Date in year · 1971 · The 1970s

February 20, 1971

On February 20, 1971, the United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated in an erroneous national alert. The year's #1 song was "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night. Franck Esposito, Danie Mellor, Bo Outlaw would arrive in the same year.

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Births

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Year

1971

1970s

Around 1971

The year in brief

1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1971st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 971st year of the 2nd millennium, the 71st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1970s decade.

Read the full year of 1971 →

What happened

On February 20, 1971

  1. 1971 The United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated in an erroneous national alert.

    Former United States emergency warning system

    The Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), sometimes called the Emergency Action Notification System (EANS), was an emergency warning system used in the United States. It was the most commonly used, along with the Emergency Override system. It replaced the previous CONELRAD system and was used from 1963 to 1997, at which point it was replaced by the Emergency Alert System.

Arrivals

Born on February 20, 1971

Jari Litmanen 1971– Finnish footballer (born 1971)
Joost van der Westhuizen 1971– South African rugby union player

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1971

The class of 1971

Others born in 1971

Franck Esposito 1971– French swimmer
Danie Mellor 1971– Australian painter and sculptor
Bo Outlaw 1971– American basketball player
Cameron Blades 1971– Australian rugby player
Selena 1971– American singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer (died 1995)
Seigo Yamamoto 1971– Japanese racing driver

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