| Did You Know 1970-1979 In 1972, Frederick Smith, age 27, founded Federal Express with $72 million in venture Capital. It carried 16 packages on its inaugural night, not yet a challenge to the U.S. postal service. In 1972, the United States resumed bombing on the North Vietnam cities Hanoi and Haiphong, leading to arguments in the Senate. In 1972, the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed the 1000-point mark for the first time in history. In 1972, three years after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos was elected, he declares martial law to combat terrorism and a supposed Communist rebellion; thousands were killed as the government imposes order. In 1972, five men were arrested inside the new Democratic National Headquarters with surveillance equipment and cameras, marking the beginning of the Watergate Scandal that destroyed Nixon's presidency. Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Car Bernstein began to investigate. In 1972, the Senate approved the Equal Rights Amendment, guaranteeing equality for women. The amendment did not become the law of the land, however, as it failed to be ratified by the required number of states. In, 1972, Nike, Inc. was founded by Philip H. Knight and William Bowerman, who had been importing Japanese running shoes for the past six years. Nike became the world's largest sneaker company. In 1973, U. S. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned for tax evasion and was replaced by Senate Minority Leader Gerald Ford. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger became secretary of state. In 1973, Fierce fighting surrounded the beginning of Arab Israeli Yom Kippur War. The United STates supplied Israel with military equipment ot offset Soviet support of Arab forces. A United Nations resolution sponsored by the U. S. and U.S.S.R. called for a ceasefire, finally effected in late October. In 1973, the towering World Trade Center became New York City's latest calling card. The structure briefly reigned as the tallest in the world; the Sears Tower topped it the next year. In 1973, considered by some to be the greatest artist of the century, Pablo Picasso died at age 91. In 1973, Erica Jong published the startling Fear of Flying. Also new this year was "Gravity's Rainbow", one of Thomas Pynchon's best known works, and "The Castel of Crossed Destinies" by maestro of magic realism Italo Calvino. In 1973, heavyweight boxer George Foreman gains the world championship by knocking out Joe Frazier. In 1974, Richard Nixon, became the first United States president to resign office. Nixon sought to avoid an impeachment trial stemming for lurid Watergate discoveries. Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in and granted Nixon a full pardon. In 1974, Dreyfus offered the first money marked fund for small individual investors. Within six years, there will be over 100 such funds available. In 1974, primitive word processors began to populate offices. The machines resembled typewriters and permitted basic text editing. In 1974, congress approved the Election Reform Act, which limited contributions to presidential campaigns and capped the presidential and capped the presidential candidate's budget. The act encouraged the growth of political action committees (PACs) In 1974, French President Georges Pompidou died of cancer; former minister of finance Valery Giscard d'Estaing assumed office and continues Gaullist independent foreign policy. In 1974, EMI Records, flush from sales of the The Bealtles' records, developed the CAT scanner which is found in broad use this year and enhances the diagnostic process. In 1974, Inflation climbed around the world; the Dow Jone's low of 570.01 is half of its high (1036.27) of tow years ago. In 1974, Turkish forces invaded Cyprus, spurring Greece to mobilize troops. Former Premier Constantine Karamanlis returned from exile to head the Greek government after the military junta resigns. In 1974, India successfully detonated an atomic bomb and becomes the fifth nuclear power in the world. In 1974, OPEC jacked up oil prices, and President Nixon signed an act limiting highway speeds to 55 MPH which successfully conserves fuel. In 1974, Dr. Henry Heimlich described the Heimlich Maneuver, a technique to help prevent people from choking to death, in a medical journal. In 1974, Americans Jimmy Connors and Chris Everet win the men's and women's singles respectively at the Wimbledon tennis championship. In 1975, the last American troops left Vietnam as North Vietnamese troops completed an invasion of South Vietnam and united both countries under Communist rule. The final death toll of the war was roughly 1.3 million Vietnamese and more than 56,000 American lives. In 1975, China held its Fourth National People's Congress to adopt a national constitution and give the Central Committee Chairman, Mao Zedong, direct control of the military. In 1975, the Cambodian Khmer Rouge, led by Communist Pol Pot, defeated Lon Nol's government and institutes a reign of terror. In 1975, Microsoft was in business in Seattle Washington. The computer software company was founded by Paul Allen, age 22, and Bill Gates, age 19, and a Harvard drop-out. In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated by his nephew, who is shortly beheaded. Faisal's brother assumed power, continuing moderate policies in OPEC. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin both died in 1970; the music of the '70's was ushered in with the eponymous Led Zeppelin III, Let It Be (The Beatles) and Deja Vu (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) In 1970, 126 runners showed up for the first New York Marathon and ran around Central Park four times. The 26th Amendment lowered the United States voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971. In 1971, South Vietnamese forces began an offensive in Cambodia with American support, but were repulsed after six weeks; the United States reduced it troops in Vietnam to about 200,000. Masterpiece Theater, All in the Family, and the Electric Company premiered on television in 1971. The Supreme Court upheld a measure to busing children in order to enforce integration in schools; a bussing plan imposed in Austin drew the criticism of Alabama Governor George Wallace, who had previously urged southern senators to defy integration in 1971. Soft Contact lenses (invented in 1962) receive FDA approval in 1971. In 1971, cigarette sales topped $540 billion despite a partial ban on cigarette advertising. A report from British experts likened the mortality rates from cigarette smoking to that of virulent cholera or typhoid epidemics. In 1972, offerings in popular culture included M*A*S*H, the Godfather, Don McLean's "American Pie" and books such as Watership Down. In Musical theater, Cabaret, Pippin and Grease hit the boards In 1972, Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky to become the first American to hold the world chess title. In 1972, sporadic violence in Northern Ireland took off on "Bloody Sunday" when 13 Roman Catholics were shot by British troops during a riot. Two months later, Britain assumed direct control of the North Irish government, dissolving the Ulster Parliament. |