Events from the year 1971 in Michigan.

1971
in
Michigan

Decades:
See also:

The Associated Press (AP) selected the top 10 news stories in Michigan as follows:[1]

  1. Court-ordered busing in the Pontiac public schools (AP-1);
  2. An order by federal judge Stephen Roth finding that the Detroit public schools were segregated by law, triggering concerns that he might order cross-district busing as a remedy (AP-2);
  3. The Michigan Legislature's reducing the age of adulthood to 18 (AP-3);
  4. A Supreme Court decision banning public aid to parochial schools (AP-4);
  5. The Michigan Legislature's adoption of a 50% increase in the state income tax (AP-5);
  6. Gov. William Milliken's plan to change the source of education funding by cutting local property taxes and raising the state income tax (AP-6);
  7. The Michigan Legislature's reduction of penalties for drug possession (AP-7);
  8. The debate concerning the state's budget which totaled more than $2 billion (AP-8);
  9. An explosion on December 11 in a water tunnel being built under Lake Huron near Port Huron resulted when methane gas built up and caused the deaths of 21 workers (AP-9); and
  10. A court challenge to the constitutionality of the property tax as a mechanism for funding education (AP-10).

The AP also selected the state's top 10 sports stories as follows:[2]

  1. The death of Detroit Lions wide receiver Chuck Hughes after collapsing on the field with a heart attack during a game;
  2. The retirement of Gordie Howe after 25 years with the Detroit Red Wings;
  3. The Lions' release of Alex Karras despite having two years remaining on his contract;
  4. Mickey Lolich winning 25 games and finishing second in voting for the Cy Young Award;
  5. The 1971 Michigan Wolverines football team compiling a perfect 11-0 record during the regular season;
  6. The 1970–71 Detroit Red Wings finishing in last place and the resignation of Ned Harkness as general manager;
  7. Michigan State University athletic director Biggie Munn suffering a heart attack the week before the Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry game;
  8. The resignation of Butch Van Breda Kolff as head coach of the Detroit Pistons and the hiring of Earl Lloyd as the first African-American coach in Detroit professional sports history;
  9. The 1971 Major League Baseball All-Star Game held at Tiger Stadium in Detroit and home runs in that game by Reggie Jackson, Harmon Killebrew, and Frank Robinson; and
  10. Eric Allen who set an NCAA single-game rushing record as halfback for the 1971 Michigan State Spartans football team.

Office holders

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Gov. Milliken

State office holders

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Mayors of major cities

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Mayor Gribbs

Federal office holders

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Sen. Griffin
 
Sen. Hart

Population

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In the 1970 United States census, Michigan was recorded as having a population of 8,875,083 persons, ranking as the seventh most populous state in the country. By 1980, the state's population had grown 4.4% to 9,262,078 persons.

Cities

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The following is a list of cities in Michigan with a population of at least 70,000 based on 1970 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1960 and 1980 is included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Cities that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.

1970
Rank
City County 1960 Pop. 1970 Pop. 1980 Pop. Change 1970-80
1 Detroit Wayne 1,670,144 1,514,063 1,203,368 −20.5%  
2 Grand Rapids Kent 177,313 197,649 181,843 −8.0%  
3 Flint Genesee 196,940 193,317 159,611 −17.4%  
4 Warren Macomb 89,246 179,260 161,134 −10.1%  
5 Lansing Ingham 107,807 131,403 130,414 −0.8%  
6 Livonia Wayne 66,702 110,109 104,814 −4.8%  
7 Dearborn Wayne 112,007 104,199 90,660 −13.0%  
8 Ann Arbor Washtenaw 67,340 100,035 107,969 7.9%  
9 Saginaw Saginaw 98,265 91,849 77,508 −15.6%  
10 St. Clair Shores Macomb 76,657 88,093 76,210 −13.5%  
11 Westland Wayne 60,743 86,749 84,603 −2.5%  
12 Royal Oak Oakland 80,612 86,238 70,893 −17.8%  
13 Kalamazoo Kalamazoo 82,089 85,555 79,722 −6.8%  
14 Pontiac Oakland 82,233 85,279 76,715 −10.0%  
15 Dearborn Heights Wayne 61,118 80,069 67,706 −15.4%  
16 Taylor Wayne na 70,020 77,568 10.8%  

Counties

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The following is a list of counties in Michigan with populations of at least 120,000 based on 1970 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1960 and 1980 are included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Counties that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.

1970
Rank
County Largest city 1960 Pop. 1970 Pop. 1980 Pop. Change 1970-80
1 Wayne Detroit 2,666,297 2,666,751 2,337,891 −12.3%  
2 Oakland Pontiac 690,259 907,871 1,011,793 11.4%  
3 Macomb Warren 405,804 625,309 694,600 11.1%  
4 Genesee Flint 374,313 444,341 450,449 1.4%  
5 Kent Grand Rapids 363,187 411,044 444,506 8.1%  
6 Ingham Lansing 211,296 261,039 275,520 5.5%  
7 Washtenaw Ann Arbor 172,440 234,103 264,748 13.1%  
8 Saginaw Saginaw 190,752 219,743 228,059 3.8%  
9 Kalamazoo Kalamazoo 169,712 201,550 212,378 5.4%  
10 Berrien Benton Harbor 149,865 163,875 171,276 4.5%  
11 Muskegon Muskegon 129,943 157,426 157,589 0.1%  
12 Jackson Jackson 131,994 143,274 151,495 5.7%  
13 Calhoun Battle Creek 138,858 141,963 141,557 −0.3%  
14 Ottawa Holland 98,719 128,181 157,174 22.6%  
15 St. Clair Port Huron 107,201 120,175 138,802 15.5%  
16 Monroe Monroe 101,120 118,479 134,659 13.7%  
17 Bay Bay City 107,042 117,339 119,881 2.2%  

Sports

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Mickey Lolich

Baseball

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American football

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Billy Taylor

Basketball

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Dave Bing

Ice hockey

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Tom Webster

Golf

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Boat racing

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Other

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Music

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Several songs performed by Michigan acts and/or recorded in Michigan ranked on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1971, including the following:

Albums released by Michigan acts and/or recorded in Michigan in 1971 included the following:

Chronology of events

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January

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February

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March

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April

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June

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July

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August

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September

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October

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November

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December

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  • December 11 - An explosion in a water tunnel being built under Lake Huron near Port Huron resulted when methane gas built up and caused the deaths of 21 workers.

Births

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  • January 17 - Kid Rock, recording artist, in Detroit
  • February 2 - Jase Bolger, 71st Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives (2011-2014), in Grand Rapids
  • August 23 - Gretchen Whitmer, 49th Governor of Michigan, in Lansing
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Deaths

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Court-Ordered Busing In Pontiac Rated Top State Story Of 1971". The Times Herald (Port Huron) (AP story). December 30, 1971. p. 7A – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Lions' Death Top Sports Story In State In '71". The Times Herald (Port Huron) (AP story). December 28, 1971. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Riegle switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in 1973.
  4. ^ "1971 Detroit Tigers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  5. ^ "2012 University of Michigan Baseball Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. 2012. pp. 22, 77. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  6. ^ "1971 Detroit Lions Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  7. ^ "1971 Michigan Wolverines Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  8. ^ "1971 Michigan State Spartans Stats". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  9. ^ "1970–71 Detroit Pistons Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  10. ^ "1970–71 Michigan Wolverines Schedule and Results". SR/CBB. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  11. ^ "1970–71 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats". SR/CBB. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  12. ^ "1970–71 Detroit Titans Roster and Stats". SR/CBB. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  13. ^ "1970–71 Detroit Red Wings Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  14. ^ "Michigan Tech Team History". College Hockey News. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  15. ^ "Michigan Team History". College Hockey News. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  16. ^ "Michigan State Team History". College Hockey News. Retrieved August 28, 2017.