1971
From Freepedia
1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar).
| Years: 1968 1969 1970 - 1971(MCMLXXI) - 1972 1973 1974 | ||||||||||
| Decades: 1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s | ||||||||||
| Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
| ||||||||||
Contents |
Events
January
- January 1 - British Divorce Reform Act comes into force
- January 2 - 66 die in stairway crush at Rangers v Celtic football match, Glasgow, Scotland. See Ibrox disaster.
- January 2 - A ban on television cigarette advertisements goes into effect in the United States.
- January 3 - BBC Open University begins in the United Kingdom
- January 7 - Howard Hughes breaks his silence to announce that his supposed biography is a forgery.
- January 8 – Tupamaros kidnap Geoffrey Jackson, British ambassador to Uruguay, in Montevideo; they keep him captive until September
- January 9 – Uruguayan president Jorge Pacheco Areco demands emergency powers for 90 days due to kidnappings and receives them the next day
- January 14 – 70 Brazilian political prisoners released in Santiago. Giovanni Enrico Bucher is released January 16
- January 15 - Aswan Dam officially opened
- January 18 – Strikes in Poland demand resignation of interior minister Kazimierz Switala. He resigns January 23 and is replaced by Franciszek Szlachcic
- January 19 – Representatives of 23 western oil companies begin negotiations with OPEC in Tehran to stabilize oil prices. February 14 they sign a treaty with six Persian Gulf countries
- January 19 - No, No Nanette premieres (46th Street Theatre, New York City)
- January 24 – Guinean government sentences to death 92 Guineans who helped Portuguese troops in the failed landing attempts in November 1970. 72 are sentenced to hard labor for life. 58 of the sentenced are hanged the next day
- January 25 - Charles Manson and three female "family members" are found guilty of the 1969 murder of Sharon Tate and others at Sharon's house
- January 25 - Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda's president
- January 25 - Himachal Pradesh becomes the 18th Indian state
- January 31 - Apollo program: US spaceflight Apollo 14, commanded by Alan Shepard, lifts off on the third successful lunar landing mission
February
- February 2 - Idi Amin ousts Milton Obote and assumes power in Uganda
- February 4 - In Britain, Rolls Royce goes bankrupt - state takes over
- February 5 - Apollo 14 lands on the Moon.
- February 7 - Tuscany, Italy, wrecked in an earthquake
- February 7 - Men of Switzerland vote for giving voting rights to women in state elections - but not in all canton-specific ones.
- February 7 – Wladyslaw Gomulka is expelled from central council of the Polish communist party
- February 8 - A new stock market index called the Nasdaq debuts
- February 9 - The 6.4 on the Richter Scale Sylmar earthquake hits the San Fernando Valley area of California.
- February 9 - Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to become voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
- February 9 - Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing
- February 11 - US, UK, USSR, others sign Seabed Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons.
- February 11-12 – Palestinian and Jordanian fighters clash in Amman
- February 13 - Vietnam War: Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos.
- February 15 - "Decimalisation Day" - United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency. See also decimalisation.
- February 15 – Angry Belgian farmers crash the EEC meeting in Brussels with three live cows with them
- February 16 – In Italy, local parliament elects the city of Catanzaro as the capital of Calabria – residents of Reggio di Calabria riot for five days because of the decision
- February 20 – 50 tornadoes rage in Mississippi – 74 dead
- February 20 - US Emergency Broadcast System sends an erroneous warning - many radio stations just ignore it
- February 21 - The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
- February 26 - Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.
- February 27 - Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start to perform abortus provocatus
March
- March 1 - Bomb explodes in men's room in the White House - Weather Underground claims responsibility.
- March 1 - Pakistani President Yahya Khan indefinitely postponed the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
- March 1 - Canadian John Robarts ends his term of office as 17th premier of Ontario
- March 5 – Pakistani army occupies the East Pakistan
- March 7 – Strike of British postal workers ends after 47 days
- March 10 - Twenty-sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution lowers voting age to 18.
- March 12 - Hafez al-Assad becomes president of Syria.
- March 16 – Government of Trygve Bratteli in Norway
- March 18 - A landslide at Chungar, Peru crashes into Lake Yanahuani killing 200
- March 23 – Military coup in Argentina – general Alejandro Lanusse takes power
- March 25 – Pakistani army starts massive killing in East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh, after an open, non-democratic denial by Pakistani president Yahiya Khan, a military ruler, of election results that gave Awami League an overwhelming majority in the parliament.
- March 26 - The Independence Day of Bangladesh.
- March 29 - Filming begins on The Godfather. Shooting starts on Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. The movie, released in 1972, won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay.
- March 29 - William Calley is found guilty of 22 murders in My Lai massacre and sentenced to life in prison. He is later pardoned.
- March 29 - A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers.
April
- April 1 - United Kingdom lifts all restrictions on gold ownership
- April 5 – In Ceylon, group calling himself People’s Liberation Front begins a rebellion against Bandaranaike government
- April 5 – Chile and East Germany form diplomatic relations
- April 5 - Mount Etna erupts
- April 7 – Greece releases 261 political prisoners, 50 of which are sent to internal exile
- April 8 – Right-wing coup attempt exposed in Laos
- April 9 - Charles Manson is sentenced to death but the sentence is commuted to life imprisonment.
- April 12 – Palestinians retreat from Amman to north of Jordan
- April 17 – Bangladesh makes official declaration of independence but Pakistani troops continue the fighting
- April 17 - Libya, Syria and Egypt sign an agreement to form a confederation.
- April 19 – Government of Bangladesh flees to India
- April 19 – Sierra Leone becomes a republic
- April 19 – Unemployment in UK is 3.4%
- April 19 - Soviet Union launches Saljut I.
- April 19 - Followers of Charles Manson, the Manson Family, are sentenced to gas chamber.
- April 20 - Supreme Court of the United States rules unanimously that busing of students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation.
- April 20 – Cambodian Prime Minister Lon Nol resigns
- April 21 – Siaka Stevens is elected the first president of Sierra Leone
- April 21 – François Duvalier, president of Haiti, dies—his son Jean-Claude Duvalier follows him as president-for-life
- April 24 – Soyuz 10 docks with Salyut 1
- April 24 – 500,000 people in Washington DC and 125,000 in San Francisco march against the Vietnam War
- April 24 - Tsunami 85 m high rises over Ryukyu Islands in Japan. It throws a 750-ton block of coral 2.5 km inland
- April 25 – Todor Zhivkov re-elected as a the leader of the Bulgarian communist party
- April 25 – Franz Jonas re-elected as the new chancellor of Austria
- April 26 – Government of Turkey declares the state of siege in 11 provinces, Ankara included, because of violent demonstrations
- April 29 – Bolivia nationalizes American-owned zinc mine of Matilde
- April 29 - The third anniversary of the Broadway musical Hair was celebrated with a concert at a Central Park bandshell.
May
- May 1 - Amtrak begins operation of intercity rail passenger service in the United States
- May 1 – Ceylonese government promises amnesty for those guerillas who surrender before April 5
- May 2 – in Ceylon left-wing guerillas launch a series of assaults against public buildings
- May 3 – Harris public opinion poll claims that 60% of Americans are against the war in Vietnam
- May 3 – East German leader Walter Ulbricht resigns as a party leader but retains the positions of the head of state
- May 3 - Anti-war militants attempt to disrupt government business in Washington, D.C.; police and military units arrest as many as 12,000, most of whom are later released.
- May 3 - All Things Considered, National Public Radio's flagship news program, broadcasts for the first time.
- May 5 – US dollar floods the European currency markets and threatens especially the Deutsche Mark – Central banks of Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland stop the currency trading
- May 6 – Ceylon government begins a major offensive against the People's Liberation Front
- May 9 – Launch of Mariner 8 fails
- May 12 – Earthquake in Turkey destroys most of the city of Burdur
- May 15 – Israeli ambassador to Turkey, Efraim Elrom, is kidnapped. He is found killed in Istanbul May 25
- May 16 – Coup attempt exposed and foiled in Egypt
- May 19 - Mars probe program: Mars 2 is launched by the Soviet Union
- May 26 – Austria and People's Republic of China form diplomatic relations
- May 26 - Qantas agrees to pay $500,000 to Bomb hoaxer-extortionist Mr Brown (Peter Marcini) (Later Arrested)
- May 27 – Six armed passengers hijack Romanian passenger plane and force it to fly to Vienna
- May 27 - Christie's auctions diamond later known as Deepdene - it is later found to be artificially colored
- May 28 – Portugal resigns from UNESCO
- May 30 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 is launched toward Mars
- May 31 - The birth of a new country, Bangladesh, is declared by the government in exile from territory formerly part of Pakistan.
June
- June - The Pentagon Papers are published.
- June 1 - Vietnam War: Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace, claiming to represent the majority of U.S. veterans who served in southeast Asia, speak against war protests
- June 6 - Soyuz program: Soyuz 11 launches.
- June 10 – USA ends trade embargo of China
- June 13 - Vietnam War: The New York Times begins to publish the Pentagon Papers. [1]
- June 13 - Gijs van Lennep wins the 24 hours of Le Mans together with Helmet Marko.
- June 13 - The New York Times publishes the first installation of Pentagon Papers
- June 14 - Norway begins oil production in North Sea.
- June 17 - Representatives of Japan and the United States sign the Okinawa Reversion Agreement, setting out a plan where the U.S. would return control of Okinawa.[2]
- June 20 – Britain announces that Soviet space scientist Anatoli Fedosejev has been granted asylum
- June 21 – Britain begins new negotiations for EEC membership in Luxembourg
- June 25 – Madagascar accuses USA of being connected to the plot to oust the current government – USA recalls its ambassador
- June 28 - Black assassin Jerome A. Johnson shoots Joe Colombo to the head in a middle of a Italian-American rally. Colombo goes into coma.
- June 30 - After a successful mission aboard Salyut 1, the world's first manned space station, the crew of the Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply leaks out through a faulty valve
- June 30 - Joe Baranek joins Xerox corporation in Rochester, New York.
July
- July 3 - Jim Morrison in found dead in his Paris apartment
- July 5 - Right to vote: The voting age in the United States is reduced from 21 to 18 (provision of the 26th Amendment formally certified by President Richard Nixon on this day)
- July 9 - United Kingdom increases its troops in Northern Ireland to 11.000
- July 10-11 – Coup attempt in Morocco - 1400 cadets take over the king's palace for three hours and kill 28 people; 158 rebels die when king's troops storm the palace. 10 high-ranking officers are later executed for involvement
- July 13 – Ólafur Jóhannesson's government in Iceland
- July 13 – Jordanian army troops launch offensive against Palestinian guerillas in Jordan
- July 14 – Libya severs its diplomatic ties to Morocco
- July 14 – Yugoslavian government allows foreign companies to take their profits from the country
- July 16 - Francisco Franco makes Prince Juan Carlos his successor.
- July 16 - The four billionth baby was born. (see World Population).
- July 17 – Italy and Austria sign a treaty that ends the schism about South Tyrol
- July 18 – Trucial States formed in the Persian Gulf
- July 19-23 – Military coup in Sudan ousts Jaafar Muhammad al-Nemieri and major Hashem al-Atta takes over. Fighting continues until on July 22 pro-Nimeiri troops win. Al-Atta and 3 officers are executed July 23. Nimeiri launches an anti-communist campaign
- July 26 - Apollo program: Launch of Apollo 15. On July 31 the Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover a day after landing on the surface
- July 28 - Abdel Madgoub, Sudanese communist leader, is hanged
- July 29 - The United Kingdom opts out of the Space Race with the cancellation of its Black Arrow launch vehicle.
- July 30 – In Japan, Boeing 707 collides with a fighter – 162 dead
August
- August 9 - India signs a twenty year treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union.
- August 9 - British security forces in Northern Ireland detain hundreds of guerilla suspects and put them into Long Kesh - the beginning of an internment without trial policy. 20 die in riots that follow.
- August 12 – 3000 people from Belfast and Londonderry flee to Ireland because of the violence
- August 12 – Syria severs diplomatic relations to Jordan because of border clashes
- August 14 – British troops stationed on Ireland border to stop arms smuggling
- August 14 - Emirate of Bahrain declares independence
- August 15 – Number of British troops in Northern Ireland rises to 12.500
- August 15 - President Richard Nixon announces that the United States would no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value, effectively ending the Bretton Woods Gold Standard
- August 18 - Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam
- August 18 – British troops in firefight in Londonderry
- August 19-22 – Right-wing coup ignites a rebellion in Bolivia. Miners and students join troops to support president Juan Jose Torres but eventually Hugo Banzer takes over
- August 25 – Border clashes between Tanzania and Uganda
- August 25 – Large flood in Bangladesh and eastern Bengal – thousands flee the area
- August 26 - Civilian government in Greece.
- August 30 - The Alberta Progressive Conservatives under Peter Lougheed defeat the Social Credit government under Harry E. Strom in a general election, ending 36 years of uninterrupted power for Social Credit in Alberta.
September
- September 3 - Qatar regains independence from the United Kingdom
- September 3 - Manlio Brosio resigns as secterary general of NATO
- September 4 - A Boeing 727 carrying Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes into the side of a mountain near Juneau, Alaska killing all 111 people on board
- September 8 - In Washington, DC, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated with the opening feature being the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Mass
- September 9 - 13 - Attica Prison riots - Revolt at the maximum-security prison in Attica, New York. In the end, state police and National Guard storm the facility - 42 dead, 10 of them hostages
- September 21 - Pakistan declares state of emergency
- September 24 - Britain expels 90 KGB and GRU officials and 15 are not allowed to return
- September 27 - October 11 - Emperor Hirohito travels abroad.
- September 28 - Cardinal Mindszenty, who has resided in US embassy in Budapest from 1956 is allowed to move out of Hungary.
- September 29 - Cyclone and tsunami in the Bay of Bengal in Orissa State in India kills 10,000.
October
- October 1 - Walt Disney World opens.
- October 21 - President Nixon nominated Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. and William H. Rehnquist to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- October 21 - Gas explosion in Clarkston, Glasgow kills 20 people.
- October 25 - The United Nations General Assembly admits the People's Republic of China and expels the Republic of China (on Taiwan).
- October 27 - Democratic Republic of the Congo is renamed Zaire.
- October 28 - British House of Commons votes in favour of joining the EEC by 356-244.
- October 28 - The United Kingdom becomes the 6th nation to launch a satellite into orbit, the Prospero X-3.
- October 29 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The total number of American troops still in Vietnam drops to a record low of 196,700 (lowest since January 1966)
- October 30 - Rev. Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party founded in Northern Ireland.
- October 31 - A bomb explodes at the top of the Post Office Tower in London.
November
- November 3 - The UNIX Programmer's Manual is published
- November 6 - US nuclear bomb test in Aleuts.
- November 10 - In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge forces attack the city Phnom Penh and its airport, killing 44, wounding at least 30 and damaging nine airplanes.
- November 12 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - US President Richard M. Nixon sets February 1, 1972 as the deadline for the removal of another 45,000 American troops from Vietnam.
- November 13 - Mariner program: Mariner 9 becomes the first spacecraft to enter Mars orbit successfully
- November 15 - Intel releases world's first microprocessor, the 4004.
- November 23 - The People's Republic of China is given the Republic of China's seat on the United Nations Security Council (see China and the United Nations)
- November 24 - During a severe thunderstorm over Washington, a man calling himself D.B. Cooper parachutes from the Northwest Orient Airlines plane he hijacked with US$200,000 in ransom money (he was never heard from again)
- November 24 - Brussels court sentences would-be-pretender Alexis Brimeyer to 18 months in jail for falsely using a noble title; Brimeyer has already fled to Greece
December
- December 1 - Cambodian Civil War: Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray, 10 kilometers northeast of Phnom Penh
- December 2 - Six Sheikdoms in Persian Gulf founds United Arab Emirates.
- December 3 - The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 begins as Pakistan attacks eight India airbases. The next day India launches a massive invasion of East Pakistan.
- December 3- 4 night - Indian navy destroyer INS Rajput sinks Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi (former USS Diablo)
- December 8 - US President Richard Nixon orders the 7th Fleet to move towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
- December 14 - Facing defeat in the war, Pakistan Army kills hundreds of Bangladeshi Intellectuals.
- December 16 - Victory Day of Bangladesh (Pakistan Army surrenders to the Mitro Bahini, ending Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 simultaneously).
- December 18 - US dollar devalued for the second time in US history.
- December 18 - World's largest hydroelectric plant in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, begins operations.
- December 29 - The United Kingdom gives up its military bases in Malta.
unknown dates
- Don't Make A Wave Committee changes its name to Greenpeace.
- Ray Tomlinson sends the first e-mail.
- Libertarian party established in USA.
- Free State of Christiania is founded.
- Intelsat IV
- Seychelles International Airport in Victoria, Seychelles (Mahe) is completed.
- Knapp Commission
- Johnny Cash, the American country and western singer, writes a song titled The Man in Black.
- US 48 continental states crude oil production peaks at approximately 4.5 million barrels/day.
Births
January-April
- January 2 - Lisa Harrison, American basketball player
- January 8 - Jason Giambi, baseball player
- January 9 - Scott Thornton, Canadian hockey player
- January 11 - Mary J. Blige, American singer
- January 17 - Leonardo Ciampa, American composer
- January 17 - Kid Rock, American singer
- January 18 - Jon Davis, American singer (Korn)
- January 19 - Shawn Wayans, American actor, writer, and producer
- January 19 - John Wozniak, American singer and songwriter (Marcy Playground)
- January 21 - Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
- January 25 - Luca Badoer, Italian race car driver
- January 27 - Fann Wong, Chinese actress, model, and singer (Shanghai Knights)
- February 1 - Jill Kelly, American actress
- February 3 - Sarah Kane, English playwright (d. 1999)
- February 5 - Sara Evans, American singer
- February 10 - Lisa Marie Varon, American professional wrestler
- February 17 - Denise Richards, American actress
- February 25 - Sean Astin, American actor
- February 26 - Erykah Badu, American singer
- February 28 - Tristan Louis, Internet entrepreneur
- March 5 - John Frusciante, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
- March 10 - Ugonna Wachuku, Nigerian writer
- March 11 - Johnny Knoxville, American television personality
- March 23 - Karen McDougal, American model
- March 26 - Behzad Ghorbani, Iranian scientist
- March 27 - David Coulthard, Scottish race car driver
- March 31 - Pavel Bure, Russian hockey player
- March 31 - Ewan McGregor, Scottish actor
- April 1 - Method Man, American rapper
- April 2 - Todd Woodbridge, Australian tennis player
- April 12 - Shannon Doherty, American actress
- April 16 - Selena Quintanilla, American singer (d. 1995)
- April 20 - Carla Geurts, Dutch swimmer
May-August
- May 8 - Candice Night, American singer
- May 20 - Tony Stewart, American race car driver
- May 25 - Sonya Smith, American actress
- May 26 - Matt Stone, American television producer
- May 27 - Paul Bettany, English actor
- June 2 - Anthony Montgomery, American actor
- June 5 - Mark Wahlberg, American actor and singer
- June 8 - Troy Vincent, American football player
- June 10 - Joel Hailey, American singer (Jodeci)
- June 16 - Derek R. Audette, Canadian musician, artist, and poet
- June 16 - Tupac Shakur, American rapper, poet, and actor (d. 1996)
- June 22 - Kurt Warner, American football player
- June 27 - Dipendra of Nepal, King of Nepal (d. 2001)
- July 1 - Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, American singer
- July 9 - Marc Andreessen, American software developer
- July 12 - Kristi Yamaguchi, American figure skater
- July 17 - Cory Doctorow, Canadian author and activist
- July 23 - Dalvin DeGrate, American singer and producer (Jodeci)
- July 22 - Kristine Lilly, American soccer player
- August 4 - Jeff Gordon, American race car driver
- August 6 - Merrin Dungey, American actress
- August 10 - Roy Keane, Irish footballer
- August 12 - Pete Sampras, American tennis player
- August 17 - Jorge Posada, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
- August 18 - Richard D James, Irish musician
- August 26 - Thalía, Mexican actress
- August 28 - Janet Evans, American swimmer
September-December
- September 1 - Hakan Sükür, Turkish footballer
- September 2 - Tommy Maddox, American football player
- September 8 - Brooke Burke, American model
- September 13 - Stella McCartney, British fashion designer
- September 18 - Lance Armstrong, American cyclist
- September 11 - Richard Ashcroft, British singer
- September 20 - Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer
- September 25 - John Lynch, American football player
- October 4 - Brian Transeau, American disc jockey
- October 8 - Samuel Vincent, Canadian voice actor
- October 13 - Sacha Baron Cohen, British comedian
- October 14 - Jorge Costa, Portuguese footballer
- October 20 - Dannii Minogue, Australian singer
- October 24 - Caprice Bourret, American model and actress
- October 25 - Pedro Martínez, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- October 25 - Midori, Japanese violinist
- October 29 - Winona Ryder, American actress
- November 12 - Tom Shear, American musician and producer
- November 16 - Alexander Popov, Russian swimmer
- November 24 - Keith Primeau, Canadian hockey player
- November 25 - Christina Applegate, American actress
- November 25 - Magnus Arvedson, Swedish hockey player
- December 6 - Richard Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
- December 17 - Antoine Rigaudeau, French basketball player
- December 19 - Tyson Beckford, American model
- December 19 - Tiffany Towers, Canadian actress
- November 30 - Iván "Pudge" Rodríguez, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player
- December 24 - Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican singer
- December 25 - Dido, English singer
- December 26 - Jonathan M. Parisen, American filmmaker
- December 28 - Frank Sepe, American bodybuilder and model
- December 31 - Brent Barry, American basketball player
Unknown date
- Siniša Vuco, Croatian musician
Deaths
January-April
- January 5 - Douglas Shearer, Canadian film sound engineer (b. 1899)
- January 6 - Sonny Liston, American boxer (b. 1932)
- January 9 - Elmer Flick, baseball player (b. 1876)
- January 10 - Coco Chanel, French fashion designer (b. 1883)
- January 19 - Harry Shields, American musician (b. 1899)
- January 20 - Gilbert M. 'Broncho Billy' Anderson, American actor, director, writer, and producer (b. 1880)
- January 27 - Jacobo Arbenz, President of Guatemala (b. 1913)
- January 28 - Donald Winnicott, British psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
- February 25 - Theodor Svedberg, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
- February 26 - Fernandel, French comedian (b. 1903)
- March 6 - Thurston Dart, English harpsichordist and conductor (b. 1921)
- March 8 - Harold Lloyd, American actor and filmmaker (b. 1893)
- March 11 - Philo T. Farnsworth, American television pioneer (b. 1906)
- March 16 - Thomas Dewey, Governor of New York and Presidential candidate (b. 1902)
- April 3 - Joseph Valachi, gangster (b. 1904)
- April 6 - Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (b. 1882)
- April 12 - Igor Tamm, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
- April 19 - Earl Thomson, Canadian athlete (b. 1895)
- April 21 - Papa Doc Duvalier, President of Haiti (b. 1907)
May-September
- May 11 - Sean Lemass, President of Ireland (b. 1899)
- May 12 - Heinie Manush, baseball player (b. 1901)
- May 15 - Sir Tyrone Guthrie, English film director, producer, and writer (b. 1900)
- May 19 - Ogden Nash, American poet (b. 1902)
- May 28 - Audie Murphy, American World War II hero and actor (b. 1924)
- May 30 - Marcel Dupré, French composer (b. 1886)
- June 1 - Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologian (b. 1892)
- June 10 - Michael Rennie, English actor (b. 1909)
- June 15 - Wendell Meredith Stanley, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- June 18 - Paul Karrer, Swiss chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
- June 25 - John Boyd Orr, Scottish physician and biologist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1880)
- June 30 - Crew of Soyuz 11:
- Georgi Dobrovolski (b. 1928)
- Viktor Patsayev (b. 1933)
- Vladislav Volkov (b. 1935)
- July 1 - William Lawrence Bragg, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1890)
- July 3 - Jim Morrison, American singer, songwriter, and poet (b. 1943)
- July 4 - August Derleth, American author and anthologist (b. 1909)
- July 6 - Louis Armstrong, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1901)
- July 7 - Claude Gauvreau, Canadian writer (b. 1925)
- July 7 - Ub Iwerks, American animator (b. 1901)
- July 19 - John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever, British businessman (b. 1886)
- July 25 - Leroy Robertson, American composer (b. 1896)
- July 30 - Kenneth Slessor, Australian poet (b. 1901)
- August 25 - Ted Lewis, American musician and entertainer (b. 1890)
- August 27 - Bennett Cerf, American publisher and television personality (b. 1898)
- September 11 - Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, Soviet leader (b. 1894)
- September 12 - Lin Biao, Chinese defense minister (plane crash) (b. 1907)
- September 20 - Giorgos Seferis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
October-December
- October 24 - Carl Ruggles, American composer (b. 1876)
- October 29 - Arne Tiselius, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- November 15 - Edie Sedgwick, American actress and model (b. 1943)
- December 9 - Ralph Bunche, American diplomat, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1904)
Nobel Prizes
- Physics - Dennis Gabor
- Chemistry - Gerhard Herzberg
- Medicine - Earl W. Sutherland, Jr
- Literature - Pablo Neruda
- Peace - Willy Brandt
- Economics - Simon Kuznets
