What Happened in 1972

Dodger's retire Jackie Robinson's number, along with those of Roy Campanella and Sandy Koufax

The date was June 4, 1972, when the Dodgers held a pregame ceremony to retire the first three numbers in team history -- Robinson's No. 42, Roy... Read more

David Bowie releases The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (often shortened to Ziggy Stardust or simply Ziggy) is a 1972 concept album by... Read more

Black Hills Flood

On June 9-10, 1972, extremely heavy rains over the eastern Black Hills of South Dakota produced record floods on Rapid Creek and other streams in... Read more

Top-Secret Navy SEAL POW Rescue Mission, Operation Thunderbird, is Called Off After Failing to Succeed

Operation Thunderhead was a highly classified combat mission conducted by U.S. Navy SEAL Team One and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT)-11 in 1972.... Read more

United States DDT Ban Takes Effect

An end to the continued domestic usage of the pesticide was decreed on June 14, 1972, when William D. Ruckelshaus, Administrator of the... Read more

Jack Nicklaus wins the 72nd U.S. Open

The 1972 U.S. Open Golf Championship was the 72nd U.S. Open played June 15-18 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. Jack Nicklaus... Read more

Five Men are Arrested for Trying to Bug the Watergate Complex

On June 17, 1972, Frank Wills, a security guard at the Watergate Complex, noticed tape covering the latch on locks on several doors in the complex... Read more

The Eagles release their self-titled debut album

Eagles is the debut album by the rock band of the same name, released in 1972.The album was recorded at London's Olympic Studios with producer Glyn... Read more

James McCord, Security Coordinator for President Nixon, is Named in Watergate Bugging Arrests

One of the five men arrested early Saturday in the attempt to bug the Democratic National Committee headquarters is the salaried security... Read more

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is Enacted

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, renamed in 2002 the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in honor of its principal... Read more

"War Song" Is Released

"War Song" is a 1972 single credited to Neil Young & Graham Nash. It was released in support of presidential candidate George McGovern's campaign,... Read more

Second Battle of Quang Tri Begins

The Second Battle of Quang Tri (Vietnamese: Thành cổ Quảng Trị) began on June 28 and lasted 81 days until September 16, 1972, when the Army of the... Read more

"Waka/Jawaka" by Frank Zappa Is Released

Waka/Jawaka is an album by Frank Zappa, released in 1972. The album is the jazz-influenced precursor to The Grand Wazoo, and, as the front cover... Read more

The Washington Star Exposes the Tuskegee Experiment to a Scandalized Public

The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male (also known as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Public Health Service Syphilis Study, or the... Read more

"Fat City" Is Released

Fat City (1972) is an American boxing drama film directed by John Huston. The picture stars Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges, and Susan Tyrrell. The... Read more

"Deliverance" Is Released

Deliverance is a 1972 thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman. Principal cast members include Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox, and... Read more

The Doors Release "Full Circle"

Full Circle is the second album released by The Doors after Jim Morrison's death, and also their last album together before they broke up. The... Read more

"Junior Bonner" Is Released

Junior Bonner is a film released in 1972 directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Steve McQueen, Joe Don Baker, Robert Preston and Ida Lupino. The... Read more

'Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!' is Published

Some have suggested that Dr. Seuss wrote Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! as a political allegory about Richard Nixon in the aftermath of... Read more

Games of the XX Olympiad Held in Munich, West Germany

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, in what was... Read more

Bobby Fischer Wins World Chess Championship

In 1972, Bobby Fischer captured the World Championship from Boris Spassky of the USSR in a match widely publicized as a Cold War confrontation. The... Read more

Marks Spitz Wins 7 Olympic Gold Medals

If I swim six and win six, I'll be a hero. If I swim seven and win six, I'll be a failure. Read more

Eleven Israeli athletes and coaches killed in Munich massacre

The Munich massacre is an informal name for events occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, when members of the Israeli... Read more

"The Ruling Class" Is Released

The Ruling Class is a 1972 British comedy film, an adaptation of Peter Barnes' satirical stage play which tells the story of a paranoid... Read more

Yes release Close to the Edge

Close to the Edge is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Yes. According to the vocalist, Jon Anderson, the title track... Read more