1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. It was also the first year of the 1970s.

Events |

1978 Ford Pinto

• 
  January 12 – The Nigerian Civil War ends.


• 
  February 1 – The Benavidez rail disaster near Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 236.


• 
  February 14 – The Who record the iconic live rock album Live at Leeds.


• 
  March 1 – Rhodesia declares itself a republic.


• 
  April 29 – The United States invades Cambodia.


• 
  May 4 – Kent State Shootings: Four students at Kent State University in Ohio are killed by National Guardsmen while protesting against the United States invading Cambodia.


• 
  May 31 – A major earthquake hits southern Peru, killing tens of thousands of people.


• 
  June 24 – The United States Senate repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 1964.


• 
  June 28 – U.S. ground troops withdraw from Cambodia.


• 
  July 1 – The disputed Territories of Pakistan-administered Kashmir split to form Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan both of which are autonomous special areas of Pakistan.


• 
  September 11 – The Ford Pinto introduced.


• 
  September 21 – Monday Night Football debuts on ABC.


• 
  October 18 – Anwar el-Sadat officially becomes president of Egypt.


• 
  October 30 – Monsoon halts Vietnam War.


• 
  November 3 – Salvador Allende becomes president of Chile.


• 
  December 1 – Luis Echeverría becomes president of Mexico.


• The first IMAX theatre opens in Japan
  

Births |

Kevin Smith in 2012

• 
  January 29 – Heather Graham, American actress
  


• 
  January 31 – Minnie Driver, British actress


• 
  February 28 – Daniel Handler, American writer (Lemony Snickets: A Series of Unfortunate Events)


• 
  March 5 – John Frusciante, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)


• 
  March 18 – Queen Latifah, American singer, actress and model


• 
  March 27 – Mariah Carey, American singer
  


• 
  May 18 – Tina Fey, American screenwriter and actress


• 
  May 27 – Joseph Fiennes, English actor June 1 Alex Lalas Popular football player Alison Hinds Queen of Soca popular female soca artiste Of Barbados


• 
  July 8 – Beck, American singer


• 
  July 23 – Charisma Carpenter, American actress


• 
  August 2 – Kevin Smith, American movie director
  


• 
  August 8 – Pascal Duquenne, Belgian actor


• 
  August 12 – Kristopher Schau, Norwegian singer


• 
  August 13 – Alan Shearer, English football player


• 
  August 20 – John Carmack, American video game creator


• 
  September 9 – Macy Gray, American singer and actress


• 
  October 2 – Kelly Ripa, American actress and talk show host
  


• 
  October 8 – Matt Damon, American actor


• 
  October 9 – Steve Jablonsky, American movie and television composer
  


• 
  October 15 – Pernilla Wiberg, Swedish skier
  


• 
  October 28 – Greg Eagles, African-American actor


• 
  October 29 – Phillip Cocu, Dutch footballer
  


• 
  October 29 – Edwin van der Sar, Dutch footballer
  


• 
  December 12 – Jennifer Connelly, American actress


• 
  December 18 – Rob Van Dam, American professional wrestler


• 
  December 24 – Sascha Fischer, German rugby player


• 
  December 29 – Glen Phillips, American singer and guitarist
  

Deaths |

Bertrand Russell in 1936

• 
  January 5 – Max Born, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)


• 
  February 2 – Bertrand Russell, Welsh philosopher and mathematician (b. 1872)


• 
  February 27- Marie Dionne, one of the Dionne Quintuplets (b. 1934)


• 
  March 30 – Heinrich Brüning, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1885)


• 
  April 28 – Ed Begley, American actor (b. 1901)


• 
  May 12 – Nelly Sachs, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)


• 
  June 21 – Sukarno, first President of Indonesia (b. 1901)


• 
  July 24 - Beatrice Roberts, American actress (b. 1901)


• 
  July 27 – António de Oliveira Salazar, 12th President of Portugal (b. 1889)


• 
  August 10 – Alexander Gode, German-American linguist (b. 1906)


• 
  September 3 – Vince Lombardi, American football coach (b. 1913)


• 
  September 5 – Jochen Rindt, German racecar driver (b. 1942)


• 
  September 18 – Jimi Hendrix, American guitarist (b. 1942)


• 
  September 25 – Erich Maria Remarque, German writer (b. 1898)


• 
  September 28 – Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt (b. 1918)


• 
  October 4 – Janis Joplin, American rock singer (Mercedes Benz) (b. 1943)


• 
  November 4 – Friedrich Kellner, German writer (b. 1885)


• 
  November 9 – Charles de Gaulle, President of France (b. 1890)


• 
  December 30 – Sonny Liston, American boxer (b. 1932)

Nobel Prizes |

• 
  Nobel Prize in Physics won by Hannes Alfvén, Swedish electrical engineer, plasma physicist, and Louis Néel, a French physicist
  


• 
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry won by Luis Federico Leloir, Argentine physician and biochemist
  


• 
  Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine shared by Sir Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler, and Julius Axelrod for their work on neurotransmitters
  


• 
  Nobel Prize in Literature won by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer


• 
  Nobel Peace Prize won by Norman Borlaug, American biologist and humanitarian
  


• 
  Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences – Paul Samuelson
  

Movies released |

• 
  Airport, starring Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin
  


• 
  The Aristocats, an animated movie by Walt Disney Productions
  


• 
  Love Story, winner of Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama


• 
  MASH, winner of Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or comedy


• 
  Patton, winner of 7 Academy Awards
  


• 
  Tora! Tora! Tora! about the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941


• Woodstock

Hit songs |

The Carpenters in 1972

• "(They Long to Be) Close to You" – Carpenters
  


• "Maybe I'm Amazed" – Paul McCartney
  


• "After Midnight" – Eric Clapton
  


• "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" – Diana Ross
  


• "American Woman" – The Guess Who
  


• "Amos Moses" – Jerry Reed
  


• "Border Song (Holy Moses)" – Aretha Franklin
  


• "Bridge Over Troubled Water" – Simon and Garfunkel
  


• "Call Me" – Aretha Franklin
  


• "Can't Stop Loving You" – Tom Jones
  


• "Cecilia" – Simon and Garfunkel
  


• "Celebrate" – Three Dog Night
  


• "Close To You " – Carpenters
  


• "Come And Get It" – Badfinger
  


• "Come Together /Something " – The Beatles
  


• "Cupid " – Johnny Nash
  


• "Does Anybody Really Know What Time it is" – Chicago
  


• "Down on the Corner" – Creedence Clearwater Revival
  


• "El Condor Pasa" – Simon and Garfunkel
  


• "Eli's Coming" – Three Dog Night
  


• "Everybody's Out of Town" – B.J. Thomas
  


• "Fire and Rain" – James Taylor
  


• "For You Blue" – The Beatles
  


• "Hand Me Down World" – The Guess Who
  


• "Heaven Help Us All" – Stevie Wonder
  


• "If You Could Read My Mind" – Gordon Lightfoot
  


• "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" – Dionne Warwick
  


• "Immigrant Song" – Led Zeppelin
  


• "Indiana Wants Me – R. Dean Taylor
  


• "Instant Karma (We All Shine On)" – John Lennon
  


• "Isn't It a Pity" – George Harrison
  


• "It Don't Matter to Me" – Bread
  


• "It's a New Day (Parts 1 & 2)" – James Brown


• "It's Only Make Believe" – Glen Campbell
  


• "I've Lost You" – Elvis Presley
  


• "Jam Up and Jelly Tight" – Tommy Roe
  


• "Joanne" – Michael Nesmith & The First National Band


• "Kentucky Rain" – Elvis Presley
  


• "Leaving on a Jet Plane" – Peter, Paul and Mary
  


• "Let It Be" – The Beatles
  


• "Let Me Go to Him" – Dionne Warwick
  


• "Lola " – The Kinks
  


• "Lonely Days " – The Bee Gees
  


• "Long and Winding Road" – The Beatles
  


• "Looking Out My Back Door " – Creedence Clearwater Revival
  


• "Love the One You're With" – Stephen Stills
  


• "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" – Three Dog Night
  


• "Mississippi Queen" – Mountain
  


• "My Sweet Lord" – George Harrison
  


• "No Matter What" – Badfinger
  


• "No Time " – The Guess Who
  


• "Oh Happy Day" – Glen Campbell
  


• "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" – Neil Young
  


• "Out In the Country" – Three Dog Night
  


• "Psychedelic Shack" – The Temptations
  


• "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" – B.J. Thomas
  


• "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" – Diana Ross
  


• "Remember Me" – Diana Ross
  


• "Ride Captain Ride" – Blues Image
  


• "See Me, Feel Me " – The Who
  


• "Share the Land" – The Guess Who
  


• "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" – Stevie Wonder
  


• "Snowbird" – Anne Murray
  


• "Son of a Preacher Man" – Aretha Franklin
  


• "Stoney End" – Barbra Streisand
  


• "Summertime Blues" – The Who
  


• "The Long and Winding Road" – The Beatles
  


• "The Wonder of You" – Elvis Presley
  


• "Travelin' Band" – Creedence Clearwater Revival
  


• "We've Only Just Begun " – Carpenters
  


• "What Is Truth?" – Johnny Cash
  


• "Whole Lotta Love " – Led Zeppelin
  


• "Who'll Stop The Rain" – Creedence Clearwater Revival
  


• "Your Song" – Elton John
  

New books |

• 
  Deliverance by James Dickey
  


• 
  Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
  


• 
  Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault
  


• 
  Of a Fire on the Moon by Norman Mailer
  


• 
  The Guardians by John Christopher (Sam Youd)


• 
  Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
  


• 
  The Paper Chase by John Jay Osborn, Jr.
  

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