Centuries: Year in Review 20th Century (19th century - 20th century - 21st century)
Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
Years: 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 - 1973 - 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978
Births
Deaths
- February 11 - Hans D Jensen, German physicist.
- July 20 - Bruce Lee, Chinese-American martial artist and film star.
- September 2 - J. R. R. Tolkien, British author.
- September 11 - Salvador Allende, Chilean president
- September 19 - Gram Parsons, musician
- September 23 - Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet.
- October 2 - Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner.
- W. H. Auden, English poet.
- Bruce Lee, Chinese-American actor
Events
- January 1 - Great Britain, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community
- January 22 - United States Supreme Court rules on Roe vs. Wade
- January 27 - Vietnam War ends with the signing of peace pacts
- February 11 - First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place
- March 29 - The last US soldiers leave Vietnam
- April 6 - Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft
- June 1 - Greek military junta abolishes the monarchy and proclaims a republic
- July 10 - The Bahamas gain full independence within the British Commonwealth
- August 15 - The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends, marking the official halt to 12 years of combat activity in Southeast Asia.
- September 11 - Chile's democratically elected government is overthrown in bloody military coup staged by the United States over state expropriation of copper mines. President Salvador Allende is killed. Dictatorship installed. General Augusto Pinochet
- September 15 - Swedens king Gustav VI Adolf dies. Carl XVI Gustav becomes king
- October 6 - Fourth and largest Arab-Israeli conflict begins as Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israel as Jews mark Yom Kippur.
- October 10 - Spiro T. Agnew resigns as vice president of the United States and then, in federal court in Baltimore, pleads no contest to charges of evasion of income taxes on $29,500 he received in 1967 while he was governor of Maryland. He is fined $10,000 and put on three years' probation.
- November 11 - Egypt and Israel sign a U.S.-sponsored cease-fire accord
- December Chile breaks diplomatic contacts with Sweden.
Sport
- January 14 - Super Bowl VII Miami Dolphins (14) def. Washington Redskins (7)
- Physics - Leo Esaki, Ivar Giaever, Brian David Josephson
- Chemistry - Ernst Otto Fischer, Geoffrey Wilkinson
- Medicine - Karl von Frisch, Konrad Lorenz, Nikolaas Tinbergen
- Literature -Patrick White
- Peace - Henry A. Kissinger LeDuc Tho
- Economics - Wassily Leontief
Books