On This Day

August 1972 in History

Events in History

  • Aug 1 1st article exposing Watergate scandal by Bernstein and Woodward in "The Washington Post"
  • Aug 2 Gold hits record $70 an ounce in London

Event of Interest

Aug 3 British premier Edward Heath proclaims emergency crisis due to dock strike

Edward Heath
British Prime Minister Edward Heath
  • Aug 3 Chozen-ji/Intl Zen Dojo founded by Omori Sogen Roshi, in Hawaii
  • Aug 3 US Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union to limit the use of missile systems capable of defending against missile-delivered nuclear weapons
  • Aug 4 Arthur Bremer jailed for 63 years for shooting Alabama Governor Wallace

Event of Interest

Aug 4 Uganda dictator Idi Amin orders the expulsion of 50,000 Asians with British passport from Uganda

Idi Amin
Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin
  • Aug 9 There is widespread and severe rioting in Nationalist areas of Northern Ireland on the anniversary of the introduction of Internment
  • Aug 10 1 million kg meteorite grazes atmosphere above Canada
  • Aug 10 The Great Fireball, a rare daylight meteor seen from Utah, US to Alberta, Canada, passes 35 miles from Earth's surface
  • Aug 11 "Cheech & Chong Day" in San Antonio Texas
  • Aug 11 Two IRA members are killed when a bomb they were transporting exploded prematurely
  • Aug 12 Last American combat ground troops leave Vietnam
  • Aug 14 2 British soldiers are killed by an IRA booby trap bomb in Belfast
  • Aug 14 A Catholic civilian is shot dead during an IRA attack on a British Army patrol in Belfast
  • Aug 16 Morocco King Hassan II's B727 shot during failed coup attempt by General Mohamed Oufkir. Reportedly, King Hassan grabbed the radio and told the rebel pilots "Stop firing! The tyrant is dead!", fooling pilots to break off attack
  • Aug 16 Philip Potter appointed sect-gen of World council of Churches
  • Aug 16 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
  • Aug 20 USSR performs underground nuclear test
  • Aug 21 1st hot air balloon flight over Alps
  • Aug 21 British dock strike ends after dockers accept an amended Jones-Adlington Agreement
  • Aug 21 Grace Slick maced by police when a band official called cops, pigs
  • Aug 21 Republican convention opens in Miami Beach
  • Aug 21 US orbiting astronomy observatory Copernicus launched
  • Aug 22 IRA bomb explodes prematurely at a customs post at Newry, County Down - 9 people, including three members of the IRA and five Catholic civilians, are killed in the explosion
  • Aug 23 4 civilians and 1 British soldier are injured in separate overnight shooting incidents in North Ireland
  • Aug 24 Dennis Amiss scores 1st one-day int century, 103 v Australia
  • Aug 26 NY Cosmos beat St Louis Stars, 2-1 to win NASL championship
  • Aug 26 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
  • Aug 27 Operation Lion's Den: US Navy bombards Haiphong Harbor, North Vietnam from the sea, firing over 700 rounds in 33 minutes [1]
  • Aug 28 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR

Birthdays in History

  • Aug 8 Axel Merckx, Belgian cyclist
  • Aug 12 Takanohana, Sumo yokozuna
  • Aug 13 Kevin Plank, American entrepreneur (Under Armour), born in Kensington, Maryland
  • Aug 14 Jay Manuel, Canadian make-up artist, born in Springfield, Illinois
  • Aug 24 Ava DuVernay, American director, writer and producer (13th, Selma, Queen Sugar), born in Long Beach, California
  • Aug 24 Todd Young, American politician (Senator-R-Indiana 2017-), born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Deaths in History

  • Aug 2 Helen Hoyt, American poet, dies at 85
  • Aug 2 Paul Goodman, US social critic/writer, dies at 60
  • Aug 5 Harry Hylton-Foster, Speaker of the British House of Commons (b. 1905)
  • Aug 9 Ernst von Salomon, German writer (Kette Der Tausend Kraniche), dies at 69
  • Aug 11 Max Theiler, South African-American virologist who developed vaccine for Yellow Fever (Nobel Prize 1951), dies at 73
  • Aug 11 Rose Schneiderman, American socialist, feminist, trade union leader and secretary of labor for New York State (1937-44), dies at 90
  • Aug 14 Jules Romains, French novelist, playwright and poet (Men of Good Will), dies at 86
  • Aug 17 Alexander Vampilov, Russian playwright (Elder Son), drowns at 34
  • Aug 17 Raymond Brulez, Belgian author (Schoone slaapster), dies at 76
  • Aug 20 A. M. Klein, Canadian modernist Jewish poet (Hath Not a Jew), dies at 63
  • Aug 26 Francis Chichester, English aviator and sailor (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire), dies at 70
  • Aug 26 Jacques Gans, Dutch author and journalist, dies at 63
  • Aug 28 William, English Prince of Gloucester and grandson of George V, dies in accident at 30

Historical Figures

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