1971 - Definition and Overview

1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar).

Events

January

• January 1 - British divorce Reform Act comes into force
• January 2 - 66 die in stairway crush at Rangers v Celtic football match, Glasgow, Scotland. See Ibrox disaster.
• January 3 - Open University begins in the United Kingdom
• January 2 - A ban on television cigarette advertisements goes into effect in the United States.
• January 3 - BBC Open University commences
• January 7 - Howard Hughes breaks his silence to announce that his supposed biography is a forgery.
• January 8 – Tupamaros kidnap Geoffrey Jackson, British ambassador to Uruguay, in Montevideo; they keep him captive until September
• January 9 – Uruguayan president Jorge Pacheco Areco demands emergency powers for 90 days due to kidnappings and receives them the next day
• January 14 – 70 Brazilian political prisoners released in Santiago. Giovanni Enrico Bucher is released January 16
• January 15 - Aswan Dam officially opened
• January 18 – Strikes in Poland demand resignation of interior minister Kazimierz Switala. He resigns January 23 and is replaced by Franciszek Szlachcic
• January 19 – Representatives of 23 western oil companies begin negotiations with OPEC in Tehran to stabilize oil prices. February 14 they sign a treaty with six Persian Gulf countries
• January 19 - No, No Nanette premieres (46th Street Theatre, New York City)
• January 24 – Guinean government sentences to death 92 Guineans who helped Portuguese troops in the failed landing attempts in November 1970. 72 are sentenced to hard labor for life. 58 of the sentenced are hanged the next day
• January 25 - Charles Manson and three female "family members" are found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Sharon Tate and others
• January 25 - Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda's president
• January 25 - Himachal Pradesh becomes the 18th Indian state
• January 31 - Apollo program: Astronauts aboard Apollo 14 lift off for a mission to the moon

February

• February 4 - In Britain, Rolls Royce goes bankrupt - state takes over
• February 5 - Apollo 14 lands on the Moon.
• February 7 - Tuscany, Italy, wrecked in an earthquake
• February 7 - Men of Switzerland vote for giving voting rights to women in state elections - but not in all canton-specific ones.
• February 7 – Wladyslaw Gomulka is expelled from central council of the Polish communist party
• February 8 - A new stock market index called the Nasdaq debuts
• February 9 - The 6.4 on the Richter Scale Sylmar earthquake hits the San Fernando Valley area of California.
• February 9 - Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to become voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
• February 9 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing
• February 11 - US, UK, USSR, others sign Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons.
• February 11-12 – Palestinian and Jordanian fighters clash in Amman
• February 13 - Vietnam War: Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos.
• February 15 - "Decimalization Day" - United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency. See also decimalization.
• February 15 – Angry Belgian farmers crash the EEC meeting in Brussels with three live cows with them
• February 16 – In Italy, local parliament elects the city of Catanzaro as the capital of Calabria – residents of Reggio di Calabria riot for five days because of the decision
• February 20 – 50 tornadoes rage in Mississippi – 74 dead

March

• March 1 - Bomb explodes in men's room in the White House - Weather Underground claims responsibility.
• March 1 - Pakistani President Yahya Khan indefinitely postponed the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
• March 1 - Canadian John Robarts ends his term of office as 17th premier of Ontario
• March 5 – Pakistani army occupies the East Pakistan
• March 7 – Strike of British postal workers ends after 47 days
• March 10 - Twenty-sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lowers voting age to 18.
• March 12 - Hafez al-Assad becomes president of Syria.
• March 16 – Government of Trygve Bratteli in Norway
• March 18 - A landslide at Chungar, Peru crashes into Lake Yanahuani killing 200
• March 23 – Military coup in Argentina – general Alejandro Lanusse takes power
• March 25 – Pakistani army starts massive killing in East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh, after an open, non-democratic denial by Pakistani president Yahiya Khan, a military ruler, of election results that gave Awami League an overwhelming majority in the parliament.
• March 26 - The Independence Day of Bangladesh.
• March 29 - William Calley is found guilty of 22 murders in My Lai massacre and sentenced to life in prison. He is later pardoned.
• March 29 - A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers.

April

• April 1 - United Kingdom lifts all restrictions on gold ownership
• April 5 – In Ceylon, group calling himself People’s Liberation Front begins a rebellion against Bandaranaike government
• April 5 – Chile and East Germany form diplomatic relations
• April 5 - Mount Etna erupts
• April 7 – Greece releases 261 political prisoners, 50 of which are sent to internal exile
• April 8 – Right-wing coup attempt exposed in Laos
• April 9 - Charles Manson is sentenced to death but the sentence is commuted to life imprisonment.
• April 12 – Palestinians retreat from Amman to north of Jordan
• April 17 – Bangladesh makes official declaration of independence but Pakistani troops continue the fighting
• April 17 - Libya, Syria and Egypt sign an agreement to form a confederation.
• April 19 – Government of Bangladesh flees to India
• April 19 – Sierra Leone becomes a republic
• April 19 – Unemployment in UK is 3.4%
• April 19 - Soviet Union launches Saljut I.
• April 19 - Followers of Charles Manson, the Manson Family, are sentenced to gas chamber.
• April 20 - Supreme Court of the United States rules unanimously that busing of students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation.
• April 20 – Cambodian Prime Minister Lon Nol resigns
• April 21 – Siaka Stevensis elected the first president of Sierra Leone
• April 21 – Francois Duvalier, president of Haiti, dies—his son Jean-Claude Duvalier follows him as president-for-life
• April 24 – Soyuz 10 docks with Salyut 1
• April 24 – 500.000 people in Washington DC and 125.000 in San Francisco march against the Vietnam War
• April 25 – Todor Zhivkov re-elected as a the leader of the Bulgarian communist party
• April 25 – Franz Jonas re-elected as the new chancellor of Austria
• April 26 – Government of Turkey declares the state of siege in 11 provinces, Ankara included, because of violent demonstrations
• April 29 – Bolivia nationalizes American-owned zinc mine of Matilde
• April 29 - The third anniversary of the Broadway musical Hair was celebrated with a concert at a Central Park bandshell.

May

• May 1 - Amtrak begins operation of intercity rail passenger service in the United States
• May 1 – Ceylonese government promises amnesty for those guerillas who surrender before April 5
• May 2 – in Ceylon left-wing guerillas launch a series of assaults against public buildings
• May 3 – Harris public opinion poll claims that 60% of Americans are against the war in Vietnam
• May 3 – East German leader Walter Ulbricht resigns as a party leader but retains the positions of the head of state
• May 3 - Anti-war militants attempt to disrupt government business in Washington, D.C.; police and military units arrest as many as 12,000, most of whom are later released.
• May 3 - All Things Considered, National Public Radio's flagship news program, broadcasts for the first time.
• May 5 – US dollar floods the European currency markets and threatens especially the Deutsche Mark – Central banks of Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland stop the currency trading
• May 6 – Ceylon government begins a major offensive against the People's Liberation Front
• May 9 – Launch of Mariner 8 fails
• May 12 – Earthquake in Turkey destroys most of the city of Burdur
• May 15 – Israeli ambassador to Turkey, Efraim Elrom, is kidnapped. He is found killed in Istanbul May 25
• May 16 – Coup attempt exposed and foiled in Egypt
• May 19 - Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union
• May 26 – Austria and People's Republic of China form diplomatic relations
• May 27 – Six armed passengers hijack Romanian passenger plane and force it to fly to Vienna
• May 28 – Portugal resigns from UNESCO
• May 30 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars
• May 31 - The birth of a new country, Bangladesh, from territory formerly part of Pakistan.

June

• June - The Pentagon Papers are published.
• June 1 - Vietnam War: Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace, claiming to represent the majority of U.S. veterans who served in southeast Asia, speak against war protests
• June 6 - Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 launches.
• June 10 – USA ends trade embargo of China
• June 13 - Vietnam War: The New York Times begins to publish the Pentagon Papers. [1] (http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/48.htm)
• June 14 - Norway begins oil production in North Sea.
• June 17 - Representatives of Japan and the United States sign the Okinawa Reversion Agreement, setting out a plan where the U.S. would return control of Okinawa.[2] (http://www.niraikanai.wwma.net/pages/archive/rev71.html)
• June 20 – Britain announces that Soviet space scientist Anatoli Fedosejev has been granted asylum
• June 21 – Britain begins new negotiations for EEC membership in Luxembourg
• June 25 – Madagascar accuses USA of being connected to the plot to oust the current government – USA recalls its ambassador
• June 28 - Black assassin Jerome A. Johnson shoots Joe Colombo to the head in a middle of a Italian-American rally. Colombo goes into coma.
• June 30 - The crew of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply leaks out through a faulty valve.

July

• July 5 - Right to vote: The voting age in the United States is reduced to 18 from 21 (provision of the 26th Amendment formally certified by President Richard Nixon on this day)
• July 9 - United Kingdom increases its troops in Northern Ireland to 11.000
• July 10-11 – Coup attempt in Morocco - 1400 cadets take over the king's palace for three hours and kill 28 people; 158 rebels die when king's troops storm the palace. 10 high-ranking officers are later executed for involvement
• July 13 – Ólafur Jóhannesson's government in Iceland
• July 13 – Jordanian army troops launch offensive against Palestinian guerillas in Jordan
• July 14 – Libya severs its diplomatic ties to Morocco
• July 14 – Yugoslavian government allows foreign companies to take their profits from the country
• July 16 - Franco makes Prince Juan Carlos his successor.
• July 16 - The four billionth baby was born. (see World Population).
• July 17 – Italy and Austria sign a treaty that ends the schism about South Tyrol
• July 18 – Trucial States formed in the Persian Gulf
• July 19-23 – Military coup in Sudan ousts Jaafar Muhammad al-Nemieri and major Hashem al-Atta takes over. Fighting continues until on July 22 pro-Nimeiri troops win. Al-Atta and 3 officers are executed July 23. Nimeiri launches an anti-communist campaign
• July 26 - Apollo program: Launch of Apollo 15. On July 31 the Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover a day after landing on the surface
• July 28 - Abdel Madgoub, Sudanese communist leader, is hanged
• July 30 – In Japan, Boeing 707 collides with a fighter – 162 dead

August

• August 9 - India signs a twenty year treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union.
• August 9 - British security forces in Northern Ireland detain hundreds of guerilla suspects and put them into Long Kesh - the beginning of an internment without trial policy. 20 die in riots that follow.
• August 12 – 3000 people from Belfast and Londonderry has fled to Ireland because of the violence
• August 12 – Syria severs diplomatic relations to Jordan because of border clashes
• August 14 – British troops stationed on Ireland border to stop arms smuggling
• August 14 - Emirate of Bahrain declares independence
• August 15 – Number of British troops in Northern Ireland rises to 12.500
• August 15 - President Richard Nixon announces that the United States would no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value, effectively ending the Bretton Woods Gold Standard
• August 18 - Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam
• August 18 – British troops in firefight in Londonderry
• August 19-22 – Right-wing coup ignites a rebellion in Bolivia. Miners and students join troops to support president Juan Jose Torres but eventually Hugo Banzer takes over
• August 25 – Border clashes between Tanzania and Uganda
• August 25 – Large flood in Bangladesh and eastern Bengal – thousands flee the area
• August 26 - Civilian government in Greece.
• August 30 - The Alberta Progressive Conservatives under Peter Lougheed defeat the Social Credit government under Harry E. Strom in a general election, ending 36 years of uninterrupted power for Social Credit in Alberta.

September

• September 3 - Qatar regains independence from the United Kingdom
• September 4 - A Boeing 727 carrying Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes into the side of a mountain near Juneau, Alaska killing all 111 people on board
• September 8 - In Washington, DC, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass
• September 9 - 13 - Attica Prison riots - Revolt at the maximum-security prison in Attica, New York. In the end, state police and National Guard storm the facility - 42 dead, 10 of them hostages
• September 24 - Britain expels 90 KGB and GRU officials and 15 are not allowed to return
• September 27 - October 11 - Emperor Hirohito travels abroad.
• September 28 - Cardinal Mindszenty, who has resided in US embassy in Budapest from 1956 is allowed to move out of Hungary.
• September 29 - Cyclone and tsunami in the Bay of Bengal in Orissa State in India kills 10,000.

October

• October 1 - Walt Disney World opens.
• October 25 - The United Nations General Assembly admits the People's Republic of China and expels the Republic of China (on Taiwan).
• October 27 - Democratic Republic of the Congo is renamed Zaire.
• October 28 - British House of Commons votes in favour of joining the EEC by 356-244.
• October 29 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The total number of American troops still in Vietnam drops to a record low of 196,700 (the lowest level since January 1966)
• October 30 - Rev. Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party founded in Northern Ireland
• October 31 - A bomb explodes at the top of the Post Office Tower in London

November

• November 3 - The UNIX Programmer's Manual is published
• November 6 - US nuclear bomb test in Aleuts.
• November 10 - In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge forces attack the city Phnom Penh and its airport, killing 44, wounding at least 30 and damaging nine airplanes.
• November 12 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - US President Richard M. Nixon sets February 1, 1972 as the deadline for the removal of another 45,000 American troops from Vietnam.
• November 13 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 enters Mars orbit.
• November 15 - Intel releases world's first microprocessor, the 4004.
• November 23 - The People's Republic of China is given the Republic of China's seat on the United Nations Security Council (see China and the United Nations)
• November 24 - During a severe thunderstorm over Washington, a man calling himself D.B. Cooper parachutes from the Northwest Orient Airlines plane he hijacked with US$200,000 in ransom money (he was never heard from again)

December

• December 1 - Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray, 10 kilometers northeast of Phnom Penh
• December 2 - Six Sheikdoms in Persian Gulf founds United Arab Emirates.
• December 3 - The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 begins as Pakistan attacks eight India airbases. The next day India launches a massive invasion of East Pakistan.
• December 8 - US President Richard Nixon orders the 7th Fleet to move towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
• December 16 - Victory Day of Bangladesh (Pakistan Army surrenders to the Mitro Bahini, ending Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 simultaneously).
• December 18 - US dollar devalued for the second time in US history.
• December 18 - World's largest hydroelectric plant in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, begins operations.
• December 29 - The United Kingdom gives up its military bases in Malta.

unknown dates

• Don't Make A Wave Committee changes its name to Greenpeace.
• Ray Tomlinson sends the first e-mail.
• Libertarian party established in USA.
• Free State of Christiania is founded.
• Intelsat IV
• Seychelles International Airport in Port Victoria (Mahe) is completed.
• Knapp Commission

Year in topic

• 1971 in film
  • A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick
  • Fiddler on the Roof
  • Dirty Harry starring Clint Eastwood
  • The French Connection
• 1971 in literature
• 1971 in music
  • John Lennon recorded Imagine
• 1971 in rail transport
  • May 1 - Amtrak takes over operation of most intercity passenger train service in the United States.
  • December 6 - The first Auto Train operates between Virginia and Florida
• 1971 in sports
• 1971 in television
  • January 10 - Masterpiece Theatre debuts on PBS
  • All in the Family premieres January 12 on TV
  • October 2 - Soul Train, the African-American equivalent to American Bandstand, premieres

Births

January-April

• January 8 - Jason Giambi, Major League Baseball All-Star
• January 11 - Mary J. Blige, pop singer
• January 17 - Kid Rock, singer
• January 19 - Shawn Wayans, actor, writer, producer
• January 19 - John Wozniak, singer, songwriter of Marcy Playground
• January 25 - Luca Badoer, Formula One driver from Italy
• January 27 - Fann Wong, Chinese actress, singer, model (Shanghai Knights)
• February 1 - Jill Kelly, erotic actress
• February 3 - Sarah Kane, playwright
• February 17 - Denise Richards.
• February 25 - Sean Astin, actor
• February 26 - Erykah Badu, singer
• March 5 - John Frusciante, musician, former member of Red Hot Chili Peppers
• March 10 - Ugonna Wachuku, creative writer, author
• March 11 - Johnny Knoxville, ("Jackass"), television personality
• March 27 - David Coulthard, Formula One racing driver
• March 31 - Ewan McGregor, actor
• March 31 - Pavel Bure, hockey player
• April 1 - Method Man, musician
• April 17 - Selena Quintanilla, famous Mexican-American tejano music singer (died 1995)

May-August

• May 17 - Máxima Zorreguieta, wife of Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
• May 20 - Tony Stewart, auto racing driver
• May 25 - Sonya Smith, actress
• May 26 - Matt Stone, co-creator of South Park
• May 27 - Paul Bettany, actor
• June 2 - Anthony Montgomery, actor (Star Trek: Enterprise)
• June 5 - Mark Wahlberg ("Marky Mark"), actor, singer
• June 8 - Troy Vincent, American football player
• June 8 - Marco of Alexandria, Experimental Expressionist Painter
• June 16 - Tupac Shakur, rapper, poet, actor (d. 1996)
• June 22 - Kurt Warner, two-time NFL MVP
• July 1 - Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, hip hop artist
• July 9 - Marc Andreessen, software developer - co-author of Mosaic and cofounder of Netscape
• July 12 - Kristi Yamaguchi, figure skater
• July 17 - Cory Doctorow, author, activist
• July 22 - Kristine Lilly, American soccer star; all-time leader in international matches played (men or women)
• August 4 - Jeff Gordon, NASCAR racing driver
• August 6 - Merrin Dungey, actress
• August 10 - Roy Keane, Irish international footballer
• August 12 - Pete Sampras, tennis player
• August 17 - Jorge Posada, Major League Baseball All-Star
• August 26 - Thalía, Mexican actress

September-December

• September 1 - Hakan Sükür, Turkish football star
• September 2 - Tommy Maddox, American football quarterback
• September 8 - Brooke Burke, model
• September 13 - Stella McCartney, British fashion designer
• September 18 - Lance Armstrong, cyclist, five-time Tour de France winner
• September 11 - Richard Ashcroft, singer
• September 20 - Henrik Larsson, Swedish football star
• September 25 - John Lynch, American football player
• October 13 - Sacha Baron Cohen, comic
• October 14 - Jorge Costa, football player
• October 25 - Pedro Martínez, baseball pitcher, three-time Cy Young Award winner
• October 29 - Winona Ryder, actress
• November 24 - Keith Primeau, Canadian NHL star
• November 25 - Christina Applegate, actress
• November 25 - Magnus Arvedson, hockey player
• November 30 - Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, baseball player
• December 24 - Ricky Martin, singer
• December 25 - Dido, singer
• December 28 - Frank Sepe, bodybuilder and male model
• December 31 - Brent Barry, NBA basketball player

Deaths

January-April

• January 5 - Douglas Shearer, pioneer motion-picture sound engineer
• January 6 - Sonny Liston (date he was found dead)
• January 9 - Elmer Flick, baseball player (b. 1876)
• January 10 - Gabrielle Chanel, aka Coco Chanel, fashion designer
• January 11 - Jose Arigo,"psychic surgeon"
• January 19 - Harry Shields, jazz musician (b. 1899)
• January 20 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, actor, director, writer, producer
• January 27 - Jacobo Arbenz, president of Guatemala (b. 1913)
• January 28 - Donald Winnicott, British psychoanalyst
• February 11 - Whitney Young Jr, National Urban League director.
• February 26 - Fernandel, French comedian
• March 6 - Thurston Dart, English harpsichordist and conductor (b. 1921)
• March 8 - Harold Lloyd, silent screen comedian
• March 11 - Philo T. Farnsworth, television pioneer
• March 16 - Thomas Dewey, candidate for President of the United States in 1944 and 1948
• April 6 - Igor Stravinsky, composer
• April 19 - Earl Thomson, Canadian athlete
• April 21 - Papa Doc Duvalier, despotic President of Haiti.

May-September

• May 11 - Sean Lemass, former Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland
• May 12 - Heinie Manush, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1901)
• May 15 - Sir Tyrone Guthrie, director, producer, writer
• May 19 - Ogden Nash, poet
• May 28 - Audie Murphy, World War II hero, actor
• June 1 - Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologist (b. 1892)
• June 10 - Michael Rennie, actor (b. 1909)
• June 30 - Viktor Patsayev, Georgi Dobrovolski, and Vladislav Volkov, Soyuz 11 cosmonauts
• July 3 - Jim Morrison, American singer, songwriter and poet.
• July 4 - August Derleth, American author and anthologist.
• July 6 - Louis Armstrong, jazz musician
• July 7 - Claude Gauvreau, Quebec playwright, poet and polemist
• July 7 - Ub Iwerks, American animator
• July 19 - John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever, British businessman
• August 25 - Ted Lewis, jazz musician, entertainer (b. 1890)
• September 11 - Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, Soviet politician and leader. He was buried without official honours.
• September 12 - Lin Biao, China's defense minister. Air crash in suspicious circumstances
• September 19/ 20- William F. Albright, American archeologist and Biblical scholar.

October-December

• October 24 - Carl Ruggles, composer
• November 15 - Edie Sedgwick actor and model.
• November 29 - Edith Bratt, wife and inspiration to John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.
• December 20 - Roy Oliver Disney, older brother and business partner of Walt Disney.

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Dennis Gabor
• Chemistry - Gerhard Herzberg
• Medicine - Earl W. Sutherland, Jr
• Literature - Pablo Neruda
• Peace - Willy Brandt
• Economics - Simon Kuznets