taiwan {Republic of China).
1971 Nov 24: Airplane hijacker D.B. Cooper escaped by parachute with a suitcase of cash over a forest in Washington State; he was never identified, the case is unsolved, he was never heard from again.
- 1971 Dec 18: Chicago-based civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson founded Operation PUSH {People United to Save Humanity}.
- 1972: Orville Redenbacher began national distribution of his Gourmet® Popping Corn.
- 1972: Life Magazine stopped publication of its weekly edition.
- 1972 Feb 26: The Buffalo Creek Slurry Spill in West Virginia unleashed an estimated 132 million gallons of toxic coal mining waste (ten times the size of the Exxon Valdez oil spill) from three dams operated by the Pittston Coal Company; 125 people were killed, 1,121 people were injured, and over 4,000 people were left homeless.
- 1972 March 22: Equal Rights Amendment proposal sent to states for ratification; passage failed by three states.
- 1972 April 21: Apollo 16 astronauts John Young & Charles Duke explored the surface of the moon.
- 1972 June 17: Five burglars were arrested inside the WaterGate Hotel in Washington, DC – leading to the resignation of President Nixon 26 months later.
- 1972 Nov 14: Dow Jones Industrial Average index closed above 1,000 for the first time ever.
- 1972 Dec 7: Apollo 17 mission launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida – America's last moon mission to date.
- 1972 Dec 19: Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the Apollo program of manned moon landings.
- 1973: Motorola put on the market the first portable telephone, the three-pound DynaTAC, with a list price of $3,500.
- 1973-75: An economic recession in the U.S that lasted two years, precipitated by the O.P.E.C. Oil Crisis and resulting 'stagflation'.
- 1973 Jan 22: The U.S. Supreme delivered its Roe v. Wade decision, making abortion legal based on trimesters.
- 1973 Jan 22: Former president Lyndon Baines Johnson died.
- 1973 Jan 27: VietNam War peace accords signed in Paris, France.
- 1973 Jan 28: Official cease fire went into effect in the VietNam War.
- 1973 Mar 29: VietNam War hostilities ended as the last U.S. combat troops left VietNam.
- 1973 May 8: Militant American Indians who held the village of Wounded Knee, South Dakota for ten weeks surrendered to federal authorities.
- 1973 May 11: Charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the 'Pentagon Papers' case were dismissed, citing 'government misconduct'.
- 1973 May 14: U.S. launched Skylab, the first manned space station.
- 1973 July 13: Former White House aide Alexander P. Butterfield revealed the existence of President Nixon's secret taping system, during testimony at the Senate Watergate hearings.
- 1973 Oct 10: Indicted for taking bribes while in office in Maryland and as Vice President, Spiro T. Agnew pled no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion and resigned his office.
- 1973 Oct 17: The Arab oil-producers cartel announced cutbacks in oil exports to Western nations and to Japan, triggering the the Oil Embargo that lasted six months.
- 1973 Oct 20: The infamous 'Saturday Night Massacre' – After a news conference by Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, the White House ordered Attorney General Elliott Richardson to fire Cox; Richardson resigned rather than obey; his deputy William Ruckleshaus also resigned rather than obey; later that evening, the White House delivered a message to Cox at home that he had been fired by Solicitor General Robert H. Bork.
- 1973 Nov 21: President Nixon's attorney J. Fred Buzhardt revealed the existence of the 18½-minute gap in one of the White House tapes subpoenaed for the Watergate hearings.
- 1974 Jan 2: President Nixon signed legislation to limit U.S. highway speeds to 55 mph (a reaction to the 'Gas Crisis' triggered by O.P.E.C); federal speed limits were abolished in 1995.
- 1974 March 1: Indictments on charges of conspiring to obstruct justice in connection with the Watregate break-in were made against seven people, including former White House aides H.R. Haldeman & John Ehrlichman, and former Attorney General John Mitchell and former Assistant Attorney General Robert Mardian.
- 1974 March 18: O.P.E.C. ended the oil embargo against the U.S.A.
- 1974 April 8: Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves baseball team hit his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth's longtime record; Aaron eventually scored a total of 755 home runs.
- 1974 July 24: U.S. Supreme Court decided unanimously in United States v. Nixon that the President's claim of 'executive privilege' was invalid against the Congressional subpoena for records connected to the Watergate burglary and that the White House must surrender the tapes & documents.
- 1974 July 27: U.S. House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to recommend impeachment of President Nixon.
- 1974 Aug: The supposed commercial {owned by Howard Hughes} deep-sea mining ship Glomar Explorer retrieved pieces of the sunken Sovet submarine K-128 from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean; some secret details were finally released in 2010.
- 1974 Aug 9: President Richard M. Nixon resigned rather than face impeachment proceedings in the House & Senate; Vice President Gerald Ford became President.
- 1974 Nov 13: Anti-nuclear & union activist Karen Silkwood died in a mysterious car crash on the way home from the Kerr-McGee Cimarron plutonium plant near Crescent, Oklahoma.
- 1974 Dec: End of the worldwide 1973-74 stock market crash.
- 1974 Dec 9: The Dow Jones Industrial Average index dropped to a low of 577.60, a loss of 42 percent since November 1972.
- 1974 Dec 31: U.S. citizens were allowed to buy/own gold – for the first time in over 40 years.
- 1975 Jan: The first commercial personal computer went on sale, the Altair 8800 made by Model Instrumentation Telemetry Systems of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- 1975 March 10: Talent agent Wally Amos took the advice of some friends and opened a cookie store on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, California under the name 'Famous Amos'.
- 1975 April 30: The end of the VietNam War as South VietNam surrendered to North Vietnam in Saigon.
- 1975 Sept 18: The F.B.I. captured newspaper heiress Patty Hearst in San Francisco, nineteen months after she was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
- 1976: Invention of natural-flavor Jelly Belly Candy by an Illinois candy company founded in 1869 {since moved to Fairfield, California}.
- 1976 Jan 30: The U.S. Supreme Court handed down the landmark Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 decision that expenditure of money is a form of constitutionally-protected free speech.
- 1976 April 1: Founding of Apple Computer, Inc. in Cupertino, California by Steve Wozniak and Steven Jobs.
- 1976 April 5: Death of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes at age 70.
- 1976 May 24: Britain & France opened trans-Atlantic supersonic Concorde air transport service to Washington, DC; the SST flights ended in November 2003.
- 1976 July 2: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was not inherently 'cruel or unusual punishment'.
- 1976 July 7: First female cadets enrolled at U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.
- 1976 July 20: America's Viking I robot spacecraft landed on the planet Mars.
- 1976 Sept 3: America's Viking II robot spacecraft landed on the planet Mars and took the first close-up, color photographs of the planet's surface.
- 1976 Sept 9: Mao Tse-tung, Chairman of the People's Republic of China, died at age 82.
- 1976 Sept 17: N.A.S.A. unveiled the space shuttle 'Enterprise' to the public for the first time in Palmdale, California.
- 1977: Plastic bags began replacing paper bags at grocery stores in the U.S.A.
- 1977: Soda pop consumption in the U.S.A. exceeded coffee consumption.
- 1977 June 5: The Apple II, the first practical personal computer, put on sale.
- 1977 Aug 4: President Carter signed the Department of Energy into existence.
- 1977 Aug 12: First solo flight of the space shuttle Enterprise, separating from a Boeing 747 and landing at Edwards A.F.B. in the California desert.
- 1977 Aug 16: Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee at age 42.
- 1977 Aug 20: Voyager 2 space probe launched to Jupiter [July 1979] & Saturn [Aug 1981] plus Uranus [Jan 1986] & Neptune [Aug 1989]; currently speeding away from the Sun, the spacecraft is expected to transmit data back to Earth thru the year 2020.
- 1977 Sept 5: Voyager 1 space probe launched to Jupiter [March 1979] & Saturn [Nov 1980]; currently speeding away from the Sun, the interstallar probe is still transmitting data as it crosses the 'heliopause' into deep space.
- 1978: First 'spam' email from Digital Equipment Corp. to 400 users on Arpanet.
- 1978 May 5: Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield used a $12,000 investment ($4,000 of it borrowed) to open Ben & Jerry’s Homemade ice cream scoop shop in a renovated gas station in downtown Burlington, Vermont.
- 1978 June 6: California voters overwhelmingly approved the Proposition 13 ballot initiative calling for major cuts in property taxes.
- 1978 June 8: A jury in Clark County, Nevada ruled that the so-called 'Mormon Will' of billionaire Howard Hughes [1905-76] was a forgery.
- 1978 Dec 13: The Philadelphia Mint began making Susan B. Anthony dollar coins, which went into circulation the following July.
- 1978 Dec 22: Deng Xiaoping gained power as top leader in Communist China, effectively ending the excesses of the Cultural Revolution.
- 1979: Susan B. Anthony [1820-1906] U.S. dollar coin was first struck.
- 1979 March 28: America's worst commercial nuclear accident occured inside Reactor Unit Two at Three Mile Island power plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania.
- 1979 July 11: The abandoned 100-ton U.S. space station Skylab [launched May 1973] re-entered Earth's atmosphere, burning up and scattering debris across the Indian Ocean and Australia.
- 1979 July 16: Biggest nuclear radiation accident in U.S. history (bigger than Three Mile Island) when 100 million gallons of nuclear waste spilled at Church Rock, New Mexico on the Navajo Reservation and flowed down the Rio Puerco river (and was largely ignored by all media). { Wikipedia }
- 1979 Aug 6: Paul Volcker sworn as 12th Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
- 1979 Sept 24: Compu-Serve became the first company to offer email to the public.
- 1979 Nov 3: Forty members of the local Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party opened fire on unarmed demonstrators in what became known as the Greensboro [NC] Massacre, leaving 5 dead and 10 wounded. The local police were implicated as conspirators; indictments have never been filed, but survivors won a wrongful death lawsuit.
[see Greensboro Truth & Community Reconciliation Project [est. 1999]
& Greensboro Justice Fund [est. 1985]
- 1979 Nov 4: Iranian militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran; most of the seized American hostages remained in captivity for 444 days.
- 1980: Post-It Notes® went on the market.
- 1980 Feb 2-3: Prisoners at the New Mexico State Penitentiary rioted; at least 33 inmates died and over 200 inmates were treated for injuries.
- 1980 April 18: Founding of the independent nation of Zimbabwe, formerly Zimbabwe Rhodesia, in southern Africa.
- 1980 May 18: Catastrophic volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens in northwest Washington State; 57 people were killed.
- 1980 June 1: Debut of C.N.N., the Cable News Network.
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