Dates in History From the 1970s Quiz

Answer: 1970

On Mar 28, 1970, an earthquake measuring between 7.2 and 7.4 on the Richter scale struck Gediz and also impacted 254 villages. Many more people were hurt, and over 26,000 people were left homeless. The earthquake caused such severe damage to the town of Gediz that they relocated it and named it "Yeni Gediz" (New Gediz).

Turkey is among the countries most susceptible to earthquakes globally. The African and Arabian plates are pushing the Anatolian tectonic plate, which contains most of the country, to the south and southeast. Consequently, it pushes the Aegean microplate eastward as it moves westward along the border with the Eurasian plate to the north.

Answer: 1970

The General Election was held on June 18, 1970, with the Conservatives winning the election. Before the election, the Labour Party was the favourite to win in the polls; they had been in power since 1964. In the election, you needed 316 seats to win the election.

The Conservative Party won 330 seats, with the Labour Party winning 288. That was a swing of 4.5%. In the UK, a General Election must take place no more than five years after the previous, but the Prime Minister can call one at any time in between.

Answer: 1970

The Aswan Dam took ten years to complete. The dam provides flood control, hydroelectricity, and stores water for farmland. The Aswan Dam replaced an older dam, which would sometimes flood if there was too much water in the dam, which could destroy farmland, and had also been known for not having enough water when there was drought.

The new dam was built, which could hold a lot more water and would be less prone to flooding, in an effort to solve all these problems. The Aswan Dam was officially opened on 15 January 1971.

Answer: 1970

An attempt on the life of Pope Paul VI took place on November 27. The assassination attempt was while the pope was on a visit to the Philippines. The male was a Bolivian painter, Benjamín Mendoza y Amor Flores, who had mental health issues; he stabbed the pope twice in the chest.

The attack happened at Manila Airport, where Benjamín was dressed as a priest. Press accounts claim that Pasquale Macchi, the Pope's personal secretary, shoved the assassin to the ground, saving the Pope from further injuries.

Answer: 1976

On January 21, 1976, British Airways flew the Concorde from London to Bahrain, and Air France flew it from Paris to Rio de Janeiro, marking the first regular supersonic passenger service in history. In May 1976, both airlines began offering regular service to Washington, D.C., and then in November 1977, to New York City. Concorde's last commercial flight was on October 24, 2003. Some of the reasons why Concorde was taken out of service were because of the high operating costs and maintenance, the level of noise and the decline in passenger numbers.

Although Concorde had a remarkable safety record, there was a crash on July 25, 2000, when a flight from Paris to New York City crashed due to an engine failure caused by a tyre blowout which punctured the aircraft fuel tank. All people on board lost their lives. After the crash, Concorde was taken out of commission until they redesigned the fuel tank. Concorde really never recovered after the crash, as passengers lost faith in the aircraft and the operating cost went through the roof. In the end, Concorde was just not financially profitable, so the aircraft was taken out of service.

Answer: 1976

On July 17 the Summer Olympics games started. They finished on August 1. These games attracted 6,084 competitors. There were 4,824 men and 1,260 women who participated in the games. Medals could be won in 21 different types of sports, with 198 events taking place. Ninety-two countries took part in the games; it would have been more, except that several African nations boycotted the games because of political reasons. New Zealand's rugby team was touring South Africa during the apartheid era, and some countries took offence.

Answer: 1976

In 1976 the CN Tower was the world's tallest freestanding structure; it held that position for 32 years before Burj Khalifa became the highest. That record has now also been beaten and likely will be beaten again. When opened in 1976, the tower was 555m tall (1815.3 ft).

The tower is located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building of the tower started in 1973, and it opened on June 26, 1976. The tower was originally built for telecommunications and later for TV and radio; it has also now been a very popular tourist attraction where you can eat at the tower's restaurants as well as an entertainment centre.

Answer: 1976

The funeral of Mao Zedong took place on September 9, and he was buried seven days later on 18 September 1976. The funeral took place in Beijing, China. Mao Zedong was the chairman and founder of the Chinese Communist Party from 1943 until his death. Usually, he was referred to as Chairman Mao. Mao did improve industrial development with coal, electric power, and engineering, to name a few; he also improved the way of life for many Chinese people.

However, it also has to be said, between 40 and 80 million people are thought to have died as a result of his dictatorial dictatorship.

A very complex man who made national achievements and also was responsible for disastrous human suffering. His legacy remains a subject of intense debate, with many grappling to reconcile the advancements he brought to China with the tragedies that accompanied his rule.

Answer: 1979

Jon Voight and Jane Fonda won the Academy Awards for the film "Coming Home". The film was released on February 15, 1978, in the US and was directed by Hal Ashby. The film follows Jane Fonda as Sally Hyde and Jon Voight as Luke Martin. Sally is married to Captain Bob Hyde, Bruce Dern. Bob is sent away to Vietnam and hopes it will lead to promotion among the ranks in the Marine Corps. While Bob is away, Sally volunteered to work at a local Veterans Administration hospital. While Sally is working at the hospital, she meets up with Luke, who came back from Vietnam with severe injuries that have left him a paraplegic.

After a while, due to the time the pair spend together, they form a special relationship, and when Luke is released from hospital, they eventually fall in love. They both know that when Sally's husband, Bob, returns home, their affair has to end. Bob returns home and finds out about the affair. Sally and Luke had talked about when Bob did get home, she should try and work things out with Bob. Due to post-traumatic stress disorder, Bob picks up a loaded rifle and confronts Sally and Luke about the affair. However, he walks away. Bob later goes to the beach, strips off and goes into the water to commit suicide.

Answer: 1979

Even though President Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the SALT II agreement in 1979, the U.S. Senate did not approve it after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Nevertheless, both sides mostly complied with the treaty's terms, which aimed to limit their nuclear arsenals and halt the creation of new strategic missile systems.

A significant challenge was that the treaty was intended as an initial step toward more extensive arms reduction initiatives.

Answer: 1979

A Royal Ceremonial Funeral took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on September 5, 1979. Lord Mountbatten was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on Monday, 27 August 1979, off the coast of the Mullaghmore Peninsula in County Sligo, Ireland.

He had carefully arranged every aspect of his funeral for more than ten years, even preparing detailed plans depending on if he died in the summer or winter. He was buried at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire. In his detailed funeral plans, he had asked to be buried near his wife, Lady Edwina.

The burial site was close to the family's country home, Broadlands.

Answer: 1979

Pink Floyd released "The Wall" on 30 November 1979; it was the band's eleventh studio album. Roger Waters created the rock opera, which tells the story of Pink, a fictional rock star inspired by Waters and Syd Barrett, the former lead singer of Pink Floyd, who surrounds himself with a symbolic wall of solitude. The album tells a story about Pink, a fictional rock star inspired by Waters and Syd Barrett, the former lead singer of Pink Floyd.

The first part of the album mainly covers events from Waters' early life, including his father's death in World War II and his wife's unfaithfulness. The album also contains multiple links to Barrett, especially in the song "Nobody Home". The track "Comfortably Numb" was influenced by Waters receiving a muscle relaxant injection to ease hepatitis symptoms during the In the Flesh tour in Philadelphia. The album topped the charts on the US Billboard 200 and peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Commercially, the album sold 6 million copies in 2 weeks.