The following events occurred in August 1970:
August 1, 1970 (Saturday) The capsizing of the ferryboat MV Christena killed 233 passengers and crew when the overloaded vessel was making the journey between the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis."Overcrowded W. Indies Ferry Capsizes, 125 Die", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 3, 1970, p1 The ferry's rated capacity was no more than 155 people, but it was carrying 324 when it departed Basseterre on Saint Christopher Island (commonly called "Saint Kitts") on its way to Charlestown on the island of Nevis. Only 91 people were rescued, and 123 bodies were recovered, more than half of them unidentifiable. The remaining 110 people were trapped on the Christena when it sank. British Honduras, now called Belize changed its capital from Belize City to Belmopan because of the devastating destruction of Belize City by Hurricane Hattie in 1961. Born: Elon Lindenstrauss, Israeli mathematician, in Jerusalem David James, England National Team football soccer goalkeeper, in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire Died: Otto Heinrich Warburg, 86, German physician and 1931 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the enzyme that triggered the metabolism of cancerous cells and tumors Frances Farmer, 56, American film and television actress, from esophageal cancer
August 2, 1970 (Sunday) Rubber bullets, designed by the UK's Ministry of Defence as a non-lethal method of riot control, were used for the first time."Nausea Gas, Rubber Bullets Used to Quell Belfast Riots", Wilmington (DE) Evening Journal, August 3, 1970, p19Margaret Keiley-Listermann, Sinn Féin Women: Footnoted Foot Soldiers and Women of No Importance (Praeger, 2010) p123 The "L2A2", made of hard rubber, was first employed by the British Army against protesters in Northern Ireland, particularly children. Because they were "highly inaccurate", the bullets were fired into crowds, often by "skip firing" to bounce the projectiles off of the ground and into groups. Although the intent was to cause pain without killing or maiming an individual, the bullets caused numerous serious injuries and several deaths;Neil Davison, "Non-Lethal" Weapons (Springer, 2009) p. 20 over 55,000 would be fired during the Northern Ireland conflict until being discontinued at the end of 1974. For the first time, a "jumbo jet" was hijacked. Pan American Flight 299, which had made the first commercial Boeing 747 flight, was on its way from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico."A Day of 'Firsts'", Pan Am Historical Foundation 2019 Shortly after midnight, one of the 360 passengers commandeered the aircraft brandished a gun and threatened to detonate explosives in his carry on luggage and demanded to be flown to Havana. Cuba's Premier Fidel Castro traveled to the Jose Marti Airport to discuss plans for the 747 pilot about how to safely take off from the airport's runways, which were not long enough to accommodate a large jet. The 747 took off for Miami after one hour in Cuba and safely returned."First Jumbo Jetliner Is Hijacked to Havana", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 3, 1970, p1 The aircraft, N736PA and designated as "Clipper Victor", would be destroyed in 1977 in the Tenerife airport disaster, after being struck by another Boeing 747 in the deadliest aviation disaster in history. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield confirmed a report in The Washington Post that in 1963, President John F. Kennedy, had decided that he would order all U.S. troops to be withdrawn from South Vietnam after the 1964 presidential election. President Kennedy was assassinated before the election, and the new president, Lyndon Johnson ordered an increase of troops to a peak of half a million during his term of office"JFK Had 'Decided' On '64 Viet Pullout", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 3, 1970, p1 Born: Kevin Smith, American comedian and filmmaker, known for being "Silent Bob" in the Jay and Silent Bob film series; in Red Bank, New Jersey Elijah Alexander, American NFL linebacker and fundraiser for multiple myeloma research; in Fort Worth, Texas (d. 2010)
August 3, 1970 (Monday)
The United States Navy submarine USS James Madison made the first successful underwater test of the multi-warhead Poseidon C3 nuclear missile."Sub Launches 1st Poseidon", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 4, 1970, p2 Madison launched the unarmed missile skyward from a depth of and the rocket traveled to its intended target in the South Atlantic Ocean. Another U.S. Navy ship, the destroyer escort USS Calcaterra, positioned itself between the launch site and a Soviet surveillance trawler, the Leptev, to prevent close observation or the retrieval of debris from the launch. The Poseidon C3 missile was cleared by the Navy on March 31, 1971, for deployment aboard all ten of the James Madison-class submarines and the nine Lafayette-class submarines."Trident II D5", Lockheed Martin website Miriam Hargrave, a 62 year old English citizen who had been listed in the Guinness Book of Records for several years because of her consecutive failures on driver testing, was awarded a driver's license when she passed the test on her 40th try, after 39 failed tests."England's 'Worst' Driver Rolling", Pittsburgh Press, August 5, 1970, p18"A driver, at last", Ottawa Citizen, August 4, 1970, p1 By then, she was sufficiently well known that her success made news worldwide. However, as Guinness noted in its next edition, she had spent so much money on driving lessons that she couldn't afford to buy a car."Unplanned World Records", PortablePress.com Born: Masahiro Sakurai, Japanese video game designer who created the Kirby series of games; in Musashimurayama, Tokyo
August 4, 1970 (Tuesday) The government of British Honduras (now Belize) officially moved from Belize City into the new city of Belmopan, as Premier George Price convened the first cabinet meeting in the new capital."British Honduras Moves Its Capital", UPI report in Santa Rosa (CA) Press-Democrat, August 3, 1970, p9 Delegates of Israel's conservative Gahal Party voted, 117 to 112, to withdraw the party's six cabinet members and to quit the government coalition. The walkout came after a nine-hour debate between moderate and conservative factions in the wake of a cabinet vote to accept terms of a U.S. peace proposal"Israeli Hawks Quit Coalition", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 4, 1970, p1
August 5, 1970 (Wednesday) Eleven residents of a low-rent apartment building, most of them retirees on a fixed income, were killed in a flash fire in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota"Minneapolis Blaze Kills 11 in Apartment", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 6, 1970, p2 The quick spread of the blaze in the 3-story "217 East Hennepin" building, was traced to some of the residents having kept the fire doors open because of summer heat."5-alarm fire on Hennepin kills 11 men", Minneapolis Star, August 5, 1970, p1 Born: Konstantin Yeryomenko, Russian pivot man and prolific goal scorer in the sport of futsal; in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (d. 2010)
August 6, 1970 (Thursday) All 26 occupants and 4 crew of Pakistan International Airlines Flight 625 were killed when the Fokker F27 Friendship plane crashed six minutes after taking off from Rawalpindi during a severe thunderstorm with a scheduled destination of Lahore. The aircraft wreckage was found near the town of Rawat about southeast of Rawalpindi."History of PIA— Accidents" A PIA spokesman said that the turboprop airplane had probably been hit by lightning and that it exploded and then disintegrated in midair."30 killed in plane crash", The Guardian (London), August 7, 1970, p1 A bill to create the independent United States Postal Service (USPS), and to abolish the existing United States Post Office Department, passed Congress after being approved by the U.S. House of Representatives, 339 to 29. The bill, proposed by U.S. President Nixon, had passed the U.S. Senate earlier and marked "the most sweeping reform in the postal system's 181-year history" in the United States."Congress Okays Mail Reform Bill", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 7, 1970, p1 The U.S. Senate had voted, 57 to 7, to approve the bill on August 3"HR 17070", GovTrack.US President Nixon signed the bill on August 12, authorizing the transfer of functions to the USPS effective July 1, 1971. Born: M. Night Shyamalan (Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan), Indian-born horror film producer and director; in Mahé, Puducherry union territory
August 7, 1970 (Friday) In San Rafael, California, Harold Haley, a Superior Court Judge for Marin County, was taken hostage during the criminal trial of a member of the Black Panthers, James D. McClain. Jonathan P. Jackson, the teenage nephew of George Jackson, had smuggled a pistol and a carbine rifle into the courtroom, then tossed the weapon to McClain, who then pressed the rifle against Judge Haley's neck in order to guarantee that the weapon would discharge if anyone attempted to stop the escape. Taking assistant prosecutor Gary W. Thomas and three women jurors as additional hostages, McClain, Jackson, and convict witnesses William Christmas and Ruchell Magee climbed into a rented van and Jackson began to drive to the parking lot exit, where they were met by a blockade by 100 law enforcement officers. McClain died in the shootout, which also killed Jackson and Christmas."Judge Slain in Break Try", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 8, 1970, p1 Prosecutor Thomas said that nobody had been injured until McClain encountered the blockade and immediately turned around and shot Judge Haley with the sawed off shotgun. Thomas said also that he then grabbed a pistol from the van driver and shot McClain, Christmas and Jackson, at which point police opened fire, wounding Thomas and delivering fatal wounds to the three convicts."Blockade Held Spur To Killing Of Judge— Wounded California Prosecutor Says Kidnappers Opened Up Immediately Upon Seeing Police", Baltimore Sun, August 9, 1970, p1 Claude L. Fly, an American agricultural adviser to the government of Uruguay, was kidnapped in Montevideo by the Tupamaro terrorists who had taken Dan Mitrione hostage on July 30."Another American Is Kidnapped", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 8, 1970, p1 Fly would be held captive by the Tupamaros until 1971.
August 8, 1970 (Saturday) A ceasefire between Egypt and Israel, brokered by U.S. Secretary of State William P. Rogers, took effect at one minute after midnight local time (Friday 22:01 UTC), with no fighting in an area wide on each side of the Suez Canal."Mideast Shooting Halts As Truce Takes Effect", UPI report in Tampa Times, August 9, 1970, p1"It's Cease Fire! As Middle East Gets Ready to Talk Peace", Sydney Morning Herald, August 9, 1970, p1
Lolita, a female orca whale, was caught in Puget Sound off the U.S. state of Washington and sold to the Miami Seaquarium in Florida to serve as the mate for Hugo, a male orca."Lolita officially named", Miami News, November 30, 1970, p5-A Estimated at four years old in 1970, Lolita spent 53 years in captivity before dying in 2023.
August 9, 1970 (Sunday) All but one of the 100 people on LANSA Flight 502 were killed when the Peruvian L-188A Electra plane crashed shortly after taking off from Cuzco on a return trip to Lima. Two farmers on the ground were killed when the Electra came down on top of them.AviationSafetyNetwork Most of the dead were American exchange students who were returning to Lima from a tour of Macchu Pichu."Peru Air Crash Kills 97, Including 54 Americans", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 10, 1970, p1