[Edit]

top

Designated International year of the book by UNESCO

---

top

January


January 2 - The Pierre Hotel Heist: Six men rob the safety deposit boxes of The Pierre Hotel in New York City, of at least $4 million.
January 4 - Rose Heilbron becomes the first woman judge at the Old Bailey in London.
January 4 - Kurt Waldheim becomes the Secretary General of the United Nations.
January 5 - President of the United States Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.
January 7 - An Iberian Airlines passenger plane crashes into an 800' peak on the island of Ibiza; 104 dead.
January 9 - Howard Hughes speaks by telephone to denounce Clifford Irving's supposed biography about him.
January 9 - RMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' is destroyed by fire in Hong Kong harbor.
January 11 - East Pakistan becomes independent with the name Bangladesh.
January 14 - King Frederick IX of Denmark dies - his daughter Queen Margaret II of Denmark ascends to the throne on January 16.
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 23 - A New Delhi bootlegger sells wood alcohol to a wedding party - 100 dead.
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 stewardress Vesna Vulovic is the only survivor when her plane crashes in Czechoslovakia. She survives after falling about 30,000' in the tail section of the aircraft.
January 28 - Richard Chanfray claims he is the Count of St Germain on French television.
January 30 - Bloody Sunday - the British Army kills 13 unarmed Roman Catholic civil rights marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland.
January 30 - Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.
January 31 - King Mahendra of Nepal dies, becoming the second king to die that month, and is succeeded by his son, Birendra.

---

top

February


February 1 - First scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) is introduced (price $395).
February 2 - A bomb explodes at the British Yacht Club in West Berlin. The only casualty is Irwin Beelitz, a German boat builder.
February 2 - The German militant group Movement 2 June announces its support of the Irish Republican Army.
February 2 - Anti-British riots throughout Ireland take place. The British Embassy in Dublin is burned to the ground, as are several British-owned businesses.
February 4 - Mariner 9 sends pictures from Mars.
February 5 - U.S. airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers and baggage.
February 5 - 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.
February 15 - Phonorecords are granted U.S. Federal copyright protection for the first time.
February 17 - Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle model exceed those of the Ford Model-T when the 15,007,034th Beetle is produced.
February 18 - The California Supreme Court invalidates the state's death penalty, and converts the sentences of all death row inmates to life in prison.
February 21-February 28 - U.S. President Richard M. Nixon makes an unprecedented eight-day visit to the People's Republic of China and meets with Mao Zedong.
February 21 - The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
February 22 - Official IRA bomb in Aldershot, killing seven.
February 23 - Angela Davis is released from jail. A Caruthers, California farmer, Rodger McAfee, helps her make bail.
February 23 - A Lufthansa plane is hijacked and taken to Aden. Passengers are released after a ransom of 16 million D-marks is agreed.
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 in Buffalo Creek.
February 26 - Luna 20 comes back to Earth with a cargo of moon rocks.

---

top

March


March 1 - The Thai province Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani Province.
March 1 - British 14-year-old schoolboy Timothy Davey is sentenced in Turkey for "conspiring to sell cannabis."
March 1 - The Club of Rome publishes its report Limits to Growth.
March 2 - The Pioneer 10 spacecraft is launched. It will be the first man-made satellite to leave the solar system.
March 2 - Jean-Bedel 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, Georgia.
March 4 - Libya and the Soviet Union sign a cooperation treaty.
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.
March 13 - 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 - To prevent further unionist misrule, Britain takes over direct rule of Northern Ireland.
March 25 - Après toi by Vicky Leandros (music by Mario Panas and Klaus Munro, text by Yves Dessca and Klaus Munro) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 for Luxembourg.
March 26 - An avalanche on Mount Fuji kills 19 climbers.
March 30 - Vietnam War: The Eastertide Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.

---

top

April


April 3 - The first cellular phone call is made in New York.
April 7 - U.S. Mafioso Joe Gallo is shot in Umberto's Clam House in Little Italy.
April 10 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union join some 70 nations in signing an agreement to ban biological warfare.
April 10 - A 7.0 Richter scale earthquake kills 5000 people in the Iranian province of Fars.
April 10 - The 44th Annual Academy Awards 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 15 - Roberta Flack's song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" reaches
1 on Billboard. The song remains
1 for six weeks. Only two songs remain
1 for six weeks (the longest in 1972) - the other is "Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert O'Sullivan on July 29.
April 16 - Charlie Chaplin re-enters the USA to receive a Special Oscar (Academy Award) from Daniel Taradash.
April 16 - Apollo 16 (John Young, Ken Mattingly, Charlie Duke) is launched. During the mission, the astronauts achieve a speed record for the lunar rover of 11 mph.
April 16 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue offensive - Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
April 18 - The Roland Corporation is founded in Osaka.
April 22 - Sylvia Cook and John Fairfax finish rowing across the Pacific.
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 marijuana use.

---

top

May


May 5 - An Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo, Sicily – 115 dead.
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, leaves 115 dead.
May 15 - Governor George Wallace of Alabama is shot by Arthur Herman Bremer at a Laurel, Maryland political rally.
May 17 - The closing notice is posted for the Broadway musical Hair.
May 18 - Four troopers of both SAS and SBS are parachuted onto the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, 1000 miles off Britain in the Atlantic, after a bomb threat and demand for ransom. It turns out to be bogus.
May 19 - Three out of 6 bombs explode in the Springer Press building in Hamburg, Germany - 17 are injured. The Red Army Faction claims responsibility.
May 21 - In Rome, Laszlo Toth attacks Michelangelo's Pieta statue with a sledgehammer, shouting that he is Jesus Christ.
May 22 - An earthquake lasting 20 seconds destroys most of Bingöl, Turkey - more than 1,000 are killed, 10,000 made homeless.
May 22 - Ceylon becomes the republic of Sri Lanka under prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike when its new constitution is ratified.
May 24 - Rangers lift the Cup Winners Cup, defeating Dynamo Moscow in the final at the Nou Camp. Their supporters cause a riot, with the team banned from defending the trophy the following season.
May 24 - A RAF bomb explodes in the Campbell Barracks of the U.S. Army Supreme European Command in Heidelberg, West Germany. Three U.S. soldiers (Clyde Bonner, Ronald Woodard and Charles Peck) are killed.
May 26 - Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT I treaty in Moscow (including the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; also other agreements were made).
May 26 - First failed attempt at Watergate first break-in: the "Ameritas dinner" at the Watergate.
May 26 - Willandra National Park is established in Australia.
May 27 - Second failed attempt at Watergate first break-in.
May 28 - Watergate first break-in.
May 30 - The Angry Brigade goes on trial.
May 30 – Three members of the Japanese Red Army kill 24 and injure 100 in Lod Airport, Israel.

---

top

June

June - Iraq nationalizes the Iraq Petroleum Company. June - The first U.S. Libertarian Party National Convention is held in Denver, Colorado. 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 14 - June 23 - Hurricane Agnes kills 117 in US east coast. June 15 - Ulrike Meinhof and Gerhard Müller of Red Army Faction are arrested in a teacher's apartment in Langenhagen, West Germany. June 17 - Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee. June 17 - The United States returns Okinawa to Japan. June 17 - Chilean president Salvador Allende forms a new government. June 18 - A British European Airways Trident 1 jet airliner crashesd alongside the busy A30 Staines bypass, killing all 118 passengers and crew. June 18 - 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 Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into the Watergate break-ins. June 26 - Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney found Atari. June 28 - U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that no new draftees will be sent to Vietnam. June 29 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the death penalty is unconstitutional.

---

top

July


July 1 - The Broadway production of the musical Hair closes after 1,752 performances.
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 held in Colorado.
July 8 - The U.S. sells grain to the Soviet Union for $750 million.
July 10 - A stampede of elephants kills 24 in the Chandka Forest in India.
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.
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, Ireland; 9 people are killed and 130 seriously injured.
July 21 - Comedian George Carlin is arrested by Milwaukee police for public obscenity, for reciting his “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” at Summerfest.
July 23 - The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.
July 25 - U.S. health officials admit that blacks were used as guinea pigs in a syphilis experiment.
July 29 - A national dock strike begins in Britain.

---

top

August


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.
August 4 - Dictator Idi Amin declares that Uganda will expel 50,000 Asians with British passports to Britain within three months.
August 12 - The last U.S. ground troops are withdrawn from Vietnam.
August 16 - The Royal Moroccan Air Force mistakenly fires upon, but fails 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 - Twenty-seven year old John Wojtowicz and 18 year old Sal Naturile hold several Chase Manhattan Bank employees hostage for 17 hours in Flatbush, Brooklyn, N.Y.
August 28 - Prince William of Gloucester dies in an air crash.

---

top

September


September 1 - Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky in a chess match at Reykjavík, Iceland, and becomes the first American chess champion (see Match of the Century).
September 4 - The Price Is Right debuts on CBS.
September 5-September 6 - Munich Massacre: Eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich are murdered after eight members of the Arab terrorist group Black September invade the Olympic Village; five guerillas and one policeman are also killed in a failed hostage rescue.
September 14 - West Germany and Poland renew diplomatic relations.
September 17 - Uganda announces that there are Tanzanian troops in its territory.
September 17 - M*A*S*H debuts on CBS.
September 18 - São Paulo Metro is inaugurated.
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 placing the entire country under martial law.
September 24 - F-86 fighter aircraft leaving an air show at Sacramento Executive Airport failed to become airborne and crashed into a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor killing 12 children and 11 adults.
September 25 - Norwegian EC referendum, 1972: The people of Norway reject membership in the European Economic Community.
September 27 - Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China.
September 28 - The Canadian national men's hockey team defeated the Soviet national hockey team in game eight of the 1972 Summit Series, six to five, 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).
September 30 - The WWWF Supershow is held at Shea Stadium in Flushing, NY. It is the first outdoor supershow in World Wrestling Entertainment history since breaking ties with NWA in 1963.

---

top

October


October 1 - The first publication reporting the production of a recombinant DNA molecule, marks the birth of modern molecular biology methodology.

Jackson, David A.; Symons, Robert H.; and Berg, Paul. (1972). Biochemical Method for Inserting New Genetic Information into DNA of Simian Virus 40: Circular SV40 DNA Molecules Containing Lambda Phage Genes and the Galactose Operon of Escherichia coli. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 69(10), 2904-2909.



October 2 - Denmark joins the EEC. 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.
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 her station in the Gulf of Tonkin, a racial brawl involving more than 100 sailors breaks out aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS ''Kitty Hawk''. Nearly 50 sailors are injured.
October 13 - 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 (see Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571). A movie based on these events was directed by Frank Marshall (movie producer) in 1993 starring Ethan Hawke (see external links).
October 16 - A plane carrying U.S. Congressman Hale Boggs of Louisiana and three other men vanishes in Alaska. The wreckage has never been found, despite a massive search at the time.
October 16 - Rainbow, a British television programme for children, debuts.
October 16 - Rioting inmates of the Maze Prison cause a fire that destroys most of the camp.
October 17 - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visits Yugoslavia.
October 25 - The first female FBI agents are hired.
October 25 - In cycling, Belgian Eddy Merckx sets a new world hour record 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 29 - The Black September group hijacks a Lufthansa Boeing 727 over Turkey, and demands the release of three of their comrades still held for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympic games.
October 30 - US President Richard Nixon approves legislation to increase Social Security spending by US$5.3 billion.
October 30 - A Commuter train collision in Chicago kills 45, injures hundreds.

---

top

November


November 1 (exact date not known) - 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 recombine 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.
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 *.
November 22 - Vietnam War: The United States loses its first B-52 Stratofortress of the war.
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.
November 30 - Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.

---

top

December


December 2 - Gough Whitlam becomes the first Labour Party Prime Minister of Australia for 23 years. He is famously sworn in on the election night and his first action using executive power is to withdraw all Australian personnel from the Vietnam War.
December 7 - PIRA kidnaps Jean McConville in Belfast.
December 7 - Apollo 17 (Gene Cernan, Ron Evans, Harrison Schmitt), the last manned mission to the Moon to date, is launched.
December 7 - Imelda Marcos is stabbed and seriously wounded by an assailant; her bodyguards shoot him.
December 8 - A United Airlines 737 from Washington National to Chicago Midway crashes short of the runway, killing 43 of 61 onboard and two on ground.
December 8 - Over $10,000 cash is found in the purse of Watergate conspirator Howard Hunt's wife.
December 10 - International Human Rights Day is proclaimed by the United Nations.
December 15 - The Commonwealth of Australia ordains equal pay for women.
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.
December 21 - 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.
December 22 - Australia establishes diplomatic relations with China and West Germany.
December 23 - A 6.25 Richter scale earthquake in Nicaragua kills 5,000-12,000 in the capital, Managua; President Somoza will later be accused of pocketing millions of dollars worth of foreign aid intended for relief.
December 24 - The highest recorded temperature in Australia is recorded in Birdsville, Queensland of 49.5C (121.1F).
December 28 - The bones of Martin Bormann are identified in Berlin.
December 29 - An Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-1011 crashes into the Everglades in Florida, killing 101 of 163 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.

---

top

Unknown dates

The last major epidemic of smallpox in Europe breaks out in Yugoslavia.
Prime minister of Sweden, Olof Palme compares the American bombings of North Vietnam to Nazi massacres. The US breaks diplomatic contact with Sweden.
The United Kingdom begin to train Special Air Service for anti-terrorist duties.
Steve Jobs graduates from Homestead High School and enrolls in Reed College in Portland, Oregon but drops out after one semester.
The Japanese government begins building a railway tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido.
Stephen Hawking is confined to a wheelchair due to motor neuron disease.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms becomes independent from IRS.
The "tea house" Mellow Yellow opens on the Amstel River in Amsterdam, pioneering the legal sale of marijuana in the Netherlands.
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy founded on the lawn of Parliament House in Canberra.
First women admitted to Dartmouth College.
Colombian looters find Ciudad Perdida but keep it a secret until government reveals it 1975.
Frank Serpico exposes corruption in New York City police.
Vietnam War veteran Richard McCoy hijacks a United Airlines jet and extorts $500,000 – he is later captured.
The Yellow River dries up for the first time in known history.
Somalian language gets a written form.
Assassination of Zanzibar's leader Sheik Abeid Karume.
Tamil United Front, pro-Tamil organization, founded.
Worship of Norse gods officially approved in Iceland.
Women are allowed to compete in the Boston Marathon for the first time.
The Second Cod War between UK and Iceland.
First use of the term Hadean.

---

top

January

January 2 - Taye Diggs, American actor
January 6 - Ryan Ball, American musician
January 9 - Jay Powell, American baseball player
January 12 - Espen Knutsen, Norwegian hockey player
January 13 - Nicole Eggert, American actress
January 17 - Ken Hirai, Japanese singer and songwriter
January 18 - Mike Lieberthal, American baseball player
January 19 - Drea de Matteo, American actress
January 22 - Romi Paku, seiyu (voice actress)
January 23 - Marcel Wouda, Dutch swimmer
January 27 - Mark Owen, British singer and Take That member
January 27 - Keith Wood, Irish rugby player

---

top

February

February 1 - Yoshi DeHerrera, American television personality
February 2 - Klára Dobrev, wife of Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány
February 4 - Giovanni Silva De Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
February 5 - Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
February 5 - Koriki Choshu, Japanese comedian
February 7 - Alex Bassi, American race car driver
February 8 - Paul Wight, American professional wrestler (billed as The Big Show)
February 11 - Craig Jones, a member of the band Slipknot
February 11 - Steve McManaman, British footballer
February 13 - Gus Hansen, Danish poker player
February 14 - Drew Bledsoe, American football player
February 14 - Hiroshi, Japanese comedian
February 15 - Jaromir Jagr, Czech hockey player
February 16 - Jerome Bettis, American football player
February 17 - Billie Joe Armstrong, American musician (Green Day)
February 17 - YUKI, Japanese singer (JUDY AND MARY)
February 17 - Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
February 19 - Malky Mackay, Scottish footballer
February 21 - Seo Taiji, Korean musician
February 22 - Michael Chang, American tennis player
February 23 - Steve Holy, American country singer
February 24 - Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete (d. 2001)
February 28 - Nick Wright, English football player
February 29 - Antonio Sabato Jr., Italian actor

---

top

March

March 6 - Terry Murphy, Northern Irish snooker player
March 6 - Shaquille O'Neal, American basketball player
March 8 - Angie Hart, Australian pop singer
March 10 - Takashi Fujii (Matthew Minami), Japanese television performer
March 10 - Matt Kenseth, American race car driver
March 10 - Eugene Roshal, Russian-born computer programmer
March 15 - Mark Hoppus, American musician (blink-182)
March 17 - Mia Hamm, American soccer player
March 18 - Dane Cook, American comedian
March 20 - Alexander Kapranos, British singer and guitarist (Franz Ferdinand)
March 21 - Chris Candido, American Professional Wrestler (d.2005)
March 22 - Shawn Bradley, American basketball player
March 22 - Elvis Stojko, Canadian figure skater
March 22 - Cory Lidle, American baseball player (d.2006)
March 23 - Judith Godrèche, French actress
March 27 - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Dutch footballer
March 27 - Charlie Haas, American Professional Wrestler

---

top

April

April 3 - Jennie Garth, American actress
April 5 - Krista Allen, American actress
April 11 - Jason Varitek, American baseball player
April 12 - NiCole Robinson, American actress
April 13 - Mariusz Czerkawski, Polish ice hockey player
April 17 - Tony Boselli, American football player
April 17 - Jennifer Garner, American actress
April 17 - Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
April 19 - Rivaldo, Brazilian footballer
April 24 - Chipper Jones, American baseball player
April 29 - Roman Dirge, American artist, writer and cartoonist

---

top

May

May 2 - The Rock, American professional wrestler and actor (birth name – Dwayne Johnson)
May 2 - Paul Adcock, English footballer
May 4 - Mike Dirnt, American musician (Green Day)
May 5 - James Cracknell, British Olympic winning rower
May 8 - Darren Hayes, Australian musician
May 10 - Radosław Majdan, Polish goalkeeper
May 20 - Busta Rhymes, American musician and actor
May 21 - The Notorious B.I.G., American musician (d. 1997)
May 23 - Rubens Barrichello, Brazillian racecar driver
May 28 - Michael Boogerd, Dutch cyclist
May 30 - Manny Ramírez, Dominican baseball player
May 31 - Dave Roberts, Major League Baseball player

---

top

June

June 2 - Wayne Brady, American comedian
June 4 - Derian Hatcher, American hockey player
June 4 - Rob Huebel, American comedian
June 4 - Debra Stephenson, English actress
June 5 - Justin Smith, American drummer
June 5 - Mike Bucci, American Professional Wrestler, Nova, Simon Dean
June 6 - Cristina Scabbia, Italian singer
June 7 - Karl Urban, New Zealand actor
June 14 - Matthias Ettrich, the computer scientist who founded the KDE project
June 15 - Andy Pettitte, American baseball player
June 17 - Iztok Čop, Slovenian rower
June 19 - Brian McBride, American soccer player
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
June 24 - Denis Zvegelj, Slovenian rower
June 25 - Carlos Delgado, Puerto Rican baseball player
June 25 - Mike Kroeger, Canadian bass guitarist (Nickelback)
June 28 - John Heidenreich, American Professional Wrestler
June 29 - Samantha Smith, American activist (d. 1985)

---

top

July

July 3 - Asha Gill, British-born television host
July 7 - Lisa Leslie, American Basketball player
July 8 - Saurav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
July 13 - Sean Waltman, American Professional Wrestler
July 27 - Jill Arrington, American football reporter
July 28 - Elizabeth Berkley, American actress

---

top

August

August 1 - D-Von Dudley, American Professional Wrestler
August 6 - Geri Halliwell, British musician (Spice Girls)
August 7 - Sarah Cawood, British Television Presenter
August 11 - Jonathon Prandi, American model and actor
August 14 - Ed O'Bannon, American basketball player
August 15 - Ben Affleck, American actor
August 16 - Emily Robison, American country music performer (Dixie Chicks)
August 25 - Marvin Harrison, American football player
August 30 - Cameron Diaz, American actress
August 30 - Pavel Nedved, Czech footballer

---

top

September

September 2 - Sergei Zholtok, Latvian hockey player (d. 2004)
September 8 - Lisa Kennedy, American disc jockey and political satirist
September 8 - Tomokazu Seki, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
September 10 - Ghada Shouaa, Syrian athlete
September 12 - Budi Putra, Indonesian journalist, writer and blogger
September 12 - Jason Statham, British actor
September 17 - Bobby Lee, American comedian
September 21 - Liam Gallagher, British singer (Oasis)
September 21 - Jon Kitna, American football player
September 22 - Bob Sapp, American boxer and kickboxer
September 24 - Karyn Bosnak, American author
September 27 - Sylvia Crawley, American basketball player
September 28 - Gwyneth Paltrow, American actress
September 28 - Dita Von Teese, American burlesque artist
September 30 - Ari Behn, Norwegian author

---

top

October

October 5 - Grant Hill, American basketball player
October 5 - Aaron Guiel, Canadian baseball player
October 8 - Tricia Vessey, American actress
October 9 - Etan Patz, disappeared school boy
October 17 - Marshall Mathers, a.k.a. Eminem American rapper and actor
October 17 - Wyclef Jean, Haitian rapper
October 17 - Tarkan, Turkish singer
October 24 - Pat Williams, American football player
October 28 - Terrell Davis, American football player
October 28 - Brad Paisley, American country music performer
October 28 - Trista Rehn, American television personality
October 29 - Takafumi Horie, Japanese entrepreneur (Livedoor)

---

top

November

November 4 - Luís Figo, Portuguese footballer
November 7 - Danny Grewcock, British rugby player
November 6 - Thandie Newton, British actress
November 9 - Doug Russell, American radio personality
November 9 - Corin Tucker, American musician
November 10 - Shawn Green, American baseball player
November 13 - Takuya Kimura, Japanese actor



---

top

December

December 1 - Norbert Wójtowicz, Polish historian and theologian
December 4 - Nikki Tyler, American actress
December 7 - Hermann Maier, Austrian skier
December 7 - Tammy Lynn Sytch, American Wrestling Valet and Topless Model
December 9 - Tre Cool, German drummer (Green Day)
December 10 - Brian Molko, Belgian singer (Placebo)
December 12 - Joel Cahen, Israeli artist
December 13 - Chris Grant, Australian footballer
December 16 - Chris Hart, American Traveler, Actor, & Founder Travel-Journal.org
December 19 - Alyssa Milano, American actress
December 19 - Warren Sapp, American football player
December 22 - Vanessa Paradis, French singer and actress
December 28 - Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player
December 29 - Jason Kreis, American soccer player
December 29 - Jude Law, British actor
December 30 - Kerry Collins, American football player

---

top

January

January 1 - Maurice Chevalier, French entertainer (surgical complications) (b. 1888)
January 6 - Chen Yi, Chinese communist military commander and politician (b. 1901)
January 7 - John Berryman, American poet and scholar (b. 1914); suicide
January 8 - Kenneth Patchen, American poet and painter (b. 1911)
January 10 - Aksel Larsen, Danish politician (b. 1897)
January 14 - King Frederick IX of Denmark (b. 1899)
January 16 - Ross Bagdasarian, American record producer and creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks (b. 1919)
January 26 - Mahalia Jackson, American singer (b. 1911)

---

top

February

February 11 - Jan Wils, Dutch architect (b. 1891)
February 19 - John Grierson, Scottish documentary filmmaker (b. 1898)
February 20 - Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
February 20 - Walter Winchell, American journalist (b. 1897)
February 22 - Tedd Pierce, American animator (b. 1906)

---

top

March

March 13 - Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (b. 1941)
March 21 - David McCallum, Sr., British violinist and the father of David McCallum (b. 1897)
March 24 - Cristobal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier (b. 1895)
March 27 - Sharkey Bonano, American jazz musician (b. 1904)
March 27 - M.C. Escher, Dutch artist (b. 1898)
March 29 - J. Arthur Rank, British industrialist and film producer (b. 1888)

---

top

April

April 2 - Gil Hodges, baseball player (b. 1924)
April 3 - Ferde Grofé, American composer (b. 1882)
April 4 - Stefan Wolpe, German-born composer (b. 1902)
April 8 - Andrea Feldman, American actress (suicide) (b. 1948)
April 16 - Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)

---

top

May

May 2 - J. Edgar Hoover, American Federal Bureau of Investigation director (b. 1895)
May 4 - Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1886)
May 13 - Dan Blocker, American actor (b. 1928)
May 22 - Cecil Day-Lewis, English poet (b. 1904)
May 22 - Margaret Rutherford, English actress (b. 1892)
May 28 - King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)

---

top

June

June 13 - Georg von Békésy, Hungarian biophysicist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
June 13 - Stephanie von Hohenlohe, Austrian-born German World War II spy (b. 1891)

---

top

July

July 2 - Joseph Fielding Smith, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1876)
July 7 - King Talal, King of Jordan (b. 1909)
July 19 - Hezekiah M. Washburn, American missionary (b. 1884)
July 21 - Ralph Craig, American athlete (b. 1889)
July 28 - Helen Traubel, American soprano (b. 1903)

---

top

August

August 11 - Max Theiler, South African virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
August 14 - Oscar Levant, American pianist and actor (b. 1906)
August 28 - Prince William of Gloucester (air crash) (b. 1941)

---

top

September

September 15 - Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1887)
September 19 - Robert Casadesus, French pianist (b. 1899)

---

top

October

October 1 - Louis Leakey, British paleontologist (b. 1903)
October 5 - Ivan Yefremov, Soviet paleontologist and science fiction author (b. 1907)
October 20 - Harlow Shapley, American astronomer (b. 1885)
October 24 - Jackie Robinson, baseball player (b. 1919)
October 26 - Igor Sikorsky, Russian aviation engineer (b. 1889)

---

top

November

November 1 - Ezra Pound, American poet (b. 1885)
November 14 - Martin Dies, Jr., American politician (b. 1900)
November 25 - Henri Coandă, Romanian aerodynamics pioneer (b. 1886)
November 28 - Havergal Brian, English composer (b. 1876)

---

top

December

December 3 - Bill Johnson, American musician (b. 1872)
December 24 - Charles Atlas, Italian-American strongman and sideshow performer
December 24 - Gisela Richter, English art historian (b. 1882)
December 26 - Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (heart failure) (b. 1884)
December 27 - Lester B. Pearson 14th Prime Minister of Canada, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1897)
December 31 - Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball player (b. 1934)

---

top

Nobel prizes

Physics - John Bardeen, Leon Neil Cooper, John Robert Schrieffer
Chemistry - Christian B. Anfinsen, Stanford Moore, William H. Stein
Physiology or Medicine - Gerald M. Edelman, Rodney R. Porter
Literature - Heinrich Böll
Peace - not awarded
Economics - John Hicks, Kenneth Arrow

---

top

Ship events

List of ship launches in 1972
List of ship commissionings in 1972
List of ship decommissionings in 1972

---

top

Fiction

The sons of Big Boss are born in the Metal Gear video game series.
The year the A-team is sent to prison and escapes