Stories from 1972
Browse a timeline of top world events from 1972. Or, use Proust to tell your life story and share personal
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January 24, 1972
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Guam
Local farmers on Guam found Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi, who hid in the jungle for 28 years because he did not know World War II had ended. The U.S. had recaptured Guam from Japan in 1944 and Yokoi avoided surrendering by hiding out, but did so for three decades.
January 30, 1972
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Londonderry, Northern Ireland
British troops shot 13 unarmed civil rights protesters in Londonderry, Northern Ireland; the incident became known as Bloody Sunday and sparked thirty years of conflict and violence in Northern Ireland, claiming 3,600 lives. In 2010 British Prime Minister David Cameron would apologize for the killings.
March 24, 1972
Francis Ford Coppola released the first of three films based on Mario Puzo's book The Godfather, which chronicled the lives of a fictional Italian-American mafia family. The movie would be a box-office hit, win three Academy Awards, and rank #2 on AFI's list of greatest movies of all time.
June 17, 1972
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Washington, D.C.
Watergate Scandal: Five men working for Nixon's reelection campaign were caught breaking into Democratic National Committee headquarters. With the threat of impeachment, Richard Nixon was the first President to resign from office.
June 23, 1972
All schools, elementary to university level, were required to provide the same athletic opportunities to women as they do for men under Title IX.
September 4, 1972
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Munich, Germany
Swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals (and broke seven world records) at the 1972 Olympics. Mike Phelps would surpass Spitz's medal record 36 years later.
September 5, 1972
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Munich, Germany
Palestinian terrorists known as Black September entered the Olympic village in Munich. They killed two Israeli athletes, kidnapped nine, and demanded the release of 230 Arabs in Israeli prisons. The group took the Israeli hostages to the Munich airport where they would have a shoot-out with German police. All nine hostages were killed.
