Information for the Year 1972

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  • # President Nixon makes unprecedented eight-day visit to Communist China and meets with Mao Zedong (Feb. 17).
  • Britain takes over direct rule of Northern Ireland in bid for peace (March 24).
  • Eleven Israeli athletes at Olympic Games in Munich are killed after eight members of an Arab terrorist group invades Olympic Village; five guerrillas and one policeman are also killed (Sept. 5).
  • Nixon orders "Christmas bombing" of North Vietnam (Dec.).
  • Population:  3.860 billion
  • Nobel Peace Prize:  The prize money for 1972 was allocated to the Main Fund.
  • Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama is shot by Arthur H. Bremer at Laurel, Md., political rally (May 15).
  • Five men are apprehended by police in attempt to bug Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C.'s Watergate complex—start of the Watergate scandal (June 17).
  • US Supreme Court rules that death penalty is unconstitutional (June 29).
  • President:  Richard M. Nixon
  • Vice President:  Spiro T. Agnew
  • Population:  209,896,021
  • Life expectancy:  71.2 years
  • US GDP (1998 dollars):   $1,237.30 billion
  • Federal spending:   $230.68 billion
  • Federal debt:   $435.9 billion
  • Median Household Income(current dollars):$9,697
  • Consumer Price Index:   41.8
  • Unemployment:  5.9%
  • Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.08
  • Super Bowl  Dallas Cowboys defeated Miami Dolphins (SCORE 24-3)
  • World Series of Baseball  Oakland A's defeated Cincinnati
  • National Basketball Association Championship  Los Angeles Lakers defeated New York
  • National Hockey League Stanley Cup  Boston Bruins defeated New York Rangers
  • Women Wimbledon Tennis  Billie Jean King defeated Evonne Goolagong (6-3 6-3)
  • Men Wimbledon Tennis   Stan Smith defeated I. Nastase (4-6 6-3 6-3 4-6 7-5)
  • Kentucky Derby Horse Race Champion   Riva Ridge II
  • National College Athletic Association Basketball Championship  UCLA defeated Florida St. (SCORE 81-76)
  • National College Athletic Association Football Champions  USC (RECORD 12-0-0)
  • 1972 Summer Olympics held in Munich, Germany
  • 1972 Winter Olympics held in Sapporo, Japan
  • Time Inc. transmits HBO, the first pay cable network.
  • Women dominate the 1971 Grammy Awards, taking all four top categories.
  • The National Institute of Mental Health and the surgeon general issue a report that claims exposure to violence on television fosters aggression in children.
  • M*A*S*H premieres on CBS.
  • Atari introduces the arcade version of Pong, the first video game. The home version comes out in 1974.
  • Academy Award, Best Picture:  The French Connection
  • Grammy Award - Record of the Year  It's Too Late by Carole King
  • Emmy Award - Best Television Comedy  All In The Family - CBS
  • Miss America:  Laurie Lea Schaefer (Ohio)
  • CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography) scanning is developed in England.
  • The compact disk is developed by RCA (US).
  • The video disk is introduced by Philips Company (Netherlands).
  • Electronic mail is introduced. Queen Elizabeth will send her first email in 1976.
  • Apollo XVII, the last manned moon landing to date, returns to Earth with 250 pounds of lunar samples

 

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