Britain adopts decimal currency

Indo-Pakistan war. East Pakistan becomes the separate state of Bangladesh.

First (and last) British launched satellite, Prospero, launched from Woomera, Australia.

Greenpeace founded

The 26th Amendment lowers the United States voting age from 21 to 18.

Walt Disney World opened October 1.

Legislation demands that all US cars must be able to run on unleaded fuel.

South Vietnamese forces begin an offensive in Cambodia with American support, but are repulsed after six weeks; the United States reduces its troops in Vietnam to about 200,000.

Nixion pledges to end US involvement in Vietnam.

A longshoreman's strike continues on both coasts with no end in sight, and so far President Nixon has refused to intervene.

Charles Manson sentenced to death.

New compact Ford Pinto.

Chinese defense minister Lin Pao attempts a failed coup against Mao Zedong and is killed in a plane crash. China is officially seated in the United States and launches its first space satellite.

Masterpiece Theater, All in the Family, and The Electric Company premiere on television.

Nixon abolishes seven percent excise tax on cars and imposes ten percent surcharge on imported cars.

Soviet dissident Anderi Solzhenitsyn receives the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The Supreme Court upholds a measure to bus children in order to enforce integration in schools; a bussing plan imposed in Austin, Texas, draws the criticism of Alabama Governor George Wallace, who had previously urged southern senators to defy integration.

The movie The Last Picture Show opens, featuring Cybill Shepherd.

Ford offers the awesome power Boss 351 Mustang

Soft contact lenses (invented in 1962) receive FDA approval.

Muhammad Ali cleared of draft dodging.

Cigarette sales top $540 billion despite a partial ban on cigarette advertising. A report from British experts likens the mortality rates from cigarette smoking to that of virulent cholera or typhoid epidemics.

Concerned about inflation, President Richard Nixon announces a "New Economic Policy'' that includes a 90-day wage freeze, the imposition of a 10% import surcharge, and a freeze on the conversion of dollars to gold. Despite a record one-day jump of almost 33 points in the Dow, the uncooperative AFL-CIO has "absolutely no faith" in the measure.

The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5 to 4 in the National League

The Pentagon Papers, a highly classified document detailing U.S. involvement in Vietnam, is submitted to the New York Times and The Washington Post by Defense Department official Daniel Ellsberg.

South Vietnam prepares for an October 3 presidential election, in which Nguyen Van Thieu is the unopposed candidate.

Astronauts drive on the Moon in lunar buggy.

Intel invents the 4004 Microprocessor. By 1974 Intel had created the 8080 CPU.