1970

**1970** (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday in the Gregorian calendar.

## Events

- January 12 – The Nigerian Civil War ends.
- February 1 – The Benavidez rail disaster near Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 236.
- February 14 – The Who record the iconic live rock album _Live at Leeds_.
- March 1 – Rhodesia declares itself a republic.
- April 29 – The United States invades Cambodia.
- May 4 – Kent State Shootings: Four students at Kent State University in Ohio are killed by National Guardsmen while protesting against the United States invading Cambodia.
- May 31 – A major earthquake hits southern Peru, killing tens of thousands of people.
- June 24 – The United States Senate repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 1964.
- June 28 – U.S. ground troops withdraw from Cambodia.
- July 1 – The disputed Territories of Pakistan-administered Kashmir split to form Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan both of which are autonomous special areas of Pakistan.
- September 11 – The Ford Pinto introduced.
- September 21 – _Monday Night Football_ debuts on ABC.
- October 18 – Anwar el-Sadat officially becomes president of Egypt.
- October 30 – Monsoon halts Vietnam War.
- November 3 – Salvador Allende becomes president of Chile.
- December 1 – Luis Echeverría becomes president of Mexico.
- The first IMAX theatre opens in Japan

## Births

- January 29 – Heather Graham, American actress
- January 31 – Minnie Driver, British actress
- February 28 – Daniel Handler, American writer (_Lemony Snickets: A Series of Unfortunate Events_)
- March 5 – John Frusciante, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
- March 18 – Queen Latifah, American singer, actress and model
- April 30 – Wael Dahdouh, Palestinian journalist
- May 18 – Tina Fey, American screenwriter and actress
- May 27 – Joseph Fiennes, English actor June 1 Alex Lalas Popular football player Alison Hinds Queen of Soca popular female  soca artiste Of Barbados
- June 3 – Susan Abulhawa, Palestinian-American writer and Human rights activist
- June 22 - Steven Page, Canadian singer (Barenaked Ladies)
- July 8 – Beck, American singer
- July 23 – Charisma Carpenter, American actress
- August 2 – Kevin Smith, American movie director
- August 8 – Pascal Duquenne, Belgian actor
- August 12 – Kristopher Schau, Norwegian singer
- August 13 – Alan Shearer, English football player
- August 20 – John Carmack, American video game creator
- August 31 - Debbie Gibson, American singer
- September 9 – Macy Gray, American singer and actress
- October 2 – Kelly Ripa, American actress and talk show host
- October 8 – Matt Damon, American actor
- October 9 – Steve Jablonsky, American movie and television composer
- October 15 – Pernilla Wiberg, Swedish skier
- October 25 - Ed Robertson, Canadian singer and guitarist (Barenaked Ladies)
- October 28 – Greg Eagles, African-American actor
- October 29 – Phillip Cocu, Dutch footballer
- October 29 – Edwin van der Sar, Dutch footballer
- December 12 – Jennifer Connelly, American actress
- December 18 – Rob Van Dam, American professional wrestler
- December 24 – Sascha Fischer, German rugby player
- December 29 – Glen Phillips, American singer and guitarist

### January

- January 5 – Max Born, German physicist (b. 1882)

### February

- February 2 – Bertrand Russell, Welsh philosopher and mathematician (b. 1872)
- February 27- Marie Dionne, one of the Dionne Quintuplets (b. 1934)

### March

- March 30 – Heinrich Brüning, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1885)

### April

- April 28 – Ed Begley, American actor (b. 1901)

### May

- May 12 – Nelly Sachs, German writer (b. 1891)

### June

- June 21 – Sukarno, first President of Indonesia (b. 1901)

### July

- July 24 - Beatrice Roberts, American actress (b. 1901)
- July 27 – António de Oliveira Salazar, 12th President of Portugal (b. 1889)

### August

- August 10 – Alexander Gode, German-American linguist (b. 1906)

### September

- September 3 – Vince Lombardi, American football coach (b. 1913)
- September 5 – Jochen Rindt, German racecar driver (b. 1942)
- September 18 – Jimi Hendrix, American guitarist (b. 1942)
- September 25 – Erich Maria Remarque, German writer (b. 1898)
- September 28 – Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt (b. 1918)
- September 29 - Edward Everett Horton, American actor (b. 1886)

### October

- October 4 – Janis Joplin, American rock singer (_Mercedes Benz_) (b. 1943)

### November

- November 4 – Friedrich Kellner, German writer (b. 1885)
- November 9 – Charles de Gaulle, President of France (b. 1890)

### December

- December 30 – Sonny Liston, American boxer (b. 1932)

## Nobel Prizes

- Nobel Prize in Physics won by Hannes Alfvén, Swedish electrical engineer, plasma physicist, and Louis Néel, a French physicist
- Nobel Prize in Chemistry won by Luis Federico Leloir, Argentine physician and biochemist
- Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine shared by Sir Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler, and Julius Axelrod for their work on neurotransmitters
- Nobel Prize in Literature won by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer
- Nobel Peace Prize won by Norman Borlaug, American biologist and humanitarian
- Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences – Paul Samuelson

## Movies released

- _Airport_, starring Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin
- _The Aristocats_, an animated movie by Walt Disney Productions
- _Love Story_, winner of Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama
- _MASH_, winner of Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or comedy
- _Patton_, winner of 7 Academy Awards
- _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ about the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941
- _Woodstock_

## Hit songs

- "(They Long to Be) Close to You" – Carpenters
- "Maybe I'm Amazed" – Paul McCartney
- "After Midnight" – Eric Clapton
- "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" – Diana Ross
- "American Woman" – The Guess Who
- "Amos Moses" – Jerry Reed
- "Border Song (Holy Moses)" – Aretha Franklin
- "Bridge Over Troubled Water" – Simon and Garfunkel
- "Call Me" – Aretha Franklin
- "Can't Stop Loving You" – Tom Jones
- "Cecilia" – Simon and Garfunkel
- "Celebrate" – Three Dog Night
- "Close To You " – Carpenters
- "Come And Get It" – Badfinger
- "Come Together /Something " – The Beatles
- "Cupid " – Johnny Nash
- "Does Anybody Really Know What Time it is" – Chicago
- "Down on the Corner" – Creedence Clearwater Revival
- "El Condor Pasa" – Simon and Garfunkel
- "Eli's Coming" – Three Dog Night
- "Everybody's Out of Town" – B.J. Thomas
- "Fire and Rain" – James Taylor
- "For You Blue" – The Beatles
- "Hand Me Down World" – The Guess Who
- "Heaven Help Us All" – Stevie Wonder
- "If You Could Read My Mind" – Gordon Lightfoot
- "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" – Dionne Warwick
- "Immigrant Song" – Led Zeppelin
- "Indiana Wants Me – R. Dean Taylor
- "Instant Karma (We All Shine On)" – John Lennon
- "Isn't It a Pity" – George Harrison
- "It Don't Matter to Me" – Bread
- "It's a New Day (Parts 1 & 2)" – James Brown
- "It's Only Make Believe" – Glen Campbell
- "I've Lost You" – Elvis Presley
- "Jam Up and Jelly Tight" – Tommy Roe
- "Joanne" – Michael Nesmith & The First National Band
- "Kentucky Rain" – Elvis Presley
- "Leaving on a Jet Plane" – Peter, Paul and Mary
- "Let It Be" – The Beatles
- "Let Me Go to Him" – Dionne Warwick
- "Lola " – The Kinks
- "Lonely Days " – The Bee Gees
- "Long and Winding Road" – The Beatles
- "Looking Out My Back Door " – Creedence Clearwater Revival
- "Love the One You're With" – Stephen Stills
- "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)" – Three Dog Night
- "Mississippi Queen" – Mountain
- "My Sweet Lord" – George Harrison
- "No Matter What" – Badfinger
- "No Time " – The Guess Who
- "Oh Happy Day" – Glen Campbell
- "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" – Neil Young
- "Out In the Country" – Three Dog Night
- "Psychedelic Shack" – The Temptations
- "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" – B.J. Thomas
- "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" – Diana Ross
- "Remember Me" – Diana Ross
- "Ride Captain Ride" – Blues Image
- "See Me, Feel Me " – The Who
- "Share the Land" – The Guess Who
- "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" – Stevie Wonder
- "Snowbird" – Anne Murray
- "Son of a Preacher Man" – Aretha Franklin
- "Stoney End" – Barbra Streisand
- "Summertime Blues" – The Who
- "The Long and Winding Road" – The Beatles
- "The Wonder of You" – Elvis Presley
- "Travelin' Band" – Creedence Clearwater Revival
- "We've Only Just Begun " – Carpenters
- "What Is Truth?" – Johnny Cash
- "Whole Lotta Love " – Led Zeppelin
- "Who'll Stop The Rain" – Creedence Clearwater Revival
- "Your Song" – Elton John

## New books

- _Deliverance_ by James Dickey
- _Fantastic Mr Fox_ by Roald Dahl
- _Fire from Heaven_ by Mary Renault
- _Of a Fire on the Moon_ by Norman Mailer
- _The Guardians_ by John Christopher (Sam Youd)
- _Jonathan Livingston Seagull_ by Richard Bach
- _The Paper Chase_ by John Jay Osborn, Jr.