1972
Nixon goes to China
Richard Nixon stepped off Air Force One in Beijing and shook hands with Zhou Enlai, ending twenty-three years of mutual non-recognition between the United States and the People's Republic. He met Mao in his book-cluttered study. The Cold War had been reshaped. Moscow was suddenly isolated. Nixon called it the week that changed the world.
Watergate burglary
Five men in business suits were caught breaking into Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington in the early hours of a June morning. A local judge noticed they had connections to the White House. Two young Washington Post reporters started pulling threads. Two years later Richard Nixon would resign the presidency rather than be impeached.
Munich Olympics massacre
Eight Palestinian Black September gunmen took eleven Israeli athletes hostage at the Munich Olympic Village. A botched German rescue attempt at a military airfield ended with every hostage dead, along with five terrorists and a policeman. ABC's Jim McKay told viewers: They're all gone. Terrorism had entered the age of live television.
Uganda expels its Asians
Idi Amin gave ninety days for all Ugandan Asians, mostly of Indian and Pakistani origin, to leave the country. Some eighty thousand people, many born in Uganda, had to abandon their businesses and homes. Most ended up in Britain. Uganda's economy, which the Asians had largely run, collapsed afterward. Amin blamed others.
Bloody Sunday in Derry
British paratroopers opened fire on Catholic civil rights marchers in the Bogside area of Derry, killing thirteen unarmed civilians on a January afternoon. An official inquiry whitewashed the soldiers; another inquiry thirty-eight years later condemned them and called the killings unjustified. The massacre poured recruits into the Provisional IRA and set the Troubles on their bloodiest course.
Pong arrives in bars
Atari's Nolan Bushnell placed a prototype of a two-paddle video ping-pong game in a Sunnyvale tavern. Within days the machine had stopped working because its coin slot was jammed with quarters. The video game industry had been born in a beer-soaked bar. Within a decade it would earn more than Hollywood.
Managua earthquake
Three days before Christmas, a 6.3 quake hit the Nicaraguan capital, killing perhaps ten thousand, leveling most of the city, and leaving three hundred thousand homeless. The Somoza government siphoned off much of the relief aid. The corruption helped radicalize the Sandinista movement that would finally topple the regime seven years later.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1972?
Saeculum lists 7 curated events from 1972. The most significant is Nixon goes to China: Richard Nixon stepped off Air Force One in Beijing and shook hands with Zhou Enlai, ending twenty-three years of mutual non-recognition between the United…
What era was 1972 part of?
1972 falls within the Modern Era (1901-2000). World wars, cold war, and the splitting of the atom.
Which regions saw notable events in 1972?
The curated events from 1972 span East Asia, North America, Europe and Africa.