1970 CE

Apollo 13 suffers a near-fatal malfunction but returns safely; the Kent State shootings kill four students and trigger nationwide outrage; the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico crowns Brazil champions for the third time; the break-up of the Beatles becomes official with Paul McCartney’s departure; the 1970 Ancash earthquake and 1970 Huascarán debris avalanche kill tens of thousands in Peru; the Dawson's Field hijackings shock the world as multiple planes are seized; Ohsumi marks Japan’s first satellite launch; the 1970 Polish protests erupt over economic hardship; and the 1970 Bhola cyclone devastates East Pakistan, becoming the deadliest cyclone ever recorded.

In the 1970s, the 20th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • March 5 – The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect, after ratification by 56 nations.source
  • March 6 – Süleyman Demirel of AP forms the new government of Turkey (32nd government).source
  • March 19 – Ostpolitik: The leaders of West Germany and East Germany meet at a summit for the first time since Germany's division into two republics. West German Chancellor Willy Brandt is greeted by cheering East German crowds as he arrives in Erfurt for a summit with his counterpart, East German Ministerpräsident Willi Stoph.source
  • 15 April – 1970 Balkans Cup: Albania ties with Yugoslavia 1-1Albaniasource
  • 28 May - Luxembourg and Yugoslavia sign a treaty governing the migration of Yugoslavs to Luxembourg.Luxembourgsource
  • May 31 – The 1970 FIFA World Cup in association football is inaugurated in Mexico. Tactical substitutes are first permitted.source
  • 5 July – Eniaion won 15 of the 35 seats in parliament following parliamentary elections. However, AKEL receiving a far larger share of the vote.Cyprussource
  • September 4 – Chilean Socialist Senator Salvador Allende wins 36.2% of the vote in his run for presidency defeating former right-wing President Jorge Alessandri with 34.9% of the votes and Christian Democrat Radomiro Tomic with 27.8% of the votes.source
  • September 15 – King Hussein of Jordan forms a military government with Muhammad Daoud as the prime minister.source
  • September 22 – Tunku Abdul Rahman resigns as prime minister of Malaysia, and is succeeded by his deputy Tun Abdul Razak.source
  • 22 September – Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj resigned as prime minister.Malaysiasource
  • September 28 – Vice President Anwar Sadat is named temporary president of Egypt following the death of Gamal Abdel Nasser.source
  • October 6 – Bolivian President Alfredo Ovando Candía resigns; General Rogelio Miranda takes over but resigns soon after.source
  • October 7 – General Juan José Torres becomes the new President of Bolivia.source
  • October 9 - The Khmer Republic was formally declared as the government of Cambodia.Cambodiasource
  • October 13 – Saeb Salam forms a government in Lebanon.source
  • October 20 – New Egyptian president Anwar Sadat names Mahmoud Fawzi as his prime minister.source
  • October 24 – Salvador Allende is elected President of Chile by a run-off vote in the National Congresssource
  • October 28 – In Jordan, the government of Ahmad Toukan resigns; the next prime minister is Wasfi al-Tal.source
  • November 3 – Salvador Allende takes office as president of Chile.source
  • November 13 – Hafez al-Assad comes to power in Syria, following a military coup within the Ba'ath Party.source
  • November 19 – The six European Economic Community nation prime ministers meet in Munich to begin the new programme of European Political Cooperation (EPC), a unified foreign policy for a future European Union.source
  • November 21 – Syrian Prime Minister Hafez al-Assad forms a new government but retains the post of defense minister.source
  • November 21 – 1970 Australian Senate election: The Liberal/Country Coalition government led by Prime Minister John Gorton and the Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam each end up with 26 seats, both suffering a swing against them. The Democratic Labor Party wins an additional seat and holds the balance of power in the Senate. This is the last occasion on which a Senate election is held without an accompanying House of Representatives election.source
  • December 1 – Luis Echeverría becomes president of Mexico.source
  • December 7 – Pakistan's general elections are held.source
  • 7 December – 1970 Pakistani general election. Awami League gained majority and won the election.Pakistansource
  • 20 December – General Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party, Władysław Gomułka, resigns, and is replaced by Edward Gierek.Polandsource
  • December 23 – Law 70-001 is enacted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, amending article 4 of the constitution and making the country a one-party state.source
  • December 23 – The Bolivian government releases Régis Debray.source
  • December 27 – President of India V. V. Giri declares new elections.source
  • On 21 October, Barre declared Somalia a Socialist state run according to the principles of Scientific socialism, and banned diyya blood moneySomaliasource

Conflict & Security

  • January 15 – After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafran forces under Philip Effiong formally surrender to General Yakubu Gowon, ending the Nigerian Civil War.source
  • 8 February – The Taiyuan Prison incident begins.Taiwansource
  • 8 March – 1969–70 Albanian Cup: FK Partizani Tirana vs KF Vllaznia, Partizani wins 4-0Albaniasource
  • March 18 – General Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and holds Queen Sisowath Kossamak under house arrest.source
  • March 18 - King Norodom Sihanouk is overthrowned in a coup.Cambodiasource
  • April 8 – Israeli Air Force F-4 Phantom II fighter bombers kill 47 Egyptian school children at an elementary school in what is known as Bahr el-Baqar massacre. The single-floor school is hit by five bombs and two air-to-ground missiles.source
  • April 29 – Cambodian campaign: The U.S. incursion into Cambodia begins.source
  • May 6 – Arms Crisis in the Republic of Ireland: Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney are dismissed as members of the Irish Government for accusations of their involvement in a plot to import arms for use by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.source
  • May 14 – Jackson State killings: In the second day of violent demonstrations at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, state law enforcement officers fire into the demonstrators, killing 2 and injuring 12.source
  • May 14 – Ulrike Meinhof helps Andreas Baader escape and create the Red Army Faction in West Germany which exists until 1998.source
  • June 8 – A coup in Argentina brings a new junta of service chiefs; on June 18, Roberto M. Levingston becomes President.source
  • July 23 – 1970 Omani coup d'état: Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, is deposed in a bloodless palace coup by his son, Qaboos, with covert British support. Among the reforms he introduces is the abolition of chattel slavery in Oman.source
  • 6 August – Pahang state government declared and officially verified that the said Mat Siam was truly the legendary Pahang warrior, Mat Kilau, the son of Tok Gajah. However, on 10 August, he died due to old age.Malaysiasource
  • September 1 – An assassination attempt against King Hussein of Jordan precipitates the country's Black September crisis.source
  • September 3–6 – Israeli forces fight Palestinian guerillas in southern Lebanon.source
  • September 5 – Vietnam War: Operation Jefferson Glenn: The United States 101st Airborne Division and the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division initiate a new operation in Thua Thien Province (the operation ends in October 1971).source
  • September 17 – Black September: King Hussein of Jordan orders the Jordanian Armed Forces to oust Palestinian fedayeen from Jordan.source
  • September 19 – Kostas Georgakis, a Greek student of geology, sets himself ablaze in Matteotti Square in Genoa, Italy, as a protest against the dictatorial Greek junta led by Georgios Papadopoulos.source
  • September 21 – Palestinian armed forces reinforce guerillas in Irbidi, Jordan.source
  • 11-13 September - Operation TailwindLaossource
  • October 3 – In Lebanon, the government of Prime Minister Rashid Karami resigns.source
  • October 9 – The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia, escalating the Cambodian Civil War between the government and the Khmer Rouge.source
  • October 22 – Chilean army commander René Schneider is shot in Santiago; the government declares a state of emergency. Schneider dies October 25.source
  • November 20 – The Miss World 1970 beauty pageant, hosted by Bob Hope at the Royal Albert Hall, London is disrupted by Women's Liberation protesters. Earlier on the same evening a bomb is placed under a BBC outside broadcast vehicle by The Angry Brigade, in protest at the entry of separate black and white contestants by South Africa.source
  • November 21 – In Ethiopia, the Eritrean Liberation Front kills an Ethiopian general.source
  • November 22 – Guinean president Ahmed Sékou Touré accuses Portugal of an attack when hundreds of mercenaries land near the capital Conakry. The Guinean army repels the landing attempts over the next three days.source
  • November 25 – In Tokyo, author and Tatenokai militia leader Yukio Mishima and his followers take over the headquarters of the Japan Self-Defense Forces in an attempted coup d'état. After Mishima's speech fails to sway public opinion towards his right-wing political beliefs, including restoration of the powers of the Emperor, he commits seppuku (public ritual suicide).source
  • November 27–29 – Papal visit of Pope Paul VI, the country's first. Upon his arrival at Manila International Airport, he survived an assassination attempt by a Bolivian painter, Benjamin Mendoza (a knife-wielding assailant dressed as a priest).Philippinessource
  • 15 December – Polish 1970 protests: Riots and looting lead to a confrontation with the government.Polandsource
  • December 16 – The Ethiopian government declares a state of emergency in the region of Eritrea over the activities of the Eritrean Liberation Front.source
  • 17 December – Soldiers fire on civilians returning to work in Gdynia. Martial law is imposed throughout the country until December 22.Polandsource
  • December 30 – In Biscay in the Basque country of Spain, 15,000 go on strike in protest at the Burgos trial death sentences. Francisco Franco commutes the sentences to 30 years in prison.source
  • Black September in Jordan - Civil warJordansource

Exploration & Expansion

  • March 15 – The Expo '70 World's Fair opens in Suita, Osaka, Japan.source
  • March 15 – September 13 – Expo '70 in Osaka.Japansource
  • 3 April – Avigdor Hameiri (born 1890), Austro-Hungarian (Carpathian Ruthenia)-born Israeli author.Israelsource
  • May 17 – Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II, to cross the South Atlantic.source
  • 17 May – Thor Heyerdahl and his crew sets sail from Morocco towards Latin America aboard Ra II, a papyrus boat modeled after ancient Egyptian sailing vessels, in an attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean and prove his theory that the ancient Egyptians sailed to America in ancient times.Norwaysource
  • 4 July – Mogens Frey wins stage 8 of the 1970 Tour de France.Denmarksource
  • July 12 – Thor Heyerdahl's papyrus boat Ra II arrives in Barbados.source
  • September 27 – Richard Nixon begins a tour of Europe, visiting Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain, the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.source
  • September 27 – Richard Nixon begins a tour of Europe, visiting Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland.United Statessource
  • Women's movement starts in Oman with the establishment of the Omani Women's Association.source
  • The Sweet Track is discovered in England. It is the world's oldest engineered roadway at the time of its discovery.source
  • The first Regional Technical Colleges open in Ireland.source
  • Buccaneer takes line honours and Pacha wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.Australiasource
  • Stephen Leacock Award: Farley Mowat, The Boat Who Wouldn't FloatCanadasource
  • New Zealand Trotting Cup: JamesNew Zealandsource

Religion & Belief

  • 11 January – Sinn Féin splits into Provisional and Official wings over a disagreement on abstentionism.Northern Irelandsource
  • 18 January – Hanoch Yelon (born 1886), Austro-Hungarian (Galicia)-born Israeli linguist and leading Talmudic researcher.Israelsource
  • March 2 - Keith Spicer is appointed as the first Official Languages CommissionerCanadasource
  • May 23: Roman Catholic Territorial Prelature of Cancún-Chetumal established.Mexicosource
  • September 27 – Pope Paul VI names Saint Teresa of Ávila (died 1582) as the first female Doctor of the Church.source
  • October 3 – Pope Paul VI names Saint Catherine of Siena (died 1380) as the second female Doctor of the Church.source
  • 11 November - Alfred Loesch is appointed to the Council of State.Luxembourgsource
  • December 5 – The Asian and Australian tour of Pope Paul VI ends.source
  • Pope Paul VI visits Australia.Australiasource
  • Sultan of Kelantan: Sultan Yahya PetraMalaysiasource
  • Loxene Golden Disc Soloist Award: Craig Scott – "Let's Get A Little Sentimental"New Zealandsource

Economy & Finance

  • 1 January - Value added tax (TVA) is introduced at 8%, with a reduced rate of 4%.Luxembourgsource
  • 26 January – Necmettin Erbakan founds National Order Party.Turkeysource
  • 20 February - Chile signs a trade agreement with Cuba, despite the OAS ban.Chilesource
  • February – Multi-business conglomerate Virgin Group is founded as a discount mail-order record retailer by Richard Branson in the UK.source
  • 6 May – Arms Crisis in the Republic of Ireland: The Minister for Finance, Charles Haughey, and the Minister for Agriculture, Neil Blaney, are asked to resign by Taoiseach Jack Lynch. He accuses them of the attempted illegal importation of arms for use by the Provisional IRA. Kevin Boland, the Minister for Local Government, resigns in sympathy with them.Northern Irelandsource
  • June 21 – Penn Central, America's largest railroad, files for chapter 77 bankruptcy; the largest U.S. corporate bankruptcy at this time.source
  • 1 September: Merger of two German transportation/maritime companies, Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) and Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) or North German Lloyd (NGL) to new company Hapag LloydGermanysource
  • 23 December – The government freezes food prices for two years.Polandsource
  • December 31 – Paul McCartney sues in Britain to dissolve The Beatles' legal partnership.source
  • The Portuguese Workers' Communist Party, a Maoist political party, foundedPortugalsource
  • National Union of Credit Cooperatives is founded.Spainsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • March 12 – Citroën introduces the Citroën SM, the world's fastest front-wheel drive auto at this time, at the annual Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland.source
  • 31 March – Northern Ireland Railways runs the last regular steam-hauled passenger train on a national network in the British Isles, 17.25 Whitehead, County Antrim–Carrickfergus, hauled by Class WT 2-6-4 tank locomotive No. 4.Northern Irelandsource
  • 27 May – 1970 Balkans Cup: Albania defeats Romania 1-0Albaniasource
  • June 19 – The Patent Cooperation Treaty is signed into international law, providing a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions.source
  • July 1 – Xerox PARC computer laboratory opens in Palo Alto, California, United States.source
  • July 16 - Three Rivers Stadium opens in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, home to NFL Steelers and MLB Pirates.source
  • July 21 – The Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed.source
  • 30 July – War of Attrition: A large-scale dogfight, codenamed Rimon 20, takes place west of the Suez Canal, in which Israeli pilots down five Soviet-piloted MiGs, while the Israeli Air Force suffers no casualties except a damaged Mirage.Israelsource
  • 16 September - Inauguration of the Lo Prado tunnel on Route 68, which connects Santiago de Chile with Valparaíso.Chilesource
  • 1 October – The first shopping mall in Singapore, the People's Park Complex, is opened.Singaporesource
  • October 4 – Jochen Rindt becomes Formula One World Driving Champion, the first to earn the honor posthumously.source
  • October 14 – A Chinese nuclear test is conducted in Lop Nor.source
  • October 15 – A section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses into the river below, killing 35 construction workers.source
  • October 28 – Gary Gabelich drives the rocket-powered Blue Flame (part fuelled by LNG) to an official land speed record of 622.407 mph on the dry lake bed of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The record, the first above 1,000 km/h, stands for nearly 13 years.source
  • October – Mitsubishi Motors is founded. The Mitsubishi keiretsu had already begun making cars as far back as 1917, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries had made many vehicles in the postwar era, but the actual company would not be founded until this date.Japansource
  • November 14 – The Soviet Union enters the International Civil Aviation Organization, after having resisted joining the UN Agency for more than 25 years. Russian becomes the fourth official language of the ICAO.source
  • November 16 – The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar flies for the first time.source
  • December 21 – The Grumman F-14 Tomcat makes its first flight.source
  • December 30 – Construction of the Gezhouba Dam started.Chinasource
  • The South African Railways places the first of eighty Class 6E mainline electric locomotives in service. Two are also built for Iscor for use at the Sishen iron ore mine.South Africasource

Science & Discovery

  • February 11 – Ohsumi, Japan's first satellite, is launched on a Lambda-4 rocket.source
  • 16 February – Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1970Germanysource
  • 17 February – Shmuel Yosef Agnon (born 1888), Austro-Hungarian (Galicia)-born Israeli author and Nobel Prize laureate.Israelsource
  • March 7 - A total solar eclipse affects the MaritimesCanadasource
  • March 31 – NASA's Explorer 1, the first American satellite and Explorer program spacecraft, reenters Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.source
  • 4 April – Malaysia's first satellite station was commissioned in Kuantan, Pahang.Malaysiasource
  • April 11 – Apollo program: Apollo 13 (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert) is launched from the United States toward the Moon.source
  • April 13 – An oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 spacecraft explodes, forcing the crew to abort the mission and return in four days.source
  • April 15 - The Apollo 13 crew sets the record for the farthest humans have traveled, 400,171 mi, which would stand until the Artemis II lunar flyby in 2026.source
  • April 17 – Apollo 13 splashes down safely in the Pacific.source
  • April 24 – China's first satellite (Dong Fang Hong 1) is launched into orbit using a Long March-1 Rocket (CZ-1).source
  • April 24 – China launched its first space satellite Dong Fang Hong I as part of the PRC's Dong Fang Hong space satellite program.Chinasource
  • May 26 – The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.source
  • June 1 – Soyuz 9, a two-man spacecraft, is launched from the Soviet Union for an orbital flight of nearly 18 days, an endurance record at this time.source
  • August 17 – Venera program: Venera 7 is launched from the Soviet Union toward Venus. It later becomes the first spacecraft to transmit data from the surface of another planet successfully.source
  • August 31 – Solar eclipse of August 31, 1970: An annular solar eclipse is visible in Oceania, and is the 14th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 144.source
  • September 20 – Luna 16 lands on the Moon and lifts off the next day with samples, landing back on Earth September 24.source
  • October 3 – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is formed in the United States and the Weather Bureau is renamed to National Weather Service as part of NOAA.source
  • October 8 – Soviet author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.Soviet Unionsource
  • October 20 – The Soviet Union launches the Zond 8 lunar probe.source
  • November 9 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 17 for the moon.source
  • November 17 – Luna programme: 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.source
  • December 2 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency is established.source
  • December 15 – The USSR's Venera 7 becomes the first spacecraft to land successfully on Venus and transmit data back to Earth.source
  • December 20 – An Egyptian delegation leaves for Moscow to ask for economic and military aid.source
  • The US yacht Intrepid defeats the Australian yacht Gretel II in the America's Cup.Australiasource
  • Best Documentary: Three Score Years and ThenNew Zealandsource

Health & Medicine

  • 1 January – New uniforms for police personnel and school pupils are introduced.Malaysiasource
  • January 26: After Leila Diniz's controversial interview to O Pasquim, the government signs Decree-Law Nº 1.077/1970, which censors material "subversive of morals and good customs"Brazilsource
  • June 29 – According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, a Ryōmō General hospital fire, resulting to 17 person fatalities with 10 person injures, in Sano, Tochigi Prefecture.Japansource
  • 8 July – Singapore's first kidney transplant is performed on 29-year-old Doreen Tan at the Outram Park General Hospital (present day Singapore General Hospital), led by Chan Kong Thoe. The operation is declared a success.Singaporesource
  • July 30 – Thalidomide scandal: Damages totalling £485,528 are awarded to 28 Thalidomide victims in the UK.source
  • October 4 – American rock singer Janis Joplin is found dead of an overdose, age 27, in her hotel room in Hollywood.source
  • October 16 – October Crisis: The Canadian government declares a state of emergency and outlaws the Quebec Liberation Front.source
  • October 17 – A cholera epidemic breaks out in Istanbul.source
  • 22 October - Attack on the Commander in Chief of the Army, René Schneider. The general dies 3 days later in the Military Hospital.Chilesource
  • 25 October – Census (population 35,666,549)Turkeysource
  • October 28 – A cholera outbreak in eastern Slovakia causes Hungary to close its border with Czechoslovakia.source
  • November 20: Metro Hospital General opens.Mexicosource
  • December 7 – The U.N. General Assembly supports the isolation of South Africa for its apartheid policies.source
  • December 29 – U.S. President Richard Nixon signs into law the Occupational Safety and Health Act.source
  • The city of Faisalabad has an estimated population of 726,000, while the capital Islamabad has an estimated population of 70,000.Pakistansource

Crime & Justice

  • 15 March – 1969–70 Albanian Cup: Partizani vs Villaznia, Villaznia wins 1-0Albaniasource
  • April 4 – Fragments of burnt human remains believed to be those of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, Joseph Goebbels, Magda Goebbels and the Goebbels children are crushed and scattered in the Biederitz river at a KGB center in Magdeburg, East Germany.source
  • 28 May – Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney appear in Dublin's Bridewell Court charged, along with Albert Luykx and Capt. Kelly, with conspiracy to import arms.Northern Irelandsource
  • June 1 – Assassination of Pedro Eugenio Aramburu: Former de facto President of Argentina is extrajudicially executed by Montoneros three days after being kidnapped from his Buenos Aires apartment.source
  • September 6 – Dawson's Field hijackings: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacks four passenger aircraft from Pan Am, TWA and Swissair on flights to New York from Brussels, Frankfurt and Zurich and flies them to a desert airstrip in Jordan.source
  • 6 September - Dawson's Field hijackings: simultaneous attempts to hijack four airliners by Palestinian militants belonging to the PFLP. Two planes landed in Dawson's Field, a remote desert airstrip in Jordan. A hijacking attempt on an El Al flight was thwarted and an American hijacked plane is diverted to Cairo and blown up after the passengers evacuated.Israelsource
  • September 29 – In Berlin, Red Army Faction members rob three banks, with loot totaling over DM 200,000.source
  • October 5 – The Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnaps British trade commissioner James Cross in Montreal and demands release of all imprisoned FLQ members, beginning Quebec's October Crisis. The next day the Canadian government announces that it will not meet the demand.source
  • October 10 – October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.source
  • October 17 – October Crisis: Quebec politician Pierre Laporte is found murdered by the FLQ in south Montreal.source
  • November 12 – Soviet author Andrei Amalrik is sentenced to three years imprisonment for 'anti-Soviet' writings.Soviet Unionsource
  • December 1 – The Basque ETA (separatist group) kidnaps West German Eugen Beihl in San Sebastián.source
  • December 3 – Burgos Trial: In Burgos, Spain, the trial of 16 Basque terrorism suspects begins.source
  • December 3 – October Crisis: In Montreal, 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 Government of Canada grants 5 terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to Cuba.source
  • December 7 – Giovanni Enrico Bucher, the Swiss ambassador to Brazil, is kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro; kidnappers demand the release of 70 political prisoners.source
  • December 22 – Franz Stangl, the ex-commander of Treblinka extermination camp, is sentenced to life imprisonment.source
  • December 25 – ETA releases Eugen Beihl in Spain.source
  • December 28 – The suspected killers of Pierre Laporte, Jacques and Paul Rose and Francis Sunard, are arrested near Montreal.source
  • 28 December: Burgos trials: Three Basques are sentenced to death, twelve others sentenced to imprisonment (terms from 12 to 62 years), and one is released.Spainsource
  • December 29 – The New People's Army conducts a raid in the armory of the Philippine Military Academy, with Lt. Victor Corpuz, academy's constabulary officer, as its accomplice.Philippinessource
  • Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the Federal collection of contemporary art, is established in Germany.source
  • Sultan of Pahang: Sultan Abu BakarMalaysiasource
  • In April, Barre created the National Security Courts, judicial bodies which tried his political opponents and public criticsSomaliasource

Disasters & Accidents

  • February 1 – The Benavídez rail disaster near Buenos Aires, Argentina (a rear-end collision) kills 236.source
  • 21 February – A plane crashes 15 minutes after leaving Zurich Airport on route to Israel after a bomb planted by PLO members explodes, killing all 47 people on board.Switzerlandsource
  • March 31 – Japan Airlines Flight 351, carrying 131 passengers and 7 crew from Tokyo to Fukuoka, is hijacked by Japanese Red Army members. All passengers and crew are eventually freed.source
  • April 8 – A huge gas explosion at a subway construction site in Osaka, Japan, kills 79 and injures over 400.source
  • June 12 – Philippine fishing boat "Baby Princess" capsized in a violent storm 300 miles southwest of Manila, 22 persons were rescued, 22 others were devoured by sharks.Philippinessource
  • 6 August – A Pakistan International Airlines F27 enters a steep dive and crashes about three minutes after a night takeoff from Rawalpindi in poor weather. All four crew members and 26 passengers are killed.Pakistansource
  • October 2 – The Wichita State University football team's "Gold" plane crashes in Colorado, killing most of the players. They were on their way (along with administrators and fans) to a game with Utah State University.source
  • October 14 – 1970 Onyang-dong level crossing accident, according to MLIT of ROK official announced, 42 persons fatalities in Chungcheongnam-do.South Koreasource
  • October 15 – The domestic Soviet Aeroflot Flight 244 is hijacked and diverted to Turkey.Soviet Unionsource
  • October 25 – The wreck of the Confederate submarine Hunley is found off Charleston, South Carolina, by 22-year-old pioneer underwater archaeologist, Dr. E. Lee Spence. Hunley is the first submarine in history to sink a ship in warfare.source
  • November 1 – The Club Cinq-Sept fire in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, France, kills 146.source
  • 2 December – One of Cargolux's two CL-44's crashes in East Pakistan while conducting a humanitarian airlift, killing four crew members and four villagers.Luxembourgsource
  • 20 December – Fire broke out at Royal Selangor Club.Malaysiasource
  • December 30 – Hurricane Creek mine disaster, near Hyden, Kentucky, USAsource
  • 30 December – The Neot HaKikar disaster (אסון נאות הכיכר): the worst natural disaster since the founding of the State of Israel. A rock detaches from a cliff due to heavy rains and crushes an IDF military base dining room. 20 Israelis are killed in the disaster (19 soldiers and a civilian) and ten soldiers were injured (three of them severely).Israelsource

Climate & Environment

  • January 5 – The 7.1 Mw Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000 and 14,621 are killed and 30,000 injured.source
  • 17 January – Cyclone Ada hits Central Queensland, killing 14.Australiasource
  • February 10 – An avalanche at Val-d'Isère, France, kills 41 tourists.source
  • 21 March – Representing Luxembourg, David Alexandre Winter finishes twelfth (and last) in the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 with the song Je Suis Tombé Du Ciel. It is the first and (so far) only occasion on which Luxembourg has scored 'nul points'.Luxembourgsource
  • April 11 – An avalanche at a tuberculosis sanatorium in the French Alps kills 74, mostly young boys.source
  • April 21 – The Principality of Hutt River "secedes" from Australia (it remained unrecognised by Australia and other nations, and is dissolved in 2020).source
  • May 11 – Lubbock tornado: A strong, multi-vortex F5 tornado impacts areas of Lubbock, Texas, after dark, resulting in 26 fatalities and over 1,500 injuries.source
  • May 31 – The 7.9 Mw Ancash earthquake shakes Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Between 66,794 and 70,000 are killed and 50,000 injured.source
  • August 31 – September 5: Tropical Storm Norma.Mexicosource
  • October 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.source
  • November 3 – The 1970 Bhola cyclone makes landfall in modern-day Bangladesh around high tide, causing $86.4 million in damage (1970 USD, $576 million 2020 USD) and becomes the world's deadliest storm killing over 500,000 people.source
  • 12 November – East Pakistan: The Bhola cyclone devastates the region, resulting in extreme loss of life. The poor management in the aftermath of the cyclone is considered as one of the triggers of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.Pakistansource
  • November 13 – 1970 Bhola cyclone: A 120-mph (193 km/h) tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (modern-day Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people (considered the 20th century's worst cyclone disaster). It gives rise to the temporary island of New Moore / South Talpatti.source
  • November 20 – Violent typhoon (Typhoon Patsy or Yoling) with winds of (more than) 125 mph raged through the heavily populated (Luzon) island, wrecking the harbor and airport facilities at Manila. Typhoon Patsy was one of the deadliest typhoons to strike the Philippines in its history. 611 people were killed (with 351 missing) on the island, and 135 people were killed at sea due to shipping failures. In Manila, 120 persons died, 60 others were missing, and more than 1,000 injured; property damage reached $80 million.Philippinessource
  • December 12 – A landslide in western Colombia leaves 200 dead.source
  • Introduction of universal secondary education. The result was rapid decline of the quality of education.Estoniasource
  • Sultan of Terengganu: Tengku Mahmud (Regent until 21 September)Malaysiasource
  • Nuruddin Farah published From a Crooked RibSomaliasource

Culture & Society

  • 1 February – The establishment of Institute of Economics of the Academia Sinica.Taiwansource
  • March 3 – A People's March is organized by the Movement for a Democratic Philippines, and the group marches from Welcome Rotonda in Quezon City to Post Office Building in Plaza Lawton, Manila.Philippinessource
  • March 16 – The complete New English Bible is published in the UK.source
  • March 20 – The Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique (ACCT) is founded.source
  • March 21 – "All Kinds of Everything", sung by Dana (music and lyrics by Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith), wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 (staged in Amsterdam) for Ireland.source
  • 21 March – Dana wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland with the song "All Kinds of Everything".Northern Irelandsource
  • April 10 – In a press release written in mock-interview style, that is included in promotional copies of his first solo album, Paul McCartney announces that he has left The Beatles.source
  • 20 April – Avishai Cohen (bassist), Israeli jazz double bassist, composer, singer, and arranger.Israelsource
  • April 26 – The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is founded.source
  • June 21 – Brazil defeats Italy 4–1 to win the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. As 3-times winner, they keep the Jules Rimet Trophy permanently (but it is subsequently stolen and lost).source
  • June 21: Brazil defeats Italy 4–1 to win the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. It is the third time Brazil wins the FIFA World Cup.Brazilsource
  • July 5: 1970 Mexican general election.Mexicosource
  • July 31 – Black Tot Day, the last daily distribution of one-eighth of an imperial pint of rum to sailors of the British Royal Navy, an amount that had been dispensed since 1866.source
  • August 11 – Creation of the International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts in Confolens, France.source
  • 7 September – The 50th anniversary of International Labour Organization was celebrated.Malaysiasource
  • September 22 – The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is founded.source
  • September - Singapore is admitted into the Non-Aligned Movement.Singaporesource
  • December 5 – Fluminense win the Brazil Football Championship.source
  • 9-20- The 1970 Asian Games were held again in Bangkok for a second time.Thailandsource

Births

Deaths

  • January 25 – Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese film director and special effects designer (born 1901)source
  • February 2 – Bertrand Russell, British logician and philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (born 1872)source
  • 15 February – Dimitrios Loundras, gymnast (born 1885)Greecesource
  • May 4 – Kent State shootings: Four students at Kent State University in Ohio, are killed and nine wounded by Ohio National Guardsmen at a protest against the U.S. incursion into Cambodia.source
  • 24 May – Abdul Rahman Mohamed Yassin, 1st President of the Dewan Negara (born 1891).Malaysiasource
  • June 21 – Sukarno, 1st President of Indonesia (born 1901)source
  • July 3 – All 112 people on board Dan-Air Flight 1903 are killed when the chartered British De Havilland Comet crashes into mountains north of Barcelona through navigational error.source
  • July 5 – Air Canada Flight 621 crashes near Toronto International Airport, Toronto, Ontario through pilot error; all 109 passengers and crew are killed.source
  • July 27 – António de Oliveira Salazar, Portuguese economist and politician, 100th Prime Minister of Portugal (born 1889)source
  • September 16 – Death of Jimi Hendrix: American rock musician Jimi Hendrix gives his last public performance, two days before his drug-related death in London.source
  • September 18 – Jimi Hendrix, American rock musician (born 1942)source
  • September 28 – Gamal Abdel Nasser, 31st Prime Minister of Egypt and 2nd President of Egypt (born 1918)source
  • October 4 – Janis Joplin, American rock singer (born 1943)source
  • 1 November – Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Zygfryd Wolniak and three other people are killed in an attack on a group of diplomats at Karachi airport in Pakistan.Polandsource
  • November 9 – Charles de Gaulle, French general and statesman, 98th Prime Minister of France and 18th President of France (born 1890)source
  • November 13 - Jeon Tae-il, workers' rights activist (born 1948)South Koreasource
  • November 21 – Vietnam War – Operation Ivory Coast: A joint Air Force and Army team raids the 4Sơn Tây prison camp in an attempt to free American prisoners of war thought to be held there (no Americans are killed, but the prisoners have already moved to another camp; all U.S. POWs are moved to a handful of central prison complexes as a result of this raid).source
  • November 25 – Yukio Mishima, Japanese novelist (born 1925)source