-
Period: to
Timespan
-
Invasion of Cambodia
The objective of the invasion was to defeat the approxiamtely 40,000 troops located in eastern Cambodia. Given that the U.S. had switched to a policy of Vietnamization, Nixon wished to give the South Vietnameses troops a little bit of an advantage by elimnating the troops. -
Kent State Shootings
Ocurred at Kent State University in Ohio and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by the Ohio National Guard. Four students were killed, and 9 others were wounded. This event epitomized the division that the Vietnam War had created in America. -
The film "The Godfather" is released
It is considered one of the greatest and most influential films of all time, second only to "Citizen Kane" according to the American Film Institute. It won three Oscars the year it was released and later had two sequels. It was based on the book by Mario Puzo, it tells the story of a New York crime family that spans about ten years. -
Watergate Break-in
Five men were caught inside of the Democratic National Committee headquarters, located at the Watergate hotel. Eventually, they admitted to having been put up to it and having gone in there to steal some important papers and "bug" phones. This led to the eventual resignation of President Nixon and the resignations of many political officials. -
Mark Spitz wins 7 Gold Medals at Olympics in Munich, West Germany
In the summer of 1972, Spitz not only took home seven gold medals and set a record for the world, but he set new world records in every event that he competed in. Between the years of 1968 and 1972, he won nine gold medals plus a silver and a bronze. Michael Phelps has only recently beaten his record for the most gold medals won. -
U.S. Supreme Court rules on Roe v. Wade
The issue was over abortion. At the same time that this one was decided, the Supreme Court ruled on a similar case known as Doe v. Bolton. Both cases received a 7-2 vote that resulted in the 14th Amendment being extended to include a woman's decision to have an abortion instead of the State. -
American Withdrawal from Vietnam
After the Tet Offensive, many Americans increased their political protests to try and get their soldiers to come home. Nixon enacted a plan of Vietnamization that would teach South Vietnam how to defend itself and, hopefully, to let them defeat North Vietnam in the end. -
Gerald Ford becomes Vice-President
After the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, Gerald Ford was chosen to take his place, making it the first time that the 25th Amendment was enacted. He was voted 92 to 3 in the Senate and 397 to 38 in the House of Representatives, making it official. -
Arab Oil Embargo
Members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) chose to emabrgo oil sent to the United States. This was caused when several Arab countries launched a surprise attack on Israel on their most holiest day, Yom Kippur. Given that Israel was vastly outnumbered, they loaded up nuclear heads and the U.S. chose to defend them. The Arab countries responded by embargoing the oil sent to them in "punishment." -
Heiress Patty Hearst kidnapped
Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army out of her apartment. There was an attempt to trade captured SLA members for Patty Hearst, but the SLA refused. Instead, they agreed to give her back if her family donated $70 million dollars worth of food to every needy Californian. Her father agreed and donated $6 million, but the SLA still refused, saying they could've done better. Later, Hearst announced that she had joined the SLA. -
Congress initiates Impeachment Proceedings against Nixon
The hearings that sort of encouraged Nixon's impeachmen were televised on all of the major netowrks. The hearings resulted in the needed votes to go on with impeachment. -
President Nixon Resigns
President Nixon delivered his resignation speech from the Oval Office. It was carried live on both the radio and televison. Vice-President Gerald Ford took the place of presidency and pardoned Nixon, saying that the country just needed to forget about it. -
Bill Gates establishes Microsoft
When the Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry System came out with a basic interpreter for the device, Gates was intrigued. He called up MITS and told them that he had a working interpreter and they asked to see it. He quickly designed something and it worked flawlessly, causing the compnay to agree to distribute it. -
South Vietnam falls to the North Vietnamese
Before the fall of Saigon that resulted in the South Vietnam surrendering, the presidency jumped between three different people in only the matter of a week. The president when North Vietnam came closer was Duong Van Minh and there was hope that the warring country might be able to work out an agreement. Instead North Vietnam took them by force and the U.S. had to have a massive evacutation of Saigon. -
America's Bicentenniel is celebrated
They celebrated all of the events that had led to the creation of the United States of America as an independent nation, especially paying attention to the Declaration of Independecne. There was hope that, after all of the terrible things that had recently happened, this might serve as a rebirth for America and turn it back into the once great, united country it was. -
Democrat Jimmy Carter becomes President of the United States
One of Carter's assets that helped him to become president was his distance from Washington. After the Watergat scandal, America was left in an untrusting mood of the government and, given the fact that barely anyone even knew who Jimmy Carter was at the time, he won the presidential election. -
Majority of Draft Evaders are Pardoned by Jimmy Carter
President Carter saved hundreds of thousands of men from prosecution due to their refusal to enter the Vietnam War. In his campaign, he had promised to pardon them in an attempt to rid the world of any memory of the hardships and pains of the Vietnam War and everything else it caused. -
Television Mini-series "Roots" Premieres
It was the most-watched mini series of all time. This series, which ran for eight consecutive nights, followed the multi-generational account of a slave's fight from enslavement to freedom. It has since become a part of America's cultural history and showed the hardships and inumanity of slave life. -
Commodore PET released for retail sale
The PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) was the first computer ever created and it features a full-travel QWERTY keyboard and some other primitive computer features. It was used primarily in schools due to its hard metal body that was hard to break. -
Camp David Accords
It was signed by President Jimmy Carter, the Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat, and the Israeli Prime Minisiter Menachem Begin. The signing of it followed thirteen days of ssecret negotians at Camp David and created a vague alliance or friendship between the three nations. -
Three Mile Island nuclear accident
Occuring in Dauphin Country, Pennsylvania on one of the United State's two islands, this nuclear accident was considered the worst in America's history. It began with a failure in the non-nulcear system followed by a door being stuck open in the primary system which led to gallons of radioactive gases to leak out. -
Iran Hostage Crisis begins
Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days in the American embassy in Tehran. A group of Islamist students and militants supporting the Iranian Revolution took over it. President Carter said that it was an act of anarchy and terrorism.
