January 1971

January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December

The following events occurred in January 1971.

January 1, 1971 (Friday)

• Born: Kalabhavan Mani, Indian actor and singer, in Chalakudy, Kerala

January 2, 1971 (Saturday)

• Ibrox disaster: A stairway crush caused by a last-minute equalizer as crowds leave the Rangers vs. Celtic football match in Glasgow, Scotland, results in 66 deaths. Over 200 people are injured.
• A ban on radio and television cigarette advertisements goes into effect in the United States.
• Dr Benjamin Henry Sheares becomes the second President of Singapore.
• The classic rock album Led Zeppelin III is released in the USA.

January 3, 1971 (Sunday)

• BBC Open University begins in the United Kingdom.
• The rivalry between Greek football teams PAOK and Olympiacos continues as PAOK defeat Olympiacos to begin a sequence of 21 unbeaten home Alpha Ethniki matches.

January 4, 1971 (Monday)

• Gunnar Jarring presents the report on his mission to achieve a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
• Born: Haytham Farouk, Egyptian footballer, in Alexandria

January 5, 1971 (Tuesday)

• The 1st ever One Day International cricket match is played between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
• Died: Émilienne Moreau-Evrard, 72, French World War II heroine

January 6, 1971 (Wednesday)

• The environmental organisation Milieudefensie is founded in the Netherlands.
• Born: Madhu Koda, Indian politician, in Patratu, West Singhbhum
• Died: Jorge Barbosa, 68, Cape Verdean poet and writer; Yitzhak Tabenkin, 83, Israeli politician

January 7, 1971 (Thursday)

• In golf, the 1971 PGA Tour season begins.
• Born: DJ Ötzi, Austrian entertainer, in St Johann, Tirol

January 8, 1971 (Friday)

• Tupamaros kidnap Geoffrey Jackson, British ambassador to Uruguay, in Montevideo, keeping him captive until September.

January 9, 1971 (Saturday)

• Uruguayan president Jorge Pacheco Areco demands emergency powers for 90 days due to kidnappings, and receives them the next day.

January 10, 1971 (Sunday)

• Died: Coco Chanel, 87, French fashion designer; Donald McLachlan, 72, Scottish journalist

January 11, 1971 (Monday)

• Born: Mary J. Blige, American singer-songwriter, in Bronx, New York

January 12, 1971 (Tuesday)

• Negotiations begin in Tehran between 6 Gulf oil-producing countries and 22 oil companies.
• The landmark television sitcom All In The Family (based on the British television comedy series Till Death Us Do Part), starring Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, is broadcast for the first time on CBS.
• The Sixty-second Texas Legislature begins its first regular session.

January 13, 1971 (Wednesday)

• A [[de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou

|C-7 Caribou]] aircraft C-7B 62-12584 belonging to the US 459th Tactical Airlift Squadron, 483d Tactical Airlift Wing, crashes in South Vietnam; all 4 crewmen survive the accident.

January 14, 1971 (Thursday)

• Seventy Brazilian political prisoners are released in Santiago, Chile. Giovanni Enrico Bucher is released January 16.
• Born: Lasse Kjus, Norwegian alpine skier, in Siggerud

January 15, 1971 (Friday)

• The Aswan High Dam officially opens in Egypt.

January 16, 1971 (Saturday)

• The Wales national rugby union team defeat England 22-6 at Cardiff Arms Park.

January 17, 1971 (Sunday)

• Super Bowl V: The Baltimore Colts defeat the Dallas Cowboys 16–13 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.

January 18, 1971 (Monday)

• Strikes in Poland demand the resignation of Interior Minister Kazimierz Switala. He resigns January 23 and is replaced by Franciszek Szlachcic.
• Died: Lothar Rendulic, 84, Austro-Hungarian and Austrian Army officer of Croatian origin who served as a German general during World War

January 19, 1971 (Tuesday)

• Representatives of 23 western oil companies begin negotiations with OPEC in Tehran to stabilize oil prices. The negotiations lead to a treaty with six Persian Gulf countries, signed in February.

January 20, 1971 (Wednesday)

• Born: Gary Barlow, English singer-songwriter, in Frodsham, Cheshire
• Died: Antonio Bacci, 85, Italian Roman Catholic cardinal

January 21, 1971 (Thursday)

• The new Emley Moor transmitting station begins transmissions, after a two-year rebuild following the collapse of the original tower.
• Died: Arthur Batten-Pooll, 79, English Victoria Cross recipient; Richard Russell, Jr., 73, American politician, 66th Governor of Georgia

January 22, 1971 (Friday)

• The Singapore Declaration is issued at the conclusion of the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
• Died: Harry Frank Guggenheim, 80, American businessman, diplomat, publisher, philanthropist, and horseman

January 23, 1971 (Saturday)

• McDonald's replaces its "McDonald's is your kind of place" advertising slogan with "You deserve a break today" (which will remain in use until 1975).
• The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team set the school single-game record for free throws made of 33 against Northwestern; the record would be unsurpassed until 1998.

January 24, 1971 (Sunday)

• 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, 1971 (Monday)

• In Uganda, Idi Amin deposes Milton Obote in a coup, and becomes president.
• In Los Angeles, Charles Manson and three 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 on March 26.
• Died: Hermann Hoth, 85, German military officer

January 27, 1971 (Wednesday)

• Died: Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán, President of Guatemala, 57 (domestic accident - drowned or scalded in bath)

January 28, 1971 (Thursday)

• Died: Samuel H. Gottscho, 95, American photographer

January 30, 1971 (Saturday)

• Died: Winifred Goldring, 82, American palaeontologist

January 31, 1971 (Sunday)

• Apollo program: Apollo 14 (carrying astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell) lifts off on the third successful lunar landing mission.
• Died: Gunnar Jahn, 88, Norwegian jurist, economist, statistician, Liberal politician and resistance member