istoryworld
Events relating to democracy
Students for a Democratic Society publish in Michigan The Port Huron Statement, a seminal text of the New Left
A massive yes vote in a referendum is immediately followed by French recognition of Algerian independence
The veteran left-wing politician Victor Haya is elected president of Peru but is thwarted by a coup led by General Ricardo Godoy
Ruhollah Khomeini, a leading ayatollah in Qom, denounces the Shah of Iran and declares a fatwa against his regime
Ayatollah Khomeini is arrested in Qom, and imprisoned for eight months in Tehran, after instigating riots against the Shah
Robert Mugabe and Ndabaningi Sithole split from ZAPU to found ZANU, the Zimbabwe African National Union
Plaid Cymru sends its first MP to Westminster when Gwynfor Evans wins a Carmarthen by-election
Congress passes a Freedom of Information Act, giving the public an important new right in the USA
Robert Kennedy enters the race for the Democratic presidential nomination
The Parti Québécois is formed in Canada by René Lévesque
The first civil rights march in northern Ireland, in Derry, is halted by the police with batons and water cannon
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is formed in northern Ireland as a coalition of Catholic nationalists and civil-rights campaigners
The outgoing Pakistan government, led by Yahya Khan, rejects the election result and sends troops to East Pakistan
Ian Paisley and others in northern Ireland form the Democratic Unionist Party, as the intransigent wing of Ulster Unionism
Jean-Marie Le Pen founds a neo-Fascist party in France, the National Front
Five burglars are arrested breaking into the Democratic National Committee HQ at the Watergate office building in Washington
The Washington Post publishes the first report that the Watergate break-in was linked to Richard Nixon's re-election campaign
The Watergate scandal claims its first senior victims with the resignation of two of Nixon's closest advisers, Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman
Likud is formed in Israel as an alliance of right-wing parties
The US Supreme Court orders President Nixon to hand over White House tapes of conversations relevant to Watergate
The House Judiciary Committee takes the first steps in the process of impeaching President Nixon, citing obstruction of justice
Faced by the prospect of impeachment over Watergate, President Nixon resigns
President Ford pardons ex-president Nixon for his part in the Watergate affair, thus removing the possibility of criminal charges
The SNP achieves a surge in Scottish nationalism, winning eleven seats at Westminster on 30% of the Scottish vote
Portugal adopts a democratic constitution after 43 years of dicatorship
