WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO AUGUST 1970
Find out what all happened January to August 1970

Organized by Mexican American union leader César Chávez, the Salad Bowl strike, the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history, begins. (23. August 1970)

Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean. (17. May 1970)

The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide that buries the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people are killed. (31. May 1970)

After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed. (21. July 1970)

Bahr el-Baqar incident: Israeli bombers strike an Egyptian school. 46 children are killed. (8. April 1970)

Moammar Gadhafi is proclaimed premier of Libya. (15. January 1970)

The Gambia becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Dawda Jawara as the first President. (24. April 1970)

Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons. (10. April 1970)

Newhall Incident: Four California Highway Patrol officers are killed in a shootout. (6. April 1970)

The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization enters into force. (26. April 1970)

President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring the Surgeon General's warnings on tobacco products and banning cigarette advertisements on television and radio in the United States, starting on January 1, 1971. (1. April 1970)

Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom. (4. June 1970)

A fire consumes the wooden home of Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt and irretrievably destroys about 90 percent of his output. (12. July 1970)

Nine terrorists from the Japanese Red Army hijack Japan Airlines Flight 351 at Tokyo International Airport, wielding samurai swords and carrying a bomb. (31. March 1970)

Apollo 13 is launched. (11. April 1970)

Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: the Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the United States' invasion of Cambodia. (4. May 1970)

Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War, East Los Angeles, California. Police riot kills three people, including journalist Ruben Salazar. (29. August 1970)

Penn Central declares Section 77 bankruptcy, largest ever US corporate bankruptcy up to this date. (21. June 1970)

Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon formally authorizes American combat troops to fight communist sanctuaries in Cambodia. (28. April 1970)

The U.S. postal strike of 1970 begins, one of the largest wildcat strikes in U.S. history. (18. March 1970)