September 1971
The following events occurred in September 1971:
[September 1], 1971 (Wednesday)
- The 1971 South Pacific Games begin in Tahiti.
- Born: Hakan Şükür, Turkish footballer, in Sakarya; Lââm, French-Tunisian singer, in Paris
[September 2], 1971 (Thursday)
- Hurricane Edith begins forming in the tropical eastern Atlantic.
[September 3], 1971 (Friday)
- Qatar gains independence from the United Kingdom. Unlike most nearby emirates, Qatar declines to become part of either the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.
- The Four Power Agreement on Berlin is signed.
- Manlio Brosio resigns as NATO Secretary General.
[September 4], 1971 (Saturday)
- A Boeing 727 crashes into the side of a mountain near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 people on board.
[September 6], 1971 (Monday)
- Born: Dolores O'Riordan, Irish singer, in Ballybricken, County Limerick
[September 7], 1971 (Tuesday)
- Born: Jean-Yves Thibaudet, French pianist, in Lyon
[September 8], 1971 (Wednesday)
- In Washington, D.C., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is inaugurated with the première of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
[September 9], 1971 (Thursday)
- The Barbadian general election returns the Democratic Labour Party to government.
- Attica Prison riot: - A revolt breaks out at the maximum-security prison in Attica, New York. After four days, state police and the United States National Guard storm the facility; 42 are killed, 10 of them hostages.
[September 10], 1971 (Friday)
- The submarine is decommissioned after running aground during Typhoon Rose.
- The Bell 309 KingCobra helicopter flies for the first time.
- British Columbia Premier W. A. C. Bennett officially opens the Pacific Great Eastern Railway's Fort Nelson Subdivision between Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, British Columbia.
- Died: Pier Angeli, 39, Italian actress, of an overdose of barbiturates; Roland de Vaux, 67, French Benedictine priest and archaeologist
[September 11], 1971 (Saturday)
- The Jordanian National Liberation Movement begins operations with a bomb placed outside the security police building in Abdali. Two policemen are injured.
- The Baker Street robbery takes place at the Baker Street branch of Lloyds Bank, in London, UK.
- Died: Nikita Khrushchev, 77, Soviet leader
[September 12], 1971 (Sunday)
- A concert by Funkadelic is recorded, to be released 25 years later as .
- The Sigma experimental glider flies for the first time at Cranfield, UK.
[September 13], 1971 (Monday)
- Born: Goran Ivanišević, Croatian tennis player, in Split
[September 14], 1971 (Tuesday)
- Born: Prince Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe, descendant of the Danish and British royal families
- Died: Tarashankar Bandopadhyay, 73, Bengali novelist
[September 15], 1971 (Wednesday)
- Banker Thomas Troubridge marries Baroness Marie-Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz, later Princess Michael of Kent.
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 297 recommends that Qatar be admitted to UN membership.
- Died: Benno Mengele, 72, Austrian electrical engineer
[September 16], 1971 (Thursday)
- The asteroids 2163 Korczak and 2170 Byelorussia are discovered by the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory.
- Look, a United States photojournalism periodical, ceases publication.
[September 17], 1971 (Friday)
- ITV and ABC air the first episode of The Persuaders!, starring Roger Moore and Tony Curtis.
- NBC airs the first episode of McMillan & Wife, starring Rock Hudson.
- Died: Carlos Lamarca, 33, Brazilian rebel, ambushed and killed by the army along with fellow VPR member José Campos Barreto
[September 18], 1971 (Saturday)
- In Rugby league, the 1971 NSWRFL season culminates in a Grand Final victory for South Sydney, defeating St George 16–10.
[September 19], 1971 (Sunday)
- Hurricane Irene–Olivia makes landfall in Nicaragua. A total of 96 homes are destroyed, and 1,200 people are left homeless. The rainfall results in widespread flooding, killing three people in Rivas.
- The Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park is won by Jackie Stewart.
- The second New York City Marathon is won by Norman Higgins in a time of 2:22:54.
[September 20], 1971 (Monday)
- Born: Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer, in Helsingborg
- Died: Reipas, 23, Finnish trotting horse
[September 21], 1971 (Tuesday)
- Pakistan declares a state of emergency.
- Died: Bernardo Houssay, 84, Argentine physiologist and Nobel laureate
[September 22], 1971 (Wednesday)
- The last Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Trophy Play-Off takes place at Camp Nou; Barcelona defeat Leeds United 2–1.
- Born: Princess Märtha Louise of Norway, only daughter of King Harald V of Norway, in Oslo; Chesney Hawkes, English singer and teen idol, in Slough
- Born: Riaz Ahmad, Son Of Ghulam Haider In jahangi wali bahawalpur
- Died: Edgar Whitehead, 66, former Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia
[September 23], 1971 (Thursday)
- The asteroid 4466 Abai is discovered by the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory.
[September 24], 1971 (Friday)
- Britain expels 90 KGB and GRU officials, 15 of them permanently.
[September 25], 1971 (Saturday)
- A rally takes place in Dublin in support of a campaign of civil disobedience in Northern Ireland.
- In Australia, Derek Clayton wins his third men's national marathon title, clocking 2:11:08.8 in Hobart.
[September 26], 1971 (Sunday)
- The main-belt asteroids 6214 Mikhailgrinev, 2217 Eltigen and 2280 Kunikov are discovered by scientists at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory.
- The Freetown "Christiania" was founded.
[September 27], 1971 (Monday)
- Japanese Emperor Hirohito sets off on an overseas tour.
[September 28], 1971 (Tuesday)
- Cardinal József Mindszenty, who has taken refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Budapest since 1956, is allowed to leave Hungary.
- The Bangladesh Air Force goes into operation.
[September 29], 1971 (Wednesday)
- A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, in Orissa State in India, kills an estimated 10,000 people.
[September 30], 1971 (Thursday)
- P. V. Narasimha Rao becomes chief minister of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.
- The Washington Senators baseball team play their last game in Washington before their move to Texas. Thousands of fans enter the ground without paying, the security guards having left early, swelling the paid attendance of 14,460 to around 25,000. With the Senators leading 7-5 and two outs in the top of the ninth inning, several hundred youths raid the field for souvenirs. One man steals first base, and umpire crew chief Jim Honochick declares the game forfeit to the New York Yankees 9-0.