Contemporary
1976 Tangshan Earthquake: China's Deadliest Modern Disaster
The city of Tangshan was almost completely destroyed; the official death toll was 242,419, while some estimates are considerably higher.
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
Seveso Disaster (1976): The Dioxin Cloud Over Northern Italy
A cloud containing TCDD dioxin contaminated several towns; hundreds were evacuated, thousands of animals died, and Europe adopted the Seveso Directives on industrial accident prevention.
Contemporary
Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (1977): Argentina's Disappeared
The mothers' weekly vigils drew world attention to the junta's disappearances; three founders were themselves abducted and killed in December 1977.
Contemporary
Harvey Milk (1977-1978): His Election and Assassination
Milk became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the US and helped defeat the Briggs Initiative before he and Mayor Moscone were assassinated by Dan White.
Contemporary
Voyager 1 and 2 (1977): The Grand Tour of the Outer Planets
The two probes explored all four giant planets between 1979 and 1989 and later became the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space.
Contemporary
Reform and Opening Up 1978: Deng Xiaoping Transforms China
China moved from a Maoist planned economy towards a market-oriented 'socialist market economy' open to foreign trade and investment, with decades of rapid growth.
Contemporary
Camp David Accords 1978: Sadat, Begin and Carter Make Peace
Egypt and Israel agreed two frameworks that led to their peace treaty of March 1979 and Israel's full withdrawal from Sinai by 1982.
Contemporary
Louise Brown (1978): The First IVF 'Test-Tube Baby'
The first human birth after in vitro fertilisation opened the way to a treatment that has since produced millions of children worldwide.
Contemporary
Kidnapping of Aldo Moro (1978): Italy's Years of Lead
Moro was murdered after 55 days in captivity; the 'historic compromise' between Christian Democrats and Communists faded, and the state hardened its fight against terrorism.
Contemporary
Love Canal (1978): The Toxic Waste Scandal and the Superfund Law
Hundreds of families were relocated, the site was fenced off and cleaned up, and the case led directly to the federal Superfund law of December 1980.
Contemporary
Operation Cyclone: The CIA's Arming of the Afghan Mujahideen
The covert programme supplied billions of dollars in weapons and money to the Afghan resistance, raising the cost of the Soviet war until Moscow withdrew in 1989.
Contemporary
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979): Start of a Decade War
Soviet forces killed Hafizullah Amin, installed Babrak Karmal and became trapped in a nine-year war against the mujahideen that ended with their withdrawal in February 1989.