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Born in 1971? Here's the world you arrived into

In 1971, "Joy to the World" topped the charts, Fiddler on the Roof packed theaters, a stamp cost 8¢, the average home went for about $25,200.

What things cost in 1971

A $0.36 gallon of gas in 1971 has the buying power of roughly $2.80 in 2024 dollars. An 8¢ stamp is around 62¢ today, and a $1.65 movie ticket is about $12.80.

The biggest moments of 1971

• Walt Disney World opened its gates in Orlando, Florida, in October 1971, welcoming families to the brand-new Magic Kingdom.
• Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard famously hit golf balls on the Moon, and later that year Apollo 15 explored the lunar surface.
• Bell-bottoms, hot pants, and tie-dye ruled fashion while a groundbreaking new sitcom called All in the Family debuted on TV.

• The 26th Amendment was ratified on July 1, lowering the U.S. voting age from 21 to 18.
• Intel introduced the 4004 in November — the world's first commercial microprocessor, and the seed of the computer age.
• Amtrak took over the nation's passenger railroads on May 1, 1971, rolling out a brand-new way to ride the rails.

Toys, TV & trends of 1971

• Hasbro's roly-poly Weebles arrived with the famous slogan "Weebles wobble but they don't fall down."
• Malibu Barbie hit toy shelves with her suntan and sunglasses, becoming one of the most popular Barbies ever.
• Kids tuned in to brand-new shows like The Electric Company and Soul Train, which both premiered in 1971.

• UNO was invented in 1971 by Merle Robbins, an Ohio barbershop owner who first sold the card game out of his shop.
• Computer Space, the very first coin-operated arcade video game, appeared in 1971 — a year before its creators founded Atari.
• Columbo premiered as a weekly series, and families settled in to watch Peter Falk's rumpled detective say "just one more thing."

The music scene

1971 was the golden year of the singer-songwriter: Carole King's Tapestry album spent 15 straight weeks at #1 and went on to sweep the Grammys, while John Lennon released "Imagine" and Marvin Gaye redefined soul with What's Going On. In August, George Harrison staged the Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden — the template for every all-star benefit concert that followed.

At the movies

The French Connection won the Best Picture Oscar for 1971, with Gene Hackman taking Best Actor — its white-knuckle car chase was famously filmed guerrilla-style on real Brooklyn streets. Fiddler on the Roof was the year's box-office champion. And believe it or not, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory was a disappointment in theaters — it only became a beloved classic years later through TV airings.

Cartoons kids loved

• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
• The Pink Panther Show
• The Jackson 5ive

By 1971, parent watchdog groups had pushed the networks away from superhero action and toward gentle comedy-mystery shows, so Saturday mornings filled up with Scooby-Doo-style gangs and laugh tracks. The Jackson 5ive turned real chart-topping pop stars into cartoon characters, following the trail blazed by The Beatles' animated series.

The world in 1971

• World population: about 3.8 billion
• U.S. President: Richard Nixon
• Apollo 15 astronauts drove the first lunar rover across the surface of the Moon.

• East Pakistan won its independence in December 1971 and became the new nation of Bangladesh.
• The People's Republic of China took its seat at the United Nations in October 1971.
• On "Decimal Day," February 15, 1971, Britain and Ireland retired shillings and pence and switched to decimal currency.

1971 birthday questions

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