Major Events
- Jan 30 Bloody Sunday: 27 unarmed civilians are shot (14 are killed) by the British Army during a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland; this is the highest death toll from a single shooting incident during 'the Troubles'
- Feb 9 British government declares state of emergency after month-long coal miners' strike
- Feb 17 British Parliament votes to join the European Common Market
- Feb 21 Richard Nixon becomes the first US President to visit China, normalizing relations between the countries in a meeting with Chinese leader Mao Zedong in Beijing
- Mar 2 Jean-Bédel Bokassa appoints himself President for life of Central African Republic
- Mar 30 Northern Ireland's Government and Parliament dissolved by the British Government and 'direct rule' from Westminster is introduced
- Apr 10 The US, USSR and 70 other nations agree to ban biological weapons at the Biological Weapons Convention
- May 28 White House "plumbers" first break in at the Democratic National Headquarters and install listening devices at Watergate Complex in Washington, D.C.
- Jun 23 Hurricane Agnes becomes America's costliest natural disaster, affecting 15 states, with 119 deaths and $3 billion in damage
- Aug 3 US Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union to limit the use of missile systems capable of defending against missile-delivered nuclear weapons
- More 1972 Events
1972 in Film & TV
- Feb 13 Film adaptation of "Cabaret", directed by Bob Fosse, based on John Kander and Fred Ebb's musical of the same name, starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York, and Joel Grey is released
- Mar 15 "The Godfather", based on the book by Mario Puzo, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, premieres in NYC (Academy Awards Best Picture 1973)
- Sep 17 TV comedy series "M*A*S*H", adapted from the movie, starring Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, Wayne Rogers, and McLean Stevenson debuts on CBS in the US; runs for 11 years garnering 14 Emmy and 1 Peabody Award
1972 in Music
- Jun 7 Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's musical "Grease" starring Barry Bostwick, Carole Demas, and Adrienne Barbeau, opens at Broadhurst Theater, NYC; runs for 3,388 performances
- Jun 16 RCA releases David Bowie's fifth studio album "The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars"; it is considered his artistic breakthrough
- Jul 15 "Honky Chateau" becomes Elton John's first No. 1 album in the US, includes hit "Rocket Man"
- Sep 2 Rod Stewart's 1st #1 hit single in the UK, "You Wear it Well"
1972 in Sport
- Jan 7 Los Angeles Lakers defeat the Atlanta Hawks, 134-90 for their 33rd straight win, the longest winning streak in major professional sports
- Jan 13 Bernice Gera wins anti-discrimination case against the National Baseball Congressl, initiated March 15, 1971 to be allowed to umpire
- Feb 5 Bob Douglas is 1st African American elected to Basketball Hall of Fame
- Mar 26 LA Lakers break NBA wins record by winning 69 of 82 games (69-13), record will stand for 24 years
- Aug 28 Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut becomes media darling at the Munich Olympics; wins gold in the teams all-round ; follows with 2 gold and a silver
- Sep 1 American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer beats Russian champion Boris Spassky 12.5-8.5 in Reykjavik, Iceland; most publicised world title match ever played; Fischer 1st American to win title
- Sep 4 US 4 x 100m medley relay team of Mike Stamm, Tom Bruce, Mark Spitz & Jerry Heidenreich sets world record 3:48.16 to win gold at the Munich Olympics; Mark Spitz becomes 1st athlete to win 7 Olympic gold medals at a single Games
- Sep 5 11 Israeli athletes taken hostage and later killed by Palestinian Black September group at the Munich Olympics
- Sep 9 Soviet Union beats the United States 51-50 in the most controversial game in international basketball history; with US leading 50-49 the final 3 seconds is replayed 3 times until the Soviets finally win
- Sep 10 American long distance runner Frank Shorter scores a famous win in the men's marathon in 2:12:19.8 at the Munich Olympics
Did You Know?
In Eisenstadt v. Baird the US Supreme Court rules unmarried people have same right to contraception as married people.
Nikki Haley
Pedro Sánchez
Sundar Pichai
Carmen Electra
Dwayne Johnson
Ben Affleck
Cameron Diaz
Gwyneth Paltrow
Sarah Rafferty
Billie Joe Armstrong
Mike Dirnt
The Notorious B.I.G.
Geri Horner
Eminem
Brad Paisley
Jaromír Jágr
Michael Chang
Shaquille O'Neal
Conchita Martínez
Martin Brodeur
Zinedine ZidaneMore People Born in 1972
Fun Fact About 1972
Robert McNamara, former US Secretary of Defense, is almost thrown overboard on a ferry by an artist wanting to confront him on his role in escalating US involvement in the Vietnam war (no charges pressed)
Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Joe Gallo
Kwame Nkrumah
J. Edgar Hoover
Edward VIII
Harry Truman
Gil Hodges
Sherwin Badger
George Weiss
Jackie Robinson
Roberto ClementeMore 1972 Deaths
Articles About 1972
Britain Joins the European Community
British MPs voted on this day to join the European Communities, as it was then known. It was to be a thorny issue, finally leading to ‘Brexit’ in 2020.February 17
Nixon Meets Mao
Richard Nixon meets Chairman Mao in BeijingFebruary 21
Bobby Fischer, The World Chess Champ
The Soviet Union saw its domination of the chess world as proof of intellectual superiority. Then, on this day, American Bobby Fischer faced the Russian championSeptember 1
Pong
The original Atari Pong video game upright cabinetNovember 29
The Blue Marble
The famous 'Blue Marble' photograph of the Earth taken by the crew of the Apollo 17December 7
Famous Weddings in 1972
- Jan 1 Politician Aung San Suu Kyi (26) weds author Michael Aris (25)
- Feb 11 Playwright Tom Stoppard (34) weds doctor and author Miriam Moore-Robinson (34)
- Apr 25 Comedic actor Bob Denver (37) weds third wife Carole Abrahams
Famous Divorces in 1972
- Jun 26 NFL quarterback Johnny Unitas (39) divorces first wife Dorothy Hoelle after nearly 2 decades of marriage
- Sep 19 Canadian-American graphic artist and future actor Phil Hartman (23) divorces American artist Gretchen Lewis after 2 years of marriage
More 1972 Weddings
Billie Jean King
Henry Kissinger
Liza Minnelli
Marlon Brando
Leonid Brezhnev
Mao Zedong
Richard Nixon