Domestic Affairs in the 70s
Overall, the 1970s were a big decade for domestic affairs. There were many important things, from the Kent State shootings to the final trip to the moon, to the scandal at Watergate. To kick the decade off, the very first Earth Day happened right here in the United States. Later in 1970, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), was created. Looking back, the 70's were mostly good for the United States.
1971 was a very important year for domestic affairs. Because of the war going on in Vietman, kids petitioned to decrease the voting age to 18. They felt that if they were old enough to fight, they were old enough to vote. The 70's held many protests against the Vietnam war, including the Kent State massacre, where the National Guard came to break up the anti-war protests and ended up firing into a crowd and killing four students. Another big thing that happened in 1971 was the ban of cigarette commercials on TV. Looking at these commercials and knowing now what we do about cigarettes, this was a very good thing. 1972 was also a big year in terms of domestic events. Right here in the Unites States, the last manned mission to the moon launched in 1972 and landed on the moon in that same year. Also, in 1972, President Nixon was involved in the Watergate scandal, a crisis that affected the Nation and people's trust on politicians. The United States also signed a nuclear missile treaty with Russia. 1973 was also a big year in terms of domestic affairs. In this year, the Paris Peace Accords ended the Vietnam war. Skylab, The United States first space station, was launched in this year also. In this year until 1974, the Arab Oil Embargo Crisis happened. 1973 began an economic recession that lasted until 1975.
Speaking of 1974, this was also a pretty important year. In this time, the biggest tornado outbreak happened in the United States. There were over 148 tornadoes in an 18 hour period. Also , President Nixon was voted to be impeached. He also in this year, to avoid dishonor, resigned from Presidential status. The next year, 1975 had some great achievements in terms of domestic affairs. For one, the Trans-Alaskan pipeline was built. Also, Bill Gates founded Microsoft, and President Ford survived two Assassination attempts in a 17 day time span. Overall, it was a good year for the US. As we get to the second half of the 1970s, we begin with 1976. In this year, not much happened, except for the Bicentennial celebration, which people celebrated everywhere with parades and floats. President Carter was was also Elected. In the next year, 1977, Jimmy Carter was actually inaugurated. Also in this year, Elvis Presley died. The first Atari was also made and the release of the movie Star Wars rocked the nation. In the mid to late seventies disco became a popular music genre.
In the next year, 1978, the Bee Gees album Saturday Night Fever hit number one and the show Fantasy Island premiered on ABC. The United States continued to perform nuclear tests at the Nevada test site. The movie Annie Hall wins best picture at the Academy Awards. Harvey Milk, the first gay man to be elected into an office, was assassinated by a fellow politician. As we near the end of the decade, we finally come to 1979, the final year of the 70s. 1979 was a year to remember, being kicked off with the Three Mile Island Nuclear accident, the most deadly nuclear accident in all of American History. Later that year, the Iranian Hostage Crisis began, marking a pivotal point in our foreign policy. Later this year, an airplane crashed at O'Hare Airport, killing 273 people, making it the most deadly aviation incident ever in American History. As much as many events in the decade were good, it had a very tragic end. The Iran Hostage crisis did not end until 1981.
Michael