The Nation 1970

For What It's Worth: 1970 Prices:

Loaf of Bread: $0.25
Gallon of Milk: $1.32
Dozen Eggs: $1.18
New Car: $3,742
Gallon of Gas: $0.36
New House: $28,300
1st Class Postage: $0.08
Avg Income a Year: $11,583
Minimum Wage: $1.60 per hour

President Richard Nixon invaded Cambodia widening the police action in Vietnam. It sparked demonstrations across America resulting in the Kent State Massarce on May 4th, 1970. National Guard troops fired on students, 4 dead in Ohio and 9 injured. The Kent May 4th Center

On May 8 in New York thousands of construction workers atacked about 1000 students demonstrating against Kent State. it was named the Hard Hat Riot. The next day 100s of thousands showed up in a Kent State demonstration in Washington DC and by May 20th another 100,000 were back in New York in the streets. New York Hard Hats

On May 14, the second day of demonstrations at Jackson State University in Mississippi, police fired into demonstrators, 2 gone and 12 injured. Jackson State May 14th

A jury finds the Chicago Seven defendants not guilty of conspiring to incite a riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Five were found guilty of crossing state lines to incite a riot. The trial of the Chicago Seven

At 3:42 on August 24th 4 students drove a van full of fuel oil and fertilizer in front of Sterling Hall where math research at the University of Wisconsin was helping the Pentagon in the Vietnam War. Though not directed at people, 1 person was killled and 4 were injured. 1970 bombing of Sterling Hall

LSD professor Timothy Leary is sentenced to 10 years for possession of marajuana. He escaped from prison and fled to Europe. In 1973 he was caught and went back to jail until his release in 1976. The Timothy Leary Timeline

President Nixon signs 26th amendment lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.

Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai Incident. Calley on the Sixties

German Chancellor Willy Brandt
Brandt wins the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971

The World 1970

On April 22, 1970 20 million people partook in the first Earth Day which was to create a healthy, sustainable environment. Most credit is given to U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, but others had a hand in getting it off the ground; Pete Seeger, Paul Newman, Ali McGraw, Frank Dutton, Dennis Hayes and President John Kennedy.

The Daughters of the American Revolution and the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover suspected a communist plot because the date was also the birthday of Vladimir Lennon's Birthday. In classic conservative babble of the time, the DAR admonished that Earth day had in it "subversive elements planning to make American children live in an environment that is good for them."

Today it is celebrated by 500 million people in 175 nations. The First Earth Day

Former French WW II General and President Charles De Gaulle left the living. Charles de Gaulle (1890 - 1970)

After a 1969 coup Private Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi promoted himself to Colonel and becomes the Premier of Libya. Muammar Kadhaffi(in the more common language) was named "Brother Leader and Guide of the Revolution" which is what he is still referred to as today. More on Gaddafi and Libya

Begun by Egyptian president Gamal Abdal-Nasser and built by Soviet engineers, the Aswan High Dam is completed across the Nile River to form Lake Nasser. It is the biggest damn dam in the world. The Aswan Dam

The U.N. General Assembly accepts membership of the People's Republic of China and rejects Nationalist China which held the seat in Taiwan since 1950.

Korean Cult Leader Sun Myung Moon conducts the first mass wedding by his Unification Church. 777 couples are wed in Korea. More than you would ever want to know about the Moonies

Nobel prizes 1970

Physics - Hannes Alfvén, Louis Eugène Félix Néel
Chemistry - Luis Federico Leloir
Medicine - Sir Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler, Julius Axelrod
Literature - Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn
Peace - Norman E. Borlaug
Economics - Paul Samuelson

The Class of 1970