Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Time Capsule Tuesday - Let's visit 1970

 


My niece, Missi, has a birthday next week.  She was born January 13, 1970.  Let's see what was going in the United States when she was born.

January 13, 1970 was a Tuesday.  The star sign for this date is Capricorn.  

In the United States, the most popular baby name is Jennifer.  This name was given to 46,157 baby girls.  For the boys, it is Michael. This name was recorded 85,303 times in the year 1970.  The estimated number of babies born on January 13, 1970 in the world is 332,888.  That's equivalent to 231 babies born every minute!  Imagine all of them crying at the same time!

Missi, like me, is part of Generation X, those born between 1961 and 1979.  This generation grew up right at the start of the technological revolution, are considered comfortable with technology, but not tethered to it as younger generations.  Generation Xers were born soon after the baby boomers and are associated with the hippie era.  They are often perceived as directionless and disaffected.  

The President of the United States was Richard Nixon.  The Vice President was Spiro Agnew.

News Events on January 13, 1970

*     A tower guard shot and killed three African-American prisoners at the California Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, California, more commonly called "Soledad State Prison."  Three days later, after the local District Attorney announced that the deaths of the prisoners were "justifiable homicide," a prison guard at Soledad was beaten and thrown to his death from the 3rd floor of the cell block by inmates.

*    NASA announces further changes in the American manned space program because of a reduced budget, including the layoff of 50,000 NASA employees, and a halt in production of the Saturn V rocket needed to break Earth's orbit to make a trip to the Moon.  

 People Born on January 13:

*    Trace Adkins (1962), country music singer

*    Shonda Rhimes (1970), Film and TV writer, producer and director; creator of Grey's Anatomy 

*    Orlando Bloom (1977), actor

During that week in January in 1970, people in the U.S. were listening to Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head by B.J. Thomas.  M*A*S*H was one of the most viewed movies released that year while The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight by Jimmy Breslin was one of the best selling books.  

If you were to travel back to this day, famous people such Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Charles de Gaulle would all be still alive.  On TV, people are watching popular shows such as Columbo, Adam-12, Here's Lucy, and The Main Chance.  Children and teenagers are currently watching TV shows such as JOT the Dot, The Archie Show, Cattanooga Cats, and Sesame Street.  

Also, kids are playing with toys such as Etch-A-Sketch, Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots, Clackers, and Crissy (doll).  

People are using wallpaper to decorate their homes.  Lava lamps are all the rage.  Push-Button telephones started to replace the older rotary style.  While black-and-white television sets were still the  most-purchased, color TVs were rising in popularity.  

The Vietnam War is still ongoing.  By this stage, the conflict had become deeply unpopular with most Americans.  The number of troops in Vietnam started to be reduced.  

Patton won the Academy Aware for best Picture in 1970.  Other movies released in 1970 include Love Story, Airport, Woodstock, Ryan's Daughter, Chariots of the Gods, and A Man Called Horse.  

Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel won a Grammy for Song of the Year. The Billboard Charts in 1970 were dominated by The Jackson 5, The Beatles, The Carpenters, The Partridge Family, Bread, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and George Harrison.  

Happy Birthday, Missi!  

(While she doesn't remember any of this, the rest of us can enjoy reminiscing about the good ole days.)


Sources:  Best of DateTAKEMEBACK.TOMyBirthday.NinjaBirthday Answers, and Wikipedia, January 1970.  Video courtesty of YouTube.com.  

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