Events Date 1971 October | History by KabAstro

Sports History

Oct 3 American tennis star Billie Jean King becomes first female athlete to win $100,000 in prize money in a single year; wins the $4,000 Virginia Slams Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona

F1 World Champion

Oct 3 US Formula 1 Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, New York: French driver François Cevert wins the race, his Tyrell-Ford teammate Scotsman Jackie Stewart finishes to claim his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by 29 points over Swede Ronnie Peterson

Oct 4 Borden's opens a turn-of-century ice cream parlor at Disney World
Oct 4 KMPH TV channel 26 in Visalia-Fresno, CA (IND) begins broadcasting
Oct 4 USSR performs underground nuclear test
Oct 5 A new sitting of the Northern Ireland parliament at Stormont begins, though the Social Democratic and Labour Party remain absent due to its continuing protest against Internment
Oct 6 MLB National League Championship: Pittsburgh Pirates beat San Francisco Giants, 3 games to 1

The French Connection

Oct 7 "The French Connection" directed by William Friedkin and starring Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider and Fernando Rey premieres in the US (Academy Awards Best Picture 1972)

Meeting of Interest

Oct 7 Northern Ireland Prime Minister Brian Faulkner meets with British Prime Minister Edward Heath; they agree to send an additional 1,500 British Army troops to Northern Ireland

Oct 7 Terence McNally's play "Where has Tommy Flowers gone?" premieres in NYC

Imagine

Oct 8 Apple Records releases John Lennon's second solo studio album, "Imagine" in UK; it tops the charts in US, UK, Australia, and 3 other countries

Oct 8 John Lennon releases his megahit single "Imagine"
Oct 8 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

Event of Interest

Oct 9 Japanese Emperor Hirohito visits the Netherlands

Oct 9 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Oct 10 5th Country Music Association Awards: Charlie Pride wins
Oct 11 60th Davis Cup: US beats Romania in Charlotte (3-2); American 23rd title

World Series

Oct 11 Baltimore 3B Brooks Robinson sets Baseball World Series record; reaches base 5 straight times in Orioles 11-3 win over Pittsburgh Pirates in Game 2 at Memorial Stadium

Baseball Hall of Fame Third Baseman Brooks Robinson

Oct 11 Frank McGee becomes news anchor of Today Show
Oct 11 Switzerland recognizes North Vietnam

Music History

Oct 12 Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar", starring Jeff Fenholt and Ben Vereen opens at Mark Hellinger Theatre, NYC; runs for 711 performances

Oct 13 First ever Baseball World Series night game; Pittsburgh Pirates edge Baltimore Orioles, 4-3 in Game 4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh
Oct 13 WTZH TV channel 24 in Meridian, MS (CBS) suspends broadcasting
Oct 14 2 killed in Memphis racial disturbances

TV Show Appearance

Oct 14 John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear on "Dick Cavett Show"

Oct 15 The start of the 2,500-year celebration of Iran, celebrating the birth of Persia
Oct 15 World's first arcade video game Computer Space developed by Syzygy first demonstrated at the MOA Show in the US
Oct 16 Amphitheater in McLaren Park is dedicated in San Francisco

World Series

Oct 17 Baseball World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates beat Baltimore Orioles, 2-1 at Memorial Stadium to claim championship. 4-3; MVP: Pirates outfielder Roberto Clemente

Oct 17 Cleveland Metroparks' Rocky River Nature Center opens
Oct 17 It is estimated today that approximately 16,000 households were withholding rent and rates for council houses as part of the campaign of civil disobedience against internment organised by the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Northern Ireland
Oct 19 A group of Northern Ireland Members of Parliament begin a 48 hour hunger strike against the policy of Internment
Oct 19 Last issue of "Look" magazine is published

Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death

Oct 20 Melvin Van Peebles' musical "Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death" opens at Barrymore Theater, NYC; runs for 325 performances

Actor, Filmmaker, Playwright and Composer Melvin Van Peebles

Oct 20 The Nepal stock exchange collapses.

Event of Interest

Oct 20 US Senator Edward Kennedy calls for a withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland and all-party negotiations to establish a United Ireland

Nobel Peace Prize

Oct 20 West German Chancellor Willy Brandt is awarded Nobel Peace Prize

Oct 21 "To Live Another Summer" opens at Helen Hayes NYC for 173 performances

Nobel Prize in Literature

Oct 21 Nobel prize for literature awarded to Pablo Neruda

Oct 21 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Oct 21 William H Rehnquist & Lewis F Powell nominated to US Supreme Court by Nixon, following resignations of Justices Hugo Black & John Harlan
Oct 22 USSR performs nuclear test
Oct 23 Three Catholic civilians are shot dead by the British Army during an attempted robbery in Newry, County Down
Oct 23 Two female members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) are shot dead by the British Army in the Lower Falls area of Belfast
Oct 23 WXLT (now WWSB) TV channel 40 in Sarasota-Bradenton, FL (ABC) begins
Oct 24 A member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) is shot dead by undercover Royal Ulster Constabulary officers during a bomb attack in Belfast
Oct 24 Harry Drake sets longest arrow flight by a footbow (1 mile 268 yds)
Oct 24 President of Sinn Féin Ruairi O'Brady, addresses a party conference in Dublin and proclaims that the North of Ireland must be made ungovernable as a first step to achieve a united Ireland
Oct 24 Texas Stadium opens-Cowboys beat Patriots 44-21
Oct 25 A man dies two days after being shot during an Irish Republican Army attack on the British Army in Belfast
Oct 25 Belgium & People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations
Oct 25 General Meeting of UN agrees to admit People's Republic of China
Oct 25 United Nations votes to expel the Chinese Nationalist ruled Taiwan and admit the Communist People's Republic of China
Oct 26 An Assembly, attended only by Nationalist politicians, and acting as an alternative to Stormont, meet in Dungiven Castle
Oct 26 UN votes to replace Taiwan with China
Oct 27 Gerard Newe becomes the first Catholic to serve in any Northern Ireland government since 1920; Newe was appointed to try to improve community relations
Oct 27 Republic of Congo-Kinshasa becomes Republic of Zaire
Oct 28 John Lennon and Yoko Ono record the single "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in NYC

Britain Joins the European Community

Oct 28 The British Parliament debates the European Communities principle of membership and votes 356 to 244 in favour of joining, requiring a new law to be drafted and a later final vote on joining

Margaret Thatcher campaigning to stay in Europe during the 1975 referendum

Oct 28 United Kingdom becomes the 6th nation to have a satellite in orbit with the launch of Prospero

200 Motels

Oct 29 Frank Zappa's musical mockumentary "200 Motels", starring The Mothers of Invention, Theodore Bikel, and Ringo Starr premieres in Beverly Hills, California