Timeline
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
Jan
06
Jan
20
Jan
25
Feb
09
Pitcher Satchel Paige in a St. Louis Browns uniform.
Bettmann Archive
Mar
30
Jun
06
Jun
13
Some of the papers from the archive of Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971
Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Jun
30
Jul
09
Jul
15
In a This Day in History video, learn that on July 15, 1971, Richard Nixon stunned the nation by stating that he would visit communist China. Nixon was a product of the Cold War and spent his career bad-mouthing everything red China did or said. But, Nixon wanted a second term and his polls were down; he hoped China would put pressure on their allies, the North Vietnamese, to end the war. Unfortunately, there was no immediate gain from the trip and the Vietnam War went on for another year and a half.
Jul
30
Aug
14
Sep
11
Sep
24
Oct
11
Oct
25
Dec
02
Dec
09
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