Historical Events in 1972

Events 1 - 200 of 785

• Jan 1 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
• Jan 1 International Book Year begins
• Jan 1 KDSD TV channel 16 in Aberdeen, SD (PBS) begins broadcasting

• Jan 1 Policewomen are enlisted as full members of South African Police Force for the first time.
• Jan 2 An anti-internment rally is held in Belfast, North Ireland
• Jan 2 Mariner 9 begins mapping Mars
• Jan 3 The Irish Republican Army (IRA) explodes a bomb in Callender Street, Belfast, injuring over 60 people
• Jan 4 Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London.
• Jan 5 Largest crowd at Cleveland Arena (Cavs vs Lakers-11,178)
• Jan 5 NYC transit fare rises from 30 cents to 35 cents

• Jan 5 US President Nixon signs a bill for NASA to begin research on a manned space shuttle
• Jan 6 Vladimir Bukovski is exiled from USSR
• Jan 7 Discovery of the first black hole Cygnus X-1 in the constellation Cygnus reported in a paper in "Nature" by Louise Webster and Paul Murdin [1]
• Jan 7 Iberian Airlines 'plane crashes into 800ft peak on island of Ibiza, 104 die

• 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 7 William Hubbs Rehnquist sworn in as US Supreme Court Justice

• Jan 8 NCAA announces freshman can play on teams starting in fall

• Jan 9 British coal miners begin a national strike, the first for half a century

• Jan 9 Retired passenger liner Queen Elizabeth destroyed by fire in Hong Kong harbour
• Jan 10 Geoge Harrison and Friends' triple live album set "The Concert for Bangladesh" released in UK
• Jan 10 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman arrives in Dacca, East-Pakistan
• Jan 12 Abu Sayeed Chudhury becomes President of Bangladesh and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Prime Minister
• Jan 12 Tigers sign a lease to build a $126M domed stadium (doesn't happen)
• Jan 13 An army commander stages a bloodless coup in Ghana, while the prime minister is in London
• Jan 13 Bernice Gera wins anti-discrimination case against the National Baseball Congressl, initiated March 15, 1971 to be allowed to umpire
• Jan 14 "Sanford & Son" starring Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson premieres on NBC TV

• Jan 14 WMAH TV channel 19 in Biloxi, Mississippi (PBS) begins broadcasting
• Jan 14 WMAU TV channel 17 in Bude, Mississippi (PBS) begins broadcasting
• Jan 14 WMAW TV channel 14 in Meridian, Mississippi (PBS) begins broadcasting
• Jan 15 TV drama "Emergency" with Randolph Mantooth and Robert Fuller premieres on NBC TV

• Jan 16 Dutch speed skater Atje Keulen-Deelstra becomes European Allround ladies champion, for the first of three consecutive years
• Jan 16 Super Bowl VI, Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, LA: Dallas Cowboys beat Miami Dolphins, 24-3; MVP: Roger Staubach, Dallas, QB
• Jan 17 "My Hang-Up Is You" single released by Freddie Hart (Billboard Song of the Year 1972)
• Jan 17 Section of Memphis' Highway 51 South renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard
• Jan 17 Seven men who were held as internees escape from the prison ship HMS Maidstone in Belfast Lough, North Ireland
• Jan 18 Garfield Todd, former Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia and his daughter Judith, supporters of black majority rule in the country, are arrested
• Jan 18 Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Brian Faulkner bans all parades and marches in Northern Ireland until the end of the year

• Jan 20 Number of people out of work and claiming unemployment benefit in UK rises to over 1 million
• Jan 20 Six oil exporting countries conclude meetings with Western oil companies; an agreement is reached to raise the price of crude
• Jan 21 Assam's North East Frontier Agency becomes Arunachal Pradesh territory
• Jan 21 Belgian government of Eyskens-Cools forms
• Jan 21 Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura become separate states of the Indian union
• Jan 21 Mizoram, formerly part of Assam, creates an Indian union territory
• Jan 22 An anti-internment march is held at Magilligan strand, County Derry; as the march nears the internment camp it is stopped by members of the Green Jackets and the Parachute Regiment of the British Army, who used barbed wire to close off the beach

• Jan 23 Bootlegger sells wood alcohol to a wedding party, killing 100 in New Delhi
• Jan 23 Entire population of Istanbul is placed under 24 hour house arrest

• Jan 24 Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
• Jan 24 WRIP (now WDSI) TV channel 61 in Chattanooga, TN (IND) 1st broadcast
• Jan 26 Aboriginal Tent Embassy protest for land rights begins on the lawn of Parliament House, Canberra, Australia. Longest continuous protest for indigenous rights in the world.
• Jan 26 Serbian air stewardess Vesna Vulovic survives 10,160m fall without parachute - world's highest fall without a parachute
• Jan 27 The British Army and the Irish Republican Army engage in gun battles near County Armagh; British troops fire over 1,000 rounds of ammunition
• Jan 27 Two Royal Ulster Constabulary officers shot dead by IRA in an attack on their patrol car in the Creggan Road, Derry

• Jan 28 Oral Roberts' Eddie Woods grabs 30 rebounds for 2nd consecutive game
• Jan 28 The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association place "special emphasis on the necessity for a peaceful incident-free day" at the next march on 30 January in an effort to avoid violence
• 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'
• Jan 30 Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations

• Jan 31 Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev becomes 11th King of Nepal
• Jan 31 British Home Secretary Reginald Maudling to House of Commons on 'Bloody Sunday', "The Army returned the fire directed at them with aimed shots and inflicted a number of casualties on those who were attacking them with firearms and with bombs"
• Jan 31 Military coup ousts civilian government of Ghana
• Jan 31 US launches HEOS A-2 for interplanetary observations (396/244,998)
• Feb 1 1972 NFL Draft: Walt Patulski from University of Notre Dame first pick by Buffalo Bills
• Feb 1 1st scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced ($395)

• Feb 1 Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.

• Feb 1 The Ministry of Defence also issues a detailed account of the British Army's version of events during 'Bloody Sunday'
• Feb 1 Wings release single "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" in UK
• Feb 2 Angry demonstrators burn the British Embassy in Dublin to the ground in protest at the shooting dead of 13 people on 'bloody sunday'
• Feb 2 Lefty Gomez, Ross Youngs & William Harridge selected for Baseball Hall of Fame

• Feb 3 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Feb 3 XI Winter Olympic Games opens in Sapporo, Japan (1st in Asia)
• Feb 4 6th round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks ends in Vienna Austria
• Feb 4 Dutch speed skater Ard Schenk wins the 5,000m at the Sapporo Winter Olympics; also wins the 1,500m and 10,000m gold medals

• Feb 5 "Another Puff" by Jerry Reed peaks at #65
• Feb 5 Bob Douglas is 1st African American elected to Basketball Hall of Fame
• Feb 5 German speed skater Erhard Keller wins his 2nd consecutive Olympic 500m gold medal at the Sapporo Winter Games after taking out the event in Grenoble (1968)
• Feb 5 Two IRA members are killed when a bomb they were planting exploded prematurely
• Feb 5 US airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers & baggage
• Feb 6 A Civil Rights march held in Newry, County Down; very large turn-out with many people attending to protest at the killings in Derry the previous Sunday
• Feb 6 Dutch speed skater Ard Schenk follows his win in the 5,000m with victory in the 1,500m, on his way to 3 gold medals at the Sapporo Winter Olympics; also wins 10,000m
• Feb 7 Dutch Olympic 1,500m and 5,000m speed skating champion Ard Schenk wins his 3rd gold medal at the Sapporo Winter Games when he takes out the 10,000m

• Feb 9 British government declares state of emergency after month-long coal miners' strike
• Feb 9 William Craig, who had been Northern Ireland Minister for Home Affairs, launches 'Ulster Vanguard' as an umbrella movement for the right-ring of Unionism
• Feb 10 BBC bans "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" by Wings
• Feb 10 Ras al Khaima joins United Arab Emirates
• Feb 10 Two British soldiers are killed in a land mine attack near Cullyhanna, County Armagh; an IRA member is shot dead during an exchange of gunfire with RUC officers
• Feb 10 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

• Feb 13 XI Winter Olympic Games close at Sapporo, Japan
• Feb 14 CBS "Late Movie" premieres
• Feb 14 John Lennon and Yoko Ono co-host the syndicated TV show "The Mike Douglas Show" for an entire week, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Feb 14 Lord Widgery arrives in Coleraine, where the 'Bloody Sunday' (30 January 1972) Tribunal was to be based, and holds a preliminary hearing
• Feb 14 Luna 20 (Russia) launched to orbit & soft landing on Moon
• Feb 15 Dimitrios Papadopoulos becomes metropolitan of Imbros and Tenedos
• Feb 15 Newly-formed NHL franchise New York Islanders hire Bill Torrey as their first General Manager
• Feb 15 President Velasco Ibarra of Ecuador deposed for 4th time
• Feb 15 Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.
• Feb 16 American guitar legend Chuck Berry and former Beatle John Lennon perform together, with Yoko Ono, on 'The Mike Douglas Show' TV program
• Feb 16 German mass murderers "Three of Breda" freed
• Feb 16 Test Cricket debut of Lawrence Rowe WI v NZ Kingston, 214 & 100

• Feb 18 California Supreme Court abolishes death penalty
• Feb 18 Giulio Andreotti sworn in as premier of Italy for the 1st time
• Feb 18 John Lennon and Yoko Ono end a week of co-hosting the syndicated "The Mike Douglas Show", in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Feb 19 Glenn Turner carries his bat for 223* v WI at Kingston
• Feb 19 The Asama-Sanso hostage standoff begins in Japan

• Feb 20 1st time Cleveland Cavaliers beat NY Knicks (111-109)
• Feb 20 Ard Schenk wins world championship for speed skating
• Feb 20 Sicco Mansholt becomes chairman of European Committee
• Feb 21 Michael Weller's "Moonchildren" premieres in NYC

• Feb 21 The first session of the Widgery Tribunal, investigating the events of 'Bloody Sunday' (30 January 1972), is held in Coleraine, County Derry
• Feb 22 Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani becomes Emir & Prime Minister of Qatar
• Feb 22 Red Wings rookie Henry Boucha scores in his first NHL Game in 5-4 win over Toronto Maple Leafs at Olympias Arena in Detroit, Michigan
• Feb 22 The Official IRA bombs Aldershot military barracks, the headquarters of the British Parachute Regiment, killing seven people; thought to be in retaliation for Bloody Sunday.
• Feb 22 US President Richard Nixon, meets with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing

• Feb 25 Attempted assassination of Irish Minister of State for Home Affairs John Taylor who is shot a number of times (the Official Irish Republican Army later claimed responsibility)

• Feb 26 Ireland-Wales Five Nations Rugby match scheduled for Lansdowne Road, Dublin is cancelled because of escalating political situation; Championship not completed for first time since World War II
• Feb 26 Slag heap dam collapses above Buffalo Creek, West Virginia, kills 125

• Feb 28 George Harrison is involved in a minor car accident
• Feb 28 The Asama-Sanso incident ends in Japan.
• Feb 28 US President Richard Nixon ends historic week-long visit to China

• Feb 29 Jack Anderson discloses Dita Beard (ITT) memo indicating antitrust charges were dropped for $400,000 contribution to Republican Party
• Mar 1 Club of Rome publishes report "Boundaries on the Growth"
• Mar 1 David Rabe's "Sticks & Bones" premieres in NYC
• Mar 1 KHMA TV channel 11 in Houma, LA (IND) begins broadcasting
• Mar 1 Two Catholic teenagers shot dead by the Royal Ulster Constabulary while 'joy riding' in a stolen car in Belfast

• Mar 2 NASA launches its Pioneer 10 space probe to Jupiter, NASA's first mission to the outer planets

• Mar 4 Abercorn Restaurant bombing: a bomb explodes in a crowded restaurant in Belfast, killing two civilians and wounding 130
• Mar 4 Erhard Keller (Germany) skates world record 1000m (1:18.5)
• Mar 4 Last train run between Penrith to Keswick, UK
• Mar 4 Libya & USSR signs cooperation treaty
• Mar 5 Dutch speed skater Atje Keulen-Deelstra becomes Women's Allround World Champion at Heerenveen, Netherlands, her second title in 3 years
• Mar 5 Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis leaves communist party

• Mar 6 Keswick to Penrith railway officially closes

• Mar 8 1st flight of the Goodyear blimp Europa (N2A); 1st airship flown over Britain in 20 years
• Mar 9 Four members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) die in a premature explosion at a house in Clonard Street, Lower Falls, Belfast
• Mar 9 Players on White Sox vote 31-0 in favor of a strike, if necessary

• Mar 10 1st black US political convention opens in Gary, Indiana
• Mar 10 General Lon Nol becomes President & Prince Sirik Matak premier of Cambodia
• Mar 10 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
• Mar 11 OPEC threatens "appropriate sanctions" against companies that "fail to comply with ... any action taken by a Member Country in accordance with [OPEC] decisions."

• Mar 14 NBA's Cincinnati Royals, plagued by poor home attendance, announce they are moving franchise to Kansas City
• Mar 14 Two IRA members shot dead by British soldiers in the Bogside area of Derry

• Mar 15 Danish airliner hit mountain in Sheikdom of Oman killing 112
• Mar 15 NASA selects 3 part configuration for Space Shuttle
• Mar 15 Two British soldiers killed when attempting to defuse a bomb in Belfast; an RUC officer is also killed in an IRA attack in Coalisland, County Tyrone
• Mar 16 John Lennon and Yoko Ono are served with deportation papers by US Immigration Department

• Mar 18 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
• Mar 18 Cornell NCAA hockey team shut out for 1st time in 225 games (Boston U)
• Mar 18 Memphis' Larry Miller sets ABA record of 67 pts in a game
• Mar 18 Ulster Vanguard hold a rally of 60,000 people in Belfast; William Craig tells the crowd: "if and when the politicians fail us, it may be our job to liquidate the enemy"
• Mar 19 1st AIAW Women's Basketball Tournament, Immaculata beats West Chester State 52-48 in Normal
• Mar 19 India & Bangladesh sign friendship treaty
• Mar 19 LA Lakers beat Golden State Warriors, 162-99, by then record 63 pts
• Mar 20 19 mountain climbers killed on Japan's Mount Fuji during an avalanche
• Mar 20 Donegall Street bombing: the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonate its first car bomb on Donegall Street in Belfast; four civilians, two RUC officers and a UDR soldier killed while 148 people were wounded
• Mar 20 S Mansholt succeeds Malfatti as chairman of European Committee
• Mar 21 US Supreme Court rules states can't require 1-yr residency to vote
• Mar 22 In Eisenstadt v. Baird the US Supreme Court rules unmarried people have same right to contraception as married people.
• Mar 22 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar named NBA MVP
• Mar 22 Nick Mileti purchases Cleveland Indians for $9 million

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