This timeline outlines significant events in the history of the United States from 1970 to 1989, covering political, social, economic, and cultural milestones.
1970
- January 14: The Super Bowl IV takes place; the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Minnesota Vikings.
- April 22: The first Earth Day is celebrated, marking the beginning of the modern environmental movement.
- May 4: The Kent State shootings occur, where National Guard members kill four unarmed students protesting the Vietnam War.
- June: Loving v. Virginia, which invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage in the United States, reaches its three-year anniversary and is upheld by the Supreme Court.
- October: Congress passes the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act.
1971
- January: Cigarette advertising is banned on television and radio.
- March 29: Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of murdering 22 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai Massacre.
- August 15: President Richard Nixon announces the "Nixon Shock," ending the convertibility of the U.S. dollar to gold, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system.
1972
- February: President Richard Nixon visits China, a historic step in normalizing relations between the two countries.
- March 22: Congress approves the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), sending it to the states for ratification.
- May 15: Governor George Wallace is shot and seriously wounded while campaigning for president.
- June 17: The Watergate break-in occurs at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, marking the beginning of the Watergate scandal.
- November: Richard Nixon is re-elected in a landslide victory.
1973
- January 22: The Supreme Court issues its decision in Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion nationwide.
- January 27: The Paris Peace Accords are signed, officially ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
- October: The Yom Kippur War leads to an oil embargo by OPEC, causing a major energy crisis in the United States.
- October 20: The "Saturday Night Massacre" occurs as President Nixon orders the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox.
1974
- August 9: Richard Nixon resigns from the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal; Gerald Ford becomes president.
- September 8: President Ford pardons Richard Nixon for any crimes he may have committed while in office.
1975
- April: Saigon falls to North Vietnamese forces, marking the end of the Vietnam War.
- May 12-15: The Mayaguez incident occurs, involving the capture of an American cargo ship by Cambodian Khmer Rouge forces and the subsequent U.S. military response.
1976
- July 4: The United States celebrates its bicentennial.
- November: Jimmy Carter is elected president.
1977
- January: Jimmy Carter is inaugurated as president.
- November 18: The National Women's Conference convenes in Houston, Texas.
1978
- September 17: The Camp David Accords are signed by Egypt and Israel, brokered by President Carter.
1979
- March 28: The Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurs in Pennsylvania.
- November 4: Iranian students seize the U.S. embassy in Tehran, beginning the Iran hostage crisis.
- December: The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan.
1980
- May 18: The eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state.
- November: Ronald Reagan is elected president.
1981
- January 20: Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as president; the Iran hostage crisis ends after 444 days.
- March 30: President Reagan is shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr.
- August 13: MTV (Music Television) begins broadcasting.
1982
- January: Unemployment reaches double digits.
- June 30: The Equal Rights Amendment fails to be ratified by the states.
1983
- March 8: President Reagan calls the Soviet Union an "evil empire."
- October 23: A suicide bomber attacks the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 American servicemen.
- October: The U.S. invades Grenada.
1984
- July 18: Geraldine Ferraro becomes the first female vice-presidential candidate for a major U.S. political party.
- November: Ronald Reagan is re-elected in a landslide victory.
1985
- September: The Plaza Accord is signed, devaluing the U.S. dollar against other major currencies.
1986
- January 28: The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after launch, killing all seven astronauts on board.
- November: The Iran-Contra affair becomes public.
1987
- October 19: "Black Monday" - the stock market crashes, experiencing the largest single-day percentage drop in history.
1988
- December 21: Pan Am Flight 103 is bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, including 189 Americans.
- November: George H.W. Bush is elected president.
1989
- January: George H.W. Bush is inaugurated as president.
- November 9: The Berlin Wall falls, a symbolic event marking the end of the Cold War.
- December: The United States invades Panama.