1972 - What happened in 1972 ?

January 1972

Tuesday 04:

Rose Heilbron becomes the first woman judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London.

Sunday 09:

RMS Queen Elizabeth is destroyed by fire (Hong Kong harbor).

Friday 14:

Sanford & Son premieres on NBC.

Monday 24:

Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese soldier, is discovered on Guam.

Sunday 30:

1980 - Australian Sitcom Kingswood Country starts on ATN-7.

February 1972

Saturday 05:

Bob Douglas becomes the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Friday 11:

Craig Jones, American Musician (Slipknot)

Wednesday 16:

NBA basketball player Wilt Chamberlain scores 30,000th point.

Monday 21:

The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.

Friday 25:

Terrorism: Germany gives $5 million to an Arab terrorist as ransom for the passengers and crew of a hijacked jumbo jet.

March 1972

Thursday 02:

The Pioneer 10 spaceprobe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.

Friday 03:

The space probe Pioneer X is launched by NASA.

Wednesday 08:

The Goodyear blimp flies for the first time.

Sunday 19:

India and Bangladesh sign a friendship treaty.

Friday 24:

The United Kingdom imposes "Direct Rule" over Northern Ireland.

April 1972

Sunday 02:

North Vietnamese soldiers of the 304th Division take the northern half of Quang Tri Province.

Monday 03:

The first ever Mobile phone call is placed by Martin Cooper, in New York City

Thursday 06:

The first day of clear weather in three days allows American forces to start sustained air strikes and naval bombardments.

Thursday 13:

The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.

Thursday 27:

Constructive Vote of No Confidence against German Chancellor Willy Brandt fails under obscure circumstances.

May 1972

Monday 01:

Vietnam War: Easter Offensive – North Vietnamese troops capture Quang Tri City, effectively giving them control Quang Tri Province.

Friday 12:

The Rolling Stones release Exile On Main Street, often considered their best album.

Monday 22:

Ceylon adopts a new constitution, changes its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the British Commonwealth.

Friday 26:

The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

Wednesday 31:

AFC Ajax Wins the Europecup 1 (UEFA Champions League) for the 2nd time in a row, making it their 2nd

June 1972

Tuesday 06:

David Bowie releases the classic album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

Friday 16:

Largest single-site hydro-electric power project starts at Churchill Falls Newfoundland

Saturday 17:

Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition.

Friday 23:

Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into the Watergate break-ins.

Tuesday 27:

ATARI is established by Nolan Bushnell.

July 1972

Saturday 01:

Andreas Baader, Jan-Carl Raspe and Holger Meins of the Red Army Faction are captured in Frankfurt after a shootout with the police.

Thursday 13:

The United States Democratic Party nominates George McGovern for president at its convention in Miami Beach, Florida but, because of an impassioned platform dispute, McGovern does not give his acceptance speech until the early morning hours of the 14th.

Thursday 20:

The cabinet of Prime Minister of the Netherlands Barend Biesheuvel resign in a dispute over the budget.

Sunday 23:

The United States launches Landsat 1, first Earth-resources satellite.

August 1972

Thursday 03:

U.S. Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

Friday 11:

Last United States ground combat unit departs South Vietnam

Wednesday 16:

The Royal Moroccan Air Force mistakenly fires upon, but fails to bring down, Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.

Tuesday 22:

Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies

Saturday 26:

Games of the XX Olympiad open in Munich, Germany.

September 1972

Friday 01:

In Reykjavík, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beats Russian Boris Spassky and becomes the world chess champion.

Sunday 10:

The United States loses its first international basketball game in a disputed match versus the Soviet Union at Munich, Germany.

Monday 11:

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in America begins regular service.

Tuesday 19:

A parcel bomb sent to Israeli Embassy in London kills one diplomat.

Thursday 21:

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos issues Proclamation No. 1081 placing the entire country under martial law.

October 1972

Thursday 12:

En route to her station in the Gulf of Tonkin, a racial brawl involving more than 100 sailors breaks out aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk

Friday 13:

Andes flight disaster: Fairchild passenger plane transporting a rugby team crashes in Andes. They are found alive December 20 but they have had to resort to cannibalism to survive, as chronicled in the 1993 film '.

Monday 16:

Rainbow, a British television programme for children, debuts.

Sunday 22:

Vietnam War: In Saigon, Henry Kissinger and South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu meet to discuss a proposed cease-fire that had been worked out between Americans and North Vietnamese in Paris. Thieu rejects the proposal and accused the United States of conspiring to undermine his regime

Monday 30:

US President Richard Nixon approves legislation to increase Social Security spending by US$5.3 billion.

November 1972

Tuesday 07:

U.S. presidential election, 1972: Republican Party (United States) incumbent Richard Nixon defeats Democratic Senator George McGovern.

Friday 10:

Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham is hijacked and, at one point, is threatened with crashing into the nuclear installation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After two days, the plane lands in Havana, Cuba, where the hijackers are jailed by Fidel Castro.

Saturday 11:

The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.

Tuesday 14:

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 1,000 (1,003.16) for the first time.

Wednesday 22:

Vietnam War: The United States loses its first B-52 Stratofortress of the war.

December 1972

Saturday 02:

Gough Whitlam becomes the first Australian Labor Party Prime Minister of Australia for 23 years.

Sunday 10:

Professional Wrestler Ric Flair has his first match against against George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski. It was a 10 minute draw.

Monday 11:

Apollo 17 became the sixth and last mission to date to land on the ].

Tuesday 19:

Apollo 17, the last manned lunar flight, returns to Earth.

Friday 29:

An Eastern Airlines Lockheed Tristar crashed on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101