1970 in Michigan


Events from the year 1970 in Michigan.
The Associated Press and United Press International each selected the state's top news stories as follows:
  1. The controversy over public funding to parochial schools, including the Michigan Legislature's enacting of a measure granting state aid and a subsequent petition drive and constitutional amendment prohibiting such aid ;
  2. Contract negotiations between the United Auto Workers and automobile manufacturers and a 67-day strike against General Motors that causes widespread layoffs and budget cuts ;
  3. The death of Walter Reuther and his wife in a plane crash on May 9 at Pellston, Michigan ;
  4. The November 1970 elections in which William Milliken was elected Governor and Philip Hart was re-elected as U.S. Senator ;
  5. The multiple suspensions of Denny McLain and his later trade to the Washington Senators ;
  6. The discovery of mercury in Lake St. Clair fish and the Michigan Legislature's passage of a law allowing private citizens to sue polluters ;
  7. The Goose Lake International Music Festival held from August 7 to 9 with widespread drug use ;
  8. A Supreme Court decision requiring public schools to provide free textbooks ; and
  9. The kidnap and murder of Laurie Murningham and austerity measures adopted by the Michigan Legislature.
The AP and UPI also selected the state's top sports stories as follows:
  1. Denny McLain who was suspended in connection with a gambling controversy and then traded to the Washington Senators on October 9 ;
  2. The Detroit Tigers replacing Mayo Smith with Billy Martin as the team's manager ;
  3. The 1969 Michigan Wolverines football team's 10–3 loss to USC in the 1970 Rose Bowl, head coach Bo Schembechler's heart attack prior to the game, and his recovery from the heart attack ;
  4. The 1970 Detroit Lions' finishing their season with five consecutive victories and their best record since 1962 ;
  5. The 1970 Michigan Wolverines football team's winning its first nine games before losing to Ohio State, 20–9, on November 21 ;
  6. The Detroit Pistons' signing of their No. 1 draft pick Bob Lanier and then starting their 1970–71 season with a 12–1 record and 26–14 at the end of 1970 ;
  7. Ralph Simpson's decision to quit the Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team to play professional basketball for the Denver Rockets of the American Basketball Association ;
  8. The 1970 Detroit Tigers' collapse during the last part of the season, compiling a 9–26 record from August 25 to September 29 ;
  9. The Detroit Titans men's basketball team staging a preseason boycott to protest the coaching policies of Jim Harding ; and
  10. The arrests of 11 men in connection with a Detroit-based sports national betting ring on New Year's Day.

    Office holders

State office holders

Sports

Baseball

Several songs performed by Michigan acts and/or recorded in Michigan ranked on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1970, including the following:
Other hit songs included:
Albums released by Michigan acts and/or recorded in Michigan in 1970 included the following:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Births

Deaths