1966-1970

1966



1967

1967 Military Coup in Greece The Greek military staged a coup against the civilian government. All moderate and leftist politicians were arrested. When King Constantine refused to support the military, the King was sent into exile.
1967 Six Day War In October and November of 1966, there was a rise in terrorist activity against Israel. These attacks originated in Syria and Jordan. There were also continued Syrian artillery attacks on kibbutzim (collective settlements) in the area below the Golan Heights. In April 1967, Israel decided to respond by attacking, via air, the Syrian emplacements on the Golan Heights. On April 7, there was an air-battle in which Israel shot down six Syrian aircraft. Following the April attack, the Israeli government warned its neighbors that it would be forced to take further action unless terrorism from Syria was terminated. The Soviets then passed false intelligence information to the Egyptians, claiming that Israel was massing troops to strike at Syria. Israel denied these claims, and U.N. ground observers confirmed the Israeli assertions.

On May 18, Egypt requested that U.N. forces stationed on the Egyptian-Israeli border since the 1956 Sinai Campaign be withdrawn from the area. U.N. Secretary General U Thant complied immediately. The Egyptians then blockaded the Straits of Tiran, effectively cutting off Israeli shipping access to the Port of Eilat.

On May 30, mutual defense agreements were signed between Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq, designed to facilitate a combined attack on Israel. Israel and World Jewry prepared for the worst. Many feared a second Holocaust. Israel first attempted to allow international diplomacy to diffuse the crisis. After the United Nations was unable to accomplish anything, and the United States was unable to create a multinational force to reopen shipping in the Straits of Tiran, it became clear that Israel would be forced to take matters into its own hands.

On the morning of June 5, the Israeli Air Force launched a pre-emptive strike against Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian and Iraqi airfields, wiping out each of these air forces. Three hundred and nine Egyptian planes were destroyed. Some 60 Syrian, 29 Jordanian, 17 Iraqi and one Lebanese planes combined for a total of 416 lost Arab aircraft. Israel lost 26 aircraft. On the ground, Israel attacked in three main forces, surrounded Egyptian forces, and reached the Suez Canal. In 48 hours, Israel captured all of the Sinai penninsula.

Israel warned King Hussein of Jordan to stay out of the war, but the king attempted to penetrate West Jerusalem. Jordanian troops opened a heavy-artillery barrage on West Jerusalem, as well as targeting the center of the country. In addition, Jordanian troops seized Government House and the headquarters of the U.N. in Jerusalem.

Israel counter-attacked, surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem. On June 7, Israeli troops entered and secured the Old City, re-unifying Jerusalem for the first time since 1948.

In the final stage of the war, beginning on June 9, Israeli troops stormed the Golan Heights, defeating the Syrian army. In only six days, Israel vanquished its three main Arab adversaries.
1967 Large Scale War Protest Amidst growing oppostion to the war in Vietnam, large-scale anti-war protests were held in New York, San Francisco and other cities. In New York, the protest began in Central Park, where draft cards were burned, and included a march to the United Nations led by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
1967 Johnson meets Kosygin On June 23, President Johnson met with his Soviet counterpart, Aleksi Kosygin, at a summit meeting in Glassboro, New Jersey. The meeting accomplished very little. An attempt was made to move toward an ABM (anti-ballistic missile) treaty, but Kosygin did not seem to have the ability to even discuss the issue.
1967 Heart Care makes Strides Heart care made major strides in 1967. In that year the South African surgeon Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant. The patient, Louis Washkansky, lived for 18 days. Today, transplants are performed routinely. In the same year, American surgeon Rene Favalero conducted the first heart bypass operation.
1967 Che Guevera Killed in Bolivia Ernesto "Che" Guevera was killed by Bolivian troops hunting down Bolivian rebels. Guevera, who was Argentinean by birth, was a close aide to Fidel Castro, and was responsible for exporting the revolution to countries in South America.

1968

1968 Rioting in France French students took to the streets, bringing Paris to a virtual standstill. Fighting broke out between the students and the police. The students had allied themselves with workers who went out on a general strike to protest wages. They seized factories, paralyzing the country. When the minimum wage was raised by 35 percent, the workers were satisfied and the government was able to restore order.
1968 Spring, Summer in Czechoslovakia Alexander Dubcek became First Secretary of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia. Dubcek instituted a new program, what he called "Communism with a Human Approach." Dubcek's reforms included freedom of speech and of the press. The period became known as the "Prague Spring." The "Spring" came to a sudden end when Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia and arrested Dubcek and his government.
1968 Pueblo Captured The USS Pueblo, an American intelligence- gathering vessel, was captured by the North Koreans. The North Korean charged that the vessel was within their territorial waters, a charge denied by the US. The crew was eventually released, but the ship was not.
1968 Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated On April 4, a lone assassin killed Dr. Martin Luther King, America's leading civil rights activist. Dr. King had been on the forefront of the non-violent struggle to obtain civil rights for Blacks. James Earl Ray was later convicted of the assassination.
1968 Robert Kennedy killed Robert Kennedy, brother of the late President John F. Kennedy, was killed on June 5, after winning the Democratic primary for the Presidency in California. Kennedy was killed by a lone gunman, Sirhan Sirhan, in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel.
1968 Violence Mars Democratic Convention Violence outside marred the Democratic Convention, held in Chicago in August. Ten thousand demonstrators had come to Chicago to protest. Seven hundred were injured, and six hundred-fifty were arrested. The events outside the convention hall were covered widely on television.
1968 Nixon Wins Election Richard Nixon entered the Republican Convention as the front runner. He won the nomination on the first ballot. In his acceptance speech, he stated: "When the strongest nation in the world can be tied down for four years in a war in Vietnam with no end in sight, when the richest nation in the world cannot manage its economy, when the nation with the greatest tradition of the rule of law is plagued by unprecedented racial violence, when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad, or to any major city at home, then it's time for new leadership for the United States."

The Democrats went through a grueling primary campaign. Eugene McCarthy, an early opponent of the war in Vietnam, almost upset President Johnson in the New Hampshire primary. This convinced Johnson not to run for re-election. At that point Vice President Humphrey announced his candidacy for the nomination. A primary battle followed, with Robert Kennedy pulling in the lead until his assassination. At this point, Humphrey was able to sew up the nomination. He was nominated on the first ballot at the tumultuous convention in Chicago.

Nixon began the campaign as the front runner, with a clear lead. Toward the end of the campaign, as Humphrey became more critical of Johnson's handling of the war, the lead narrowed. Nevertheless, it did not narrow the gap enough to stop a Nixon victory.

1969

1969 Juan Carlos Succeeds Franco Spanish dictator Francisco Franco announced that Juan Carlos was to become his successor and King of Spain when Franco retired or died. Carlos was the grandson of Alfonso XIII, the last Spanish King. Alfonso had been deposed in 1931.
1969 Non- Proliferation Agreement Signed The United States and the Soviet Union signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which pledged the two nations not to divulge information that would allow additional countries to build nuclear weapons.
1969 Violence in Northern Ireland Rioting beset Belfast for three days. Eight Catholics were killed and two hundred thirty-six people were wounded. The British sent in the army in an effort to keep order in Northern Ireland. Troops are still there, over 25 years later.
1969 First 747 Flight On February 9, the first test flight of a Boeing 747 was flown. The plane was 231 feet long and weighed 710,000 pounds. The initial version of the plane was designed to carry 374 passengers over 5,700 miles. The plane launched the age of the Jumbo Jet.
1969 Clashes on Soviet Chinese Border In March 1969, the ideological rift between the Soviet Union and Communist China deteriorated into fighting along the border. Thirty Soviet soldiers were killed in one clash on a small uninhabited island in the Ussuri River. The roots of the dispute lay in Chinese claims to parts of the eastern Soviet Union relinquished by the Chinese under the pressure of "the Unequal Treaties." These treaties were forced upon China by the Western powers during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
1969 Concorde Airborne On March 2, the first prototype of the Concorde made its maiden flight. The Concorde was the product of a joint venture of the British and French Aerospace industries. It took over 20 years to bring the plane from the drawing boards to commercial flight. The Concorde entered commercial service in 1975. The Concorde is configured to carry 128 passengers, and is flown daily by Air France and British Airways on TransAtlantic flights.
1969 Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Festival was held at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, near Woodstock. Although 10,000 or 20,000 people were expected, over 400,000 attended. Among the many artists who performed were Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Joe Crocker, The Who and the Grateful Dead. The weekend was rainy, the facilities were overcrowded, and attendees shared food, alcohol, and drugs, although no violence was reported. The Woodstock Festival represented the culmination of the counterculture of the 1960's and the high point of the "hippie era."
1969 War Fought Between Honduras and El Salvador After Honduras lost a soccer game against El Salvador, rioting broke out in Honduras against Salvadorian migrant workers. Of the 300,000 Salvadorian workers in Honduras, tens of thousands were expelled, prompting the Salvadorian army to invade Honduras. The OAS eventually worked out a cease-fire.
1969 Apollo 11 Apollo 11, with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin, Jr., lifted off for the moon on July 16. On July 20t, while on the far side of the moon, the lunar module, called "Eagle," separated from the "Columbia." After a careful visual inspection, Eagle fired its engine and began its descent. Despite four-alarm bells and a descent that took the lunar module to a boulder-strewn area, Armstong landed the Eagle on Tranquilty Base. Six and a half hours after landing, Armstrong made his descent to the moon surface and made the famous statement: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." After 21 hours and 36 minutes, Eagle fired its ascent engines and rendezvoused with the Columbia for the return flight. The astronauts returned to earth on July 24, welcomed as heroes.

1970

1970 War in Vietnam Spreads to Cambodia In 1969, large numbers of North Vietnamese troops entered Cambodia. In March 1970, the Cambodian government requested their removal. Premier Lon Nol took control of the government while Prince Sihanouk was in Peking (March 18) and pledged to force the removal of the Vietnamese troops. Initially, the Vietnamese agreed to withdraw, but then announced their support for Sihanouk, who had promised to fight the new government.

On April 30, President Nixon announced that US troops would join with South Vietnamese troops to invade the border area of Cambodia and eliminate Communist sanctuaries. He also pledged that all US troops would be out by the end of June. Meanwhile, Communist forces advanced on Phnom Penh.
1970 Biafra Capitulates, Ending Civil War Civil war in Nigeria lasted for three years. Most countries in Africa supported the central government since all feared a similar breakup in their own countries. The British, Italians and the Soviet Union supplied the central government with arms, while the French supplied limited quantities of arms to the Biafrans. The Biafrans held their own in the war, until the end of 1969, when the superior fire power of the central government overwhelmed them. On January 13th, Biafran forces surrendered.
1970 Four Killed at Kent State American generals had always wanted the authority to attack Vietnamese sanctuaries in Cambodia. President Johnson had resisted their requests. Finally, in March 1970, after a change of government in Cambodia and after the North Vietnamese began attacking Cambodian forces, Nixon approved a massive incursion into Cambodia.

Nixon went on national television on April 30. He announced that the invasion was for a limited period, and was to save American lives, and claimed that American forces would not advance more than 21 miles into Cambodia.

American campuses erupted in protest. At Kent State University, in Ohio, National Guardsmen killed four unarmed protesters.
1970 Salvador Allende becomes President of Chile Salvador Allende Gossens was elected President of Chile in 1970. Allende was the first Marxist ever elected in free elections. He immediately established diplomatic relations with Cuba and China, and nationalized a number of U.S.- owned companies.
1970 Aswan Dam finished The Aswan Dam was completed in Egypt in 1970. The dam is 364 feet high and 121,565 feet long. It dammed the Nile River on Upper Colorado.
1970 India Invades Pakistan In December 1970, elections were held in Pakistan. In Eastern Pakistan, the Awami League, led by Mujibur Rahman, won 160 out of 162 seats in the Parliament. The Awami League demanded complete internal autonomy for East Pakistan. Pakistani leader, Ali Bhutto, refused this demand. The Pakistani government resorted to violence to suppress the Awamis, and hundreds of thousands were slaughtered. The Awami leadership fled to India along with millions of refugees and declared the independent state of Bangladesh.

The Indians gave the declaration full support and helped to equip a guerrilla army. Pakistan reacted by launching a surprise attack on Indian air bases. The attack failed, and India responded with a full-scale attack on East Pakistan, routing the Pakistani army. Pakistan was forced to accept the creation of a separate state of Bangladesh in the former eastern province of Pakistan.