On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
In 1971, the world population was approximately 3,769,847,865 people[†]
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of March 24, 1971, covering March 29, 1971.
Janis Joplin
Soundtrack
Jimi Hendrix
Chicago
Various Artists
Santana
Andy Williams
Elton John
George Harrison
Barbra Streisand
1971Robert Gibbs, American political adviser, 28th White House Press Secretary[†]
Robert Lane Gibbs is an American communication professional who served as executive vice president and global chief communications officer of McDonald's from 2015 to 2019 and as the 27th White House Press Secretary from 2009 to 2011.
1971Lara Logan, South African television and radio journalist and war correspondent[†]
Lara Logan is a South African television and radio journalist and war correspondent. Her career began with various South African news organizations in the 1990s. Her public profile rose due to her reports on the American invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, leading to her being hired as a correspondent for CBS News in 2002 and eventually becoming the service's Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent.
1971Hidetoshi Nishijima, Japanese actor[†]
Hidetoshi Nishijima is a Japanese actor and model. He is widely regarded as one of Japan's leading actors, having appeared in a wide range of films from science fiction films such as Shin Ultraman (2022) to small-scale art films such as Dolls (2002). He gained international recognition for his critically acclaimed leading role in the 2021 film Drive My Car, for which he received the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Actor.
1971Dhirendranath Datta, Pakistani lawyer and politician (born 1886)[†]
Dhirendranath Datta was a Bengali lawyer and politician from East Bengal who was a member of the 1st Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. He is best known for proposing Bengali for the national language of Pakistan in the Assembly. He was also active in the politics of undivided Bengal in pre-partition India.
1971My Lai massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life in prison.[†]
The My Lai massacre was a United States war crime committed on 16 March 1968, involving the mass murder of unarmed civilians in Sơn Mỹ village, Quảng Ngãi province, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. At least 347 and up to 504 civilians, almost all women, children, and elderly men, were murdered by U.S. Army soldiers from C Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade and B Company, 4th Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 11th Brigade of the 23rd (Americal) Division. Some of the women were gang-raped and their bodies mutilated, and some soldiers mutilated and raped children as young as 12. The incident was the largest massacre of civilians by U.S. forces in the 20th century.
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enemy kills 33 Amers, wounds 76 in attack on US arty base 50 mi S of Danang; partly overruns base; official rept says base remains 'in friendly control'; details on fighting at baser enemy arty and ground forces in Laotian border area continue their pressure on allied troops; most combat activity takes place around Khesanh; details; 2 Amers killed, 7 wounded in enemy ambush near Khesanh; speculation that new operation is planned for area is fed by repts that possibly as many as 300 Amer helicopters are being prepared at Quangtri and Khesanh; map
NY Times survey on police depts throughout nation using undercover agents on campuses says that police defend their tactics as only practical way to enforce drug laws; examples cited
Govt continues strict censorship of developments amid conflicting repts of success from both sides; AP reporter who left E Pakistan on Mar 28 repts that army had taken full control of Dacca; Pakistan radio, heard in New Delhi, repts 'life is fast returning to normal' in province; clandestine rebel radio is quoted as having said that provisional govt headed by Maj J Khan, described as Comdr in Chief of Bangla Desh, has been installed and that 'liberation army' is marching toward Dacca; radio also announces 'capture' of army barracks at Comilla, Jessore and Khulna; map; Govt denies that there was attack on mil gov Lt Gen T Khan and charges nationalist radio is transmitting from ship in Indian territory near Calcutta; India denies charge, rejects earlier Pakistani protest over interference in internal affairs; W Pakistan troops reptdly continue attacks with Soviet Tiger tanks, US Sabre jets and Chinese small arms; air force helicopters were said to be firing on populous towns of Comilla and Chittagong; illus
Mayor Lindsay comments on cut in state aid
NYC Human Resources Admr J M Sugarman, commenting on proposed cuts, says NYC and other localities may have to bear millions of dollars in additional Medicaid costs; foresees NYC Health & Hosps Corp taking over with city funds care of many persons forced off Medicaid by planned cuts; says some nonwelfare families no longer eligible for Medicaid are among 'working poor' but might be driven on welfare rolls if they incur large med bills; predicted saving of $39.2-million annually in NYS noted; previous drops in ceiling made on Apr 1, '68 and July 1, '69 recalled
A 40‐year‐old fire captain was burned to death yesterday in a Brooklyn tenement when he battled his way through flames to a third‐floor apart ment, looking in vain for four children he had been told were trapped there.
illus of televised scene of fighting in Dacca; film was smuggled out of E Pakistan by ABC News
preparations in Moscow for 24th party cong described; illus
FBI repts that crimes reptd to NYC Police Dept increased from 470,357 in 7 major categories in '69 to 517,716 in '70
Justice Dept officials rept that Hoffa, whose application for parole will be revd Mar 31, considered and apparently rejected bizarre scheme to enlist support of Sen J L McClellan, prime mover in his imprisonment, in obtaining his parole; indicate that Hoffa held discussions while in prison with intermediaries who proposed plan to ask McClellan to intercede with parole bd or Nixon Adm in Hoffa's behalf; indicate that dept concluded, after preliminary examination, that individual or individuals hoped to make money by persuading Hoffa that they could win McClellan's support; note that large sums of money were mentioned but insist that Hoffa did not agree to any part of offer, considering it 'con job'; McClellan, in int, says he recd tentative and 'mysterious suggestion' that he might be approached in Hoffa's behalf but that no one ultimately got in touch with him; says he opposes Hoffa's release; Hoffa's term as pres of union expires this yr and control of union and its various pension funds will be fought for unless he wins parole; FBI informer's allegations concerning incident detailed, including assertion that Justice Dept decided not to include FBI's acct of episode in material it reptdly submitted to parole bd
Repr Patman, in rept tracing institutional sales of Penn Central stock, calls for probe by Cong and Fed regulatory agencies into propriety of trading in stock of Penn Central Co by 9 insts, including Chase Manhattan Bank, Morgan Guaranty Trust Co of NY, Continental Ill Natl Bank & Trust Co, Investors Mutual Inc, Investors Diversified Services Inc, Alleghany Corp, Provident Natl Bank, Security Pacific Natl Bank and United States Trust Co; discloses that insts disposed of 1,861,000 Penn Central shares between Apr 1, 1970 and June 21; asserts that many of sales were undertaken with 'greatest clairvoyance or on basis of insider information about corp's future prospects'; singles out sale of 590,000 shares by Alleghany Corp and 2 mutual fund orgns it controls, Investors Mutual Fund and Investors Diversified Services; also notes Chase Manhattan sale of 436,300 shares of Penn Central stock; asserts that there is no evidence that SEC 'collected or disseminated' information to public about unusual trading in Penn Central stock; contends that ICC was in position to know internal problems of co but failed to inform public; scores Nixon Adm for making no attempt to warn investing public about Penn Central's condition; says press also gave 'little indication' that Penn Central was near collapse; Chase Manhattan issues statement 'emphatically denying' charge; cites number of 'very significant developments' prior to its sale of stock that led to its action