The Seventies...

To help inform my project I will be looking at the Seventies so by gathering as much information about this decade as possible I can help create a really vintage seventies experience for my project.

Brief overview of the situation in the 1970's:
In the Western world, social progressive values that began in the 1960s, such as increasing political awareness and political and economic liberty of women, continued to grow. The hippie culture, which started in the latter half of the 1960s, waned by the early 1970s and faded towards the middle part of the decade, which involved opposition to the Vietnam War, opposition to nuclear weapons, the advocacy of world peace, and hostility to the authority of government and big business. The environmentalist movement began to increase dramatically in this period. Industrialized countries, except Japan, experienced an economic recession due to an oil crisis caused by oil embargoes by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Natural Disasters that occurred during the decade:
The 1970 Bhola cyclone, a 120-mph (193 km/h) tropical cyclone, hit the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during November 1970, killing an estimated 500,000 people (considered the 20th century's worst cyclone disaster). On July 28, 1976 the Tangshan earthquake flattened Tangshan, China, killing 242,769 people, and injuring 164,851. On August 8, 1975 the Banqiao Dam, in China's Henan Province, failed after a freak typhoon; over 200,000 people perished. Bangladesh famine of 1974 — Official records claim 26,000. However, various sources claim about 1,000,000. On January 5, 1970 an earthquake (Richter Scale 7.7 magnitude) at Yunnan, China killed at least 15,621. On May 31, 1970 the 1970 Ancash earthquake caused a landslide that buried the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people were killed. On September 29, 1971 a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, in Orissa State in India, killed 10,000. On February 4, 1976 a mayor earthquake in Guatemala and Honduras killed more than 22,000.

Technology:
The birth of modern computing was in the 1970s, which saw the development of: the world's first general microprocessor the C programming language rudimentary personal computers pocket calculators the first supercomputer Consumer video games. The earliest floppy disks, invented at IBM, which were 8 inches in diameter became commercially available in 1971 A Philips N1500 video cassette recorder, with wooden cabinet. The 1970s were also the start of: fiber optics, which transformed the communications industry. Microwave ovens became commercially available. VCRs became commercially available.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s

Other exciting things that happened in the Seventies:
-1971 - The invention of the floppy disk.
-1971 - Nasa and the Soviets sent the first probe to Mars.
-1971 - Bangladesh was formed, due to Pakistan splitting.
-1971 - Magic Kingdom in Florida opened.
-1972 - Nike running shoes were sold.
-1972 - Eugene Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon.
-1972 - The first embryos (mouse) to be successfully frozen.
-1973 - The second tower of the World Trade Centre opened which completed the construction.
-1975 - Computerised supermarket checkouts appear in shops.
-1976 - Apple computer is launched.
-1976 - First artificial gene is developed.
-1977 - MRI is first used.
-1978 - First testtube baby.