Contemporary
Warsaw Genuflection (1970): Willy Brandt Kneels in Warsaw
Brandt's silent act of contrition became a lasting symbol of German acknowledgement of Nazi crimes and of reconciliation with Poland.
Era · 1945 – present
Contemporary
From the Cold War and the Space Race to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the world we live in today.
Contemporary
First Earth Day (1970): Birth of the Environmental Movement
An estimated 20 million Americans took part, building political momentum for the EPA, the Clean Air Act of 1970 and later environmental laws.
Contemporary
Pentagon Papers (1971): The Leak That Exposed Vietnam Policy
The Supreme Court allowed publication to continue on 30 June 1971; charges against Ellsberg were dismissed in 1973 because of government misconduct.
Contemporary
Bangladesh Liberation War 1971: The Birth of a New Nation
Pakistani forces in the east surrendered on 16 December 1971 and Bangladesh became an independent state.
Contemporary
Women's Suffrage in Switzerland (1971): A Late Federal Vote
About 66 per cent of male voters and a majority of cantons approved women's right to vote and stand in federal elections.
Contemporary
Idi Amin's Rule in Uganda 1971-1979: Coup, Terror and Expulsion
Eight years of military dictatorship and mass killing ended when Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles captured Kampala in April 1979.
Contemporary
First Network Email (1971): Ray Tomlinson and the @ Sign
Electronic messages could be sent between users on different computers, and the user@host address format became the standard for email.
Contemporary
Intel 4004 (1971): The First Commercial Microprocessor
Intel began selling the first single-chip microprocessor on the open market, launching the industry that would lead to personal computers and smartphones.
Contemporary
Salyut 1 (1971): The First Space Station and Soyuz 11
The first crew lived aboard a space station for 23 days, but all three cosmonauts died when their Soyuz 11 capsule depressurised during the return to Earth.
Contemporary
Operation Linebacker II (1972): The Christmas Bombing of Hanoi
North Vietnam returned to the Paris talks, and the Paris Peace Accords were signed a month later, at the cost of heavy US aircraft losses and civilian deaths in the North.
Contemporary
SALT I and the ABM Treaty (1972): First Strategic Arms Limits
The superpowers limited anti-ballistic missile defences and froze their numbers of strategic missile launchers for five years.
Contemporary
Nixon's Visit to China (1972): The Week That Changed the World
The United States and the People's Republic of China opened direct relations, set out their positions in the Shanghai Communiqué and moved towards full diplomatic recognition in 1979.