Actually Times Roman has been around for a long time.
Times New Roman hasn't.
There's another thread here about its orgins. I believe it was the 80's.
http://www.truetype.demon.co.uk/articles/times.htm
Both have been around since 1931 since TNR is just a different name for Times's Roman (aka Times Roman)
But in the late 1980s, Monotype, the creator and owner of the rights to the font, slightly revised TNR to its present form. The current Times New Roman is not the same one that existed before the revision.
Times New Roman hasn't. There's another thread here about its orgins. I believe it was the 80's.
Like Dan Rather, you are confusing the vital difference of "what was around" and "what was available on a typewriter in 1970".
"Times New Roman" was a typeface designed in 1931 for the newspaper "The Times" of London. The prior typeface used by "The Times" is now called "Times Old Roman".
After it's introduction on October 3, 1932, Times New Roman was used by "The Times" as it's typeface for 40 years.
So, Dan Rather is correct that Times New Roman existed in 1970.
Howver,.......and this is an extremely vital however.......IT WAS NOT AVAILABLE AS A TYPEWRITER FONT!
Times New Roman first became available for typing (which is not the same as typesetting with a Linotype machine for printing press use) in 1980 when it was include as one of the many available fonts in word processing computers.
In my prior post, I mentioned "Linotype machines". A Linotype machine is a machine used by newspapers and publishing houses to mecahanically set the printing typeface that, in earlier times, had to be set by hand. A "Linotype" is not a "typewriter".