4th January » Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London, England.
5th January » United States President Richard Nixon orders the development of a Space Shuttle program.
10th January » Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returns to the newly independent Bangladesh as president after spending over nine months in prison in Pakistan.
11th January » East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
14th January » Queen Margrethe II of Denmark ascends the throne, the first Queen of Denmark since 1412 and the first Danish monarch not named Frederick or Christian since 1513.
20th January » Pakistan launched its Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction called Nuclear weapons program few weeks after its defeat in Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
24th January » Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been Japanese holdout named since the end of World War II.
30th January » Bloody Sunday (1972) or Bloody Sunday: Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom) called British Paratroopers open fire on and kill fourteen unarmed civil rights/anti-internment marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland.
30th January » Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.
1st February » Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
2nd February » The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest at Bloody Sunday (1972) or Bloody Sunday.
3rd February » The first day of the seven-day 1972 Iran blizzard, which would kill at least 4,000 people, making it the List of natural disasters Blizzards e.g deadliest snowstorm in history.
5th February » Bob Douglas becomes the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
15th February » Sound recording and reproduction Sound recordings are granted United States U.S. federal copyright Phonogram Convention protection United States copyright law Duration of copyright for the first time.
15th February » José María Velasco Ibarra, serving as President of Ecuador for the fifth time, is overthrown by the military for the fourth time.
17th February » Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model-T.
19th February » The Asama-Sansō incident called Asama-Sansō hostage standoff begins in Japan.
21st February » The Soviet Union known as Soviet unmanned Spacecraft named spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
22nd February » The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.
26th February » The Buffalo Creek Flood caused by a burst dam kills 125 in West Virginia.
29th February » Vietnam War: Vietnamization South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from Vietnam.
1st March » The Thailand named Thai province of Yasothon province e.g Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani province.
2nd March » The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.
3rd March » Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes as a result of a control malfunction and insufficient training in emergency procedures.
14th March » Italian publisher and former partisan Giangiacomo Feltrinelli is killed by an explosion near Segrate.
20th March » The Troubles: A Provisional Irish Republican Army known as Provisional IRA car bomb kills seven and injures 148 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the first of many car bomb attacks by the group.
22nd March » The United States Congress sends the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification.
22nd March » In Eisenstadt v. Baird, the United States Supreme Court decides that unmarried persons have the right to possess contraceptives.
24th March » The United Kingdom imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland.
30th March » Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.
2nd April » Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communism e.g communist during the Second Red Scare or Red Scare in the early 1950s.
6th April » Vietnam War: Easter Offensive American forces begin sustained air strikes and naval bombardments.
10th April » Twenty days after he is kidnapped in Buenos Aires, Oberdan Sallustro is murdered by communist guerrillas.
10th April » Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 Stratofortress known as B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
10th April » Seventy-four nations sign the Biological Weapons Convention, the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the production of biological weapons.
13th April » Vietnam War: The Battle of An Lộc begins.
16th April » Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
20th April » Apollo 16, commanded by John Young (astronaut) e.g John Young, lands on the moon.
22nd April » Vietnam War: Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War e.g anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
25th April » Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
2nd May » In the early morning hours a fire breaks out at the Sunshine Mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, ID, killing 91 workers.
5th May » Alitalia Flight 112 crashes into Mount Longa near Palermo, Sicily, killing all 115 aboard, making it the deadliest single-aircraft disaster in Italy.
6th May » Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara for attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
8th May » Vietnam War U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his order to place Naval mine or mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.
8th May » Four Black September terrorists Sabena Flight 571 hijacking called hijack Sabena Flight 571. Israeli Sayeret Matkal commandos recapture the plane the following day.
13th May » Faulty electrical wiring ignites a fire underneath the Sennichi Department Store Building fire named Playtown Cabaret in Osaka, Japan. Blocked exits and non-functional elevators lead to 118 fatalities, with many victims leaping to their deaths.
13th May » The Troubles: a car bombing outside a crowded pub in Belfast sparks Battle at Springmartin named a two-day gun battle involving the Provisional IRA, Ulster Volunteer Force and British Army. Seven people are killed and over 66 injured.
15th May » Okinawa Prefecture known as Okinawa, under U.S. military governance since its Battle of Okinawa named conquest in 1945, reverts to Japanese control.
15th May » In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Governor of Alabama known as Alabama Governor George Wallace while he is campaigning to become President.
22nd May » Ceylon adopts a new constitution, thus becoming a Republic, changes its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
26th May » Willandra National Park is established in Australia.
26th May » The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
30th May » The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout the United Kingdom.
30th May » In Tel Aviv, Israel, members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.
8th June » Vietnam War: The Associated Press photographer Nick Ut takes his Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of a naked 9-year-old Phan Thị Kim Phúc running down a road after being burned by napalm.
9th June » Severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, creating 1972 Black Hills flood or a flood that kills 238 people and causes $160 million in damage.
12th June » The fast food restaurant chain Popeyes is founded in Arabi, Louisiana.
15th June » Red Army Faction co-founder Ulrike Meinhof is captured by police in Langenhagen.
16th June » The largest single-site hydroelectric power project in Canada is inaugurated at Churchill Falls Generating Station.
17th June » Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican Party (United States) e.g Republican party to illegally Telephone tapping or wiretap
18th June » British European Airways Flight 548 Staines air disaster: 118 are killed when a British European Airways BEA Hawker Siddeley Trident H.S. Trident crashes two minutes after take off from London Heathrow Airport.
20th June » Watergate scandal: An 18½-minute gap appears in the Watergate tapes named tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while Watergate burglaries named breaking in
23rd June » Title IX of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to prohibit sexism e.g sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal government of the United States known as federal funds.
29th June » The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the case 'Furman v. Georgia' that arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution or Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constituti
30th June » The first leap second is added to the UTC time system.
1st July » The first Gay Pride march in Pride London called England takes place.
9th July » The Troubles: In Belfast, British Army snipers shoot five civilians dead in the Springhill Massacre.
11th July » The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts.
19th July » Dhofar Rebellion: British Special Air Service known as SAS units help the Omani government against Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman rebels in the Battle of Mirbat.
21st July » The Troubles: Bloody Friday (1972) Bloody Friday the Provisional Irish Republican Army Provisional IRA detonate 22 bombs in central Belfast Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom in the space of 80 minutes, killing nine and injuring 130.
23rd July » The United States launches 'Landsat 1', the first Earth-resources satellite.
24th July » Bugojno group is caught by Yugoslav security forces.
31st July » The Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-takes the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It is the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later tha
3rd August » The United States Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
11th August » Vietnam War: The last United States ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam.
14th August » An East Germany known as East German Ilyushin Il-62 crashes during takeoff from East Berlin, killing 156.
22nd August » Rhodesia is expelled by the International Olympic Committee named IOC for its racist policies.
1st September » In Reykjavík, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beats Russian Boris Spassky to become the World Chess Championship called world chess champion.
4th September » Mark Spitz becomes the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games.
5th September » Munich massacre: A Palestinian terrorist group called "Black September Organization or Black September" attacks and takes hostage 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics or Munich Olympic Games. Two die in the attack and nine die the following day
6th September » Munich massacre: Nine Israel athletes taken hostage at the Munich Olympic Games by the Palestinian people e.g Palestinian "Black September Organization known as Black September" terrorist group die (as did a German policeman) at the hands of the kidnapper
11th September » The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system begins passenger service.
15th September » A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö-Bulltofta Airport.
19th September » A parcel bomb sent to Israeli Embassy in London kills one diplomat.
21st September » President of the Philippines known as Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos signs Proclamation № 1081, placing the entire country under Martial Law in the Philippines e.g martial law and marking the beginning of his authoritarian rule.
24th September » Japan Airlines Flight 472 (1972) Japan Airlines Flight 472, operated Douglas DC-8 Douglas DC-8-53 landed at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Santacruz Airport in Mumbai Bombay, India.
25th September » In a Norwegian European Communities membership referendum, 1972 called referendum, the people of Norway reject membership of the European Community.
30th September » Roberto Clemente records the 3,000th and final hit of his career.
11th October » USS Kitty Hawk riot or A race riot occurs on the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) or 'Kitty Hawk' off the coast of Vietnam during Operation Linebacker.
13th October » An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 Aeroflot Flight 217 or crashes outside Moscow killing 174.
13th October » Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes mountains, near the border between Argentina and Chile. By December 23, 1972, only 16 out of 45 people lived long enough to be rescued.
22nd October » Vietnam War: In Saigon, Henry Kissinger and South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu meet to discuss a proposed cease-fire that had been worked out between United States known as Americans and North Vietnamese in Paris.
23rd October » Operation Linebacker, a US bombing campaign against North Vietnam in response to its Easter Offensive, ends after five months.
29th October » The three surviving perpetrators of the Munich massacre are released from prison in exchange for the hostages of hijacked Lufthansa Flight 615.
30th October » A collision between two commuter trains in Chicago kills 45 and injures 332.
8th November » HBO launches its programming, with the broadcast of the 1971 movie 'Sometimes a Great Notion (film) known as Sometimes a Great Notion', starring Paul Newman and Henry Fonda.
10th November » Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham, Alabama is Aircraft hijacking known as hijacked and, at one point, is threatened with crashing into the nuclear installation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After two days, the plane lands in Havana, Cuba,
11th November » Vietnam War: Vietnamization The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.
21st November » Voters in South Korea overwhelmingly approve a new constitution, giving legitimacy to Park Chung-hee and the Fourth Republic of South Korea known as Fourth Republic.
23rd November » The Soviet Union makes its final attempt at successfully launching the N-1 rocket.
29th November » Atari, Inc. known as Atari announces the release of 'Pong', the first commercially successful video game.
30th November » Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning United States known as American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.
7th December » Imelda Marcos survives an assassination attempt using a bolo knife against her.
7th December » 'Apollo 17', the last Apollo program or Apollo moon mission, is launched. The crew takes the photograph known as 'The Blue Marble' as they leave the Earth.
8th December » United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45. The crash is the first-ever loss of a Boeing 737.
11th December » 'Apollo 17' becomes the sixth and last Apollo program e.g Apollo mission to land on the Moon.
13th December » Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of 'Apollo 17'. To date they are the last humans to set foot on the Moon.
14th December » 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 the 'Apollo 17' mission.
18th December » Vietnam War: President of the United States or President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.
19th December » Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
23rd December » A 1972 Nicaragua earthquake called 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000.
23rd December » The 16 survivors of the 1972 Andes flight disaster named Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism.
26th December » Vietnam War: As part of Operation Linebacker II, 120 American Boeing B-52 Stratofortress named B-52 Stratofortress bombers attacked Hanoi, including 78 launched from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the largest single combat launch in Strategic Air Comman
29th December » An Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar) crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
30th December » Vietnam War: The United States halts heavy bombing of North Vietnam.