1971

January 2

• A barrier collapses at Ibrox Park football ground at end of a soccer match in Glasgow, Scotland, killing 66. [1]

January 3

• Baltimore Colts beat Oakland Raiders 27-17 in AFC championship game. [1]
• Dallas Cowboys beat San Francisco 49ers 17-10 in NFC championship game. [1]

January 4

• Philadelphia's Veteran Stadium dedicated. [1]

January 5

• First one-day international, Australia versus England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. [1]
• Harlem Globetrotters lose 100-99 to New Jersey Reds, ending 2,495-game win streak. [1]
• Sonny Liston, World Champ heavyweight boxer (1962-64), found dead at age 36. [1]

January 11

• Detroit Tigers' ace reliever John Hiller, 27, suffers a heart attack, and misses the 1971 season. [1]

January 14

• John Snow takes 7-40 for England to beat Australia by 299 runs. [1]

January 16

• Ard Schenk skates world record 1500m (1:58.7). [1]

January 17

• Super Bowl V: Baltimore Colts-16, Dallas Cowboys-13 in Miami, Florida; Most Valuable Player: Chuck Howley, Dallas, Linebacker. [1]

January 19

• 24th NHL All-Star Game: West beat East 2-1 at Boston. [1]
• NHL Writers' Association renamed Professional Hockey Writers' Association. [1]

January 20

• Ard Schenk skates world record 1000m (1:18.8). [1]

January 23

• 4th ABA All-Star Game: East 126 beats West 122 at Carolina. [1]

January 24

• NFL Pro Bowl: NFC beats AFC 27-6 (first Pro Bowl after NFL-AFL merger). [1]

January 29

• Test debut of Dennis Keith Lillee, versus England at Adelaide. [1]

January 30

• Dennis Lillee takes 5-84 in his first Test bowl, versus England. [1]

January 31

• Jake Beckley, Joe Kelley, Harry Hooper, Rube Marquard, Chick Hafey and Dave Bancroft and George Weiss elected to baseball Hall of Fame. [1]
• US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn. [1]
• US male Figure Skating championship won by John Misha Petkevich. [1]

February 1

• Jim A J Christy, cricketer (10 Tests for South Africa, 638 runs at 34 33), dies. [1]

February 6

• First time a golf ball is hit on the Moon (by Alan Shepard). [1]

February 9

• Leroy "Satchel" Paige becomes first negro-league player elected to Baseball Hall of Fame. [1] [129]

February 11

• Montreal Canadiens' John Believau scores his 500th NHL goal. [1]

February 12

• Only Test Cricket for Ken Eastwood, who scored 5 and 0 Australia versus England. [1]

February 13

• Golfing US Vice President Spiro Agnew hits two tee shots into the crowd, injuring two. [1]

February 17

• England regains cricket Ashes with a 2-0 series win. [1]

February 19

• Walt Wesley becomes the first Cleveland Cavaliers' player to score 50 points in a game. [1]

February 20

• Boston Bruins' Phil Esposito is NHL's quickest to score 50 goals in a season. [1]

February 21

• Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Sears Women's World Golf Classic. [1]

February 26

• Edward van der Merwe, cricket keeper (South Africa in two Tests in 1930s), dies. [1]

February 28

• 53rd PGA Championship: Jack Nicklaus shoots a 281 at PGA National to win his second golf grand slam. [1]

March 6

• Test Cricket debut of Sunil Gavaskar, versus West Indies at Port-of-Spain. [1]

March 8

• Joe Frazier beats Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York) in 15 rounds, retains heavyweight boxing title. [1]
• Milwaukee Bucks win their 20th straight NBA game (team record). [1]

March 9

• J M Noreiga takes 9-95 West Indies versus India at Port-of-Spain. [1]

March 15

• Jean-Pierre Monseré, Flemish cyclist, dies at age 22. [1]

March 16

• Chuck Fleetwood-Smith, cricketer (Victoria and Australia), dies. [1]

March 18

• George Wood, England cricket wicketkeeper (v South Africa 1924), dies. [1]

March 19

• Philadelphia 76ers outscore Cincinnati Royals 90-8 in one half. [1]

March 20

• Boston Bruins win 13th straight NHL game. [1]

March 21

• Gavaskar scores first of his 34 Test Cricket tons, 116 at Georgetown. [1]
• Jan Ferraris wins LPGA Orange Blossom Golf Classic. [1]

March 25

• Boston Patriots become New England Patriots. [1]

March 27

• 33rd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Villanova 68-62; this is UCLA's 5th consecutive NCAA basketball title. [1]