1971
| Millennium: | 2nd millennium |
|---|---|
| Centuries: | |
| Decades: | |
| Years: |
Template:C20YearInTopicX Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. Template:C20YearTOCship
Events of 1971
January
- January 1 - The British Divorce Reform Act comes into force.
- January 2
- Ibrox disaster: A stairway crush at the Rangers vs. Celtic football match in Glasgow, Scotland kills 66.
- A ban on radio and television cigarette advertisements goes into effect in the United States.[1]
- January 3 - BBC Open University begins in the United Kingdom.
- January 5 - The 1st ever ODI cricket match is played between Australia & England at the M.C.G.
- January 8 - Tupamaros kidnap Geoffrey Jackson, British ambassador to Uruguay, in Montevideo; they keep 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 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 17 - The Baltimore Colts defeat the Dallas Cowboys 16-13 in Super Bowl V. The game is played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.
- January 18 - Strikes in Poland demand the resignation of Interior Minister Kazimierz Switala. He resigns January 23 and is replaced by Franciszek Szlachcic.
- 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 Persian Gulf countries.
- No, No Nanette premieres (46th Street Theatre, New York City).
- 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 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 March 26.
- January 31 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 (Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, Edgar Mitchell) lifts off on the third successful lunar landing mission.
February
- February 4 - In Britain, Rolls-Royce goes bankrupt and is nationalised.
- February 5 - Apollo 14 lands on the Moon.
- February 7
- The city of Tuscania, Italy, is wrecked in an earthquake. 31 die.
- 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 debuts.
- February 9
- The Sylmar earthquake (6.4 on the Richter Scale) hits the San Fernando Valley area of California.
- 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 manned Moon landing.
- February 11 - The US, UK, USSR and others sign the Seabed Treaty, outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor.
- February 11-February 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
- Decimalisation Day: - The United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency. See also decimalisation.
- Protesting Belgian farmers bring 3 live cows to crash the EEC meeting in Brussels.
- 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
- Fifty tornadoes rage in Mississippi, killing 74.
- The U.S. Emergency Broadcast System sends an erroneous warning; many radio stations just ignore it.
- February 21 - The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
- February 26 - Secretary General U Thant signs the United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
- February 27 - Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start to perform abortus provocatus.
- February 28 - Evel Knievel sets world record and jumps 19 cars.
March
- March 1
- A bomb explodes in the men's room at the U.S. Capitol; the Weather Underground Organization 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 4 - The southern part of Québec, and specially Montréal, receive 42 cm of snow in what became known as the Century's Snowstorm (la tempête du siècle).
- March 5 - The Pakistani army occupies East Pakistan.
- March 7
- The British postal workers' strike, led by UPW General Secretary Tom Jackson, ends after 47 days.
- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, political leader of the then East Pakistan delivers his great speech in the Racecourse Field in Dhaka. He called the mass to be prepared and fight for national independance.
- March 8 - Boxer Joe Frazier defeats Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden.
- March 12 - Hafez al-Assad becomes president of Syria.
- March 12-March 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 at Chungar, Peru crashes into Lake Yanahuani, killing 200.
- March 23 - General Alejandro Lanusse of Argentina takes power in a military coup.
- March 25 - The Pakistani army starts genocide in East Pakistan from midnight, after President Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, a military ruler, voids election results that gave the Awami League an overwhelming majority in the parliament.
- March 26 - East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) independence is 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 in the My Lai massacre and sentenced to life in prison (later pardoned).
- A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and 3 female followers.
April
- April 1 - The United Kingdom lifts all restrictions on gold ownership.
- April 3 - Un banc, un arbre, une rue by Séverine (music by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre, text by Yves Dessca) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 for Monaco.
- April 5
- In Ceylon, a group calling themselves the People’s Liberation Front begin a rebellion against the Bandaranaike government.
- Chile and East Germany establish diplomatic relations.
- Mount Etna erupts.
- April 7 - Greece releases 261 political prisoners, 50 of which are sent to internal exile.
- April 8 - A right-wing coup attempt is exposed in Laos.
- April 9 - Charles Manson is sentenced to death; in 1972, the sentence for all California Death Row inmates is commuted to life imprisonment.
- April 12 - Palestinians retreat from Amman to the north of Jordan.
- April 17
- 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.
- Followers of Charles Manson, the Manson Family, are sentenced to the gas chamber.
- 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.
- April 21
- Siaka Stevens is elected the first president of Sierra Leone.
- François Duvalier, president of Haiti, dies; his son Jean-Claude Duvalier follows him as president-for-life.
- April 24
- Soyuz 10 docks with Salyut 1.
- Five hundred thousand people in Washington, DC and 125,000 in San Francisco march in protest against the Vietnam War.
- A tsunami 85 m high rises over the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. It throws a 750-ton block of coral 2.5 km inland.
- Soyuz 10 docks with Salyut 1.
- April 25
- Todor Zhivkov is re-elected as the leader of the Bulgarian Communist Party.
- Franz Jonas is re-elected as chancellor of Austria.
- April 26 - The government of Turkey declares a state of siege in 11 provinces, Ankara included, due to violent demonstrations.
- April 28 - The first number of Il Manifesto is issued in Italy.
- April 29 - Bolivia nationalizes the American-owned zinc mine of Matilde.
May
- May 1
- Amtrak begins inter-city rail passenger service in the United States.
- The Ceylonese government promises amnesty for those guerillas who surrender before April 5.
- May 2 - In Ceylon, left-wing guerillas launch a series of assaults against public buildings.
- May 3
- The Harris Poll claims that 60% of Americans are against the Vietnam War.
- East German leader Walter Ulbricht resigns as Communist Party leader but retains the position of head of state.
- 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 6 - The Ceylon government begins a major offensive against the People's Liberation Front.
- May 9 - Mariner 8 fails to launch.
- May 12 - An earthquake in Turkey destroys most of the city of Burdur.
- May 15 - Efraim Elrom, Israeli ambassador to Turkey, is kidnapped; he is found killed in Istanbul May 25.
- May 16 - A coup attempt is exposed and foiled in Egypt.
- 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, 10,000 made homeless.
- May 23 - An air crash at Rijeka Airport, Yugoslavia kills 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
- 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.
- June 13
- Vietnam War: The New York Times begins to publish the Pentagon Papers. [1].
- Gijs van Lennep wins the 24 hours of Le Mans together with Helmut Marko.
- 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.[2]
- June 18 - Southwest Airlines, the most successful low cost carrier in history begins its first flights between Dallas, Houston, And San Antonio.
- June 20 - Britain announces that Soviet space scientist Anatoli Fedoseyev has been granted asylum.
- June 21 - Britain begins new negotiations for EEC membership in Luxembourg.
- 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
- After a successful mission aboard Salyut 1, the world's first manned space station, the crew of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply leaks out through a faulty valve.
- 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
- 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 9 - The United Kingdom increases its troops in Northern Ireland to 11,000.
- July 10-July 11 - Coup attempt in Morocco: 1,400 cadets take over the king's palace for 3 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 13
- Ólafur Jóhannesson forms a government in Iceland.
- Jordanian army troops launch an offensive against Palestinian guerillas in Jordan.
- July 14
- Libya severs its diplomatic ties with Morocco.
- The Yugoslavian government begins allowing foreign companies to take their profits from the country.
- July 16
- Spanish dictator and head of state Francisco Franco makes Prince Juan Carlos his successor.
- The world's four billionth baby is born. (see World Population).
- July 17 - Italy and Austria sign a treaty that ends the schism about Alto Adige/Südtirol.
- July 18 - The Trucial States are formed in the Persian Gulf.
- July 19 - The South Tower of the World Trade Center is topped out at 1,362 feet, making it the second tallest building in the world.
- July 19-July 23 - Major Hashem al-Atta ousts Jaafar Muhammad al-Nimeiri in a military coup in Sudan. Fighting continues until on
July 22, when pro-Nimeiri troops win. Al-Atta and 3 officers are executed
- July 23 - Nimeiri launches an anti-communist campaign.
- July 25-July 30 - Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli records in Munich two Debussy works for Deutsche Grammophon; it's his fifth recording.
- July 26 - Apollo 15 (David Scott, Alfred Worden, James Irwin) is launched.
- July 28 - Abdel Madgoub, 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 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 6 - A lunar eclipse lasting 1 hour, 40 minutes, and 4 seconds is observed.
- August 7 - Apollo 15 returns to Earth.
- August 9
- India signs a 20-year treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union.
- British security forces in Northern Ireland detain hundreds of suspects in Long Kesh - the beginning of an internment without trial policy. Twenty people die in riots that follow.
- August 11 - Construction begins on the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
- August 12
- August 14
- August 15
- 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 18
- Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
- British troops are engaged in a firefight in Derry, Northern Ireland.
- August 19-August 22 – A right-wing coup ignites a rebellion in Bolivia. Miners and students join troops to support president Juan Jose Torres, but eventually Hugo Banzer takes over.
- August 21 - The first orca to be named "Shamu" dies.
- 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 Alberta 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 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.
- 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 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 - József Cardinal 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 Orissa State in India, kills 10,000.
October
- October 1 - Walt Disney World opens in Florida.
- October 15 - The 2,500 Year Celebration of Iran begins, celebrating the birth of Persia.
- 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.
- A gas explosion in Clarkston, Glasgow kills 20 people.
- October 25 - The United Nations General Assembly admits the People's Republic of China and expels the Republic of China (on Taiwan).
- October 27 - Democratic Republic of the Congo is renamed Zaire.
- October 28
- The British House of Commons votes 356-244 in favour of joining the European Economic Community.
- The United Kingdom becomes the 6th nation to launch a satellite into orbit, the Prospero X-3, using a Black Arrow carrier rocket.
- 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's Democratic Unionist Party is founded in Northern Ireland.
- October 31 - A bomb explodes at the top of the Post Office Tower in London.
November
- November 3 - The UNIX Programmer's Manual is published.
- November 6 - The U.S. tests a nuclear bomb on Amchitka Island in Alaska.
- 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 15 - Intel releases the world's first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.
- November 20 - A bridge still in construction, called Elevado Engenheiro Freyssinet, fell over the Paulo de Frontin Avenue, at Rio de Janeiro city (Brazil). 48 people died and several injured. Reconstructed, the bridge is currently a part of the Linha Vermelha elevate.
- 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 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 was never seen again. As of March 2008, this case remains the only unsolved skyjacking in history.
- November 24 - A Brussels court sentences pretender Alexis Brimeyer to 18 months in jail for falsely using a noble title; Brimeyer has already fled to Greece.
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 Persian Gulf sheikdoms found the United Arab Emirates.
- December 3 - The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 begins as Pakistan attacks 9 Indian airbases. The next day India launches a massive invasion of East Pakistan.
- December 3-December 4 night: The Indian navy destroyer INS Rajput sinks Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi (former USS Diablo).
- 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 will be rebuilt in 1975.
- 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 14 - Facing defeat, the Pakistan Army kills 1500 Bangladeshi intellectuals.
- December 16 - Victory Day of Bangladesh: The Pakistan Army surrenders to the Indian Armed Forces and Mukti Bahini (Freedom Force), ending the Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 simultaneously.
- December 18
- The U.S. dollar is devalued for the second time in history.
- The world's largest hydroelectric plant in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, begins operations.
- December 19
- The Clube Atletico Mineiro wins the first Brazil Football Championship.
- Intelsat IV (F3) is launched; it enters commercial service over the Atlantic Ocean February 18 1972.
- December 24 - Giovanni Leone is elected President of the Italian Republic.
- December 25
- In the longest game in NFL history, the Miami Dolphins beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
- Fire at a 22-storey hotel in Seoul, South Korea kills 158 people.
- December 29 - The United Kingdom gives up its military bases in Malta.
Undated
- Ray Tomlinson sends the first ARPAnet e-mail between host computers.
- Free State of Christiania is founded.
- Seychelles International Airport in Victoria, Seychelles (Mahe) is completed.
- Crude oil production peaks in the continental United States at approximately 4.5 million barrels/day.
- Center for Science in the Public Interest established.
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism established.
Ongoing
Births
January
- January 2
- Lisa Harrison, American basketball player
- Taye Diggs, American actor
- January 3 - Cory Cross, Canadian ice hockey player
- January 5 - Mayuko Takata, Japanese actress
- January 7 - Chavo Guerrero, Jr., American pro wrestler
- January 8 - Jason Giambi, baseball player
- January 9 - Scott Thornton, Canadian hockey player
- January 11 - Mary J. Blige, American singer
- January 17
- Leonardo Ciampa, Italian-American composer and author
- Kid Rock, American singer
- January 18 - Jonathan Davis, American singer (Korn)
- January 19
- Shawn Wayans, American actor, writer, and producer
- John Wozniak, American singer and songwriter (Marcy Playground)
- January 20 - Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, American musician, composer, producer, photographer, and author
- January 21 - Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
- January 25 - Luca Badoer, Italian race car driver
- January 27
- Fann Wong, Singaporean Chinese actress, model, and singer (Shanghai Knights)
- Lil Jon, American rapper and producer
- January 31 - Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian and television presenter
February
- February 1 - Jill Kelly, American adult film actress
- February 2 - Andrus Veerpalu, Estonian cross-country skier
- February 3 - Sarah Kane, English playwright (d. 1999)
- February 5 - Sara Evans, American singer
- February 6 - Brian Stepanek, American actor
- February 10 - Lisa Marie Varon, American professional wrestler
- February 13
- Sonia Evans, English pop singer
- Mats Sundin, Swedish ice hockey player
- February 14 - Tommy Dreamer, American professional wrestler
- February 17 - Denise Richards, American actress
- February 19 - Gil Shaham, Israeli/American violinist
- February 20 - Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer
- February 23 - Melinda Messenger, English television presenter
- February 24 - Pedro de la Rosa, Spanish Formula One driver
- February 25 - Sean Astin, American actor
- February 26 - Erykah Badu, American singer
- February 27 - Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, singer
- February 28 - Tristan Louis, Internet entrepreneur
March
- March 2 - Manami Toyota, Japanese women's professional wrestler
- March 4
- Shavar Ross, American actor and filmmaker
- Iain Baird, former member of the Canadian national soccer team
- March 7 - Rachel Weisz, British actress
- March 11 - Johnny Knoxville, American television personality
- March 12 - Tony Eveready (Duane Moore), American adult film actor, performance artist
- March 16 - Val Venis, American professional wrestler
- March 23 - Karen McDougal, American model
- March 23 - Alexander Selivanov, Russian ice hockey player
- March 26 - Behzad Ghorbani, Iranian scientist
- March 27
- David Coulthard, Scottish race car driver
- Nathan Fillion, Canadian actor
- March 29 - Jose Luis Rodriguez Pitti, Panamanian writer
- March 31 - Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player
- March 31 - Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
April
- April 1 - Method Man, American rapper
- April 2 - Todd Woodbridge, Australian tennis player
- April 9 - Jacques Villeneuve, race driver, Formula 1 world champion
- April 11 - Oliver Riedel, German musician (Rammstein)
- April 12 - Shannen Doherty, American actress
- April 12 - RM Secor, American spy fiction writer
- April 14 - Peter Gibson, American writer
- April 16 - Moses Chan, Hong Kong actor
- April 16 - Selena Quintanilla Perez, American singer (d. 1995)
- April 18 - David Tennant, British actor
- April 20 - Allan Houston, former NBA player, best known for playing with the New York Knicks
- April 20 - Carla Geurts, Dutch swimmer
- April 22 - Eric Mabius, American Actor
- April 22 - Daisuke Enomoto, first Japanese space tourist
- April 24 - Mauro Pawlowski, Belgian guitar player and singer (Evil Superstars, dEUS) with Italian/Polish roots
- April 29 - Siniša Vuco, Croatian musician
May
- May 6 - Chris Shiflett, member of the band, Foo Fighters
- May 8 - Ross Anderson (skier), American Pro Speed skier
- May 12 - Doug Basham, American professional wrestler
- May 14 - Sofia Coppolla, American filmmaker
- May 15 - Phil Pfister, American strength athlete
- May 18 - Desiree Horton, Los Angeles helicopter pilot/TV reporter/USFS aerial firefighter
- May 20 - Tony Stewart, American race car driver
- May 25 - Sonya Smith, American actress
- May 26 - Matt Stone, American television producer
- May 27
- Paul Bettany, British actor
- Glenn Ross, British strongman/powerlifter
- Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, American rapper (d. 2002)
- May 30 - Idina Menzel, American actress and singer
June
- June 4 - Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- June 5
- Susan Lynch, Irish actress
- Mark Wahlberg, American actor and singer
- June 8 - Troy Vincent, American football player
- June 9 - Rick Renstrom, American guitarist
- June 12 - Mark Henry, American professional wrestler, former Olympian
- June 16 - Tupac Shakur, American rapper, poet, and actor (d. 1996)
- June 17 - Paulina Rubio, Mexican singer
- June 21 - Anette Olzon, Swedish singer (Nightwish)
- June 22
- Kurt Warner, American football player
- Mary Lynn Rajskub, American actor and comedian
- June 25 - Neil Lennon, Northern Irish footballer
- June 27 - Dipendra of Nepal, King of Nepal (d. 2001)
- June 28 - Norika Fujiwara, Japanese actress and television-personality
- June 29 - Matthew Good, Canadian musician
July
- July 1 - Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, American singer
- July 7 - Alistair Potts, British rower
- July 9 - Marc Andreessen, American software developer
- July 11
- Leisha Hailey, American musician and actress
- Brett Hauer, American ice hockey player
- July 12 - Kristi Yamaguchi, American figure skater
- July 14
- Mark LoMonaco, American professional wrestler
- Joey Styles, American professional wrestling announcer
- July 17 - Cory Doctorow, Canadian author and activist
- July 21 - Nuno Markl, Portuguese comedian and radio host
- July 22 - Kristine Lilly, American soccer player
- July 23 - Alison Krauss, American country singer
- July 24 - Oliver Jones, Australian singer, songwriter, musician, producer, and audio engineer
- July 26
- Neus Avila, Spanish tennis player
- Reggie Carthon, American football player
- July 30 - Tom Green, Canadian entertainer
- July 31 - John Lowery, American guitarist
August
- August 2 - Michael Hughes, Northern Irish footballer
- August 4 - Jeff Gordon, American race car driver
- August 6 - Merrin Dungey, American actress
- August 8 - Guy Walters, British writer
- August 10
- Roy Keane, Irish footballer
- Mario César Kindelán Mesa, Cuban amateur boxer
- August 12
- Phil Western, Canadian musician
- Pete Sampras, American tennis player
- August 17 - Jorge Posada, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
- August 18 - Richard D James, Irish musician
- August 20
- David Walliams, English comedy actor
- Fred Durst, lead singer of the band Limp Bizkit
- August 26 - Mike Lockwood, Crash Holly World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) professional wrestler (d. 2003)
- August 26 - Thalía, Mexican actress and singer
- August 27 - Julian Cheung, Hong Kong actor and singer
- August 28 - Janet Evans, American swimmer
- August 29 - Carla Gugino, American actress
- August 31 - Pádraig Harrington, Irish golfer
September
- September 1 - Hakan Şükür, Turkish footballer
- September 2
- Arnold Arre, Filipino graphic novelist
- Tommy Maddox, American football player
- September 4 - Anita Yuen, Hong Kong actress
- September 6 - Dolores O'Riordan, Irish singer
- September 8 - Brooke Burke, American model
- September 10 - Pantea Rahmani, Iranian visual artist
- September 11 - Richard Ashcroft, British singer
- September 11 - Mack Strong, National Football League player
- September 13 - Stella McCartney, British fashion designer
- September 14 - Kimberly Williams, American actress
- September 18 - Lance Armstrong, American cyclist
- September 20 - Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer
- September 21 - Luke Wilson, American actor
- September 24 - Michael S. Engel, American paleontologist & entomologist
- September 25 - John Lynch, American football player
- September 26 - Joel Breton, video game producer
- September 30 - Jeff Whitty, Broadway playwright
October
- October 2- James Root, American heavy metal guitarist
- October 3 - Kevin Richardson, American singer, member of Backstreet Boys
- October 4 - Brian Transeau, American disc jockey
- October 5 - Samuel Vincent, Canadian voice actor
- October 10 - Evgeny Kissin, Russian pianist
- October 13
- Sacha Baron Cohen, British comedian
- Pyrros Dimas, Greek weightlifter
- October 14 - Jorge Costa, Portuguese footballer
- October 14 - Andrew Cole, English Footballer
- October 16 - Craig Phillips, British reality show star, Winner of Big Brother UK in 2000
- October 20
- Snoop Dogg, American rapper and actor
- Dannii Minogue, Australian singer
- October 24 - Caprice Bourret, American model and actress
- October 25 - Athena Chu, Hong Kong actress and singer
- October 25
- Pedro Martínez, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- Midori, Japanese violinist
- October 26 - Anthony Rapp, American singer and actor
- October 27 - Jade Arcade, American comics artist and writer
- October 29
- Winona Ryder, American actress
- Matthew Hayden, Australian cricketer
November
- November 8 - Carlos Atanes, Spanish film director
- November 9 - Big Pun, real name Christopher Rios, American/Latin rapper (d. 2000)
- November 10 - Niki Karimi, Iranian actress and movie director
- November 12 - Tom Shear, American musician and producer
- November 13 - Noah Hathaway, American actor
- November 14 - Adam Gilchrist, Australian cricketer
- November 16 - Alexander Popov, Russian swimmer
- November 18 - Özlem Tekin, Turkish singer
- November 20 - Dion Nash, New Zealand cricket captain
- November 24 - Keith Primeau, Canadian hockey player
- November 25 - Christina Applegate, American actress
- November 25 - Magnus Arvedson, Swedish hockey player
- November 30 - Iván "Pudge" Rodríguez, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player and actor
December
- December 1 - Jason Chan, Australian actor
- December 6
- Richard Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
- Ryan White, AIDS Activist (d. 1990)
- December 7
- Chasey Lain, American adult film star
- Larisa Alexandrovna, Ukrainian feminist
- December 8 - Abdullah Ercan, Turkish football player
- December 17
- Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
- Alan Khan, South African radio DJ
- December 19 - Tyson Beckford, American model
- December 20 - Simon O'Neill, New Zealand opera singer
- December 23
- Corey Haim, Canadian actor
- Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, British socialite
- December 24
- Christopher Daniels, American professional wrestler
- Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican singer
- December 25 - Dido, English singer
- 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
- December 31 - Brent Barry, American basketball player
- date unknown - Randal Pinkett, winner of The Apprentice (US Season 4)
Deaths
January-March
- January 4 - Arthur Ford, American psychic spiritual medium, clairaudient {b. 1896)
- January 5 - Douglas Shearer, Canadian film sound engineer (b. 1899)
- January 9 - Elmer Flick, baseball player (b. 1876)
- January 10 - Coco Chanel, French fashion designer (b. 1883)
- January 12 - John Tovey, British admiral of the fleet (b. 1885)
- January 14 - Guillermo de Torre, Spanish Dadaist author (b. 1900)
- January 19 - Harry Shields, American musician (b. 1899)
- January 20 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, American actor, director, writer, and producer (b. 1880)
- January 23 - Fritz Feigl, Austria-born chemist (b. 1871)
- January 24 - St. John Greer Ervine, Northern Irish dramatist and author (b. 1883)
- January 27 - Jacobo Arbenz, President of Guatemala (b. 1913)
- January 28 - Donald Winnicott, British psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
- January 31 - Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky, Russian literary historian, linguist (b. 1891)
- February 1 - Harry Roy, British bandleader (b. 1900)
- February 18 - Jaime de Barros Câmara, Brazilian archbishop (b. 1894)
- February 25 - Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
- February 26 - Fernandel, French comedian (b. 1903)
- March 6 - Thurston Dart, English harpsichordist and conductor (b. 1921)
- March 8 - Harold Lloyd, American actor and filmmaker (b. 1893)
- March 9 - Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria, Coptic Orthodox Patriarch (b. 1902)
- March 11 - Philo T. Farnsworth, American television pioneer (b. 1906)
- March 16 - Thomas Dewey, Governor of New York and Presidential candidate (b. 1902)
- March 23 - Basil Dearden, English film director (b. 1911)
April-June
- April 3 - Joseph Valachi, gangster (b. 1904)
- April 6 - Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (b. 1882)
- April 12 - Igor Tamm, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
- April 19 - Earl Thomson, Canadian athlete (b. 1895)
- April 21 - Papa Doc Duvalier, President of Haiti (b. 1907)
- April 29 - Nikolai P. Barabashov, Russian astronomer (b.1894)
- May 1 - Violet Jessop, Titanic survivor (b. 1887)
- May 11 - Seán Lemass, President of Ireland (b. 1899)
- May 12 - Heinie Manush, baseball player (b. 1901)
- May 15 - Sir Tyrone Guthrie, English film director, producer, and writer (b. 1900)
- May 19 - Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902)
- May 27 - Chips Rafferty, Australian actor (b. 1909)
- May 28 - Audie Murphy, American World War II hero and actor (b. 1924)
- May 30 - Marcel Dupré, French composer (b. 1886)
- June 1 - Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologian (b. 1892)
- June 10 - Michael Rennie, English actor (b. 1909)
- June 11 - Ambrose (bandleader) (b. 1896)
- June 15 - Wendell Meredith Stanley, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- June 18 - Paul Karrer, Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
- June 25 - John Boyd Orr, Scottish physician and biologist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1880)
- June 30 - Herbert Biberman, Jewish American screenwriter and film director (b. 1900)
- June 30 - Crew of Soyuz 11:
- Georgi Dobrovolski (b. 1928)
- Viktor Patsayev (b. 1933)
- Vladislav Volkov (b. 1935)
July-September
- July 1 - William Lawrence Bragg, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
- July 3 - Jim Morrison, American singer, songwriter, and poet (b. 1943)
- July 4
- Maurice Bowra, British critic (b. 1898)
- August Derleth, American author and anthologist (b. 1909)
- July 6 - Louis Armstrong, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1901)
- July 7
- Claude Gauvreau, Canadian writer (b. 1925)
- Ub Iwerks, American animator (b. 1901)
- July 15 - Bill Thompson, American actor (b. 1913)
- July 17 - Cliff Edwards, American actor (b. 1895)
- July 19
- John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever, British businessman (b. 1886)
- Arsène Roux, French Arabist (b. 1893)
- July 25 - Leroy Robertson, American composer (b. 1896)
- July 27 - Charlie Tully, Northern Irish footballer (b. 1924)
- July 30 - Kenneth Slessor, Australian poet (b. 1901)
- August 13 - King Curtis, American saxophonist (b. 1934)
- August 20 - Matiur Rahman, Bangladeshi war hero (b. 1945)
- August 25 - Ted Lewis, American musician and entertainer (b. 1890)
- August 27
- Margaret Bourke-White, American photographer (b. 1904)
- Bennett Cerf, American publisher and television personality (b. 1898)
- September 11 - Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, Soviet leader (b. 1894)
- September 12 - Lin Biao, Chinese defense minister (plane crash) (b. 1907)
- September 20 - Giorgos Seferis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
- September 21 - Bernardo Houssay, Argentine physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)
- September 23 - Billy Gilbert, American actor (b. 1894)
October-December
- October 10 - Cyril Burt, educational psychologist (b. 1883)
- October 29 - Arne Tiselius, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- October 29 - Duane Allman, American guitarist for The Allman Brothers Band and Derek and the Dominos (b. 1946)
- November 4 - Guillermo León Valencia, President of Colombia (b. 1909)
- November 9 - Maude Fealy, American stage and film actor (b. 1881)
- November 16 - Edie Sedgwick, American actress and model (b. 1943)
- November 22 - József Zakariás, Hungarian soccer player (b. 1924)
- December 9 - Ralph Bunche, American diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1904)
- December 11 - Mac Mcdonald, American fast food restaurant owner(McDonald's)b. 1902
- December 12
- Torry Gillick, Rangers winger
- Alan Morton, Rangers outside left
- December 22 - Godfried Bomans, Dutch writer (b. 1913)
- December 25 - Maria Koepcke, ornithologist, killed in the crash of LANSA Flight 508 (b. 1924)
- December 31 - Pete Duel, American actor (Alias Smith and Jones) (b. 1940)
Nobel prizes
- Physics - Dennis Gabor
- Chemistry - Gerhard Herzberg
- Medicine - Earl W. Sutherland, Jr
- Literature - Pablo Neruda
- Peace - Willy Brandt
- Economics - Simon Kuznets
Notes
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1971.