In 1965, Joseph-Desire Mobutu (later known as Mobutu Sese Seko) seized power in the Congo (later known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, and for a time, as Zaire) through a military coup.
In 1969, Apollo 12 splashed down safely in the Pacific.
In 1971, a hijacker calling himself "Dan Cooper" (but who became popularly known as "D.B. Cooper") parachuted from a Northwest Orient Airlines 727 over the Pacific Northwest after receiving $200,000 dollars in ransom; his fate remains unknown.
In 1974, the bone fragments of a 3.2 million-year-old hominid were discovered by scientists in Ethiopia; the skeletal remains were nicknamed "Lucy."