Deaths on June 16

John Reith, 1st Baron Reith

Died on June 16, 1971

John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, Scottish broadcaster, co-founded BBC (b. 1889)

John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron Reith, (; 20 July 1889 – 16 June 1971), was a Scottish broadcasting executive who established the tradition of independent public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom. In 1922, he was employed by the BBC (British Broadcasting Company Ltd.) as its general manager; in 1923 he became its managing director and in 1927 he was employed as the Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation created under a royal charter. His concept of broadcasting as a way of educating the masses marked for a long time the BBC and similar organisations around the world. An engineer by trade, and standing at 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) tall, he was a larger-than-life figure who was a pioneer in his field.

References

Choose Another Date

Events on 1971

8 Jan

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh.
7 Jun

First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The United States Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
11 Jul

Chile
Copper mines in Chile are nationalized.
21 Sep

Bhutan
Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations.
24 Nov

D. B. Cooper
During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (aka D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.

Deaths on June 16

John Reith, 1st Baron Reith

Died on June 16, 1971

References

Choose Another Date

Events on 1971

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

First Amendment to the United States Constitution

Chile

Bhutan

D. B. Cooper