Antiwar protestors take legal action in an attempt to prove that the Dow Chemical Company is still making napalm. Dow had claimed that it had stopped making napalm. Members of the antiwar movement filed suit against the Dow Chemical Company in a Washington, D.C., court. The plaintiffs were trying to force the company to disclose […]
Continue readingNHL Goalie Terry Sawchuk Posts 103rd Shutout
On this day in 1970, goaltender Terry Sawchuk earns his 103rd shutout, setting an NHL record for most regular-season shutouts that still stands today. Terrance Gordon Sawchuk was born December 28, 1929, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Nicknamed “Ukey” for his Ukrainian heritage, he received rookie of the year honors in the United States Hockey League (1947-48), […]
Continue readingJohn Lennon Writes And Records “Instant Karma” In A Single Day
“I wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch and we’re putting it out for dinner.” That’s the way John Lennon told the story of “Instant Karma,” one of his most memorable songs as a solo artist and the third Lennon single to appear before the official breakup of the Beatles. The only exaggeration in […]
Continue readingPOW Spends 2,000th Day In Captivity
U.S. Navy Lt. Everett Alvarez Jr. spends his 2,000th day in captivity in Southeast Asia. First taken prisoner when his plane was shot down on August 5, 1964, he became the longest-held POW in U.S. history. Alvarez was downed over Hon Gai during the first bombing raids against North Vietnam in retaliation for the disputed […]
Continue readingNixon Honors Eugene Ormandy
On this day in 1970, President Richard Nixon travels to Philadelphia to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Eugene Ormandy, the world-renowned conductor and music director of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. In keeping with tradition, the orchestra struck up Hail to the Chief upon Nixon’s entrance. During the presentation, a dapper Nixon, dressed in […]
Continue readingCurt Flood Files Historic Lawsuit Against Major League Baseball
On January 16, 1970, the seven-time Golden Glove-winning center fielder Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals files suit in a New York federal court against Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, the presidents of the American and National Leagues and all 24 teams in the Major League Baseball (MLB) organization. After the Cardinals traded Flood to the […]
Continue readingQaddafi Becomes Premier Of Libya
Muammar al-Qaddafi, the young Libyan army captain who deposed King Idris in September 1969, is proclaimed premier of Libya by the so-called General People’s Congress. Born in a tent in the Libyan desert, Qaddafi was the son of a Bedouin farmer. He attended university and the Libyan military academy and steadily rose in the ranks […]
Continue readingBiafra Surrenders To Nigeria
The Republic of Biafra, a breakaway state of eastern Nigeria, surrenders to Nigeria after three years of costly fighting. In 1960, Nigeria gained independence from Britain. Six years later, the Muslim Hausas in northern Nigeria began massacring the Christian Igbos in the region, prompting tens of thousands of Igbos to flee to the east, where […]
Continue readingDiana Ross And The Supremes Perform Their Final Concert
They were the most successful American pop group of the 1960s—a group whose 12 #1 hits in the first full decade of the rock and roll era places them behind only Elvis and the Beatles in terms of chart dominance. They helped define the very sound of the 60s, but like fellow icons the Beatles […]
Continue readingThe United Mine Workers Killings
The bodies of dissident union leader Jock Yablonski, his wife, and daughter are discovered in their Clarksville, Pennsylvania, farmhouse byYablonski’s sonKenneth. The family had been dead for nearly a week, killed on New Year’s Eve bykillers hired by theUnited Mine Workers (UMW) union leadership. Yablonski’s murder eventually brought down the whole union leadership and ended […]
Continue reading