U.S. Army Lieutenant William Calley is found guilty of 22 murders in the My Lai massacre and sentenced to life in prison. After intervention from President Nixon, he is released in 1974.
April 9 – Charles Manson is sentenced to death; in 1972, the sentence for all California death row inmates is commuted to life imprisonment (see Furman v. Georgia).
Anti-war activists attempt to disrupt government business in Washington, D.C.; police and military units arrest as many as 12,000, most of whom are later released.
June – Massachusetts passes its Chapter 766 laws enacting Special Education.
June 1 – Vietnam War: Vietnam Veterans for a Just Peace, claiming to represent the majority of U.S. veterans who served in Southeast Asia, speak against war protests.
June 25 – Madagascar accuses the U.S. of being connected to the plot to oust the current government; the U.S. recalls its ambassador.
June 27
Concert promoter Bill Graham closes the legendary Fillmore East, which first opened on 2nd Avenue (between 5th and 6th Streets) in New York City on March 8, 1968.
Assassin Jerome A. Johnson shoots Joe Colombo in the head in the middle of an Italian-American rally, putting him in a coma and paralyzing him. He dies seven years later as a result of his injuries.
August 15 – President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will no longer convert dollars to gold at a fixed value, effectively ending the Bretton Woods system. He also imposes a 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents.
October 29 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization: The total number of American troops in Vietnam drops to a record low of 196,700 (the lowest since January 1966).
Vietnam War: Vietnamization: U.S. President Richard Nixon sets February 1, 1972, as the deadline for the removal of another 45,000 American troops from Vietnam.
December 21 – In Cleveland Ohio, an African-American man named Tyrone Howard, the father of actor Terrence Howard, stabs and kills a White man named Jack Fitzpatrick during a dispute while waiting in line to meet Santa with their respective families. The incident received nationwide coverage and attention.[12]
December 22 – KUAC-TV in Fairbanks, Alaska, launches, becoming the 49th state's first public television station.
December 23 – Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer airs for the last time on NBC, as KENI-TV (now KTUU-TV) in Anchorage, Alaska, KFAR-TV (now KATN, current ABC affiliate) in Fairbanks Alaska, KHON-TV (current Fox affiliate) in Honolulu, Hawaii, and KUAM-TV in Guam air the special in prime time. It will move to CBS a year later.
December 25 – In the longest game in NFL history, the Miami Dolphins beat the Kansas City Chiefs 27–24 after 22 minutes, 40 seconds of sudden death overtime.
^James Stuart Olson, ed. (1999). "Chronology". Historical Dictionary of the 1970s. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-30543-6.
^"Suspect Charged In a Slaying on Line Visiting Santa Claus". The New York Times. December 24, 1971. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
^MEND Annual Report 2016(PDF), Los Angeles: MEND - Meet Each Need with Dignity, 2016
^Rasmussen, Fred (July 10, 1993). "Sapperstein, had vending business, founded Save-A-Heart FoundationSapperstein, had vending business, founded Save-A-Heart Foundation". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
^"Bill W. of Alcoholics Anonymous Dies", by John W. Stevens, The New York Times, January 26, 1971, p1
^Allan R. Ellenberger (May 1, 2001). Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory. McFarland. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-7864-5019-0.
^"Mobster". Independent Press-Telegram. Long Beach, California. April 4, 1971. p. 2. Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.