The following events occurred in July 1970:
July 1, 1970 (Wednesday)
The western section of Pakistan (at the time, a nation where west and east existed on either side of northern India), formerly the province of West Pakistan, was reorganized into four sub-national provinces,"Pakistanis Rejoice As New Regimes Replace Centralized Government", AP report in Arizona Daily Star (Tucson AZ), July 2, 1970, p. C-6 each with its own provincial government, a system that has been in effect for the nation of Pakistan ever since. President Yahya Khan had announced the division on November 28 and then ordered the transition on April 1"Yahya Orders Division Of West Pakistan", Baltimore Sun, April 2, 1970, p. 1 The four provinces created were Balochistan (southwest), the North-West Frontier Province (NFWP, now called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) (northwest), Punjab (northeast) and Sindh (southeast). East Pakistan, which continued to be a single province, would secede less than a year later and become the nation of Bangladesh. Police in Rio de Janeiro rescued all 40 people on a hijacked jet airplane, after the four hijackers had threatened to kill passengers "one by one" if their demands to be flown to Cuba were not met. The jet had taken off from Rio on a multistop flight to Buenos Aires in Argentina, then landed back at Rio when the crew convinced the hijackers that the jet would have to refuel before its flight to Cuba. Upon arrival in Rio, local police flattened the jet's tires with machine gun fire."Brazil Police Storm jet To Save 40 Aboard", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 2, 1970, p. 1 In a special Congressional election in California to fill the unexpired terms of two U.S. Representatives who had died in office, the voting public approved two Republican candidates who became, at the time, the only acknowledged members of the ultra-conservative John Birch Society to serve in the House."2 John Birchers Win Seats in Congress", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 2, 1970, p. 2 John G. Schmitz (who would run for president in 1972 for the American Independent Party) took the 35th District seat of James B. Utt, who had died of a heart attack on March 1. John H. Rousselot of the 24th District succeeded Glenard P. Lipscomb, who died of cancer on February 1.
July 2, 1970 (Thursday) Conservative Party rule began in the House of Commons after Queen Elizabeth II addressed the Commons and the House of Lords for the traditional State Opening of Parliament."New Conservative Parliament Opens", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 3, 1970, p. 2 The Queen spoke on the plans of Edward Heath's government for reducing taxes, reforming relations between management and labor, curbing immigration and reducing the government's intervention in business affairs. Prime Minister Heath then addressed the Commons and said that he planned to lift the ban on the sale of weapons to South Africa. Born: Derrick Adkins, American track athlete and 1996 Olympic gold medalist in 400m hurdles; in Brooklyn Spice 1 (stage name for Robert Green, Jr.), American rap artist; in Hayward, California
July 3, 1970 (Friday) All 112 people aboard Dan-Air Flight 1903 were killed when the airliner crashed into the side of a mountain at Arbucias on its approach to Barcelona. The De Havilland Comet had been chartered to take 105 passengers from northern England to Spain for a 13-day holiday vacation, and had departed Manchester earlier."112 Aboard Jet Feared in Crash", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 4, 1970, p. 1 The Falls curfew started in Northern Ireland as resistance to a weapons search operation by the British Army in a nationalist area of Belfast. The Provisional IRA and the official IRA also got involved. Born: Scott Aukerman, American actor, comedian and podcast host, in Savannah, Georgia Audra McDonald, American stage actress and six-time Tony Award winner; in West Berlin, West Germany Teemu Selänne, ice hockey wingman known as "The Finnish Flash", who played 21 years in the NHL; in Helsinki
July 4, 1970 (Saturday) The French Army detonated a 914 kiloton hydrogen bomb over its atmospheric test site at the Mururoa Atoll at 5:30 in the morning local time (19:30 on July 3 UTC)"France's H-bomb off today", Sydney Morning Herald, July 4, 1970, p. 3 as part of a program to make a thermonuclear weapon small enough to be deliverable by a missile. Four previous tests had been made since June 15 of atomic bombs designed to trigger the thermonuclear reaction. The bomb was kept above the ocean by a balloon. France's Defense Minister, Michel Debre, watched the test from the deck of the French warship De Grasse from a distance of "France Explodes High Power N-Device", El Paso (TX) Times, July 4, 1970, p. 1 A crowd of 400,000 people gathered in front of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. for "Honor America Day", hosted by comedian Bob Hope and featuring other entertainers "to celebrate the nation's 194th birthday"."400,000 in Capital Join in 'Honor America Day'", Chicago Tribune, July 5, 1970, p. 1 The organizers— Hope, evangelist Billy Graham and Reader's Digest editor Hobart Lewis— promised in advance that they would keep the speeches and performances "scrupulously nonpolitical""Honor America Day Rites Held", Baltimore Sun, July 5, 1970, p. 1 attracted a smaller group of anti-war protesters, but remained relatively calm. A 19-year-old man was killed by two lions at the Portland Zoo in Oregon, after he and two companions broke into the zoo after closing time. Roger Adams sat at the edge of the deep lion pit, then lowered himself over the edge and fell the rest of the way when one of the lions knocked him down. Later in the early morning hours before the zoo reopened, an unknown person shot and killed the two lions, "Caesar" and "Sis" in an apparent retaliation for Adams's death"Sniper Slays Two Zoo Killer Lions", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 7, 1970, p. 4
July 5, 1970 (Sunday)
The radio music countdown show American Top 40 made its debut, with Casey Kasem as host, playing the most recent list of Top 40 most popular songs as ranked by Billboard magazine. Initially, only 7 radio stations carried the syndicated program"'American Top 40' Bows At Forum; On Air July 1", Billboard magazine, June 20, 1970, p. 1 The first song introduced (the #40 seller for the week) was Marvin Gaye's recording of "The End of Our Road", and the first number one hit was "Mama Told Me Not to Come" by Three Dog Night"The First American Top 40 (original air date July 3, 1970)" by Don Hawk, YouTube.com All 109 people aboard Air Canada Flight 621 were killed as the Super DC-8 airliner crashed while on its approach to Toronto International Airport"108 Killed In Canada Air Crash", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 6, 1970, p. 1 The jet had departed from Montreal on a multi-stop flight with a final scheduled destination of Los Angeles. Luis Echeverría Álvarez was elected President of Mexico by an overwhelming margin,"Echeverria Claims Victory in Mexico— Presidential Margin 8 to 1", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 6, 1970, p. 1 and his party, the PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional) won all 60 of the seats in the Senate of Mexico and 178 of the 213 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The PRI had ruled continuously since 1929. Echeverría had 86% of the vote against his opponent, Efraín González Morfín of the conservative PAN (Partido Acción Nacional) party. None of the five political parties in parliamentary elections in Cyprus received a majority"Cyprus Reds' Votes Vital", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 7, 1970, p. 2 although the Eniaion (Union) party won 15 of the 35 available seats. Under the Cypriot constitution, the unicameral parliament had 50 seats, with 35 for the Greek Cypriot legislators and 15 reserved for the island's Turkish Cypriot minority (which boycotted the legislative sessions). In all, 141 candidates ran for the 35 Greek Cypriot seats, and 110 candidates ran for the 15 Turkish Cypriot seats."Cypriots Choose M.P.s Tomorrow", by Victor Walker, Sydney Morning Herald, July 5, 1970, p. 3 Born: Mac Dre (stage name for Andre Hicks), American rapper; in Oakland, California (murdered 2004)
July 6, 1970 (Monday) On the eve of a threatened nationwide labor union walkout in Italy, Prime Minister Mariano Rumor announced his resignation."Rumor Resigns In Italy", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 7, 1970, p. 1 The three Italian labor federations all announced that they would suspend the planned walkout based on Rumor's decision to step down. Five days later, President Giuseppe Saragat appointed Giulio Andreotti to become prime minister and to form a new government"Andreotti Chosen to Form Italian Cabinet", Los Angeles Times, July 12, 1970, p. 4 Andreotti would fail to form a coalition and after a little more than two weeks, Saragat would ask Emilio Colombo to attempt to form a government. Born: Martin Smith, English musician; Inspectah Deck, American rapper, producer and actor. Died: Marjorie Rambeau, 80, American film actress
July 7, 1970 (Tuesday) U.S. President Richard Nixon invoked the Railway Labor Act to send striking rail employees back to work after the United Transportation Union (UTU) had started a walkout earlier in the day. Earlier in the day, rail workers had walked out on strike against the Baltimore & Ohio, the Louisville & Nashville, and the Southern Pacific railroads, and the railroad companies threatened a nationwide lockout of UTU members. Under the law invoked by President Nixon, a 30-day "cooling off" period took effect and an emergency board would hold hearings, recommend a settlement and send a report to the U.S. president. Under the law, no work stoppage would be allowed for 30 days after the report was delivered."Railroad Strike Ended by Nixon", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 8, 1970, p. 1 Born: Wayne McCullough, Northern Ireland professional boxer and WBC world bantamweight champion, 1995 to 1997; in Belfast Atli Örvarsson, Icelandic film score composer; in Akureyri Died: U.S. Army Major General George W. Casey Sr., 48, commander of the 1st Air Cavalry Division, was killed along with six other servicemen in South Vietnam when their Huey helicopter crashed into a mountain"U.S. General Feared Dead In Viet Crash", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 10, 1970, p. 1 Morris Markin, 76, Russian-born American taxicab manufacturer who founded the Checker Motors Corporation and was described as "the nation's smallest full-scale automaker... who built cars, mostly taxicabs, for durability rather than style"."Morris Markin, 77, Automaker", UPI report in Macon (GA) News, July 9, 1970, p.3C
July 8, 1970 (Wednesday)