On March 15, 1970, Boston Bruin Bobby Orr becomes the first defenseman in NHL history to score 100 points in a season, after scoring four goals in one game against the Detroit Red Wings. Orr would finish the 1969-70 season with 120 points, a record for a defensive player that cemented his status as the […]
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Opens Hearings
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee opens hearings on the conduct of the war by the Nixon administration. Senator Charles Goodell (R-New York) said that Vietnamization (President Richard Nixon’s program to transfer war responsibility to the South Vietnamese) had been a “great public relations success.” Taking exception with Senator Goodell’s assessment, Senators Harold Hughes (D-Iowa), Thomas […]
Antiwar Protestors Sue Dow Chemical
Antiwar protestors take legal action in an attempt to prove that the Dow Chemical Company is still making napalm. Dow had claimed that it had stopped making napalm. Members of the antiwar movement filed suit against the Dow Chemical Company in a Washington, D.C., court. The plaintiffs were trying to force the company to disclose […]
NHL Goalie Terry Sawchuk Posts 103rd Shutout
On this day in 1970, goaltender Terry Sawchuk earns his 103rd shutout, setting an NHL record for most regular-season shutouts that still stands today. Terrance Gordon Sawchuk was born December 28, 1929, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Nicknamed “Ukey” for his Ukrainian heritage, he received rookie of the year honors in the United States Hockey League (1947-48), […]
John Lennon Writes And Records “Instant Karma” In A Single Day
“I wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch and we’re putting it out for dinner.” That’s the way John Lennon told the story of “Instant Karma,” one of his most memorable songs as a solo artist and the third Lennon single to appear before the official breakup of the Beatles. The only exaggeration in […]
POW Spends 2,000th Day In Captivity
U.S. Navy Lt. Everett Alvarez Jr. spends his 2,000th day in captivity in Southeast Asia. First taken prisoner when his plane was shot down on August 5, 1964, he became the longest-held POW in U.S. history. Alvarez was downed over Hon Gai during the first bombing raids against North Vietnam in retaliation for the disputed […]
Nixon Honors Eugene Ormandy
On this day in 1970, President Richard Nixon travels to Philadelphia to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Eugene Ormandy, the world-renowned conductor and music director of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. In keeping with tradition, the orchestra struck up Hail to the Chief upon Nixon’s entrance. During the presentation, a dapper Nixon, dressed in […]
Curt Flood Files Historic Lawsuit Against Major League Baseball
On January 16, 1970, the seven-time Golden Glove-winning center fielder Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals files suit in a New York federal court against Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, the presidents of the American and National Leagues and all 24 teams in the Major League Baseball (MLB) organization. After the Cardinals traded Flood to the […]