The following events occurred in October 1971:
October 1, 1971 (Friday) The first CAT scan on a human being (now referred to as a CT scan) was performed, conducted outside of London in Wimbledon at the Atkinson Morley Hospital on an unidentified patient, using computerized axial tomography on a machine developed by Dr. Godfrey Hounsfield from the theories of Dr. Allan Cormack."CT scanning the early days", by E C Beckmann, The British Journal of Radiology (January 2006) pp. 5–8. Walt Disney World opened at 10:00 in the morning near Orlando, Florida."12,000 AT DISNEY TODAY— That's Early Crowd Guess By Officials", Orlando (FL) Evening Star, October 2, 1971, p. 1 Roughly 2,000 people were waiting when the gates opened to the eastern U.S. counterpart to Disneyland, which had opened in 1955 in Anaheim, California. On the first day, only 10,000 paying customers showed up rather than the predicted 30,000."Disney World Opens Without Expected Crush", The New York Times, October 2, 1971, p. 33 For the first time since the October 1, 1949, Chinese Revolution, the traditional massive parades through Beijing for the National Day of the People's Republic of China were canceled, and celebrations were minimal, with no explanation for the cancellation of scheduled events."Chou and Other Officials Attend National Day Rites", The New York Times, October 2, 1971, p. 1 Although a giant portrait of Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong was put on display in Tiananmen Square, the official Party newspaper, Jenmin Jin Pao, made no editorial comment and omitted any photos of both Mao and Deputy Party Chairman Lin Biao. Unbeknownst to the general public, the Party and the government had been in turmoil since August after an attempted overthrow of Chairman Mao by Vice Chairman Lin. As part of a program of "regional reform" (Gebietsreform) in West Germany's state of Hessen, mergers of several villages went into effect. Niederwalluf and Oberwalluf were combined as Walluf; Neuenhasslau and Gondsroth were united as Hasselroth; Eibelshausen, Eiershausen and Wissenbach merged to form Eschenburg; Bleidenstadt, Hahn, Neuhof, Seitzenhahn, Watzhahn and Wehen formed Taunusstein; and the municipalities of Dauborn, Heringen, Kirberg, Mensfelden, Nauheim, Neesbach and Ohren were amalgamated as Hünfelden. In the first phase of encouraging voluntary mergers, the number of municipalities went from 2,642 to 1,233. Mandatory consolidation to reduce the number to 500 would take place in 1974."Die kommunale Gebietsreform" ("The communal regional reform", by Heinrich Voit, in 30 Jahre Hessische Verfassung (30 Years of the Hessian Constitution), ed. by Erwin Stein (Wiesbaden 1976) pp. 412-433 Died: Senior Lieutenant Maguba Guseynovna Syrtlanova, 69, Soviet pilot and Heroine of the Soviet Union as deputy commander of the all-female 588th Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Air Force, nicknamed "die Nachthexen" ("The Night Witches") by the Germans.Heroes of the Great Patriotic WarHenry Sakaida, Heroines of the Soviet Union 1941–45 (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2003) p. 55
October 2, 1971 (Saturday) All 63 people on board British European Airways Flight 706 were killed when the Vickers Vanguard turboprop suffered an explosive decompression at an altitude of while flying over Belgium. Flight 706 had taken off from London 35 minutes earlier, bound for Salzburg in Austria. The explosion of an engine caused the Vanguard to plummet, and the plane crashed on a pasture near Ghent in a field beside a road between the towns of Tielt and Deinze."63 die as BEA plane crashes", by Eric Clark and Colin Smith, The Observer, October 3, 1971, p. 1 (London)"All 63 on British Airliner Killed in Crash in Belgium", The New York Times, October 3, 1971, p. 1Aviation Safety Network Soul Train, created by Don Cornelius as a showcase for African-American bands, and similar to American Bandstand with a studio of teenagers dancing to the music, began as a syndicated program with weekly episodes. Originally a weekday afternoon program on Chicago's WCIU-TV channel 26, Soul Train picked up the sponsorship of the Johnson Products Company and began airing on seven U.S. TV stations, increasing to 18 by the end of its first season."Billboard Spotlight: Soul Train", by Aida Chapman, Billboard magazine, September 28, 1974 The guests on the first show were Gladys Knight and the Pips, Honey Cone, Bobby Hutton and Eddie Kendricks."TV Log", Redlands (CA) Daily Facts, October 1, 1971, p. 10 The Soviet lunar probe Luna 19 went into orbit around the Moon"Luna 19 Is in Moon Orbit, Its Mission Still a Secret", The New York Times, October 4, 1971, p. 1 and began collecting and transmitting data for more than a year, before ceasing communications on November 1, 1972."Luna 19", Solar System Exploration, NASA.gov South Vietnam's President Nguyen Van Thieu was re-elected unopposed after both of his challengers— Nguyen Cao Ky and Duong Van Minh— had dropped out of the race because of government interference."Millions Voting in One-Man Race in South Vietnam", by Alvin Shuster, The New York Times, October 3, 1971, p. 1 British Rail re-inaugurated steam locomotive passenger train service on the UK's major railroads by permitting the former Great Western Railway No. 6000 King George V to operate on a series of special trains. The Bible Broadcasting Network, a U.S.-based Christian radio network, began its first broadcast, signing on at 5:00 in the afternoon on station WYFI in Norfolk, Virginia. The network now is carried on 52 stations in the U.S."Bible Broadcasting Network History" For the first time in the history of American football, a "one-point safety" was scored in a game. Differing from the more common 2-point safety, the awarding of one point to one's opponent is reserved for infractions committed by the team opposing a point after touchdown kick, and happened in Syracuse University's 7 to 0 win over host Indiana University, when IU's Mike Heizman tipped an extra point try by George Bodine of Syracuse, and Syracuse center Greg Aulk fell on the ball in the end zone."Hungry crowd finds a 'Darling' in defense", by Bob Hammel, October 3, 1971, p. 25 U.S. Representative Richard H. Poff of Virginia abruptly withdrew his name from consideration as U.S. Supreme Court justice, four hours after an American Bar Association committee met to survey the opinion of other lawyers about whether Poff was qualified. Poff, who had not formally been nominated, had reportedly been President Nixon's first choice to fill the seat recently vacated by Justice Hugo Black."Poff Withdraws His Name As Potential Court Choice— Acts to Avoid Battle in Senate on Confirmation", The New York Times, October 3, 1971, p. 1 Born: Tiffany (stage name for Tiffany Renee Darwish), American teenage music icon who successfully promoted her record album into a number one bestseller by her tour of free concerts at U.S. shopping malls in 1987; in Norwalk, California"Tiffany: The $5-Million Star of Stage and Court", Los Angeles Times, June 12, 1988 Died: Dr. Marie Lebour, 95, British marine biologist with a career spanning 64 years. Among 28 species she discovered were Meiosquilla lebouri, Cercaria lebouri and Lepidodiscus lebouri."Obituary: Dr Marie V. Lebour", Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 52:777-788 (1972)"Half-Hidden Histories: Marie Lebour" U.S. Navy Admiral Richard H. Jackson, 105, former commander-in-chief of the Battle Fleet, died of cardiac failure, 10 days after fracturing a hip."Adm. R. H. Jackson Dies at 105; Was Commander of Battle Fleet", The New York Times, October 4, 1971, p. 1 Otto Lucas, 68, German-born British milliner who designed fashionable hats for celebrities, was killed in the crash of BEA Flight 706."Probers Check BEA Wreckage In Belgian Field", Albuquerque (NM) Journal, October 4, 1971, p. 7
October 3, 1971 (Sunday) François Cevert of France won the United States Grand Prix, his only Formula One Grand Prix season victory."Francois Cevert Wins Grand Prix, His First", by Bloys Britt, Sacramento (CA) Bee, October 4, 1971, p. B6 Jackie Stewart of Scotland, who had already clinched more points than any of his opponents in six races than by his closest competitor (Ronnie Peterson of Sweden) would have for the entire 11-race schedule, had already clinched the championship by August 1. Died: Seán Ó Riada (John Reidy), Irish musician and composer, 40, died of cirrhosis of the liver.Tomás Ó Canainn, Seán Ó Riada: His Life and Work (Collins Press, 2003) John Glaister Jr., 79, British forensic scientist Archduchess Adelheid of Austria, 57, the first of the eight children of Emperor Charles of Austria-Hungary to die
October 4, 1971 (Monday) Researchers at the Yunnan Institute of Pharmacology in China made a breakthrough in the treatment of malaria based on Traditional Chinese Medicine and synthesis of the extract of qinghao from the artemisia annua plant, as described by an ancient physician, Ge Hong, in the 4th Century."The discovery of artemisinin (qinghaosu) and gifts from Chinese medicine", by Tu Youyou, in Nature, October 11, 2011, pp. 1217–1220 Dr. Tu Youyou and her team of researchers discovered on October 4 that the compound they produced, artemisinin, could successfully cure common strains of malarial fever in monkeys and mice, and moved to human testing that proved equally effective in August 1972. For her discovery, Dr. Tu would be the co-recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine."Tu Youyou Facts", NobelPrize.org Egypt's President Anwar Sadat was chosen as the first President of the Federation of Arab Republics, by agreement of the three-member Presidential Council that consisted of Sadat, Libya's President Muammar Gaddafi and Syria's Hafez al-Assad."Sadat Named Chief of Arab Federation", The New York Times, October 5, 1971, p. 15 Petroleum was found under Sable Island, off the coast of the Nova Scotia province in Canada."This Week in Nova Scotia History October 1 – 7", by Leo Deveau, Halifax (NS) Chronicle Herald, September 29, 2018"Nova Scotia still waiting for big petroleum payoff", by Kevin Cox, Toronto Globe and Mail, October 11, 2001 In an unusual hijacking incident that cost the lives of three people because of the negligence of an FBI agent, a real estate agent in Nashville kidnapped his wife at gunpoint, leased a twin-engine aircraft claiming to be a physician who was taking her for medical treatment in Miami, then forced the two-member crew to fly him to the Bahamas. George M. Giffe Jr. killed his wife Susan, and pilot Brent Quinton Downs, after Downs landed the plane in Jacksonville, then killed himself, after FBI agents grounded the plane by shooting out the tires and an engine."Hijacker Kills Wife, Pilot and Himself", The New York Times, October 5, 1971, p. 20 The event remains a cautionary tale of poor handling of hostage negotiating."A Nashville hijacking 38 years ago set the standard on how not to handle hostage negotiations", by Brantley Hargrove, Nashville Scene, August 27, 2009 In 1975, a federal court judgment of $388,530 would be entered against the FBI and special agent James O' Connor on behalf of the estates of Mrs. Giffe and Mr. Downs, and for the Big Brother Aircraft, Inc., the owner of the airplane."Court Blames F.B.I. In Plane Hijacking; Awards $388,530", The New York Times, August 9, 1975, p. 9 Died: Alberto Fermín Zubiría, 69, nominal head of state of Uruguay from March 1, 1956, to March 1, 1957, as president of the nine-member National Council of Government of Uruguay, the nominal head of a state in a nine-member executive council where the position of chairman rotated among the members for one year terms. Fermín served the term lasting from 1 March 1956 to 1 March 1957."Alberto Fermín Zubiría", MEMIM Encyclopedia