What Happened in 1972

Significant Events

  • Jan 30 'Bloody Sunday': 27 unarmed civilians are shot (of whom 14 were killed) by the British Army during a civil rights march in Derry; 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
  • Mar 30 Northern Ireland's Government and Parliament dissolved by the British Government and 'direct rule' from Westminster is introduced
  • Apr 10 US, USSR & 70 other nations agree to ban biological weapons
  • May 28 White House "plumbers" break into the Democratic National Headquarters at Watergate in Washington D.C.
  • Jun 23 Hurricane Agnes becomes America's costliest natural disaster, effecting 15 states, with 119 deaths and $3 billion in damage
  • Aug 3 U.S. Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
  • Sep 5 11 Israeli athletes taken hostage and later killed by Palestinian Black September group at the Munich Olympics
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Did You Know?

"The Don't Make A Wave Committee," a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to the "Greenpeace Foundation"

On May 4, 1972


World Leaders in 1972

Famous People in 1972

Famous People Born in 1972

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Would You Believe?

Serbian air stewardess Vesna Vulovic survives 10,160m fall without parachute - world's highest fall without a parachute

On January 26, 1972

Famous Weddings

Famous Divorces

  • Jun 26 NFL quarterback Johnny Unitas (39) divorces first wife Dorothy Hoelle after nearly 2 decades of marriage
  • Sep 19 Actor Phil Hartman (23) divorces Gretchen Lewis after 2 years of marriage
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Famous Deaths

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