Seattle
- Kingdome construction continued through litigation and protest.
- The OPEC oil embargo at year's end hit Boeing-dependent Seattle especially hard.
- The Washington Environmental Council and the new state Department of Ecology pushed land-use and clean-water reforms that would shape the region for decades.
- The Burke-Gilman Trail's first segments opened, converting an old rail right-of-way into one of the country's earliest rails-to-trails projects.
The United States
- The Senate Watergate hearings ran live on television all summer.
- The Paris Peace Accords formally ended direct US combat in Vietnam.
- Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide (January 22). (Reference, Oyez)
- American Indian Movement activists occupied Wounded Knee for 71 days.
- The World Trade Center towers opened in New York — briefly the tallest buildings on Earth.
- The Exorcist was released and broke horror box-office records.
The World
- The Yom Kippur War (October): Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel; the OPEC oil embargo followed. (Reference, Office of the Historian)
- A Pinochet-led coup on September 11 overthrew Allende in Chile and installed a 17-year military dictatorship. (Reference, Britannica)
- The UK, Ireland, and Denmark joined the European Economic Community.
- Pablo Picasso died at age 91.
- Pink Floyd released The Dark Side of the Moon, which would chart for more than 700 weeks.
