The 1970s was the decade that started on January 1, 1970, and ended on December 31, 1979.

Events 
 Throughout the decade: decolonization continued: Angola, Mozambique, Papua New Guinea, Oman, the Bahamas, and many other countries gained independence.
 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
 1975 – communists take power in Cambodia.
 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 

 ABBA, Swedish band
 Queen, British band
 Sex Pistols, British punk band
 The Clash, British punk band
 The Ramones, American punk band
 Boney M, disco group
 John Travolta, American actor
 Edward Heath, Prime Minister of United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974
 Harold Wilson, Prime Minister of United Kingdom from 1974 to 1976
 James Callaghan, Prime Minister of United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979
 Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of United Kingdom beginning 1979
 Fidel Castro, Cuban leader
 Augusto Pinochet, dictator of Chile
 Willy Brandt, German chancellor 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 beginning in 1977
 Cher, American singer
 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
 Germaine Greer, Australian feminist
 Hirohito, emperor of Japan
 Pope John Paul I, pope only in the year 1978
 Pope John Paul II, pope 1978–2005
 Norman Lear, American TV producer
 Pete Maravich, United States basketball player
 Francisco Franco, dictator of Spain until 1975
 Deng Xiaoping, leader in China beginning in 1978
 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 beginning 1976
 Muammar al-Gaddafi, dictator Libyan
 Pelé, Brazilian football player
 Pol Pot, prime minister of Cambodia from 1976 to 1979
 Anwar Sadat, president of Egypt beginning in 1970
 Helmut Schmidt, German chancellor beginning in 1974
 Georges Pompidou, president of France from 1969 to 1974
 Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of France beginning in 1974
 Gloria Steinem, American feminist
 Pierre Trudeau, Canadian prime minister until 1979
 Elvis Presley, American singer