| 1970-07-23
Qaboos ibn Sa’id becomes Sultan of Oman after overthrowing his father, Sa’id ibn Taimur initiating massive reforms ;modernisation programs and end to a decade long civil war.
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| 1970-09-12
Palestinian terrorists blow up three hijacked airliners in Jordan, continuing to hold the passengers hostage in various undisclosed locations in Amman.
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| 1970-06-13
"The Long and Winding Road" becomes the Beatles' last Number 1 song.
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| 1970-09-05
Vietnam War: Operation Jefferson Glenn begins: the United States 101st Airborne Division and the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division initiate a new operation in Thừa Thiên-Huế Province.
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| 1970-05-09
Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 75,000 to 100,000 war protesters demonstrate in front of the White House.
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| 1970-04-11
Apollo 13 is launched.
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| 1970-03-21
Vinko Bogataj crashes during a ski-jumping championship in Germany; his image becomes that of the "agony of defeat guy" in the opening credits of ABC's Wide World of Sports.
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| 1970-03-31
Nine terrorists from the Japanese Red Army hijack Japan Airlines Flight 351 at Tokyo International Airport, wielding samurai swords and carrying a bomb.
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| 1970-10-13
Fiji joins the United Nations.
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| 1970-04-29
Vietnam War: United States and South Vietnamese forces invade Cambodia to hunt Viet Cong.
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| 1970-12-02
The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.
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| 1970-11-25
In Japan, author Yukio Mishima and one compatriot commit ritualistic suicide after an unsuccessful coup attempt.
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| 1970-05-10
Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, opens a full-scale assault on Jerusalem and attacks the city's Third Wall to the northwest.
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| 1970-10-20
Siad Barre declares Somalia a socialist state.
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| 1970-04-08
Bahr el-Baqar incident: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. 46 children are killed.
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| 1970-07-21
After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed.
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| 1970-02-24
National Public Radio is founded in the United States.
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| 1970-09-07
Fighting between Arab guerillas and government forces in Amman, Jordan.
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| 1970-10-28
Gary Gabelich sets a land speed record in a rocket-powered automobile called the Blue Flame, fueled with natural gas.
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| 1970-01-01
Unix epoch time begins at 00:00:00 UTC/GMT.
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| 1970-11-12
The 1970 Bhola cyclone makes landfall on the coast of East Pakistan becoming the deadliest tropical cyclone in history.
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| 1970-09-16
King Hussein of Jordan declares military rule following the hijacking of four civilian airliners by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This results in the formation of the Black September Palestinian paramilitary unit.
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| 1970-09-07
Bill Shoemaker sets record for most lifetime wins as a jockey (passing Johnny Longden).
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| 1970-05-11
The Lubbock Tornado, a F5 tornado, hits Lubbock, Texas, killing 26 and causing $250 million in damage.
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| 1970-07-20
First Jewish-Roman War: Siege of Jerusalem - Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount. The Roman army is drawn into street fights with the Zealots.
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| 1970-08-07
California judge Harold Haley is taken hostage in his courtroom and killed during in an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.
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| 1970-04-24
The first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, is launched.
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| 1970-04-24
The Gambia becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Dawda Jawara as the first President.
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| 1970-11-17
Luna program: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.
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| 1970-10-05
Montreal, Quebec: British Trade Commissioner James Cross is kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
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| 1970-05-26
The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
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| 1970-11-10
Vietnam War: Vietnamization – For the first time in five years, an entire week ends with no reports of American combat fatalities in Southeast Asia.
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| 1970-11-13
Bhola cyclone: A 150-mph tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people in one night. This is regarded as the 20th century's worst natural disaster.
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| 1970-04-28
Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon formally authorizes American combat troops to fight communist sanctuaries in Cambodia.
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| 1970-10-15
The domestic Soviet Aeroflot Flight 244 is hijacked and diverted to Turkey.
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| 1970-10-10
Fiji becomes independent.
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| 1970-04-22
The first Earth Day is celebrated.
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| 1970-03-31
Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.
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| 1970-07-14
first riots and barricades during the Reggio revolt (Italy).
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| 1970-12-15
The Illinois State Constitution is adopted at a special election.
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| 1970-08-26
The then new feminist movement, led by Betty Friedan, leads a nation-wide Women's Strike for Equality.
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| 1970-10-02
A plane carrying the Wichita State University football team, administrators, and supporters crashes in Colorado killing 31 people.
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| 1970-02-26
National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation.
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| 1970-05-28
The formerly united Free University of Brussels officially splits into two separate entities, the French-speaking Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
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| 1970-03-21
The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.
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| 1970-04-21
The Hutt River Province Principality secedes from Australia.
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| 1970-09-19
The first Glastonbury Festival is held at Michael Eavis's farm in Glastonbury, United Kingdom.
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| 1970-04-13
An oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the spacecraft while en route to the Moon.
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| 1970-04-26
The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force
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| 1970-11-04
Genie, a 13-year-old feral child is found in Los Angeles, California having been locked in her bedroom for most of her life.
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| 1970-10-05
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is founded.
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| 1970-03-17
My Lai Massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
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| 1970-09-02
NASA announces the cancellation of two Apollo missions to the Moon, Apollo 15 (the designation is re-used by a later mission), and Apollo 19.
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| 1970-01-22
The Boeing 747, the world's first "jumbo jet", enters commercial service for launch customer Pan American Airways with its maiden voyage from John F Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport.
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| 1970-09-25
Cease-fire between Jordan and the Fedayeen ends fighting triggered by four hijackings on September 6 and 9.
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| 1970-06-04
Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
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| 1970-01-15
After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafra surrenders.
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| 1970-10-10
In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
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| 1970-07-08
Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American Self-Determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination Act.
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| 1970-11-04
Vietnam War: Vietnamization – The United States turns control of the Binh Thuy Air Base in the Mekong Delta over to South Vietnam.
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| 1970-09-22
Tunku Abdul Rahman resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
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| 1970-09-30
Jordan makes a deal with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) for the release of the remaining hostages from the Dawson's Field hijackings.
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| 1970-09-09
A British airliner is hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and flown to Dawson's Field in Jordan.
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| 1970-09-08
Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem.
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| 1970-11-01
Club Cinq-Sept fire in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, France kills 146 young people.
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| 1970-07-31
Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.
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| 1970-10-12
Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas
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| 1970-09-07
An anti-war rally is held at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, attended by John Kerry, Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.
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| 1970-10-16
In response to the October Crisis terrorist kidnapping, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of Canada invokes the War Measures Act.
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| 1970-05-15
President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army Generals.
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| 1970-06-19
The Patent Cooperation Treaty is signed.
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| 1970-08-17
Venera Program: Venera 7 launched. It will later become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
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| 1970-07-03
A British Dan-Air De Havilland Comet chartered jetliner crashes into mountains north of Barcelona, Spain killing 113 people.
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| 1970-11-05
Vietnam War: The United States Military Assistance Command in Vietnam reports the lowest weekly American soldier death toll in five years (24).
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| 1970-02-18
The Chicago Seven are found not guilty of conspiring to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
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| 1970-03-06
Blast at Weather Underground safe house in Greenwich Village kills three.
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| 1970-11-14
Southern Airways Flight 932 crashes in the mountains near Huntington, West Virginia, killing 75, including members of the Marshall University football team.
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| 1970-10-30
In Vietnam, the worst monsoon to hit the area in six years causes large floods, kills 293, leaves 200,000 homeless and virtually halts the Vietnam War.
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| 1970-03-04
French submarine Eurydice explodes.
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| 1970-04-14
Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, surrounds the Jewish capital, with four Roman legions.
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| 1970-11-09
Vietnam War: The Supreme Court of the United States votes 6 to 3 against hearing a case to allow Massachusetts to enforce its law granting residents the right to refuse military service in an undeclared war.
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| 1970-06-05
Titus and his Roman legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem.
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| 1970-05-14
The Red Army Faction is established in Germany.
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| 1970-03-10
Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged with My Lai war crimes.
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| 1970-04-01
President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring the Surgeon General's warnings on tobacco products and banning cigarette advertisements on television and radio in the United States, starting on January 1, 1971.
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| 1970-11-14
Soviet Union enters ICAO, making Russian the fourth official language of organization.
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| 1970-12-07
The first ever general election on the basis of direct adult franchise is held in Pakistan for 313 National Assembly seats.
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| 1970-03-05
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
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| 1970-05-15
Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green are killed at Jackson State University by police during student protests.
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| 1970-04-06
Newhall Incident: Four California Highway Patrol officers are killed.
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| 1970-10-22
Tunku Abdul Rahman resigns as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
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| 1970-07-01
President General Yahya Khan abolishes One-Unit of West Pakistan restoring the provinces.
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| 1970-11-10
The Soviet Lunar probe Lunokhod 1 is launched.
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| 1970-07-03
The Troubles: the "Falls Curfew" begins in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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| 1970-12-15
South Korean ferry Namyong Ho capsizes off Korean Strait killing 308.
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| 1970-05-31
The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide that buries the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people are killed.
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| 1970-11-17
Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse.
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| 1970-08-29
Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War, East Los Angeles, California. Police riot kills three people, including journalist Ruben Salazar.
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| 1970-09-26
The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, California, burning 175,425 acres (710 km²).
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| 1970-05-01
Protests erupt in Seattle, Washington, following the announcement by U.S. President Richard Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country.
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| 1970-02-21
Swissair Flight 330: A mid-air bomb explosion and subsequent crash kills 38 passengers and nine crew members near Zürich, Switzerland.
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| 1970-10-17
Montreal, Quebec: Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte murdered by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
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| 1970-09-07
A Roman army under Titus occupies and plunders Jerusalem.
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| 1970-01-12
Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war.
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| 1970-09-08
Hijacking (and subsequent destruction) of three airliners to Jordan by Palestinians; the events to follow would later become known as Black September
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| 1970-01-16
Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
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| 1970-09-06
Two passenger jets bound from Europe to New York are simultaneously hijacked by Palestinian terrorist members of PFLP and taken to Dawson's Field in Jordan.
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| 1970-11-17
Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai massacre.
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| 1970-09-17
Fighting breaks out along the Syria-Jordanian border between Jordanian troops and the fedayeen.
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| 1970-07-05
Air Canada Flight 621 crashes near Toronto International Airport killing 109 people.
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| 1970-05-17
Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean.
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| 1970-02-13
Black Sabbath, arguably the very first heavy metal album, is released.
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| 1970-01-15
Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
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| 1970-12-23
The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world.
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| 1970-04-17
Apollo program: The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely.
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| 1970-12-03
October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de libération du Québec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return the Canadian government grants five terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to Cuba.
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| 1970-05-04
Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: the Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, open fire killing four students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the United States' invasion of Cambodia.
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| 1970-11-21
Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast – A joint Air Force and Army team raids the Son Tay prison camp in an attempt to free American prisoners of war thought to be held there.
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| 1970-12-17
Polish 1970 protests: In Gdynia soldiers fire at workers emerging from trains, killing dozens.
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| 1970-11-12
The Oregon Highway Division attempts to destroy a rotting beached Sperm whale with explosives, leading to the now infamous "exploding whale" incident.
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| 1970-03-02
Rhodesia declares itself a republic, breaking its last links with the British crown.
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| 1970-06-11
After being appointed on May 15, Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington officially receive their ranks as U.S. Army Generals, becoming the first females to do so.
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| 1970-08-04
The destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans.
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| 1970-10-15
Thirty-five construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses.
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| 1970-05-08
The Hard Hat riot occurs in the Wall Street area of New York City as blue-collar construction workers clash with demonstrators protesting the Vietnam War.
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| 1970-05-24
The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the Soviet Union.
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| 1970-10-08
Vietnam War: In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects US President Richard Nixon's October 7 peace proposal as "a maneuver to deceive world opinion".
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| 1970-09-20
Syrian tanks roll into Jordan in response to continued fighting between Jordan and the fedayeen.
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| 1970-05-30
Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breach the Second Wall of Jerusalem. The Jewish defenders retreat to the First Wall. The Romans build a circumvallation, cutting down all trees within fifteen kilometres.
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| 1970-11-26
In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever recorded.
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| 1970-10-09
The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia.
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| 1970-09-01
Attempted assassination of King Hussein of Jordan by Palestinian guerrillas, who attacked his motorcade.
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| 1970-02-15
A Dominican DC-9 crashes into the sea during takeoff from Santo Domingo, killing 102.
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| 1970-03-18
Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
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| 1970-11-18
U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million USD in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government.
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