1971 (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft)

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The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).

The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.

Events

January

* January 2 – 66 people are killed and over 200 injured during a crush in Glasgow, Scotland.
* January 5 – The first ever One Day International cricket match is played between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
* January 8 – Tupamaros kidnap Geoffrey Jackson, British ambassador to Uruguay, in Montevideo, keeping 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 12 – The landmark United States television sitcom ''All in the Family'', starring Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, debuts on CBS.
* January 14 – Seventy Brazilian political prisoners are released in Santiago, Chile; Giovanni Enrico Bucher is released January 16.
* January 15 – The Aswan High Dam officially opens in Egypt.
* January 18
** Strikes in Poland demand the resignation of Interior Minister Kazimierz Świtała. He resigns January 23 and is replaced by Franciszek Szlachcic.
** Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in wrestling ending a seven and two thirds years reign, the longest in the Championships history.
** A South Korean marine kills 6 people in a mass shooting in Kimpo, South Korea.
* 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 6 Khalij el-Arab countries.
* January 24 – The 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
** In Uganda, Idi Amin deposes Milton Obote in a coup, and becomes president.
** In Los Angeles, Charles Manson and 3 female "Family" members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders.
** Himachal Pradesh becomes the 18th Indian state.
** ''Intelsat IV'' (F2) is launched; it enters commercial service over the Atlantic Ocean March 26.
* January 31 – Apollo program: Apollo 14 (carrying astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell) lifts off on the third successful lunar landing mission.

February

* February 4
** In Britain, Rolls-Royce goes bankrupt and is nationalised.
** The Nasdaq stock exchange is founded in New York City.
* February 5 – Apollo 14 lands on the Moon.
* February 6 – The 4.6 Mb Tuscania earthquake shakes the Italian province of Viterbo with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (''Severe''), causing 24 deaths, 150 injuries and extreme damage.
* February 7
** Switzerland gives women voting rights in state elections, but not in all canton-specific ones.
** Władysław Gomułka is expelled from the Central Council of the Polish Communist Party.
* February 8 – A new stock market index called the Nasdaq Composite debuts in the United States.
* February 9
** The 6.5–6.7 Sylmar earthquake hits the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''), killing 64 and injuring 2,000.
** Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro league player to become voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
** Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third human Moon landing.
* February 10 – A total lunar eclipse is visible from Pacific, Americas, Europe and Africa, and is the 50th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 123.
* February 11 – The US, UK, USSR and others sign the Seabed Treaty, outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor.
* 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 – Decimal Day: The United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency (see also decimalisation).
* February 16 – In Italy, a local parliament elects the city of Catanzaro as the capital of Calabria; residents of Reggio di Calabria riot for 5 days because of the decision.
* February 20 – The U.S. Emergency Broadcast System sends an erroneous warning across the nation's radio and television stations, meant to be a standard weekly test conducted by NORAD in Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado. Some stations cease broadcasting until the message is rescinded, as required by federal rules, while most ignore it.
* February 21
** The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
** Between February 21 and 22, an outbreak of nineteen tornadoes rage across the Mississippi Delta in Mississippi and Louisiana, killing 123 people.
* February 23 – Operation Lam Son 719: South Vietnamese General Do Cao Tri is killed in a helicopter crash en route to taking control of the faltering campaign.
* February 25 – A partial solar eclipse is visible from Europe, Africa and Asia, and is the 18th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 149.
* February 26 – Secretary General U Thant signs the United Nations proclamation of the March equinox (March 21) as Earth Day.
* February 27 – Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start to perform abortions.
* February 28 – Evel Knievel sets a world record and jumps 19 cars on a motorbike in Ontario, California.

March

* March 1
** A bomb explodes in the men's room at the United States Capitol; the Weather Underground claims responsibility.
** Pakistani president Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending National Assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
** Canadian John Robarts ends his term of office as the 17th Premier of Ontario.
* March 2 – Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman launched the non-cooperation movement in East Pakistan.
* March 4 – The southern part of Quebec, and especially Montreal, receives 16½" (42 cm) of snow in what becomes known as the Century's Snowstorm (''la tempête du siècle'').
* March 5
** The Pakistani army occupies East Pakistan.
** In Belfast, a Led Zeppelin show includes the first public performance of "Stairway to Heaven," a song from the band's fourth album.
* March 6 – A fire in a mental hospital in Burghölzli, Switzerland kills 28 people.
* March 7
** ''Die Sendung mit der Maus'' airs its first episode on Das Erste.
** The British postal workers' strike, led by UPW General Secretary Tom Jackson, ends after 47 days.
** Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, political leader of East Pakistan (modern day-Bangladesh), delivers a public speech at the Racecourse Field in Dhaka calling for masses to be prepared to fight for national independence.
* March 8
** The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI breaks into the Media, Pennsylvania offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and removes all of its files.
** "Fight of the Century": Boxer Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali in a 15-round unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden.
* March 10 – William McMahon replaces John Gorton as the Liberal/Country Coalition Prime Minister of Australia after Gorton resigns following a vote of confidence that was tied 33-all.
* March 11 – ''THX 1138'', George Lucas' first full-length film, premieres in theaters.
* March 12 – Hafez al-Assad becomes president of Syria.
* March 12– 13 – The Allman Brothers Band plays their legendary concert at the Fillmore East.
* March 16 – Trygve Bratteli forms a government in Norway.
* March 18 – A landslide in Chungar, Peru crashes into Yanawayin Lake, killing 200.
* March 23 – General Alejandro Lanusse of Argentina takes power in a military coup.
* March 25 –
** The Pakistani army starts Operation Searchlight in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) at midnight after President Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, a military ruler, voids election results that gave the Awami League an overwhelming majority in the parliament; start of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. That ended the non-cooperation movement.
** The North East Mall opens in Hurst, Texas
* March 26
** East Pakistan's independence is declared by Ziaur Rahman on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and transmitted using East Pakistan Rifles radio.
** Nihat Erim (a former CHP member) forms the new government of Turkey (33rd government, composed mostly of technocrats).
* March 27 – East Pakistan's independence is repeatedly declared by army major (later president of Bangladesh) Ziaur Rahman on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from Kalurghat Radio Station, Chittagong.
* March 29
** U.S. Army lieutenant William Calley is found guilty of 22 murders during the My Lai Massacre and is sentenced to life in prison (he is later pardoned).
** A Los Angeles jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and female followers Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten.
* March 30 – Starbucks coffee shop is founded in the U.S. state of Washington.

April

* April 1 – The United Kingdom lifts all restrictions on gold ownership.
* April 5
** In Ceylon, a group calling themselves the People's Liberation Front begins a rebellion against the Bandaranaike government.
** Mount Etna erupts in Sicily.
* April 8 – A right-wing coup attempt is exposed in Laos.
* April 12 – Palestinians retreat from Amman to the north of Jordan.
* April 17
** The People's Republic of Bangladesh forms under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Mujibnagor.
** Libya, Syria and Egypt sign an agreement to form a confederation.
* April 19
** The government of Bangladesh flees to India.
** Sierra Leone becomes a republic.
** The Soviet Union launches ''Salyut 1''.
** Charles Manson is sentenced to death in the United States; in 1972, the sentence for all California death-row inmates will be commuted to life imprisonment.
* April 20
** ''Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education'': The Supreme Court of the United States rules unanimously that busing of students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation.
** Cambodian prime minister Lon Nol resigns but remains effectively in power until the next elections.
** National Public Radio (NPR) airs its first broadcast.
* April 21 – Siaka Stevens is sworn in as the first president of Sierra Leone.
* April 24
** ''Soyuz 10'' fails to dock with ''Salyut 1''.
** An estimated 200,000 people in Washington, D.C., and a further 125,000 in San Francisco march in protest against the Vietnam War.
* April 25
** Todor Zhivkov is reelected as the leader of the Bulgarian Communist Party.
** Franz Jonas is reelected as president of Austria.
* April 26 – The government of Turkey declares a state of siege in 11 provinces, including Ankara, in response to violent demonstrations.
* April 30
** The Milwaukee Bucks sweep the Baltimore Bullets in four games to win their first NBA championship.

May

* May 1
** Amtrak begins intercity rail passenger service in the United States.
** The Ceylonese government promises amnesty for guerillas who surrender before May 5.
* May 2 – In Ceylon, left-wing guerillas launch a series of assaults against public buildings.
* May 3
** Arsenal F.C. wins the English League First Division championship at the home of their bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with Ray Kennedy scoring the winner. (Arsenal will go on to win the league and cup 'double' six days later by defeating Liverpool in the FA Cup final).
** The Harris Poll finds that 60% of Americans are against the Vietnam War.
** East German leader Walter Ulbricht resigns as Socialist Unity Party leader but retains the position of head of state.
** 1971 May Day Protests: 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 5 – The U.S. dollar floods the European currency markets and especially threatens the Deutsche Mark; the central banks of Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland stop the currency trading.
** FedEx, the logistics and delivery service, founded in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States.
* May 6 – The government of Ceylon begins a major offensive against the People's Liberation Front.
* May 9
** Arsenal FC beats Liverpool F.C. 2–1 to win the English FA Cup, thus completing the league and cup 'double'.
** Mariner 8 fails to launch.
* May 12 – An 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 – A coup attempt is exposed and foiled in Egypt.
* May 18
** The U.S. Congress formally votes to end funding for the American Supersonic Transport program.
** The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup against the Chicago Black Hawks. The Canadiens became only the second team in NHL history to win the Cup in Game 7 on the road, and did so after the home team had won each of the previous six games in the series. This also marked Jean Béliveau's last NHL game.
* May 19 – Mars probe program: ''Mars 2'' is launched by the Soviet Union.
* May 22 – An earthquake lasting 20 seconds destroys most of Bingöl, Turkey; more than 1,000 are killed and 10,000 are made homeless.
* May 23 – Aviogenex Flight 130 crashes at Rijeka Airport, Yugoslavia, killing 78 people, mostly British tourists.
* May 26
** Austria and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations.
** Qantas agrees to pay $500,000 to bomb hoaxer/extortionist Mr. Brown (Peter Macari), who is later arrested.
* May 27
** Six armed passengers hijack a Romanian passenger plane and force it to fly to Vienna.
** Christie's auctions a diamond known as Deepdene; it is later found to be artificially colored.
* May 28 – Portugal resigns from UNESCO.
* May 30 – Mariner program: ''Mariner 9'' is launched toward Mars.
* May 31 – The birth of Bangladesh is declared by the government in exile in territory formerly part of Pakistan.

June

* June – Massachusetts passes its Chapter 766 laws enacting special education.
* 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'' (Vladislav Volkov, Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev) is launched.
** A midair collision between Hughes Airwest Flight 706 Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a U.S. Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom jet fighter near Duarte, California claims 50 lives.
* June 10
** The U.S. ends its trade embargo of China.
** Corpus Thursday: A student rally on the streets of Mexico City is roughly dispersed.
** Amtrak had its first fatal accident when 11 people were killed and 163 injured in the derailment of the ''City of New Orleans