Timeline Thursday 1 July 1971

Events on Thursday 1 July 1971 2

• 1971 26th Amendment Ratified US voting age lowered to eighteen The amendment barred states from setting a minimum voting age above eighteen, extending the franchise to millions of young Americans. It was ratified faster than any other US constitutional amendment, driven partly by the argument that soldiers old enough to be drafted for Vietnam should be old enough to vote. President Nixon signed the certification on 5 July 1971.
• 1971 – 1972 Secret Opening to China Conducted secret negotiations that led to President Nixon's historic visit to China in February 1972, fundamentally reshaping the Cold War geopolitical landscape.