Looking back on 1970
 

"Houston, we have a problem!"

Apollo 13, has hit a snag. Launched on April 11, 1970, it was to be the third manned mission to the Moon. The nearly flawless lunar landings of Apollo 11 and 12, had made the moon flights seem almost routine.

Without warning, disaster strikes. A violent explosion nearly destroys the fragile craft with its precious human cargo on board.

Too late to turn directly back to earth, the three man Apollo crew, Lovell, Swigert and Haise, have no choice but to ride their seriously damaged space ship around the Moon first.

Critically short of vital supplies because the blast has seriously depleted power, oxygen and water, the men survive in part by making use of the Lunar Landing Module as their main craft.

The fact that all three splash down safely on April 17, 1970 is due in no small measure to the courage and resourcefulness of the astronauts themselves. In addition, the ground crew works around the clock coming up with solutions to almost insurmountable problems. When it is over, the World heaves a collective sigh of relief.

Statistics

1970 is becoming an eventful year. The population of the U.S. has risen to nearly 205 million. Women can expect to reach the age of 74.8 years while men can expect to live to an average of just over 67 years. The median salary has jumped to $7,564. and a loaf of bread now costs 24 cents. A pound of butter goes for 93 cents, a dozen eggs, $1.23 and a quart of milk costs 33 cents.

Hit Parade

In 1970, 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' tops the hit parade, followed by 'American Woman', 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head' and '(They Long To Be) Close To You'. Also popular: 'Spirit In The Sky', 'Everything Is Beautiful', 'Candida', 'Instant Karma (We All Shine On)' and who can forget 'Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)'. The popular singers of the day include Simon & Garfunkel , The Guess Who, B.J. Thomas, The Jackson five, The Beatles, The Carpenters and The Poppy Family.

Movies

One of the most talked about movies of 1970 is 'M*A*S*H. It features Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould in the lead roles. Also popular are 'Patton' featuring George C. Scott in the title role, 'Catch-22' with Alan Arkin and Martin Balsam, 'Five Easy Pieces' starring Jack Nicholson and Karen Black, and the original 'Airport ' featuring Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin. Finally, the sleeper of the year, 'Love Story' turns out to be the most popular. Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal are cast as star crossed lovers.

Television

In 1970 Television is hitting its stride. A number of shows are seen for the first time. They include the 'Mary Tyler Moore' show, 'The Partridge Family' and 'The Flip Wilson Show'. Still going strong are carry-overs like 'Marcus Welby, M.D.', 'Gunsmoke', 'Bonanza and Rowan and Martin's 'Laugh-In'.

Theater

In 1970 Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice unveil their "rock opera" 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. Because of its controversial nature, a formal production is not mounted until October 12, 1971 at the Hellinger Theatre in New York. 1970 also sees the opening of Stephen Sondheim's play, 'Company'

First Earth Day

On April 22, the first Earth Day is celebrated. Originally called "The First National Environmental Teach-in," Earth Day was modeled after the anti-Vietnam war teach-ins of the late 1960s. Senator Gaylord Nelson is one of the promoters.

Vietnam

In an apparent escalation of the Vietnam war, President Nixon sends combat units into Cambodia. In 1969, large numbers of North Vietnamese troops had entered Cambodia. In March 1970, the Cambodian government requests their removal. Premier Lon Nol had taken control of the government while Prince Norodom Sihanouk was in Peking and pledges to force the removal of the Vietnamese troops.

Initially, the Vietnamese agree to withdraw, but then announce their support for Sihanouk, who had promised to fight the new government. Then, on April 30, President Nixon announces that US troops will join with South Vietnamese troops to invade the border area of Cambodia and eliminate Communist sanctuaries. He also pledges that all US troops will be out by the end of June. Meanwhile, Communist forces advance on Phnom Penh.

Tragedy at Kent State

The action by Nixon leads to an increase in protest to the war. On May 4, 1970 in Kent, Ohio one of the many anti-Vietnam war protests happening across the nation, takes an ugly turn. At the normally tranquil Kent State University campus a mass student demonstration combined with the usual assortment of rabble-rousers and troublemakers has escalated.

In an atmosphere that is generating more heat than light, the National Guard had been summoned two days before.

Finally, on that fateful day the unthinkable happens and things go terribly wrong. Ironically, there was no protest to speak of and the evidence suggests that things were returning to normal.

There was the usual milling about of students with of course the added excitement of guardsmen in full battle gear on campus. Confusion was rampant. Then, at about 12:30 P.M. a group of guardsmen open fire on a small goup of students. When it is over four students lay dead. Nine more are injured. America is in shock.

Some thirty years later, there are still as many questions as there are answers.

World Events

Meanwhile in other parts of the globe some noteworthy events take place. In Chile, Salvador Allende Gossens is elected President. It is significant in that Allende is the first Marxist ever elected in free elections. He immediately establishes diplomatic relations with Cuba and China, and nationalizes a number of U.S. owned companies.

In Egypt, still operating as the United Arab Republic, Anwar Sadat is elected president. He succeeds Gamal Abdel Nasser who dies suddenly of a heart attack on September 28, 1970. A grateful nation in mourning dedicates the newly completed Aswan High Dam to his memory and names the reservoir created by the huge dam, Lake Nasser. The controversial dam begun ten years earlier is 364 feet high and 121,565 feet long.

Meanwhile in France another leader and statesman is mourned. On November 9, Charles-André-Joseph-Marie de Gaulle dies at Colombey-les-deux-Eglises from a ruptured aneurism. The General and former President was a fervent patriot who stood for a strong France for the French people. A saddened nation buries their beloved leader on November 12.

In June Brazil wins the World Cup of soccer in Mexico City. Belgian, Eddie Merckx wins his second Tour de France bicycle race and British golfer, Tony Jacklin, wins the U.S. Open. U.S. boxer "Smokin' Joe" Frazier becomes World Heavyweight Champion.

Jimi Dies

On September 18, 1970, Jimi Hendrix, a musical icon of his generation, suffocates after an overdose of barbiturates. A typhoon in the Philippines on October 21, kills almost 800 people. A few days earlier, on the fifteenth, a bridge collapse in Melbourne, Australia kills 33.
 

Air Travel

On a more positive note, the largest passenger plane ever built, the Boeing 747 enters service on January 21 flying the colors of Pan-American World Airways. This new type of aircraft promptly dubbed a "Jumbo Jet", will transform the face of air travel as it places new demands on airport passenger terminals.

Feminist Movement

Finally the new "feminists" get a shot in the arm with publication of a controversial book, 'The Female Eunuch'. It is the work of an Australian academic working in England, Dr. Germaine Greer. In it she argues among other things that traditional marriage is just a legalized form of slavery for women. The book is a watershed.

1970! Looking back, it was a remarkable year.

Information compliments of:  About Senior Living

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