January 2, 1971. The United States bans radio and television ads for cigarettes. Here’s a montage of cigarette ads from the 1960’s:

January 15, 1971. The Aswan High Dam officially opens in Egypt.

February 13, 1971. Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos in order to root out Vietcong fighters who have fled across the border.

February 20, 1971. Idi Amin, former boxing champion and army leader, declares himself president of Uganda. He bans all political activities and elections for the next five years.

April 17, 1971. Libya, Syria and Egypt sign an agreement to form a confederation.

April 21, 1971. Nineteen-year-old Jena-Claude “Baby-Doc” Duvalier succeeds his father “Papa Doc” as president of Haiti.

July, 1971. The first combined heart and lung transplant is performed in a South African hospital.

August, 1971. Internment without trial is introduced in Northern Ireland. Over 300 republicans are arrested secretly in pre-dawn raids. Some loyalists are later arrested. British troops begin clearing operations in Belfast following the worst rioting in years.

October 27, 1971. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is renamed Zaire. General Mobutu becomes Mobutu Sésé Seko and forced all his citizens to adopt African names and many cities were also renamed.

December 16, 1971. Pakistan surrenders to India after a two-week war. East Pakistan becomes the independent nation of Bangladesh.