1972

Taking of Israeli hostages at Munich Olympics televised around the world
Britain takes over direct rule of Northern Ireland in bid for peace
Juan Peron returns to Argentina
John Fairfax and Sylvia Cook are the 1st to row across the Pacific
Last US ground unit in Vietnam deactivated
Nixon re-elected
President Nixon makes visit to Communist China and meets with Mao Zedong
Nixon becomes the 1st US President to visit the USSR
Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama is shot
Five men are apprehended during an attempt to bug Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C. - start of the "Watergate Scandal"
Apollo 17 is the last moon mission
Bobby Fischer is 1st American to win the international chess championship
Mark Spitz wins 7 gold medals at the Munich Olympics
Dow Jones Industrial Average closes over 1,000 for the 1st time
"Life" magazine suspends publication
US Senate passes the Equal Rights Amendment
Richard Adams' Watership Down
Clifford Irving's Howard Hughes Autobiography hoax
Compact discs
Beginning of program to develop the space shuttle
1st computer game (Pong)
Moog synthesizer patented
Word processors
Songs - "American Pie", "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "I Am Woman"
Films - "Cabaret", "The Godfather"
TV - "M*A*S*H*", "The Bob Newhart Show", "The Waltons", "Emergency"
Shaquille O'Neal, Mia Hamm, Cameron Diaz, Michael Chang, and Jamal Mashburn born
Harry S Truman, Jackie Robinson, Ezra Pound, Howard Johnson, Mahalia Jackson, Roberto Clemente, Maurice Chevalier, the Duke of Windsor, Sir Francis Chichester, J. Edgar Hoover die