1970

The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC.

The first episode of All My Children is broadcast on the ABC television network.

The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight (700 mph/1127 km/h).

President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, banning cigarette television advertisements in the United States, starting on January 1, 1971.

American Motors Corporation introduces the Gremlin.

Paul McCartney announces that the Beatles have disbanded, while at the same press conference, announcing the release of his new solo album.

Apollo 13 (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert) is launched toward the Moon. On April 13, an oxygen tank in the spacecraft explodes, forcing the crew to abort the mission and return in 4 days.

The first Earth Day is celebrated in the U.S.

The U.S. invades Cambodia to hunt out the Viet Cong; massive antiwar protests occur in the U.S.

Four students at Kent State University in Ohio are killed and 9 wounded by Ohio State National Guardsmen at a protest against the incursion into Cambodia.

An F5 tornado hits downtown Lubbock, Texas, the first to hit a downtown district of a major city since Topeka, Kansas in 1966 (28 are killed).

President Nixon signs a measure lowering the voting age to 18.

The United States gets its first female generals: Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington.

Elvis Presley begins his first concert tour since 1958 in Phoenix, Arizona at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

George C. Scott gives one of film's most memorable performances in Patton. He won the Best Actor Oscar for his turn as the title character, but refused the gold statuette.

Monday Night Football debuts on ABC, with Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford, and Don Meredith giving play-by-play.

IBM introduces the floppy disk.

The LCD (liquid crystal display) is invented by Hoffmann-La Roche (Switzerland).

The Ford Pinto is introduced.

The first New York City Marathon begins.

Jimi Hendrix dies of a barbiturate overdose in London.

Janis Joplin dies of a heroin overdose inside her hotel room in Los Angeles, California.

Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury debuts in approximately two dozen newspapers in the United States.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.

The North Tower of the World Trade Center is topped out at 1,368 feet, making it the tallest building in the world.

Deaths:
Brian Piccolo, American football star (b. 1943)
Vince Lombardi, American football coach (b. 1913)
Jimi Hendrix, American musician (b. 1942)
Janis Joplin, American singer (b. 1943)
John T. Scopes, American Scopes Monkey Trial defendant (b. 1900)