| 1971-04-10
Ping Pong Diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, the People's Republic of China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a weeklong visit.
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| 1971-03-26
East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Liberation War begins.
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| 1971-12-06
Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with India following New Delhi's recognition of Bangladesh.
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| 1971-08-10
The Society for American Baseball Research is founded in Cooperstown, New York.
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| 1971-02-11
Eighty-seven countries, including the US, UK, and USSR, sign the Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons in international waters.
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| 1971-10-20
The Nepal Stock Exchange collapses.
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| 1971-03-07
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivers his historic "This time the struggle is for our freedom" speech at Ramna Race Course, calling upon the Bengali people to prepare for the freedom struggle ahead.
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| 1971-11-27
The Soviet space program's Mars 2 orbiter releases a descent module. It malfunctions and crashes, but it is the first man-made object to reach the surface of Mars.
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| 1971-01-02
The second Ibrox disaster kills 66 fans at a Rangers-Celtic football match
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| 1971-02-02
Idi Amin replaces President Milton Obote as leader of Uganda.
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| 1971-02-09
Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing.
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| 1971-07-31
Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
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| 1971-08-27
An attempted coup fails in the African nation of Chad. The Government of Chad accuses Egypt of playing a role in the attempt and breaks off diplomatic relations.
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| 1971-11-13
The American space probe, Mariner 9, becomes the first spacecraft to orbit another planet successfully, swinging into its planned trajectory around Mars.
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| 1971-09-03
Qatar becomes an independent state
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| 1971-10-10
Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
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| 1971-08-26
The United States Congress declares August 26th as an annual Women's Equality Day.
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| 1971-06-17
President Richard Nixon declares the U.S. War on Drugs.
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| 1971-03-16
Government of Trygve Bratteli in Norway.
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| 1971-11-23
Representatives of the People's Republic of China attend the United Nations, including the United Nations Security Council, for the first time.
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| 1971-08-09
Internment in Northern Ireland: British security forces arrest hundreds of nationalists and detain them without trial in Long Kesh prison. Twenty people die in the riots that follow.
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| 1971-03-12
The March 12 Memorandum is sent to the Demirel government of Turkey and the government resigns.
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| 1971-07-11
Copper mines in Chile are nationalized.
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| 1971-08-22
J. Edgar Hoover and John Mitchell announce the arrest of 20 of the Camden 28.
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| 1971-05-30
Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars.
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| 1971-02-24
The All India Forward Bloc holds an emergency central committee meeting after its chairman, Hemantha Kumar Bose, is killed 3 days earlier. P.K. Mookiah Thevar is appointed as the new chairman.
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| 1971-11-10
In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge forces attack the city of Phnom Penh and its airport, killing 44, wounding at least 30 and damaging nine aircraft.
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| 1971-03-25
Bangladesh Liberation War: Beginning of Operation Searchlight by the Pakistan Army against East Pakistani civilians.
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| 1971-02-26
U.N. Secretary General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
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| 1971-12-01
The Indian Army recaptures part of Kashmir occupied forcibly by Pakistan.
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| 1971-04-17
The People's Republic of Bangladesh forms, under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Mujibnagor.
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| 1971-08-21
A bomb exploded in the Liberal Party campaign rally in Plaza Miranda, Manila, Philippines with several anti-Marcos political candidates injured.
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| 1971-12-09
The United Arab Emirates join the United Nations.
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| 1971-04-17
Sierra Leone becomes a republic.
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| 1971-09-13
People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao Zedong's second in command and successor Marshal Lin Biao fled the country via a plane after the failure of alleged coup against the supreme leader, the plane crashed in Mongolia,killing all aboard.
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| 1971-12-04
The United Nations Security Council calls an emergency session to consider the deteriorating situation between India and Pakistan.
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| 1971-11-21
Indian troops, partly aided by Mukti Bahini (Bengali guerrillas), defeat the Pakistan army in the Battle of Garibpur.
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| 1971-12-04
The Indian Navy attacks the Pakistan Navy and Karachi.
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| 1971-09-08
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.
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| 1971-02-13
Vietnam War: Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos.
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| 1971-03-18
In Peru a landslide crashes into Lake Yanahuani, killing 200 at the mining camp of Chungar.
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| 1971-04-05
In Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches insurrection against the United Front government of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
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| 1971-01-25
Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda's president.
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| 1971-11-14
Enthronment of Pope Shenouda III as Pope of Alexandria
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| 1971-06-06
Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 launches.
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| 1971-03-29
My Lai massacre: Lt. William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.
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| 1971-08-18
Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
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| 1971-10-01
Walt Disney World opens near Orlando, Florida, United States.
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| 1971-12-03
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: Pakistan launches pre-emptive strike against India and a full scale war begins claiming hundreds of lives.
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| 1971-05-27
The Dahlerau train disaster, the worst railway accident in West Germany, kills 46 people and injures 25 near Wuppertal.
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| 1971-01-30
Carole King's Tapestry album is released, it would become the longest charting album by a female solo artist and sell 24 million copies worldwide.
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| 1971-04-07
President Richard Nixon announces his decision to increase the rate of American troop withdrawals from Vietnam.
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| 1971-01-01
Cigarette advertisements are banned on American television.
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| 1971-10-07
Oman joins the United Nations.
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| 1971-07-10
Hassan II of Morocco survives an attempted coup d'etat, which lasts until June 11.
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| 1971-03-01
A bomb explodes in a men's room in the United States Capitol: the Weather Underground claims responsibility.
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| 1971-02-27
Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (the Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start to perform aborti provocati.
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| 1971-12-07
Pakistan President Yahya Khan announces the formation of a Coalition Government at Centre with Nurul Amin as Prime Minister and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as Vice-Prime Minister.
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| 1971-04-24
Soyuz 10 docks with Salyut 1.
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| 1971-02-21
The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
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| 1971-11-15
Intel releases world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004.
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| 1971-07-26
Apollo Program: Apollo 15 Mission – Launch of Apollo 15.
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| 1971-10-15
The start of the 2500-year celebration of Iran, celebrating the birth of Persia.
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| 1971-04-19
Launch of Salyut 1, the first space station.
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| 1971-04-19
Vietnam War: Vietnam Veterans Against the War begin a five-day demonstration in Washington, D.C..
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| 1971-06-06
Vietnam War: The Battle of Long Khanh between Australian and Vietnamese communist forces begins.
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| 1971-12-11
The Libertarian Party of the United States is formed.
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| 1971-09-13
State police and National Guardsmen storm New York's Attica Prison to end a prison revolt.
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| 1971-09-29
Oman joins the Arab League.
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| 1971-12-01
Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray.
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| 1971-10-28
Britain launches its first satellite, Prospero, into low Earth orbit atop a Black Arrow carrier rocket.
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| 1971-05-01
Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is formed to take over U.S. passenger rail service.
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| 1971-11-30
Iran seizes the Greater and Lesser Tunbs from the United Arab Emirates.
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| 1971-02-25
The first unit of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, the first commercial nuclear power station in Canada, goes online.
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| 1971-03-03
Beginning of Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and India's official entry to the Bangladesh Liberation War in support of Mukti Bahini.
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| 1971-07-30
An All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 and a Japanese Air Force F-86 collide over Morioka, Japan killing 162.
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| 1971-07-30
Apollo program: Apollo 15 Mission – David Scott and James Irwin on Apollo Lunar Module module, Falcon, land with first Lunar Rover on the moon.
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| 1971-07-20
The Soviet Union says it will support the People's Republic of China's admission to the United Nations
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| 1971-11-06
The United States Atomic Energy Commission tests the largest U.S. underground hydrogen bomb, code-named Cannikin, on Amchitka Island in the Aleutians.
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| 1971-05-19
Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union.
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| 1971-06-30
The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply escapes through a faulty valve.
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| 1971-02-15
The decimalisation of British coinage is completed on Decimal Day.
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| 1971-02-03
New York Police Officer Frank Serpico is shot during a drug bust in Brooklyn and survives to later testify against police corruption. Many believe the incident proves that NYPD officers tried to kill him.
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| 1971-06-30
Ohio ratifies the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, lowering the voting age to 18, thereby putting the amendment into effect.
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| 1971-04-19
Sierra Leone becomes a republic, and Siaka Stevens the president.
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| 1971-01-31
The Winter Soldier Investigation, organized by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War to publicize war crimes and atrocities by Americans and allies in Vietnam, begin in Detroit, Michigan.
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| 1971-02-09
Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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| 1971-12-18
Capitol Reef National Park is established in Utah.
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| 1971-01-25
Himachal Pradesh becomes the 18th Indian state.
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| 1971-01-25
Charles Manson and three female "Family" members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders.
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| 1971-06-13
Vietnam War: The New York Times begins publication of the Pentagon Papers.
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| 1971-02-08
The NASDAQ stock market index opens for the first time.
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| 1971-11-12
Vietnam War: As part of Vietnamization, US President Richard M. Nixon sets February 1, 1972 as the deadline for the removal of another 45,000 American troops from Vietnam.
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| 1971-05-31
In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.
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| 1971-02-09
The 6.4 on the Richter Scale Sylmar earthquake hits the San Fernando Valley area of California.
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| 1971-12-04
The Montreux Casino in Switzerland is set ablaze by someone wielding a flare gun during a Frank Zappa concert; the incident would be noted in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water".
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| 1971-10-27
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is renamed Zaire.
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| 1971-10-25
The United Nations seated the People's Republic of China and expelled the Republic of China (see political status of Taiwan and China and the United Nations)
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| 1971-06-07
The United States Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment.
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| 1971-07-05
Right to vote: the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, is formally certified by President Richard Nixon.
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| 1971-12-04
McGurk's Bar bombing: An Ulster Volunteer Force bomb kills 15 civilians and wounds 17 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
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| 1971-01-12
The Harrisburg Seven: The Reverend Philip Berrigan and five others are indicted on charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and of plotting to blow up the heating tunnels of federal buildings in Washington, D.C.
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| 1971-12-16
Independence Day of the Kingdom of Bahrain from British Protectorate status
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| 1971-12-16
Bangladesh War of Independence and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: The surrender of the Pakistan army brings an end to both conflicts.
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| 1971-09-28
The Parliament of the United Kingdom passes the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 banning the medicinal use of cannabis.
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| 1971-09-09
The four-day Attica Prison riot begins, which eventually results in 39 dead, most killed by state troopers retaking the prison.
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| 1971-08-15
President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
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| 1971-12-02
Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm Al Quwain form the United Arab Emirates.
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| 1971-03-01
President of Pakistan Yahya Khan indefinitely postpones the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
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| 1971-11-24
During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (AKA D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.
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| 1971-06-06
A midair collision between a Hughes Airwest Douglas DC-9 jetliner and a United States Marine Corps McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II jet fighter near Duarte, California claims 50 lives.
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| 1971-09-04
A Boeing 727 carrying Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 people on board.
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| 1971-03-29
A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers.
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| 1971-09-21
Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations.
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| 1971-01-31
Apollo program: Apollo 14 Mission – Astronauts Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell, aboard a Saturn V, lift off for a mission to the Fra Mauro Highlands on the Moon.
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| 1971-04-19
Charles Manson is sentenced to death for the Sharon Tate murders.
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