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Earth Day Begins
Earth Day is first celebrated as a day for participants to consider the effect of human actions on their natural surroundings -
Attacks on Cambodia
Nixon announched his decision to order air and ground strikes into Cambodia. This decision sparked a massive breakout of antiwar protests across the nation. -
Kent State Shootings
Four students were killed and eleven were wounded when national guard troops opened fire on a demonstration at Kent State University. -
Enviromental Protection Agency
Nixon oversees the establishment of the EPA, a federal watchdog on environmental affairs -
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign a treaty limiting the two countires to 200 ABMs each. A symbolic first step toward control of the nuclear arms race. -
Truce with Hanoi
Nixon finally reaches an agreement with North Vietnam. America agreed to withdraw all of its troops from South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese were allowed to keep their troops in the South. -
Watergate Break-in
Five covert surveillance officers, known as "plumbers," were arrested during a break-in at the Democratic National Committee HQ in Washington. Nixon personally ordered a cover up. -
Attack on Israel
Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel after decades of tension between Israel and its Arab neighbors. -
OPEC Cuts
The Arab members of the OPEC announced a 5% cut in oil production, to be followed by additional cuts of 5% each month until Israel surrendered the lands it had conquered in 1967 -
Nixon Pardoned
Ford shocked America by announcing that he had granted Nixon a full, unconditional pardon for all federal crimes that he may have committed. This eroded public confidence in his leadership and linked him with the scandal. -
Nixon Resigns
Nixon resigns in the culmination of the Watergate scandal. He is succeeded by Gerald Ford -
Hyde Amendment
Hyde Amendment passed, denying the use of federal funds to pay for abortions for poor women -
SALT II
Carter and Brezhnev signed a treaty that lowered the ceiling on nuclear delivery systems to 2550. -
Iranian Hostage Crisis
Militants seized the US embassy in Tehran, taking 53 Americans prisoner. The crisis was an embarrasment for the US, dragging on to the fall of the following year. -
Susan Day O Connor
President Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court in a historical first. -
Social Security Changes
Congress approved a series of changes to guarantee the solvency of Social Security. They gradually raised the retirement age, delayed cost-of-living increases for six months, and taxing pensions paid to the well-to-do elderly. -
Rock Hudson Dies
Movie star Rock Hudson is killed by AIDs, intensifying the sense of national panic -
Chernobyl
An accident at a nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union released large amounts of radiation into the air, killing many -
Growth of Women Business Owners
A women's trade group estimated that women owned almost 8 million businesses and employed 1 in 4 Americans. -
Defense of Marriage Act
Clinton signs an act decreeing that states did not have to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere
