* The Vietnam War officially ends.
* The United States adopts the Clean Air Act.
* The Beatles break up.
* The first Earth Day is celebrated.
* The Apollo 13 mission is aborted after an explosion on board the spacecraft.
1971
* The United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I).
* China is admitted to the United Nations.
* Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida.
* The Intel 4004, the world's first microprocessor, is released.
1972
* The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty).
* Richard Nixon becomes the first US President to visit the People's Republic of China.
* The 1972 Winter Olympics are held in Sapporo, Japan.
* The Watergate scandal begins.
1973
* The United States, Vietnam, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam sign the Paris Peace Accords, ending the Vietnam War.
* The Arab oil embargo begins.
* The United States Supreme Court rules in Roe v. Wade, establishing a constitutional right to an abortion.
* The Endangered Species Act is passed.
1974
* Richard Nixon resigns as president in the wake of the Watergate scandal.
* Gerald Ford becomes the 38th president of the United States.
* The 1974 World Cup is held in West Germany.
* The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT).
1975
* Saigon falls to North Vietnamese forces, ending the Vietnam War.
* The United States Congress passes the War Powers Resolution, limiting the president's ability to commit military forces to hostilities without the consent of Congress.
* The Helsinki Accords are signed by 35 nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, and establish a framework for human rights and security cooperation in Europe.
* The Microsoft Corporation is founded.
1976
* Jimmy Carter becomes the 39th president of the United States.
* The United States celebrates its bicentennial.
* The Apple I, the first personal computer, is released.
* The Viking 1 spacecraft lands on Mars and returns the first images from the surface of the planet.
1977
* The United States and Panama sign the Panama Canal Treaty, which will transfer control of the Panama Canal from the United States to Panama in 1999.
* The first test tube baby is born in England.
* The United States and the Soviet Union sign the SALT II Treaty, which limits strategic nuclear weapons.
* The Voyager 1 spacecraft is launched.
1978
* The Camp David Accords are signed between Israel, Egypt and the United States. The accords lead to a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in 1979.
* The People's Republic of China adopts a new constitution.
* The first mobile phone call is made in Japan.
* The Jonestown massacre occurs in Jonestown, Guyana.
1979
* The Iranian Revolution overthrows the Shah of Iran and establishes an Islamic republic.
* The United States and China establish diplomatic relations.
* The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan.
* Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom.
1980
* Jimmy Carter loses the presidential election to Ronald Reagan.
* The United States boycotts the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.
* The AIDS epidemic begins.
* The cable news channel CNN is launched.
1981
* Ronald Reagan becomes the 40th president of the United States.
* The assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan occurs.
* The Iran-Contra Affair begins.
* The first space shuttle, Columbia, is launched.
1982
* The Falklands War occurs between the United Kingdom and Argentina.
* The United States and the Soviet Union hold arms control talks (START) in Geneva.
* The first artificial heart is implanted in a human patient.
* The Compact Disc (CD) is introduced.
1983
* The Soviet Union shoots down a South Korean civilian airliner, claiming that it violated Soviet airspace.
* The United States invades Grenada.
* The first Apple Macintosh computer is released.
* The World Health Organization (WHO) announces the eradication of smallpox.
1984
* Ronald Reagan is re-elected as president of the United States.
* The Los Angeles Summer Olympics are held.
* The first IBM personal computer (the IBM PC) is released.
* The Voyager 1 spacecraft enters interstellar space.
1985
* Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
* The Live Aid concert is held in London and Philadelphia to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
* The wreck of the Titanic is discovered.
* The first successful bone marrow transplant is performed.
1986
* The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurs in the Soviet Union.
* The Iran-Contra Affair is revealed.
* The United States launches the Space Shuttle Challenger, which explodes shortly after takeoff, killing all seven crew members.
* The Statue of Liberty is rededicated after a two-year restoration project.
1987
* The United States and Great Britain sign the INF treaty, which eliminates intermediate-range nuclear weapons.
* Benazir Bhutto becomes the first female prime minister of Pakistan.
* The first heart-lung transplant is performed.
1988
* George H. W. Bush becomes the 41st president of the United States.
* The Seoul Summer Olympics are held.
* The Berlin Wall falls.
* The first successful bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor is performed.
1989
* The Tiananmen Square protests occur in China.
* The Soviet Union dissolves.
* Nelson Mandela is released from prison in South Africa.
* The first cellular phone is introduced in the United States.
* The World Wide Web is invented.
1990
* The reunification of Germany occurs.
* Nelson Mandela becomes the first black president of South Africa.
* The Gulf War begins.
* The Hubble Space Telescope is launched.
* The Human Genome Project is launched.
1991
* The Soviet Union collapses.
* The United States and the Soviet Union sign the START I Treaty, which reduces strategic nuclear weapons.
* The Gulf War ends.
* The World Wide Web becomes publicly available.
* The first successful cloning of a mammal (a sheep named Dolly) is performed.
1992
* Bill Clinton becomes the 42nd president of the United States.
* The Barcelona Summer Olympics are held.
* The Maastricht Treaty is signed, which establishes the European Union.
* The first successful liver transplant from a living donor is performed.
* The first successful pancreatic transplant is performed.
1993
* The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed.
* The European Union is created.
* The World Trade Organization (WTO) is established.
* The first successful cochlear implant is performed.
* The first successful gene therapy is performed.
1994
* The Rwandan Genocide occurs.
* The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission is established.
* The first successful hand transplant is performed.
* The first successful face transplant is performed.
* The first successful bone marrow transplant from a cord blood donor is performed.
1995
* The Oklahoma City bombing occurs.
* The first successful lung transplant from a living donor is performed.
* The first successful small bowel transplant is performed.
* The first successful pancreas and kidney transplant is performed.
1996
* The Atlanta Summer Olympics are held.
* Dolly, the cloned sheep, is born