April 19, 1971: The Earth's first space station,Salyut 1, is launched into orbit by the Soviet UnionApril 18, 1971: Sadat, Gaddafi and Assad pledge to merge Egypt, Libya and Syria into "Federation of Arab Republics"
The United Kingdom lifted all restrictions on gold ownership with the Exchange Control (Gold Coins Exemption) Order 1971.[1]
Thepostal code used inCanada was started with a test inOttawa, with plans to introduce it inManitoba in the autumn,Saskatchewan in the spring of 1972, and other provinces between 1972 and 1974.[2]
The day after U.S. Army Second LieutenantWilliam Calley was sentenced to life in prison in his court-martial for 22 murders, he was transferred from prison to house arrest by order of U.S. PresidentRichard M. Nixon.[3]
An attempted coup d'état inEcuador ended only hours after it started, without any violence. The night before, Army General Luis Jacome Chavez and about 50 Ecuadorian War Academy officers several disgruntled soldiers announced that they were commencing a revolt against PresidentJosé Velasco Ibarra and his nephew, Defense Minister Jorge Acosta Velasco. Acosta's assistant announced on Thursday morning that Jacome had surrendered.[4]
The Tripoli Agreement was signed in theLibyan city ofTripoli by representatives of oil companies from around the world and by oil ministers of OPEC (theOrganization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), providing for higher prices to be paid to OPEC nations for petroleum until 1976.[7]
The cult classic U.S. TV soap operaDark Shadows broadcast its 1,226th and final episode.[8]
Born:Todd Woodbridge, Australian professional tennis player and half of the Grand Slam doubles winning team of Woodbridge and Woodforde (11 titles), and Woodbridge and Bjorkman (5 titles); inSydney[9]
Un banc, un arbre, une rue, sung by Séverine (music by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre, lyrics by Yves Dessca), won theEurovision Song Contest 1971 forMonaco.[11]
Jacques Ochs, 88, Belgian artist and Olympic fencing champion[13]
Joe Valachi, 66, American gangster who became a government witness who testified in detail before Congress about the inner workings of the American Mafia, died of a heart attack while serving a prison sentence.[14]
InCeylon (nowSri Lanka), the Marxist–Leninist groupJanatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People's Liberation Front) begana rebellion against the government of Prime MinisterSirimavo Bandaranaike, starting with plans for a simultaneous surprise attack on police stations nationwide at 11:00 at night and a plot to kidnap Bandaranaike from her residence. Because of a failure to attend a planning meeting on April 2, and a misunderstanding of a specific time for the uprising to start, a unit assigned to assault the police station atWellawaya launched its attack on the morning of April 5 and ruined the JVP's plan to catch the rest of Ceylon's police off guard.[17][18]
Frances Phipps became the first woman to travel to theNorth Pole as she and her husbandWelland Phipps, co-owners of the Atlas Aviation charter service, flew a Twin Otter ski plane to install a radar beacon at the Pole.[19]
A major eruption ofMount Etna in Sicily began. In the course of the eruption, lava buried the Etna Observatory (built in the late 19th century), destroyed the first generation of the Etna cable-car, and seriously threatened several small villages on Etna's east flank.[20]
Robert M. Blais was sworn into office as the mayor of tinyLake George Village, New York, and would celebrate half a century in office in 2021.[22] Blais retired in 2023 after more than 52 years in office.[23]
"Ping-pong diplomacy" began when thePeople's Republic of China sent an invitation to the U.S. nationaltable tennis team to visit as the first Americans to be invited to mainland China since the Communist government had taken over in 1949. For more than 20 years, mainland China had been closed to the U.S. and other Western nations.[24] The American team was inNagoya,Japan for theworld championships at the same time that the People's Republic was participating in the competition for the first time since 1965. Earlier,Glenn Cowan of the U.S. team was befriended by three-time men's world championZhuang Zedong of China and the press coverage led to the invitation. Rufford Harrison, the captain of the U.S. team accepted the invitation on behalf of the team the next day.[25]
Two Croatian nationalistsinvaded the Yugoslavian Embassy in Stockholm and took Ambassador to SwedenVladimir Rolović hostage, then tortured him and shot him.[29] Stockholm police stormed the building after being called to the scene and arrested the two men, Miro Barešić and Anđelko Brajković, at the scene. Rolović died eight days later. Barešić and Brajković would be released 17 months later after the hijacking ofSAS Flight 130.
U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announced in a nationally televised speech that he had scheduled the withdrawal of 100,000 additional U.S. troops from South Vietnam by December 1, with 14,300 to return home each month.[30] At the time, there were 284,000 U.S. troops still participating in theVietnam War.[31]
A bomb exploded in a Saigon club where theCBC band was performing, killing a GI and a female civilian, the drummer's girlfriend.[35]
The "Hughes 500-P", a modifiedHughes OH-6 Cayuse chopper billed as "the quietest helicopter ever", because of its noise dampening technology and black paint that absorbed radar waves, was given its first public demonstration.
The Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was enlarged from 11 members to 15 as the Central Committee voted to approve the promotion of four men to full Politburo status. Dinmukhamed A. Kunayev, Vladimir V. Scherbitsky and Viktor V. Grishin were promoted from candidate members to full members, and the CPSU's secretary in charge of agriculture Fyodor D. Kulakov was added to the group that held thede facto power in the U.S.S.R., while the original 11 were elected to new terms.[37] Party General SecretaryLeonid I. Brezhnev was re-elected as the CPSU General Secretary.[38]
Troops of the Pakistan Army invaded the home ofZakir Husain, a native Bengali and a former Governor of East Pakistan, killing most of his staff. Husain himself and his eldest son were almost executed on the scene until the unit's commanding officer realized what was happening and stopped the act.
Sixteen members of the U.S. national table tennis team became the first contingent of Americans in more than 20 years to be welcomed to thePeople's Republic of China as nine players, four team officials and two wives walked across a bridge from BritishHong Kong at the invitation of the Chinese government for an eight-day visit described asping-pong diplomacy.[40] The team and accompanying reporters were flown fromGuangzhou toTokyo seven days later after their historic visit.[41]
A provisionalBangladeshi government took its oath of office in Meherpur Kushtia.[42][43]
Anasteroid estimated to be 650 feet (200 m) in diameter,2002 JE9, passed within 140,000 miles (230,000 km) of Earth with a minimum miss distance of 0.20LD,[45] closer than theMoon (360,000 miles (580,000 km) at its perigee). The near-Earth asteroid is small enough that it would not be discovered until 21 years later by theLincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) telescopic observatory.
Elizabeth Hazelhurst, a 21-year-old US student fromFlagstaff, Arizona, fell about 350 feet (110 m) to her death from the edge of Mojave Point during a visit toGrand Canyon National Park.[49] She and three friends had climbed over a safety railing in order to have a picnic on a rock ledge overlooking the Canyon.[50]
Palestinians retreated fromAmman to the north ofJordan.
American chemistsPatsy O'Connell Sherman and her co-worker, Samuel Smith, and the 3M company was awarded U.S. Patent No. 3,574,791 for their invention, "Block and graft co-polymers containing water-solvatable polar groups and fluoroaliphatic groups",[54] now a stain repellent marketed by 3M asScotchguard.[55]
A new constitution for the British-administeredGilbert and Ellice Islands went into effect, granting the South Pacificarchipelago almost complete self-government on domestic affairs. The United Kingdom still made decisions regarding the Islands' defense and security, but the new law required theBritish Resident Commissioner (at the time, SirJohn Field) to obtain the consent of an elected legislature on most matters as the territory's Governor. The new constitution also removed the Islands from the jurisdiction of the BritishHigh Commissioner for the Western Pacific, SirMichael Gass.[56] The Gilbert Islands would later become the nation ofKiribati and the Ellice Islands would become the nation ofTuvalu.
U.S. President Nixon announced that the nation would relax a 20-year-old embargo that had existed against trade with thePeople's Republic of China.[57]
All forty people on board a Philippine Air Force C-47 transport were killed when the plane crashed shortly after takeoff fromCesar Basa Air Base atFloridablanca for a flight toNichols Air Field atManila. The plane was transporting Philippine Air Force officers and their families. A 3-year-old child survived the crash but died later at a hospital.[58][59]
Sergei Anokhin, a Russian test pilot in training to become a cosmonaut, was injured in the crash of aTupolev Tu-16 into theAral Sea while the bomber was flying parabolas for zero-G tests of the engine of the Molniya Block L upper stage, to study why the stage was continually failing to restart in earth orbit.[60]
ThePeople's Republic of Bangladesh was declared bySheikh Mujibur Rahman, atBaidyanathtala, a city on the border with India, where the leaders of the rebellion had relocated.[67] A provisional government for Bangladesh was sworn in, with Mujibur as the first President andTajuddin Ahmad as the first Prime Minister. A legislature, theConstituent Assembly of Bangladesh, was created with many of the East Pakistan politicians who had been elected to the Pakistan National Assembly that had been canceled in March before it could meet. Baidyanathtala would later be renamedMujibnagar in honor of Mujibur Rahman.
Died:John Francis Gillespie, 24, Australian serviceman, killed in South Vietnam's Phuoc Tuy province during an attempted rescue. His remains would be located almost 33 years later and, after identification in 2007, returned to Australia.[69]
The U.S. restaurant chainBurger King sold its first franchise inAustralia, to entrepreneurJack Cowin. In that the name "Burger King" was already trademarked to a set of food stores based inAdelaide, the BK chain's fast-food restaurants in Australia are brandedHungry Jack's. Cowin's Hungry Jack's restaurant opened on June 19 inPerth.
ThePoint Danger Light, the first lighthouse to use alaser to power its illumination, went into operation. The experiment would be abandoned in 1975 and the laser replaced by a standard electric lamp.
The firstspace station in Earth's history,Salyut 1, was launched by theSoviet Union fromBaikonur at 6:40 in the morning local time (0140 UTC).[72] On June 7, the crew of the ill-fatedSoyuz 11 mission would be the first humans to enter a space station, staying until their disastrous return on June 30.Salyut 1 would remain in orbit until October 11.
Sierra Leone, governed for the first ten years of its existence by a Prime Minister and a Governor-General representing the Queen of the United Kingdom, became arepublic governed by a president.[73]Christopher Okoro Cole, the Governor-General since March 31, briefly continued as the Sierra Leonean head of state until Siaka Stevens took office two days later.
InCambodia, renamed theKhmer Republic after the March 1970coup d'état that overthrew the monarchy, Lieutenant GeneralLon Nol resigned as Prime Minister, two months after suffering a stroke.[77] He and his cabinet were asked by the nominal head of state,Cheng Heng, to remain until a new Premier could be chosen in elections.[78] Lon transmitted his resignation letter to the nominal head of state,Cheng Heng. After a 13-day search in which nobody was willing to assume the office in the war-torn republic, Lon Nol agreed on May 3 to continue as the nominal Prime Minister with Lieutenant GeneralSisowath Sirik Matak would exercise most of the executive power.[79]
Prime MinisterSiaka Stevens ofSierra Leone was inaugurated as the first president of the West African nation as the new constitution was ratified by the parliament.[81]
Herbert Choy, the American-born son of Korean parents, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the first federal judge of Asian descent. Choy would serve as a judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals until his death in 2004.
In its first decision on a law againstabortion,United States v. Vuitch, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, by a margin of 5 to 2, the constitutionality of aDistrict of Columbia statute that outlawed all abortions except for those performed by a physicians when "necessary for the preservation of the mother's life or health". JusticeHugo L. Black, writing for the majority set the precedent that in prosecution of an abortion, a government had the burden of proving that the healthy of the mother was not in danger and that in considering the mother's health, a physician could consider "psychological as well as physical well-being" of the mother, even if she had no previous history of mental defects.[82]
TheBank of France, the nation's central bank, announced that the portrait ofNapoleon Bonaparte would no longer be on French currency and that the 100-franc note bearing his picture would no longer be considered legal tender except to be exchanged for the new 100-franc note, bearing the portrait of playwrightPierre Corneille.[83]
Jean-Claude Duvalier became the youngest president of a sovereign nation and the only teenager to be sworn in as a president. Duvalier, 19 years old, was inaugurated asPresident of Haiti the day after the death of his father,François Duvalier.
New York City became the first government in the United States to require that a definitiveexpiration date be placed on packages ofperishable foods. While food distributors had information printed on packages to allow store managers to determine the date of shipment of an article of food as part of knowing when to withdraw it from the shelf, these had been in the form of "codes indecipherable to the average shopper." Violations of the law were punishable by fines ranging from $25 to $250.[91]
Vietnam Veterans Against the War, led by former U.S. Navy Lieutenant and future U.S. SenatorJohn F. Kerry, concluded a week-long protest against continued U.S. involvement in theVietnam War with a group of about 700 veterans throwing away their medals and other recognition for Vietnam service.[92]
AUSAFF-111E,67-0117, fromEdwards AFB,California, crashed in theMojave Desert during a test flight;[93] both the pilot, Major James W. Hurt, 34, and co-pilot WSO Major Robert J. Furman, 31, of New York City, were killed when the parachute on the escape module failed to open until just before ground impact.
TheShangri-La Hotel, now the prime luxury resort inSingapore and site of diplomatic summits, opened for the first time.[94] Among the historic events it would later host would be the meeting between the leaders of the People's Republic of China and of Taiwan in 2015.[95]
At least 200,000 people in Washington, D.C.,[97] and 125,000 in San Francisco marched in protest against theVietnam War.
TheSoyuz 10 cosmonauts made the first ever attempt by a spacecraft to dock with a space station, achieving a partial docking withSalyut 1 at 01:47 UTC (4:47 a.m. Moscow time). For the next five and a half hours, theSoyuz 10 crew tried to complete the docking so that they could form the secure airlock necessary to safely board the station, then spent more time trying to extricate the Soyuz craft so that it could return to Earth.[98][99]
One of the least successfulmusicals inBroadway history,Frank Merriwell, or Honor Unchallenged opened at theLongacre Theatre and closed the same evening.[100] The critics' reviews the next day, which both noted that the show had closed after its single performance, and included comments like "the music is the least admirable aspect of a modestly deplorable adventure" and "all too forgettable"[101] and "incredibly silly" and "there is no trace of imagination".[100]
The1971 United Kingdom census was taken.[105] Final results showed the population of the UK to be 55,573,956 people, of whom 45,879,670 were from England; 5,228,963 from Scotland; 2,724,275 from Wales; 1,536,065 from Northern Ireland; and 174,983 from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.[106]
By mutual agreement, the exclusive 1914 lease by theUnited States of Nicaragua'sCorn Islands (Las Islas del Maíz) was terminated. The 99-year lease, made by theBryan–Chamorro Treaty, had given the U.S. the right to place military bases on the islands, and had originally been set to expire on August 4, 2013.[107]
Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary. For the first time under Hungary's Communist government, voters had a choice between members of the nation's CommunistHungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSzMP) and non-official challengers, with 402 candidates running for the 352 seats of theOrszággyűlés. In 49 races, voters had a choice between two candidates.[109] The non-official challengers were still required to pledge support to the MSzMP's agenda, and eight of the Communist incumbents were defeated for re-election by a non-MSzMP opponent.[110] For 168 seats, the non-Communist candidate was unopposed. Of those elected, 224 were members of the Communist nation's sole legal political organization, the other 178 were independents. Party General SecretaryJános Kádár, Hungary'sde facto leader, continued as itsde jure leader as well as Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
Todor Zhivkov was re-elected as leader of theBulgarian Communist Party. The 110-member Central Committee of the Party also re-elected the 11 full members of the Politburo, but dropped Deputy Premier Lachezar Avramov from the Politburo.[111][112] The vote came at the conclusion of the 10th Party Congress, which had opened four days earlier.[113]
After its unsuccessful attempt to dock with theSalyut 1 space station, and then to unhook from the space station,Soyuz 10 returned to Earth, landing in theKazakh SSR at 5:40 in the morning local time (2340 UTC 4/24) almost exactly 48 hours after it had launched.[citation needed]
U.S. Air Force Majors Thomas B. Estes and Dewain C. Vick set a supersonic flight endurance record, spending 10 hours and 30 minutes in the air in a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird and traveling in excess of 15,000 miles (24,000 km) (equivalent to halfway around the world) and slowing to subsonic speeds only for refueling.[115] At times, the aircraft exceededMach 3.[116] The SR-71 averaged 1,429 miles per hour (2,300 km/h) or Mach 1.86.
A Muslim unit of thePakistani Army, commanded by Abdul Alim,carried out the massacre of 370 Hindu villagers in five villages in theJoypurhat District of East Pakistan (nowBangladesh). In succession, troops looted and burned houses in Karai Kadipur,Chakpara, Sonarpara, Jogipara and Palpara and then lined up civilian men and women and shot them. The International War Crimes Tribunal would bring charges against Alim 40 years later.[117]
A 50-member U.S. Presidential Commission, chaired byHenry Cabot Lodge, issued a report recommending that the United States drop further opposition to Communist China's admission into theUnited Nations, but also advised that the U.S. should oppose the dismissal of Nationalist China (Taiwan) from the UN. "However difficult thePeople's Republic of China's membership in the U.N. might become," Lodge wrote, "the commission believes there is more hope for peace in its interaction in the organization than in its continued isolation from the U.N., and from the United States."[122]
Died:Ted Studebaker, 26, U.S. pacifist and Christian missionary in rural South Vietnam, executed by North Vietnamese troops who had invaded the village of Di Linh in theLam Dong province.[123]
Pakistani Army troops and militia of theConvention Muslim League faction, led byKazi Abdul Kader, carried out themurder of 300 Hindu civilians who had gathered at the marketplace in the village of Kaliganj village in what is now Bangladesh'sJaldhaka district, as the refugees were preparing to cross the border to safety in India.[125]
Voters in predominantly African-American neighborhoods elected in a referendum to incorporate the city ofNorth Charleston, South Carolina. Court suits challenging the referendum would delay the incorporation of the city until June 12, 1972. North Charleston, with a roughly 58% black and Hispanic population,[126] contrasts with 69% whiteCharleston.[127]
Hank Aaron of theAtlanta Braves baseball team became only the third player in U.S. Major League Baseball to hit 600 home runs in his career, a feat previously achieved byBabe Ruth and byWillie Mays. On July 21, 1973, he would become only the second player (other than Ruth) to hit 700 home runs in his career.[128]
CaptainSamuel L. Gravely, Jr. was selected by President Nixon as the first African-American U.S. Navy Admiral, subject to expected confirmation by the U.S. Senate.[130] Nixon's group of 49 selections for promotion also included the first American astronaut,Alan B. Shepard, Jr., to achieve the rank.
The first issue of the daily newspaper,Il Manifesto, was published in Italy.[132]
J. Edgar Hoover, the U.S. director of theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), quietly canceledCOINTELPRO, his 1968 campaign against what he called "The New Left". The decision came three days after Hoover had been accused of "secret police tactics" by CongressmanHale Boggs of Louisiana, following receipt of documents taken in a March 8 break-in of an FBI branch office.[133]
Reversing decades of policy against foreign relations with the United States, Chinese Communist Party ChairmanMao Zedong told American writerEdgar Snow that U.S. President Nixon would be welcome to visit thePeople's Republic of China[57] The statement came the day after Nixon had said in a press conference that he expected to visit China "sometime in some capacity."[57]
In the U.S., all F-111s were grounded as a result of the fatal accident on April 23,[141] after it was determined that the recovery chute compartment door had failed to separate, making crew escape impossible.
^"Mobster".Independent Press-Telegram. Long Beach, California. April 4, 1971. p. 2.Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. RetrievedOctober 8, 2016 – viaNewspapers.com.
^"Nixon Promises Vietnam Pullout of 100,000 More G.I.s by December; Pledges to End U.S. Role in War", by Max Frankel,The New York Times, April 8, 1971, p1
^"Nixon Earlier Ordered Withdrawal of 260,000",The New York Times, April 8, 1971, p6
^"Duvalier, 64, Dies in Haiti; Son, 19 Is New President", by Homer Bigart,The New York Times, April 23, 1971, p1
^Shaw, Karl (2005) [2004].Power Mad! [Šílenství mocných] (in Czech). Praha: Metafora. p. 52.ISBN978-80-7359-002-4.
^Taylor, Michael J.H.; Bill Gunston; A.J. Jackson; David Mondey; Malcolm Passingham; John Stroud; Susan H.Y. Young (1989).Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation (2nd ed.). New York: Portland House.ISBN0-517-69186-8.
^"Russia Launches 3 Men Into Orbit— Craft Is Expected to Link Up With Unmanned Satellite as Station in Space",The New York Times, April 23, 1971, p1
^[1] "Jhathibhanga massacre day observed in Thakurgaon— Families of martyrs demand punishment for killers",The Daily Star (Chittagong, Bangladesh), April 24, 2014
^"Mayor Signs Bill Requiring Dating of Perishable Foods",The New York Times, April 24, 1971, p1
^"Veterans Discard Medals In War Protest at Capitol",The New York Times, April 24, 1971, p1
^Redlands, California: "Air crash under probe", United Press International, Redlands Daily Facts, Monday 26 April 1971, page 1, column 3.
^"Leftist Party in Canada Picks Moderate as Chief— Bid by Radicals Defeated by New Democrats, Nation's Third Largest Party",The New York Times, April 26, 1971, p15
^Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 7 July 2007. p. 44.
^"British Census Is On, With Few Incidents",The New York Times, April 27, 1971, p3
^The Statesman's Year-Book 1975/1976, edited by John Paxton (The Macmillan Press Ltd, 1975) p.69, p.132
^"London's 3d Airport to Be Built on Coast", by Anthony Lewis,The New York Times, April 26, 1971, p1
^"Panel urges U.S. Seek Early Entry of Peking to U.N.; But Special Committee Says Ouster of Taiwan Regime Must Be Opposed", by Tad Szulc,The New York Times, April 27, 1971, p1
^Messenger. General Brotherhood Board, Church of the Brethren. 1997. p. 15.
^"Korean Vote Count Gives Park Big Lead In Bid for 3d Term", by Takashi Oka,The New York Times, April 28, 1971, p1
^"FBI Changed Tactics After Attack by Boggs— Hoover Ended Drive on New Left When Lawmaker Made 'Secret Police' Charge",Los Angeles Times, December 8, 1973, p.I-14
