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The U.S. achieves the first moon landing
The United States achieved the first manned landing on Earth's Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission commanded by Neil Armstrong. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong, accompanied by Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin, landed the lunar module Eagle on the surface of the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin spent a day on the surface of the Moon before returning to Earth. A total of six such manned moon landings were carried out between 1969 and 1972. -
Nixon becomes the first U.S. President to travel to China
President in 1968, he traveled to China and also established détente with the USSR. Perhaps his greatest achievement was opening lines of communication and trade with the People's Republic of China. Realizing the time was right for such a move, he sent a representative to secretly consult with the Chinese Premier, Mao Tse Tung, in 1971 and met with him himself in 1972. This diplomatic success amazed the critics. Within weeks of his successful China trip, Nixon was in Moscow negotiating the Strat -
Televised Senate hearings on Watergate begin
Television cameras covered the Watergate hearings gavel-to-gavel, from day one until 7 August. 319 hours of television were amassed, a record covering a single event. All three commercial television networks then in existence--NBC, CBS, and ABC--devoted an average of five hours per day covering the Watergate hearings for their first five days. -
Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. President to resign
Rather than face trial, on August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first American President ever to resign from office. At noon on that same day, as Nixon was being flown to his retirement in California, Gerald Ford took the Oath of Office. The newly elected President granted Nixon a full pardon. -
Gerald Ford signs the Helsinki Accords on European security
In the summer of 1975 Gerald Ford traveled to Helsinki, Finland, joining Prime Minister Harold Wilson, President Giscard d’Estaing, and the leaders of 30 other nations to sign the Helsinki Accords. Drafted by these 35 nations, the accord, or Final Act, was the result of two years of negotiations.While U.S. participation was heavily criticized at home, from both the left and the right, Ford believed it was his most significant foreign policy acheivement. -
U.S. celebrates the bicentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence
The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to the historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic. The Bicentennial culminated on Sunday, July 4, 1976, with the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. -
Jimmy Carter negotiates the Camp David Accords to promote peace in the Middle East
The two framework agreements were signed at the White House, and were witnessed by United States President Jimmy Carter. The second of these frameworks, A Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel, led directly to the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, and resulted in Sadat and Begin sharing the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. Little progress was achieved on the first framework however, A Framework for Peace in the Middle East, which dealt with the Palestinian territories. -
• American hostages held in Iran are set free
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States. Fifty-two US citizens were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamic students and militants took over the Embassy of the United States in support of the Iranian Revolution. -
U.S. boycotts the Moscow summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott of the Moscow Olympics was a part of a package of actions initiated by the United States to protest the Soviet war in Afghanistan. It preceded the 1984 Summer Olympics boycott carried out by the Soviet Union and other Communist friendly countries.
