What happened in 1971? - USA
We look at events, films, and music from 1971 in the USA.
In the news
- February 5 - astronauts Edgar Mitchell and Alan Shepard from Apollo 14 walked on the moon.
- March 1 - a bomb exploded in the Senate Wing of the US Capitol. A radical protest group calling themselves the Weather Underground, or the Weathermen, claimed responsibility.
- May 30 - the United States launched Mariner 9, an unmanned spacecraft. It was able to send back pictures of Mars.
- June 17 - the Japanese Foreign Minister, Kiichi Aichi and US Secretary of State, William P Rogers signed a treaty returning Okinawa and other Ryukyu islands to Japan after American occupation in the Second World War. The US retained eighty-eight military installations on the islands.
- June 30 - The 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to eighteen, was ratified. The previous voting age was twenty-one.
- July 26 - Apollo 15 crewed by David R Scott, James B Irwin and Alfred M Worden was launched. They were the first to drive the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV or Lunar Rover) on the moon on July 31.
- September 9 - prisoners at the Attica State Correctional Facility took over part of the jail and held thirty-two guards hostage. On September 13 one thousand New York State Troopers, sheriff deputies and prison officers retook the prison. Forty-three inmates and guards died in the siege.
- November 13 - Mariner 9 orbited Mars. It was the first man-made satellite to orbit another planet.
- December 22 - Austrian Kurt Waldheim succeeded U Thant as UN Secretary-General.
Source: Encyclopedia Year Book 1972, published by Grolier
Facts
- The population of the USA was 207 million in 1971
- President: Richard Milhous Nixon (Republican)
- Vice President: Spiro Agnew (Republican)
- Senate Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield of Montana (Democrat)
- House of Representatives Majority Leader: Hale Boggs (Democrat)
- Median family income in 1971 was $10,290 [2]
- Smoking: in 1971 Americans smoked 533 billion cigarettes. 4,000 for every adult at a cost of $10 billion [1]
- The best-selling cigarette was Winston made by R J Reynolds [1]
- Automobiles: 83% of US families owned at least one automobile, 28% owned at least two [3]
- Pocket calculators went on sale for the first time in the fall of 1971 [4]
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States 1972, except where another reference is given
Films
The top twenty grossing films released in 1971 were:
- Fiddler on the Roof
- Billy Jack
- The French Connection
- Summer of '42
- Diamonds are Forever
- Dirty Harry
- A Clockwork Orange
- Carnal Knowledge
- The Last Picture Show
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks
- Willard
- The Hospital
- Klute
- The Andromeda Strain
- Big Jake
- Shaft
- Nicholas and Alexandra
- Escape From the Planet of the Apes
- Le Mans
- The Million Dollar Duck
Source: Box office report - retrieved from Wayback Machine
Television
The top-rated TV shows of the 1971 to 1972 season were:
- All in the Family
- The Flip Wilson Show
- Marcus Welby, MD
- Gunsmoke
- The ABC Movie of the Week
- Sanford and Son
- Adam-12
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show
- Hawaii Five-0
Source: Staying Alive - The Life and Times of an American Baby Boomer Part 2:The Serendipitous '70s, by Gene Baumgaertner, published by Trafford Publishing 2011
TV facts
- 96% of the US population had access to a television set [5]
- There were 30,300,000 colour TV sets in the US [5]
- There were 694 TV stations broadcasting in the US in 1971 [6]
- 8.8% of the population subscribed to cable TV in 1971 [6]
Music
The best-selling pop records of 1971 in the USA were:
- Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
- Maggie May - Rod Stewart
- It's Too Late - Carol King
- One Bad Apple - Osmonds
- How Can You Mend a Broken Heart - Bee Gees
- Knock Three Times - Dawn
- Brand New Key - Melanie
- Go Away Little Girl - Donny Osmond
- Family Affair - Sly & the Family Stone
- Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves - Cher
Source: USA Top 1000 Singles compiled by Joe Whitburn, published by Guinness in 1986
Sport
Baseball: The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles to win the 1971 World Series.
American Football: The Baltimore Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys to win the fifth Super Bowl on January 17 1971.
Boxing: On June 28 1971 the Supreme Court ruled that Muhammad Ali's conviction for draft-dodging was illegal. Ali failed to defeat Joe Frazier to regain the World Heavyweight title on March 8 1971. Ali regained the Heavyweight title in 1974 after beating George Foreman in the so-called 'Rumble in the Jungle'.
Golf: Lee Trevino won the British, Canadian and US Opens in 1971.
Horse racing: Canonero II won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 1971.
Source: Encyclopedia Year Book 1972, published by Grolier
References
[1]'The Guinness Book of Records', published by Guinness Superlatives in 1973, page 152
[2]'Money Income in 1971 of Families and Persons in the United States', published by the US Department of Commerce, July 1973 (P60 No. 83)
[3]'Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States 1972' page 547
[4]'The complete collectors' guide to pocket calculators' by Guy Ball and Bruce Flam, published by Wilson/Barnett Publishing in 1997, page 12
[5]'The Guinness Book of Records', published by Guinness Superlatives in 1973, page 103
[6]'Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States 1972' page 498-9
More on 1971
More on the 1970s
By Steven Braggs, May 2021
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