Significant Events
- Jan 13 Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu flees Biafra into exile, leaving his deputy Philip Effiong to surrender to the Nigerian army, unofficially ending the Nigerian Civil War
- Mar 2 White government of Rhodesia declares itself a republic
- May 31 7.75 Ancash earthquake off coast of Peru kills 66-70,000 and sets off world's deadliest avalanche
- Jul 6 California passes 1st "no fault" divorce law
- Jul 21 Aswan High Dam opens in Egypt, enables human control of the flooding of the Nile
- Sep 8 Black September hijackings begin, three airliners hijacked and blown up by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
- Nov 3 US President Richard Nixon promises gradual troop removal of Vietnam
- Nov 12 Cyclone Bhola makes landfall in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) killing up to 500,000, making it the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded
- Nov 17 Douglas Engelbart receives the patent for the first computer mouse
- Nov 21 General Hafez al-Assad becomes Prime Minister of Syria following military coup
1970 in Film & TV
- Jan 27 Movie rating system modifies "M" rating to "PG"
- Feb 4 "Patton" directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring George C. Scott premieres in New York (Academy Awards Best Picture 1971)
- Sep 19 "The Mary Tyler Moore" show premieres on CBS
World Leaders in 1970
Leonid Brezhnev
Soviet General Secretary
Mao Zedong
Chinese Revolutionary and Chairman of the Communist Party
Richard Nixon
37th US President
Famous People in 1970
Bobby Orr
Sportsperson
of the Year
Johnny Cash
Country Singer
Willy Brandt
Time Person
of the Year
Andre Agassi
Chris O'Donnell
Christopher Nolan
Matt Damon
Phil Mickelson
River PhoenixWould You Believe?
In Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe, 1.5 inches (38.1mm) of rain fall in a minute, the heaviest rainfall ever on record
On November 26, 1970
Famous Weddings
- Mar 12 Actor Phil Hartman (21) weds first wife Gretchen Lewis
- Mar 20 Singer David Bowie (23) weds model Angie Bowie (20) at Bromley Register Office in Beckenham Lane, London
- May 11 Sammy Davis Jr weds Altovise
- May 19 US Vice President Al Gore weds (22) weds author Tipper Aitcheson (21) at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
- May 23 US Secretary of State John Kerry (26) weds heiress Julia Stimson Thorne (25)
Famous Divorces
- Nov 8 "Easy Rider" director and actor Dennis Hopper (34) divorces singer Michelle Phillips (26) only 8 days after getting married
Charles de Gaulle
Janis Joplin
Jimi Hendrix
Sonny Liston
Sukarno
Vince Lombardi