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Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its begin and end are defined using mean solar time (the legal time scale) then its duration was 31622401.141 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or Ephemeris Time), which is slightly shorter than 1908).^[1]

Events[link]

January[link]

• January 1
  • Kurt Waldheim becomes Secretary General of the United Nations.
  • Pierre Hotel Robbery: Six men rob the safety deposit boxes of The Pierre Hotel in New York City of at least $4 million.
• January 3
  • MGM's 1951 Show Boat is presented on television by NBC for the first time. This marks the first complete network telecast of any version of Show Boat (it had already been filmed as a part-talkie in 1929, and as a full-sound musical in 1936).
• January 4
  • The first scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) is introduced (price $395).
  • Rose Heilbron becomes the first woman judge at the Old Bailey in London.
• January 5 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.
• January 7
  • An Iberian Airlines passenger plane crashes into a 250-meter peak on the island of Ibiza; 104 are killed.
  • Howard Hughes speaks by telephone to denounce Clifford Irving's supposed biography of him.
• January 9 – The RMS Queen Elizabeth is destroyed by fire in Hong Kong harbor.
• January 10 – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returns Bangladesh from Pakistan
• January 13 – Prime Minister of Ghana Kofi Abrefa Busia is overthrown in a military coup.
• January 14 – Queen Margrethe II of Denmark succeeds her father, King Frederick IX, on the throne of Denmark.
• January 16 – Super Bowl VI: The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Miami Dolphins 24–3.
• January 19 – The Libertarian enclave Minerva on a platform in the South Pacific, sponsored by the Phoenix Foundation, declares independence. Soon neighboring Tonga annexes the area and dismantles the platform.
• January 20
  • – President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto announces that Pakistan will immediately begin a nuclear weapons programme.
  • – Fears are growing about the economy of the United Kingdom, where unemployment is now exceeding 1 million for the first time since World War II.^[2]
• January 21 – A New Delhi bootlegger sells wood alcohol to a wedding party; 100 die.
• January 24 – Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi is discovered in Guam; he had spent 28 years in the jungle.
• January 25 – Shirley Chisholm, the first African American Congresswoman, announces her candidacy for President.
• January 26
  • Yugoslavian air stewardess Vesna Vulović is the only survivor when her plane crashes in Czechoslovakia. She survives after falling 10,160 meters (33,330 feet) in the tail section of the aircraft.
  • The Aboriginal Tent Embassy is set up on the lawn of Parliament House in Canberra.
• January 28 – Richard Chanfray claims he is the Count of St Germain on French television.
• January 30
  • Bloody Sunday: The British Army kills 14 unarmed nationalist civil rights marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland.
  • Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.
• January 31 – King Birendra succeeds his father as King of Nepal.

February[link]

• February 2
  • A bomb explodes at the British Yacht Club in West Berlin, killing Irwin Beelitz, a German boat builder.
  • The German militant group Movement 2 June announces its support of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
  • Anti-British riots take place throughout Ireland. The British Embassy in Dublin is burned to the ground, as are several British-owned businesses.
• February 3 – February 13 – The 1972 Winter Olympics are held in Sapporo, Japan.
• February 4 – Mariner 9 sends pictures from Mars.
• February 5
  • U.S. airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers and baggage.
  • Bob Douglas becomes the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
• February 9 – The British government declares a state of emergency over a miners' strike.
• February 15
  • President of Ecuador José María Velasco Ibarra is deposed for the fourth time.
  • Phonorecords are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.
• February 17 – Volkswagen Beetle sales exceed those of the Ford Model-T when the 15,007,034th Beetle is produced.
• February 18 – The California Supreme Court voids the state's death penalty, commuting all death sentences to life in prison.
• February 19 – Asama-Sansō incident: Five United Red Army members break into a lodge below Mount Asama, taking the wife of the lodge keeper hostage.
• February 21 – The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
• February 21 – February 28 – U.S. President Richard M. Nixon makes an unprecedented 8-day visit to the People's Republic of China and meets with Mao Zedong.
• February 22
  • Aldershot bombing: An Official IRA bomb kills 7 in Aldershot, England.
  • A Lufthansa plane is hijacked and taken to Aden. Passengers are released after a ransom of 16 million German marks is agreed.
• February 23 – Angela Davis is released from jail. A Caruthers, California farmer, Rodger McAfee, helps her make bail.
• February 24 – North Vietnamese negotiators walk out of the Paris Peace Talks to protest U.S. air raids.
• February 26
  • A coal sludge spill kills 125 people in Buffalo Creek, West Virginia.
  • Luna 20 comes back to Earth with 55 grams (1.94 oz) of lunar soil.
• February 28 – The Asama-Sanso incident ends in a standoff between 5 members of the Japanese United Red Army and the authorities, in which 2 policemen are killed and 12 injured.

March[link]

• March 1
  • The Thai province Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani Province.
  • The Club of Rome publishes its report Limits to Growth.
• March 2
  • The Pioneer 10 spacecraft is launched from Cape Kennedy, to be the first man-made satellite to leave the solar system.
  • Jean-Bédel Bokassa becomes President of the Central African Republic.
• March 3 – Sculpted figures of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson are completed at Stone Mountain in the U.S. state of Georgia.
• March 4
  • Libya and the Soviet Union sign a cooperation treaty.
  • The Organisation of the Islamic Conference Charter is signed (effective 28 February 1973).
• March 5 – Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis leaves the Greek Communist Party.
• March 13
  • The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China elevate diplomatic exchanges to the ambassadorial level after 22 years.
  • Clifford Irving admits to a New York court that he had fabricated Howard Hughes' "autobiography".
• March 16 – The first building of the Pruitt–Igoe housing development is destroyed.
• March 19 – India and Bangladesh sign a friendship treaty.
• March 22 – The 92nd U.S. Congress votes to send the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification.
• March 24
  • The Godfather is released in cinemas in the United States.
  • The British government announces the prorogation of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and the introduction of 'Direct Rule' of Northern Ireland, after the Unionist government refuses to cede security powers.
• March 25
  • Après Toi sung by Vicky Leandros (music by Klaus Munro & Mario Panas, lyric by Klaus Munro & Yves Dessca) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 for Luxembourg.
  • Bewitched starring Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick Sargent aired its final episode, "The Truth, Nothing but the Truth, So Help Me Sam" on ABC.
• March 26
  • An avalanche on Mount Fuji kills 19 climbers.
  • The last trolleybus system in the United Kingdom closes in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire after over 60 years of operation.
  • After fourteen years, the last of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts is telecast by CBS. This last concert is devoted to Gustav Holst's The Planets.
• March 30 – Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.

April[link]

• April 7 – Vietnam War veteran Richard McCoy, Jr. hijacks a United Airlines jet and extorts $500,000; he is later captured.
• April 10
  • The U.S. and the Soviet Union join some 70 nations in signing the Biological Weapons Convention, an agreement to ban biological warfare.
  • A 7.0 Richter scale earthquake kills 5,000 people in the Iranian province of Fars.
  • The 44th Annual Academy Awards are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.
• April 13 – The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.
• April 16
  • Apollo 16 (John Young, Ken Mattingly, Charlie Duke) is launched. During the mission, the astronauts achieve a lunar rover speed record of 18 km/h.
  • Vietnam War – Nguyen Hue Offensive: Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
• April 17 – The first Boston Marathon in which women are officially allowed to compete.
• April 22 – Sylvia Cook and John Fairfax finish rowing across the Pacific.
• April 26 – The Lockheed L-1011 Tristar enters service with Eastern Airlines.
• April 27 – A no-confidence vote against German Chancellor Willy Brandt fails under obscure circumstances.
• April 29 – The fourth anniversary of the Broadway musical Hair is celebrated with a free concert at a Central Park bandshell, followed by dinner at the Four Seasons. There, 13 Black Panther protesters and the show's co-author, Jim Rado, are arrested for disturbing the peace and for using marijuana.

May[link]

• May
  • The Burundian Genocide against the Hutu begins; more than 500,000 Hutus die.
• May 2 – Fire in a silver mine in Idaho kills 91.
• May 5 – An Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo, Sicily; 115 die.
• May 7 – General elections are held in Italy.
• May 8 – U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the mining of Haiphong Harbor in Vietnam.
• May 13 – Fire in a nightclub atop the Sennichi department store in Osaka, Japan, kills 115.
• May 15
  • Okinawa is returned to Japan after 27 years of United States Military occupation.
  • Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama is shot by Arthur Herman Bremer at a Laurel, Maryland political rally.
• May 16 – The first financial derivatives exchange, the International Monetary Market (IMM), opens on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
• May 18 – Four troopers of both SAS and SBS are parachuted onto the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, 1,000 miles (1,600 km) off Britain in the Atlantic, after a bomb threat and ransom demand, which turns out to be bogus.
• May 19 – Three out of 6 bombs explode in the Springer Press building in Hamburg, Germany, injuring 17; the Red Army Faction claims responsibility.
• May 21 – In Rome, Laszlo Toth attacks Michelangelo's "Pietà" statue with a sledgehammer, shouting that he is Jesus Christ.
• May 22
  • Ceylon becomes the republic of Sri Lanka under prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, when its new constitution is ratified.
  • Ferit Melen forms the new (interim) government of Turkey (35th government)
• May 23 – The Tamil United Front (now known as Tamil United Liberation Front), a pro-Tamil organization, is founded.
• May 24
  • Rangers lift the Cup Winners Cup, defeating Dynamo Moscow in the final at the Nou Camp. Their supporters invade the pitch, with the team banned from defending the trophy the following season.
  • A Red Army Faction bomb explodes in the Campbell Barracks of the U.S. Army Supreme European Command in Heidelberg, West Germany; 3 U.S. soldiers (Clyde Bonner, Ronald Woodard and Charles Peck) are killed.
  • The Magnavox Odyssey video game system is first demoed, marking the dawn of the video game age; it goes on sale to the public in August.
• May 26
  • Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT I treaty in Moscow, as well as the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and other agreements.
  • The Watergate first break-in, the "Ameritas dinner", fails.
  • Wernher von Braun retires from NASA, frustrated by the agency's unwillingness to pursue a manned trans-orbital space program.
  • Willandra National Park is established in Australia.
• May 27 – A second Watergate break-in attempt fails.
• May 30
  • The Angry Brigade goes on trial in the United Kingdom.
  • Three Japanese Red Army members kill 24 and injure 100 in Lod Airport, Israel.

June[link]

• June – Iraq nationalizes the Iraq Petroleum Company.
• June 2 – Andreas Baader, Jan-Carl Raspe, Holger Meins and some other members of Red Army Faction are arrested in Frankfurt am Main after a shootout.
• June 3 – Sally Priesand becomes the first female U.S. rabbi.
• June 4 – Angela Davis is found not guilty of murder.
• June 5 – June 16 – The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment is held in Stockholm, Sweden
• June 8 – Seven men and 3 women hijack a plane from Czechoslovakia to West Germany.
• June 9 – The Black Hills flood kills 238 in South Dakota.
• June 14 – June 23 – Hurricane Agnes kills 117 on the U.S. East Coast.
• June 15 – Ulrike Meinhof and Gerhard Müller of the Red Army Faction are arrested in a teacher's apartment in Langenhagen, West Germany.
• June 15 – June 18 – The first U.S. Libertarian Party National Convention is held in Denver, Colorado.
• June 16 – 108 die as two passenger trains hit the debris of a collapsed railway tunnel near Soissons, France.
• June 17
  • Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee.
  • The United States returns Okinawa, occupied and governed since the World War II Battle of Okinawa, to Japan.
  • Chilean president Salvador Allende forms a new government.
• June 18
  • Staines air disaster: 118 die when a Trident 1 jet airliner crashes 2 minutes after take off from London Heathrow Airport.
  • West Germany beats the Soviet Union 3–0 to win Euro 72.
• June 23 – Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House chief of staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the C.I.A. to obstruct the F.B.I.'s investigation into the Watergate break-ins.
• June 26 – Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney co-found Atari.
• June 28 – U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that no new draftees will be sent to Vietnam.
• June 29 – Furman v. Georgia: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the death penalty is unconstitutional.
• June 30 – An extra leap second (23:59:60) is added to end the month.

July[link]

• July – U.S. actress Jane Fonda tours North Vietnam, during which she is photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun.
• July 1
  • The Canadian ketch Vega, flying the Greenpeace III banner, collides with the French naval minesweeper La Paimpolaise while in international waters, to protest French nuclear weapon tests in the South Pacific.
  • The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms becomes independent from the IRS.
• July 2 – Following Pakistan's surrender to India in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, both nations sign the historic Simla Agreement, agreeing to settle their disputes bilaterally.
• July 4 – The first Rainbow Gathering is held in Colorado.
• July 8 – The U.S. sells grain to the Soviet Union for $750 million.
• July 10 – India's news agency reports that at least 24 people have been killed in separate incidents, in the Chandka Forest in India, by elephants crazed by heat and drought.
• July 10 – July 14 – The Democratic National Convention meets in Miami Beach. Senator George McGovern, who backs the immediate and complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Vietnam, is nominated for President. He names fellow Senator Thomas Eagleton as his running mate.
• July 15 – The Pruitt–Igoe housing development is demolished in Saint Louis, Missouri.
• July 18 – Anwar Sadat expels 20,000 Soviet advisors from Egypt.
• July 21
  • Bloody Friday: 22 bombs planted by the Provisional IRA explode in Belfast, Northern Ireland; nine people are killed and 130 seriously injured.^[3]
  • Comedian George Carlin is arrested by Milwaukee police for public obscenity, for reciting his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" at Summerfest.
  • A collision between two trains near Sevilla, Spain kills 76 people.
• July 23 – The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.
• July 25 – U.S. health officials admit that African-Americans were used as guinea pigs in the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.
• July 29 – A national dock strike begins in Britain.
• July 31 – The Troubles, Northern Ireland:
  • Operation Motorman, 4:00 AM: British Army begins to regain control of the "no-go areas" established by Irish republican paramilitaries in Belfast, Derry ("Free Derry") and Newry.^[3]
  • Claudy bombing (“Bloody Monday”), 10:00 AM: Three car bombs in Claudy, County Londonderry, kill nine. It becomes public knowledge only in 2010 that that a local Catholic priest was an IRA officer believed to be involved in the bombings but his rôle was covered up by the authorities.^[4]

August[link]

• August 1 – U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, withdraws from the race after revealing he was once treated for mental illness.
• August 4
  • Arthur Bremer is jailed for 63 years for shooting George Wallace.
  • Dictator Idi Amin declares that Uganda will expel 50,000 Asians with British passports to Britain within 3 months.
  • A huge solar flare (one of the largest ever recorded) knocks out cable lines in U.S. It begins with the appearance of sunspots on August 2; an August 4 flare kicks off high levels of activity until August 10.
• August 10 – A brilliant, daytime meteor skips off the Earth's atmosphere due to an Apollo asteroid streaking over the western US into Canada.^[5]
• August 12 – The last U.S. ground troops are withdrawn from Vietnam.
• August 14 – An East German Ilyushin airliner crashes near East Berlin; all 156 onboard perish.
• August 16 – As part of a coup attempt, members of the Royal Moroccan Air Force fire upon, but fail to bring down, Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
• August 21 – The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida renominates U.S. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew for a second term.
• August 22 – John Wojtowicz, 27, and Sal Naturile, 18, hold several Chase Manhattan Bank employees hostage for 17 hours in Gravesend, Brooklyn, N.Y, an event later dramatized in the film Dog Day Afternoon.
• August 26 – September 11 – The 1972 Summer Olympics are held in Munich, West Germany.

September[link]

• September 1 – Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky in a chess match at Reykjavík, Iceland, becoming the first American to be world chess champion.
• September 4 – The first episode of The Price Is Right is hosted on CBS by Bob Barker. Gambit and The Joker's Wild also premiere.
• September 5 – September 6 – Munich Massacre: Eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich are murdered after 8 members of the Arab terrorist group Black September invade the Olympic Village; 5 guerillas and 1 policeman are also killed in a failed hostage rescue.
• September 10 – The Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi wins the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and becomes the youngest Formula One World Champion.
• September 14 – West Germany and Poland renew diplomatic relations.
• September 17 – Uganda announces that there are Tanzanian troops in its territory.
• September 18 – São Paulo Metro is inaugurated in Brazil.
• September 19 – A parcel bomb sent to the Israeli Embassy in London kills 1 diplomat.
• September 21 – Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos issues Proclamation No. 1081^[6] placing the entire country under martial law.
• September 24 – An F-86 fighter aircraft leaving an air show at Sacramento Executive Airport fails to become airborne and crashes into a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor, killing 12 children and 11 adults.^[7]
• September 25 – Norwegian EC referendum, 1972: Norway rejects membership in the European Economic Community.
• September 27 – The Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China is signed in Beijing.
• September 28 – The Canadian national men's hockey team defeats the Soviet national ice hockey team in Game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series (French: La Série du Siècle, Russian: Суперсерия СССР — Канада), 6–5, to win the series 4–3–1.
• September 29 – Sino-Japanese relations: Japan normalizes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan).

October[link]

• October – The government of former President of Somalia Mohamed Siad Barre formally introduces the Somali alphabet as Somalia's official writing script.^[8]
• October 1
  • The first publication reporting the production of a recombinant DNA molecule marks the birth of modern molecular biology methodology.^[9]
  • Alex Comfort's bestselling manual The Joy of Sex is published.
• October 2 – Denmark joins the European Community; the Faroe Islands stay out.
• October 5 – The United Reformed Church is founded out of the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches.
• October 6 – A train crash in Saltillo, Mexico kills 208 people.
• October 8 – R. Sargent Shriver is chosen to replace Thomas Eagleton as the U.S. vice-presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.
• October 12 – En route to the Gulf of Tonkin, a racial riot involving more than 200 sailors breaks out aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk; nearly 50 sailors are injured.
• October 13 – Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571: A Fairchild FH-227D passenger aircraft transporting a rugby union team crashes at about 14,000' in the Andes mountain range, near the Argentina/Chile border. Sixteen of the survivors are found alive December 20 but they have had to resort to cannibalism to survive.
• October 16
  • A plane carrying U.S. Congressman Hale Boggs of Louisiana and 3 other men vanishes in Alaska. The wreckage has never been found, despite a massive search at the time.
  • Rioting Maze Prison inmates cause a fire that destroys most of the camp.
• October 17 – Elizabeth II visits Yugoslavia.
• October 25
  • The first female FBI agents are hired.
  • Belgian Eddy Merckx sets a new world hour record in cycling in Mexico City.
• October 26 – Following a visit to South Vietnam, U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger suggests that "peace is at hand."
• October 28 – The Airbus A300 flies for the first time.
• October 29 – The Black September group hijacks a Lufthansa Boeing 727 over Turkey, demanding the release of 3 comrades still held for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games.
• October 30
  • U.S. President Richard Nixon approves legislation to increase Social Security spending by US$5.3 billion.
  • A commuter train collision in Chicago kills 45, injures hundreds.

November[link]

Nixon's landslide victory in the electoral college during the 1972 Election.

The arcade version of Pong is released.

• November
  • At a scientific meeting in Honolulu, Herbert Boyer and Stanley N. Cohen conceive the concept of recombinant DNA. They publish their results in November 1973 in PNAS. Separately in 1972, Paul Berg also recombines DNA in a test tube. Recombinant DNA technology has dramatically changed the field of biological sciences, especially biotechnology, and opened the door to genetically modified organisms.
  • The Nishitetsu Lions baseball club, part of the NPB's Pacific League, is sold to the Fukuoka Baseball Corporation, a subsidiary of Nishi-Nippon Railroad. The team is renamed the Taiheiyo Club Lions.
• November 5 – A group of Amerindians occupies the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• November 7 – U.S. presidential election, 1972: Republican incumbent Richard Nixon defeats Democratic Senator George McGovern in a landslide (the election had the lowest voter turnout since 1948, with only 55 percent of the electorate voting).
• November 11 – Vietnam War – Vietnamization: The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.
• November 14 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 1,000 (1,003.16) for the first time.
• November 16 – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization adopts the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage^[10]
• November 19 – Seán Mac Stíofáin, a leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, is arrested in Dublin after giving an interview to RTÉ.
• November 22 – Vietnam War: The United States loses its first B-52 Stratofortress of the war.
• November 28 – The last executions in Paris, France. Roger Bontems and Claude Buffet – the Clairvaux Mutineers – were guillotined at La Sante Prison by chief executioner Andre Obrecht (already suffering from Parkinson's Disease). Bontems had been found innocent of murder by the court, but as Buffet's accomplice was condemned to death anyway. President Georges Pompidou, in private an abolitionist, upheld both death sentences in deference to French public opinion.
• November 29
  • Atari kicks off the first generation of video games with the release of their seminal arcade version of Pong, the first game to achieve commercial success.
  • The "tea house" Mellow Yellow opens on the Amstel River in Amsterdam, pioneering the legal sale of cannabis in the Netherlands.^[11]
• November 30
  • Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning United States troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.
  • Cod War: British Foreign Secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home says that Royal Navy ships will be stationed to protect British trawlers off Iceland.

December[link]

• December 2 – Edward Gough Whitlam becomes the first Labor Party Prime Minister of Australia for 23 years. He is sworn in on 5 December and his first action using executive power is to withdraw all Australian personnel from the Vietnam War.
• December 7
  • Apollo 17 (Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans, Harrison Schmitt), the last manned Moon mission to date, is launched.
  • The Provisional Irish Republican Army kidnaps Jean McConville in Belfast.
  • Imelda Marcos is stabbed and seriously wounded by an assailant; her bodyguards shoot him.
• December 8
  • United Airlines Boeing 737 from Washington National to Chicago Midway crashes short of the runway, killing 43 of 61 passengers and 2 people on the ground.
  • Over $10,000 cash is found in the purse of Watergate conspirator Howard Hunt's wife.
  • International Human Rights Day is proclaimed by the United Nations.
• December 11 – Apollo 17 lands on the Moon.
  • The film Man of La Mancha, based on the hit musical, begins a roadshow run in New York City. Most critics savage it, partly because the cast is made up of mostly non-singing actors who nevertheless sing in the film. The only actor to have his singing voice dubbed is Peter O'Toole, who stars as Cervantes and Don Quixote. Gino Conforti is the only member of the original cast to repeat his role. The film is a box office flop, but more than twenty years later, its reputation starts to improve when it is released on video and public response is enthusiastic.
• December 14 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of Apollo 17. This is the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th Century.
• December 15
  • The Commonwealth of Australia ordains equal pay for women.
  • The United Nations Environment Programme is established as a specialized agency of the United Nations.
• December 16
  • The Constitution of Bangladesh comes into effect.
  • The Portuguese army kills 400 Africans in Tete, Mozambique.
• December 19 – Apollo program: Apollo 17 returns to Earth, concluding the program of lunar exploration.
• December 21
  • East Germany and West Germany recognize each other.
  • ZANLA troopers attack Altera Farm in north-east Rhodesia.
• December 22
  • Two small earthquakes are felt at about 9:30 and 10:15 local time in Managua, Nicaragua.
  • Australia establishes diplomatic relations with China and West Germany.
  • A peace delegation that includes singer-activist Joan Baez and human rights attorney Telford Taylor visit Hanoi to deliver Christmas mail to American prisoners of war (they will be caught in the Christmas bombing of North Vietnam).
• December 23
  • A 6.25 Richter scale earthquake in Nicaragua kills 5,000–12,000 people in the capital, Managua; President Somoza is later accused of pocketing millions of dollars worth of foreign aid intended for relief.
  • The Pittsburgh Steelers win their first ever post-season NFL game, defeating the Oakland Raiders 13–7, on a last second play that becomes known as The Immaculate Reception.
• December 24 – Swedish Prime minister Olof Palme compares the American bombings of North Vietnam to Nazi massacres. The U.S. breaks diplomatic contact with Sweden.
• December 25 – The Christmas bombing of North Vietnam causes widespread criticism of the U.S. and President Richard Nixon.
• December 26 – Former United States President Harry S. Truman dies in Kansas City, Missouri.
• December 28 – The bones of Martin Bormann are identified in Berlin.
• December 29 – Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes into the Everglades in Florida, killing 101 of 176 onboard.
• December 31
  • Roberto Clemente dies in a plane crash off the coast of Puerto Rico while en route to deliver aid to Nicaraguan earthquake victims.
  • An extra leap second (23:59:60) is added to end the year.
  • The US ban on the pesticide DDT takes effect.

Date unknown[link]

• The International Year of the Book is designated by UNESCO.
• The last major epidemic of smallpox in Europe breaks out in Yugoslavia.
• The United Kingdom begin to train Special Air Service for anti-terrorist duties.
• The first women are admitted to Dartmouth College.
• Colombian looters find Ciudad Perdida but keep it a secret until the government reveals it in 1975.
• The Yellow River dries up for the first time in known history.
• Worship of Norse gods is officially approved in Iceland.
• The Second Cod War breaks out between the United Kingdom and Iceland.
• The Climatic Research Unit is founded by climatologist Hubert Lamb at the University of East Anglia.
• The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia bans the cultural organization Matica hrvatska, founded in 1842.

Births[link]

January[link]

Amanda Peet

• January 1
  • Barron Miles, defensive back for the BC Lions in the CFL
  • Lilian Thuram, French football player
  • Yoon Chan, South Korean actor
• January 4 – Brad Zavisha, Canadian ice hockey player
• January 10 – Thomas Alsgaard, Norwegian cross-country skier
• January 11 – Amanda Peet, American actress
• January 12 – Espen Knutsen, Norwegian hockey player
• January 13
  • Nicole Eggert, American actress
  • Vitaly Scherbo, Belarusian gymnast
• January 15
  • Il Mi Chung, South Korean golfer
  • Claudia Winkleman, British television presenter
  • Yang Yong-eun, South Korean golfer
• January 16
  • Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
  • Ang Christou, Australian rules footballer
  • Yuri Drozdov, Russian footballer
  • Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer
  • Salah Hissou, Moroccan long-distance runner
  • Joe Horn, American football player
  • Greg Page, Australian musician and actor
  • Alen Peternac, Croatian footballer
• January 17 – Ken Hirai, Japanese singer and songwriter
• January 18 – Mike Lieberthal, American baseball player
• January 19 – Angham, Egyptian singer, record producer and actress
• January 21 – Billel Dziri, Algerian footballer
• January 22 – Romi Park, Japanese voice actress
• January 23
  • Ewen Bremner, Scottish actor
  • Marcel Wouda, Dutch swimmer
• January 27
  • Mark Owen, British pop singer (Take That)
  • Keith Wood, Irish rugby player
  • Wynne Evans, Welsh operatic tenor
• January 29 – Matt Brandstein, American writer

February[link]

Billie Joe Armstrong

• February 2
  • Klára Dobrev, wife of Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány
  • Hendrick Ramaala, South African long-distance runner
  • Hisashi Tonomura, Japanese musician
• February 4 – Giovanni Silva De Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
• February 5
  • Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
  • Koriki Chōshū, Japanese comedian
• February 8 – Big Show, American professional wrestler
• February 9 – Norbert Rózsa, Hungarian swimmer
• February 11
  • Craig Jones, American musician
  • Steve McManaman, British footballer
  • Kelly Slater, American professional surfer
• February 14
  • Drew Bledsoe, American football player
  • Rob Thomas, American singer-songwriter
  • Big Daddy V, American professional wrestler
• February 15 – Jaromír Jágr, Czech hockey player
• February 16 – Jerome Bettis, American football player
• February 17
  • Billie Joe Armstrong, American rock musician and lead singer/guitarist (Green Day)
  • Yuki Isoya, Japanese singer
  • Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
• February 19 – Malky Mackay, Scottish footballer
• February 21 – Seo Taiji, Korean musician
• February 22
  • Michael Chang, American tennis player
  • Claudia Pechstein, German speed-skater
• February 24 – Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete (d. 2001)
• February 25 – Jaak Mae, Estonian cross-country skier
• February 29 – Antonio Sabato Jr., Italian actor

March[link]

Shaquille O'Neal

Dane Cook

• March 3 – Darren Anderton, English footballer
• March 4
  • Pae Gil-Su, North Korean gymnast
  • Ivy Queen, Puerto Rican composer and singer
  • Jos Verstappen, Dutch race car driver
• March 6 – Shaquille O'Neal, American basketball player
• March 9
  • Ronald Cheng, Hong Kong singer and actor
  • Spencer Howson, Australian radio announcer
  • Travis Lane Stork, American emergency room physician and television personality
• March 10
  • Takashi Fujii (Matthew Minami), Japanese television performer
  • Matt Kenseth, American race car driver
  • Michael Lucas, Russian gay pornographic actor and director
• March 17
  • Mia Hamm, American soccer player
  • Paige Hemmis, American television personality
• March 18 – Dane Cook, American comedian
• March 21
  • Chris Candido, American professional wrestler (d. 2005)
  • Derartu Tulu, Ethiopian long-distance runner
• March 22
  • Elvis Stojko, Canadian figure skater
  • Cory Lidle, American baseball player (d. 2006)
• March 23
  • Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer
  • Judith Godrèche, French actress
• March 27
  • Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Dutch footballer
  • Charlie Haas, American professional wrestler
  • Ignacio Garrido, Spanish golfer
• March 28 – Eby J. Jose, Indian journalist and human rights activist
• March 29 – Junichi Suwabe Japanese voice actor
• March 30 – Karel Poborsky, Czech Republic football player

April[link]

Jennifer Garner

Carmen Electra

• April 3 – Jennie Garth, American actress
• April 4 – Tag Adams, American gay pornographic film actor
• April 5 – Junko Takeuchi, Japanese voice actress
• April 8
  • Sung Kang, Korean actor
  • Ariel Hernandez, Cuban boxer
• April 9 – Bernard Ackah, Ivorian mixed martial artist and comedian
• April 10 – Vincent Zhao, Chinese actor and martial artist
• April 11 – Jason Varitek, American baseball player
• April 12 – Şebnem Ferah, Turkish singer and song-writer
• April 13 – Mariusz Czerkawski, Polish ice hockey player
• April 15 – Arturo Gatti, Canadian boxer (d. 2009)
• April 16 – Conchita Martínez, Spanish tennis player
• April 17
  • Tony Boselli, American football player
  • Jennifer Garner, American actress
  • Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • Terran Sandwith, Canadian ice hockey player
• April 19 – Rivaldo, Brazilian footballer
• April 20
  • Carmen Electra, American actress and singer
  • Le Huynh Đuc, Vietnamese footballer
• April 23 – Choky Ice, Hungarian porn actor
• April 24
  • Chipper Jones, American baseball player
  • Chad I Ginsburg, American musician and record producer (CKY)
• April 26 – Avi Nimni, Israeli footballer
• April 29 – Fredrik Kempe, Swedish songwriter and opera and pop singer

May[link]

Dwayne Johnson

• May 1 – Julie Benz, American actress
• May 2
  • Dwayne Johnson, American professional wrestler and actor
  • Paul Adcock, English footballer
• May 4 – Mike Dirnt, American rock musician and bassist (Green Day)
• May 5 – James Cracknell, British Olympic winning rower
• May 6
  • Martin Brodeur, Canadian hockey goaltender
  • Naoko Takahashi, Japanese long-distance runner
  • Janne Blomqvist, Finnish swimmer
• May 8 – Darren Hayes, Australian musician
• May 10
  • Radosław Majdan, Polish goalkeeper
  • Katja Seizinger, German alpine skier
• May 16 – Derek Mears, American actor/stuntman
• May 17
  • Tyson Cane, American gay pornographic actor
  • Roman Genn, Russian artist
• May 19
  • Jenny Berggren, Swedish rock singer (Ace of Base)
  • Claudia Karvan, Australian actress
• May 20
  • Busta Rhymes, American musician and actor
  • Andreas Lundstedt, Swedish singer and actor (Alcazar)
• May 21 – The Notorious B.I.G., American musician (d. 1997)
• May 23 – Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian race car driver
• May 25 – Jules Jordan, American pornographic movie director, actor, and producer
• May 28 – Michael Boogerd, Dutch cyclist
• May 29 – Stanislas Renoult, French singer
• May 30
  • Sōichirō Hoshi, Japanese voice actor
  • Manny Ramírez, Dominican baseball player
• May 31
  • Dave Roberts, American baseball player
  • Frode Estil, Norwegian cross-country skier

June[link]

Wayne Brady

Karl Urban

• June 2 – Wayne Brady, American comedian
• June 4
  • Derian Hatcher, American ice hockey player
  • Debra Stephenson, English actress
• June 5
  • Pavel Kotla, Polish conductor
  • Mike Bucci, American professional wrestler
• June 6 – Cristina Scabbia, Italian singer
• June 7 – Karl Urban, New Zealand actor
• June 8 – Chapman To, Hong Kong actor
• June 10 – Steven Fischer, American film producer and director
• June 14 – Matthias Ettrich, German computer scientist
• June 15 – Andy Pettitte, American baseball player
• June 16 – John Cho, Korean-American actor and musician
• June 17 – Iztok Čop, Slovenian rower
• June 18 – Roger "Infernus" Tiegs, Norwegian black metal musician, original member of Gorgoroth
• June 19 – Jean Dujardin, French actor and comedian
• June 21 – Irene van Dyk, South African–born netball player
• June 22 – Miguel Del Toro, Mexican baseball player
• June 23 – Zinedine Zidane, French footballer
• June 24
  • Robbie McEwen, Australian professional road bicycle racer
  • Denis Žvegelj, Slovenian rower
• June 25 – Carlos Delgado, Puerto Rican baseball player
• June 28 – John Heidenreich, American professional wrestler
• June 29
  • Samantha Smith, American peace activist (d. 1985)
  • Nawal Al Zoghbi, Lebanese singer

July[link]

Sofía Vergara

Wil Wheaton

• July 3 – Asha Gill, British-born television host
• July 4
  • Craig Spearman, New Zealand cricketer
  • Alexei Shirov, Spanish chess Grandmaster
• July 6 – Mark Gasser, British concert pianist
• July 7
  • Lisa Leslie, American basketball player
  • Stoney Case, American football player
• July 8 – Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
• July 10 – Sofía Vergara, Columbian-American actress and former TV personality/model
• July 13 – Sean Waltman, American professional wrestler
• July 21 – Catherine Ndereba, Kenyan long-distance runner
• July 22 – Keyshawn Johnson, American football player
• July 23 – Marlon Wayans, American actor, comedian and producer
• July 26 – Nathan Buckley, Australian rules footballer
• July 27
  • Maya Rudolph, American actress, comedian
  • Takako Fuji, Japanese actress
  • Takashi Shimizu, Japanese director
• July 28 – Elizabeth Berkley, American actress
• July 29 – Wil Wheaton, American actor
• July 31 – Tami Stronach, Iranian-born dancer and former actress

August[link]

Ben Affleck

Cameron Diaz

• August 1
  • Devon Hughes, American professional wrestler
  • Tanya Reid, Canadian actress
  • Marc Costanzo, Canadian musician
• August 2 – Kelly Richardson, Canadian contemporary artist
• August 3 – Patrik Isaksson, Swedish singer and songwriter
• August 6 – Geri Halliwell, British pop singer (Spice Girls)
• August 7
  • Sarah Cawood, British television presenter
  • Brad Patton, Swedish gay pornographic actor
• August 9 – A-Mei, Taiwanese singer
• August 10 – Angie Harmon, American actress
• August 11 – Jonathon Prandi, American model and actor
• August 12 – Demir Demirkan, Turkish rock musician and songwriter
• August 13 – Kevin Plank, American entrepreneur (Under Armour)
• August 14 – Ed O'Bannon, American basketball player
• August 15
  • Ben Affleck, American actor
  • Mikey Graham, Irish singer (Boyzone)
• August 16
  • Emily Robison, American country music performer (Dixie Chicks)
  • Frankie Boyle, Scottish comedian
• August 17 – Ken Ryker, American pornographic actor
• August 18 – Leo Ku, Hong Kong actor and singer
• August 19 – Sammi Cheng, Hong Kong singer and actress
• August 20 – Chaney Kley, American actor (d. 2007)
• August 22 – Jonathan Coachman, American World Wrestling Entertainment announcer
• August 25 – Marvin Harrison, American football player
• August 27 – Mike Smith, Canadian actor
• August 29 – Bae Yong Joon, South Korean actor
• August 30
  • Cameron Diaz, American actress
  • Pavel Nedvěd, Czech footballer
• August 31 – Chris Tucker, American actor

September[link]

Gwyneth Paltrow

• September 2 – Sergei Zholtok, Latvian hockey player (d. 2004)
• September 4 – Françoise Yip, Chinese-Canadian actress
• September 6 – Anika Noni Rose, American actress
• September 7 – Sean Daley, American Hip-Hop Musician (Atmosphere)
• September 8
  • Os du Randt, South African rugby player
  • Lisa Kennedy Montgomery, American disc jockey and political satirist
  • Tomokazu Seki, Japanese voice actor
• September 9 – Natasha Kaplinsky, English newsreader
• September 10
  • Ghada Shouaa, Syrian athlete
  • Rio Tahara, Japanese snowboarder
  • Sara Groves, American Christian musician
• September 12 – Budi Putra, Indonesian journalist, writer and blogger
• September 13 – Kelly Chen, Hong Kong actress and singer
• September 15 – Jimmy Carr, British comedian
• September 16 – Sprent Dabwido, Nauruan politician
• September 17 – Bobby Lee, American comedian
• September 19
  • Jim Druckenmiller, National Football League quarterback
  • Ashot Nadanian, Armenian chess player, theoretician and coach
• September 21
  • Liam Gallagher, British singer (Oasis)
  • Jon Kitna, American football player
• September 22
  • Matthew Rush, American gay pornographic actor
  • Bob Sapp, American boxer and kickboxer
• September 23 – Karl Pilkington, English radio producer
• September 24 – Karyn Bosnak, American author
• September 26 – Shawn Stockman, American singer and musician (Boyz II Men)
• September 27
  • Sylvia Crawley, American basketball player
  • Gwyneth Paltrow, American actress
• September 28 – Dita Von Teese, American burlesque artist
• September 29 – Robert Webb, comedian and actor
• September 30
  • Ari Behn, Norwegian author
  • Shaan, Indian singer

October[link]

Eminem

Gabrielle Union

• October 1 – Jean Paulo Fernandes, Brazilian footballer
• October 2 – Konstantinos Papadakis, Greek pianist
• October 3 – Kim Joo-hyuk, South Korean actor
• October 4 – Van Darkholme, Vietnamese-American gay pornographic actor, director, and photographer
• October 5
  • Grant Hill, American basketball player
  • Aaron Guiel, Canadian baseball player
• October 6
  • Ko So-young, South Korean actress
  • Anders Iwers, Swedish musician
• October 8 – Kim Myung-min, South Korean actor
• October 9 – Etan Patz, missing American schoolboy
• October 10 – Jun Lana, Filipino playwright and screenwriter
• October 11 – Claudia Black, Australian actress
• October 12 – Mechele Linehan, American murderer
• October 17
  • Eminem, American rapper and actor
  • Wyclef Jean, Haitian rapper
  • Tarkan, Turkish singer
  • Sharon Leal, American actress and director
• October 21
  • Masakazu Morita, Japanese voice actor
  • Evhen Tsybulenko, Ukrainian professor of international law
• October 22 – D'Lo Brown, American professional wrestler
• October 24
  • Kim Ji-soo, South Korean actress
  • Pat Williams, American football player
• October 27
  • Lee Clark, English footballer
  • Elissa, Lebanese singer
  • Brad Radke, American baseball player
  • Marika Krook, Finnish singer (Edea)
  • Maria de Lurdes Mutola, Mozambican athlete
• October 28
  • Terrell Davis, American football player
  • Brad Paisley, American singer-songwriter and musician
• October 29
  • Tracee Ellis Ross, American actress
  • Takafumi Horie, Japanese entrepreneur
  • Gabrielle Union, American actress
• October 31 – Matt Dawson, English rugby player and TV personality

November[link]

Rebecca Romijn

Josh Duhamel

• November 1
  • Toni Collette, Australian actress
  • Jenny McCarthy, American actress and model
• November 2
  • Vladimir Vorobiev, Russian ice hockey player
  • Samantha Womack, British actress
• November 4 – Luís Figo, Portuguese footballer
• November 6
  • Thandie Newton, British actress
  • Rebecca Romijn, American actress and model
• November 7 – Danny Grewcock, British rugby player
• November 8 – Gretchen Mol, American actress
• November 9
  • Naomi Shindou, Japanese voice actor
  • Eric Dane, American actor
  • Doug Russell, American sports media personality
• November 10 – Shawn Green, American baseball player
• November 11 – Ben Richards, British actor (The Bill)
• November 13 – Takuya Kimura, Japanese actor
• November 14
  • Matt Bloom, American wrestler
  • Josh Duhamel, American actor, model
• November 23 – Alf-Inge Haaland, Norwegian footballer
• November 28 – Jesper Strömblad, Swedish musician
• November 29 – Andreas Goldberger, Austrian ski jumper
• November 30 – Christopher Fitzgerald, American stage actor

December[link]

Alyssa Milano

Jude Law

• December 5 – Cole Youngblood, American pornographic actor
• December 6 – Mónica Santa María, Peruvian model and TV host (d. 1994)
• December 7
  • Hermann Maier, Austrian skier
  • Tammy Lynn Sytch, American wrestling manager and personality
• December 9 – Tré Cool, American rock musician and drummer (Green Day)
• December 10 – Brian Molko, American musician (Placebo)
• December 11 – Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish NHL hockey player
• December 12 – Wilson Kipketer, Danish athlete
• December 13 – Chris Grant, Australian footballer
• December 15 – Rodney Harrison, American football player
• December 16 – Angela Bloomfield, New Zealand actress
• December 17 – Laurie Holden, American-Canadian actress and human rights activist
• December 19
  • Alyssa Milano, American actress
  • Warren Sapp, American football player
• December 22 – Vanessa Paradis, French singer and actress
• December 23 – Morgan, Italian singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and X Factor (Italy) judge
• December 24 – Klaus Schnellenkamp, German-Chilean author
• December 25 – Qu Yunxia, Chinese middle-distance runner
• December 27 – Colin Charvis, Welsh rugby player
• December 28 – Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player
• December 29 – Jude Law, British actor
• December 30 – Kerry Collins, American football player
• December 31 – Joey McIntyre, American actor and singer (New Kids on the Block)

Date unknown[link]

• Jakob Martin Strid, Danish cartoonist

Deaths[link]

January[link]

Mahalia Jackson