February 1971

The Hague Conference on Private International Law passes its convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters.[1]

• Died: Raoul Hausmann, 84, Austrian artist and writer; Harry Roy, 71, English bandleader

• The Ramsar Convention is signed in Ramsar, Mazandaran, Iran, the date continuing to be marked as World Wetlands Day.
• Born: Michelle Gayle, English singer and actress, in London; Sébastien Lapaque, French novelist, essayist, gastronome and critic, in Tübingen, Germany
• Born: Rebecca Fleming, Canadian in Etobicoke, Canada.

• The Ramsar Conference concludes.[2]
• Born: Jayne Middlemiss, English model and TV presenter, in Bedlington; Sarah Kane, English playwright, in Brentwood; Cristian da Silva, soccer player, in Rosario; Gabriel Rossi, comedian, in Orbost; Cecilia Chacón, politician, in Lambayeque; Gustavo Méndez, footballer, in Montevideo
• Died: Andrew Truxal, 71, American academic; Richard Harry Graves poet and novelist; Werner Forst German general
• Struck: USS Frank Knox (DD-742), Gearing-class destroyer

• British car manufacturer Rolls-Royce Limited goes bankrupt and is nationalised by the UK government.
• Died: Brock Chisholm, 74, Canadian World War I veteran, physician and first Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO)

• Apollo 14, commanded by Alan Shepard, lands on the Moon. Five hours later, the crew begin their first extravehicular activity (EVA). They are the first Apollo crew to use the Modular Equipment Transporter (MET).
• The 28th Golden Globe Awards ceremony is held. George C. Scott and Ali MacGraw win the Best Actor and Actress Awards respectively.
• Born: Peter Cipollone, American Olympic oarsman, in Marietta, Ohio
• Died: Mátyás Rákosi, 78, Hungarian politician

• Gunner Robert Curtis becomes the first British soldier to die in the Troubles (Northern Ireland).[3]
• After the crew have completed a second extravehicular activity, Apollo 14's lunar module successfully lifts off from the Moon's surface and is reunited with the command module piloted by Stuart Roosa.

• An earthquake in the city of Tuscania, Italy kills 31 people.
• Switzerland gives women voting rights in state elections, but not in all canton-specific ones.
• Władysław Gomułka is expelled from the Central Council of the Polish Communist Party.

• A new stock market index called the Nasdaq is introduced.
• Vietnam War: the Operation Lam Son 719 offensive is launched.
• Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York City's Academy of Music. The film includes footage from Dylan's 1966 UK tour.

• The 6.5–6.7 M_w Sylmar earthquake hits the Greater Los Angeles Area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing 58–65 and injuring 200–2,000.
• Satchel Paige becomes the first Negro League player to become voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Apollo program: Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned Moon landing.

• A total lunar eclipse is observed.
• Banks in the UK close at 3.30pm in preparation for Decimal Day, not reopening until the following Monday.

• The US, UK, USSR and others sign the Seabed Treaty, outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor.
• Palestinian and Jordanian fighters clash in Amman.

• Climax of the 1970–71 Ashes series: The 7th Test between Australia and England opens in Sydney, a decider for The Ashes.
• Born: Lincoln Kennedy, American footballer and broadcaster, in York, Pennsylvania
• Died: Ella Cara Deloria, 83, Native American educator, anthropologist, ethnographer, linguist, and novelist; James Cash Penney, 95, American entrepreneur

• Vietnam War: Backed by American air and artillery support, South Vietnamese troops invade Laos.
• 1971 New South Wales state election: The Liberal-Country Party coalition government led by Sir Robert Askin is elected to a third term in office.
• Jean Hengen replaces the retiring Léon Lommel as Bishop of Luxembourg.

• President Richard Nixon installs a secret taping system in the White House. It is on this system that the Watergate tapes are recorded.
• The Tehran Agreement[4] (a.k.a. The Persian Gulf Oil Settlement[5]) was signed, where OPEC's 6 Gulf producing countries negotiate a 55 percent tax rate from the 22 oil companies. OPEC reached a highly favorable settlement with the region's private oil producers, greatly increase their oil revenues over the next five years, and changed the balance of power reflecting the fact that the producing countries were in the negotiating driver's seat for the first time.
• Born: Kris Aquino, Filipina actress, youngest daughter of Philippine politicians Benigno Aquino, Jr. and Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino; Gheorghe Mureșan, Romanian basketball player, in Triteni

• Decimalisation Day: – The United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency.
• Protesting Belgian farmers bring 3 live cows to crash the EEC meeting in Brussels.

• Reggio revolt: In Italy, a local parliament elects the city of Catanzaro as the capital of Calabria; residents of Reggio di Calabria riot for 5 days because of the decision.
• Fuddle duddle incident: Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau is accused of mouthing obscenities at Opposition MPs in the House of Commons.
• Alan Passaro, of the Hells Angels, who were acquitted of the stabbing death of Meredith Hunter at the Altamont Speedway in 1969, files a lawsuit against The Rolling Stones for invasion of privacy because the documentary film Gimme Shelter showed the stabbing.

• The U.S. Emergency Broadcast System sends an erroneous warning; many radio stations just ignore it.
• England cricket captain Ray Illingworth is chaired off the field by his players as England win the 7th Test against Australia to claim The Ashes.
• Born: Denise Richards, American actress, in Downers Grove, Illinois.

• Afoafouvale Misimoa of Western Samoa, Secretary-General of the South Pacific Commission, dies while on an official mission in Tarawa, Gilbert and Ellice Islands.
• Born: Thomas Bjørn, Danish golfer, in Silkeborg
• Died: Chuck Hostetler, 67, American baseball player

• Born: Gil Shaham, Israeli-American violinist, in Urbana, Illinois

• State elections are held for the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council of Western Australia. The Liberal-Country Party coalition government, led by Premier David Brand, is defeated by the Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader John Tonkin.
• The United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated, on WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana, causing some Radio and TV stations to interrupt normal broadcasting in anticipation of a national emergency requiring the President to address the population.

• February 1971 Mississippi Valley tornado outbreak: Nineteen tornadoes rage in the American state of Mississippi, killing 123 people.
• The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.

• Tornado outbreak in Mississippi continues.

• Australian Formula 1 changes to a two-part formula catering for both Formula 5000 cars and those fitted with less restricted unsupercharged engines of eight cylinders or less and up to 2000cc in capacity.[6]
• Born: Melinda Messenger, English model, in Swindon
• Died: Do Cao Tri, 41, Vietnamese general (helicopter crash); Ricardo Joaquín Alfaro Jované, 88, former President of Panama

• Vietnam War: General William Westmoreland tells service chiefs that he considers Operation Lam Son 719 to be "a very high risk operation".
• Born: Josh Bernstein, American survival expert and TV presenter, in New York City; Pedro de la Rosa, Spanish racing driver, in Barcelona

• A partial solar eclipse occurs.
• Born: Sean Astin, American actor, in Santa Monica, California

• Secretary General U Thant signs the United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day.

• Doctors in the first Dutch abortion clinic (Mildredhuis in Arnhem) start to perform abortus provocatus.

• Motorcycle stuntman Evel Knievel sets a world record by jumping 19 cars.
• Born: Snow Knight, thoroughbred racehorse and Epsom Derby winner of 1974, foaled at Makeney, Derbyshire