What happened in 1972
141 entries recorded for 1972, listed by date. That was 54 years ago.
1972 at a glance
- Years ago
- 54 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1970s
- Generation born
- Generation X
- Entries here
- 141
- Breakdown
- 137 historical events · 4 births
January
- January 4
Rose Heilbron
Rose Heilbron (pictured) became the first female judge to sit at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales.
- January 5
Richard Nixon
US President Richard Nixon announces the Space Shuttle program.
- January 6
St. Louis Blues–Philadelphia Flyers brawl
A brawl broke out between players, fans, and police officers during an ice hockey game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the St. Louis Blues in Philadelphia.
- January 7
Iberia Flight 602
Iberia Flight 602 crashes near Ibiza Airport, killing all 104 people on board.
- January 8
Pakistani Instrument of Surrender
Following Pakistan's defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto released Bangladeshi politician Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (pictured) from prison in response to international pressure.
- January 9
RMS Queen Elizabeth
Seawise University, formerly RMS Queen Elizabeth (pictured), an ocean liner that sailed the Atlantic for Cunard Line, caught fire in Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.
- January 9
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, ending a 33-game winning streak, the longest in major American professional team sports.
- January 10
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returns to the newly independent Bangladesh as president after spending over nine months in prison in Pakistan.
- January 11
East Pakistan
East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
- January 13
Ignatius Kutu Acheampong
Ghanaian military officer Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led a coup to overthrow Prime Minister Kofi Abrefa Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo.
- January 13
Bernice Gera
Bernice Gera won a sex-discrimination lawsuit against the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, allowing her to become the first female professional baseball umpire.
- January 14
Margrethe II
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark ascends the throne, the first Queen of Denmark since 1412 and the first Danish monarch not named Frederik or Christian since 1513.
- January 19
L'Aurore (newspaper founded 1944)
The French newspaper L'Aurore revealed that the former Nazi SS officer Klaus Barbie, the "Butcher of Lyon", had been found to be living in Peru.
- January 20
Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction
Pakistan launches its nuclear weapons program, a few weeks after its defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War, as well as the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
- January 21
Tripura
Tripura, formerly part of the independent Twipra Kingdom, became a state of India.
- January 24
Shoichi Yokoi
Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi was found in the jungles of Guam, where he had been hiding since the end of World War II.
- January 26
JAT Flight 367
JAT Flight 367 exploded in mid-air over Czechoslovakia; the only survivor of the 28 on board, flight attendant Vesna Vulović, fell 10,160 m (33,330 ft), setting the record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute.
- January 30
The Troubles
The Troubles: On Bloody Sunday, members of the British Parachute Regiment shot 26 civil-rights protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing at least 13 people.
- January 30
Pakistan
Pakistan leaves the Commonwealth of Nations in protest of its recognition of breakaway Bangladesh.
February
- February 1
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur (pictured), the capital of Malaysia, was granted city status.
- February 2
The Troubles
The Troubles: Protestors burned the British Embassy in Ireland following the massacre of 14 civilians in Derry by British forces.
- February 3
1972 Iran blizzard
The deadliest blizzard in history began in Iran and continued for a week leaving more than 4,000 people dead.
- February 10
Ras Al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah joins the United Arab Emirates, now making up seven emirates.
- February 15
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.
- February 15
José María Velasco Ibarra
José María Velasco Ibarra, serving as President of Ecuador for the fifth time, is overthrown by the military for the fourth time.
- February 17
Volkswagen Beetle
Cumulative sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model T.
- February 18
Supreme Court of California
The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, (6 Cal.3d 628) invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.
- February 21
Richard Nixon
United States President Richard Nixon visits China to normalize Sino-American relations.
- February 21
Soviet Union
The Soviet uncrewed spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
- February 27
Sunday People
The Sunday People revealed that James Humphreys, a notorious pornographer, had bribed a senior London police officer with a holiday to Cyprus and Beirut.
- February 28
Law enforcement in Japan
Japanese police stormed a mountain lodge near Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, to end a ten-day siege by members of the paramilitary group United Red Army.
- February 29
South Vietnam
South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from South Vietnam as part of Nixon's Vietnamization policy in the Vietnam War.
March
- March 3
Mohawk Airlines Flight 405
Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes as a result of a control malfunction and insufficient training in emergency procedures.
- March 3
Jethro Tull (band)
The British rock band Jethro Tull released Thick as a Brick, a parody concept album allegedly adapted from an eight-year-old boy's epic poem.
- March 14
Giangiacomo Feltrinelli
Italian publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, known for his translation of Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago after it had been smuggled out of the Soviet Union, died in an explosion.
- March 14
Sterling Airways Flight 296
Sterling Airways Flight 296 crashes near Kalba, United Arab Emirates while on approach to Dubai International Airport, killing 112 people.
- March 20
The Troubles
The Troubles: The first car bombing by the Provisional IRA in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland.
- March 30
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: North Vietnamese forces began the Easter Offensive in an attempt to gain as much territory and destroy as many South Vietnamese units as possible.
- March 30
Easter Offensive
Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.
April
- April 7
Viet Cong
Communist forces overran the South Vietnamese town of Lộc Ninh.
- April 10
Yinqueshan Han Tombs Bamboo Slips Museum
Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are discovered by construction workers in Shandong.
- April 10
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
- April 13
Universal Postal Union
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.
- April 13
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: The Battle of An Lộc begins.
- April 16
Apollo program
Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- April 18
East African Airways Flight 720
East African Airways Flight 720 crashes during a rejected takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing 43.
- April 20
Apollo program
Apollo program: The Apollo 16 Lunar Module Orion, commanded by John Young and piloted by Charles Duke, lands on the Moon.
- April 20
Carmen Electra
Carmen Electra, American model and actress
- April 20
Stephen Marley
Stephen Marley, Jamaican-American musician
- April 21
John Young (astronaut)
Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke fly Apollo 16's Apollo Lunar Module to the Moon's surface, the fifth NASA Apollo Program crewed lunar landing.
- April 25
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
- April 28
Jimmy Reid
Scottish trade unionist Jimmy Reid condemned the capitalist "rat race" in his inaugural address as Rector of the University of Glasgow.
May
- May 2
Sunshine Mine
In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, Idaho, killing 91 workers.
- May 4
Don't Make a Wave Committee
The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to Greenpeace Foundation.
- May 5
Alitalia Flight 112
Alitalia Flight 112 crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all 115 aboard, making it the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy.
- May 6
Deniz Gezmiş
Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara after being convicted of attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
- May 8
Black September Organization
Four members of Black September hijacked Sabena Flight 571 to demand the release of 315 Palestinians convicted on terrorism charges.
- May 8
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his order to place naval mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.
- May 13
The Troubles
The Troubles: A car bomb planted by Ulster loyalists exploded outside a crowded pub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, beginning two days of gun battles between the British Army, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and the Ulster Volunteer Force.
- May 13
Sennichi Department Store Building fire
A fire occurs in the Sennichi Department Store in Osaka, Japan. Blocked exits and non-functional elevators result in 118 fatalities (many victims leaping to their deaths).
- May 15
Ryukyu Islands
The Ryukyu Islands were returned to Japan by the United States, and the U.S. occupation government was abolished.
- May 16
Antonov An-24
An Antonov An-24 crashes into a kindergarten building in Svetlogorsk, killing 35.
- May 18
Kharkiv International Airport
During approach to Kharkiv International Airport, Aeroflot Flight 1491 crashes near Ruska Lozova, killing all 112 aboard.
- May 22
Dominion of Ceylon
The Dominion of Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka, adopted a new constitution, and officially became a republic within the Commonwealth.
- May 26
Cold War
Cold War: The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
- May 30
The Angry Brigade
The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout the United Kingdom.
- May 30
Japanese Red Army
Members of the Japanese Red Army carried out the Lod Airport massacre in Tel Aviv, Israel, on behalf of PFLP External Operations, killing over 20 people and injuring almost 80 others.
- May 30
Ben Gurion Airport
In Ben Gurion Airport (at the time: Lod Airport), Israel, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.
June
- June 7
Karl Urban
Karl Urban, New Zealand actor
- June 8
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: Associated Press photographer Nick Ut took a Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph of a naked nine-year-old Phan Thi Kim Phuc fleeing after being burned by napalm.
- June 9
Black Hills
Severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, creating a flood that kills 238 people and causes $160 million in damage.
- June 14
Japan Air Lines Flight 471
Japan Air Lines Flight 471 crashes on approach to Palam International Airport (now Indira Gandhi International Airport) in New Delhi, India, killing 82 of the 87 people on board and four more people on the ground.
- June 15
Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z
Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z is destroyed by a bomb over Pleiku, Vietnam (then South Vietnam) and kills 81 people.
- June 16
Churchill Falls Generating Station
The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in Canada is inaugurated at Churchill Falls Generating Station.
- June 16
David Bowie
English musician David Bowie released his breakthrough album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
- June 17
Watergate complex
Five men were arrested for attempted burglary on the offices of the Democratic National Committee, igniting the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of US president Richard Nixon more than two years later.
- June 17
Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee during an attempt by members of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to illegally wiretap the political opposition as part of a broader campaign t
- June 18
British European Airways Flight 548
British European Airways Flight 548 crashed near Staines-upon-Thames less than three minutes after departing from Heathrow Airport in London, killing all 118 people aboard in the worst air accident in the UK.
- June 20
Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal: An 18+1⁄2-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex.
- June 23
Richard Nixon
President Richard Nixon signed Title IX (co-author Patsy Mink pictured) into law as part of the Education Amendments, prohibiting gender discrimination in any educational program receiving U.S. federal funds.
- June 23
Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about illegally using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into the Watergate break-ins.
- June 23
Title IX
Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funds.
- June 29
Supreme Court of the United States
The United States Supreme Court rules in the case Furman v. Georgia that arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
- June 29
Convair CV-240 family
A Convair CV-580 and De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter collide above Lake Winnebago near Appleton, Wisconsin, killing 13.
- June 30
Leap second
The first leap second is added to the UTC time system.
July
- July 8
Mossad
Israeli Mossad assassinate Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani.
- July 11
World Chess Championship 1972
The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts.
- July 14
Steph Bridge
Steph Bridge, British World Champion kitesurfer
- July 19
Dhofar rebellion
Dhofar Rebellion: British SAS units help the Omani government against Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman rebels in the Battle of Mirbat.
- July 21
The Troubles
The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated twenty-two bombs throughout Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- July 29
Avianca
Two Avianca Douglas DC-3 airliners collide over Colombia, killing 38.
- July 31
The Troubles
The Troubles: Hours after the British Army's Operation Motorman brought an end to the self-declared autonomous area of Free Derry (Free Derry Corner pictured) in Northern Ireland, three car bombs exploded in the village of Claudy.
August
- August 3
United States Senate
The United States Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
- August 4
President of Uganda
Ugandan President Idi Amin announces that Uganda is no longer responsible for the care of British subjects of Asian origin, beginning the expulsions of Ugandan Asians.
- August 11
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: The last United States ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam.
- August 14
Interflug Flight 450
An Ilyushin Il-62 airliner crashes near Königs Wusterhausen, East Germany killing 156 people.
- August 16
Coup d'état
In an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, the Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
- August 22
Rhodesia
Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies.
- August 26
1972 Summer Olympics
The Games of the XX Olympiad open in Munich, West Germany.
September
- September 1
Cold War
In a match widely publicized as a Cold War confrontation, American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer became the 11th World Chess Champion with his victory over Soviet Boris Spassky.
- September 4
The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right premieres on CBS. It currently is the longest running game show on American television.
- September 4
Mark Spitz
Mark Spitz becomes the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games.
- September 5
Munich massacre
Munich massacre: A Palestinian terrorist group called "Black September" attacks and takes hostage 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. Two die in the attack and nine are murdered the following day.
- September 5
Palestinians
The Palestinian militant group Black September took hostage eleven Israeli athletes and coaches at the Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany; all of the hostages were killed less than 24 hours later.
- September 9
Kentucky
In Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park, a Cave Research Foundation exploration and mapping team discovers a link between the Mammoth and Flint Ridge cave systems, making it the longest known cave passageway in the world.
- September 15
Scandinavian Airlines
A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö Bulltofta Airport.
- September 15
Croatian National Resistance
Three armed members of the Croatian National Resistance hijacked Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130 in an attempt to force the release of those arrested for the assassination of the Yugoslav ambassador the previous year.
- September 24
Japan Air Lines Flight 472 (1972)
Japan Airlines Flight 472 lands at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz Airport in Bombay, India, overrunning the runway and resulting in 11 injuries.
- September 28
Cold War
Against the backdrop of the Cold War, the Canadian ice hockey team defeated the Soviet team in the Summit Series.
October
- October 13
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed into a remote area in the Andes mountains near the border of Chile and Argentina; the 16 remaining survivors were not rescued until more than two months later.
- October 13
Aeroflot Flight 217
Aeroflot Flight 217 crashes outside Moscow, killing 174.
- October 13
Flag of Okinawa Prefecture
The flag of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, was officially adopted.
- October 23
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: Operation Linebacker, a U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam in response to its Easter Offensive, ended after five months.
- October 24
Falsework
Three people were killed when falsework collapsed during the construction of the Loddon Bridge in Berkshire, leading to reform of construction practices in the UK.
November
- November 1
Elvis on Tour
Elvis on Tour, a concert film that documented Elvis Presley's tour throughout the United States, opened.
- November 7
Sidney Lanier Bridge
A ship collision with the Sidney Lanier Bridge in the U.S. state of Georgia resulted in a bridge collapse (pictured), which killed ten people.
- November 8
HBO
American pay television network Home Box Office (HBO) launches.
- November 10
Southern Airways
Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham, Alabama 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.
- November 28
Claude Buffet
Last executions in Paris: Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems are guillotined at La Santé Prison.
- November 29
Atari, Inc.
Atari announced the release of Pong (screenshot pictured), one of the first video games to achieve widespread popularity in both the arcade and home-console markets.
- November 30
Vietnam War
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 because troop levels are now down to 27,000.
December
- December 2
Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam is elected the 21st Prime Minister of Australia in the 1972 Australian federal election, defeating William McMahon and leading the Australian Labor Party back into office after 23 years in Opposition.
- December 5
Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam took office as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia and formed a duumvirate with his deputy Lance Barnard, ending 23 years of Liberal–Country Party government.
- December 7
Apollo 17
Apollo 17, the last Apollo Moon mission, is launched. The crew takes the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they leave the Earth.
- December 7
Martin Bormann
Construction workers found the remains of Martin Bormann near Lehrter Station in Berlin, ending a decades-long search after his conviction in absentia at the Nuremberg trials.
- December 8
United Air Lines Flight 553
United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45. This is the first-ever loss of a Boeing 737.
- December 11
Apollo 17
Apollo 17 (Lunar Roving Vehicle pictured), the last Apollo mission, landed on the Moon.
- December 13
Apollo program
Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.
- December 14
Apollo program
Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the most recent person to walk on the Moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final extravehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission.
- December 14
Extravehicular activity
Upon completing the third extra-vehicular activity of Apollo 17, American astronaut Gene Cernan became the last person to date to walk on the Moon.
- December 16
Constitution of Bangladesh
The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is enacted.
- December 18
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.
- December 19
Apollo program
Apollo program: The last crewed lunar flight, Apollo 17, carrying Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
- December 23
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, surviving by cannibalism.
- December 23
1972 Nicaragua earthquake
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000.
- December 23
Immaculate Reception
The Immaculate Reception is caught by Franco Harris to win the Pittsburgh Steelers their first ever playoff victory, after defeating the Oakland Raiders.
- December 26
Vietnam War
Vietnam War: As part of Operation Linebacker II, 120 American B-52 Stratofortress bombers attacked Hanoi, including 78 launched from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the largest single combat launch in Strategic Air Command history.
- December 28
Selective Service System
The last scheduled day for induction into the military by the Selective Service System. Due to the fact that President Richard Nixon declared this day a national day of mourning due to former President Harry S Truman's death, approximately 300 men were not able to report due to m
- December 29
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401
Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar) crashes in the Florida Everglades on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101 of the 176 people on board.
- December 30
Operation Linebacker II
Vietnam War: Operation Linebacker II ends.
- December 31
Roberto Clemente
Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente (pictured) died in a plane crash en route to deliver aid to victims of that year's Nicaragua earthquake.
Questions about 1972
What happened in 1972?
This site records 141 entries for 1972, including Rose Heilbron on January 4. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1972?
54 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1972 turns 54 this year.
Which century is 1972 in?
1972 falls in the 20th century, in the 1970s.
Which generation was born in 1972?
Generation X (1965–1980). The latch-key generation; first to grow up with personal computers.
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