| January 20 | Richard Nixon inaugurated as US President |
| February 3 | In Cairo Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress and takes command the next day |
| March 2 | In Toulouse, France the first Concorde test flight is conducted |
| April 20 | British troops arrive in Northern Ireland |
| May 16 | Venera 5, a Soviet spaceprobe, lands on Venus |
| June 24 | United Kingdom and Rhodesia sever diplomatic ties |
| July 20 | Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11 walk on the Moon |
| July | British Leyland discontinued the Riley name |
| August | Austin Maxi launched – first UK built 5 door hatchback |
| September 5 | My Lai Massacre: Lt. William Calley is charged with six specifications of premeditated murder for the death of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai |
| October 31 | Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. |
| November 25 | John Lennon returns his OBE to protest the British government's support of the US war in Vietnam |
| December 4 | Black Panther members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot to death in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers. |
| Total UK Car Production | 1,717,073 |
| World Population | 3.631 Billion |
| Nuclear disarmament | US, USSR and about 100 other countries sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. |
| Middle East | Colonel Gadaffi takes control of Libya |
| Medicine/Science | The first in vitro fertilization of a human egg was performed in Cambridge. |
| Advance Research Projects Agency (ARPANET) in US links four major universities – the start of the Internet. |
| Wimbledon Champions | Ann Jones beat Billie Jean King Rod Laver beat John Newcombe |
| Films | Midnight Cowboy Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid The Wild Bunch Easy Rider Anne of the Thousand Days |
| Music | Woodstock Festival featured; Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Joan Baez, Crosby Stills Nash & Young et al |
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