1972 - What happened in 1972 ?

January 1972

Tuesday 04:

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

Wednesday 05:

President of the United States Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.

Sunday 09:

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

Thursday 13:

Prime Minister Kofi Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana were ousted in a bloodless military coup by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheampong.

Monday 24:

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

February 1972

Wednesday 02:

British embassy in Dublin destroyed in protest over Bloody Sunday

Saturday 05:

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

Thursday 17:

Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle model exceed those of Ford Model-T.

Monday 28:

Sino-American relations: The United States and People's Republic of China sign the Shanghai Communiqué.

Tuesday 29:

Hank Aaron becomes the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to sign a $200,000 contract.

March 1972

Wednesday 01:

The Thai province of Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani province.

Thursday 02:

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

Wednesday 08:

The Goodyear blimp flies for the first time.

Friday 24:

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

Thursday 30:

Vietnam War: The Eastertide Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.

April 1972

Wednesday 05:

Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces invade Binh Long Province, launching a second front of the Nguyen Hue Offensive.

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.

Tuesday 18:

The Roland Corporation is founded in Osaka, Japan.

Thursday 20:

Apollo 16 lands on the Moon.

Saturday 22:

Vietnam War: Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts antiwar protests in New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

May 1972

Tuesday 02:

Buddy Baker became the first stock car driver to finish a 500-mile race in less than three hours en route to winning the Winston Select 500 at the Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama.

Friday 12:

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

Friday 26:

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

Tuesday 30:

In Tel Aviv, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport Massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.

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.

Monday 14:

An East German Ilyushin Il-62 crashes during takeoff from East Berlin, killing 156

Tuesday 22:

Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies

Saturday 26:

Games of the XX Olympiad open in Munich, Germany.

Monday 28:

During the Olympic Games in Munich, Mark Spitz gets his first of seven gold medals in swimming events.

September 1972

Monday 04:

Mark Spitz wins his seventh swimming gold medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, becoming the first Olympian to win seven gold medals.

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.

Thursday 28:

Paul Henderson scores The Goal to win the Canada/USSR (ice hockey) "Summit Series".

Friday 29:

Sino-Japanese relations: Japan establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China.

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.

Wednesday 22:

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

Thursday 30:

Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.

December 1972

Sunday 10:

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

Wednesday 13:

A chartered Spanish airliner crashes on takeoff from the Canary Islands, killing 155

Tuesday 19:

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

Saturday 23:

The survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days.

Saturday 30:

Vietnam War: The US halts heavy bombing of North Vietnam.