1970s
Population: 204,879,000
Unemployed in 1970: 4,088,000
National Debt: $382 billion
Average salary: $7,564
Food prices: milk, 33 cents a qt.; bread, 24 cents a loaf; round steak, $1.30 a pound
Life Expectancy: Male, 67.1; Female, 74.8
Farm population: 9,712,000; farmers 4.6% of labor force Number of farms: 2.780, 000; average acres: 390
1970
Farmers made up less than 5 percent of work force for the first time.
No-tillage agriculture popularized
Environmental Protection Agency established.
Horse Protection Act passed.
Discovered mode of inheritance of cyclic neutropenia in dogs.
Immunoglobulin IGA discovered in cows milk.
Killed-virus vaccine for Newcastle disease developed.
Plant Variety Protection Act; Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Norman Borlaug for developing high-yielding wheat varieties
My Lai massacre revealed
Pentagon Papers published
January 2 U.S. population is 293,200,000; Black population: 22,600,000 (11.1%)
January 3 Marxist government takes over in Congo
January 12 Biafran War ends, Biafra surrenders to Nigeria
January 12 Boeing 747 makes its maiden voyage
January 16 Col Kadhaffi becomes premier of Libya
January 25 Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H," premieres
February 1 West-Germany and U.S.S.R. sign gas contract
February 11 Japan becomes 4th nation to put a satellite, Osumi, in orbit
February 23 Holy Eucharist given by women for 1st time in Roman Catholic service
March 1 White government of Rhodesia declares independence from Britain
March 2 Supreme Court ruled draft evaders can not be penalized after 5 years
March 4 French submarine "Eurydice" explodes
March 5 Nuclear non-proliferation treaty goes into effect
March 5 SDS Weathermen terrorist group bomb 18 West 11th St. in New York City
March 11 Iraq Ba'th Party recognizes Kurd nation
March 12 U.S. lowers voting age from 21 to 18
March 18 Cambodia military coup under Gen Lon Nol, prince Sihanuk flees
March 25 Concorde makes its 1st supersonic flight (700 MPH/1,127 KPH)
March 26 500th nuclear explosion announced by the U.S. since 1945
April 1 President Nixon signs bill limiting cigarette advertisements on 1/1/71
April 9 Paul McCartney announces official split of Beatles
April 17 Apollo 13 returns back safely to Earth
April 24 China PR launches its 1st satellite transmitting song "East is Red"
April 29 50,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops invade Cambodia
May 4 National Guard kills 4 at Kent State in Ohio
May 4 Premier Kosygin affirms existence Russian military advisors in Egypt
May 15 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
May 15 South-Africa excluded from Olympic play
May 20 100,000 march in New York supporting U.S. policies in Vietnam
May 22 Arab terrorists kill 9 children and 3 adults on a school bus
May 23 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test (underground)
June 3 1st artificial gene synthesized
June 16 Race riots in Miami, Florida
June 17 Edwin Land patents Polaroid camera
June 29 U.S. ends 2 month military offensive into Cambodia
July 4 100 injured in race rioting in Asbury Park, New Jersey
July 6 California passes 1st "no fault" divorce law
July 21 Huge Aswan Dam opens in Egypt
July 21 Libya orders confiscation of all Jewish property
July 21 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk U.S.S.R.
July 29 6 days of race rioting in Hartford, Connecticut
August 29 Black Panthers confront cops in Philadelphia (1 cop killed)
September 6 Palestinians seize 3 jetliners
September 12 U.S.S.R. launches Luna 16; returns samples from lunar Sea of Fertility
September 13 IBM announces System 370 computer
September 13 Palestine guerillas conquer Irbid Jordania
September 15 PLO leader Arafat threatens to make a cemetery of Jordan
September 22 President Nixon requests 1,000 new FBI agents for college campuses
September 28 Anwar Sadat replaces Egyptian President Nassar
September 30 New American Bible published
October 5 Quebec separatists kidnap British trade commissioner James Cross
October 8 Soviet author Alexander I Solzhenitsyn wins Nobel Prize for Literature
October 9 Khmer Republic (Cambodia) declares independence
October 10 Fiji gains independence from Britain (National Day)
October 13 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan U.S.S.R.
November 7 Race riots in Daytona Beach Florida
November 12 Scientists perform 1st artificial synthesis of a live cell
November 13 Cyclone kills estimated 300,000 in Chittagong Bangladesh
November 13 Flooding ravages Ganges delta, 200,000-1 million killed
November 20 U.N. General Assembly accepts membership of China PR
November 27 Pope Paul VI wounded in chest during a visit to Philippines by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest
December 15 Soviet Venera 7 is 1st spacecraft to land on another planet (Venus)
December 17 Gdansk, Poland shipworkers strike
December 23 NY World Trade Center reaches highest point (411 m)
1971
Marek's disease vaccine developed.
First comprehensive study on the effects of feeding aflatoxin to livestock and poultry published.
Microcomputers invented.
January 1 Cigarette advertisements banned on TV
January 25 Military coup in Uganda under Gen Idi Amin Dada
February 4 National Guard mobilized to quell rioting in Wilmington NC
February 5 Apollo 14, 3rd U.S. manned Moon expedition, lands near Fra Mauro Alan Shepard and Edward Mitchell (Apollo 14) walk on Moon for 4 hrs
February 7 Swiss men accept female suffrage
February 8 South Vietnamese troops invade Laos
February 11 U.S., U.K., U.S.S.R., others sign Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons
February 24 Algeria nationalizes French oil companies
March 4 "City Command" kidnaps 4 U.S. military men at Ankara, Turkey
March 14 South Vietnamese troops flee Laos
March 29 1st Lt William L Calley, Jr. found guilty in My Lai (Vietnam) massacre
April 19 U.S.S.R. Salyut 1 launched; 1st manned lab in orbit
April 20 U.S. Supreme Court upholds use of busing to achieve racial desegregation
April 25 About 200,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters march on Washington
May 3 Nixon administration arrests 13,000 anti-war protesters in 3 days
May 5 Race riot in Brownsville section of Brooklyn (New York City)
May 21 National Guard mobilizes to quell riot in Chattanooga, Tennessee
June 8 North Vietnam demands U.S. end aid to South Vietnam
August 14 Bahrain proclaims independence after 110 years of British rule
August 15 President Nixon announces 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents
August 31 Dave Scott becomes 1st person to drive a car on Moon
September 3 Watergate team breaks into Daniel Ellsberg's doctor's office
September 13 11 guards and 31 prisoners die in take over at Attica State Prison
September 24 90 Russian diplomats expelled from Britain for spying
October 1 Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida opens
October 11 Switzerland recognizes North Vietnam
October 25 U.N. votes to expel Taiwan and admit Red China
November 18 China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC
December 2 Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujeira, Sharjah and Umm ak Qiwain form United Arab Emirates declaring independence from UK
December 2 Soviet Mars 3 is 1st to soft land on Mars
December 16 Bangladesh (East Pakistan) declares independence from Pakistan
1972
First recombinant DNA molecule synthesized.
Federal Water Pollution Control Act passed.
Clean Air Act passed.
Consumer Product Safety Act passed.
DDT use banned in the U.S.
Spiroplasmas discovered, an entirely new class of disease-causing organisms.
Before 1972, there were fewer than 500 female veterinarians in the United States. Around that time, Congress passed several landmark education acts forbidding colleges from denying qualified women a place in their classrooms. Almost immediately, the number of women enrolled in vet schools shot up.
"It used to be that high school guidance counselors told women, 'Well, you can't be a veterinarian,' so they wouldn't even think about it," said Dr. Bonnie Beaver, president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association and a professor at Texas A&M's vet school. Today, young women see just as many female vets as they do male, she said.
Veterinary medicine has also changed dramatically in recent decades. Forty years ago, cows, horses and other livestock were the primary patients. Being a vet was regarded as a rough, dirty and sometimes dangerous job - or, in the language of the day, "a man's work."
Today, care of large or farm animals is still a sizable industry. But the majority of vets nationwide work on the family pet, not the family farm. Modern medicine and sedatives also allow male and female veterinarians of any size to safely work on even the largest livestock
Five men, all employees of Nixon's reelection campaign, are caught breaking into rival Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington. This leads to President Nixon resignation
January 5 President Nixon signs a bill for NASA to begin research on manned shuttle
January 23 Entire population of Istanbul under 24 hour house arrest
January 26 Stewardess Vesna Vulovic survives 10,160m fall without parachute
January 30 Bloody Sunday: British soldiers shoot on catholics in Londonderry, 13 die
February 5 U.S. airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers and baggage
February 21 Richard Nixon becomes 1st U.S. president to visit China
March 3 Sculpted figures of Jefferson Davis, Robert E Lee, and Stonewall Jackson are completed at Stone Mountain Georgia
March 4 Libya and U.S.S.R. signs cooperation treaty
March 8 1st flight of the Goodyear blimp
March 30 North Vietnamese troops enter South Vietnam
April 4 1st electric power plant fueled by garbage begins operating
April 9 U.S.S.R. and Iraq sign friendship treaty
April 10 U.S., U.S.S.R. and 70 other nations agree to ban biological weapons
April 16 2 giants pandas arrive in U.S., from China
April 28 Courts awarded Kentucky Derby prize money to 2nd place winner because winner was given drugs before race
May 15 George Wallace shot and left paralyzed by Arthur Bremer in Laurel, Maryland
May 22 U.S. president Nixon begins visit Moscow
July 18 Egypt president Sadat throws 20,000 Russian military aids out
July 21 Bloody Friday: 22 IRA-bombs explode in Belfast
August 1 1st article exposing Wategate scandal (Bernstein-Woodward)
August 27 U.S. bombs Haiphong North Vietnam
September 6 Summer Olympics resume in Munich Germany after massacre
September 22 Dictator Idi Amin throws 8,000 Asians out of Uganda
September 23 Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos declares martial law
September 28 Japan and Communist China agree to re-establish diplomatic relations
October 12 46 sailors injured in race riot on aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk
November 7 President Nixon (R) re-elected defeating George McGovern (D)
November 22 U.S. ends 22 year travel ban to China
December 28 Kim Il-song, becomes president of North Korea
1973
Endangered Species Act passed.
First gene splicing performed.
Caprine arthritis and encephalitis of goats described.
Fifty farmers organize California Certified Organic Farmers
Roe v. Wade: Landmark Supreme Court decision legalizes abortion in first trimester of pregnancy
CAT scan invented by Godfrey Hounsfield and Allan Cormack
Cease-fire in Vietnam U. S. forces start withdraw
January 8 Secret peace talks between U.S. and North Vietnam resumed near Paris
January 15 President Nixon suspends all U.S. offensive action in North Vietnam
January 22 Roe vs Wade: U.S. Supreme Court legalizes some abortions
January 22 US, North and South Vietnam and Vietcong sign boundary accord
February 3 President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act into law
February 12 1st U.S. POWs in North Vietnam released; 116 of 456 flown to Philippine
February 21 Israeli fighters shoot Libyan aircraft down, killing 108
February 22 U.S. and China agree to establish liaison offices in Beijing and Washington D.C.
February 27 American Indian Movement occupy Wounded Knee in South Dakota
March 2 "Black September" terrorists occupy Saudi Embassy in Khartoum
March 29 U.S. troops leave Vietnam, 9 years after Tonkin Resolution
April 10 Pakistan suspends constitution
May 14 Skylab launched, 1st Space Station
May 14 U.S. Supreme Court approves equal rights to females in military
July 10 Bahamas declares Independence from U.K. and adopts constitution
August 5 Arab terrorists open fire at Athens airport, kills 3 injures 55
August 14 U.S. ends secret bombing of Cambodia
September 13 Syrian/Israeli dogfight over Mediterranean Sea Israel shoots down 13 Syrian MIG-21s
September 28 Palestinian Terrorists hijack Austrian train
October 6 Yom Kippur War begins as Syria and Egypt attack Israel
October 13 Jordan enters Yom Kippur war
October 24 Yom Kippur War ends, Israel 65 miles from Cairo, 26 from Damascus
October 26 Israeli forces reach Suez, trapping Egyptian army
October 26 President Nixon released 1st White House tapes on Watergate scandal
November 16 President Nixon authorizes construction of Alaskan pipeline
November 25 3 Palestinians hijack KLM B747 above Iraq, to Dubai
November 25 Maximum speed limit cut to 55 MPH as an energy conservation measure
December 17 Arabs terrorists shoot passengers on Boeing 737 to Kuwait
December 23 6 Persian Gulf nations double their oil prices
1974
United States ratified the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).
First vaccine for chicken pox. (Human)
Giorgio Fischer a gynecologist invents liposuction
Raymond Damadian, American physician, is granted a patent on his invention of the magnetic resonance imaging device (MRI).
January 12 Libya and Tunisia announces they are merging as "Islamic Arab Republic"
February 10 Iran/Iraqi border fight breaks out
July 29 Episcopal Church ordained female priests
August 9 Richard Nixon resigns presidency, VP Gerald Ford becomes 38th president
September 16 President Ford announces conditional amnesty for U.S., Vietnam War deserters
1975
Monoclonal antibodies invented.
Demonstrated that a fraction of the virus that causes foot-and-mouth disease is not infectious, but produces immunity in livestock.
1975 Vietnam falls to the communists leading to mass murder and millions of refuges fleeing for their lives
The situation is even worse in Cambodia
1976
Beef Research and Information Act passed.
Federal Land Policy and Management Act repealed Homestead Act and many other land laws.
Propagated bovine leukemia virus in cell culture.
1977
Discovered direct relationship between Neotyphodium coenophialum fungus in fescue and disease in cattle.
First vaccine for pneumonia (Human)
Jimmy Carter is inaugurated as the 39th president President Carter signs treaty agreeing to turn control of Panama Canal over to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999.
1978
United States declared free of hog cholera.
Sadat and Begin sign Camp David Accord, ending 30-year conflict between Egypt and Israel
First test-tube baby is born in the U.K.
First vaccine for meningitis (Humans)
1979
Smallpox eliminated, the only microbial disease ever completely defeated.
ultrasound scan invented by Ian Donald
U.S. establishes diplomatic ties with mainland China for the first time since Communist takeover in 1949
Malfunction at Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania causes panic
Iranian students storm U.S. embassy in Teheran and hold 66 people hostage
USSR invades Afghanistan
