50 Fun Facts About 1972

Who became Secretary-General of the United Nations on January 1, 1972?

Kurt Waldheim served two terms, and while running for Austria's presidency in 1986 it emerged that he had lied about his wartime Wehrmacht service.

Who succeeded King Frederik IX on the Danish throne in January 1972?

Margrethe II could reign only because Denmark's 1953 Act of Succession let a king's daughter inherit the throne when she had no brothers.

Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi was found in January 1972 after 28 years hiding on which island?

Shoichi Yokoi stayed hidden on Guam because soldiers were taught capture was the ultimate disgrace; his line "It is with much embarrassment that I return" became a saying in Japan.

What was Vesna Vulović's job when she survived the break-up of a JAT airliner over Czechoslovakia in 1972?

Vesna Vulović was a flight attendant, and by her own account JAT had put her on that flight by mistake, confusing her with another stewardess named Vesna.

In which Northern Ireland city did Bloody Sunday take place on January 30, 1972?

In Derry, soldiers shot dead unarmed civil rights marchers; in 2010 Prime Minister David Cameron apologised, calling what happened "unjustified and unjustifiable".

Which Asian city hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics?

Sapporo's Games opened in controversy when IOC president Avery Brundage had Austrian ski star Karl Schranz banned for his commercial deals with ski makers.

In February 1972, which car overtook the Ford Model T as the best-selling car ever?

The Volkswagen Beetle's postwar comeback began when British Army major Ivan Hirst got its Wolfsburg factory running again after World War II.

Which country did Richard Nixon visit for eight days in February 1972?

Richard Nixon's week in China ended with the Shanghai Communiqué, which laid the groundwork for formal US–China diplomatic relations in 1979.

Which probe, launched in March 1972, became the first spacecraft to fly past Jupiter?

Pioneer 10 carries a plaque showing a man and a woman, in case intelligent aliens ever find the spacecraft.

In March 1972, Congress sent which proposed measure to the states for ratification?

The Equal Rights Amendment was still three states short of the 38 it needed when its extended 1982 deadline passed.

Which treaty, opened for signature in April 1972, was the first to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction?

The Biological Weapons Convention has no formal verification regime, and the Soviet Union, one of its depositary states, kept an enormous bioweapons programme after joining.

Bamboo slips of which ancient text were found in Shandong tombs in April 1972?

The Art of War slips turned up during building work, and the same tombs held Sun Bin's Art of War, a separate book long lost.

Laszlo Toth attacked which Michelangelo sculpture with a hammer in May 1972?

Laszlo Toth cried "I am Jesus Christ" as he struck the Pietà, and the sculpture has stood behind protective glass ever since the restoration.

The Dominion of Ceylon became a republic under which name in May 1972?

Sri Lanka's 1972 republican constitution gave Buddhism a primary place and weakened minority safeguards, further antagonising the Tamil minority.

Nixon and Brezhnev signed which arms-control treaty in Moscow in May 1972?

The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was signed at the same summit.

Sally Priesand became the first American woman ordained as what in June 1972?

Sally Priesand made history as a rabbi, yet some synagogues refused even to interview her.

The Pulitzer-winning 1972 photograph known as The Terror of War shows a girl running from what?

The napalm attack photo was credited to Nick Ut, but in 2025 World Press Photo suspended that credit after a documentary named another photographer.

Which fast-food chain did Al Copeland found in Arabi, Louisiana, in the early 1970s?

Popeyes grew from Al Copeland's first chicken restaurant, which failed; he added Cajun spice to the recipe and reopened under the new name.

The June 1972 Watergate burglars broke into the offices of which organisation?

The Democratic National Committee break-in led to a cover-up that forced Richard Nixon to resign on August 9, 1974.

What did the International Time Bureau add to UTC for the first time on June 30, 1972?

A leap second is needed because atomic clocks are steadier than Earth's irregular rotation, so UTC must now and then add a second to stay in step.

In which city did Boris Spassky lose his world chess title in 1972?

In Reykjavík the challenger lost game one, forfeited game two in a dispute over TV cameras, and still went on to take the title.

In July 1972, Anwar Sadat publicly ordered which country's military advisers out of Egypt?

Sadat's order sent thousands of Soviet Union personnel home, though some historians now argue the famous 'expulsion' was partly a cover for Egypt's war plans.

Idi Amin ordered 50,000 Asians holding which passports out of Uganda in August 1972?

Asians with British passports were given 90 days to leave, after Idi Amin accused Uganda's Asian minority of milking the economy.

Which city hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics?

Munich's Games saw 11 Israeli team members murdered, yet the IOC held its first official memorial ceremony for them only in 2016.

Which 1972 world chess champion later gave up his title without playing a single game in defence of it?

Bobby Fischer refused FIDE's match terms in 1975, so Anatoly Karpov was named champion by default, and Fischer played no competitive game for 20 years.

Which Brazilian won the 1972 Formula One world championship with Lotus at the age of 25?

Emerson Fittipaldi later won the 1993 Indianapolis 500 and snubbed the winner's traditional milk, drinking orange juice to promote the Brazilian citrus he produced.

Which Philippine president placed the whole country under martial law in September 1972?

Ferdinand Marcos formally lifted martial law in 1981, but he kept ruling with near-total power until he was ousted in 1986.

Which country rejected European Community membership in a September 1972 referendum?

Norway voted no, and Prime Minister Trygve Bratteli, who had campaigned for membership, resigned as a result.

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes in October 1972 carrying which athletes?

The rugby union players' survivors were saved only after two of them trekked out of the Andes into Chile and found a herdsman, Sergio Catalán.

Which team won the 1972 World Series, its first title since 1930?

The Oakland Athletics were dubbed the 'Mustache Gang' after owner Charlie Finley offered his players cash to grow mustaches in 1972.

Which European airliner made its maiden flight in October 1972?

The Airbus A300 flew well, but airlines doubted it, so Airbus sent the new twin-engine wide-body on a demonstration tour to win over would-be customers.

Whom did Richard Nixon defeat in a landslide in the November 1972 election?

George McGovern's campaign was damaged when his first running mate, Thomas Eagleton, was replaced after revelations that he had received electroshock therapy.

Which stock index closed above 1,000 for the first time on November 14, 1972?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's milestone didn't last: the 1973–74 crash dragged it down to 577.60 by December 1974.

Which 1972 arcade game was the first ever developed by Atari?

Pong's success set off a wave of imitations from rival companies, which pushed Atari to develop new games of its own.

Which Labor leader won the December 1972 Australian federal election?

Gough Whitlam's government was dismissed in 1975 by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, the very man Whitlam had appointed.

Which famous photograph of Earth was taken by the Apollo 17 crew in December 1972?

The Blue Marble was shot about five hours into the flight, and NASA credits it to the whole crew, since all three astronauts took photos with the onboard Hasselblad.

Which astronaut was the last Apollo moonwalker to leave the lunar surface, on December 14, 1972?

Eugene Cernan's parting words on the Moon were "we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind."

An earthquake devastated which Central American capital on December 23, 1972?

President Somoza was later accused of withholding millions in foreign aid.

Whose remains were found during Berlin construction work in December 1972?

Martin Bormann's identity was confirmed by DNA in 1998, and prosecutors then had his ashes scattered in the Baltic Sea so neo-Nazis could not build a shrine.

Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashed into which Florida landscape on December 29, 1972?

The crew were so busy with a faulty nose-gear light, later traced to a burned-out bulb, that nobody noticed the jet descending into the Everglades.

Who won the 1972 Nobel Prize in Literature?

Heinrich Böll welcomed Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn when the dissident writer was deported to West Germany in 1974.

Which basketball center was born on March 6, 1972?

Shaquille O'Neal made only 52.7% of his free throws, so opponents often fouled him on purpose, a tactic nicknamed Hack-a-Shaq.

Which French footballer and manager was born on June 23, 1972?

Zinedine Zidane's final match, the 2006 World Cup final, ended with a red card for headbutting Marco Materazzi, and Italy won on penalties.

Which actor and professional wrestler was born on May 2, 1972?

Dwayne Johnson hoped for a football career, but after the Calgary Stampeders cut him in 1995 he turned to wrestling, his family's business.

Which rapper was born on October 17, 1972?

Eminem's stage name grew out of his initials, M and M, for Marshall Mathers.

Which actress was born on September 27, 1972?

Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle company Goop paid $145,000 in 2018 to settle a lawsuit over unfounded health claims, including for jade eggs.

Which FBI official, number two after Hoover died in 1972, was secretly Watergate's Deep Throat?

Mark Felt kept his role as Deep Throat secret for more than 30 years before revealing himself in Vanity Fair in 2005, at the age of 91.

Which baseball great died on October 24, 1972?

Jackie Robinson's number 42 was retired by every Major League team in 1997, on the 50th anniversary of his debut.

Which former US president died on December 26, 1972?

Lyndon Johnson signed the Medicare bill in Independence beside Harry S. Truman in 1965, saying Truman had planted the seeds of the programme.

Which Puerto Rican baseball star died on December 31, 1972?

Roberto Clemente died aboard a heavily loaded relief flight that crashed just off Puerto Rico, and his body was never recovered.