A security guard notices a piece of tape on the latch of a door at the Watergate Hotel complex in Washington, D.C., and notifies police. Five men are arrested on June 17, 1972, and charged with burglarizing and attempting to wiretap the Democratic National Committee's headquarters in the hotel. White House press secretary Ron Ziegler dismisses it as a "third-rate burglary," and President Nixon easily wins reelection in November. But the president's efforts to keep the five silent — all had been working for Nixon's campaign — lead to a spiral of scandal. Two years later, the House Judiciary Committee issues articles of impeachment, stating, "Richard M. Nixon has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as president." Nixon resigns on August 9, 1974.

Fast and Furious

American-made "muscle cars" reach their apogee in the early years of the decade before a 1973 Arab oil embargo and subsequent high gas prices send cars like Starsky and Hutch's Ford Gran Torino to the scrap heap. Chargers, Mustang GTs, and Barracudas stuff thirsty, 400-plus cubic-inch-displacement V-8 engines beneath their stretched-out hoods. Weekend warriors festoon them with spoilers, hood scoops, flames, and racing stripes, and leave streaks of rubber on suburban streets.

 

Fish Story

The 1975 film Jaws — the second feature from director Steven Spielberg — stars actors Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, and Richard Dreyfuss, but the ominous music of John Williams and the immense mandibles of a mechanical shark steal the show. Technical difficulties limit the fish's screen time, but its presence is palpable and terrifying. Primal fears send droves of would-be summer beachgoers away from the seashore and into theaters as the movie becomes the first in U.S. history to gross more than $100 million at the box office.

 

Stayin' Alive

Late in 1977, Saturday Night Fever exploits the disco music craze and creates its iconic image: a slender, satin-shirted John Travolta attired in skin-tight trousers — right hand up, left hand down, doin' the hustle. In the film, he's a Brooklyn kid who lives for weekends on the dance floor. His story and the bass-thumping soundtrack, dominated by the Chipmunk-esque falsettos of the Bee Gees, raise the craze to new heights. Celebrities queue up in droves to get inside New York's Studio 54. The movie's soundtrack goes on to sell 30 million albums.

Other Memorable Moments

1970 Paul McCartney releases his first solo album and announces that the Beatles have disbanded.

1970 The Environmental Protection Agency begins operation, consolidating federal efforts to safeguard the environment.

1970 Swedish pop group ABBA performs on stage for the first time.

1973 Billie Jean King, 29, defeats 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in an exhibition tennis match dubbed the Battle of the Sexes.

1974 At 3M, a chemist named Art Fry applies Spence Silver's tacky adhesive to paper to use as bookmarks, and Post-it Notes are born.

1975 Live from New York, Saturday Night Live premieres, featuring the Not Ready for Prime Time Players and guest comedian George Carlin.

1976 Tom Wolfe coins the term "the Me Decade" to describe the self-absorbed '70s.

1977 Dr. Raymond Damadian constructs the first full-body magnetic resonance imaging scanner.

1979 Margaret Thatcher is elected the first female prime minister of Great Britain.