1971 - What happened in 1971 ?

January 1971

Friday 01:

Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.

Saturday 02:

The Ibrox disaster occured.

Sunday 10:

Masterpiece Theatre debuts on PBS.

Tuesday 12:

Harrisburg Six: The Reverend Philip Berrigan and five others are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, DC.

Sunday 31:

The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begin in Detroit, Michigan.

February 1971

Tuesday 09:

Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing.

Thursday 11:

US, UK, USSR, others sign Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.

Monday 15:

Decimalisation of British coinage completed on Decimal Day.

Friday 26:

Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.

Saturday 27:

Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start to perform abortus provocatus

March 1971

Wednesday 03:

Beginning of Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and India's official entry to the Bangladesh Liberation War in support of Mukti Bahini

Monday 08:

Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali in the first of three epic bouts. Frazier defends the world Heavyweight title in a star-studded Madison Square Garden.

Thursday 18:

A landslide at Chungar, Peru crashes into Lake Yanahuani killing 200.

Thursday 25:

Bangladesh Liberation War: Beginning of Operation Searchlight of Pakistan Army against East Pakistani civilians.

Monday 29:

A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers.

April 1971

Friday 02:

The final broadcast of Dark Shadows aired on ABC-TV.

Saturday 03:

In Dublin, Ireland, Séverine wins the sixteenth Eurovision Song Contest for Monaco singing "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" (A bench, a tree, a street).

Thursday 08:

a 6 pound meteorite struck the home of Robert and Wanda Donahue in Wethersfield, Connecticut

Monday 19:

Launch of Salyut 1, first human-made space station.

Thursday 22:

John Kerry, dressed in combat fatigues, testifies on his views of the Vietnam War before the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee

May 1971

Saturday 01:

Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is formed to take over U.S. passenger rail service.

Monday 03:

All Things Considered, National Public Radio's flagship news program, broadcasts for the first time.

Wednesday 19:

Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.

Sunday 30:

Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars.

June 1971

Tuesday 01:

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.

Sunday 06:

The Ed Sullivan Show goes off the air.

Sunday 13:

Vietnam War: The New York Times begins to publish the Pentagon Papers. http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/48.htm

Thursday 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.

Wednesday 30:

The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, lowering the voting age to 18, is ratified as Ohio became the 38th state to approve it.

July 1971

Saturday 03:

Singer Jim Morrison of The Doors is found dead of a heart attack in his bathtub.

Sunday 11:

Copper mines in Chile nationalised.

Monday 26:

Apollo program: Launch of Apollo 15.

Friday 30:

An All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 and a Japanese Air Force F-86 collide over Morioka, Japan killing 162

Saturday 31:

Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.

August 1971

Sunday 01:

George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh in New York City features, among others, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and Leon Russell.

Tuesday 10:

Harmon Killebrew becomes the 10th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Saturday 14:

Bahrain declares its independence from United Kingdom

Sunday 15:

President Richard Nixon ends convertibility of U.S. dollar into gold

Wednesday 18:

Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.

September 1971

Tuesday 07:

The last new episode of The Beverly Hillbillies is aired (the first episode debuted on September 26, 1962).

Wednesday 08:

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.

Monday 13:

Frank Robinson becomes the 11th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.

Wednesday 15:

Baseball: In a game against the Houston Astros, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 636th home run, tying Mickey Mantle for third spot on the career home runs list.

Tuesday 28:

UK Misuse of Drugs Act: medicinal cannabis is banned.

October 1971

Friday 01:

Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida, United States.

Thursday 14:

1971 - The U.S. conducts an underground nuclear weapon test at the Nevada Test Site.

Wednesday 20:

The Nepal stock exchange collapses.

Monday 25:

United Nations seats the People's Republic of China and expels the Republic of China (see China and the United Nations)

Friday 29:

The total number of American troops still in Vietnam drops to a record low of 196,700 (the lowest level since January 1966).

November 1971

Wednesday 03:

The UNIX Programmer's Manual is published.

Tuesday 09:

John List, an accountant from Westfield, New Jersey murders his mother, wife and three children. He then hides under a new identity for 18 years.

Wednesday 10:

In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge forces attack the city Phnom Penh and its airport, killing 44, wounding at least 30 and damaging nine airplanes.

Thursday 18:

Hard rock band Led Zeppelin release an untitled album, often dubbed "Led Zeppelin IV," featuring "Rock & Roll," "Stairway to Heaven" and other classic songs.

Wednesday 24:

During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a man calling himself Dan Cooper (commonly remembered as 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 1971

Wednesday 01:

Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray.

Thursday 02:

The United Arab Emirates is formed.

Friday 03:

Pakistan launches airstrikes on Indian airfields. Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 begins as India retaliates with a massive invasion of East Pakistan.

Saturday 11:

The United States Libertarian Party is formed.

Thursday 16:

The Pakistan Army surrenders, ending the Liberation War of Bangladesh and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 simultaneously.