The following events occurred in May 1970:
May 1, 1970 (Friday) At 7:30 in the morning local time (0030 UTC)Henry Kissinger, Ending the Vietnam War: A History of America's Involvement in and Extrication from the Vietnam War (Simon and Schuster, 2003) p163 8,000 United States Army troops"Nixon Stuns U.S. in Cambodia Thrust; 8,000 Yanks Sweep Across Border", Wilmington (DE) Evening Journal, May 1, 1970, p1 followed South Vietnam's Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops into Cambodia's Kampong Cham Province, and expanding the American involvement in the Vietnam War to attack North Vietnamese Army (NVA) enclaves in an area known as the Fishhook . Helicopters and ground troops of the U.S. Army's 1st Air Cavalry Division and an ARVN airborne brigade caught the NVA off guard, while troops of the 25th Infantry Division drove their attack northward and westward; by May 3, the United States would claim 467 of the enemy had been killed, and only eight American soldiers"The Cambodian Incursion: Tactical and Operational Success and its Effects on Vietnamization", by Major Jeff Hackett, U.S. Army National Guard (2008)Brigadier General Tran Dinh Tho, Cambodian Incursion (Pickle Partners Publishing, 2015) Simultaneously with the invasion, U.S. President Richard Nixon was preparing to announce the invasion in a nationwide address, which began at 0200 UTC (9:00 in Washington, DC on Thursday night). Protests against the expansion of the Vietnam War began on American college campuses later in the day on Friday."Tear Gas Scatters Stanford Protesters", Tucson (AZ) Citizen, May 1, 1970, p1 For the first time in more than 50 years, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to ask for a meeting with a U.S. president, after having been given no notice of the invasion, and the request was unanimous from both political parties."Senators call Nixon— Fulbright group wants conference on Cambodia", The Tampa Times, May 1, 1970, p1 At Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, demonstrations against the trial of the New Haven Nine, Bobby Seale, and Ericka Huggins (all of the Black Panthers activist group) drew a crowd of 12,000. Although city merchants were prepared for an anticipated riot."New Haven On Guard for Rally Protesting Panther Slay Trial", Pittsburgh Press, May 1, 1970, p1 and 4,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine troops were deployed to nearby bases "as a precautionary measure""The Pentagon Sends 4,000 to New Haven", Daily News (New York), May 1, 1970, p2C the rally was relatively peaceful."Demonstration in New Haven Is Marked By Few Clashes", Bridgeport (CT) Post, May 2, 1970, p1 U.S. Army physician Dr. Jeffrey R. MacDonald was formally charged by the Army with three counts of murder, after an investigation implicated him in the February 17 murder of killing of his wife and two daughters at their home at Fort Bragg, North Carolina."Army Charges Beret MD as Family Killer", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 2, 1970, p1 Born: Dave Willis, American cartoon producer and voice actor, co-creator of Aqua Teen Hunger Force; in Wichita Falls, Texas Died: Ralph Hartley, 81, American inventor, electrical engineer and mathematician who conceived the Hartley transform and who invented the Hartley oscillator Yi Eun, 72, the last Crown Prince of Korea during the reign of his older brother, the Emperor Sunjong from 1907 until the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910. Yi Un, who had been the head of the House of Yi since the 1926 death of the last Emperor of Korea, his older brother Sunjong, had been allowed to live in South Korea since November 22, 1963 after President Park Chung Hee allowed him to return from Japanese exile. Yi Eun, seriously ill, was allowed to live in a home on the grounds of Changdeok Palace, one of the former Korean royal family residences in Seoul, and would be buried at the royal family tomb site. His 38-year-old son, Yi Ju became the new head of the former royal house."Yi Eun, 72; Last Korean crown prince", Boston Globe, May 2, 1970, p. 14 William L. St. Onge, 55, U.S. Congressman for Connecticut since 1962. Mr. St. Onge had been on his way to the shipyards at Groton to be a guest of honor at the launching of a new submarine, when he collapsed from a heart attack."Congressman Dies On Way to Launching", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 2, 1970, p1
May 2, 1970 (Saturday) Twenty-two passengers and one crew member on ALM Flight 980 drowned when the Overseas National Airways DC-9 jet ran out of fuel and made a forced landing in the Caribbean Sea, from the nearest land, the island of Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands."20 Missing After Jet Downs In Sea", Cincinnati Enquirer, May 3, 1970, p1 The Antillean Airlines flight had departed New York City at 11:00 a.m. for St. Maarten, with 57 passengers and a crew of six, and, after two unsuccessful attempts at landing at Juliana Airport, was cleared for an emergency landing at St. Croix and ditched in the ocean at 3:48 p.m."Jet With 63 Goes Down In Stormy Carib", Daily News (New York), May 3, 1970, p3 Forty survivors able to depart the plane and were rescued by helicopters from the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marines, while the other 23 were trapped on the sinking airplane., National Transportation Safety Board In the aftermath of a protest the evening before, an estimated 500 students from Kent State University (KSU) went off campus after midnight and into the streets of downtown Kent, Ohio, smashing windows of local businesses and of cars parked on the street, prompting the imposition of an 8:00 p.m. curfew for Saturday night."'Down With Nixon,' Scream 500 Rioting Kent Students", Akron (O.) Beacon Journal, May 2, 1970, p1 Five police officers were injured, and 14 students were arrested before tear gas was used to disperse the crowd at 3:00 a.m. Later in the day, a group of 600 protesters set fire to the ROTC building on the KSU campus, prompting Kent mayor Leroy M. Satrom to ask for the Ohio National Guard; 400 guardsmen were dispatched from nearby Akron and deployed on campus."KSU Rioters Put Torch To ROTC Building", Akron (O.) Beacon Journal, May 3, 1970, p1 Dust Commander, a thoroughbred racehorse that had been purchased for a bargain price of $6,500 by his owner, won the Kentucky Derby by five lengths."96th Derby: It's Dust Commander— $6,500 Colt Runs Away With Richest Derby Purse", The Courier-Journal & Times (Louisville KY), May 3, 1970, p1 In addition to winning jockey Mike Manganello, the Derby was also the first American Triple Crown race to include a female jockey. Diane Crump, riding Fathom, came in 15th of 17 horses."Diane Crump Rides Into Derby History", The Courier-Journal & Times (Louisville KY), May 3, 1970, p1 Holy Land with no jockey to ride him, came in last, after throwing Hector Pilar prior to the final turn. Darrell Pace of Hamilton, Ohio, who would become a legend in the sport of archery, went to an archery range for the first time (at the age of 13) and discovered that he was "unusually good at aiming" a bow and arrow. Within three years, he would win the first of four world championships, and would become a gold medalist at the 1976 and 1984 Olympic games. In connection with its centennial celebration in 2011, the World Archery Federation honored him as "Archer of the Century.""Sure Shot: Darrell Pace remembers the day he first tried archery" , The Hamiltonian (Hamilton, Ohio) U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough, at one time one of the most powerful members of the U.S. Senate, was defeated by former Congressman Lloyd Bentsen, Jr. in a statewide primary election to determine the Democratic Party nominee. On the same day, Congressman and future U.S. President George Bush won the Republican Party nomination for the Senate seat by an almost 7 to 1 margin over his challenger, University of Plano founder Robert J. Morris."Yarborough Loses Senate Race in Texas", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 4, 1970, p1
May 3, 1970 (Sunday) Blessed Leonardo Murialdo of Turin, a 19th-century advocate in Italy for labor reform and the creation of educational institutions, was canonized as a Saint in the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Paul VI. Thousands of members of the order founded by Murialdo, the Congregation of St. Joseph, made the pilgrimage to Rome to attend the ceremony."Pope Canonizes Br. Leonardo", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 4, 1970, p2 Born: Bobby Cannavale, American comedian and television actor known for Will & Grace and Boardwalk Empire), winner of two primetime Emmy Awards; in Union City, New Jersey
May 4, 1970 (Monday) At 12:24 in the afternoon, four college students were shot and killed at Ohio's Kent State University, and nine others wounded by Ohio National Guardsmen, during a protest against the incursion into Cambodia. Around noon, the Guardsmen fired tear gas into the crowd of 500 protesters, and some demonstrators threw rocks and threw back tear gas grenades. According to an eyewitness, one student threw a rock as the Guardsmen were turning away to leave the area and "one section of the Guard turned around and fired and then all the Guardsmen turned around and fired." A later investigation determined that about 28 members of the Guard had fired their rifles, with 61 shots in the space of 13 seconds. Eight National Guardsmen would be indicted in 1973 for the shooting, and would be acquitted. On May 1, 2007, a student's audio of the recording would be released that included the moment that the command was given to prepare to fire. After the killings, several eyewitnesses said that the initial gunshots, that might have led the Guardsmen to believe they were under attack, had been an ill-timed warning shot fired by a 21-year-old student who was working as an informant for the campus police and for the FBI. On the same day, seven members of the U.S. Army's 101st Assault Helicopter Battalion were killed in the mid-air collision of a Huey UH-1H and a Cobra AH-1G during a practice Red Alert at Fire Support Base Kathryn in the Thua Thien province of South Vietnam. Six Army members and one U.S. Marine were killed in the Quang Tin province, and two other Marines and seven from the Army died in other provinces, for a total of 24 deaths in the war that day. In Chicago, on the 84th anniversary of the Haymarket bombing that killed seven police officers and four civilians, Mayor Richard J. Daley unveiled the restored Haymarket Square Statue, seven months after it had been destroyed by a bomb placed by the Weather Underground organization. Five months later, on October 6, the Weathermen group would destroy it again with another bomb. Born: Will Arnett, Canadian TV actor and comedian known for 30 Rock and Arrested Development; in Toronto Died: Jeffrey Miller, 20; Allison Krause, 19; Sandra Lee Scheuer, 20; and William Knox Schroeder, 19, American students at Kent State University. Miller and Krause were participating in an anti-war demonstration, while Scheuer and Schroeder were walking to class, when the four were shot and killed by members of the Ohio National Guard.
May 5, 1970 (Tuesday) The Sahaja Yoga religious movement was founded at the village of Nargol in India's Gujarat state, after Nirmala Srivastava reported her discovery of what she described as "the technique to open the Sahasrara chakra, the energy centre located at the crown of the head" and making it "possible for anyone to experience self-realization". The decades that followed, Sahaja Yoga centers have been established worldwide, reportedly in 80 countries."World Realization Day Spiritual Movement Sahaja Yoga Celebrates 46th Anniversary", Sahaja Yoga International press release May 5, 2015