- January 10
- Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Richard Wilbur. [1]
- January 11
- First "Quickie" Divorce granted in United Kingdom. [1]
- January 12
- US Federal grand jury indicts Reverand Philip Berrigan and five others, including a nun and two priests, on charges of plotting to kidnap Henry Kissinger. [1]
- January 15
- Aswan Dam officially opens in Egypt. [1]
- January 23
- Prospect Creek Camp, Alaska, (north of Fairbanks) reaches a US record low temperature of -80 degrees F. [1] [32.23]
- January 25
- Himachal Pradesh becomes 18th Indian state. [1]
- Military coup in Uganda under General Idi Amin Dada. [1]
- January 26
- Dutch second Chamber accepts law against limitation of war crimes. [1]
- February 2
- Idi Amin ousts Milton Obote to become dictator of Uganda. [1]
- February 4
- British car maker Rolls Royce declares itself bankrupt. [1]
- Government exhibit under construction collapses, kills 65 in Brazil. [1]
- February 5
- Apollo 14, third US manned Moon expedition, lands near Fra Mauro; Alan Shepard and Edward Mitchell walk on Moon for four hours. [1] [5]
- February 6
- In Central Italy, a magnitude 4.5 earthquake occurs, near Tuscania, Italy. 20 dead, over 100 injured, and about 5,000 homeless. The medieval section of Tuscania is practically leveled, and 60 percent of the city's buildings destroyed. [53]
- February 7
- Women win the right to vote in Switzerland. [1]
- February 8
- The Nasdaq stock market index debuts. [5]
- February 9
- In San Fernando, California, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurs. The earthquake lasts about 60 seconds, kills 65, injures more than 2,000, and causes property damage estimated at $505 million. [1] [53]
- February 10
- American Mensa, Ltd incorporates in New York. [1]
- Great Britain banks close to stock up on new coinage for Decimalization Day conversion. [477.74]
- February 11
- US, United Kingdom, USSR, others sign Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons. [1]
- Whitney Young Junior, US National Urban League director, drowns in Nigeria. [1]
- February 13
- 12,000 South Vietnamese troops cross into Laos. [1]
- February 15
- After 1200 years Britain abandons 12-shilling system for decimal. Coins denominated new 1/2 penny, new penny, and two pence enter circulation. [1] [699.24] [759.63]
- February 20
- Major General Idi Amin Dada appoints himself President of Uganda. [1]
- National Emergency Center erroneously orders US radio and TV stations to go off the air; the mistake isn't resolved for 30 minutes. [1]
- February 21
- Series of tornadoes cuts through Mississippi and Louisiana killing 117. [1]
- February 22
- Lieutenant General Hafiz al-Assad becomes President of Syria. [1]
- February 24
- Algeria nationalizes French oil companies. [1]
- February 25
- Oh! Calcutta! opens at Belasco Theater in New York City for 1,316 performances. [1]
- March 1
- Bomb attack on the Capitol in Washington DC. [1]
- March 3
- Winnie Mandela is sentenced to one year in jail in South Africa. [1]
- March 4
- "City Command" kidnaps four US military men at Ankara, Turkey. [1]
- March 7
- Egypt refuses to renew the Suez ceasefire. [1]
- March 12
- Syrian premier Hafez Assad elected President. [1]
- Turkish Government of Demirel forced to resign by Army. [1]
- March 14
- South Vietnamese troops flee Laos. [1]
- March 17
- Edward Henry of Morristown, New Jersey, is first person to win US$1 million in a State lottery. [86.57]
- March 18
- 200 die in landslide into Lake Yanahuani, Chungar, Peru. [1]
- March 22
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- March 23
- Dutch second Chamber accepts simplified divorce. [1]
- USSR performs underground nuclear test. [1]
- March 25
- European council accepts Mansholt plan laying off five million farmers. [1]
- March 26
- Bangladesh (East Pakistan) declares its independence. [1]
- March 29
- American First Lieutenant William L Calley Junior found guilty in My Lai (Vietnam) massacre. [1]
- Chile President Salvadore Allende nationalizes banks/copper mines. [1]
- Conrad Van Emde Boas becomes West Europe's first sexology professor. [1]
- Development of a serum hepatitis vaccine for children announced. [1]
- March 31
- South Africa national debt hits US$5.45 billion. [1]
- American Lieutenant William L Calley Junior sentenced to life for My Lai Massacre. [1]
- From Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA launches a rocket with Canadian ISIS-B satellite into space, to conduct twelve experiments studying the ionosphere. [1] [242.1]
- In Quito, Ecuador, ousted General Luis Jacome Chavez leads a military revolt against President Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra. [242.1]
- April 1
- United Kingdom lifts all restrictions on gold ownership. [1]
- In Manila, Philippines, a fire that started in a newspaper warehouse burns out of control for over seven hours, burning 15 blocks of the city, leaving 70,000 homeless. Damage estimated at US$330,000. [243.3]
- April 4
- Marine clay under houses liquifies, 31 die (St-Jean-Vianney, Québec, Canada). [1]
- April 5
- Mount Etna erupts in Sicily, Italy. [1]
- April 8
- First legal off-track betting system begins (OTB-New York). [1]
- In Wethersfield, Connecticut, USA a house is struck by a falling meteorite. [521]
- Death of Fritz von Opel in Saint Moritz, Switzerland; automotive engineer, performed early experiments with rocket propulsion for automobiles and aircraft. [37]
- April 14
- US President Richard Nixon ends blockade against People's Republic of China. [1]
- April 17
- Egypt, Libya and Syria form federation (Federation of Arab Republics). [1]
- People's Republic of Bangladesh forms, under sheik Mujib ur-Rahman. [1]
- April 19
- Sierra Leone becomes a republic. [1]
- USSR Salyut 1 launched; first manned lab in orbit. [1]
- April 21
- Original Codex Reguis (with Edda-liederen) returns to Iceland. [1]
- April 23
- Soyuz 10 launched; soft docks with Salyut 1. [1]
- April 25
- About 200,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters march on Washington DC. [1]
- US canal rights in Nicaragua and rights to Corn Islands expire. [1]
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- April 26
- Heaviest rains ever in Bahia district of Brazil, 15 inches in 24 hours. [1]
- Turkey state of siege proclaimed. [1]
- May 1
- Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is formed to take over U.S. passenger rail service. [1] [5]
- May 2
- In the Andreanof Islands, Alaska, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurs. [53]
- May 3
- Erich Honecker succeeds Walter Ulbricht as East German party leader. [1]
- Pulitzer prize awarded to John Toland (Rising Sun). [1]
- May 12
- In Western Turkey, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurs, 220 miles southwest of Anakara in the Burdur area. 100 persons killed, thousands of buildings damaged or destroyed. [53]
- May 16
- Bulgaria adopts its constitution. [1]
- May 18
- Bulgarian constitution goes into effect. [1]
- May 19
- USSR launches Mars 2, first spacecraft to crash land on Mars. [1]
- May 22
- In Eastern Turkey, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake occurs, 410 miles southeast of Ankara. The city of Bingol is nearly destroyed. 1000 people killed, 90 percent of Bingol's structures destroyed, and 15,000 of its inhabitants are made homeless. [53]
- May 24
- A commuter bus plunges into Panamá Canal, killing 38 of 43 aboard. [1]
- May 25
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- May 26
- Soviet Union's Concorde, TU-144, makes its first appearance. [1]
- May 28
- USSR Mars 3 launched, first spacecraft to soft land on Mars. [1]
- May 30
- 36 hospitalized during Grateful Dead concert; after drinking LSD-laced apple juice. [1]
- Train crash at Duivendrecht, Netherlands, five die. [1]
- US Mariner 9 launched (first satellite to orbit Mars). [1] [5]
- June 6
- Air West flight 706 collides with Navy Phantom jet over Los Angeles, 50 die. [1]
- Soyuz 11 takes three cosmonauts to Salyut 1 space station. [1] [5]
- June 10
- Eleven die in a train crash in Salem, Illinois. [1]
- June 13
- Birth of Broderick nonuplets in Sydney, Australia (7 of 9 survive infancy). [1]
- June 17
- At 11:13 AM, Disneyland welcomes its 100-millionth guest, Valerie Suldo of New Jersey. [6]
- June 30
- Three cosmonauts die as Soyuz XI depressurizes during reentry. [1]
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