Explore 2973 historical events from 1970–1979.
The Tupolev Tu-144 is a Soviet supersonic passenger airliner designed by Tupolev that operated commercially from 1975 to 1983, including 1977–1978 passenger service.
A Tupolev Tu-144 crashes near the Russian town of Yegoryevsk, killing two
The Willow Island disaster was the collapse of a cooling tower under construction at the Pleasants Power Station at Willow Island, West Virginia, on April 27, 1978. Fifty-one const…
Willow Island disaster: In the deadliest construction accident in United States history, 51 construction workers are kil
Electronic mail is a method of transmitting and receiving digital messages using electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the late–20th century as the digita…
The first unsolicited bulk commercial email (which would later become known as "spam") is sent by a Digital Equipment Co
The South African Defence Force (SADF) comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the for…
The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people
Zaire, officially the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1971 and Republic of Zaire from 1971 to 1997, was a country in Central Africa headed by Mobutu Sese Seko from 19…
In Zaire, rebels occupy the city of Kolwezi, the mining center of the province of Shaba (now known as Katanga); the loca
Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, was an American mathematician and domestic terrorist. A mathematics prodigy, he abandoned his academic career in 1969 to pursu…
The first of a series of bombings orchestrated by the Unabomber detonates at Northwestern University resulting in minor
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international patent law treaty, concluded in 1970. It provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions i…
The first international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty are filed
Air Canada Flight 189 was a scheduled flight from Ottawa to Vancouver via Toronto and Winnipeg. On June 26, 1978, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the flight crashed on takeoff…
Air Canada Flight 189, flying to Toronto, overruns the runway and crashes into the Etobicoke Creek ravine
Louise Joy Brown is an English woman noted as the first human born following conception by in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Her birth, following a procedure pioneered in Britain, has …
Birth of Louise Joy Brown, the first human to have been born after conception by in vitro fertilisation, or IVF.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Sai…
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens its priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy o
Altaf Hussain is a British Pakistani politician who is known as the founder of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. He holds United Kingdom citizenship and has been living in exile in the…
Altaf Hussain founds the student political movement All Pakistan Muhajir Students Organisation (APMSO) in Karachi Univer
Garfield is an American comic strip and media franchise created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as Jon in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978, it chronicles t…
Garfield's first comic strip, originally published locally as Jon in 1976, goes into nationwide syndication
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice is an English songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, Joseph and the Amaz…
The original production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, Evita, based on the life of Eva Perón, opens at t
Charon, formal designation (134340) Pluto I, is the largest of the five known natural satellites of the dwarf planet Pluto. It has a mean radius of 606 km (377 mi). Charon is a pla…
Charon, the first of Pluto's satellites to be discovered, was first seen at the United States Naval Observatory by James
In Japan's Okinawa Prefecture, 730 is a reference to July 30, 1978, the day the prefecture switched back from driving on the right-hand side of the road to the left.
The 730: Okinawa Prefecture changes its traffic on the right-hand side of the road to the left-hand side.
Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer is a retired German alpine skier and gold medal winner at FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.
Monika Bergmann-Schmuderer, German skier
Lindsay Korman is an American actress. She first came to attention with three long-running soap opera roles: Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald on Passions, Cara Castillo on All My Children,…
Lindsay Hartley, American actress
Daniel Hensel is a German composer, VJ, musicologist and music theorist. He is known as a composer of expressive works of all musical genres whose works can be dedicated to "a thre…
Daniel Hensel, German composer and musicologist
Ahmad bin Hussein al-Ghashmi was a Yemeni military officer who served as the fourth President of the Yemen Arab Republic from 11 October 1977 until his assassination eight months l…
Ahmad al-Ghashmi, the president of the Yemen Arab Republic, is killed when a bomb exploded in a suitcase carried by a So
The rainbow flag or pride flag is a symbol of LGBTQ pride and LGBTQ social movements, as well as a peace symbol. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ community and the spe…
The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal cou…
The United States Supreme Court, in Regents of the University of California v
The Northern Territory is an Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Australi…
The Northern Territory in Australia is granted self-government.
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons, is an archipelagic country consisting of six major islands and over 1,000 smaller islands in Melanesia, Oceania, to the north-ea…
The Solomon Islands becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
Jason Phillip Randall White is a Scottish former rugby union footballer. He was a utility forward who played in the second or back row of the scrum – lock, flanker, or number eight…
Jason White, Scottish rugby player