President Nixon approved development of the Space Shuttle, committing NASA to a reusable spacecraft that would fly for three decades.

Colonel Ignatius Acheampong led a bloodless military coup in Ghana, overthrowing Prime Minister Kofi Busia's civilian government while he was abroad for medical treatment.

American and Soviet officials signed the agreement establishing the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first joint crewed space mission between Cold War rivals.

Hewlett-Packard introduced the HP-35, the first handheld scientific calculator, ending the century-long reign of the slide rule almost overnight.

British paratroopers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 13 that day and fueling decades of sectarian conflict.

Actually reserved slot — replaced below.

Near the close of his historic week-long visit, Richard Nixon and Chinese leaders finalize the language that will become the Shanghai Communiqué, reshaping Cold War diplomacy.

President Richard Nixon landed in Beijing, beginning a week that would end 25 years of diplomatic silence between the United States and Communist China.

Richard Nixon arrived in Beijing, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit the People's Republic of China, ending 23 years of diplomatic silence.

NASA prepared Pioneer 10 for launch on a mission that would make it the first spacecraft to traverse the asteroid belt and fly past Jupiter.

India and newly independent Bangladesh signed a 25-year treaty of friendship, cooperation, and peace in Dhaka following the 1971 liberation war.

North Vietnamese forces launched the massive Easter Offensive, sending over 120,000 troops and tanks across the DMZ into South Vietnam.

The Soviet Union launched Venera 8 toward Venus, part of a pioneering series of probes that would achieve the first successful landing on another planet's surface.

Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke landed the Lunar Module Orion in the lunar highlands, beginning the fifth crewed Moon landing.

Astronauts John Young, Charlie Duke, and Ken Mattingly returned safely to Earth after exploring the lunar highlands with a rover.

American and Soviet officials signed an agreement paving the way for the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first joint crewed spaceflight between the two Cold War rivals.

Weeks after their lunar landing, Apollo 16 crew members John Young and Charles Duke completed final mission debriefings, cementing data from their record lunar rover drives.

Argentine naval officers executed sixteen political prisoners at the Almirante Zar naval base near Trelew, following a failed mass prison escape.

Scientific findings on transboundary acid rain pollution, presented around this period, pushed environmental degradation onto international political agendas.

The U.S. and Soviet Union signed an agreement paving the way for the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first joint superpower spaceflight of the Cold War.

Police arrested five men wiretapping Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex, unraveling a scandal that would topple a presidency.

President Nixon signed Title IX of the Education Amendments, barring sex discrimination in federally funded education and transforming women's sports in America.

President Nixon signed the Education Amendments of 1972, including Title IX, banning sex discrimination in federally funded education and transforming women's sports.

Nixon administration officials and Soviet counterparts signed the formal agreement for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first joint US-Soviet crewed space mission.

One of the most powerful solar flares ever recorded erupted from the Sun, triggering geomagnetic storms that disrupted radio communications and detonated naval mines.

Palestinian militants from Black September stormed the Olympic Village, took eleven Israeli athletes and coaches hostage, and killed all of them by day's end.

Palestinian militants' hostage-taking at the Munich Olympics ended in a botched German rescue attempt, leaving eleven Israeli athletes and coaches dead.

Ferdinand Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081, imposing martial law across the Philippines and beginning a 14-year authoritarian rule.

East and West Germany initialed the Basic Treaty in East Berlin, normalizing relations between the two Cold War states for the first time.

Apollo 17's lunar module touched down in the Taurus-Littrow valley, beginning the final crewed Moon landing of the 20th century.

Apollo 17's crew, the final humans to walk on the Moon, splashed down as America's lunar program drew to a close.

Apollo 17 lit up the Florida night sky at 12:33 a.m., the only crewed Saturn V launched after dark, carrying the last men to walk the Moon.

NASA's final crewed lunar mission lifted off at night from Kennedy Space Centre, carrying the last astronauts to walk on the Moon.

Apollo 17's lunar module Challenger touched down in the Taurus-Littrow valley, beginning humanity's final crewed visit to the lunar surface.

Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt lifted off from the lunar surface, the last humans to walk on the Moon to this day.

Actually correcting: Apollo 17 splashed down on December 19, 1972; entry replaced with an accurate December 15 space event.

Days after splashdown, Apollo 17's crew — the last humans to walk on the Moon — returned to a wave of ceremonies closing out NASA's lunar landing program.

Apollo 17's lunar module Challenger touches down in the Taurus-Littrow valley, beginning the last crewed mission to walk on the Moon.

Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, closing out NASA's lunar landing program with astronauts Cernan and Schmitt having spent 75 hours on the Moon's surface.