1971

1971 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar	1971; MCMLXXI
Ab urbe condita	2724
Armenian calendar	1420; ԹՎ ՌՆԻ
Assyrian calendar	6721
Baháʼí calendar	127–128
Balinese saka calendar	1892–1893
Bengali calendar	1378
Berber calendar	2921
British Regnal year	19 Eliz. 2 – 20 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2515
Burmese calendar	1333
Byzantine calendar	7479–7480
Chinese calendar	庚戌年 (Metal Dog); 4668 or 4461; — to —; 辛亥年 (Metal Pig); 4669 or 4462
Coptic calendar	1687–1688
Discordian calendar	3137
Ethiopian calendar	1963–1964
Hebrew calendar	5731–5732
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2027–2028
- Shaka Samvat	1892–1893
- Kali Yuga	5071–5072
Holocene calendar	11971
Igbo calendar	971–972
Iranian calendar	1349–1350
Islamic calendar	1390–1391
Japanese calendar	Shōwa 46; (昭和４６年)
Javanese calendar	1902–1903
Juche calendar	60
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4304
Minguo calendar	ROC 60; 民國60年
Nanakshahi calendar	503
Thai solar calendar	2514
Tibetan calendar	阳金狗年; (male Iron-Dog); 2097 or 1716 or 944; — to —; 阴金猪年; (female Iron-Pig); 2098 or 1717 or 945
Unix time	31536000 – 63071999

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century; 20th century ; 21st century;
Decades:	1950s; 1960s; 1970s ; 1980s; 1990s;
Years:	1968; 1969; 1970; 1971 ; 1972; 1973; 1974;

1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1971st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 971st year of the 2nd millennium, the 71st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1970s decade.

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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.^[1]

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 M_w  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).^[2]
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.^[3]
February 21
- The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
- Between February 21 and 22, an outbreak of nineteen tornadoes rages 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.^[4]
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.^[5]
- 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.^[6]

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.^[7]
- Mount Etna erupts in Sicily.^[8]
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.^[9]
- Libya, Syria and Egypt sign an agreement to form a confederation.^[10]
April 19
- The government of Bangladesh flees to India.
- Sierra Leone becomes a republic.^[11]
- The Soviet Union launches Salyut 1.^[12]
- 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.^[13]
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.^[14]
- National Public Radio (NPR) airs its first broadcast.^[15]
April 21 – Siaka Stevens is sworn in as the first president of Sierra Leone.^[16]
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.^[17]
April 25
- Todor Zhivkov is reelected as the leader of the Bulgarian Communist Party.^[18]^[19]
- Franz Jonas is reelected as president of Austria.^[20]
April 26 – The government of Turkey declares a state of siege in 11 provinces, including Ankara, in response to violent demonstrations.^[21]^[22]
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.^[23]
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 train near Tonti, Illinois.^[24]^[25]
June 11 – Neville Bonner becomes the first Indigenous Australian to sit in the Australian Parliament.
June 13
- Vietnam War: The New York Times begins to publish the Pentagon Papers.^[26]
- Racing drivers Gijs van Lennep of the Netherlands and Helmut Marko of Austria win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Martini Racing Porsche 917K.
June 14 – Norway begins oil production in the North Sea.
June 17
- Representatives of Japan and the United States sign the Okinawa Reversion Agreement, whereby the U.S. will return control of Okinawa.^[27]
- President Richard Nixon declares the U.S. War on Drugs.
June 18 – Southwest Airlines, a low-cost carrier, begins its first flights between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.
June 20 – Britain announces that Soviet space scientist Anatoly Fedoseyev has been granted asylum.^[28]
June 21 – Britain begins new negotiations for EEC membership in Luxembourg.
June 25 – Madagascar accuses the U.S. of conspiring to oust the government; the U.S. recalls its ambassador.
June 27 – Concert promoter Bill Graham closes the legendary Fillmore East, which first opened on 2nd Avenue in New York City on March 8, 1968.
June 28 – Assassin Jerome A. Johnson shoots Joe Colombo, boss of his eponymous crime family, in the head during 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.
- After a successful mission aboard Salyut 1, the world's first human-occupied space station, the crew of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft die after their air supply leaks out through a faulty valve.

July

July – Nordic Council secretariat inaugurated.
July 3 – Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, dies of a heart failure at the age of 27 in the bathtub of his apartment on the 3rd floor of the Rue Beautreillis 17 in Paris, France.
July 4
- Michael S. Hart posts the first e-book, a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, on the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign's mainframe computer, the origin of Project Gutenberg.^[29]
- The first plane lands at Seychelles International Airport in Victoria, Seychelles (Mahe).^[30]
July 5 – Right to vote: The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, formally certified by President Richard Nixon, lowers the voting age from 21 to 18.
July 6 – Hastings Banda is proclaimed President for Life of Malawi.
July 9 – The United Kingdom increases the number of its troops in Northern Ireland to 11,000.
July 10–11 – Coup attempt in Morocco: 1,400 cadets take over the king's palace for three hours and kill 28 people; 158 rebels die when the king's troops storm the palace (ten high-ranking officers are later executed for involvement).
July 10 – Gloria Steinem makes her Address to the Women of America.
July 11 – Copper mines in Chile are nationalized.
July 13
- Ólafur Jóhannesson forms a government in Iceland.
- Jordanian army troops launch an offensive against Palestinian guerillas in Jordan.
- The Yugoslavian government begins allowing foreign companies to take their profits from the country.
- Reggie Jackson's long home run, which hits a transformer on the roof of Tiger Stadium, helps the American League defeat the National League 6–4 in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Detroit.
July 14 – Libya severs its diplomatic ties with Morocco.
July 15 – American President Richard Nixon announces his 1972 visit to China.
July 17 – Italy and Austria sign a treaty that ends the dispute (Südtirolfrage) regarding South Tyrol.
July 18 – The Trucial States are formed in the Persian Gulf.
July 19 – The South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City tops out at 1,362 feet (415 m), making it the second-tallest building in the world.
July 19–23 – Major Hashem al-Atta ousts Jaafar Muhammad al-Nimeiri in a military coup in Sudan. Fighting continues until July 22, when pro-Nimeiri troops regain power. Al-Atta and three officers are executed.
July 22
- A BOAC flight from London to Khartoum is ordered to land at Benghazi, Libya, where two leaders of the unsuccessful Sudanese coup, travelling as passengers, are forced to leave the plane and are subsequently executed.^[31]
- A partial solar eclipse is visible from Asia and North America, and is the 70th and final solar eclipse of Solar Saros 116.
July 24 – Georgina Rizk of Lebanon is crowned Miss Universe 1971.
July 25–30 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli records two Debussy works in Munich for Deutsche Grammophon, his fifth recording.
July 26 – Apollo 15 (carrying astronauts David Scott, Alfred Worden and James Irwin) is launched.
July 28 – Abdel Khaliq Mahjub, Sudanese communist leader, is hanged.
July 29 – The United Kingdom opts out of the Space Race with the cancellation of its Black Arrow launch vehicle.
July 30 – In Japan, an All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 collides with a Japanese fighter jet; 162 people are killed.
July 31 – Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin become the first to ride in the Lunar Roving Vehicle, a day after landing on the Moon.

August

August – Camden, New Jersey erupts in race riots, with looting and arson, following the beating death of a Puerto Rican motorist by city police. Also in 1971, Philadelphia International Records is established, with Camden native Leon Huff as co-founder.
August 1 – In New York City, 40,000 attend The Concert for Bangladesh.
August 2 – U.S. department store chain J. C. Penney debuts its trademark Helvetica wordmark which has been used ever since.
August 5
- The South Pacific Forum (SPF) is established.
- The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 enters service with American Airlines.
August 6 – A total lunar eclipse lasting 1 hour, 40 minutes, and 4 seconds is observed, visible from South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, and is the 38th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 128.
August 7 – Apollo 15 returns to Earth.
August 9
- India signs a 20-year treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union.
- Internment in Northern Ireland: British security forces arrest hundreds of nationalists and detain them without trial in Long Kesh prison; 20 people die in the riots that follow.
August 10 – Mr. Tickle, the first book in the Mr. Men series is first published, in the U.K.^[32]
August 11 – Construction begins on the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
August 12 – Syria severs diplomatic relations with Jordan because of border clashes.
August 14
- British troops are stationed on the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to stop arms smuggling.
- Bahrain declares independence as the State of Bahrain (As of 2018^[update] officially the Kingdom of Bahrain).
August 15
- Jackie Stewart becomes Formula One World Drivers' Champion in the Tyrrell 003-Cosworth.
- The number of British troops in Northern Ireland is raised to 12,500.
- 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 15–September 5 – The 1971 Women's World Cup in Association football (an event not recognized by FIFA) is staged in Mexico: Denmark will be the winners.^[33]
August 16 – Hastings Banda, President of Malawi, becomes the first black president to visit South Africa.^[34]
August 18
- Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
- British troops are engaged in a firefight with the IRA in Derry, Northern Ireland.
August 19–22 – A right-wing coup ignites a rebellion in Bolivia. Miners and students join troops to support president Juan José Torres, but eventually Hugo Banzer takes over.
August 20
- International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Intelsat) (effective February 12, 1973).
- The USS Manatee spills 1,000 US gallons (3,800 L) of fuel oil on President Nixon's Western White House beach in San Clemente, California.
- A partial solar eclipse is visible from Southern Ocean, and is the 4th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 154.
August 21 – A bomb made of two hand grenades by alleged communist rebels^{[lower-alpha 1]} explodes in the Liberal Party campaign party in Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila the Philippines, injuring several anti-Marcos political candidates.
August 25
- Border clashes occur between Tanzania and Uganda.
- Bangladesh and eastern Bengal are flooded; thousands flee the area.
August 26 – A civilian government takes power in Greece.
August 30 – The 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 – Operation Sourisak Montry VIII opens when forces of the Royal Thai Army recapture several positions in the territory of Laos on the south bank of the Mekong in response to an encroaching Chinese presence to the north.
September 2 – The United Arab Republic is renamed to the Arab Republic of Egypt
September 3
- Qatar gains independence from the United Kingdom. Unlike most nearby emirates, Qatar declines to become part of either the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.
- Manlio Brosio resigns as NATO Secretary General.
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.
- The Free State of Christiania is founded.
September 8 – In Washington, D.C., 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 – English musician John Lennon releases his second studio album Imagine. Worldwide sales of the title track will exceed 5 million.
September 9–13 – Attica Prison riot: 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 17 – Hugo L. Black retires as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States after serving for 34 years, at this time a record for longevity; Black dies eight days later.
September 19 – Trams in Ballarat (Victoria, Australia) cease to run.
September 21 – Pakistan declares a state of emergency.
September 24 – Britain expels 90 KGB and GRU officials; 15 are not allowed to return.
September 27–October 11 – Japanese Emperor Hirohito travels abroad.
September 28 – Cardinal József Mindszenty, who has taken refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Budapest since 1956, is allowed to leave Hungary.
September 29 – A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, in the Indian state of Orissa, kills 10,000.

October

October 1 – Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida.
October 4–7 – Pink Floyd record their groundbreaking film, Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii at the Amphitheatre of Pompeii.
October 13 – The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Baltimore Orioles 4–3 in Game 4 of the World Series at home in the first ever Major League Baseball postseason game played at night. The Pirates defeat the Orioles 2–1 in the decisive Game 7 at Baltimore four days later.
October 14 – Greenpeace is founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
October 14 – The largest state banquet in history is held at the ancient city of Persepolis in Iran, marking the symbolic Celebration of the 2,500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire.
October 17 – The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Baltimore Orioles to win the 1971 World Series.
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.
- The Clarkston explosion in Scotland, caused by a gas leak, kills 22 people.
October 24 – Texas Stadium opens in Irving, Texas. In the inaugural game, the host Dallas Cowboys defeat the New England Patriots 44–21.
October 25 – The United Nations General Assembly admits the People's Republic of China and expels the Republic of China (or Taiwan).
October 27 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo is renamed Zaire.
October 28
- The House of Commons of the United Kingdom votes 356–244 in favour of joining the European Economic Community.
- The United Kingdom becomes the sixth nation successfully to launch a satellite into orbit using its own launch vehicle, the Prospero (X-3) experimental communications satellite, using a Black Arrow carrier rocket from Woomera, South Australia.
- The Khedivial Opera House in Cairo, Egypt, burns down.
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).
October 30
- Rev. Ian Paisley founds the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland.
- Meddle, the critically acclaimed album by progressive rock band Pink Floyd, is released.
October 31 – A bomb explodes at the top of the Post Office Tower in London.

November

Erin Pizzey establishes the world's first domestic violence shelter in Chiswick, London.^[35]
November 3 – The UNIX Programmer's Manual is published.
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 8 – Led Zeppelin release their fourth studio album Led Zeppelin IV, which goes on to sell 23,000,000 copies in the United States.
November 9 – A Royal Air Force C-130 crashes into the Ligurian Sea near Leghorn, Italy, killing all 51 people on board.
November 10 – In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge forces attack Phnom Penh and its airport, killing 44, wounding at least 30 and damaging 9 airplanes.
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 14 – Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria is enthroned.
November 15
- Intel releases the world's first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.
- International Organization and System of Space Communications (Intersputnik) is founded (effective July 12, 1972).
November 18 – Oman gains independence from the United Kingdom.
November 20 – A bridge still under construction, called Elevado Engenheiro Freyssinet, falls over the Paulo de Frontin Avenue, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; 48 people are killed and several injured. Reconstructed, the bridge is a part of the Linha Vermelha elevate.
November 22 – In Britain's worst mountaineering tragedy, the Cairngorm Plateau disaster, five children and one of their leaders are found dead from exposure in the Scottish mountains.
November 23 – The People's Republic of China takes the Republic of China's seat on the United Nations Security Council (see China and the United Nations).
November 24
- During a severe storm over Washington State, a man calling himself D. B. Cooper parachutes from the Northwest Orient Airlines plane he had hijacked, with US$200,000 in ransom money, and is never seen again (as of November 2022, this case remains the only unsolved skyjacking in history).
- A Brussels court sentences pretender Alexis Brimeyer to 18 months in jail for falsely using a noble title; Brimeyer has already fled to Greece.
November 28 – The 59th Grey Cup Game sees the Calgary Stampeders beat the Toronto Argonauts 14–11.
November 30 – Iranian forces occupy the Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa (joint occupation by agreement with Sharjah) and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs (taken by force from Ras Al Khaimah).^[36]

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 of the seven Trucial States combine in an act of union to found the United Arab Emirates.
- The Soviet Mars 3 lander reaches the surface of Mars, transmits for a few seconds and then goes silent. It is the first spacecraft to reach the planet.
December 3 – The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 begins with Operation Chengiz Khan as Pakistan launches preemptive attacks on nine Indian airbases. The next day India launches a massive invasion of East Pakistan.
December 3–4 – The Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi (former USS Diablo) sinks mysteriously near the Indian coast while laying mines.
December 4
- The Montreux Casino burns down during a Frank Zappa concert (the event is memorialized in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water"). The casino is rebuilt in 1975.
- The McGurk's Bar bombing by the Ulster Volunteer Force in Belfast kills 15.
December 7 – Battle of Sylhet rages between the Pakistani military and the Mukti Bahini.^[37]
December 8 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the 7th Fleet to move towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
December 10 – The John Sinclair Freedom Rally in support of the imprisoned activist features a performance by John Lennon at Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
December 11 – Nihat Erim forms the new government of Turkey (34th government; Nihat Erim has served two times as prime minister).
December 16 – Victory Day of Bangladesh: The Pakistan Army in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) surrenders to the joint forces of India and the Bengali nationalist separatists, ending the Bangladesh Liberation War.^[38]
December 18
- The U.S. dollar is devalued for the second time in history.
- The world's largest hydroelectric plant in Krasnoyarsk, Soviet Union, begins operations.
December 19
- Clube Atlético Mineiro wins the Brazil Football Championship.
- Intelsat IV (F3) is launched; it enters commercial service over the Atlantic Ocean February 18, 1972.
- The controversial dystopian crime film A Clockwork Orange, directed by Stanley Kubrick is released in New York City.
December 20 – Two groups of French doctors involved in humanitarian aid merge to form Médecins Sans Frontières.
December 24
- Giovanni Leone is elected President of the Italian Republic.
- Juliane Koepcke survives a fall of 10,000 feet following disintegration of LANSA Flight 508.
December 25
- In the longest American football game in National Football League history, the Miami Dolphins beat the Kansas City Chiefs 27–24 after 82 minutes, 40 seconds of playing time. Garo Yepremian kicked the winning 37-yard field goal after 7:40 of the second overtime period.
- Daeyeonggak Hotel fire: A fire at a 22-story hotel in Seoul, South Korea, kills 158 people.
December 26
- Former teacher Patrick Critton hijacks Air Canada Flight 932, diverting the flight from Canada to Cuba. He would remain a fugitive for almost 30 years.^[39]
- The first reported sighting of the Nullarbor Nymph in Australia was made. The story traveled around the world until it was proven to be a hoax in 1972.
December 29 – The United Kingdom gives up its military bases in Malta.
December 30 – The first McDonald's in Australia opens in Yagoona, Sydney.

Date unknown

Ray Tomlinson sends the first ARPANET e-mail between host computers,^[40] in late 1971.^[41]
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia bans the cultural organization Matica hrvatska (founded in 1842), soon after December 20.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest is established in the United States.
Bulanti motorcar built in Australia.
Crude oil production peaks in the continental United States at approximately 4.5 million barrels per day (720,000 m³/d).