About the day » Thursday December 16, 1971Calender converter

• Céline DUVAL, Le Mans, Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France († 1971)
• Johannes Antonius Petrus Josephus van Bers († 2020)
• Raymond Eugene Martinez, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Utah, Verenigde Staten († 2002)

• Beno Groothoff (57), AMSTERDAM, Noord-Holland, Nederland
• Andreas Maria Busser (50)
• Antje Aaltje Kuiper (65), Heerenveen
• Adolphe Joseph Van Belle (87), Brugge, België
• Beno Groothoff (57), Amsterdam
• Aloïs Jozef Corneel Verberck (88)
• Annie van Seggelen (46), Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Nederland
• Adrianus or James Verhey (73), Edgerton, Pipestone, Minnesota, Verenigde Staten
• Arthur Henry Perry (73), Leicester, Leicestershire, England
• Clazina van Trigt (54), Zevenhoven, Nieuwkoop, Zuid-Holland, Nederland

• 1969 » Adam Riess, American astrophysicist, astronomer, and academic Nobel Prize laureate
• 1969 » Dmitri Tymoczko, American composer and theorist
• 1969 » Michelle Smith, Irish swimmer
• 1969 » Simon Grayson, English footballer and manager
• 1970 » Valerie Chow, Canadian-Hong Kong actress and publicist
• 1971 » Michael McCary, American R&B singer
• 1971 » Seyhan Kurt, French-Turkish poet and sociologist
• 1972 » Charles Gipson, American baseball player
• 1972 » Paul Leyden, Australian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1972 » Travis Morrison, American singer-songwriter

• 1965 » W. Somerset Maugham, British playwright, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1874)
• 1968 » Futabayama Sadaji, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 35th Yokozuna (b. 1912)
• 1968 » Muhammad Suheimat, Jordanian general and politician (b. 1916)
• 1969 » Alphonse Castex, French rugby union player (b. 1899)
• 1969 » Soe Hok Gie, Indonesian activist and academic (b. 1942)
• 1970 » Oscar Lewis, American anthropologist of Latin America (b. 1914)
• 1974 » Kostas Varnalis, Greek poet and playwright (b. 1884)
• 1976 » Réal Caouette, Canadian journalist and politician (b. 1917)
• 1977 » Risto Jarva, Finnish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1934)
• 1980 » Colonel Sanders, American businessman, founded KFC (b. 1890)

• Koningin Juliana (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from September 4, 1948 till April 30, 1980 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from April 5, 1967 to Tuesday, July 6, 1971 the cabinet De Jong, with P.J.S. de Jong (KVP) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from April 5, 1967 to Tuesday, July 6, 1971 the cabinet Biesheuvel I, with Mr. B.W. Biesheuvel (ARP) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 13.1 million citizens.
• April 5 » In Sri Lanka, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna launches a revolt against the United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
• April 19 » Sierra Leone becomes a republic, and Siaka Stevens the president.
• May 1 » Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) takes over operation of U.S. passenger rail service.
• May 27 » The Dahlerau train disaster, the worst railway accident in West Germany, kills 46 people and injures 25 near Wuppertal.
• November 15 » Intel releases the world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004.
• December 16 » The United Kingdom recognizes Bahrain's independence, which is commemorated annually as Bahrain's National Day.

The temperature on December 16, 1971 was between 2.0 °C and 9.1 °C and averaged 7.6 °C. The heavily clouded was. The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the southwest.