1970 – 1980s

Events in the 1970s 140

• 1881 – 1973 Pablo Picasso Cubism · Spain Pablo Picasso (October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor and printmaker who co-founded Cubism with Braque. One of the most prolific and influential artists in history, he created over 20,000 works in a career spanning 80 years.
• 1882 – 1971 Igor Stravinsky Modernist ballet composer Russian-born composer whose ballets The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring — which caused a riot at its premiere — transformed 20th-century music.
• 1884 – 1972 Harry S. Truman 33rd President — ended WWII, Marshall Plan, NATO Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – Dec 26, 1972) was the 33rd President 1945-1953. He ended World War II with the atomic bombs, launched the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, created NATO, and fought the Korean War.
• 1892 – 1973 J. R. R. Tolkien English fantasy writer Tolkien created The Lord of the Rings, defining modern epic fantasy literature and world-building.
• 1894 – 1971 Nikita Khrushchev De-Stalinisation and the Cuban Missile Crisis Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (April 15, 1894 – September 11, 1971) led the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964. He denounced Stalin's cult of personality, launched Sputnik, and navigated the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was removed in a coup by Politburo colleagues in 1964.
• 1896 – 1977 Ethel Waters (1896-1977) American singer and actress who broke barriers on record, on Broadway, in film and on television.
• 1897 – 1975 Moe Howard (1897-1975) American comedian, the bossy leader of the Three Stooges.
• 1897 – 1975 Fredric March (1897-1975) American actor, winner of two Oscars and two Tonys, from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to The Best Years of Our Lives.
• 1898 – 1979 Gracie Fields (1898-1979) English singer and comedian from Rochdale, the biggest British star of the 1930s.
• 1902 – 1974 Lindbergh Transatlantic solo flight Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo nonstop transatlantic flight in 1927, flying from New York to Paris in 33.5 hours.
• 1903 – 1970 Mark Rothko Color Field · Latvia / USA Mark Rothko (September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970) was a Latvian-American painter whose large-scale colour field canvases aimed to provoke profound emotional and spiritual responses. He took his own life in 1970.
• 1906 – 1975 Dmitri Shostakovich Soviet symphonist Russian composer who wrote 15 symphonies and 15 string quartets under the shadow of Stalin's regime. His 5th Symphony and 7th (Leningrad) are defining works of the 20th century.
• 1907 – 1976 Rosalind Russell (1907-1976) American actress known for fast-talking comedy in His Girl Friday and Auntie Mame.
• 1910 – 1976 Howlin' Wolf Blues singer and guitarist Chester Arthur Burnett, the towering Chicago bluesman of Smokestack Lightnin', Spoonful and Killing Floor.
• 1913 – 1976 Benjamin Britten British opera composer British composer who revived English opera with Peter Grimes and Billy Budd, and wrote the beloved Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.
• 1917 – 1975 Susan Hayward (1917-1975) American actress known for intense dramatic roles and five Oscar nominations, winning for I Want to Live!
• 1925 – 1979 Pahlavi dynasty The last shahs; rapid modernisation The Pahlavi dynasty, founded by Reza Shah after a 1921 coup, was Iran's last monarchy. Reza Shah and his son Mohammad Reza drove rapid, top-down modernisation and Westernisation, and in 1935 the country's international name was formally changed from Persia to Iran. Autocratic rule and inequality fuelled the discontent that led to revolution.
• 1935 – 1977 Elvis Presley (1935-1977) American singer and actor, known as the King of Rock and Roll. His mix of country, blues and gospel made him the defining star of early rock and roll, and he remains one of the best-selling solo artists in history.
• 1940 – 1973 Bruce Lee Martial artist, actor and philosopher — born San Francisco 1940 Bruce Lee (Lee Jun-fan) was born on November 27, 1940 in San Francisco. He became the most influential martial artist of the 20th century, transforming how Asian people were portrayed in film and inspiring generations worldwide. He died on July 20, 1973, aged 32.
• 1943 – 1971 Jim Morrison American singer, songwriter & poet James Douglas "Jim" Morrison (1943-1971) was the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors, celebrated for his baritone voice, poetic lyrics and theatrical, unpredictable stage presence. Known as "The Lizard King", he became one of the defining and most controversial icons of 1960s counterculture before his death in Paris at the age of 27.
• 1955 – 1970 Evidence for dark matter Most of the universe's mass is invisible Fritz Zwicky first noted evidence for missing mass in galaxy clusters (1933). Vera Rubin and Kent Ford's galaxy rotation measurements in the 1960s-70s conclusively showed that galaxies contain far more mass than can be seen — dark matter must exist. It comprises approximately 27% of the universe's total energy content and its nature remains one of the greatest unsolved problems in physics.
• 1955 – 1975 Vietnam War US involvement The Vietnam War saw US forces fighting communist North Vietnam. After 58,000 American deaths, the US withdrew in 1973 and Saigon fell in 1975.
• 1958 – 1978 The Miracles American soul vocal group Detroit group led by Smokey Robinson, Motown's first million-sellers and among the label's finest songwriters.
• 1962 – 1972 Occasional vocal recordings Beyond pure instrumentals Although best known as an instrumental group, The Shadows occasionally recorded with vocals — both under their own name and through Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch's side projects — broadening their range beyond the guitar-instrumental sound that made them famous.
• 1963 – 1974 Black holes confirmed From theoretical curiosity to observed reality Einstein's general relativity predicted black holes in 1916, but they were dismissed as mathematical artifacts. The discovery of quasars (1963) and pulsars (1967) — both objects requiring extreme gravity — made black holes plausible. The term "black hole" was coined by John Wheeler in 1967. By the 1970s, X-ray binaries like Cygnus X-1 provided compelling evidence. The first direct image of a black hole was captured in 2019.
• 1964 – 1970 Simon & Garfunkel American folk rock duo Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel — The Sound of Silence, Mrs. Robinson and Bridge Over Troubled Water.
• 1964 – 1973 The Byrds American rock band Los Angeles band of Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke — pioneers of folk rock, psychedelia and country rock.
• 1964 – 1973 The Velvet Underground American rock band Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker — Andy Warhol's house band and the root of punk and alternative rock.
• 1965 – 1973 The Doors American rock band Los Angeles band of Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger and John Densmore — Light My Fire, Break On Through and L.A. Woman.
• 1966 – 1976 Cultural Revolution Mao unleashes radical youth to destroy "old China" — 1–2 million dead Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution in 1966, mobilising student Red Guards to attack the "Four Olds" — customs, culture, habits and ideas. Intellectuals, teachers and party officials were persecuted, temples destroyed, books burned. An estimated 1–2 million died directly; millions more suffered persecution, imprisonment and forced labour. The revolution paralysed China for a decade until Mao's death in 1976.
• 1966 – 1975 Sly and the Family Stone American funk and soul band San Francisco band led by Sly Stone — the first major American band with Black and white, male and female members, and a huge influence on funk.
• 1967 – 1972 Creedence Clearwater Revival American rock band John Fogerty, Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford — between 1969 and 1971 the biggest singles band in America, with Proud Mary, Bad Moon Rising and Fortunate Son.
• 1969 – 1970 18-game winning streak The Knicks win 18 consecutive games during the 1969-70 season en route to a franchise-best 60-22 regular season record.
• 1969 – 1974 Nixon presidency 37th President — resigned 1974 Richard Nixon served as the 37th President from January 20, 1969 until his resignation on August 9, 1974 — the only US president to resign. He opened relations with China, ended the Vietnam War, and created the EPA before Watergate destroyed his presidency.
• 1970 Apollo 13 Near-fatal moon mission "Houston, we have a problem." An oxygen tank explosion crippled Apollo 13 en route to the Moon. The three astronauts survived thanks to improvised solutions.
• 1970 Beatles split End of an era Paul McCartney announced his departure from the Beatles in April 1970, formally ending the most influential band in music history.
• 1970 – 1979 Disco era Dance music dominates Disco music dominated the 1970s dancefloors, with artists like Donna Summer, the Bee Gees, and Gloria Gaynor defining a decade of glitter and liberation.
• 1970 First Earth Day First Earth Day The first Earth Day was held on 22 April 1970, organised by senator Gaylord Nelson as a national teach-in on the environment, and drew some twenty million Americans. Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency that December. The Clean Air and Clean Water Acts followed within three years.
• 1970 – present Grumman F-14 Tomcat Swing-wing fleet defender The swing-wing fleet defence fighter built to protect US carriers with the long-range Phoenix missile. Made famous by Top Gun, retired by the US Navy in 2006 and still flown by Iran.
• 1970 Reed sweeps MVP awards Willis Reed becomes the first player to win the NBA regular-season MVP, All-Star Game MVP, and Finals MVP in the same season.
• 1970 McCartney announces the break-up April 10, 1970 Paul McCartney publicly announced he was leaving the Beatles on April 10, 1970, via a self-written Q&A promoting his first solo album. The announcement shocked the world, though Lennon had privately left months earlier.
• 1970 "Willis Reed Game" — first NBA title Reed limps onto the court for Game 7 of the Finals against the Lakers, scores the game's first basket, and inspires New York to a 113-99 win and its first NBA championship.
• 1970 Let It Be Final album — May 8, 1970 Let It Be was released on May 8, 1970, a month after McCartney's announcement. Recorded in early 1969, it had been shelved until producer Phil Spector added controversial orchestration. It was a raw, melancholic finale to the Beatles' studio output.
• 1971 – 1973 Marvin, Welch & Farrar Vocal trio with John Farrar Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch formed the vocal trio Marvin, Welch & Farrar with Australian musician John Farrar — a departure from the instrumental Shadows sound toward close vocal harmonies.
• 1971 Microprocessor Intel 4004 Intel released the 4004 in 1971 — the world's first commercial microprocessor, placing a complete CPU on a single chip and launching the digital age.
• 1971 Sticky Fingers Ninth album — April 23, 1971 Sticky Fingers, released on April 23, 1971, was the first album on their own Rolling Stones Records label. The Andy Warhol-designed cover with a real zip became iconic. The album reached number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic.
• 1971 – present Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Nigerian novelist Adichie writes novels and essays about identity, feminism, and postcolonial experience.
• 1971 – present Elon Musk Tesla, SpaceX founder Elon Musk co-founded PayPal, founded SpaceX and Tesla, revolutionising electric vehicles and private space travel.
• 1971 – present Eagles American rock band Los Angeles band of Glenn Frey, Don Henley and others — Take It Easy, Desperado, Hotel California, and the best-selling album in US history.
• 1971 Diamonds Are Forever — Sean Connery Connery returns for a final official Eon appearance, lured back for a then-record salary of $1.25 million. Bond pursues a diamond-smuggling operation and faces Blofeld in Las Vegas. The film is campy and entertaining but marks the end of the definitive era of Bond. Budget: $7.2 million. Box office: $116 million.
• 1972 CT scanner First clinical use The first clinical CT scanner was used in 1972, revolutionising medical diagnosis by producing detailed cross-sectional images of the human body.
• 1972 Earl Monroe joins the Knicks "The Pearl" arrives via trade from Baltimore, pairing with Frazier in one of basketball's great backcourts.
• 1972 – present McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle Air superiority, undefeated The air superiority fighter with more than 100 air-to-air victories and no losses in air-to-air combat.
• 1972 Bloody Sunday 14 killed in Northern Ireland On January 30, 1972, British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civil rights protesters in Derry, killing 14. A defining moment of The Troubles.
• 1972 Nixon visits China Historic diplomacy President Nixon's 1972 visit to China broke 23 years of diplomatic isolation, opening relations between the US and the People's Republic.
• 1972 Exile on Main St. Tenth album — May 26, 1972 Exile on Main St. was released on May 26, 1972, recorded in the basement of Keith Richards' villa in the south of France while the band were tax exiles. Initially received mixed reviews, it is now widely regarded as their masterpiece and one of the greatest rock albums ever made.
• 1972 – present Zinedine Zidane World Cup winner, Ballon d'Or legend, and three-time Champions League-winning coach Zinedine Yazid Zidane, nicknamed "Zizou," is one of the greatest footballers in history, celebrated for his balance, vision, and effortless close control. Born to Algerian immigrant parents in Marseille, he rose from the working-class La Castellane housing estate to captain France to the 1998 World Cup title and lead Real Madrid to a record 14th European Cup as a player. After retiring in 2006, he reinvented himself as a coach, becoming the only manager to win three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles, with Real Madrid from 2016 to 2018.
• 1972 Munich massacre 11 Israeli athletes killed Palestinian terrorists took 11 Israeli Olympic team members hostage at the Munich Olympics. All hostages were killed during a failed rescue attempt.
• 1973 First mobile phone call First mobile phone call Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first handheld mobile phone call on a New York street on 3 April 1973, ringing his rival Joel Engel at Bell Labs. The prototype weighed over a kilogram and gave half an hour of talk time. Motorola took another decade to bring a commercial handset to market.
• 1973 Genetic engineering Recombinant DNA created Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer created the first recombinant DNA organism in 1973, founding the field of genetic engineering and modern biotechnology.
• 1973 – present Los Lobos American rock band East Los Angeles band of David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano and Steve Berlin, blending rock, blues, country and Mexican folk.
• 1973 Oil crisis OPEC embargo Arab OPEC members imposed an oil embargo in 1973, causing prices to quadruple and triggering fuel shortages and recession across the West.
• 1973 Second NBA championship The Knicks defeat the Lakers again, this time in five games, for their second NBA title.
• 1973 The Shadows reform Marvin, Welch, Bennett & Farrar The Shadows reformed in 1973 with the line-up of Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Brian Bennett and John Farrar — the configuration that would represent the band at Eurovision two years later.
• 1973 UK joins EEC Britain enters European Community The United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community on 1 January 1973, beginning Britain's decades-long European chapter.
• 1973 1st Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Winner: Dick Wilmarth — 20 days 0h 49m The inaugural Iditarod was held in March 1973, covering 1,049 miles from Anchorage to Nome across Alaskan wilderness. 35 teams started, 22 finished. Dick Wilmarth won with lead dog Hotfoot in 20 days. Founded by Joe Redington Sr. to celebrate Alaska sled dog heritage, the race became known as "The Last Great Race on Earth."
• 1973 – 1974 Watergate scandal Nixon resigns The break-in at the Watergate complex and subsequent cover-up led to the only resignation of a sitting US President, Richard Nixon, in August 1974.
• 1973 Live and Let Die — Roger Moore Roger Moore makes his Bond debut, introducing a lighter, more humorous interpretation of the character. Bond investigates a Caribbean drug lord and faces a voodoo cult. Paul McCartney contributes the title song, the first time a former Beatle contributes to a Bond soundtrack — one of the most successful songs in the franchise's history. Budget: $7 million. Box office: $161.8 million.
• 1973 – present Sergey Brin Google co-founder Sergey Brin co-founded Google with Larry Page at Stanford in 1998, transforming how humanity accesses and organises information.
• 1973 Goats Head Soup Eleventh album — August 31, 1973 Goats Head Soup, released on August 31, 1973, was recorded in Jamaica. It reached number 1 in both UK and US and included the ballad "Angie", their first UK number 1 single since 1969.
• 1973 Star Trek: The Animated Series Following the live-action series' cancellation, an animated continuation runs for two seasons (1973-74) on NBC Saturday mornings, with most of the original cast returning to voice their characters. It is later declared canon by some fan communities and ignored by others. Wins a Daytime Emmy — the first Star Trek production to win an Emmy.
• 1973 Sydney Opera House Opens in Australia The Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on October 20, 1973, becoming one of the most iconic buildings of the 20th century.
• 1973 Death of John Rostill 26 November 1973 Former bassist John Rostill died on 26 November 1973, electrocuted while playing a faulty electric guitar in his home studio in Shenley — discovered by Bruce Welch. A coroner later attributed the death to suicide. Rostill was just 31 and had written several of the band's most successful later compositions.
• 1974 – present Banksy Street Art · United Kingdom Banksy (born c. 1974) is an anonymous British street artist whose satirical stencil works appear on walls worldwide. His identity remains unknown. His self-destructing Girl with Balloon sold at Sotheby's for £18.6 million in 2021.
• 1974 – present General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon The lightweight fighter Small, cheap and agile — the lightweight fighter that became the most widely used fighter of its era, with more than 4,600 built for some 25 air forces.
• 1974 Pepsi first American brand in the USSR Cold War cola diplomacy — 1974 In 1974, Pepsi became the first American consumer product to be manufactured and sold in the Soviet Union, after a pioneering deal struck by PepsiCo CEO Donald Kendall with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the 1959 "Kitchen Debate" in Moscow finally bore fruit. Pepsi traded cola syrup for Stolichnaya vodka import rights.
• 1974 Willis Reed retires After a loss to Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals, Reed announces his retirement, closing the championship era.
• 1974 – present Percy Montgomery Springbok fullback, world-record goal-kicker and 2007 Rugby World Cup winner Percy Montgomery is a former South African rugby union player widely regarded as one of the finest fullbacks of his generation. Over an international career spanning more than a decade, he became the Springboks' all-time leading Test points-scorer and the first South African to reach 100 Test caps. Renowned for his metronomic goal-kicking, he set a world record for consecutive successful kicks and was a key figure in South Africa's 2007 Rugby World Cup triumph. After retiring as a player he moved into broadcasting and coaching, later serving as a kicking consultant within the Springbok setup.
• 1974 Nixon resigns Nixon resigns Richard Nixon resigned on 9 August 1974, the only American president to do so, three days after the release of a tape proving he had ordered the FBI investigation of the Watergate break-in to be obstructed. Impeachment and conviction were by then certain. Gerald Ford pardoned him a month later.
• 1974 It's Only Rock 'n Roll Twelfth album — October 18, 1974 It's Only Rock 'n Roll was released on October 18, 1974. Mick Taylor's final album with the band before his departure in December 1974. Ron Wood of the Faces contributed to the title track, presaging his eventual permanent role.
• 1974 The Man with the Golden Gun — Roger Moore Bond hunts Francisco Scaramanga, an elite assassin with a golden gun. The film introduces the legendary henchman Nick Nack and features a spectacular spiral car jump — later discovered to have been achieved in a single take without CGI. Budget: $7 million. Box office: $97.6 million.
• 1975 Altair 8800 First personal computer kit The Altair 8800 was the first commercially successful personal computer kit, inspiring a young Bill Gates and Paul Allen to found Microsoft.
• 1975 – 1982 Begins pole vault -- Vitaly Petrov and Donetsk At around 11, Bubka takes up pole vault in Luhansk, then moves to Donetsk to train under coach Vitaly Petrov -- a partnership that lasts his entire career and is one of the most productive athlete-coach relationships in the history of athletics. Petrov develops the technical framework that enables Bubka's explosive, rhythmically precise approach: a short, fast run-up, an unusually high grip on the pole, and a powerful leg drive at take-off. The system is eventually called the "Soviet school" of pole vaulting and influences every serious vaulter who follows.
• 1975 Helsinki Accords Cold War human rights agreement 35 nations signed the Helsinki Final Act in 1975, establishing human rights principles that helped undermine Soviet authority.
• 1975 Microsoft founded Microsoft founded Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Micro-Soft in Albuquerque in April 1975 to sell a BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800. The decisive move came in 1980, when the company licensed an operating system to IBM while keeping the right to sell it to others. That deal made MS-DOS, and then Windows, the industry standard.
• 1975 Pepsi Challenge launched Cola Wars begin in earnest PepsiCo launched the "Pepsi Challenge" blind taste tests in 1975, showing that many consumers preferred the taste of Pepsi. The campaign ignited the Cola Wars — one of the most competitive marketing rivalries in business history — and directly led to New Coke a decade later.
• 1975 – 1979 Punk rock Sex Pistols, The Clash Punk rock exploded in the mid-1970s as a raw anti-establishment reaction to mainstream rock. Bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash defined a generation.
• 1975 The Pepsi Challenge launched Blind taste tests ignite the Cola Wars — 1975 In 1975 Pepsi launched the Pepsi Challenge — blind taste tests conducted in shopping centres across America in which most consumers preferred Pepsi over Coca-Cola. The campaign was a marketing masterstroke that terrified Coca-Cola and directly led to the disastrous "New Coke" reformulation a decade later.
• 1975 – present Elena Ferrante Italian novelist Ferrante is known for the Neapolitan Novels exploring friendship, class, and female identity.
• 1975 – 2023 Lee Sun-kyun South Korean Actor South Korean actor best known for playing the wealthy patriarch Park Dong-ik in Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning film Parasite (2019). Acclaimed across film and television in South Korea, he won a Screen Actors Guild Award with the Parasite cast and was nominated for an International Emmy Award for Dr. Brain.
• 1975 Eurovision Song Contest — "Let Me Be the One" Stockholm, 2nd place Represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 in Stockholm with "Let Me Be the One", written by Paul Curtis. The song finished second with 138 points, behind the Netherlands' "Ding-A-Dong" by Teach-In — extending the UK's record number of runner-up finishes.
• 1975 Fall of Saigon Vietnam War ends North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon on April 30, 1975, ending the Vietnam War and reunifying Vietnam under communist rule.
• 1975 – 2015 Jonah Lomu The winger who turned rugby into a global spectacle Jonah Tali Lomu was a New Zealand rugby union winger widely credited as the sport's first global superstar. Combining a 120kg frame with sprinter-level speed, he redefined what a back-line player could be and forced the laws and tactics of the game to adapt around him. His explosive performances at the 1995 Rugby World Cup arrived just as rugby turned professional, and the two events together are often cited as the moment the sport became a worldwide commercial product. Off the field he battled a serious kidney disorder for two decades, undergoing a transplant in 2004 before dying suddenly in 2015 at age 40.
• 1975 – present Gareth Edwards British film director, screenwriter, and visual effects artist Gareth Edwards is an English filmmaker known for blending grounded, documentary-style realism with large-scale visual effects, a style he taught himself while working in British television before breaking into Hollywood. He rose from making a micro-budget monster movie almost single-handedly to directing two of the biggest studio franchises of the 2010s, Godzilla and Star Wars, and later returned to original filmmaking with The Creator. His career is notable for proving that photorealistic VFX could be achieved on a fraction of typical blockbuster budgets, a skill he leveraged at every stage of his career.
• 1975 – present Kavinsky French Electronic Musician French electronic musician and synthwave pioneer, born Vincent Belorgey, whose track Nightcall became a defining piece of 2010s popular culture after it was featured in the opening credits of Nicolas Winding Refn's film Drive (2011). He created the fictional persona of Kavinsky — a mysterious driver who crashed his Ferrari Testarossa in 1986, died, and returned as a zombie twenty years later to make electronic music. Alongside Daft Punk and Justice, he was one of the key figures of the French electronic music scene.
• 1975 – present Tiger Woods American professional golfer, one of the greatest in the sport's history Eldrick "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He rewrote the record books with 15 major championships and 82 PGA Tour wins, dominating the game through the late 1990s and 2000s before overcoming personal scandal and career-threatening injuries to complete one of sports' most celebrated comebacks with his 2019 Masters victory.
• 1976 Apple I Wozniak & Jobs launch Apple Steve Wozniak designed the Apple I computer, which Steve Jobs sold from his garage in 1976, founding Apple Computer Company and beginning the PC revolution.
• 1976 Apple founded Apple founded Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne founded Apple on 1 April 1976 to sell Wozniak's hand-built Apple I board. Wayne sold his ten per cent back for $800 within two weeks. The Apple II the following year turned the personal computer into a product ordinary people bought.
• 1976 Knicks move to Eastern Conference Atlantic Division The 1976-77 realignment following the ABA merger places New York in the Atlantic Division, where it remains.
• 1976 – 2017 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers American rock band Florida rock band led by Tom Petty, with Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench — American Girl, Refugee and Free Fallin'.
• 1976 – 2021 Peyton Manning Five-time NFL MVP and two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Peyton Manning is widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks in National Football League history, spending 18 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos. He won five NFL Most Valuable Player awards, a record matched by no other player, and led his teams to victory in two Super Bowls (XLI and 50). Known for his exceptional command of the game at the line of scrimmage, obsessive preparation, and record-setting passing statistics, Manning redefined the quarterback position before retiring in 2016 and being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
• 1976 Black and Blue Thirteenth album — April 23, 1976 Black and Blue, released on April 23, 1976, was the first album to feature Ron Wood alongside guest guitarists auditioning for the lead guitar position. It reached number 1 in the US and number 2 in the UK.
• 1976 – 1986 The Clash English punk band Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon — the punk band that took in reggae, rockabilly and dub.
• 1976 Tangshan earthquake 250,000+ killed in China The Tangshan earthquake struck China on July 28, 1976, killing an estimated 242,000–655,000 people — one of the deadliest earthquakes of the 20th century.
• 1976 – present U2 Irish rock band Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. — together since 1976, one of the best-selling and highest-grossing live bands ever.
• 1977 Bill Bradley retires Forward and future US Senator Bill Bradley, a member of both title teams, retires from the Knicks.
• 1977 – 1995 Dire Straits Mark Knopfler's band — London 1977 to 1995 Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler, his brother David Knopfler, John Illsley and Pick Withers. Their timeless guitar-driven sound sold over 100 million records worldwide. Brothers in Arms (1985) was one of the best-selling albums of the 20th century.
• 1977 Star Wars Blockbuster era begins George Lucas's Star Wars (1977) revolutionised filmmaking, invented the modern blockbuster, and became one of the highest-grossing franchises ever.
• 1977 – present Sukhoi Su-27 The Soviet answer to the F-15 The Soviet answer to the F-15: a long-range, highly manoeuvrable fighter whose airframe spawned the Su-30, Su-35 and Chinese J-11 families.
• 1977 Australian Open 1977 — two editions Men: Roscoe Tanner (Jan) & Vitas Gerulaitis (Dec) · Women: Kerry Reid (Jan) & Evonne Goolagong (Dec) Two editions held in 1977 as the tournament transitioned from December to January scheduling.
• 1977 – 1986 The Police English rock band Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland — a trio that blended punk, reggae and pop into five albums and one of the biggest songs of the 1980s.
• 1977 Tenerife airport disaster Worst aviation accident in history — 583 killed Two Boeing 747s collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife on March 27, 1977. A KLM plane took off without clearance and struck a Pan Am aircraft in thick fog. All 248 on the KLM plane and 335 of 396 on the Pan Am plane were killed — 583 in total — making it the deadliest aviation accident in history.
• 1977 Apple II launched First mass-market personal computer Apple launched the Apple II personal computer on April 1, 1977, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputers. It came with a colour display, keyboard and BASIC programming language.
• 1977 The Mahapakh -- Likud wins the Israeli election Twenty-nine years of Labour rule end in one night Elections to the ninth Knesset gave Likud, led by Menachem Begin, 43 seats against the Alignment's 32, ending almost three decades of uninterrupted rule by Labour and its predecessor Mapai. Anchor Haim Yavin announced the result live with the word "Mahapakh" -- upheaval -- and the name stuck. Turnout was 79%. Begin formed a government the following month.
• 1977 Star Wars released Blockbuster era begins George Lucas's Star Wars opened in US cinemas on May 25, 1977. It immediately broke box office records, sparked a global cultural phenomenon, and became the highest-grossing film of all time until E.T. in 1982.
• 1977 The Spy Who Loved Me — Roger Moore Widely regarded as the best of the Moore era. Bond teams up with Soviet agent Anya Amasova to investigate a plan to steal nuclear submarines. Jaws makes his first appearance — the towering steel-toothed henchman becomes one of the franchise's most beloved characters. Budget: $14 million. Box office: $185.4 million.
• 1977 Elvis Presley dies The King of Rock and Roll, age 42 Elvis Presley was found dead at his Graceland home in Memphis on August 16, 1977, aged 42. His death was attributed to cardiac arrhythmia. An estimated 75,000 fans lined the streets of Memphis for his funeral procession.
• 1977 Voyager 1 launched Will become most distant human object NASA launched Voyager 1 on September 5, 1977. It flew past Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980, and in 2012 became the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space.
• 1977 Atari 2600 released Home video gaming era begins Atari released the Atari 2600 home video game console on October 14, 1977, popularising the use of game cartridges and bringing arcade-style gaming into millions of homes.
• 1977 – present Emmanuel Macron French president from 2017 Emmanuel Macron became France's youngest president in 2017, championing European integration and liberal democratic values.
• 1978 Deng Xiaoping's reforms — China opens to the world "To get rich is glorious" — the greatest economic transformation in history After Mao's death, Deng Xiaoping gradually took power and launched sweeping economic reforms from 1978 — introducing market mechanisms, opening special economic zones, and welcoming foreign investment. China's economy grew at an average of nearly 10% per year for the next four decades, lifting 800 million people out of poverty — the largest poverty reduction in human history.
• 1978 – 1980 John Farrar writes for Olivia Newton-John "You're the One That I Want", "Suddenly" Former Shadows member John Farrar went on to write and produce major hits for Olivia Newton-John, including "You're the One That I Want" (from "Grease", 1978) and "Suddenly" (from "Xanadu", 1980) — one of the more unexpected legacies of the Shadows' rotating line-up.
• 1978 Iditarod 1978 Winner: Dick Mackey — by one second The most controversial finish in Iditarod history. Dick Mackey beat Rick Swenson by just one second — the closest finish ever. Swenson protested but the result stood.
• 1978 – present Pretenders British-American rock band Chrissie Hynde's band — Brass in Pocket, Back on the Chain Gang and I'll Stand by You.
• 1978 – present Xavier Rudd Australian Multi-Instrumentalist, Singer-Songwriter & Indigenous Rights Advocate Xavier Rudd is an Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist renowned for his one-man-band live performances, blending slide guitar, didgeridoo, stomp box, and percussion. Raised in the surf town of Torquay, Victoria, he built a career on themes of nature, spirituality, and Aboriginal rights, becoming one of Australia's most distinctive touring artists. Since his 2002 debut, he has released over a dozen albums, several performed with his backing band the United Nations, and has used his platform to advocate for environmental protection and Indigenous land rights.
• 1978 Dire Straits Debut album — June 9, 1978 The Dire Straits debut album was released on June 9, 1978, recorded at Basing Street Studios in London for just £12,500. It featured "Sultans of Swing" and reached number 5 in the UK and number 2 in the US, becoming double platinum in both countries.
• 1978 Some Girls Fourteenth album — June 9, 1978 Some Girls was released on June 9, 1978, the Stones' response to punk and disco. Their biggest commercial success, it reached number 1 in the US and number 2 in the UK. It included "Miss You" and "Beast of Burden".
• 1978 First IVF baby Louise Brown born, UK Louise Brown, born in Oldham, England on July 25, 1978, was the world's first baby conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
• 1978 US Open 1978 — first at Flushing Meadows Men: Jimmy Connors · Women: Chris Evert First US Open at the new USTA National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York.
• 1979 Iran revolution Islamic Republic declared The Iranian Revolution ousted the Shah and brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power, establishing the Islamic Republic that transformed the Middle East.
• 1979 – present Islamic Republic of Iran A Shia theocratic republic Since 1979 Iran has been an Islamic Republic combining elected institutions with a Supreme Leader holding ultimate authority. It has been a major regional power and a focus of international tension over its nuclear programme, sanctions, and domestic movements for reform.
• 1979 – 1989 Soviet-Afghan War USSR invades Afghanistan The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, beginning a decade-long conflict that became a significant factor in the eventual collapse of the USSR.
• 1979 Thatcher elected UK's first female PM Margaret Thatcher became the UK's first female Prime Minister in 1979, ushering in an era of free-market economics and privatisation.
• 1979 Three Mile Island accident Three Mile Island accident A cooling fault and misread instruments caused a partial meltdown in reactor two at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania on 28 March 1979. Little radiation escaped and no injuries were established, but the confused public communication did lasting damage. New American reactor orders effectively stopped for three decades.
• 1979 Voyager flybys Jupiter & Saturn explored NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft sent back stunning images of Jupiter and Saturn, transforming our understanding of the outer solar system.
• 1979 Three Mile Island Nuclear accident, USA A partial nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in March 1979 was the most significant nuclear accident in US history.
• 1979 Communiqué Second album — June 5, 1979 Communiqué was released on June 5, 1979, recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas with producers Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett. It reached number 5 in the UK and number 11 in the US. The last album to feature David Knopfler.
• 1979 Moonraker — Roger Moore Bond goes to space — the franchise's most extreme concession to the Star Wars era. Hugo Drax plans to destroy humanity from an orbital station. Jaws returns and unexpectedly falls in love. The film is extravagant, frequently absurd and a massive commercial success. Budget: $34 million. Box office: $210.3 million.
• 1979 Walkman launched Sony changes music forever Sony introduced the Walkman in July 1979, allowing people to listen to music privately on the go for the first time, forever changing how we consume music.
• 1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture Ten years after cancellation, the success of Star Wars prompts Paramount to revive Star Trek as a theatrical film. Directed by Robert Wise, the film reunites the original cast in a slow, visually stunning but narratively underwhelming story about a vast alien entity heading toward Earth. Budget: $46 million. Gross: $139 million. Despite mixed reviews, its commercial success secures the franchise's future.