The 1970s (also called the '70s ) was the decade that began on January 1, 1970 and ended on December 31, 1979. It is distinct from the decade known as the 198th decade which began on January 1, 1971 and ended on December 31, 1980.
Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory after he resigned because of the Watergate scandal in 1974; refugees on a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon , leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; the 1973 oil crisis causes economic damage throughout the developed world; both the leaders of Israel and Egypt shake hands after the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978; the 1970 Bhola cyclone kills around 500,000 people in the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (which would become independent as Bangladesh in 1971) in November 1970; the Iranian Revolution of 1979 causes Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi to be removed, who is later replaced by an Islamic theocracy led by Ayatollah Khomeini ; disco music becomes more popular.
Throughout the decade: decolonization continued: Angola , Mozambique , Papua New Guinea , Oman , the Bahamas , and many other countries gained independence. Also, metrication in many English speaking countries.
1970 , December 15 – spaceship Venera 7 lands on Venus .
1971 – Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
December 16 – Partition of Pakistan of East and West Pakistans into Bangladesh and Pakistan .
1972 , March 2 – Pioneer 10 is launched (sent into space). It becomes the first spaceship to fly near Jupiter and the asteroid belt .
1972 – Munich massacre
1973 , April 6 – Pioneer 11 is launched. It becomes the first the first spaceship to fly near Saturn .
1974 – August 9 Richard Nixon resigned as President of the United States due to the Watergate scandal.
1973 – 1973 Arab-Israeli War
1975 – end of the Vietnam War
1975 – communists take power in Cambodia .
1976 , July 20 – spaceship Viking 1 lands on Mars .
1977 , August 20 – Voyager 2 is launched. It becomes the first spaceship to fly near Uranus and Neptune .
1977 , September 5 – Voyager 1 is launched. It is now the farthest spaceship from the Earth.
1977 : The last cases of smallpox of the world.
1978 – year with three popes
1978 , October 1 – Vietnam invades Cambodia .
1979 – the World Health Organization says it has eliminated smallpox .
Pelé , Brazilian football player
World Leader
Edward Heath , Prime Minister of United Kingdom
Harold Wilson , Prime Minister of United Kingdom
James Callaghan , Prime Minister of United Kingdom
Margaret Thatcher , Prime Minister of United Kingdom
Fidel Castro , President of Cuba
Augusto Pinochet , President of Chile
Willy Brandt , Chancellor of Germany (until 1974)
Leonid Brezhnev , leader of the Soviet Union beginning in 1964
Richard Nixon , President of the United States (until 1974)
Gerald Ford , President of the United States (until 1977)
Jimmy Carter , President of the United States
Elizabeth II , British queen since 1952
Yitzhak Rabin , Prime Minister of Israel until 1977
Indira Gandhi , Prime Minister of India until 1977
Golda Meir , Prime Minister of Israel (until 1974)
Yasser Arafat , Palestinian leader
Hirohito , Emperor of Japan
Pope John Paul I , pope
Pope John Paul II , pope
Francisco Franco , dictator of Spain (until 1975)
Deng Xiaoping , leader in China
Mao Zedong , leader in China (until 1976)
Pope Paul VI , pope (until 1978)
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi , Shah of Iran until 1979
Ayatollah Khomeini
Juan Perón , President of Argentina (until 1974)
Jorge Rafael Videla , dictator of Argentina
Muammar al-Gaddafi , dictator Libyan
Pol Pot , Prime Minister of Cambodia
Anwar Sadat , President of Egypt
Helmut Schmidt , Chancellor of Germany
Georges Pompidou , President of France
Bhumibol Adulyadej , King of Thailand
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing , President of France
Pierre Trudeau , Prime Minister of Canada (until 1979)