1970 Fun Facts, Trivia and History |
Quick Facts from 1970Table of Contents |
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Top Ten Baby Names of 1970Jennifer, Lisa, Kimberly, Michelle, Amy, Angela, Melissa, Tammy, Mary, Tracy |
US StatisticsFederal spending: $195.65 billion Federal debt $380.9 billion Unemployment: 3.5% Gallon of Gas: 36 cents Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.06 |
Fashion Icons and Sex SymbolsDyan Cannon, Veronica Carlson, Catherine Deneuve, Barbara Eden, Barbara Feldon, Jane Fonda, Goldie Hawn, Peggy Lipton, Ann-Margret, Caroline Munro, Ingrid Pitt, Diana Rigg, Diana Ross, Cheryl Tiegs, Tina Turner, Twiggy, Raquel Welch |
Leading Men and Hollywood HeartthrobsWarren Beatty, Tom Jones, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley |
“The Quotes”“It’s not easy being green.” “I told my coach, ‘Jimi Hendrix just died, and I’m quitting the team to become a guitar player.'” “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” “It’s the real thing.” |
Time Magazine’s Man of the YearWilly Brandt |
Miss AmericaPamela Eldred (West Bloomfield, MI) |
Miss USADeborah Shelton (Virginia) |
The Scandal/Nerd NewsProject Bluebook was the U.S. government’s study of UFOs from 1952 through 1970. A 14-part report was issued, but chapter 13 was mysteriously missing. It still is. |
World & US HistoryThe Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, was signed. The goal is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy. The Expo ’70 World’s Fair opened in Suita, Osaka, Japan. An unsuccessful attempt to land on the moon was postponed with the Apollo 13 mission to the moon accident. Astronauts James Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise all survived. Four students at Kent State University in Ohio, USA, were killed and nine wounded by Ohio National Guardsmen at a protest against the incursion into Cambodia. #KentStateShootings Four days after the Kent State Shooting, The Hard Hat Riot took place. Unionized construction workers attacked about 1,000 students and others protesting the Kent State shootings near the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street and at New York City Hall. The first Earth Day was celebrated. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ) began operations. The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act was signed, banning cigarette television advertisements in the United States as of January 1, 1971. The Liberian-registered tanker Pacific Glory spilled nearly 100,000 gallons of crude oil into the English Channel. The ‘Chicago Seven’ defendants were found guilty of intent to incite a riot at the Democrat National Convention in Chicago (1968). The Court of Appeals later overturned it. The US lowered the voting age to 18 from 21. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was founded. Also, the Patent Cooperation Treaty was signed into international law, providing a unified procedure for filing and protecting patent applications. |
RIP Rock StarsSeptember 18 – American musician Jimi Hendrix died at age 27 from an overdose of sleeping pills. #27club |
1970 Pop Culture Facts & HistoryThe ‘blue raspberry’ flavor was created by the makers of ICEEs in 1970 to distinguish raspberry from their popular cherry flavor. The longest-running active commercial is the Tootsie Pop ‘How Many Licks’ ad in 1970. |
Tarawood Antigone, a four-year-old Burmese cat, gave birth to 19 kittens. Fourteen males and one female survived from the litter in Oxfordshire, UK. A fighter pilot, Captain Gary Faust, was forced to eject during a training mission. His plane, a Convair F-106 Delta Dart, later righted itself and continued flying for miles, touching down gently in a farmer’s field. It earned the nickname “The Cornfield Bomber.” The Microprocessor was invented. The Ford Pinto, The Chevrolet Vega, the Citroën SM, and the AMC Gremlin were introduced. The world’s first jumbo-jet, the Boeing 747, carried out the first commercial flight. Unix time (aka Epoch time, POSIX time, UNIX Epoch time) is a system for describing a point in time. It is the number of seconds that have elapsed since the Unix epoch, which is the time 00:00:00 UTC on January 1, 1970, minus leap seconds. The word ‘Spam’ used in junk emails comes from a sketch on BBC’s Monty Python’s Flying Circus from 1970. 23-year-old Gary Anderson created the recycling logo in 1970 for a design contest. The North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City reached 1,368 feet, making it the tallest building in the world. Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) made a plan to slip President Richard Nixon 600 micrograms of LSD when she was invited to a tea party at the White House by Nixon’s daughter in 1970, but she was turned away by security at the door. Rocker Peter Gabriel played the flute part on the 1970 track Katmandu by Cat Stevens. George Harrison was the first and last Beatle to have a U.S. No.1 with My Sweet Lord in 1970 and Got My Mind Set on You in 1988. Jim Morrison was found guilty of “open profanity and indecent exposure” after allegedly exposing himself at a concert in Miami in 1969. The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 took place. Artists included Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors, Chicago, Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Joan Baez, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, The Moody Blues and Jethro Tull. In 1970, Totes brought the first quality folding umbrella to U.S. markets. Elvis Presley met US President Richard Nixon in the White House. US President Richard Nixon signed a bill (The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act) limiting cigarette advertisements as of Jan 1, 1971. President Richard Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act into law in December. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ) began operating. The Patent Cooperation Treaty was signed into international law, providing a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions. Douglas Engelbart received the patent (#3,541,541) for the first computer mouse, an “X-Y position indicator for a display system.” The Weather Bureau was renamed the National Weather Service as part of NOAA. Alvin Toffler published his book Future Shock. The American Football League and the NFL merged, creating the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. Krazy Glue was introduced in 1970, although the main ingredient, cyanoacrylate, was discovered in 1942 by Harry Coover while working for Kodak. On January 5 – The first episode of the soap opera All My Children was broadcast on the ABC. On January 22, the Boeing 747 made its first commercial passenger trip to London. January 25, 1970, M*A*S*H, directed by Robert Altman and starring Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould, was released. On Friday, February 13, Black Sabbath’s debut album was released. It is often regarded as the first true heavy metal album. On March 5, Airport, based on the book by Arthur Hailey, directed by George Seaton and starring Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin, was released. March 21, 1970 – The first San Diego Comic-Con International opened at the US Grant Hotel. June 7, 1970: The Who became the first to perform rock music (the rock opera, Tommy) at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. On July 4, Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 debuted on LA radio station KIIS in syndication. August 12, 1970 – The United States Postal Service was made independent in a postal reform measure for the first time since its creation. On September 13th, the first New York City Marathon began. Only 55 people finished it. September 21 – Monday Night Football debuted on ABC. The Cleveland Browns defeated the New York Jets 31–21 in front of more than 85,000 fans at Cleveland Stadium. Sep 30: The New American Bible was published. It is the only translation approved for use at Mass in the Roman Catholic dioceses of the United States and has been revised several times. On October 4, the National Educational Television ended operations, succeeded by PBS (Public Broadcasting System) on October 5. October 26 – Garry Trudeau’s comic strip Doonesbury debuted in approximately two dozen newspapers in the United States. December 16: Love Story, a film based on the novel by Erich Segal, directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali McGraw, was released. Whataburger in Texas and What-A-Burger in Virginia opened about the same time in 1950, but they didn’t know of each other’s existence until 1970. They both sued the other, but the court ruled that customers would not likely be confused about whether the burgers served came from Texas or Virginia. Cost of a Super Bowl ad in 1970: $78,000 |
Pop Culture MysteryIsdal Woman Mystery: In November 1970, the badly burned body of a woman was found in a remote spot in Norway’s Isdalen valley. Someone had cut the labels off her clothes and scraped distinctive marks off her belongings. Police uncovered a trail of coded messages, disguises, and fake identities. |
The HabitThe cool kids were reading Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury comic strip. |
1st Appearances & 1970’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and PresentsStylophone musical toy, Mastermind, Whizzer |
Best Film Oscar WinnerMidnight Cowboy (presented in 1970) |
Broadway ShowSleuth (Play) Opened on November 12, 1970, and closed on October 13, 1973 |
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1970Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume |
1970 Most Popular TV Shows1. Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC) |
1970 Billboard Number One SongsDecember 27, 1969 – January 2, 1970: January 3 – January 30: January 31 – February 6: February 7 – February 13: February 14 – February 27: February 28 – April 10: April 11 – April 24: April 25 – May 8: May 9 – May 29: May 30 – June 12: June 13 – June 26: June 27 – July 10: July 11 – July 24: July 25 – August 21: August 22 – August 28: August 29 – September 18: September 19 – October 9: October 10 – October 16: October 17 – November 20: November 21 – December 12: December 12 – December 25: December 26, 1970 – January 22, 1971: |
1970 United States CensusTotal US Population: 203,302,031 |
SportsWorld Series Champions: Baltimore Orioles |
More 1970 Facts & History Resources:Most Popular Baby Names (BabyCenter.com) |