# 1970s

Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory after he resigned because of the Watergate scandal in 1974; refugees on a U.S. Navy ship after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; the 1973 oil crisis causes economic damage throughout the developed world; both the leaders of Israel and Egypt shake hands after the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978; the 1970 Bhola cyclone kills around 500,000 people in the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (which would become independent as Bangladesh in 1971) in November 1970; the Iranian Revolution of 1979 causes Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi to be removed, who is later replaced by an Islamic theocracy led by Ayatollah Khomeini; disco music becomes more popular.
The **1970s** (also called the **'70s**) was the decade that began on January 1, 1970 and ended on December 31, 1979. It is distinct from the decade known as the 198th decade which began on January 1, 1971 and ended on December 31, 1980.

## Events

* Throughout the decade: decolonization continued: Angola, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Oman, the Bahamas, and many other countries gained independence. Also, metrication in many English speaking countries.
* 1970, December 15 – Spaceship Venera 7 lands on Venus.
* 1971 – Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
* December 16 – Partition of Pakistan of East and West Pakistans into Bangladesh and Pakistan.
* 1972, March 2 – Pioneer 10 is launched (sent into space). It becomes the first spaceship to fly near Jupiter and the asteroid belt.
* 1972 – Munich massacre
* 1973, April 6 – Pioneer 11 is launched. It becomes the first the first spaceship to fly near Saturn.
* 1974 – August 9 Richard Nixon resigned as President of the United States due to the Watergate scandal.
* 1973 – 1973 Arab-Israeli War
* 1975 – End of the Vietnam War
* 1976, July 20 – Spaceship Viking 1 lands on Mars.
* 1977, August 20 – Voyager 2 is launched. It becomes the first spaceship to fly near Uranus and Neptune.
* 1977, September 5 – Voyager 1 is launched. It is now the farthest spaceship from the Earth.
* 1977: The last cases of smallpox of the world.
* 1978 – Year with three popes
* 1978, October 1 – Vietnam invades Cambodia.
* 1979 – The World Health Organization says it has eliminated smallpox.

## People

### Actor

* John Travolta, American actor
* P. Ramlee, Malaysian actor

### Actress

### Footballer

* Pelé, Brazilian football player

### World Leader

* Edward Heath, Prime Minister of United Kingdom
* Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of United Kingdom
* James Callaghan, Prime Minister of United Kingdom
* Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of United Kingdom
* Fidel Castro, President of Cuba
* Augusto Pinochet, President of Chile
* Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany (until 1974)
* Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union beginning in 1964
* Richard Nixon, President of the United States (until 1974)
* Gerald Ford, President of the United States (until 1977)
* Jimmy Carter, President of the United States
* Elizabeth II, British queen since 1952
* Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel until 1977
* Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India until 1977
* Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (until 1974)
* Yasser Arafat, Palestinian leader
* Hirohito, Emperor of Japan
* Pope John Paul I, pope
* Pope John Paul II, pope
* Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain (until 1975)
* Deng Xiaoping, leader in China
* Mao Zedong, leader in China (until 1976)
* Pope Paul VI, pope (until 1978)
* Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran until 1979
* Ayatollah Khomeini
* Juan Perón, President of Argentina (until 1974)
* Jorge Rafael Videla, dictator of Argentina
* Muammar al-Gaddafi, dictator Libyan
* Pol Pot, Prime Minister of Cambodia
* Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt
* Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of Germany
* Georges Pompidou, President of France
* Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand
* Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of France
* Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada (until 1979)