What Happened in 1972

"Pay Day" Is Released

Payday is a film released in 1972 written by Don Carpenter and directed by Daryl Duke. It stars Rip Torn as a country music singer. Other members... Read more

The Magnavox Odyssey, First Video Game Console

The Magnavox Odyssey is the world's first home video game console. It was first demonstrated in May, 24th, 1972 and released that fall, predating... Read more

Georgia, Georgia first script by an African American woman to be filmed

A trailblazer in film and television, Dr. Angelou wrote the screenplay and composed the score for the 1972 film Georgia, Georgia. Her script, the... Read more

Atari Releases Pong Arcade

Pong (marketed as PONG) is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. The aim... Read more

Blue Öyster Cult releases their self-titled debut album

Blue Öyster Cult is the eponymous debut album by hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released in January 1972 (see 1972 in music). The album featured... Read more

Maya Angelou receives Pulitzer Prize Nomination

Poems of love and regret, of racial strife and confrontation, songs of people and songs of the heart - all are charged with Maya Angelou's zest for... Read more

Funkadelic releases America Eats Its Young

America Eats Its Young is the fourth album (a double album) by Funkadelic, released in 1972. This was the first album to include the whole of the... Read more

Ford Courier is First Produced

The Ford Courier is a compact pickup truck which was sold in the United States and Canada from 1972 to 1982 and elsewhere to the present day. It is... Read more

A Clockwork Orange is Released

A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 satirical science fiction film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange. The film concerns Alex... Read more

Super Bowl VI - Cowboys 24, Dolphins 3

Super Bowl VI was an American football game played on January 16, 1972, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football... Read more

Aretha Franklin Releases "Young, Gifted and Black"

Young, Gifted and Black is a soul album by Aretha Franklin, released in 1972. It takes its title from the Nina Simone song "To Be Young, Gifted and... Read more

JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367 is Bombed

The plane crashed after the detonation of a bomb in the forward cargo hold. A flight attendant, 22 year old Vesna Vulovic, fell 33,330 feet in the... Read more

Scorpions release their first album Lonesome Crow

Lonesome Crow is the first album by the German heavy metal band Scorpions produced by Conny Plank and released in 1972. It is the band's only... Read more

XI Olympic Winter Games Held in Sapporo, Japan

The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from February 3 to... Read more

"Cabaret" Is Released

Cabaret is a 1972 American musical film directed by Bob Fosse and starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York and Joel Grey. The film is set in Berlin... Read more

The Rolling Stones Release 'Milestones'

Here we have Volume 24 of the Russian boots. It is nothing more than a contract compilation. I must say, I really like this particular compilation.... Read more

"The Goalkeeper's Fear Of The Penalty" Is Released

The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty (German: Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter; also known as The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick) is a... Read more

Elvis Presley releases Elvis Now

Elvis Now is a gold-selling Elvis Presley album from 1972. Despite the "now" in the title, the tracks on this album were recorded anywhere from... Read more

Richard Nixon Arrives In China For An Official Visit

On February 21, 1972, Richard M. Nixon arrived in China for an eight-day official visit. He was the first U.S. president to visit the People's... Read more

Buffalo Creek Flood

The disaster killed 125 people, injured 1,000, and left 4,000 homeless. Five hundred and seven houses were lost or demolished 44 mobile homes were... Read more

Deep Purple release Machine Head

Machine Head is the sixth studio album released by English rock band Deep Purple. It was recorded through December 1971 in Montreux, Switzerland,... Read more

The National Black Political Convention is Held in Gary, Indiana

Some eight thousand African Americans (three thousand of whom were official delegates) arrived in Gary, Indiana, to attend their first convention,... Read more

Linda Jones Dies

Linda Jones (14 December 1944, Newark, New Jersey - 14 March 1972, Harlem) was an American soul singer. She started in her family's gospel group... Read more

"The Godfather" Is Released

The Godfather is a 1972 American thriller film based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Mario Puzo and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a... Read more

UCLA Beats Florida State in Final Four

The 1972 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of... Read more