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China became the fifth nation to put a satellite into orbit.
The Peoples Republic of China launched its first satellite -- known as China 1 or Mao 1 -- to Earth orbit on its own "Long March" space rocket on April 24, 1970. The 390-lb. electronic ball floated around the Earth blaring the patriotic song The East Is Red. The launch made China the fifth nation with a space rocket. Before that first successful launch, the Chinese may have sustained a launch failure in 1969. They may have suffered three failures in 1974 and another in 1979. -
The Beatles "The long and winding road"
The Beatles nudge into the '70s by the skin of their career, and we find McCartney at his most McCartneyish for the band’s swansong. Looking back on one the most thrilling journeys in music history, Macca sounds sentimental and weatherbeaten, a man finding peace, and the song is one of the warmest and fuzziest of the decade. -
VCRs Introduced
The VCR (videocassette recorder) was introduced by the Sony Corporation, a Japanese company, in 1975. It started out with a smaller home "videocorder" known as Betamax, which at first competed heavily with the larger VHS (video home system) format. Competition between the two formats kept prices of the home VCRs too high for most consumers. In the early 1980s VHS emerged as the winner of the competition and prices dropped to a more reasonable range. Soon sales were soaring and, by the end of the -
Watergate Scandal Begins
Five men, one of whom says he used to work for the CIA, are arrested at 2:30 a.m. trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate hotel and office complex. -
Roe vs Wade Legalizes Abortion in the U.S.
Roe (P), a pregnant single woman, brought a class action suit challenging the constitutionality of the Texas abortion laws. These laws made it a crime to obtain or attempt an abortion except on medical advice to save the life of the mother. Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit included Hallford, a doctor who faced criminal prosecution for violating the state abortion laws; and the Does, a married couple with no children, who sought an injunction against enforcement of the laws on the grounds that th -
U.S. President Nixon Resigns
Richard Milhous Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, announced tonight that he had given up his long and arduous fight to remain in office and would resign, effective at noon tomorrow. At that hour, Gerald Rudolph Ford, whom Mr. Nixon nominated for Vice President last Oct. 12, will be sworn in as the 38th President, to serve out the 895 days remaining in Mr. Nixon's second term. -
Microsoft Founded
Microsoft was formed soon after the introduction of the Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) Altair, the first "personal computer," a build-it-yourself kit for hobbyists. Bill Gates and Paul Allen seized the opportunity to transform this early PC into a breakthrough -- the Altair needed software, a programming language that could make it perform useful computing tasks. That's when it all began. -
One peice swimsuit
American actress Farrah Fawcett, who starred in the 1970s programme Charlie's Angels, was a sex symbol for that time period. Her poster which was released in 1976 and sold 12 million copies, featured the actress with her long mane of streaked-blonde hair, perfect white teeth, and wearing a one-piece swimsuit that launched the trend for the maillot. This was, when it resurged in the 1970s, a sexy, tight swimsuit, with deep neckline and high-cut legs, was wornby women and young girls. -
Jonestown Massacre
Peoples Temple cult leader Jim Jones instructed his followers to commit "revolutionary suicide" by drinking cyanide-laced fruit punch. At the Jonestown compound in Guyana, 912 Peoples Temple members (276 of whom were children) drank the punch and died. Jim Jones died the same day from a gunshot wound to the head. -
Apocalypse Now
1979 American epic war film set during the Vietnam War, directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Martin Sheen. The film follows the central character, U.S. Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Williams on a mission to kill the renegade and presumed insane U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Brando). -
Iran Takes American Hostages in Tehran
On November 4, 1979, an angry mob of some 300 to 500 "students" who called themselves "Imam's Disciples," laid siege to the American Embassy in Teheran, Iran, to capture and hold hostage 66 U.S. citizens and diplomats. Although women and African-Americans were released a short time later, 51 hostages remained imprisoned for 444 days with another individual released because of illness midway through the ordeal.