U.S. Navy Lt. Everett Alvarez Jr. spends his 2,000th day in captivity in Southeast Asia. First taken prisoner when his plane was shot down on August 5, 1964, he became the longest-held POW in U.S. history. Alvarez was downed over Hon Gai during the first bombing raids against North Vietnam […]
Continue ReadingYearly Archives: 1970
Nixon Honors Eugene Ormandy
On this day in 1970, President Richard Nixon travels to Philadelphia to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Eugene Ormandy, the world-renowned conductor and music director of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. In keeping with tradition, the orchestra struck up Hail to the Chief upon Nixon’s entrance. During the presentation, […]
Continue ReadingCurt Flood Files Historic Lawsuit Against Major League Baseball
On January 16, 1970, the seven-time Golden Glove-winning center fielder Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals files suit in a New York federal court against Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, the presidents of the American and National Leagues and all 24 teams in the Major League Baseball (MLB) organization. After the […]
Continue ReadingQaddafi Becomes Premier Of Libya
Muammar al-Qaddafi, the young Libyan army captain who deposed King Idris in September 1969, is proclaimed premier of Libya by the so-called General People’s Congress. Born in a tent in the Libyan desert, Qaddafi was the son of a Bedouin farmer. He attended university and the Libyan military academy and […]
Continue ReadingBiafra Surrenders To Nigeria
The Republic of Biafra, a breakaway state of eastern Nigeria, surrenders to Nigeria after three years of costly fighting. In 1960, Nigeria gained independence from Britain. Six years later, the Muslim Hausas in northern Nigeria began massacring the Christian Igbos in the region, prompting tens of thousands of Igbos to […]
Continue ReadingDiana Ross And The Supremes Perform Their Final Concert
They were the most successful American pop group of the 1960s—a group whose 12 #1 hits in the first full decade of the rock and roll era places them behind only Elvis and the Beatles in terms of chart dominance. They helped define the very sound of the 60s, but […]
Continue ReadingThe United Mine Workers Killings
The bodies of dissident union leader Jock Yablonski, his wife, and daughter are discovered in their Clarksville, Pennsylvania, farmhouse byYablonski’s sonKenneth. The family had been dead for nearly a week, killed on New Year’s Eve bykillers hired by theUnited Mine Workers (UMW) union leadership. Yablonski’s murder eventually brought down the […]
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