1971 in the United States

1971 in the United States
Decades:	1950s 1960s – 1970s – 1980s 1990s
Years:	1968 1969 1970 – 1971 – 1972 1973 1974
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Timeline of United States history History of the United States (1964–1980)

Events from the year 1971 in the United States.

Incumbents

• President: Richard Nixon (Republican)
• Vice President: Spiro Agnew (Republican)
• Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger
• Speaker of the House of Representatives: John William McCormack (D-Massachusetts) (until January 3), Carl Albert (D-Oklahoma) (starting January 21)
• Senate Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield (D-Montana)
• Congress: 91st (until January 3), 92nd (starting January 3)

Events

January

January 25: Charles Manson is found guilty of murder

• January 2 – A ban on radio and television cigarette advertisements goes into effect in the United States.^[1]
• January 12 – The landmark television sitcom All In The Family, starring Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, debuts on CBS.
• January 17 – Super Bowl V: The Baltimore Colts defeat the Dallas Cowboys 16–13 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.
• January 25 – In Los Angeles, Charles Manson and three female "Family" members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders.
• 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 9 – Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to become voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• February 9 – The Sylmar earthquake (6.4 on the Richter Scale) hits the San Fernando Valley area of California.
• February 9 – Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned Moon landing.
• February 11 – The US, UK, USSR and others sign the Seabed Treaty, outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor.
• February 20 – Fifty tornadoes rage in Mississippi, killing 74.
• February 20 – The U.S. Emergency Broadcast System sends an erroneous warning; many radio stations just ignore it.

March

• March 1 – A bomb explodes in the men's room at the United States Capitol; the Weather Underground Organization claims responsibility.
• March 8 – Boxer Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden.
• March 29 – U.S. Army Lieutenant William Calley is found guilty of 22 murders in the My Lai massacre and sentenced to life in prison (later pardoned).
• March 29 – A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and 3 female followers.

April

• April 9 – Charles Manson is sentenced to death; in 1972, the sentence for all California Death Row inmates is commuted to life imprisonment.
• April 10 – Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia opens.
• 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.
• April 24 – Five hundred thousand people in Washington, DC and 125,000 in San Francisco march in protest against the Vietnam War.

May

• May 1 – Amtrak begins inter-city rail passenger service in the United States.
• May 3 – The Harris Poll claims that 60% of Americans are against the Vietnam War.
• 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 5 – The US dollar floods the European currency markets and threatens especially the Deutsche Mark; the central banks of Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland stop the currency trading.
• May 9 – Mariner 8 fails to launch.
• May 30 – Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars.

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 – 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.
• June 13 – Vietnam War: The New York Times begins to publish the Pentagon Papers.^[2]
• June 17 – Representatives of Japan and the United States sign the Okinawa Reversion Agreement, whereby the U.S. will return control of Okinawa.^[3]
• June 18 – Southwest Airlines, the most successful low cost carrier in history, begins its first flights between Dallas, Houston, And San Antonio.
• June 25 – Madagascar accuses the U.S. of being connected to the plot to oust the current government; the U.S. recalls its ambassador.
• June 27 – Concert promoter Bill Graham closes the legendary Fillmore East, which first opened on 2nd Avenue (between 5th and 6th Streets) in New York City on March 8, 1968.
• June 28 – Assassin Jerome A. Johnson shoots Joe Colombo in the head in a middle of an Italian-American rally, putting him in a coma.
• June 30 – New York Times Co. v. United States: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Pentagon Papers may be published, rejecting government injunctions as unconstitutional prior restraint.

July 26–August 7: Apollo 15

July

• July 1 – The Postal Reorganization Act goes into effect replacing the Cabinet-level Post Office Department with the United States Postal Service.
• July 3 – Jim Morrison, lead singer and lyricist of The Doors, is found dead in his bathtub in Paris, France.
• July 5 – Right to vote: The 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution, formally certified by President Richard Nixon, lowers the voting age from 21 to 18.
• July 19 – The South Tower of the World Trade Center is topped out at 1,362 feet (415 m), making it the second tallest building in the world.
• July 26 – Apollo 15 (carrying astronauts David Scott, Alfred Worden, and James Irwin) is launched.
• July 31 – Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin become the first to ride in a lunar rover, a day after landing on the Moon.

August

• August 1 – In New York City, 40,000 attend the Concert for Bangladesh.
• August 7 – Apollo 15 returns to Earth.
• August 11 – Construction begins on the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
• August 15 – President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system. He also imposes a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents.
• August 20 – The USS Manatee (AO-58) spills 1,000 US gallons (3,800 L) of fuel oil on President Nixon's Western White House beach in San Clemente, California.

September

• September 4 – A Boeing 727 (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 – September 13 – Attica Prison riots: – A revolt breaks out at the maximum-security prison in Attica, New York. In the end, state police and the United States National Guard storm the facility; 42 are killed, 10 of them hostages.
• September 22 Ernest Medina is clear of all charges connected with the Mylai Massacre
• September 28 – Cardinal József Mindszenty, who has taken refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Budapest since 1956, is allowed to leave Hungary.

October

• October 1 – Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida
• October 18 – In New York City, the Knapp Commission begins public hearings on police corruption.
• October 21 – U.S. President Richard Nixon nominates Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court.
• October 29 – Vietnam War – Vietnamization: The total number of American troops still in Vietnam drops to a record low of 196,700 (the lowest since January 1966).

November

November 15: The Intel 4004, the first commercially-available microprocessor, is released

• November 6 – Operation Grommet: The U.S. tests a thermonuclear warhead at Amchitka Island in Alaska, code-named Project Cannikin. At around 5 megatons, it is the largest ever U.S. underground detonation.
• November 12 – Vietnam War – Vietnamization: U.S. 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 becomes the first spacecraft to enter Mars orbit successfully.
• November 15 – Intel releases the world's first commercially-available microprocessor, the Intel 4004.
• 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, and is never seen again.

December

• December 8 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the 7th Fleet to move towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
• December 11 – The Libertarian Party (United States) is established.
• December 18 – The U.S. dollar is devalued for the second time in history.
• December 25 – In the longest game in NFL history, the Miami Dolphins beat the Kansas City Chiefs.

Undated

• Crude oil production peaks in the continental United States at approximately 4.5 million barrels per day (720,000 m³/d).

Ongoing

• Cold War (1945–1991)
• Space Race (1957–1975)
• Vietnam War, U.S. involvement (1962–1973)
• Détente (c. 1969–1979)

Births

Jeremy Renner

• January 7 – Jeremy Renner, actor
• January 8 – Jason Giambi, baseball player
• January 11 – Mary J. Blige, singer
• January 15 – Regina King, actress
• January 19 – Shawn Wayans, actor, writer, and producer
• January 24 – Kenya Moore, actress and model
• February 1
  • Michael C. Hall, American actor
  • Jill Kelly, American adult film actress
  • Hynden Walch, American voice actress
• February 10 – Lisa Marie Varon, professional wrestler
• February 14 – Tommy Dreamer, professional wrestler
• February 17 – Denise Richards, actress
• February 25 – Sean Astin, actor
• March 4 – Shavar Ross, actor and filmmaker
• March 5 – Scott Mosier, producer
• March 9 – Emmanuel Lewis, actor
• March 11 – Johnny Knoxville, television personality
• March 12 – Tony Eveready (Duane Moore), adult film actor and performance artist
• March 21 – Craig McCracken, animator
• April 3 – Picabo Street, skier
• April 12 – Shannen Doherty, actress
• April 15 – Jason Sehorn, American football player
• April 22 – Eric Mabius, actor
• April 26 – Shondrella Avery, actress
• April 28 – Bridget Moynahan, actress
• May 12 – Doug Basham, American professional wrestler
• May 14 – Sofia Coppolla, American filmmaker
• May 18 – Desiree Horton, Los Angeles helicopter pilot/TV reporter/USFS aerial firefighter
• May 20 – Tony Stewart, race car driver
• May 25 – Sonya Smith, actress
• May 26 – Matt Stone, television producer
• May 27 – Lisa Lopes, rapper (TLC) (died 2002)
• June 4 – Noah Wyle, actor
• June 5 – Mark Wahlberg, actor and singer
• June 8 – Troy Vincent, American football player
• June 10 – Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana
• June 12 – Mark Henry, American professional wrestler, former Olympian
• June 16 – Tupac Shakur, rapper, poet, and actor (died 1996)
• June 18 – Nathan Morris, singer (Boyz II Men)
• June 22
  • Kurt Warner, American football player
  • Mary Lynn Rajskub, American actor and comedian
• July 1 – Missy Elliott, singer
• July 9 – Marc Andreessen, software developer
• July 11 – Brett Hauer, ice hockey player
• July 12
  • Kristi Yamaguchi, American figure skater
  • Loni Love, American stand-up comedienne
• July 22 – Kristine Lilly, soccer player
• July 26 – Reggie Carthon, American football player
• July 29 – Monica Calhoun, actress
• August 4
  • Jeff Gordon, American race car driver
  • Yo-Yo, American rapper
• August 12 – Pete Sampras, tennis player
• August 18 – Jacob Vargas, actor
• August 28 – Janet Evans, swimmer
• August 29 – Carla Gugino, actress
• August 31 – Chris Tucker, actor and comedian

Amy Poehler

Luke Wilson

• September 2 – Tommy Maddox, American football player
• September 16 – Amy Poehler, actress
• September 18
  • Lance Armstrong, cyclist
  • Jada Pinkett Smith, actress
• September 19 – Sanaa Lathan, actress
• September 21 – Luke Wilson, actor
• September 24 – Michael S. Engel, paleontologist & entomologist
• September 25
  • John Lynch, football player
  • Brian Dunkleman, comedian and actor
• September 26 – Joel Breton, video game producer
• September 30
  • Jeff Whitty, Broadway playwright
  • Jenna Elfman, actress
• October 2 – Tiffany, singer
• October 3 – Kevin Richardson, pop singer (Backstreet Boys)
• October 8 – Sean Palmer, actor
• October 9 – Michael Manna, professional wrestler
• October 17 – Chris Kirkpatrick, singer ('N Sync)
• October 24 – Caprice Bourret, model and actress
• October 27 – Jade Arcade, comics artist and writer
• October 29 – Winona Ryder, actress
• November 2 – Eric Wall, writer and political activist
• November 9 – Big Pun (Christopher Rios), American/Latin rapper (died 2000)
• November 11 – David DeLuise, actor
• November 13 – Noah Hathaway, actor
• November 20 – Joel McHale, stand-up comedian, actor, writer, television producer, television personality, and voice artist
• December 1 – John Schlimm, author
• December 5 – Kali Rocha, actress
• December 6 – Ryan White, AIDS activist (died 1990)
• December 16 – Michael McCary, singer (Boyz II Men)
• December 19 – Tyson Beckford, American model
• December 26 – Jared Leto, American actor and musician
• December 27 – Jason Hawes, American paranormal investigator, founder of TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society)
• December 28 – Frank Sepe, American bodybuilder and model

Deaths

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References

External links

• Media related to 1971 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons