The following events occurred in December 1971:
December 1, 1971 (Wednesday) The British House of Commons narrowly approved the Government's plan for a settlement with Rhodesia, negotiated by Alec Douglas-Home, 297 to 289. In the Cambodian Civil War, Khmer Rouge rebels intensified their assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing the Cambodian retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray, northeast of Phnom Penh. The French submarine Redoutable (S611) was commissioned as the first SNLE (‘’’S ‘’’ous-marin ‘’’N ‘’’ucléaire ‘’’L ‘’’anceur d'‘’’E ‘’’ngins or "Device-Launching Nuclear Submarine"). The National Industrial Relations Court was established in the UK. The municipality of Buchenbach was formed by the merger of the former political entities of Buchenbach and Falkensteig. The Belgian singing duo Nicole & Hugo were married at Wemmel. Born: Jason Keng-Kwin Chan, Malaysian-Australian actor; in Kuala Lumpur
December 2, 1971 (Thursday) The United Arab Emirates was founded by the six of the seven Trucial Sheikhdoms (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain; Ras Al Khaimah joined later) of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Emir of Abu Dhabi, was selected as the UAE's first president, and Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emir of Dubai, was vice president. Saeed's son, Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was named as the prime minister."An Arab State Is Born Amid Persian Gulf Unrest", The New York Times, December 3, 1971, p. 12 The Mars 3 lander, released by the orbiting Soviet spacecraft of the same name, made the first soft landing on the planet Mars. It began transmitting data to the orbiter on December 5, but failed after only 20 seconds. Scientists quoted in Pravda speculated that the lander had either encountered a dust storm or that there was another problem in the landing area."Soviet Says Mars Signal Lasted 20 Seconds", The New York Times, December 20, 1971, p. 20 An explosion in Taiwan, fire and carbon monoxide poisoning killed 40 underground coal miners near the port city of Keelung. The blast happened below ground in the Seven Star mine."Coal Mine Explosion Kills 40 on Taiwan", The New York Times, December 3, 1971, p. 3 Chile's President Salvador Allende decreed emergency rule after riots in the capital, the day after the "March of the Empty Pots" by women in Santiago, injured more than 150 people. Allende authorized General Augusto Pinochet, commander of the Chilean Army garrison in Santiago, to put down the rebellion."Allende Decrees Emergency Rule as Riots Continue— General in Control of Public Order in Chile's Capital", The New York Times, December 3, 1971, p. 1 Alan Enver, a 52-year old hiker who had survived being stranded for six days with his wife Maibritt on a snow-covered mountain in New South Wales in Australia,"Copter Search for Two Missing on Icy Slopes", The Age (Melbourne), December 2, 1971, p. 1 died when he lost his balance while waving to a rescue helicopter. Mr. Enver and his wife had been hiking in Kosciuszko National Park, with their dog, on November 28 and had gotten lost while on Mount Kosciuszko. They were "walking along a narrow path on the side of a deep gorge" when the RAAF rescue copter came over the ridge, and as Mr. Enver "waved vigorously to the crew to attract attention" he slipped and fell into a stream below."Death fall as lost man signals 'copter", The Age (Melbourne), December 3, 1971, p. 3"He Dies Waving to Rescuer", The New York Times, December 3, 1971, p. 15 Died: Fred van Deventer, 67, American radio newscaster and game show host who created the popular quiz show Twenty Questions in 1946 on the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network, and later for the DuMont television network. The show debuted on February 2, 1946 and ran until May of 1955."Fred Van Deventer Dead at 67; Originated Radio '20 Questions'", The New York Times, December 4, 1971, p. 34
December 3, 1971 (Friday) The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 began as Pakistan carried out air attacks on at least seven Indian airbases. The next day India launched a massive invasion of East Pakistan. A squad of about 200 Pakistani Army troops in East Pakistan began a massacre in six villages on the west bank of the Buriganga River, about from the Bengali capital of Dhaka, indiscriminately killing thousands of residents, both Hindu and Muslim, and destroying homes. The Pakistan Navy submarine PNS Ghazi sank under mysterious circumstances with all 93 personnel onboard. The Indian Armed Forces denied responsibility for the sinking, and its commander, Lieutenant-General J. F. R. Jacob, said that he had first gotten notice in a call from Vice Admiral Krishnan, Commander of the Eastern Naval Command, who investigated reports that fishermen had found floating wreckage. The debris included a lifebelt with the identification "Diablo", the name of a U.S. Navy submarine that had been sold to the Pakistan Navy and renamed PNS Ghazi. Quoting Krishnan, Commander Jacob said that "the sinking of the Ghazi was an act of God" and that the Indian Navy had been unaware that the Ghazi had sunk. Jacob implied that the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant had been the prime target of PNS Ghazi. Indian historians have long claimed that the Indian Navy destroyer INS Rajput (former HMS Rotherham) sank the PNS Ghazi. The Bangladesh Air Force, composed of Bengali pilots and technicians defecting from the Pakistan Air Force, launched attacks on depots and communication lines, flying light aircraft donated by India. Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu was installed as eighth monarch of the Zulus at a traditional ceremony at Nongoma in South Africa, attended by 20,000 people. The United States and Canada signed an extradition treaty providing for each nation to return persons wanted for hijacking or for an attack on a diplomat, as a waiver of the traditional "political exclusion clause" used refusing a request for return. U.S. Secretary of State William P. Rogers and Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Mitchell Sharp signed on behalf of their respective nations at the U.S. State Department in Washington. Krzysztof Penderecki's De Natura Sonoris No 2 was premièred at the Juilliard School of Music in New York.
December 4, 1971 (Saturday) The Indian Navy launched a devastating naval offensive, codenamed Operation Trident, a blockade of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and the home of the Pakistan Naval Headquarters. Led by three missile cruisers (, and ), each armed with four Soviet-made SS-N-2B Styx missiles, the Indian Navy destroyed four Pakistani ships and the fuel storage tanks in Karachi. INS Nirghat sank the Pakistani destroyer with a Styx missile, killing 222 sailors. The McGurk's Bar bombing in Belfast killed 15 people and injured 17 others. The pub, patronized by Roman Catholic residents of Belfast, was located in a three-story building that was destroyed when of gelignite were detonated shortly after being placed. The Battle of Basantar, concentrated around the city of Shakargarh in Pakistan's Punjab province, began between India's Soviet-made tanks (including the T-55 series) and Pakistan's U.S.-made tanks (including the M60 Patton) and would last for 10 days. Pakistan lost 48 tanks and India lost 13. The Montreux Casino, located on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at Montreux, Switzerland, burned down during a Frank Zappa concert, after a concertgoer fired a flare gun into the ceiling, which was covered with rattan, destroying the casino and the equipment of Zappa and his band, The Mothers of Invention. Members of the band Deep Purple, who had planned to do a recording session the next day inside the building, watched as it burned down and later memorialized the event in the classic rock song "Smoke on the Water".
December 5, 1971 (Sunday) The Soviet Union vetoed a UN Security Council Resolution, calling for both India and Pakistan to enter an immediate ceasefire and to withdraw their forces from each other's nations."Russian Vote in U.N. Kills Troop-Pullback Proposal", by Henry Tanner, The New York Times, December 5, 1971, p. 1 The vote came at about 1:15 in the morning after an eight hour session in which the 10-member Security Council listened to the statements of the representatives for both nations. Died: Andrei Andreyev, 76, former member of the ruling Politburo of Soviet Union from 1932 until 1952, when he was demoted along with other associates of Joseph Stalin.
December 6, 1971 (Monday) In the United States, the first Auto Train began operating, departing from Lorton, Virginia (a suburb of Washington D.C.) at 8:12 in the evening for a 15-hour trip to Sanford, Florida, at a price of $190 round trip for one car and three passengers."Auto-train runs under way today", Tampa (FL) Times, December 6, 1971, p. 7-C Using the principle of a car ferry, the train carried passengers in luxury style and hauled their automobiles separately as freight. The venture was operated by the Auto-Train Corporation, and used the tracks of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac line and the Seaboard Coast Line."First Auto Train Hi-Balling On Way To Sanford", Orlando (FL) Sentinel, December 7, 1971, p. 6-A The first run, which departed 12 minutes late but arrived at 11:00 the next morning as scheduled, carried 95 passengers and only 28 automobiles on its double-decker enclosed cars, but had plans to carry up to 104 autos and more than 400 passengers."First auto-train makes tracks", Miami News, December 7, 1971, p. 1 South Korea's President Park Chung Hee declared a state of national emergency throughout the Asian nation. In a statement read by Chu Yong, his Minister of Culture and Information, Park said that the six-point declaration was made necessary by "the rapid changes in international situations, including the recent admission of Communist China to the United Nations, its effect upon the Korean peninsula and the various fanatic moves by North Korean Communists.""'Emergency' Rule Invoked by Seoul", The New York Times, December 6, 1971, p. 15 The U.S. Senate voted, 89 to 1, to confirm Lewis F. Powell as a new Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court to replace the seat vacated by the retirement of Hugo L. Black. The lone vote against Powell, a private attorney in Richmond, Virginia, with no prior judicial experience, was by Senator Fred R. Harris of Oklahoma."Senate Confirms Powell by 89 to 1 for Black's Seat", by Fred P. Graham, The New York Times, December 7, 1971, p. 1 Born: Richard Krajicek, Dutch tennis player, in Muiderberg Ryan White, American AIDS patient, in Kokomo, Indiana (d. 1990) Died: Mathilde Kschessinska, 99, Russian ballerina
December 7, 1971 (Tuesday) Libya announced that it was nationalizing all Libyan operations of British Petroleum (BP) after charging that the UK had conspired with Iran to allow the seizure of the islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs in the Persian Gulf on November 30. The government, making its announcement on Libyan radio, also said that it was going to withdraw all of its deposits in British banks."Libya Seizes British Oil Concern, Charging a London Conspiracy in Iran's Occupation of 3 Islands", by Raymond H. Anderson, The New York Times, December 8, 1971, p. 11 Shot to death on November 9, the bodies of John List's mother, his wife, and his three teenaged children were discovered in their Westfield, New Jersey, mansion."5 in Jersey Family Slain; Husband Sought", by Richard J. H. Johnston, The New York Times, December 8, 1971, p. 1 List, who fled the scene would remain a fugitive for almost 18 years, working under a variety of aliases, before being captured in 1989 after the case was featured in a nationwide broadcast of the relatively new FOX Network show America's Most Wanted."18-year-old murder case resolved— TV tip leads to arrest", by Steve Chambers, Asbury Park (NJ) Press, June 2, 1989, p. 1 Died: Fernando Quiroga y Palacios, 71, Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela