1974-77

May 7, 1974 - Impeachment hearings began by the House Judiciary Committee against President Richard M. Nixon dealing with Watergate. On July 24, the United States Supreme Court rules that President Nixon must turn over the sixty-four tapes of White House conversations concerning the Watergate break-in.

-August Nixon resigns instead of facing impeachment. He is replaced by Gerald Ford.

-Stephen Hawking promotes the Black Hole theory, contradicting Einsteins (just thought that was kind of neat.)

-Helsinki Accords are signed by 35 nations, including US and USSR, which guaranteed human rights and fundamental freedoms.

-February 4, 1975 - Patty Hearst is kidnaped in San Francisco. She would be recovered by FBI agents on September 8 and subsequently indicted for bank robbery. Hearst would be convicted of the crime two years later.

-April 29-30, 1975 - Communists finally takeover of South Vietnam, forcing the evacuation from Saigon of civilians from the United States and the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam.

-Gerald Ford is attempted to be assassinated twice, first by Lynette Fromme(Charles Manson follower) then by Sara Jane Moore 17 days later.

-Emergency Policy and Conservation act of 1975- sets important quotas on petroleum.

July 20, 1976 - The Viking 1 space probe successfully lands on Mars. It would be followed by a second unmanned Viking II on the Utopia Plains on September 3.

November 2, 1976 - Jimmy Carter, an unknown Democratic governor from Georgia, beats Gerald Ford in a closely contested election. Carter received a slight majority of the popular vote, as well as an Electoral College victory of 297 to 240.

January 21, 1977 - The majority of Vietnam War draft evaders, ten thousand in number, are pardoned by President Jimmy Carter.

May 25, 1977 - The movie Star Wars opens and becomes the highest grossing film at the time.

August 4, 1977 - The cabinet level Energy Department is created by Jimmy Carter.

July 13, 1977 - The New York City blackout results in massive looting and disorderly conduct during its twenty-five hour duration.

September 21, 1977 - Fifteen nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, sign a nuclear-proliferation pact, slowing the spread of nuclear weapons around the world.