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
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
Leonid Brezhnev
Soviet General SecretaryMao Zedong
Chinese Revolutionary and Chairman of the Communist PartyRichard Nixon
37th US President
Famous People in 1972
Billie Jean King
Sportsperson
of the YearHenry Kissinger
Time Person
of the YearMarlon Brando
Oscar for Best Actor
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
- Jan 1 Politician Aung San Suu Kyi (26) weds author Michael Aris (25)
- Feb 11 Playwright Tom Stoppard (34) weds doctor/author Miriam Moore-Robinson (34)
- Apr 25 Comedic actor Bob Denver (37) weds third wife Carole Abrahams
- Jun 1 Serial killer John Wayne Gacy (30) weds second wife Carole Hoff
- Jun 26 NFL quarterback Johnny Unitas (39) weds second wife Sandra Lemon
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