WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO DECEMBER 1971
Find out what all happened January to December 1971

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: Pakistan launches a pre-emptive strike against India and a full scale war begins claiming hundreds of lives. (3. December 1971)

Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. (10. October 1971)

Vietnam War: Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos. (13. February 1971)

Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations. (21. September 1971)

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. (27. November 1971)

A gas explosion kills 22 people at a shopping center in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, Scotland. (21. October 1971)

East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Liberation War begins. (26. March 1971)

Launch of Salyut 1, the first space station. (19. April 1971)

Fred Quilt, a leader of the Tsilhqot'in First Nation suffers severe abdominal injuries allegedly caused by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers; he dies two days later. (28. November 1971)

Copper mines in Chile are nationalized. (11. July 1971)

Vietnam War: Vietnam Veterans Against the War begin a five-day demonstration in Washington, D.C.. (19. April 1971)

The Australian Aboriginal Flag is flown for the first time. (12. July 1971)

Intel releases the world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004. (15. November 1971)

The Sylmar earthquake hits the San Fernando Valley area of California. (9. February 1971)

A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers. (29. March 1971)

U.N. Secretary General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day. (26. February 1971)

"The Troubles": The Ulster Volunteer Force bombs a Catholic-owned pub in Belfast, killing 15 civilians and wounding 17. It was the city's highest death toll from a single incident during the conflict. (4. December 1971)

Sierra Leone becomes a republic, and Siaka Stevens the president. (19. April 1971)

Vietnam War: the Battle of Long Khanh between Australian and Vietnamese communist forces begins. (6. June 1971)

Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh. (8. January 1971)