1970 Events Big Plane (Jan. 21): Boeing 747 jumbo jets go into trans-Atlantic service for Pan American World Airways. No Conspiracy (Feb. 18): In the Chicago Seven trial, a jury acquits all seven defendants charged with conspiracy to incite a riot during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Five defendants are convicted of seeking to incite a riot through individual acts. Cigarette Ban (April 1): President Richard Milhous Nixon signs a bill banning cigarette advertising on radio and TV, effective Jan. 1, 1971. Protect Our Planet (April 22): Earth Day rallies, each involving up to 25,000 people in several large cities and at least 10 million schoolchildren, draw attention to global environmental problems. 'Houston, We've Had a Problem' (April 13): Apollo 13 crew members hear an explosion in the service module, which houses the ship's main engine and most of its life-giving power and environmental systems. The lunar module, with its independent electricity and oxygen supplies, becomes the crew's lifeboat for most of the journey home. On April 17, Apollo 13 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean. Campus Unrest: Rarely have Americans been so divided as in 1970 over the war in Vietnam. But the galvanizing event in this turbulent year is President Nixon's announcement April 30 that U.S. troops have entered Cambodia to destroy Viet Cong and North Vietnamese "headquarters" and "sanctuaries." The announcement sparks demonstrations at colleges and universities across the nation. May 4: A confrontation between National Guard troops and about 1,000 demonstrators at Kent State University in Ohio results in the deaths of four students. May 14: At Jackson State College in Mississippi, two students are killed and nine are wounded when police and state troopers open fire on a dormitory. The explosion of rage results in the shutdown of 75 college campuses for the rest of the academic year. June 13: Nixon appoints a nine-member Commission on Campus Unrest. The panel reports in the fall that some Kent State students were "dangerous, reckless and irresponsible" but that the "61 shots by Guardsmen certainly cannot be justified." The police shooting at Jackson State, the commission says, was "an unreasonable, unjustified overreaction." Egyptian Succession (Sept. 28): Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser dies of a heart attack. He is succeeded by Vice President Anwar Sadat. Collegiate Wit (Oct. 26): Garry Trudeau takes his college cartoons national and gets a wider audience for his searing lampoons of American society. "Doonesbury" will become the first comic strip to win a Pulitzer Prize. Socialist Experiment (Nov. 3): Salvador Allende takes office as president of Chile. He is the first Marxist to be elected head of a government in the Western Hemisphere by a democratic majority. Fab Four Divorce (Dec. 31): Paul McCartney sues the other three Beatles -- Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison -- along with the group's manager, Allen Klein, asking that the group be legally dissolved. What's Hot A New Bible With trumpet fanfares in London's Westminster Abbey, leaders of the Protestant Churches of the British Isles are presented a new translation of the Bible. The New English Bible is the culmination of 24 years of work by British scholars. The aim is to make the Bible more relevant to contemporary readers. But some critics complain that the new translation lacks the sonorous majesty of the King James version, published in 1611.   Births Mariah Carey, singer (March 27) Andre Agassi, tennis player (April 29) Naomi Campbell, model (May 22) Deaths Mark Rothko, abstract expressionist (born 1903) Gypsy Rose Lee, stripper (born 1914 ) Jimi Hendrix, rock guitarist (born 1942) Janis Joplin, rock singer (born 1942)

1971 Events Hooligans (Jan. 2): A soccer match in Glasgow, Scotland, ends in tragedy when a stadium barrier collapses and 66 people are trampled to death. It is one of the worst tragedies in sports history. Murderous 'Family' (March 29): Charles Manson and three female members of his "family" are sentenced to death for the murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others in 1969. My Lai Verdict (March 29): Army 1st Lt. William Calley is found guilty in a military court of the murders of 22 Vietnamese civilians in the hamlet of My Lai. He is the only soldier convicted in the massacre, although a number of officers and enlisted personnel are tried. Forced Busing (April 20): The Supreme Court unanimously rules that every school district in the South must bus students to achieve integration. Riding the Rails (May 1): The National Railroad Passenger Corp., the railroad public/private venture known as Amtrak, begins operation. Nixing Sexism (May 12): The Civil Service Commission bans men-only and women-only designations for most federal jobs. China Trade (June 9): President Nixon ends a 21-year embargo against trade with Communist China. Pentagon Papers (June 13): A New York Times article explodes into one of the biggest stories of the year. Fed a top-secret analysis of the war in Vietnam, The Times and then The Washington Post are taken to court by the Nixon administration, which seeks to quash the series on national-security grounds. The Supreme Court rules 6-3 that the newspapers have a right to print the material. The series reveals that in many instances, the public and Congress have been misled about Vietnam. Prison Riot (Sept. 9): A riot involving more than 1,200 inmates breaks out at the Attica Correctional Facility in New York. Using hostages as their bargaining tool, the inmates present a list of ultimatums. On Sept. 13, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller orders 1,500 lawmen to storm the cellblocks. The riot claims the lives of 11 hostages and 32 prisoners. More Mickey (Oct. 1): Disney World opens in Orlando, Fla., at a cost of $500 million to $600 million. What's Hot TV Pushes Buttons When CBS introduces Archie Bunker in 1971, critics consider it both a perfect reflection of the times and brilliantly ahead of its time. The middle-aged Archie is close-minded and cigar-chomping, a working-class fella in Queens who isn't adapting to the fast-changing world. "All in the Family" shoots to the top of the Nielsen ratings because it deals with all the issues of the times: feminism, peace, race, religion and marriage. Births Kristi Yamaguchi, figure skater (July 12) Pete Sampras, tennis player (Aug. 12) Winona Ryder, actress (Oct. 29) David Duval, golfer (Nov. 9) Deaths Louis Armstrong, jazz musician (born 1900) Igor Stravinsky, composer (born 1882) Jim Morrison, rock singer (born 1943)

1972 Events Round-Trip Fare ( Jan. 5): President Nixon signs a bill authorizing a $5.5 billion six-year program to develop a space shuttle craft that will lift off as a rocket and return to Earth as an airplane. Bloody Sunday Redux (Jan. 30): On a day that will become known as the second "Bloody Sunday," British troops kill 13 men in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, during a Roman Catholic civil rights rally held in defiance of a government ban. Video Volley: Atari debuts Pong, the first commercially successful video game. Paralyzing Shot (May 15): Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama, an independent presidential candidate, is shot and critically wounded after a campaign speech in Laurel, Md. The attack leaves Wallace paralyzed from the waist down. On Aug. 4, Arthur Herman Bremer, 21, is convicted of the attack and sentenced to 63 years in prison. Executions Get the Ax (June 29): The U.S. Supreme Court rules that capital punishment is "cruel and unusual punishment" and is unconstitutional. Cold War Thaw (July 8): President Nixon announces a three-year trade pact between the United States and the Soviet Union. Chess Master (Sept. 1): Bobby Fischer becomes the first American to win the international chess championship in Reykjavik, Iceland. Olympic Terror (Sept. 5): Nine Israeli hostages, five of their Arab captors and a policeman die in gunfire at an airfield in Munich, West Germany. It ends a day of terror that began when Palestinian guerrillas killed two other members of the Israeli contingent to the Olympic Games in their quarters at the Olympic Village. The XX Olympiad is suspended for two days. It's at the same Olympics that U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz wins an unprecedented seven gold medals. Dow Hits 1,000! (Nov. 14): The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 1,003.16, finishing above 1,000 for the first time. End of Life (Dec. 29): Life magazine, a pioneer in photojournalism, suspends publication. What's Hot 'Hear Me Roar' Women's liberation achieves full flower in 1972. The FBI swears in its first female agents, and America's first female rabbi is ordained. In July, Gloria Steinem launches Ms. magazine. Its 300,000 copies sell out in eight days. Congress passes Title IX, legislation prohibiting discrimination against females in federally funded education, including athletics programs. On March 22, the Equal Rights Amendment, prohibiting gender discrimination, passes Congress and is sent to the states for ratification. But by year's end, only 22 of the required 38 have given approval. Births Shaquille O'Neal, basketball player (March 6) Mia Hamm, soccer player (March 17) Deaths Harry S. Truman, former U.S. president (born 1884) Jackie Robinson, first black major league baseball player (born 1919) Howard Johnson, restaurateur (born 1897) Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer (born 1912) Roberto Clemente, baseball player (born 1934)

1973 Events Roe vs. Wade (Jan. 22): Launching an emotional debate over abortion, the Supreme Court rules that personal privacy rights are "broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy." The Roe vs. Wade decision invalidates abortion statutes in 46 states. Going Home (Jan. 27): The Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring the Peace in Vietnam is signed in Paris. The crux of the accord: The United States agrees to withdraw its remaining 23,700-member force within 60 days with no guarantee that its South Vietnamese ally will survive, and North Vietnam agrees to free more than 500 U.S. prisoners of war. A cease-fire takes effect at 8 a.m. Jan. 28. Indian Showdown (May 8): Members of the American Indian Movement end a 71-day occupation at a reservation in South Dakota. Gunfire had killed two FBI agents and wounded 12 others. Nearly 1,200 are arrested. The showdown is at Wounded Knee, site of a historic 1890 battle that killed 153 Sioux. Watergate Hearing (May 17): The Senate Watergate Committee opens televised hearings. The summer brings a number of bombshells, first from fired White House counsel John W. Dean III, who testifies that President Nixon participated in a cover-up. Then in July, former presidential assistant Alexander P. Butterfield tells of an Oval Office taping system. A week later, special prosecutor Archibald Cox subpoenas nine recordings, but the White House refuses to turn over the tapes. The legal battle that follows ends in October, when an appeals court rules the tapes must be surrendered. On Oct. 20, Nixon fires Cox. The attorney general and deputy attorney general are discharged for having refused to fire Cox. Three days after what becomes known as the "Saturday Night Massacre," 22 bills are introduced in Congress calling for an impeachment investigation. Horse Sense (June 9): Secretariat, touted as "the greatest horse that ever lived," becomes the ninth horse to win racing's Triple Crown. No More House Calls (Aug. 2): The Chicken Ranch, said to be America's oldest continuously operating brothel, closes in La Grange, Texas. Court Battle (Sept. 20): A tennis match billed as the "battle of the sexes" ends in defeat for Bobby Riggs, 55, who loses in three straight sets to Billie Jean King, 29. What's Hot Gas Lines Drivers had to line up to fill up after nearly all of the members of a little-known Third World organization -- the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) -- imposed an oil embargo on the United States and other countries supportive of Israel. Other austerity measures Americans had to endure: turning down thermostats and a slower 55 mph speed limit. Births Monica Seles, tennis player (Dec. 2) Tyra Banks, supermodel (Dec. 4) Deaths Betty Grable, actress (born 1917) Pablo Picasso, artist (born 1881) Pablo Casals, cellist (born 1876) Pablo Neruda, author (born 1904)

1974 Events Kidnapped Heiress (Feb. 5): Patricia Hearst, daughter of publishing magnate Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She is not seen again until April 15, when she turns up during an armed bank robbery in San Francisco. It's unclear whether she is a willing participant in the robbery. SKU'ed (May 5): NCR Corp. introduces the bar-code scanner at the annual convention of the Super Market Institute. Home Run Hank (April 4): Henry "Hank" Aaron of the Atlanta Braves ties Babe Ruth's record with his 714th career home run. Four days later, Aaron smacks his 715th homer for an all-time record. Nuclear Threat (May 18): India detonates an atomic bomb and becomes the world's sixth nuclear power. Shuttle Diplomacy (May 31): A peace agreement signed by Israel and Syria ends eight months of sporadic fighting between the two nations. U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wins fame for shuttling between the two countries to negotiate the truce. President Resigns (Aug. 8): The Watergate scandal climaxes when President Nixon announces in a televised address that he will resign the presidency at noon the next day. He says he had felt it his duty to persevere in the fight against impeachment, but "in the last few days it was evident that I no longer had a strong political base in Congress to continue with the effort." Three days earlier, Nixon admitted to ordering a halt in the investigation of the Watergate burglary, which took place June 17, 1972, at the Democratic Party's national headquarters. He says the order was for political as well as security reasons. Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign. On Aug. 9, Vice President Gerald Ford assumes the presidency, becoming the first man in U.S. history to lead the nation without winning a national election. Cover Girl (August): Vogue makes Beverly Johnson the first black model to appear on the cover of a major fashion magazine. Diamond Girls (June 12): Little League baseball announces that its teams will be open to girls. Big Step (June 30): Mikhail Baryshnikov defects to the West while he is in Toronto as a guest artist with the Soviet Union's Bolshoi Ballet. So Long, Slide Rule: Calculators become more advanced, more streamlined and more affordable, selling about 12 million the first year. Priestly Prominence (July 29): Eleven women are ordained as Episcopal priests in Philadelphia. The House of Bishops declares the ordinations illegal, but in October endorses the principle of female priests. New Ballgame (Oct. 3): Frank Robinson becomes the first black manager in major league baseball when he signs a $175,000-a-year contract as player-manager for the Cleveland Indians. Opening Up (Nov. 21): Congress passes the Freedom of Information Act over President Ford's veto. What's Hot Streaking In what culture mavens call the ultimate expression of the sexual revolution, students on campus across the country began taking off their clothes for quick dashes across the quad. But the fad didn't stay confined to campus for long, soon turning up at Hawaii's state house, the Oscars, sporting events, state dinners -- even the dictionary. Births Leonardo DiCaprio, actor (Nov. 11) Deaths Duke Ellington, musician (born 1899) "Mama Cass" Elliot, pop singer (born 1943)

1975 Events In Watergate's Wake (Jan. 1): Nixon administration officials H.R. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman and John M. Mitchell are convicted of conspiring to obstruct justice in the Watergate cover-up. They are later sentenced to 2 1/2 to eight years in prison. Refugee Tragedy (April 4): An Air Force C-5A Galaxy transport plane bringing 243 Vietnamese orphans to refuge in the United States crashes shortly after takeoff from Saigon, killing more than 100 children and 25 adults accompanying them. Fall of Saigon (April 29): Just after dusk, 11 U.S. Marines are plucked from the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon in an emergency helicopter airlift. They are the last American soldiers to be evacuated from the South Vietnamese capital after the most divisive war in U.S. history. Shortly after noon the next day, Viet Cong tanks rumble into Saigon and a North Vietnamese flag is raised over the presidential palace. The South Vietnamese surrender to the North, ending the Vietnam War after three decades of strife. The final death toll of the war is roughly 1.3 million Vietnamese and more than 56,000 Americans. The Americans' $141 billion effort to stop communism in Southeast Asia is a bust. High-Flying Détente (July 17): In a history-making linkup, the American Apollo spacecraft and the Soviet Union's Soyuz 19 dock with each other 140 miles over the Atlantic Ocean. Although the ships are racing along at 17,400 mph, the Apollo creeps up to dock at a relative speed of one-third of a mile per hour. Cosmonaut Aleksei A. Leonov, 41, and astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, 45, float through a tunnel linking their two craft and execute the first international handshake in space. Homemade: Soaring prices prompt many Americans to turn to gardening and home canning to trim food expenses, which are at an eight-year high as a percentage of take-home pay. There are as many as 6 million new gardeners, the Agriculture Department says. Where's He Buried? (July 30): Former Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa disappears after being seen outside a restaurant in Bloomfield Township, Mich., near Detroit. No Smoke on Screen (Sept. 1): "Gunsmoke," which premiered in 1955, goes off the air. Heiress Convicted (Sept. 18): Heiress Patty Hearst is apprehended at an apartment in San Francisco, more than 1 1/2 years after she was kidnapped by the urban guerrilla Symbionese Liberation Army. At her trial, lawyer F. Lee Bailey will argue that she was coerced and brainwashed. The jury will find her guilty of armed robbery in 1976, and she will be sentenced to seven years in prison. Close Calls (Sept. 22): For the second time in 17 days, President Ford escapes assassination when radical activist Sara Jane Moore, 45, fires a gun as he steps out of a hotel in San Francisco. On Sept. 5, Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme, 26, a follower of mass murderer Charles Manson, pointed a pistol at Ford from close range as he neared the California capitol building in Sacramento. Fromme is sentenced in December to life imprisonment. 'Thrilla in Manila' (Oct 1): Muhammad Ali retains his heavyweight title with a TKO of Joe Frazier after 14 rounds in Manila, capital of the Philippines. The bout is watched by an estimated 700 million. Painful Decision (Nov. 10): The parents of Karen Anne Quinlan, a young woman who had been comatose in a hospital for seven months, lose a bid in New Jersey Superior Court to turn off the respirator believed to be keeping her alive. On March 4, 1976, the New Jersey Supreme Court will give its approval for disconnecting the respirator. Quinlan proves to be able to breathe without assistance. In Absentia (Dec. 10): Yelena Bonner receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, on behalf of her husband, physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov. Sakharov was denied an exit visa by Moscow. PC Power: Harvard dropout Bill Gates, 19, and childhood pal Paul Allen, 22, found Microsoft. Singular Sensation: "A Chorus Line" debuts on Broadway and stays for 15 years and a record 6,137 performances. What's Hot In Vogue If you're not wearing a T-shirt touting some brand of beer, a sporting event or commercial enterprise, you're not cool in 1975. Leisure is in at the workplace: polyester suits (bell-bottom slacks, of course) for men; sexy, tight-fitting fashions for women. Platform shoes for both. Discotheques are the hot new dance clubs, and 20 million mood rings, which change color with body temperature, are sold in America. Births Drew Barrymore, actress (born Feb. 22) Tiger Woods, golfer (Dec. 30) Deaths Thomas Hart Benton, artist (born 1889) Elijah Muhammad, Nation of Islam leader (born 1897) Chiang Kai-shek, exiled Chinese nationalist leader (born 1887) Josephine Baker, entertainer (born 1906) Dmitri Shostakovich, composer (born 1906) Haile Selassie, last Ethiopian emperor (born 1893) Casey Stengel, baseball great (born 1891) Francisco Franco, ruler of Spain for 36 years (born 1892)

1976 Events Change in China: The deaths of two old-guard leaders jolts China. Chou En-lai, premier since the Communists took power in 1949, dies Jan. 8 of cancer at 78. On Sept. 9, Mao Tse-tung, the pre-eminent figure of the Communist revolution and leader of the nation since 1949, dies of Parkinson's disease at 82. An estimated 1 million Chinese flock into Beijing's Tiananmen Square to mourn their leader. Moguls in the Making (April 1): Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak help start the age of personal computing by forming Apple Computer Co. Jobs, who has recently worked in an organic apple orchard, considers the apple a perfect fruit, a suitable symbol for what he wants to be a perfect company. Working out of Jobs' garage, the two begin assembling Apple I computers, based on a design by Wozniak. The Apple I, which sells for $666.66, has 8 kilobytes of RAM and is advertised as "an extremely powerful computer system that can be used for anything from developing programs to playing games or running BASIC." Where's the Remote?: Two competing Japanese companies introduce video-recording devices into America's entertainment mix in 1976: Sony with Betamax, and JVC, or Japanese Victor Co., with VHS. The VCR dramatically broadens what people can watch on the tube. TV ad rates and movie attendance suffer, but the VCR is a boon to such emerging industries as video-rental stores and video pornography. Anti-Apartheid Riots (June 16): Rioting erupts in the black township of Soweto on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, as blacks protest the mandatory use of the Afrikaans language in schools. In the worst upheaval that white-ruled South Africa has seen, rioting spreads over three days to other black townships. The official casualty toll is 60 dead and more than 800 injured. Death Penalty Returns (July 2): Reversing a 1972 decision, the Supreme Court rules that the death penalty is not inherently cruel and unusual punishment. The high court finds by a vote of 7-2 that death is a constitutionally acceptable form of punishment, at least for murder. Deadly Epidemic (July 4): A mysterious virus, later dubbed Legionnaire's disease, breaks out at a Philadelphia hotel hosting an American Legion convention. Within two months, it kills 28 people. Raid at Entebbe (July 4): Israel stuns the world with a daring commando raid at Entebbe Airport in the East African nation of Uganda. The aim is to free 106 hostages seized June 27 when Palestinian terrorists hijacked an Air France flight from Tel Aviv bound for Paris. The commandos fly into Entebbe under cover of darkness and take the terrorists by surprise. Within 53 minutes, the raiders gun down seven hijackers and 20 Ugandan soldiers, snatch up the hostages, destroy 11 Ugandan planes and escape with only one casualty, mission commander Yonatan Netanyahu, whose brother, Benjamin, will be elected Israeli prime minister two decades later. Bus Bandits (July 15): The bizarre kidnapping of 26 schoolchildren and their bus driver in Chowchilla, Calif., prompts the largest and most intensive search in the history of the state. For more than 36 hours, police search for the missing children. All manage to escape from a large trailer that had been buried underground. Three men are arrested. Mars Mission (July 20): Viking I, a robot craft launched from Earth on Aug. 20, 1975, makes the first successful landing on Mars, completing a journey of 212 million miles. Viking transmits spectacular photographs of a rocky, wind-scoured desert plain. Perfect 10 (Summer): At 5 feet tall and 88 pounds, gymnast Nadia Comaneci is a tiny dynamo, a flurry of precision movement, as she wows the crowds at the XXI Olympiad in Montreal. The 14-year-old Romanian takes home three gold medals and posts the first perfect 10 in Olympics history as she captures the hearts of viewers around the world with her gymnastic feats. CFC Danger (Sept. 13): The U.S. National Academy of Sciences says that chlorofluorocarbons, especially those in aerosol spray cans, endanger the protective ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere. Lust In His Heart (November): Democratic presidential candidate James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr., Georgia's governor and a devout Southern Baptist, makes waves when he gives an interview to Playboy magazine to show he is not a Bible thumper, but a regular guy. "I've looked on a lot of women with lust," says Carter, a Sunday school teacher, former naval nuclear engineer and peanut farmer. "I've committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something that God recognizes I will do -- and I have done -- and God forgives me for it." The admission creates a storm of controversy. But in the Nov. 2 election, Carter wins 51 percent of the popular vote, narrowly defeating Gerald Ford and heading to the White House as the nation's 39th president. A Big 10-4: A national craze for citizen's band radios, which had once been used primarily by long-haul truckers, reaches a peak. The Federal Communications Commission reports more than 650,000 applications for CB permits each month, and CB lingo becomes part of the culture. Americans embrace such terms as "10-4" for affirmative, "good buddy" for an airwave acquaintance, and "smokie" for a state trooper. First lady Betty Ford even gets into the act, hitting the airwaves with the handle "First Mama." What's Hot America's Bicentennial From sea to shining sea, the United States celebrates its 200th birthday with rockets' red glare and bombs bursting in air. Across the nation, millions turn out for celebrations of that July 4 in 1776 when the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, declared that "these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states ... absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown." This day, 200 years later, is one of solemnity, silliness and sheer, exuberant fun. Americans offer prayers, barbecue and fireworks around the clock. In George, Wash., townsfolk bake a cherry pie 60 feet in diameter. More than 10,000 people become citizens in mass naturalization ceremonies. Washington, D.C., hosts the most spectacular fireworks display -- costing $200,000 -- and New York City stages a heart-stopping parade of tall ships past a newly refurbished Statue of Liberty. Births Jennifer Capriati, tennis player (March 29) Fred Savage, actor (July 9) Alicia Silverstone, actress (Oct. 4) Deaths Agatha Christie, mystery author (born 1891) Paul Robeson, singer, actor, black activist (born 1898) Howard Hughes, reclusive aviator, industrialist (born 1905) J. Paul Getty, oil tycoon (born 1892) Richard J. Daley, former Chicago mayor (born 1902)

1977 Events Executing an Order (Jan. 17): "Let's do it," says convicted killer Gary Gilmore. Seconds later, he is executed by a firing squad at Utah State Prison. Gilmore, who murdered two college students, lobbied for his own execution, the first in the United States in 10 years. His story will be recounted in Norman Mailer's 1979 book, "Executioner's Song." Stroll Down the Avenue (Jan. 20): Jimmy Carter takes the oath of office as the nation's 39th president and then astonishes the crowd by walking from the Capitol to the White House, at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Searching for 'Roots' (Jan. 23-30): In one of the most remarkable events in TV history, "Roots" captivates the nation for eight straight nights on ABC. The 12-hour miniseries, based on author Alex Haley's moving search for his African ancestors, is the highest-rated series of all time. All eight telecasts rank among the top 13 highest-rated programs ever, and the final segment tops all shows. The A.C. Nielsen Co. estimates that about 130 million viewers -- about half the U.S. population -- watch at least a part of "Roots." A Slew of Wins (June 11): Seattle Slew, ridden by jockey Jean Cruguet, wins the 109th Belmont Stakes, following victories at the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, to become the 10th horse to capture racing's Triple Crown. Watergate Conspirator (June 22): John Mitchell, attorney general in the Nixon administration, begins a 30-month sentence in federal prison in Alabama for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury in the Watergate cover-up. Computers at Home (Aug. 3): Tandy Corp. introduces its Radio Shack TRS-80 home computer. The $600 machine becomes a hot seller. Son of Sam (Aug. 10): New York police arrest 24-year-old David Berkowitz in the slayings of six people and the wounding of seven others. During the 13-month killing spree, Berkowitz carries on a cryptic correspondence with police and tabloid newspapers, calling himself Son of Sam. He says a black dog named Sam ordered him to kill. Clinically paranoid, Berkowitz will plead insanity but be found competent to stand trial. In 1978, he will plead guilty and be sentenced to 25 years to life for each of the killings. The King Is Dead (Aug 16): Millions of fans are plunged into mourning by the death of 42-year-old Elvis Aaron Presley, "The King" of rock 'n' roll for two decades. As news of his death spreads, thousands of fans gather outside the gates of his sprawling Graceland mansion gates to weep for their fallen idol. Although he is still wildly popular at time of his death, Presley's career has been mostly erratic since his breakthrough triumphs in the 1950s and early '60s. He battled weight problems and allegations of drug abuse in his final years. Canal Turnover (Sept. 7): President Carter and Panamanian Brig. Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera sign treaties to transfer control of the Panama Canal to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999. Catalyst for Freedom (Sept. 12): The name of Steve Biko, a leader of South Africa's "black consciousness" movement, becomes a rallying cry in the fight against white-minority rule after he dies Sept. 12 in Pretoria of massive head injuries while in police custody. A magistrate exonerates the police in Biko's death, but they admit that he was forced to spend 19 days naked in a cell and was shackled in handcuffs and leg irons for 50 straight hours. Biko's life and brutal death will be detailed in a 1987 film, "Cry Freedom." Making Peace (Nov. 21): Egyptian President Anwar Sadat ends a historic visit to Israel, during which he joined hands with Prime Minister Menachem Begin and addressed the Knesset, declaring "no more war." What's Hot The Force "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ... ." With those words in the opening titles, director George Lucas introduces filmgoers to the first installment of his epic "Star Wars" series. Spiced with dazzling special effects, the space adventure is a classic story of good vs. evil. The good guys -- Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and a pair of vaudevillian "droids" called R2-D2 and C-3PO -- take on the villainous Darth Vader and his armies of Stormtroopers bent on cosmic domination. The film, which grosses $232 million in North America and millions more overseas, combines the elements of adventure novels, Greek mythology, samurai epics, westerns, pulp science fiction and matinee serials. "It's the flotsam and jetsam from the period when I was 12 years old," Lucas says. "All the books and films and comics that I liked when I was a child." Births Shannon Miller, gymnast (March 10) Sarah Michelle Gellar, actress (April 14) Liv Tyler, actress (July 1) Fiona Apple, pop singer (Sept. 13) Oksana Baiul, figure skater (Nov. 16) Kerri Strug, gymnast (Nov. 19) Deaths Freddie Prinze, actor (born 1956) Joan Crawford, actress (born 1908) Roberto Rossellini, film director (born 1906) Vladimir Nabokov, novelist (born 1899) Groucho Marx, comedian (born 1890) Bing Crosby, crooner, actor (born 1904) Charlie Chaplin, comic genius (born 1889)

1978 Events Sporting Spectators (Jan. 15): The first National Football League championship game shown during prime time -- Super Bowl XII between the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos -- gets an estimated 86 million viewers. The game is the second-most-watched program in TV history, after the final episode of the "Roots" miniseries in 1977. Dallas won in a 27-10 upset. Honored Abolitionist (Feb. 1): The U.S. Postal Service issues a stamp bearing the likeness of Harriet Tubman, a fugitive slave and abolitionist. It is the first stamp to honor a black woman. Racial Quotas Illegal (June 28): In a case that will have ramifications extending into the 21st century, the Supreme Court rules that the University of California must admit Allan P. Bakke to its medical school. Bakke, who is white, claimed his civil rights were violated when he was refused admission to the school because of racial quotas designed to increase the number of minority students. The decision upholds the constitutionality affirmative action but maintains that rigid quotas for minority admissions are illegal. Test Tube Miracle (July 25): Aldous Huxley, in his 1932 sci-fi classic "Brave New World," imagined a society in which "babies are mass-produced from chemical solutions in laboratory bottles." The birth of Louise Joy Brown by Caesarean section on July 25 in Oldham, England, is sufficient evidence for some that Huxley's dark fancies are coming true. Baby Louise is the first human being conceived outside the womb -- in a procedure called "in vitro fertilization." For the Browns, who were unable to conceive, extrauterine conception is not a nightmare, but a miracle. Toxic Town (Aug. 7): The Love Canal area of Niagara Falls, N.Y., is considered environmentally unfit for human habitation and is declared a disaster area by President Carter. From 1947 to 1952, the Hooker Chemical Co. dumped tons of toxic waste into an abandoned industrial canal in the area. In 1953, the company filled in the canal and sold it for $1 to Niagara Falls. The city built a school on the dump site and housing developments soon followed. Camp David Accords (Sept. 16-17): A Middle East peace conference at Camp David, Md., is attended by President Carter, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel. On Sept. 17, Sadat and Begin sign an agreement at the White House to conclude a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel within three months. The Camp David accords will lead to a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt on March 26, 1979, and win the Nobel Peace Prize for Begin and Sadat, though not for Carter. Taking Charge (Oct. 6) Hannah Gray becomes the first female president of a major American university when she is installed at the University of Chicago. Polish Pope (Oct. 17): The new pontiff -- born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland -- is the first non-Italian to be elected pope in 456 years and is the first Pole. And at 58, he is the youngest pope since Pius IX took office in 1846. Like his predecessor, Wojtyla is a theological conservative and social progressive, and -- in honor of John Paul I -- he takes the name John Paul II. His facility with languages and his energy and charisma make John Paul II wildly popular even outside the church. Mass Suicide (Nov. 18): In the jungle of Guyana, a flamboyant, charismatic cult leader named James Warren "Jim" Jones engineers the assassination of a visiting California congressman and four members of his entourage, the mass suicide by cyanide-laced Kool-Aid of 913 of his People's Temple followers, and his own death by self-inflicted gunshot. The Killing Fields (December): With the invasion of Cambodia by neighboring Vietnam, the full horror of the three years of genocide by the ultranationalist Khmer Rouge begins to emerge. Mass graves, huge piles of skulls and other human bones, and the accounts of eyewitnesses who escaped the terror of the killing fields provide a detailed picture of the three years of genocide. The number of dead is estimated at between 1 million and 3 million. What's Hot Dancin' the Night Away Spurred by release of the film "Saturday Night Fever" late the previous year, disco fever sweeps the globe in 1978. The disco style breaks with the rebellious 1960s aesthetic that still dominates much of youth culture. Men wear flashy suits and gold chains; women wear dresses and high heels. Couples dance together to prescribed steps. The epicenter of disco culture in the United States is a club in New York called Studio 54, the place to see and be seen. Crowds throng outside, hoping to catch the eye and win the favor of the all-powerful doorman and be admitted inside to mingle with glitterati. Births Randy Spelling, actor (Oct. 9) Katie Holmes, actress (Dec. 18) Deaths Hubert H. Humphrey, former U.S. senator and vice president (born 1911) Edgar Bergen, ventriloquist (born 1903) Gene Tunney, boxer, businessman (born 1898) Norman Rockwell, illustrator (born 1894) Margaret Mead, anthropologist, author (1901) Golda Meir, Israeli political leader (born 1898)

1979 Events Death Sticks (Jan. 11): Cigarette smoking is labeled the "single most important environmental factor contributing to early death," in a report issued by U.S. Surgeon General Julius B. Richmond. Birth of a Nation (Jan. 30): White voters in the southern African nation of Rhodesia ratify a new constitution, enfranchising all blacks, establishing a black-majority Assembly and Senate, and changing the country's name to Zimbabwe. Basketball Fever (March 26): Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the top college basketball players, face off in the NCAA championship and capture the attention of a national television audience. Their continuing rivalry will help revitalize the NBA. Nuclear Scare (March 28): Mechanical malfunction and human error combine to create the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history. On the day of the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear generating plant in Middletown, Pa., company officials say there has been no radiation release and that the plant is cooling down. But within days, there is fear of a meltdown. Gov. Richard Thornburgh closes nearby schools and recommends that pregnant women and young children within 5 miles of the plant evacuate. An estimated 80,000 to 250,000 people flee. The weeklong crisis ends as officials stabilize the damaged reactor, but Three Mile Island stokes opposition to the expanding nuclear-power industry. A Soviet Vietnam: The United States is still coming to grips with the aftermath of its Vietnam debacle when the world's other superpower, the Soviet Union, wades into a quagmire of its own. The first Soviet troops invade neighboring Afghanistan on Dec. 26 to replace an independent-minded communist government with a more pliant one, only to heighten the ire of fundamentalist Muslim mujahedeen, or "holy warriors." Iron Lady (May 3): Margaret Thatcher, a grocer's daughter who became an Oxford-educated chemist and lawyer, becomes Britain's first female prime minister as her Conservative Party captures 44 percent of the popular vote and a 43-seat majority in Parliament. She will remain in office 11 years -- the longest tenure of any 20th century British prime minister. Top IRA Target (Aug. 27): Lord Louis Mountbatten, great-grandson of Queen Victoria, World War II admiral and British viceroy of India, becomes the most famous victim in the Irish Republican Army's 10-year guerrilla campaign to drive Britain out of Northern Ireland. Terrorists blow up his 29-foot boat as he, a 14-year-old grandson and a friend of the grandson are setting out for a fishing excursion. The two boys also die. Traveling Pope (Oct. 1-7): Pope John Paul II pays a six-day visit to the United States, stopping in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington and Des Moines, Iowa. On Oct. 6, he becomes the first pope to meet a U.S. president at the White House. 'Death to America' (Nov. 4): Elizabeth Swift, political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, reports that a mob of young Iranians has broken into the embassy compound. The attackers set fires, force their way into offices and eventually begin to tie the hands of embassy workers. "We're going down," Swift reports to Washington before a captor grabs the phone. She is blindfolded with more than 60 others and led into captivity. The Iranian hostage crisis has begun. Angry Iranian mobs, shouting "Death to America!" become a daily feature on evening news broadcasts. Humble Acceptance (Dec. 10): Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun who has worked with the poor in India's festering slums, accepts the Nobel Peace Prize. "Personally, I am unworthy," the 69-year-old nun tells the prize committee. "I accept in the name of the poor." What's Hot The Moral Majority Evangelists start making a play for political power when Jerry Falwell forms the Moral Majority, saying, "This country is fed up with radical causes, fed up with the unisex movement, fed up with the departure from basics, from decency, from the philosophy of the monogamous home." His goal is to push for legislation with the backing of a large voting bloc of Christian conservatives. "Get them saved, baptized and registered," he tells his staff. It won't be long before the religious right has enormous influence over the Republican Party. Critics questioning the group's tactics tell Americans that the Moral Majority is neither moral nor a majority. Deaths Conrad N. Hilton, hotelier (born 1888) A. Phillip Randolph, civil rights leader (born 1889) Nelson Rockefeller, former New York governor and U.S. vice president (born 1908) Sid Vicious, punk rocker (born 1957) Mary Pickford, silent-film star (born 1893) John Wayne, actor (born 1907) Arthur Fiedler, conductor (born 1895) Richard Rodgers, composer (born 1902)

Related Links Editor's note: These links will take you to Web sites with content we do not control or endorse. The Century Century Links http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/History/20th_Century/ Links that look at events, wars, politics, economics and people that shaped the 20th century, from Yahoo! 20th Century History http://history1900s.miningco.com/index.htm Variety of topics in 20th century history, from About.com Story of Our Times http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/peoplescentury/ Excerpts from a 26-part television series on the 20th century, from PBS Shrinking World http://www.eurekanet.com/~fesmitha/h2/ Text on 20th century attitudes, from Frank E. Smitha The History Net http://www.thehistorynet.com/ American and world history, from Cowles History Group The History Channel http://www.historychannel.com/ Information, quizzes, speeches, from A&E Television Networks The Decade Watergate http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/ Articles from the newspaper that broke the story, from washingtonpost.com Vietnam http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/amex/vietnam/index.html A look at the people, places, issues and outcomes of the Vietnam War, from PBS Apollo 13 http://www.nasm.edu/APOLLO/AS13/a13.htm Apollo 13 mission facts, from Smithsonian Institution 'Star Wars' http://www.starwars.com/ Profiles, plot summaries, merchandise, chat room, from Lucasfilm Political Issues http://www.now.org/issues/legislat/07-13-99.html Legislative update, from National Organization for Women

Sources Eyewitness to the 20th Century; Chronicle of the 20th Century; Our Times: The Illustrated History of the 20th Century; "Tandy's Money Machine," by Irvin Farman; Facts on File; Almanac of Famous People; "The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football," by David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen and Rick Korch; The Timetables of History; The Timetables of Science; History Channel; "Panati's Parade of Fads, Follies and Manias: The Origins of Our Most Cherished Obsessions," by Charles Panati; What Happened When: A Chronology of Life & Events in America; "The World in 1970: History as We Lived It," Associated Press; "The World in 1971: History as We Lived It," Associated Press; "The World in 1972: History as We Lived It," Associated Press; "The World in 1973: History as We Lived It," Associated Press; "The World in 1974: History as We Lived It," Associated Press;"The World in 1975: History as We Lived It," by Associated Press; Who's Who in America, 1999; "Black Firsts: 2,000 Years of Extraordinary Achievement," edited by Jessie Carney Smith; American Decades: 1970-1979; Encyclopedia Americana; "Total Television," by Alex McNeil; Fort Worth Star-Telegram/KRT; Halliwell's Film Guide, 7th Edition; "The Vietnam War Almanac," by Harry G. Summers Jr.; "Chronicle of America: From Prehistory to Today," edited by John W. Kirshon; YAHOO! Music: The Beatles; The People's Chronology: A Year-by-Year Record of Human Events From Prehistory to the Present; "The Final Days," by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein; The Prize," by Daniel Yergin Credits Producer: Michelle Buzgon/KRT Designers: Chuck Myers/KRT; Ron Coddington/KRT Photography: Steve Deslich/KRT; National Archives; Clay Miller of The Orange County Register/KRT; Tim Broekema/KRT; Merie Wallace of Paramount Pictures via KRT; Showtime via KRT; Michael Rondou of San Jose Mercury News/KRT; Library of Congress; Jerry Lodriguss of The Philadelphia Inquirer/KRT; Lucasfilm; Phelan M. Ebenhack of The Orlando Sentinel/KRT; Beatriz Terrazas of The Dallas Morning News/KRT KRT is a joint venture of Knight Ridder and the Tribune Co. Limitations on use of material in this Web package: This content is owned by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services and contains material that is derived in whole or in part from material supplied by KRT or its contributors. The entire Web package and all material in it are protected by international copyright and trademark laws. You may not copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit or distribute in any way any material from this Web package, including code and software without our permission.