Think things are bad now? Why, when we were a kid … Seriously, when the New Era was born in 1971, things looked ugly (and we’re not just talking about the fashions). The Vietnam War, riots and protests everywhere—the whole world seemed in turmoil.
And since then? More wars, more turmoil, natural disasters. It would be easy to focus on those negative things. But that’s not the viewpoint the Lord wants us to have.
Wonderful things have been happening, too. Look at the advances in technology and medicine that bless so many lives. Most importantly, look at how the Lord’s work has been advancing. Check out the following timeline, and you’ll see the Lord’s hand at work, guiding his church, blessing the Saints. If the past is that bright, think how glorious the future must be—more temples, more missionaries, more members. The Lord’s work will spread throughout the world.
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1971
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1972
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1973
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1974
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1975
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1976
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December
Church membership is at 3,090,953
December
15,205 full-time missionaries serving
December
The Church has 5,135 wards and branches
December
The Church has 562 stakes
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January 18
Ogden (Utah) Temple is dedicated
February 9
Provo (Utah) Temple is dedicated
July 2
President Joseph Fielding Smith dies; Harold B. Lee becomes the Church’s 11th President
July 30
The Argentina East Mission is created, the Church’s 100th mission
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September
The New Era publishes its first Mormonad
December
The Church has 5,707 wards and branches
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November 19–22
Washington (D.C.) Temple is dedicated
December 26
President Harold B. Lee dies; Spencer W. Kimball becomes the Church’s 12th President
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July 24
The 28-story Church Office Building is dedicated
October 6–11
BYU observes its 100th anniversary
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October 1
Members of the First Council of the Seventy and the Assistants to the Twelve are released and called to serve in the new First Quorum of the Seventy
December
Church membership is at 3,742,749
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July 1
The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, allowing citizens 18 years of age and older to vote, is ratified
A one-pound loaf of bread costs 16 cents
A frozen pizza costs 33 cents
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September 5
Eleven Israeli athletes are killed by terrorists at the Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany
Pong, the first computer game, hits the market
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October 10
U.S. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigns from office
November 11
Egypt and Israel sign U.S.-sponsored cease-fire accord
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February 5
19-year-old newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst is kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army
August 9
U.S. President Richard M. Nixon resigns from office
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April 20
South Vietnam surrenders to North Vietnam, officially ending the Vietnam War
Both beta and VHS video cassette recorders are sold to the public
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July 3
United States Supreme Court rules that the death penalty is a constitution-
ally acceptable form of punishment
September 3
The American spaceship Viking 2 lands on Mars
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1977
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1978
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1979
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1980
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1981
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January 1
The Church discontinues Friday sessions of General Conference
October 1
The Church publishes the Topical Guide to the Scriptures
December
25,264 full-time missionaries serving
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June 9
All worthy males may receive the Melchizedek Priesthood
September 16
The first women’s meeting for all female Church members 12 and older is held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle
October 30
The São Paulo (Brazil) Temple is dedicated
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February 18
The Church’s 1,000th stake is created, the Nauvoo Illinois Stake
December
29,454 full-time missionaries serving
December
The Church has 7,235 wards and branches
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March 2
A consolidated meeting schedule for members in the United States and Canada is announced for Sunday worship
April 6
The Church celebrates its 150th anniversary
October 27
Tokyo (Japan) Temple is dedicated
November 17–21
Seattle (Washington) Temple is dedicated
December
29,953 full-time missionaries serving
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July 23
President Gordon B. Hinckley is called as the third counselor in the First Presidency
September 26
The first copies of the Church’s new triple combination are made available to Church members
November 16
Jordan River (Utah) Temple is dedicated
December
Church membership is at 4,920,449
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March 27
Two jumbo jets collide on Canary Islands, killing 581 people. It is the worst airline disaster in history
November 19
A cyclone in India kills more than 10,000
The first Apple II computer, with color graphic capabilities, is sold
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October 16
Pope John Paul II assumes the Catholic Church’s papal throne
The first dot-matrix printer for personal computers is introduced
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February 1
Ayatollah Khomeni assumes power in Iran after the Shah leaves the country
November 4
52 people are taken hostage in Teheran, Iran
The Rubik’s Cube is introduced
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May 18
The Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington erupts, killing ten
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March 30
U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot and wounded in Washington, D.C.
October 6
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is assassinated in Cairo
Fax machines are sold commercially
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1982
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1983
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1984
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1985
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1986
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April 2
The Church announces elders serving full-time missions will only labor for 18 months instead of the previous two years
December
26,606 full-time missionaries serving
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June 1–4
Atlanta Georgia Temple is dedicated
August 5
Apia Samoa Temple is dedicated
August 9
Nuku‘alofa Tonga Temple is dedicated
September 15–17
Santiago Chile Temple is dedicated
October 27
Papeete Tahiti Temple is dedicated
December 2
Mexico City Temple is dedicated
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May 25
Boise Idaho Temple is dedicated
September 20
Sydney Australia Temple is dedicated
September 25
Manila Philippines Temple is dedicated
October 19
Dallas Texas Temple is dedicated
November 17
Taipei Taiwan Temple is dedicated
November 26
Full-time missions are once again two-year callings
December 14
Guatemala City Temple is dedicated
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June 29
Freiberg DDR Temple is dedicated
July 2
Stockholm Sweden Temple is dedicated
August
Temples dedicated in Chicago, Illinois, and Johannesburg, South Africa
November 5
President Spencer W. Kimball dies; Ezra Taft Benson becomes the Church’s 13th President
December 14
Seoul Korea Temple is dedicated
December
29,265 full-time missionaries serving
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January 10
Lima Peru Temple is dedicated
January 17
Buenos Aires Argentina Temple is dedicated
October 11
The first Churchwide Young Women activity attracts an estimated 300,000 young women
October 24
Denver Colorado Temple is dedicated
December
Church membership is at 6,166,983
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June 15
British forces defeat Argentina in the Falklands War
October
The Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida, opens
The Jarvik 7 artificial heart is successfully implanted in a live patient
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October 25
The United States invades the Caribbean island of Grenada, deposing the island’s Marxist government
A loaf of bread costs 69 cents
A frozen pizza costs 99 cents
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April 17
The Soviet Union withdraws from the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California
October 12
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated
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September 19–20
An earthquake registering 8.1 on the Richter Scale strikes central and southwestern regions of Mexico, killing an estimated 25,000
December 27
Attacks by Palestinian terrorists at airports in Rome, Italy, and Vienna, Austria, kill 20 people
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January 28
The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after liftoff in Florida. All seven crew members aboard are killed
April 28
Nuclear accident at Chernobyl power station in the Soviet Union
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1987
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1988
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1989
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1990
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1991
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August 28
Frankfurt Germany Temple is dedicated
December
34,750 full-time missionaries serving
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October
The second set of Mormonad posters is printed
December
The Church has 11,196 wards and branches
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April 1–2
The Church creates the Second Quorum of the Seventy
August 19
Portland Oregon Temple is dedicated
December 16
Las Vegas Nevada Temple is dedicated
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July
Missions in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland are created
August 25
Toronto Ontario Temple is dedicated
December
44 temples open and in use by Church members
December
43,651 full-time missionaries serving
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May 1
This dispensation’s 500,000th full-time missionary is called
June 24
The Russian Republic grants formal recognition to the Church
September
At the conclusion of the school year, 290,304 students are enrolled in seminary
December
Church membership is at 8,089,540
December
The Church has 1,837 stakes
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February 12
United States charges three people with illegal insider trading on Wall Street
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December 21
Terrorist bomb explodes on Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland. The blast kills 259 aboard the plane, and 11 on the ground
The first commercial bungee-
jumping platform is built near San Francisco, California
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March 24
The ship Exxon Valdez strikes a reef in Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of oil. It is the largest oil spill in U.S. history
November 11
The Berlin Wall falls, signaling the end of Communism and allowing travel between East and West Germany
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June 21
An earthquake registering 7.7 on the Richter Scale kills more than 50,000 and injures 100,000 in northwestern Iran
August 7
International forces of Operation Desert Shield leave for Saudi Arabia after Iraq invades Kuwait
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January 15
Forces of Operation Desert Storm are mobilized during the war in the Persian Gulf
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1992
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1993
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1994
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1995
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December 6
The Church reaches a milestone of 20,000 wards or branches when the Harvest Park Ward in the Granger (Utah) South Stake is created
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September 25
The Church discontinues Sunday School opening exercises and hymn practice
April 25–30
San Diego California Temple is dedicated
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May 30
President Ezra Taft Benson dies; Howard W. Hunter becomes the Church’s 14th President
September
The third set of Mormonad posters is printed
October 9–11
Orlando Florida Temple is dedicated
December 11
The Mexico City Mexico Contreras Stake is created. It is the Church’s 2,000th stake
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January 8–14
Bountiful Utah Temple is dedicated
March 3
President Howard W. Hunter dies; Gordon B. Hinckley becomes the Church’s 15th President
December
Church membership is at 9,400,000*
December
48,500 full-time missionaries serving*
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April
Euro Disney opens in France
April 29
Riots kill 52 people in and around Los Angeles, California
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December 31
Per capita personal income in the United States is $20,817
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May 31
Thousands are killed in Rwandan tribal warfare
November
The Chunnel, a railroad under the English Channel that connects England and France, begins operations
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June
The space shuttle Atlantis hooks up with the Russian space station Mir in orbit
August
The 50th anniversary of the end of World War II is commemorated
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“How glorious is the past of this great cause. It is filled with heroism, courage, boldness, and faith. How wondrous is the present as we move forward to bless the lives of people wherever they will hearken to the message of the servants of the Lord. How magnificent will be the future as the Almighty rolls on His glorious work touching for good all who will accept and live His gospel” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Nov. 1995, p. 72).