Michael S. Hart posts the first e-book, a copy of the United States Declaration of Independence, on the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign's mainframe computer, the origin of Project Gutenberg.
Tap play to hear the #1 song from that week
"It's Too Late / I Feel the Earth Move" · Carole King
1971
Sunday, July 4, 1971
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Sunset Strip, Hollywood, 1975The day you were born
Sunday, July 4
Top story that day
The news
Also in the news that week
Our day-by-day record for July 4 is thin. These stories ran that day and in the days around it.
The Times archive (TimesMachine) needs a New York Times subscription. Stories from English Wikipedia's current-events pages and year articles (CC BY-SA 4.0), shortened to a sentence or two. Stories with a “Read more” link were found through Wikidata's dated events and summarized from that Wikipedia article.
The day
That morning
The weather
84° high · low 58°
Partly cloudy. It was a warm day in Los Angeles.
Reconstructed from the ERA5 climate record for the Los Angeles area. A model of past weather, not a station reading. Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)
The moon that night
Waxing gibbous
About 11 days into its cycle.
Calculated from the moon's 29.5-day cycle, accurate to about a day. Image: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Your signs
Star sign
Cancer
A water sign, traditionally said to be caring, loyal and protective.
Chinese zodiac
Metal Pig
Traditionally said to be generous and warm.
Sun signs by the usual date ranges. Chinese year from the date of Lunar New Year.
The #1 song that week
“It's Too Late / I Feel the Earth Move”
Carole King. Plays right here.
Billboard, week of July 3, 1971 (Hot 100). Chart history via Wikipedia.
In the White House
The president the day you were born.
Inauguration dates · Official portrait via Wikimedia Commons
The year
What things cost in 1971
Then, in big red. Now, in gray underneath.
Guess the price
What did a gallon of gas cost in 1971?
One dollar in 1971$7.95is what it takes to buy the same today
Loaf of white bread (1 lb)25¢Now $1.83
Dozen eggs53¢Now $2.27
Milk at the store59¢a half gallonNow $4.11 a gallon
Pound of ground beef68¢Now $6.79
Pound of coffee93¢Now $9.33
Pound of sugar14¢Now $1.02
Pound of bananas15¢Now 66¢
At home
The way you lived
The car everyone was buying
America's best-selling car in 1971.
Sales: source · Chevrolet Impala / Caprice on Wikipedia · Photo via Wikimedia Commons
In the house when you were born
Museum and collection pieces via Wikimedia Commons, credited below. Names link to Wikipedia.
The house in the 1970s
There's more
See the rest of your year, free
- Inventions and grand openings of 1971
- The crazes, dances and slang of the 1970s
- Toys, candy and what was for dinner
- What people wore
- The movies, the stars, the albums and the books
- What everyone watched on TV, and the champions of 1971
- The big stories of 1971
- Your first years, one by one
- Questions to ask Mom about the day
Photo credits (72)
- NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio (public domain)
- Photo: Evan-Amos, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Anna Gerdén, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: LBM1948, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Downtowngal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Downtowngal, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for..., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: GPS 56 from New Zealand, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Bmuscotty88, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: User Camerafiend on en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: User:Mcheath, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
