Flashback
Our class was special and the years we spent at school was a unique time in history.
This page is dedicated to popular culture of the time. Go back in time with;
Music, TV, Movies, Sports, Fashion, Technology, Politics, Personalities and more.
1970
The first jumbo-jet, the Boeing 747, made its debut commercial flight from New York to London; the Beatles disbanded; the average cost of a home was $23,400; the average annual income was $9,350; a gallon of gas was $0.36; the average cost of a new car was $3,900; the Isle of Wight Festival took place in England with 600,000 people in attendace which in 1970 was the largest rock festival gathering of all time - artists included Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors, Chicago, Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Joan Baez, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Jethro Tull and more; sadly Jimi Hendrix died later that year and so did Janis Joplin; the first New York marathon was run in New York; Simon and Garfunkel released their final album, and their song Bridge Over Troubled Water won the Grammy for song of the year; the Jackson 5 released "ABC" and "I want you back. "
1971
A ban on the TV advertisement of cigarettes went into effect in the USA in 1971; the world’s first general microprocessor - the Intel 4004 - came out in November 1971; the 26th Amendment became law making it legal for anyone over the age of 18 to vote; the top song was Joy to the World by Three Dog Night; popular movies that year were Fiddler on the Roof, and the Last Picture Show; the price of a stamp was $0.08 and a pound of bananas cost $0.12; the world population was 3,724,000,000; the friendly exchange between an American and Chinese player in the 1971 World Ping-Pong championship prompted Mao Zedong to invite the American table tennis team to China helping to re-open relations for the first time since the Cold War; the first Starbucks opened in Seattle’s Pikes Place Market; there was no known written documentation of the food known as “fajitas” prior to 1971; the cost of a Super Bowl ad in 1971 was $72,000 for 30 seconds - in 2020 that same ad cost $5.6 million.
1972
The first commercially successful video game – Pong – was released by Atari; Richard Nixon made the 1st trip of a US President to Moscow; the Egg McMuffin made its debut; the first scientific hand-held calculator (later called the HP-35) was introduced at a whopping price of $395.00 (a dozen eggs cost $0.52); M*A*S*H debuted - it became the longest-running TV show of all time; the Hamilton Watch Company announced the Pulsar Time Computer, billed as the first digital watch – it cost as much as a new car; the Godfather was released and won 3 academy awards; other popular movies were Poseidon Adventure; Deliverance; Jeremiah Johnson; Duane “The Rock” was born in 1972; George Wallace was shot; HBO launched their first subscription cable service in the USA; the Volkswagen Beetle became the most popular car ever sold when they hit the 15 million sold mark; the artificial heart was invented by Willem J. Koiff; in 1972 optical fiber was invented in the USA.
1973
News Events in History
1. United States ends involvement in the Vietnam War after signing
the Paris Peace Accords
2. OPEC oil is to increase by 200%
3. Secretariat becomes the first horse since 1948 to win the Triple
Crown
4. Government approves Alaska Oil Pipeline bill.
5. Supreme Court of the United States rules on Roe v. Wade making
abortion a constitutional right
6. Sydney Opera House opens.
7. About 200 Oglala Lakota Native Americans and members of the
American Indian Movement begin their occupation of Wounded
Knee in South Dakota
8. Spiro Agnew, the Vice President of the United States under Richard
Nixon, resigns due to charges of tax evasion and receiving bribes.
9. The Sears Tower is completed—108 floors, 1,729-foot-tall
structure—becomes the tallest building in the world.
10. “The Battle of the Sexes” exhibition tennis match occurs in
September of 1973 between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.
11. NASA launches the Mariner 10 Mercury probe space craft.
12. The Watergate Hearings begin in the United States Senate, and
President Richard Nixon tells the nation, “I am not a crook.”
13. Chrysler and other US car makers close a number of plants
affecting 100,000 workers.
14. President Richard Nixon signs into law The Endangered Species
Act of 1973
15. The United States launches, Skylab, the first space station.
16. Concorde cuts flying time across the Atlantic in half, flying at an
average speed of 954 mph.
Cost of Living
1. Yearly inflation rate in USA 6.16%
2. Average cost of a new house $32,500.00
3. Average Income per year $12,900.00
4. Average monthly rent $175.00
5. Cost of a gallon of gas 40 cents
6. Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 850
7. Cost of AMC Javelin car $2,900.00
8. Cost of a dozen eggs 45 cents
9. Cost of Galaxie 500 $3,883.00
10. Cost of pork roast lb. 59 cents
11. Cost of Morton’s TV dinner 36 cents
12. Cost of Walkie Talkie sets $13.88.
13. Cost of component-type 8-track stereo tape player $44.50
14. Cost of medium eggs 25 cents
Popular Films
1. The Exorcist
2. Deliverance
3. Live and Let Die
4. Paper Moon
5. Last Tango in Paris
6. Jesus Christ Superstar
7. American Graffiti
8. Lady Sings the Blues
9. The Sting
Popular Musicians and songs
1. Stevie Wonder
2. ABBA
3. The Eagles
4. John Lennon
5. Paul Simon
6. Pink Floyd “Dark Side of the Moon”
7. Rod Stewart
8. Michael Jackson
9. Elton John with “Crocodile Rock”
10. Rolling Stones with “Angie”
11. The Moody Blues
12. David Bowie
Popular TV Programs
1. The Odd Couple
2. The Partridge Family
3. Columbo
4. Masterpiece Theatre
5. McMillan Wife
6. M*A*S*H
7. Sanford and Son
8. The Bob Newhart Show