Events Date 1972 March | History by KabAstro

Sports History

Mar 2 American jockey Bill Shoemaker wins his record 555th stakes race aboard Royal Owl in the San Jacinto Stakes at Santa Anita; Eddie Arcaro 554

Racing Hall of Fame Jockey Bill Shoemaker

Dictator Bokassa I

Mar 2 Jean-Bédel Bokassa appoints himself President for life of Central African Republic

Jean-Bédel Bokassa is crowned as 'Emperor of Central Africa' atop a golden throne in 1976

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

Event of Interest

Mar 3 Sculpted figures of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are completed at Stone Mountain Georgia

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

Golf Record

Mar 6 Jack Nicklaus, passes Arnold Palmer as golf's all-time money winner

Mar 6 Keswick to Penrith railway officially closes

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Mar 7 "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" single written by Ewan MacColl, released by Roberta Flack (Billboard Song of the Year 1972)

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

Music History

Mar 10 "What's Up, Doc?", Peter Bogdanovich's film homage to screwball comedies, starring Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn & Kenneth Mars premieres

Singer-Songwriter and Actress Barbra Streisand

Film Director and Producer Peter Bogdanovich

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 "Inner City" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 97 performances
Mar 11 19th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: North Carolina beats Maryland, 73-64
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."

Academy of Country Music Awards

Mar 13 7th Academy of Country Music Awards: Freddie Hart and Loretta Lynn win

Grammy Awards

Mar 14 14th Grammy Awards: Carole King's "It's Too Late"; Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine"; Carly Simon; Isaac Hayes; Muddy Waters; and Bill Evans win

Grammy Awards

Mar 14 Muddy Waters wins his first Grammy Award, for his album"They Call Me Muddy Waters"

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

The Godfather

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)

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

Music History

Mar 16 John Lennon and Yoko Ono are served with deportation papers by US Immigration Department

Music History

Mar 16 Singer James Brown performs two shows for over 1,000 detainees awaiting trial at the Adolescent Remand Shelter on Rikers Island, NYC

Back off Boogaloo

Mar 17 Ringo Starr releases single "Back off Boogaloo" in the UK

Beatles Drummer, Singer, and Actor Ringo Starr

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 Israeli musical revue "To Live Another Summer, To Pass Another Winter" closes at the Helen Hayes Theatre, NYC. after 173 performances
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.

Sports History

Mar 22 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar named NBA MVP

Mar 22 Musical "The Selling of the President" opens at Shubert Theater, NYC; runs for 5 performances
Mar 22 Nick Mileti purchases Cleveland Indians for $9 million

Event of Interest

Mar 22 US Congress approves the Equal Rights Amendment (still not ratified)

Mar 22 Yankees trade Danny Cater to the Red Sox for Sparky Lyle
Mar 23 Geoge Harrison and Friends' "The Concert for Bangladesh" concert film, directed by Saul Swimmer released in the US
Mar 23 NY Yankees agree to continue playing ball in the Bronx
Mar 24 Great Britain imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland
Mar 25 "Selling of the President" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 5 performances
Mar 25 17th Eurovision Song Contest: Vicky Leandros for Luxembourg wins singing "Apres toi" in Edinburgh

Sports History

Mar 25 34th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Florida, 81-76; 6th straight title for Bruins; future Hall of Fame center Bill Walton tournament MOP

NBA Center and Television Sportscaster Bill Walton

Mar 25 America's LP "America" goes #1

Sports History

Mar 25 Chicago Black Hawks Bobby Hull becomes the 2nd NHLer to score 600 goals, with a goal in Boston assisted by his brother Dennis

Mar 25 UCLA wins its 6th consecutive national basketball title
Mar 26 English translation of Dan Almagor's Israeli musical "Only Fools Are Sad" closes at Edison Theater, NYC, after 144 performances
Mar 26 LA Lakers break NBA wins record by winning 69 of 82 games (69-13), record will stand for 24 years
Mar 26 William Whitelaw appointed as the first Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Mar 27 Adolph Rupp retires after 42 years of coaching University of Kentucky
Mar 27 Ulster Vanguard organise industrial strike against the imposition of direct rule on Northern Ireland by Westminster
Mar 27 Venera 8 launches to explore Venus
Mar 27 Wyoming officially names "Curt Gowdy State Park", in honor of the nationally recognized broadcaster

Burning Love

Mar 28 Elvis Presley records his final Top Ten hit, a cover of "Burning Love", a song written by Dennis Linde, and first recorded by Arthur Alexander

Mar 28 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

Sports History

Mar 28 Wilt Chamberlain plays his last pro basketball game

Mar 30 North Vietnam launches a major conventional offensive against South Vietnam
Mar 30 Northern Ireland's Government and Parliament dissolved by the British Government and 'direct rule' from Westminster is introduced

A Funny Thing

Mar 30 Revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical-comedy "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", starring Phil Silvers, opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, NYC; runs for 156 performances and wins 2 Tony Awards