have been murdered. July 5 – Cape Verde gains independence after 500 years of Portuguese rule. July 6 – The Comoros declares and is granted its independence from France. July 9 – The National Assembly of Senegal passes a law that will pave way for a multi-party system (albeit highly restricted). July 12 – São Tomé and Príncipe declare independence from Portugal. July 17 – Apollo–Soyuz Test Project: A manned American Apollo spacecraft and the manned Soviet Soyuz spacecraft for the Soyuz 19 mission dock in orbit, marking the first such link-up between spacecraft from the 2 nations. August The first Cuban forces arrive in Angola to join Soviet personnel who are there to assist the MPLA that controls less than a quarter of Angolan territory. In response, the United States, Zaire and Zambia request South Africa to provide training and support for the FNLA and UNITA forces. August 1 – The Helsinki Accords, which officially recognize Europe's national borders and respect for human rights, are signed in Finland. August 8 – The Banqiao Dam, in China's Henan Province, fails after Typhoon Nina; over 200,000 people perish. August 11 – Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese East Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a UDT coup and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin. August 15 Founder President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh is killed during a coup led by Major Syed Faruque Rahman. Some members of Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Armageddon will occur this year based on the group's chronology and some sell their houses and businesses to prepare for the new world paradise which they believe will be created when Jesus establishes God's Kingdom on Earth. August 20 – Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars. August 24 – Officers responsible for the military coup in Greece in 1967 are sentenced to death in Athens. The sentences are later commuted to life imprisonment. August 25 – The Victoria Falls Conference between Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith and the United African National Council is held in a South African Railways coach on the Victoria Falls Bridge, officiated by Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda and South African Prime Minister John Vorster. September September–October – In New Zealand, Māori leader Whina Cooper leads a march of 5,000 people, in support of Maori claims to their land. September 5 In Sacramento, California, Lynette Fromme attempts to assassinate