Contemporary
May 1968 in France: Student Revolt and General Strike
Wage rises and university reform followed, and the Gaullists won a landslide election, but de Gaulle resigned within a year and the events reshaped French culture.
Region
Europe
Contemporary
Dagenham Ford Strike (1968): Women Machinists and Equal Pay
The machinists won a pay rise to 92 per cent of the men's rate, though not regrading; the strike helped push the government to pass the Equal Pay Act 1970.
Contemporary
The Troubles (1968–1998): Conflict in Northern Ireland
About 3,500 people were killed before the conflict was largely brought to an end by ceasefires and the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
Contemporary
Concorde First Flight (1969): The Anglo-French Supersonic Jet
Prototype Concorde 001 made a successful maiden flight, leading to supersonic airline service from 1976 until 2003.
Contemporary
Venera 7 (1970): The First Landing on Another Planet
The first spacecraft to land intact on another planet and transmit data from its surface, recording about 475 °C and roughly 90 times Earth's air pressure.
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.
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
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
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
Bloody Sunday (1972): Shootings at a Derry Civil Rights March
Thirteen civilians were killed on the day and another died months later; the shootings deepened the Troubles and were declared unjustified by the Saville Inquiry in 2010.
Contemporary
Munich Massacre (1972): Hostage Attack at the Summer Olympics
All eleven Israeli team members taken hostage or attacked were killed, along with a West German police officer; five of the eight attackers died.
Contemporary
Paris Peace Accords (1973): The Agreement to End US Fighting
US forces withdrew from Vietnam and American prisoners were released, but the ceasefire between North and South Vietnam soon collapsed.