1971 in Michigan

Events from the year 1971 in Michigan.

1971 in Michigan
History of Michigan
Locator Map
License plate

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
Gov. Milliken

State office holders

Mayors of major cities
Mayor Gribbs

Federal office holders
Sen. Griffin
Sen. Hart

Population

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

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
1DetroitWayne1,670,1441,514,0631,203,368−20.5% Decrease
2Grand RapidsKent177,313197,649181,843−8.0% Decrease
3FlintGenesee196,940193,317159,611−17.4% Decrease
4WarrenMacomb89,246179,260161,134−10.1% Decrease
5LansingIngham107,807131,403130,414−0.8% Decrease
6LivoniaWayne66,702110,109104,814−4.8% Decrease
7DearbornWayne112,007104,19990,660−13.0% Decrease
8Ann ArborWashtenaw67,340100,035107,9697.9% Increase
9SaginawSaginaw98,26591,84977,508−15.6% Decrease
10St. Clair ShoresMacomb76,65788,09376,210−13.5% Decrease
11WestlandWayne60,74386,74984,603−2.5% Decrease
12Royal OakOakland80,61286,23870,893−17.8% Decrease
13KalamazooKalamazoo82,08985,55579,722−6.8% Decrease
14PontiacOakland82,23385,27976,715−10.0% Decrease
15Dearborn HeightsWayne61,11880,06967,706−15.4% Decrease
16TaylorWaynena70,02077,56810.8% Increase

Counties

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
1WayneDetroit2,666,2972,666,7512,337,891−12.3% Decrease
2OaklandPontiac690,259907,8711,011,79311.4% Increase
3MacombWarren405,804625,309694,60011.1% Increase
4GeneseeFlint374,313444,341450,4491.4% Increase
5KentGrand Rapids363,187411,044444,5068.1% Increase
6InghamLansing211,296261,039275,5205.5% Increase
7WashtenawAnn Arbor172,440234,103264,74813.1% Increase
8SaginawSaginaw190,752219,743228,0593.8% Increase
9KalamazooKalamazoo169,712201,550212,3785.4% Increase
10BerrienBenton Harbor149,865163,875171,2764.5% Increase
11MuskegonMuskegon129,943157,426157,5890.1% Increase
12JacksonJackson131,994143,274151,4955.7% Increase
13CalhounBattle Creek138,858141,963141,557−0.3% Decrease
14OttawaHolland98,719128,181157,17422.6% Increase
15St. ClairPort Huron107,201120,175138,80215.5% Increase
16MonroeMonroe101,120118,479134,65913.7% Increase
17BayBay City107,042117,339119,8812.2% Increase

Sports
Mickey Lolich

Baseball

American football
Billy Taylor

Basketball
Dave Bing

Ice hockey
Tom Webster

Golf

Boat racing

Other

Music

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

December
  • 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
  • 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

Deaths

See also

References
  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.
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