1970
| Millennium: | 2nd millennium |
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Template:C20YearInTopicX 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. It was also the first year of the 1970s.
Year 1970 is the Unix epoch time. Template:C20YearTOC
Events of 1970
January
- January 5 – The first episode of All My Children is broadcast on the ABC television network.
- January 5 – An earthquake (Richter Scale 7.7 magnitude) at Yunnan, China kills at least 15,621.
- January 11 – Super Bowl IV: The Kansas City Chiefs beat the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings 23–7.
- January 12 – Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war.
- January 14 – Diana Ross & The Supremes perform their farewell live concert together at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, and Ross's replacement, Jean Terrell, is introduced onstage at the end of the last show.
- January 15 – After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafran forces under Philip Effiong formally surrender to General Yakubu Gowon.
- January 20 – The Greater London Council announces its plans for the Thames Barrier at Woolwich to prevent flooding (the barrier opens in 1981).
- January 21 – Five lifeboatmen are killed when the Fraserburgh lifeboat Duchess of Kent capsizes during a rescue off Kinnaird's Head, Aberdeenshire.
- January 22 – The Boeing 747, the world's first "jumbo jet", enters commercial service for launch customer Pan American Airways with its maiden voyage from John F Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport.
- January 26 – Mick Jagger is fined £200 for possession of cannabis.
February
- February 1 – A train collision near Buenos Aires, Argentina kills 236.
- February 10 – An avalanche at Val d'Isère, France kills 39 tourists.
- February 11 – Ōsumi, Japan's first satellite, is launched on a Lambda-4 rocket.
- February 13 – Black Sabbath's debut album, Black Sabbath released; often regarded as the first true heavy metal album.
- February 14 – The iconic live album The Who: Live at Leeds is recorded.
- February 17 – MacDonald family massacre: Jeffrey R. MacDonald kills his wife and children at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, claiming that drugged-out "hippies" did it.
February 11: Ōsumi (satellite) launched - February 17 – Author David Irving is ordered to pay £40,000 libel damages to Capt. John Broome over his book The Destruction of Convoy PQ17.
- February 18 – A jury finds the Chicago Seven defendants not guilty of conspiring to incite a riot, in charges stemming from the violence at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Five of the defendants are found guilty on the lesser charge of crossing state lines to incite a riot.
- February 21 – Construction begins on the Boğaziçi Bridge crossing the Bosphorus in Istanbul.
- February 22 – Guyana becomes a Republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.
- February 26 – Chevrolet releases the second generation Camaro.
March
- March 1 – Rhodesia severs its last tie with the United Kingdom, declaring itself a racially segregated republic.
- March 5 – The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect, after ratification by 43 nations.
- March 6 – A bomb being constructed by members of the Weathermen and meant to be planted at a military dance in New Jersey, explodes, killing 3 members of the organization.
- March 6 – Süleyman Demirel of AP forms the new government of Turkey (32nd government)
- March 7 – Citroën introduces the SM at the Geneva Auto Salon
- March 12 – Teenagers in the United Kingdom vote for the first time, in a by-election in Bridgwater.
- March 15 – The Expo '70 World's Fair opens in Suita, Osaka, Japan.
- March 16 – The complete New English Bible is published.
- March 17 – My Lai massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
- March 18 – General Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
- March 18 – United States Postal Service workers in New York City go on strike; the strike spreads to the state of California and the cities of Akron, Ohio, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chicago, Boston, and Denver, Colorado; 210,000 out of 750,000 U.S. postal employees walk out. President Nixon assigns military units to New York City post offices. The strike lasts 2 weeks.
- March 20 – Agency for Cultural and Technical Co-operation (ACCT) (Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique).
- March 21 – The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.
- March 21 – "All Kinds of Everything", sung by Dana (music and text by Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith), wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 for Ireland.
- March 25 – The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight (700 mph 1,127 km/h).
- March 31 – NASA's Explorer 1, the first American satellite and Explorer program spacecraft, reenters Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit.
- March 31 – Japan Airlines Flight 351, carrying 131 passengers and 7 crew from Tokyo to Fukuoka, is hijacked by Japanese Red Army members. All passengers are eventually freed.
April
- April 1 – 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.
- April 1 – American Motors Corporation introduces the Gremlin.
- April 6 – BBC Radio 4 broadcasts the first edition of PM
- April 8 – A huge gas explosion at a subway construction site in Osaka, Japan kills 79 and injures over 400.
- April 10 – Paul McCartney announces that the Beatles have disbanded, while at the same press conference, announcing the release of his first solo album.
- April 11 – An avalanche at a tuberculosis sanatorium in the French Alps kills 74, mostly young boys.
- April 11 – Apollo program: Apollo 13 (Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, Jack Swigert) is launched toward the Moon.
- April 13 – An oxygen tank in the Apollo 13 spacecraft explodes, forcing the crew to abort the mission and return in 4 days.
- April 16 – Rev. Ian Paisley wins a by-election to the House of Commons of Northern Ireland.
- April 16 – The National Westminster Bank begins trading in the United Kingdom.
- April 17 – Apollo program: Apollo 13 splashes down safely in the Pacific.
- April 21 – The Hutt River Province Principality secedes from Australia.
- April 22 – The first Earth Day is celebrated in the U.S.
- April 24 – China's first satellite (Dong Fang Hong 1) is launched into orbit using a Long March-1 Rocket (CZ-1).
- April 26 – World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
- April 29 – The U.S. invades Cambodia to hunt out the Viet Cong; widespread, large antiwar protests occur in the U.S.
May
- May 1 – Demonstrations against the trial of the New Haven Nine, Bobby Seale, and Ericka Huggins draw 12,000. President Richard Nixon orders U.S. forces to cross into neutral Cambodia, threatening to widen the Vietnam War, sparking nationwide riots and leading to the Kent State Shootings.
- May 4 – Kent State shootings: 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.
- May 6 – Arms Crisis in the Republic of Ireland: Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney are dismissed as members of the Irish Government, for accusations of their involvement in a plot to import arms for use by the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland.
- May 6 – Feyenoord wins the European Cup after a 2–1 win over Celtic.
- May 8 – Hard Hat riot: Unionized construction workers attack about 1,000 students and others protesting the Kent State shootings near the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street and at New York City Hall.
- May 8 – The Beatles release their 12th and final album, Let It Be.
- May 9 – In Washington, D.C., 100,000 people demonstrate against the Vietnam War.
- May 11 – Henry Marrow is murdered in a violent hate crime in Oxford, North Carolina.
- May 11 – Lubbock Tornado: 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.
- May 14 – Ulrike Meinhof helps Andreas Baader escape.
- May 14 – In the second day of violent demonstrations at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, state law enforcement officers fire into the demonstrators, killing 2 and injuring 12.
- May 17 – Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II, to sail the Atlantic Ocean.
- May 23 – A fire occurs in the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait in north Wales, contributing to its partial destruction and amounting to approximately £1,000,000 worth of fire damage.
- May 24 – The scientific drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the USSR.
- May 26 – The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
- May 27 – A British expedition climbs the south face of Annapurna I.
- May 31 – The 1970 Ancash earthquake causes a landslide that buries the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people are killed.
- May 31 – The 1970 FIFA World Cup is inaugurated in Mexico.
June
- June 1 – Soyuz 9, a two man spacecraft, is launched in the Soviet Union.
- June 2 – Norway announces that it has rich oil deposits off its North Sea coast.
- June 4 – Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- June 6 – A D-Day celebration is held in Washington, D.C..
- June 8 – A coup in Argentina brings a new junta of service chiefs; on June 18, Roberto M. Levingston becomes President.
- June 10 – U.S. President Richard Nixon signs a measure lowering the voting age to 18.
- June 11 – The United States gets its first female generals: Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington.
- June 12 – N.D.F.L.O.A.G. guerrillas attack military garrisons at Izki and Nizwa in Oman.
- June 18 – United Kingdom general election, 1970: the Conservative Party wins and Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister.
- June 21 – Brazil defeats Italy 4–1 to win the 1970 FIFA World Cup.
- June 21 – Penn Central declares Section 77 bankruptcy, largest ever US corporate bankruptcy up to this date.
- June 24 – The United States Senate repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
- June 28 – U.S. ground troops withdraw from Cambodia.
July
- July 1 – Colorado State College changes its name to University of Northern Colorado.
- July 1 – the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is subordinated to Public Health Service.
- July 3 – the French Army detonated a 914 kiloton thermonuclear device in the Mururoa Atoll on July 3, 1970. It was the fourth nuclear test and largest.
- July 4 – A chartered Dan-Air De Havilland Comet crashes into the mountains north of Barcelona; at least 112 are killed.
- July 4 – Bob Hope and other entertainers gather in Washington, D.C. for Honor America Day, a nonpartisan holiday event.
- July 6 – Air Canada Flight 621 catches fire after landing at Toronto International Airport, Toronto, Ontario; all 109 passengers and crew are killed.
- July 11 – The first tunnel under the Pyrenees links the towns of Aragnouet (France) and Bielsa (Spain).
- July 16 – Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh opens.
- July 21 – The Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed.
- July 23 – Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, is deposed in a palace coup by his son, Qaboos.
- July 23 – Two CS gas canisters are thrown into the chamber of the British House of Commons.
- July 30 – Damages totalling £485,528 are awarded to 28 Thalidomide victims.
- July 31 – NBC anchor Chet Huntley retires from full-time broadcasting.
August
- August 7 – Harold Haley, Marin County Superior Court Judge, is taken hostage and murdered, in an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.
- August 17 – August 18 – The U.S. sinks 418 containers of nerve gas into the Gulf Stream near the Bahamas.
- August 17 – Venera program: Venera 7 is launched. It later becomes the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from another planet.
- August 26 – The Women's Strike For Equality takes place down Fifth Avenue in New York City.
- August 26–30 – The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 takes place on East Afton Farm off the coast of England. Some 600,000 people attend the largest rock festival of all time. Artists include Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors, Chicago, Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Joan Baez, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Jethro Tull.
- August 29 – Rubén Salazar is shot and killed during a rally in East Los Angeles.
September
- September 1 – An assassination attempt against King Hussein of Jordan precipitates the Black September crisis.
- September 3 – September 6 – Israeli forces fight Palestinian guerillas in southern Lebanon.
- September 5 – Vietnam War – Operation Jefferson Glenn: The United States 101st Airborne Division and the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division initiate a new operation in Thua Thien Province (the operation ends in October 1971).
- September 6 – The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijacks 4 passenger aircraft from Pan Am, TWA and Swissair on flights to New York from Brussels, Frankfurt and Zürich.
- September 7
- An anti-war rally is held at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, attended by John Kerry, Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.
- Fighting breaks out between Arab guerillas and government forces in Amman, Jordan.
- September 8–10 – The Jordanian government and Palestinian guerillas make truces they keep breaking.
- September 9 – Guinea recognizes East Germany.
- September 9 – Elvis Presley begins his first concert tour since 1958 in Phoenix, Arizona at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
- September 10
- Cambodian government forces break the siege of Kompong Tho after 3 months.
- The Chevrolet Vega is introduced.
- September 11 – The Ford Pinto is introduced.
- September 13 – The first New York City Marathon begins.
- September 15 – King Hussein of Jordan forms a military government with Muhammad Daoud as the prime minister.
- September 18 – Jimi Hendrix dies of alcohol related complications.
- September 18 – The band Black Sabbath released their second album titule, Paranoid
- September 20
- Syrian armored forces cross the Jordanian border.
- Luna 16 lands on the Moon and lifts off the next day with samples. It lands on Earth September 24.
- September 21 – Palestinian armored forces reinforce Palestinian guerillas in Irbidi, Jordan.
- September 22
- The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is founded.
- Tunku Abdul Rahman resigns as prime minister of Malaysia, and is succeeded by his deputy Tun Abdul Razak.
- September 26 – The Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County, burning 175,425 acres (710 km²).
- September 27 – Richard Nixon begins a tour of Europe, visiting Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
- September 28 – Gamal Abdal Nasser dies; Vice President Anwar Sadat is named temporary president of Egypt.
- September 29
- The U.S. Congress gives President Richard Nixon authority to sell arms to Israel.
- In Berlin, Baader-Meinhof Gang members rob 3 banks, with loot totaling over DM200,000.
October
- October 2 – The Wichita State University football team's "Gold" plane crashes in Colorado, killing most of the players. They were on their way (along with administrators and fans) to a game with Utah State University.
- October 3 – In Lebanon, the government of Prime Minister Rashid Karami resigns.
- October 3 – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- October 3 – National Weather Service of NOAA.
- October 3 – NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps.
- October 4 – In Bolivia, Army Commander General Rogelio Miranda and a group of officers rebel and demand the resignation of President Alfredo Ovando Candía, who fires him.
- October 4 – National Educational Television ends operations, being succeeded by PBS.
- October 4 – In Los Angeles, Rock and blues singer Janis Joplin dies in her hotel room, from an overdose of heroin.
- October 5 – U.S. President Richard Nixon's European tour ends.
- October 5 – The Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnaps James Cross in Montreal and demands release of all its imprisoned members. The next day the Canadian government announces it will not meet the demand, beginning Quebec's October Crisis.
- October 5 – The Public Broadcasting Service begins broadcasting.
- October 6 – Bolivian President Alfredo Ovando Candía resigns; General Rogelio Miranda takes over but resigns soon after.
- October 6 – French President Georges Pompidou visits the Soviet Union.
- October 7 – General Juan José Torres becomes the new President of Bolivia.
- October 8 – The U.S. Foreign Office announces that renewal of arms sales to Pakistan.
- October 8 – Soviet author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
- October 8 – Vietnam War: In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects U.S. President Richard Nixon's October 7 peace proposal as "a maneuver to deceive world opinion."
- October 9 – The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia.
- October 10 – Fiji becomes independent.
- October 10 – October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
- October 11 – Eleven French soldiers are killed in a shootout with rebels in Chad.
- October 12 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas.
- October 13 – Canada and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations.
- October 13 – Saeb Salam forms a government in Lebanon.
- October 14 – A Chinese nuclear test is conducted in Lop Nor.
- October 15 – In Egypt, a referendum supports Anwar Sadat 90.04%.
- October 15 – A section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses into the river below, killing 35 construction workers.
- October 15 – The Baltimore Orioles defeat the Cincinnati Reds in Game 5 of the World Series, 9–3, to win the series 4 games to 1 for their 2nd World Championship.
- October 15 – The domestic Soviet Aeroflot Flight 244 is hijacked and diverted to Turkey.
- October 16 – October Crisis: The Canadian government declares a state of emergency and outlaws the Quebec Liberation Front.
- October 17 – October Crisis: Pierre Laporte is found murdered in south Montreal.
- October 17 – A cholera epidemic breaks out in Istanbul.
- October 17 – Anwar Sadat officially becomes President of Egypt.
- October 18 – Van Renier was born at 1:53pm on Merritt_Island,_Florida.
- October 20 – The Soviet Union launches the Zond 8 lunar probe.
- October 20 – Egyptian president Anwar Sadat names Mahmoud Fawzi as his prime minister.
- October 21 – A U.S. Air Force plane makes an emergency landing near Leninakan, Soviet Union. The Soviets release the American officers, including 2 generals, November 10.
- October 22 – Chilean army commander René Schneider is shot in Santiago; the government declares a state of emergency. Schneider dies October 25.
- October 24 – Salvador Allende is elected President of Chile.
- October 25 – The wreck of the Confederate submarine Hunley is found off Charleston, South Carolina, by pioneer underwater archaeologist, Dr. E. Lee Spence,[1] then just 22 years old. Hunley was the first submarine in history to sink a ship in warfare.
- October 26 – Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury debuts in approximately two dozen newspapers in the United States.
- October 28 – In Jordan, the government of Ahmed Toukan resigns; the next prime minister is Wasfi Al-Tal.
- October 28 – A cholera outbreak in eastern Slovakia causes Hungary to close its border with Czechoslovakia.
- October 28 – Gary Gabelich drives the rocket-powered Blue Flame to an official world land speed record of 622.287 mph (1 001.452 863 km/h) on the dry lake bed of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The record, the first above 1 000 km/h, stands for nearly 13 years.
- October 30 – In Vietnam, the worst monsoon to hit the area in 6 years causes large floods, kills 293, leaves 200,000 homeless and virtually halts the Vietnam War.
November
- November 1 – Club Cinq-Sept fire in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, France, kills 146.
- November 3 – Democrats sweep the U.S. Congressional midterm elections; Ronald Reagan is reelected governor of California; Jimmy Carter is elected governor of Georgia.
- Salvador Allende becomes president of Chile.
- November 4 – Vietnam War – Vietnamization: The United States turns control of the air base in the Mekong Delta to South Vietnam.
- November 4 – Social workers in Los Angeles, California take custody of Genie, a girl who had been kept in solitary confinement since her birth.
- November 5 – Vietnam War: The United States Military Assistance Command in Vietnam reports the lowest weekly American soldier death toll in 5 years (24 soldiers die that week, which is the fifth consecutive week the death toll is below 50; 431 are reported wounded that week, however).
- November 8 – Egypt, Libya and Sudan announce their intentions to form a federation.
- November 9 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 17.
- November 9 – Vietnam War: The Supreme Court of the United States votes 6–3 not to hear a case by the state of Massachusetts, about the constitutionality of a state law granting Massachusetts residents the right to refuse military service in an undeclared war.
- November 10 – Vietnam War – Vietnamization: For the first time in 5 years, an entire week ends with no reports of United States combat fatalities in Southeast Asia.
- November 12 – Soviet author Andrei Amalrik is sentenced to 3 years for 'anti-Soviet' writings.
- November 13 – Hafez al-Assad comes to power in Syria, following a military coup.
- November 13 – 1970 Bhola cyclone: A 120-mph (193 km/h) tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people (considered the 20th century's worst cyclone disaster).
- November 14 – Southern Airlines Flight 932 crashes in Wayne County, West Virginia; all 75 on board, including 37 players and 5 coaches from the Marshall University football team, are killed.
- November 14 – The Soviet Union enters the ICAO, making Russian the fourth official language of the organization.
- November 16 – The Lockheed L-1011 Tristar flies for the first time.
- November 17 – Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai massacre.
- November 17 – Luna program: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world, and is released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.
- November 18 – U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for US$155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government (US$85 million is for military assistance to prevent the overthrow of the government of Premier Lon Nol by the Khmer Rouge and North Vietnam).
- November 18 – The United Nations Security Council demands that no government recognize Rhodesia.
- November 19 – European Economic Community prime ministers meet in Munich.
- November 21 – Syrian Prime Minister Hafez al-Assad forms a new government but retains the post of defense minister.
- November 21 – In Ethiopia, the Eritrean Liberation Front kills an Ethiopian general.
- November 21 – Vietnam War – Operation Ivory Coast: A joint Air Force and Army team raids the Son Tay prison camp in an attempt to free American POWs thought to be held there (no Americans are killed, but the prisoners have already moved to another camp; all U.S. POWs are moved to a handful of central prison complexes as a result of this raid).
- November 22 – Guinean president Sekou Toure accuses Portugal of an attack when hundreds of mercenaries land near the capital Conakry.
- November 23–24 – The Guinean army repels the landing attempts.
- November 23 – Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! makes its network TV debut, when CBS telecasts the 1955 film version as a 3-hour Thanksgiving special.
- November 25–29 – A U.N. delegation arrives to investigate the Guinea situation.
- November 25 – In Tokyo, author and Tatenokai militia leader Yukio Mishima and his followers take over the headquarters of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. When Mishima's speech fails to sway public opinion towards his right-wing political beliefs, he commits seppuku.
- November 26 – East Pakistan leader Sheik Mujibur Rahman accuses the central government of negligence in catastrophe relief.
- November 26 – Pope Paul VI begins an Asian tour.
- November 27 – Bolivian artist Benjamin Mendoza tries to assassinate Pope Paul VI during his visit in Manila.
- November 30 – British Caledonian Airways Ltd. (BCal) is formed.
December
- December 1 – The Italian House of Representatives accepts the new divorce law.
- December 1 – Ethiopia recognizes the People's Republic of China.
- December 1 – The Basque ETA kidnaps West German Eugen Beihl in San Sebastián.
- December 1 – Luis Echeverría becomes president of Mexico.
- December 2 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.
- December 3 – October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de Libération du Québec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return the Government of Canada grants 5 terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to Cuba.
- December 3 – Burgos Trial: In Burgos, Spain, the trial of 16 Basque terrorism suspects begins.
- December 4 – The Spanish government declares a 3-month martial law in the Basque county of Guipuzco, over strikes and demonstrations.
- December 4 – The U.N. announces that Portuguese navy and army units were responsible for the attempted invasion of Guinea.
- December 5 – The Asian and Australian tour of Pope Paul VI ends.
- December 7 – Giovanni Enrico Bucher, the Swiss ambassador to Brazil, is kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro; kidnappers demand the release of 70 political prisoners.
- December 7 – The U.N. General Assembly supports the isolation of South Africa for its apartheid policies.
- December 7 – During his visit to the Polish capital, German Chancellor Willy Brandt goes down on his knees in front of a monument to the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto.
- December 12 – A landslide in western Colombia leaves 200 dead.
- December 13 – The government of Poland announces food price increases. Riots and looting lead to a bloody confrontation between the rioters and the government on December 15, and martial law December 17–22.
- December 15 – The USSR's Venera 7 becomes the first spacecraft to land successfully on Venus and transmit data back to Earth.
- December 15 – The South Korean ferry Namyong Ho capsizes off Korean Strait; 308 are killed.
- December 16 – The Ethiopian government declares a state of emergency in the county of Eritrea over the activities of the Eritrean Liberation Front.
- December 20 – General Secretary of the Polish Communist Party, Władysław Gomułka, resigns; Edward Gierek replaces him.
- December 20 – An Egyptian delegation leaves for Moscow to ask for economic and military aid.
- December 22 – The Libyan Revolutionary Council declares that it will nationalize all foreign banks in the country.
- December 22 – Franz Stangl, the ex-commander of Treblinka, is sentenced to life imprisonment.
- December 23 – The Polish government freezes food prices for 2 years.
- December 23 – The Bolivian government releases Regis Debray.
- December 23 – The North Tower of the World Trade Center is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world.
- December 25 – The ETA releases Eugen Beihl.
- December 27 – India's president declares new elections.
- December 28 – Burgos Trial: Three Basques are sentenced to death (3 twice), others sentenced to 12 to 62 years, and 1 is released.
- December 28 – The suspected killers of Pierre Laporte, Jacques and Paul Rose and Francis Sunard, are arrested near Montreal.
- December 29 – U.S. President Richard Nixon signs into law the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
- December 30 – In Viscaya, Spain, Basque county, 15,000 go on strike to protest the Burgos trial death sentences.
- December 30 – Francisco Franco commutes the death sentences of the Burgos Trial defendants to 30 years in prison.
- December 31 – Paul McCartney sues in Great Britain to dissolve the Beatles' legal partnership.
Undated
- The first Regional Technical Colleges open in Ireland.
- Sada Abe, Japanese former prostitute and later actress, disappears.
- The Sweet Track, the world's oldest engineered roadway, is discovered in England.
- The first laminated type toothpaste tubes (White and White brand by the Japanese toiletry company (Lion) go on sale in Japan.
World population
| World population | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 1965 | 1975 | ||||
| World | 3,692,492,000 | 3,334,874,000 |  357,618,000
|
4,068,109,000 | 375,617,000
| |
| Africa | 357,283,000 | 313,744,000 | 43,539,000
|
408,160,000 | 50,877,000
| |
| Asia | 2,143,118,000 | 1,899,424,000 | 243,694,000
|
2,397,512,000 | 254,394,000
| |
| Europe | 655,855,000 | 634,026,000 | 21,829,000
|
675,542,000 | 19,687,000
| |
| Latin-America | 284,856,000 | 250,452,000 | 34,404,000
|
321,906,000 | 37,050,000
| |
| North America | 231,937,000 | 219,570,000 | 12,367,000
|
243,425,000 | 11,488,000
| |
| Oceania | 19,443,000 | 17,657,000 | 1,786,000
|
21,564,000 | 2,121,000
| |
Births
January–February
- January 1 – Kimberly Page, American model
- January 6
- Julie Chen, American television host
- Gabrielle Reece, American volleyball player and model
- January 9 - Lara Fabian, Canadian/Belgian singer
- January 13 – Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)
- January 15 – Shane McMahon, American professional wrestler and wrestling executive
- January 17 – Jeremy Roenick, American hockey player
- January 17 – Genndy Tartakovsky, Russian animator
- January 18 – DJ Quik, American rapper and producer
- January 19
- Tim Foster, British rower
- Udo Suzuki, Japanese comedian
- January 20 – Skeet Ulrich, American actor
- January 22 – Alex Ross, American comic artist
- January 24 – Matthew Lillard, American actor
- January 29
- Heather Graham, American actress
- Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Indian shooter
- January 31 – Minnie Driver, English actress
- February 1 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player (d. 2000)
- February 3 – Keith Carney, American hockey player
- February 8
- Alonzo Mourning, American basketball player
- John Filan, Australian footballer
- February 9 – Glenn McGrath, Australian test cricketer
- February 14
- Sean Hill, American hockey player
- Simon Pegg, British comedian, actor and writer
- February 17 – Dominic Purcell, English-Australian actor
- February 18 – Raine Maida, Canadian musician and beat poet
- February 21 – Dayna Devon, American news anchor
- February 22 – Dominic Roussel, Canadian ice hockey player
- February 24 – Jeff Garcia, American football player
- February 26
- Linda Brava, Finnish violinist
- Cathrine Lindahl, Swedish curler
- February 27 – Matthias Lechner, German art director
- February 28 – Daniel Handler, American author
- February 28 – Noureddine Morceli, Algerian athlete
March–April
- March 5 – John Frusciante, American rock musician
- March 7 – Vladislav Adelkhanov, Russian classical violinist and writer
- March 8 – Jason Elam, American football player
- March 9 – Martin Johnson, English rugby player
- March 10 – Antonio Edwards, American football player
- March 16 – Paul Oscar (Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson), Icelandic pop singer, songwriter and disc jockey
- March 18 – Queen Latifah, American rapper, record producer, and actress
- March 20 – Michele Jaffe, U.S.American novelist
- March 21 – Niiyama Shiho, Japanese voice actress
- March 22 – Leontien van Moorsel, Dutch cyclist
- March 24
- Lara Flynn Boyle, American actress
- Sharon Corr, Irish musician (The Corrs)
- March 27
- Mariah Carey, American singer Note: this person is listed both here, and under the year 1969 as well.
- Elizabeth Mitchell, American actress
- Leila Pahlavi, Iranian princess (d. 2001)
- March 28 – Vince Vaughn, American actor, writer, and producer
- April 4
- Barry Pepper, Canadian actor
- Wendy Bell, American news reader
- April 5 – Miho Hatori, Japanese singer and songwriter
- April 10 – Q-Tip, American musician and actor
- April 13 – Rick Schroder, American actor
- April 13 – Eduardo Capetillo, Mexican actor and singer
- April 15 – Flex Alexander, American actor
- April 18 – Heike Friedrich, German swimmer
- April 19 – Luis Miguel, Mexican singer
- April 20 – Adriano Moraes, Brazilian rodeo performer
- April 21 – Nicole Sullivan, American actress, comedian, and writer
- April 22 – Regine Velasquez, Filipino singer, actress, model and record producer
- April 23
- Sadao Abe, Japanese actor
- Andrew Gee, Australian rugby league footballer
- April 25 – Jason Lee, American skateboarder and actor
- April 28 – Diego Simeone, Argentine footballer and manager
- April 29
- Andre Agassi, American tennis player
- Uma Thurman, American actress
May–June
- May 3 – Jeffrey Sebelia, American fashion designer
- May 4 – Will Arnett, Canadian actor
- May 7 – Kim Su-ro, South Korean actor
- May 6 – Kavan Smith, Canadian actor
- May 6 – Roland Kun, Nauruan politician
- May 8 – Michael Bevan, Australian cricketer
- May 8 – Luis Enrique, Spanish footballer
- May 9 - Doug Christie, NBA basketball player and TV personality
- May 12 – Mike Weir, Canadian golfer
- May 15
- Ronald de Boer and Frank de Boer, Dutch footballers
- Rod Smith, American football player
- May 16 – Gabriela Sabatini, Argentine tennis player
- May 17 – Jordan Knight, American singer (New Kids on the Block)
- May 18 – Tina Fey, American writer, comedian, and actress
- May 19
- K.J. Choi, South Korean golfer
- Mario Dumont, Canadian politician
- Jason Gray-Stanford, Canadian actor
- May 20 – Louis Theroux, British-American TV personality and author
- May 22 – Naomi Campbell, British model and actress
- May 23 – Yigal Amir, Israeli assassin of Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin
- May 24 – Jeff Zgonina, American football player
- May 25
- Jamie Kennedy, American actor and comedian
- Satsuki Yukino, Japanese voice actress
- May 26 – Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese cartoonist
- May 27 – Joseph Fiennes, English actor
- May 30 – Jeffrey Sebelia, American fashion designer
- June 3 – Ammon McNeely, American rock climber
- June 4
- Izabella Scorupco, Polish actress
- Deborah Compagnoni, Italian alpine skier
- June 6
- Anthony Norris, American professional wrestler
- Andrian Dushev, Bulgarian canoeist
- June 8
- Gabrielle Giffords, American politician
- Kelli Williams, American actress
- June 13
- Mikael Ljungberg, Swedish wrestler (d. 2004)
- Rivers Cuomo, American musician
- June 15 – Leah Remini, American actress
- June 16 – Phil Mickelson, American golfer
- June 16 – Younus AlGohar, British spiritualist, author, poet, sufi & humanitarian
- June 17
- Sasha Sokol, Mexican singer
- Will Forte, American writer, actor and comedian
- June 18 – Katie Derham, British newsreader
- June 19 – Quincy Watts, American athlete
- June 20
- Russell Garcia, British field hockey player
- Moulay Rachid, Prince of Morocco
- June 21 – Pete Rock, American rapper/DJ/producer
- June 22
- Michel Elefteriades, Greek-Lebanese politician, artist, producer and businessman
- Freddy Soto, American comedian and actor
- June 25 – Lucy Benjamin, British actress
- June 26
- Patrick Norton, American writer and television host
- Chris O'Donnell, American actor
- June 27
- Jim Edmonds, American baseball player
- Jo Frost, English nanny and television host
- June 28 – Steve Burton, American actor
July–August
- July 2 – Steve Morrow, Northern Irish footballer
- July 3
- Teemu Selänne, National Hockey League player
- Shawnee Smith, American actress
- July 5 – Mac Dre, American rapper (d. 2004)
- July 6 – Grant Bond (cartoonist), Comic book artist and writer
- July 7 – Wayne McCullough, Northern Irish boxer
- July 8 – Beck, American singer
- July 9 – Trent Green, National Football League quarterback
- July 10
- Ed Chapman, British artist
- Jason Orange, British singer (Take That)
- July 11 – Saj Karim, British politician
- July 23 – Thea Dorn, German writer
- July 25 – Julien Fountain, English Cricket Coach
- July 29 – Andi Peters, British TV presenter and producer
- July 30 – Christopher Nolan, English writer and director
- August 1
- Quentin Coryatt, American football player
- David James (footballer), English football goalkeeper
- August 2
- Tony Amonte, American hockey player
- Kevin Smith, American screenwriter, film director, and actor
- August 4 – Pete Abrams, American webcomic artist
- August 6 – M. Night Shyamalan, Indian-American film director, writer, producer, and actor
- August 12 – Jim Schlossnagle, American baseball coach
- August 13
- Alan Shearer, English footballer
- Will Clarke, American novelist
- August 14 – Leah Purcell, Australian actress
- August 16
- Bonnie Bernstein, American sportscaster
- Dean Del Mastro, Canadian Member of Parliament
- August 17 – Jim Courier, American tennis player
- August 18 – Malcolm-Jamal Warner, American actor
- August 20 – John D. Carmack, American computer game programmer
- August 21 – Erik Dekker, Dutch professional cyclist
- August 23 – Jay Mohr, American actor and comedian
- August 23
- River Phoenix, American actor (d. 1993)
- Fabian Wilnis, Dutch footballer
- August 25 – Claudia Schiffer, German model
- August 27
- Jim Thome, American baseball player
- Peter Ebdon, English snooker player
- August 28 – Sherrié Austin, Australian actress and singer
- August 29 – Jacco Eltingh, Dutch tennis player
- August 30 – Guang Liang, Malaysian singer
- August 31 – Deborah Gibson, American singer
September–October
- September 1 – Hwang Jung-min, South Korean actor
- September 4 – Daisy Dee, Dutch singer and actress
- September 5 – Liam Lynch, American musician, comedian, and puppetteer
- September 7 – Gao Min, Chinese diver
- September 8
- Latrell Sprewell, American basketball player
- Benny Ibarra, Mexican singer
- September 9 – Macy Gray, American singer
- September 10
- Phaswane Mpe, South African writer (d. 2004)
- Molly McKay, LGBT activist
- Ménélik, French rapper
- September 11 – Taraji P. Henson, American actress
- September 15 – Jukka Jokikokko, Finnish musician and studio engineer
- September 18 – Darren Gough, English cricketer
- September 19
- Dan Bylsma, American ice hockey player
- Takanori Nishikawa, Japanese singer
- Yuka Imai, Japanese seiyu (voice actress)
- September 20 – Gert Verheyen, Belgian footballer
- September 22 – Mike Matheny, American baseball player
- September 23 – Ani DiFranco, American musician
- September 25 – Aja Kong, Japanese professional wrestler
- September 26
- Yukio Iketani, Japanese gymnast
- Frank Guinta, Mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire
- September 27 – Yoshiharu Habu, Japanese professional shogi player
- September 28
- Isabelle Brasseur, Canadian figure skater
- Kimiko Date, Japanese tennis player
- September 29
- Emily Lloyd, English actress
- Yoshihiro Tajiri, Japanese professional wrestler
- September 30 – Mark Smith, former Gladiator
- October 1 – Moses Kiptanui, Kenyan athlete
- October 2 – Kelly Ripa, American actress and talk-show hostess
- October 4
- Richard Hancox, English footballer
- Zdravko Zdravkov, Bulgarian footballer
- October 8
- Matt Damon, American actor
- Tetsuya Nomura, Japanese video game and film director
- October 9 – Annika Sörenstam, Swedish golfer
- October 10
- Silke Kraushaar, German luger
- Bai Ling, Chinese actress
- Sir Matthew Pinsent, British Olympic winning rower
- October 11
- Andy Marriott, English footballer
- Lee Bong-Ju, South Korean long-distance runner
- October 12
- Kirk Cameron, American actor
- Charlie Ward, football and basketball player
- October 14 – Daniela Peštová, Czech supermodel
- October 17
- Anil Kumble, Indian cricketer
- Marciano Vink, Dutch footballer
- October 18 – Jose Padilla, American gang member and alleged terrorist
- October 24 – Jarkko Martikainen, Finnish rock musician
- October 25 – Adam Goldberg, American actor
- October 27 – Felix Bwalya, Zambian fighter
- October 28 – Alan Peter Cayetano, Filipino politician and current senator
- October 29
- Philip Cocu, Dutch footballer
- Edwin van der Sar, Dutch footballer
- October 30
- October 31 – Linn Berggren, Swedish singer (Ace of Base)
November–December
- November 2
- Sharmell Sullivan, American World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) valet and former Nitro Girl
- Ely Buendia, Filipino rock lead singer and rhythm guitarist (The Eraserheads)
- November 3 – Dawn Marie Psaltis, American Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and WWE performer
- November 5 – Javy López, American baseball player
- November 6 – Ethan Hawke, American actor, writer, and film director
- November 7 – Morgan Spurlock, Americam Film-Maker, Super-size Me
- November 9 – Chris Jericho, Canadian pro wrestler
- November 12 – Tonya Harding, American figure skater
- November 15 – Patrick Mboma, Cameroonian footballer
- November 16 – Martha Plimpton, American actress
- November 18 – Peta Wilson, Australian actress
- November 20 – Joe Zaso, American actor and producer
- November 22 – Stel Pavlou, British novelist and screenwriter
- November 23
- November 26 – Dave Hughes, Australian comedian
- November 30 – Natalie Williams, American basketball player
- November 30 – Walter Emanuel Jones, American actor
- December 1 – Sarah Silverman, American comedian
- December 2 – Joshua Seth, American voice actor and hypnotist
- December 6 – Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, Swedish rock musician (Ace of Base)
- December 12
- Jennifer Connelly, American actress
- Regina Hall, American actress
- December 15 – Michael Shanks, Canadian actor
- December 16 – Benjamin Kowalewicz, Canadian musician
- December 17 – Craig Doyle, Irish television presenter
- December 18
- DMX, American rapper and actor
- Miles Marshall Lewis, American author
- Rob Van Dam, American pro wrestler
- December 20
- Nicole DeBoer, Canadian actress
- Massimo Ellul, Maltese entrepreneur and philanthropist
- December 22 – Clay Dreslough, American game designer
- December 23 – Catriona LeMay Doan, Canadian speed skater
- December 25 – Emmanuel Amuneke, Nigerian footballer
- December 29
- Aled Jones, Welsh singer and television presenter
- Kevin Weisman, American actor
- December 31 – Bryon Russell, African-African basketball player
- date unknown – Tomoki Kyoda, Japanese animation director
Deaths
January–March
- January 1 – Rose Dolly, American actress (b. 1892)
- January 4 – Jean-Etienne Valluy, French general (b. 1899)
- January 5 – Max Born, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1882)
- January 7 – Robert Barrat, American actor (b. 1889)
- January 10 – Pavel Belyayev, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1925)
- January 14 – Harry M. Woods, American songwriter (b. 1896)
- January 18 – David O. McKay, 9th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1873)
- January 19 – Hal March, American actor (b. 1920)
- January 25 – Jane Bathori, French mezzo-soprano (b. 1877)
- January 25 – Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese film director and special effects designer (Godzilla, Ultraman) (b. 1901)
- January 27 – Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (b. 1908)
- January 29 – Basil Liddell Hart, British military historian (b. 1895)
- January 29 – Thelma Morgan, American socialite (b. 1904)
- January 31 – Slim Harpo, American singer (b. 1924)
- February 2 – Bertrand Russell, English logician and philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1872)
- February 2 – Lawrence Gray, American actor (b. 1898)
- February 5 – Rudy York, American baseball player (b. 1913)
- February 6 – Roscoe Karns, American actor (b. 1891)
- February 14 – Arthur Edeson, American cinematographer (b. 1891)
- February 14 – Harry Stradling, American cinematographer (b. 1901)
- February 14 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer (b. 1880)
- February 15 – Hugh Dowding, British RAF Fighter Commander during the Battle of Britain (b. 1882)
- February 16 – Francis Peyton Rous, American pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1879)
- February 17 – Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israeli writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
- February 17 – Alfred Newman, American film composer (b. 1901)
- February 19 – Jules Munshin, American actor (b. 1915)
- February 20 – Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist (b. 1885)
- February 21 – Johannes Semper, Estonian writer and translator (b. 1892)
- February 24 – Conrad Nagel, American actor (b. 1897)
- February 25 – Mark Rothko, Latvian-born painter (b. 1903)
- February 26 – Terence Patrick O'Sullivan, engineer (b. 1913)
- March 6 – William Hopper, American actor (b. 1915)
- March 11 – Erle Stanley Gardner, American author (Perry Mason) (b. 1889)
- March 11 – Lucille Hegamin, American singer and entertainer (b. 1894)
- March 13 – Alec Clunes, English actor (b. 1912)
- March 16 – Tammi Terrell, African-American singer (Ain't No Mountain High Enough) (b. 1945)
- March 18 – William Beaudine, American film director (b. 1892)
- March 23 – Del Lord, Canadian film director (b. 1894)
- March 26 – Patricia Ellis, American actress (b. 1916)
- March 30 – Heinrich Brüning, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1885)
- March 31 – Semyon Timoshenko, Russian World War II general (b. 1895)
April–June
- April 5 – Alfred Henry Sturtevant, American geneticist (b. 1891)
- April 6 – Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (b. 1933)
- April 11 – Cathy O'Donnell, American actress (b. 1923)
- April 11 – John O'Hara, American writer (b. 1905)
- April 23 – Herb Shriner, American humorist (b. 1918)
- April 25 – Anita Louise, American actress (b. 1915)
- April 26 – Gypsy Rose Lee, American actress (b. 1911)
- April 27 – Arthur Shields, Irish actor (b. 1896)
- April 28 – Ed Begley, American actor (b. 1901)
- April 30 – Inger Stevens, Swedish-born actress (b. 1934)
- May 1 – Ralph Hartley, American inventor (b. 1888)
- May 1 – Yi Eun, Crown Prince of Korea (b. 1897)
- May 9 – Andrew Watson Myles, Canadian politician (b. 1884)
- May 9 – Walter Reuther, American labor union leader (b. 1907)
- May 10 – Mari Blanchard, American actress (b. 1927)
- May 11 – Johnny Hodges, American jazz musician (b. 1906)
- May 12 – Nelly Sachs, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1891)
- May 13 – Sir William Dobell, Australian artist (b. 1899)
- May 14 – Billie Burke, American actress (b. 1885)
- May 21 – E. L. Grant Watson, Australian scientist and writer (b. 1885)
- May 29 – John Gunther, American writer (b. 1901)
- May 29 – Eva Hesse, German-born American sculptor (b. 1936)
- May 31 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian hockey player (b. 1929)
- June 1 – George Watkins, American baseball player (b. 1900)
- June 2 – Albert Lamorisse, French filmmaker (b. 1922)
- June 2 – Bruce McLaren, Formula 1 driver (b. 1937)
- June 3 – Hjalmar Schacht, Nazi German economic minister (b. 1877)
- June 4 – Sonny Tufts, American actor (b. 1911)
- June 7 – E. M. Forster, English writer (b. 1879)
- June 8 – Abraham Maslow, American psychologist (b. 1908)
- June 11 – William 'Billy Batts' Devino, American mobster (b. 1921)
- June 11 – Alexander Kerensky, Russian revolutionary politician (b. 1881)
- June 14 – William H. Daniels, American cinematographer (b. 1901)
- June 16 – Heino Eller, Estonian composer and composition teacher (b. 1887)
- June 16 – Brian Piccolo, American football star (b. 1943)
- June 21 – Sukarno, President of Indonesia (b. 1901)
- June 27 – Daniel Kinsey, American hurdler (b. 1902)
July–September
- July 4 – Barnett Newman, American artist (b. 1905)
- July 6 – Marjorie Rambeau, American actress (b. 1889)
- July 10 – Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic foreign and later prime minister (b. 1908)
- July 14 – Preston Foster, American actor (b. 1900)
- July 19 – Egon Eiermann, German architect (b. 1904)
- July 21 – Bob Kalsu, American football player (b. 1945)
- July 22 – Fritz Kortner, Austrian-born director (b. 1892)
- July 24 – Peter de Noronha, Indian businessman (b. 1897)
- July 27 – António de Oliveira Salazar, Prime Minister of Portugal (de facto dictator) (b. 1889)
- July 29
- John Barbirolli, English conductor (b. 1899)
- George Szell, Hungarian conductor (b. 1897)
- August 1
- Frances Farmer, American actress (b. 1913)
- Otto Heinrich Warburg, German physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (b. 1883)
- August 18 – Soledad Miranda, Spanish actress (b. 1943)
- August 19 – Paweł Jasienica, Polish historian (b. 1909)
- August 20 – Mickey Daniels, American actor (b. 1914)
- August 30 – Del Moore, American actor (b. 1916)
- September 1 – Francois Mauriac, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
- September 2 – Marie Pierre Koenig, French general and politician (b. 1898)
- September 3 – Vince Lombardi, American football coach (b. 1913)
- September 5
- Jesse Pennington, English footballer (b. 1883)
- Jochen Rindt, Austrian race car driver (b. 1942)
- September 11
- Ernst May, German architect (b. 1886)
- Chester Morris, American actor (b. 1901)
- September 18 – Jimi Hendrix, American rock musician (b. 1942)
- September 23 – André Bourvil, French actor (b. 1917)
- September 25 – Erich Maria Remarque, German author (All Quiet On The Western Front) (b. 1898)
- September 28
- Gamal Abdal Nasser, second President of Egypt (b. 1918)
- John Dos Passos, American novelist (b. 1896)
- September 29 – Edward Everett Horton, American actor (b. 1886)
October–December
- October 4 – Janis Joplin, American rock singer (Mercedes Benz) (b. 1943)
- October 10 – Édouard Daladier, French prime minister, signed Munich Agreement (b. 1884)
- October 17 – Pierre Laporte, Canadian statesman (assassinated) (b. 1921)
- October 21
- Ernest Haller, American cinematographer (b. 1896)
- John T. Scopes, American Scopes Monkey Trial defendant (b. 1900)
- October 24 – Richard Hofstadter, American historian (b. 1916)
- October 25 – Ülo Sooster, Estonian painter (b. 1924)
- November 2 – Fernand Gravey, French actor (b. 1904)
- November 3 – Peter II of Yugoslavia, Last King of Yugoslavia (b. 1923)
- November 7 – Eddie Peabody, American musician (b. 1902)
- November 9 – Charles de Gaulle, President of France (b. 1890)
- November 14 – Louis Rich, American entrepreneur (b. 1896)
- November 23 – Yusof bin Ishak, first President of Singapore (b. 1910)
- November 25
- Louise Glaum, American actress (b. 1888)
- Yukio Mishima, Japanese novelist (b. 1925)
- November 27 – Helene Madison, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1913)
- December 7 – Rube Goldberg, American cartoonist (b. 1883)
- December 12 – Doris Blackburn, Australian politician (b. 1889)
- December 23
- Mimi Benzell, American soprano (b. 1924)
- Charles Ruggles, American actor (b. 1886)
- December 26 – Lillian Board, British track and field athlete (b. 1948)
- December 30
- Sonny Liston, American boxer (b. 1932)
- Lenore Ulric, American actress (b. 1892)
- December 31 – Ray Henderson, American songwriter (b. 1896)
Nobel Prizes
- Physics – Hannes Alfvén, Louis Néel
- Chemistry – Luis Federico Leloir
- Medicine – Sir Bernard Katz, Ulf von Euler, Julius Axelrod
- Literature – Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn
- Peace – Norman E. Borlaug
- Economics – Paul Samuelson