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Eighth of 12 posts with an illustrated decade-by-decade timeline for the years 1900 to 2021. For more on the timeline and a link to the book on Amazon, see here. This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/XD4prX8hI7o.

1970-1979

This post is a teaser, not the full text for 1970-1979.

Among the events of this decade:

• From 1970-1979, average inflation was 7% annually, with a high of 13% in late 1979.
• 1970 Social Security tax, instituted at 2% in 1937, rises to 9.6% following institution of Medicare and Medicaid.
• Rise ca. 1970 of terrorist groups (kidnapping, bombing, arson): Red Brigades, Baader-Meinhof Gang, Weather Underground, Symbionese Liberation Army.
• 1970: Greenpeace employs “passive resistance” against nuclear testing, nuclear power, commercial whaling, global warming, deforestation, GMOs, deep-sea mining, chlorinated water, etc.
• 1972 Burglary and wiretap at Democratic Party’s Washington headquarters in the Watergate complex. President Nixon is implicated, resigns 1974.

• 1973 (Jan.) Roe v Wade: Striking down many federal and state abortion laws, the Supreme Court rules that the right to privacy applies to a pregnant woman who chooses to have an abortion. But to balance her right against the government’s interest in protecting women’s health and prenatal life, the ruling states that abortions are unrestricted only during the first trimester; states can impose regulations in second, and no abortions are allowed in third trimester unless the mother’s life or health is at stake.
• 1973 (Mar.) Last US troops leave Vietnam. Of the 58,500 Americans who died in Vietnam, more than half were drafted.
• 1973-1974: Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) puts 6-month embargo on oil exports to countries supporting Israel in Yom Kippur War, which began Oct. 1973.
• 1973-1974 stock market crash: Dow Jones loses over 45% of its value, the most since the Great Depression.
• 1975 In O’Connor v. Donaldson, the Supreme Court rules that those deemed mentally ill cannot be confined involuntarily if they are not a danger to the public or themselves.
• 1979 Accident at Three Mile Island, central Pennsylvania, leads to sharp reduction in number of nuclear power plants under construction.
• 1979-1981 Iran hostage crisis: 66 diplomats, mostly Americans, are held hostage for 444 days in Tehran.
• Science, technology, & health: 1973 three babies born via in vitro fertilization. 1977 earliest personal computer, the Apple II. First complete DNA genome sequenced. First genetically engineered organisms. Monoclonal antibodies.

• Books: Erich Segal, Love Story, 1970: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Alex Haley, Roots, 1976: historical fiction on Kunta Kinte, an African sold into slavery, and 7 generations of his descendants in the US, down to Haley. Norman Mailer, The Executioner’s Song, 1979: the story of Gary Gilmore, who murdered 2 men in Utah and became the first person executed after the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
• Visual arts: Chuck Close creates oversize images composed of a mosaic of smaller images. Douglas Huebler, Variable Piece series and Duration Piece series: combines documentary photos with typed text. Performance Art: the artist’s actions are the art; for Shoot, 1971, Chris Burden arranges for someone to shoot him in the arm with a rifle.
• Architecture: Minoru Yamasaki’s World Trade Center towers, completed in 1973, are briefly world’s tallest buildings, with 110 stories in each tower; WTC1 (with mast) rose to 1,368 feet (417 m). It is surpassed in 1974 by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill’s Sears (now Willis) Tower, Chicago, at 1,450 feet (442.1 m).
• Movies: Among the top-grossing are The Godfather, 1972, Star Wars, 1977, and Grease, 1978.

• TV: adventure, nostalgia and edginess. All in the Family, Happy Days, Charlie’s Angels.
• Music: Simon & Garfunkel, Bridge over Troubled Water, 1970. Jesus Christ Superstar, 1971. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, 1977. Long-term bestsellers include Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell, 1977, and Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, 1973. Styles: disco, punk, new wave, heavy metal, arena rock, funk, Quiet Storm, early hip hop, & more. Popular for music consumption: Sony Walkman cassette player with headphones.

Feedback I’d appreciate from you on the PDF of 1970-1979

• Have I listed all the most significant events for this decade? Space is limited and there’s room for disagreement, but do tell me if you think anything important is missing. In case you want to add events important to you, I’ve allowed some blank space on every set of facing pages.
• I have not read all the books I mention nor listened to all the musical styles. Are any of the facts or descriptions wrong? Corrections welcome.
• I’d like to include major events in areas such as education, psychology, Supreme Court decisions, and sports. If you can boil down those or similar fields to a half-dozen significant events from 1900 to 2021, send them to me and I’ll try to work them in.
• Of course, point out typos, bad grammar, messy syntax, and so on.

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