The big films of the year were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Paint Your Wagon, Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy, with the latter winning the best picture Oscar.

In music the big singles were Elvis Presley’s Suspicious Minds, The Rolling Stones’ Honky Tonk Woman, and The Beatles’ Get Back. The Christmas number one was Two Little Boys by Rolf Harris.

On television, two classic comedy shows, Monty Python’s Flying Circus and The Benny Hill Show, made their debut, as did cartoon character Scooby Doo.

Notable births included Scottish snooker ace Stephen Hendry and Formula One legend Michael Schumacher, as well as actresses Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger.

Notable deaths included the 34th US president Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Wizard of Oz actress Judy Garland, and Boris Karloff, the first actor to play Frankenstein’s monster on the silver screen, in the 1931 film Frankenstein.

1971 Star Fact: On January 16, Czech student Jan Palach set himself on fire in Prague’s Wenceslas Square to protest the Soviet Union’s invasion of Czechoslovakia. He died from his injuries three days later.