News stories from Thursday January 15, 1970
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The civil war between Nigeria and Biafra is now officially over; Biafra no longer exists as a formal independent entity. Biafran officials flew to Lagos to sign the surrender and pledge their total loyalty to the Nigerian government. [CBS]
- South Vietnamese officials said that the portion of the population under government control increased from 76% to 93% last year. A week ago President Nguyen Van Thieu said the figure was 97%. Ninety-eight Americans were killed in Vietnam last week; 394 South Vietnamese were killed, as were 2,552 North Vietnamese. [CBS]
- Vice President Spiro Agnew visited New Zealand and was greeted by Prime Minister Sir Keith Holyoake. Police dispersed demonstrators outside Agnew's hotel. [CBS]
- Whites and blacks paid tribute to the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. The observances came on what would have been his 41st birthday. Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. King preached, held a ceremony in his honor. Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell sat with Ralph Abernathy and proclaimed today Martin Luther King Day. Mrs. Coretta King and her family attended the service for her late husband, who is now buried next to the church. [CBS]
- Defense Secretary Melvin Laird announced that cuts in military manpower will be deeper than anticipated. [CBS]
- A medical specialist noted that 10 years ago the government banned the use of estrogen for fattening chickens because tests showed that it caused cancer in some animals. The government permits that same hormone to be used in birth control pills. A Senate committee is currently hearing testimony regarding the safety of the pill. Dr. Edmond Kassouf stated that the Journal of the American Medical Association refused to publish reports which were critical of the pill. Some discounted Kassouf as being just a physician, not a research expert. [CBS]
- Ralph Nader complained that in five years his consumer movement has accomplished little because the movement has received little attention from the President. [CBS]
- Martin Sweig pleaded innocent along with Nathan Voloshen to charges of peddling influence from Speaker John McCormack's office in the House of Representatives. [CBS]
- The Gross National Product, which is the major measurement of the country's economic growth, jumped last year to $932 billion, $66 billion higher than the previous year. The GNP minus the effects of inflation showed no change during the last three months. The cost of living rose 4.75% last year. [CBS]
- At the conspiracy trial in Chicago, folk singer Arlo Guthrie started to sing "Alice's Restaurant" on the witness stand, but the judge stopped him. The son of the late folk singer Woodie Guthrie also testified. Abbie Hoffman had asked the young Guthrie for a theme song for the 1968 convention. [CBS]
- Campus protestors took over the president's offices at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Two hundred students began the sit-in as a protest of disciplinary actions taken against some students. [CBS]
- William James Owen, a British member of Parliament, has been charged with espionage. Scotland Yard won't say for which country he is accused of spying. [CBS]
- Christian Belon, the Frenchman who hijacked a TWA jet to Beirut, was released on bail by Lebanese officials. [CBS]
- Mrs. Richard Nixon christened the new 747 jet at Dulles Airport. Like the wives of Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower before her, Mrs. Nixon had the honor of performing the christening, and she took a tour of the plane. [CBS]
- The White House stopped plans for a jetport near the Florida Everglades National Park, calling the stoppage an outstanding victory for conservation. [CBS]
- The wife of Howard Hughes filed for divorce. [CBS]
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Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 785.04 (-2.12, -0.27%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| January 14, 1970 | 787.16 | 91.65 | 10.38 |
| January 13, 1970 | 788.01 | 91.79 | 9.87 |
| January 12, 1970 | 790.52 | 91.70 | 8.90 |
| January 9, 1970 | 798.11 | 92.40 | 9.38 |
| January 8, 1970 | 802.07 | 92.68 | 10.67 |
| January 7, 1970 | 801.81 | 92.63 | 10.01 |
| January 6, 1970 | 803.66 | 92.82 | 11.46 |
| January 5, 1970 | 811.31 | 93.46 | 11.49 |
| January 2, 1970 | 809.20 | 93.00 | 8.06 |
| December 31, 1969 | 800.36 | 92.06 | 19.38 |