Explore 6419 historical events from 1970–1979.
Rolf Kristian Eckersberg Stenersen was a Norwegian businessman, non-fiction writer, essayist, novelist, playwright and biographer. He was also a track and field athlete and art col…
Rolf Stenersen, Norwegian businessman (born 1899)
Daniel James Dailey Jr. was an American actor and dancer. He is best remembered for a series of popular musicals he made at 20th Century Fox such as Mother Wore Tights (1947).
Dan Dailey, American actor, singer, dancer, and director (born 1913)
George H. Clark was an American racing driver.
George Clark, American race car driver (born 1890)
Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río was a Spanish communist and NKVD secret agent who assassinated the revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Mexico City in August 1940 with an ice axe, for which …
Ramón Mercader, Spanish journalist, assassin of Leon Trotsky (born 1914)
Gig Young was an American actor. He was active in film, television, and theater from the late 1930s through the 1970s, and was initially known for his portrayals of characters with…
Gig Young, American actor (born 1913)
Giovanni Gronchi was an Italian politician from Christian Democracy who served as the president of Italy from 1955 to 1962 and was marked by a controversial and failed attempt to b…
Giovanni Gronchi, Italian educator, soldier, and politician, 3rd President of the Italian Republic (born 1887)
Gunnar Axel Arvid Nilsson was a Swedish racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1976 to 1977. Nilsson won the 1977 Belgian Grand Prix with Lotus.
Gunnar Nilsson, Swedish race car driver (born 1948)
Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan was a Soviet statesman, diplomat, and Bolshevik revolutionary. An ethnic Armenian, he served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the h…
Anastas Mikoyan, Armenian-Russian civil servant and politician (born 1895)
"Mother" Maybelle Carter was an American country musician and "among the first" to use the Carter scratch, with which she "helped to turn the guitar into a lead instrument." It was…
Maybelle Carter, American singer and autoharp player (Carter Family) (born 1909)
Alexander Gerschenkron was an American economic historian and professor at Harvard University trained in the German historical school of economics.
Alexander Gerschenkron, Ukrainian-American historian, critic, and academic (born 1904)
Daisy Rasammah Daniels, known popularly as Rukmani Devi was a Sri Lankan film actress and singer who was often acclaimed as "The Nightingale of Sri Lanka". She made it to the silve…
Rukmani Devi, Sri Lankan singer and actress (born 1923)
Korean Air Lines Flight 902 was a scheduled Korean Air Lines flight from Paris to Seoul via Anchorage. On 20 April 1978, the Soviet air defense shot down the aircraft serving the f…
Korean Air Lines Flight 902 was shot down after violating Soviet airspace and was forced to make an emergency landing
Hussein bin Talal was King of Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999. A member of the Hashemite dynasty, he is regarded as a 40th-generation direct descendant of the Islamic prop…
King Hussein of Jordan married American Lisa Halaby, who became known as Queen Noor of Jordan (pictured)
A conclave was held on 25 and 26 August 1978 to elect a new pope to succeed Paul VI, who had died on 6 August 1978. Of the 114 eligible cardinal electors, all but three attended. O…
A conclave elected Albino Luciani as Pope John Paul I, succeeding Paul VI.
David Richard Berkowitz, also known as the Son of Sam, the .44 Caliber Killer and the Phantom of the Bronx, is an American serial killer, serial arsonist and former United States A…
American serial killer David Berkowitz, popularly known as the "Son of Sam", was sentenced to 25-years-to-life in prison
The rainbow flag or pride flag is a symbol of LGBTQ pride and LGBTQ social movements, as well as a peace symbol. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ community and the spe…
The rainbow flag (original version pictured) representing gay pride was first flown at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that involved a dispute over whether prefer…
In Regents of the University of California v
Moktar Ould Daddah was a Mauritanian politician who served as the country's first President after it gained its independence from France. Moktar served as the country's first Prime…
Moktar Ould Daddah, the first president of Mauritania, was ousted in a coup d'état led by Mustafa Ould Salek.
In 1978, a smallpox outbreak in the United Kingdom led to the death of Janet Parker, a British medical photographer. She was the last person recorded to have died from this disease…
British medical photographer Janet Parker became the last recorded person to die from smallpox, leading to a debate on…
San Diego International Airport is the primary international airport serving San Diego and its surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. The airport is locate…
While on approach to San Diego International Airport, Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182, a Boeing 727, collided…
Pope John Paul I was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, …
Pope John Paul I died only 33 days after his papal election due to an apparent myocardial infarction, resulting in the…
The national flag of Tuvalu is a light blue field with the Union Jack in the canton and nine yellow five-pointed stars on the fly (right) half of the flag. The nine stars represent…
Tuvalu adopted its national flag (pictured) the day the country gained independence.
James Onque Scott Jr. was an American boxer and convicted felon. He became the second-highest-ranked contender in the World Boxing Association's (WBA) light heavyweight division wh…
While in prison for murder, boxer James Scott defeated Eddie "The Flame" Gregory, a leading light heavyweight.
The national flag of Tuvalu is a light blue field with the Union Jack in the canton and nine yellow five-pointed stars on the fly (right) half of the flag. The nine stars represent…
Tuvalu adopted its national flag (pictured) on the day that the country gained its independence.