June 1972
Encyclopedia
January
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. – April
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– December
The following events occurred in June
1972.
January 1972
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in January 1972.-January 1, 1972 :...
– February
February 1972
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in February 1972.-February 1, 1972 :...
– March
March 1972
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November-DecemberThe following events occurred in March, 1972.-March 1, 1972 :...
. – April
April 1972
January – February – March. – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November –DecemberThe following events occurred in April 1972.-April 1, 1972 :...
– May
May 1972
January – February – March. – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November –DecemberThe following events occurred in May 1972.-May 1, 1972 :...
– June – July
July 1972
January – February – March. – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in July 1972.-July 1, 1972 :...
– August
August 1972
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in August 1972.-August 1, 1972 :...
– September
September 1972
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in September 1972:-September 1, 1972 :...
– October
October 1972
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November–DecemberThe following events occurred in October 1972:-October 1, 1972 :...
– November
November 1972
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in November 1972.-November 1, 1972 :...
– December
December 1972
January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – DecemberThe following events occurred in December 1972.-December 1, 1972 :...
The following events occurred in June
June
June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and one of the four months with a length of 30 days. Ovid provides two etymologies for June's name in his poem concerning the months entitled the Fasti...
1972.
June 1, 1972 (Thursday)
- Andreas BaaderAndreas BaaderAndreas Bernd Baader was one of the first leaders of the German left-wing militant organization Red Army Faction, also commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang.- Life :...
, co-founder of the "Baader-Meinhof GangRed Army FactionThe radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
" (the Red Army FactionRed Army FactionThe radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
, was arrested after West German police traced him to a warehouse in MunichMunichMunich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. Captured also were Holger MeinsHolger MeinsHolger Klaus Meins was a German cinematography student who joined the Red Army Faction in the early 1970s and died on hunger strike in prison.-As a Revolutionary:...
and Jan-Carl RaspeJan-Carl RaspeJan-Carl Raspe was a member of the German militant group, the Red Army Faction.- Young life :Raspe was born in Seefeld in Tirol. He was described as gentle but had difficulty communicating with other people. His father had said that he couldn't stand violence...
. The other half of a couple compared to Bonnie and Clyde, Ulrike MeinhofUlrike MeinhofUlrike Marie Meinhof was a German left-wing militant. She co-founded the Red Army Faction in 1970 after having previously worked as a journalist for the monthly left-wing magazine Konkret. She was arrested in 1972, and eventually charged with numerous murders and the formation of a criminal...
, was still on the run. - The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic SealsConvention for the Conservation of Antarctic SealsThe Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals is part of the Antarctic Treaty System. It was signed at the conclusion of a multilateral conference in London on February 11, 1972...
was signed in London by twelve nations. - The Iraq Petroleum CompanyIraq Petroleum CompanyThe Iraq Petroleum Company , until 1929 called Turkish Petroleum Company , was an oil company jointly owned by some of the world's largest oil companies, which had virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq from 1925 to 1961...
was completely nationalized by the government of IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, through its Public Law 69, making the company part of the state-owned Iraq National Oil CompanyIraq National Oil CompanyThe Iraq National Oil Company was founded in 1966 by the Iraqi government. It was empowered to operate all aspects of the oil industry in Iraq except for refining which was already being run by the Oil Refineries Administration and local distribution which was also already under government...
. - Pablo PicassoPablo PicassoPablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
completed his final painting, The Embrace, at his home in MouginsMouginsMougins is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It is located on the heights of Cannes, in the district of Grasse. Mougins is a 15-minute drive from Cannes. The village is surrounded by forests, such as the Valmasque forest...
, France. He died ten months later at the age of 91.
June 2, 1972 (Friday)
- The Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Indian tribes filed Joint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe v. MortonJoint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe v. MortonJoint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton, 528 F.2d 370 , was a landmark decision regarding aboriginal title in the United States...
, a suit against the State of MaineMaineMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
in the U.S. District Court in PortlandPortland, MainePortland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
. Attorney Tom Tureen sued for enforcement of a treaty that provided the tribe ownership of 2/3 of Maine. Judgment was made in favor of the Indian tribes in 1980. - The Four Power Agreement on BerlinFour Power Agreement on BerlinThe Four Power Agreement on Berlin also known as the Berlin Agreement or the Quadripartite Agreement on Berlin was agreed on 3 September 1971 by the four wartime allied powers, represented by their Ambassadors...
was signed by the foreign ministers of the Allied Powers in World War II, as Alec Douglas-HomeAlec Douglas-HomeAlexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel, KT, PC , known as The Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963 and as Sir Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1974, was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1963 to October 1964.He is the last...
(Britain), Maurice SchumannMaurice SchumannMaurice Schumann was a French politician, journalist, writer, and hero of the Second World War who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Georges Pompidou in the 1960s and 1970s...
(France), Andrei GromykoAndrei GromykoAndrei Andreyevich Gromyko was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet . Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he retired in 1987. In the West he was given the...
(USSR) and William P. RogersWilliam P. RogersWilliam Pierce Rogers was an American politician, who served as a Cabinet officer in the administrations of two U.S. Presidents in the third quarter of the 20th century.-Early Life :...
(US) met in West BerlinWest BerlinWest Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
. - Maj. Roger LocherRoger LocherRoger Clinton Locher is a former F-4D Phantom weapons officer and pilot who during the Vietnam War and Operation Linebacker was shot down only from Hanoi, North Vietnam. The 23 days Locher spent behind enemy lines evading capture was a record for downed airmen during the war. USAF General Vogt...
, whose 4F-4D had been shot down on May 10, was finally rescued after 23 days behind enemy lines. He was 60 miles (96.6 km) northwest of Hanoi and within 5 miles (8 km) of the heavily defended MiGMig-Industry:*MiG, now Mikoyan, a Russian aircraft corporation, formerly the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau*Metal inert gas welding or MIG welding, a type of welding using an electric arc and a shielding gas-Business and finance:...
airbase at Yên BáiYen BaiYên Bái is a city and urban district in Vietnam. It is the capital of the Yen Bai province, in northeastern Vietnam. As of 2003 the district had a population of 78,016. The district covers an area of 58 km²....
Airfield. 7th Air ForceSeventh Air ForceThe Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....
General John VogtJohn W. Vogt, Jr.General John William Vogt, Jr. was commander, Allied Air Forces Central Europe, and commander in chief, U.S. Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.-Biography:...
canceled the entire strike mission set for Hanoi that day and dedicated all available resources to rescuing Lochar. The direct task force of 119 aircraft successfully pulled him out of the jungle without any losses. His time behind enemy lines and successful rescue was a record for the Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. It was the farthest penetration of an American search and rescueCombat search and rescueCombat search and rescue are search and rescue operations that are carried out during war that are within or near combat zones.A CSAR mission may be carried out by a task force of helicopters, ground-attack aircraft, tankers and an airborne command post...
operation into North Vietnam. - Born: Wayne BradyWayne BradyWayne Alphonso Brady is an actor, singer, comedian and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and as the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show...
, American comedian, in OrlandoOrlando, FloridaOrlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
June 3, 1972 (Saturday)
- Sally PriesandSally PriesandSally Jane Priesand is America's first ordained female rabbi, and the second ordained female rabbi in the world, after Regina Jonas.-Early life:...
became the first American woman to be ordained as a rabbiRabbiIn Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, as one of 26 Hebrew Union College graduates ordained at the Isaac M. Wise Temple in Cincinnati.
June 4, 1972 (Sunday)
- African-American activist Angela DavisAngela DavisAngela Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. Davis was most politically active during the late 1960s through the 1970s and was associated with the Communist Party USA, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party...
was acquitted by an all-white jury in San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, after a 14-week trial. Davis, formerly a 28 year old instructor at UCLA, had been charged with conspiracy for murder and kidnapping in a 1970 murder of a judge in Marin County. Jurors, who deliberated over the weekend, said later that they had doubted her guilt throughout the trial. - Soviet author Joseph BrodskyJoseph BrodskyIosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky , was a Russian poet and essayist.In 1964, 23-year-old Brodsky was arrested and charged with the crime of "social parasitism" He was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1972 and settled in America with the help of W. H. Auden and other supporters...
was summoned to the LeningradSaint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
office of the Ministry of the Interior, where he was told that he was being expelled from U.S.S.R. immediately. He was then put on an Aeroflot flight to ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. Brodsky settled in the United States, where he later became the American poet LaureatePoet LaureateA poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
, and won the Nobel Prize in LiteratureNobel Prize in LiteratureSince 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
in 1987. - The first presidential election held in the Khmer RepublicKhmer RepublicThe Khmer Republic or République Khmère, was the republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on October 9, 1970. The Khmer Republic was disestablished in 1975 and was followed by the totalitarian communist state known as Democratic Kampuchea.-Background:Formally declared on October...
(Cambodia) resulted in a victory for the incumbent, Lon NolLon NolLon Nol was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice, as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister...
, although counting within the capital of Phnom PenhPhnom PenhPhnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
showed a majority for challenger In TamIn TamIn Tam was a former Prime Minister of Cambodia. He served in that position from May 6, 1973 to December 9 1973, and had a long career in Cambodian politics.-Political career:...
. Lon Nol ordered the military to collect and count the poll results from the countryside, where In Tam had had greater support, and was soon declared the winner. - Died: Robert HarrillRobert HarrillRobert E. Harrill or Robert Harrell, , was known as "The Fort Fisher Hermit". He became a hermit in 1955 at the age of 62 after a string of unsuccessful and unsatisfying jobs and a failed marriage. Harrill hitchhiked to Fort Fisher on the North Carolina Coast from Morganton, North Carolina, a...
, 79, the "Fort Fisher Hermit"
June 5, 1972 (Monday)
- The United Nations Conference on the Human EnvironmentUnited Nations Conference on the Human EnvironmentThe United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was an international conference convened under United Nations auspices held in Stockholm, Sweden from June 5–16, 1972...
, also called the Stockholm ConferenceUnited Nations Conference on the Human EnvironmentThe United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was an international conference convened under United Nations auspices held in Stockholm, Sweden from June 5–16, 1972...
, convened in Sweden, with representatives from 113 nations in attendance for the largest international meeting ever held on ecological issues. The twelve day conference led to the creation of UNEPUnited Nations Environment ProgrammeThe United Nations Environment Programme coordinates United Nations environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices. It was founded as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in June 1972 and has its...
, the United Nations Environment ProgrammeUnited Nations Environment ProgrammeThe United Nations Environment Programme coordinates United Nations environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices. It was founded as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in June 1972 and has its...
. June 5 is now observed annually by the U.N. as World Environment Day. - G. Gordon LiddyG. Gordon LiddyGeorge Gordon Liddy was the chief operative for the White House Plumbers unit that existed from July–September 1971, during Richard Nixon's presidency. Separately, along with E. Howard Hunt, Liddy organized and directed the Watergate burglaries of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in...
spoke with James W. McCord, Jr.James W. McCord, Jr.James Walter McCord, Jr. is a former CIA agent, later involved, as an electronics expert, in the Watergate burglaries .-Career:...
about problems with getting anything useful from wiretaps planted more than a week before on the phone of DNC Chairman Larry O'BrienLarry O'BrienLawrence Francis "Larry" O'Brien, Jr. was one of the United States Democratic Party's leading electoral strategists when, for more than two decades, he helped reshape American politics...
. Liddy recounted later that if the problem were not fixed, McCord's team would get no further money from the Committee to Re-Elect the President, "because the job should have been done correctly the first time". The Watergate burglars were caught after breaking into O'Brien's office again on June 17, 1972.
June 6, 1972 (Tuesday)
- An explosion at the Wankie No. 2 Colliery in HwangeHwangeHwange is a town in western Zimbabwe, in the province of Matabeleland North. It is named after the chieftain of Zwange, who is now called Chief Hwange. The town was known as Wankie until 1982. According to the 1992 Population Census, the town had a population of 42,581...
, RhodesiaRhodesiaRhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
(now HwangeHwangeHwange is a town in western Zimbabwe, in the province of Matabeleland North. It is named after the chieftain of Zwange, who is now called Chief Hwange. The town was known as Wankie until 1982. According to the 1992 Population Census, the town had a population of 42,581...
, ZimbabweZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
), killed 426 coal miners. In addition to 176 Rhodesians (140 black and 36 white), the dead hailed from various nations—Zambia (91), Mozambique (52), Malawi (37), Tanzania (30), Britain (14), South Africa (12), Namibia (9), the Caprivi Strip (4) and Botswana (1). - U.S. Senator George McGovernGeorge McGovernGeorge Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
of South DakotaSouth DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
won the Democratic primary in CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, along with 274 delegates, putting him far in the lead for his party's nomination for President. - Voters in Montana approved a new constitution.
- U.S. Patent No. 3,668,658 was granted to the IBM Corporation for the first "floppy diskFloppy diskA floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
" (officially, "diskettes" for the IBM 3330 computer). - Died: Abraham Adrian AlbertAbraham Adrian AlbertAbraham Adrian Albert was an American mathematician. In 1939, he received the first American Mathematical Society's Cole Prize in Algebra for his work on Riemann matrices...
, 66, American mathematician
June 7, 1972 (Wednesday)
- The U.S. Department of Labor issued the first regulations in America to limit exposure to asbestos. At the time, there were 200,000 workers in the asbestos industry.
- Ananda Mohan ChakrabartyAnanda Mohan ChakrabartyAnanda Mohan Chakrabarty , Ph.D. is an Bengali American microbiologist, scientist, and researcher, most notable for his work in directed evolution and his role in developing a genetically engineered organism using plasmid transfer while working at GE....
became the first person to apply for a patent for a genetically engineered living organism, a strain of Pseudomonas bacteria that could consume crude oil. The right to patent a living organism was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1980 in Diamond v. Chakrabarty - The 1950s nostalgia musical GreaseGrease (musical)Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
began the first of 3,388 performances on Broadway, running until April 13, 1980. - Born: Karl UrbanKarl UrbanKarl-Heinz Urban is a New Zealand actor.He is known for playing Éomer in the second and third installments of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the 2009 film Star Trek and Julius Caesar on Xena: Warrior Princess...
, New Zealand actor, in WellingtonWellingtonWellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range... - Died: E. M. ForsterE. M. ForsterEdward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
, 91, British novelist (A Passage to IndiaA Passage to IndiaA Passage to India is a novel by E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Time...
)
June 8, 1972 (Thursday)
- The South Vietnamese village of Trảng Bàng District was bombed with napalmNapalmNapalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
in an errant air strike by the South Vietnamese Army, shortly after Huynh Cong "Nick" Ut took a photograph that became an iconic symbol of the horrors of war. The wirephoto, published on the front pages of newspapers that evening and the next morning, showed children crying in pain from their burns, including a 9-year old girl, Phan Thị Kim Phúc, who had torn her clothes off after catching fire. Ut's image would win a Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
.
June 9, 1972 (Friday)
- At 10:45 p.m., the Canyon Lake Dam at Rapid City, South DakotaRapid City, South DakotaRapid City is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Rapid...
, gave way under the pressure of a downpour, sending millions of gallons of water through the city. The results of the Black Hills floodBlack Hills floodThe Black Hills Flood of 1972, in the Black Hills of Western South Dakota, USA, occurred on June 9, 1972. The extreme rainfall of around of rain in 6 hours sent Rapid Creek and other creeks overflowing and flooded many residential and commercial properties around the Black Hills...
were 238 people killed, and 3,057 more injured. More than 5,000 vehicles and 700 homes were destroyed, and the total damages were . - Bruce SpringsteenBruce SpringsteenBruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
received his big break as he was signed to a ten record deal by CBS Records. - Died: Lt. Col. John Paul VannJohn Paul VannJohn Paul Vann was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, later retired, who became well known for his role in the Vietnam War.-Early life:...
, 47; later the subject of book and film A Bright Shining Lie; in a helicopter crash
June 10, 1972 (Saturday)
- Barbara JordanBarbara JordanBarbara Charline Jordan was an American politician who was both a product and a leader, of the Civil Rights movement. She was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first southern black female elected to the United States House of Representatives...
, President Pro Tempore of the Texas State Senate, was sworn in as Acting Governor of Texas for one day as Governor Preston Smith and Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes were absent, becoming the first African-American woman in history to serve as a state Governor.
June 11, 1972 (Sunday)
- Deep Throat, perhaps the most famous pornographic film of all time, made its debut, at the World Theatre in Manhattan. Made for $25,000 the film returned more than $600,000,000 worldwide.
June 12, 1972 (Monday)
- American Airlines Flight 96American Airlines Flight 96American Airlines Flight 96 was a regular McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 flight operated by American Airlines. The flight suffered a cargo door failure on 12 June 1972 while flying over Windsor, Ontario; it is thus sometimes referred to as the Windsor incident.The rapid decompression in the cargo hold...
made an emergency landing after an improperly closed cargo door was blown off at 12,500 feet, shortly after the DC-10 took off from Detroit for a flight to Buffalo. Captain Bryce McCormick sturggled with failing flight controls to land the jet, and the 67 people on board, at Cleveland. A similar accident in 1974 on Turkish Airlines Flight 981Turkish Airlines Flight 981Turkish Airlines Flight 981 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, registered TC-JAV and named the Ankara, that crashed in Fontaine-Chaalis, Oise, France, outside Senlis, on 3 March 1974...
, all 346 people on board were killed after the cargo door fell off.
June 13, 1972 (Tuesday)
- Captain Nikolay Grigoryevich Petrov, a GRU secret agent stationed at the Soviet Embassy in Indonesia, defected by surrendering to the American naval attache in Jakarta. Petrov, who had stolen the equivalent of $900 from his supervisor and then panicked, was given the call sign "Houdini" and relocated to the United States, where he supplied detailed information about GRU activities to the CIA. Against the advice of the agency, he returned to the U.S.S.R. in the late 1970s, and was never heard from again.
- Died: Georg von BékésyGeorg von BékésyGeorg von Békésy was a Hungarian biophysicist born in Budapest, Hungary.In 1961, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the function of the cochlea in the mammalian hearing organ.-Research:Békésy developed a method for dissecting the inner ear of human...
, 73, Hungarian biophysicist, 1961 Nobel laureate; and Stephanie von HohenloheStephanie von HohenlohePrincess Stephanie Julianne von Hohenlohe was a member of a German princely family by marriage and a close friend of Adolf Hitler who spied for Nazi Germany.-Early life:...
, 80, German World War II spy
June 14, 1972 (Wednesday)
- Environmental Protection Agency Director William D. Ruckelshaus ordered an almost complete ban, in the United States, of the famous pesticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), with all use to cease by the end of 1972.
- Japan AirlinesJapan Airlinesis an airline headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. It is the flag carrier of Japan and its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport , as well as Nagoya's Chūbu Centrair International Airport and Osaka's Kansai International Airport...
Flight 471 crashed while attempting to land at New Delhi, killing 82 of the 87 people on board, and 4 on the ground.
June 15, 1972 (Thursday)
- Dougal RobertsonDougal RobertsonDougal Robertson was a Scottish author and sailor born in Edinburgh. He joined the British Merchant Navy after attending Leith Nautical College...
, his wife, three children, and a family friend, were sailing on their yacht Lucette, when the boat was attacked and sunk by orca whales. The six survived 38 days adrift in the Pacific Ocean, then on an inflatable liferaft, then on a dinghy. Robertson wrote about the experience in a book, Survive the Savage Sea, later made into a 1991 film. - Ulrike MeinhofUlrike MeinhofUlrike Marie Meinhof was a German left-wing militant. She co-founded the Red Army Faction in 1970 after having previously worked as a journalist for the monthly left-wing magazine Konkret. She was arrested in 1972, and eventually charged with numerous murders and the formation of a criminal...
, the other half of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, was arrested in a teacher's apartment in LangenhagenLangenhagenLangenhagen is a town in the Hanover district of Lower Saxony, Germany.-International relations:Langenhagen is twinned with: - Joinville - - Economy :...
, West Germany, along with her partner in crime, Gerhard Müller. - Cathay Pacific Flight 700ZCathay Pacific Flight 700ZCathay Pacific Flight 700Z was a flight flying from Bangkok to Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport on 15 June 1972. There were 71 passengers and 10 crew on the flight. A bomb exploded in a suitcase placed under a seat in the cabin while the flight was flying at 29000 ft over Pleiku, South Vietnam. The...
crashed shortly after takeoff from Bangkok bound to Hong Kong, killing all 81 persons on board. - Born: Andy PettitteAndy PettitteAndrew Eugene Pettitte is a retired American left-handed Major League Baseball starting pitcher.In his major league career, he played for the New York Yankees from 1995–2003. He then signed with the Houston Astros, and played for them from 2004 through 2006. In 2007, Pettitte rejoined the Yankees...
, American MLB pitcher, in Baton Rouge, LouisianaBaton Rouge, LouisianaBaton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
June 16, 1972 (Friday)
- The United States Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
issued its "Open Skies" decision, clearing the way for private companies to operate their own ground systems for use of orbiting communications satellites, so long as they obtained FCC approval, and complied with FCC rules, which included offering their transmissions to a wide range of customers. The decision opened the door for the first cable networks to offer their own programming to paying customers. - The Stockholm DeclarationDeclaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human EnvironmentThe Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, or Stockholm Declaration, was adopted June 16, 1972 by the United Nations at the 21st plenary meeting as the first document in international environmental law to recognize the right to a healthy environment.- External links...
was adopted unanimously by the 112 nations participating in the first international conference on the environment. The United Nations General Assembly later approved the declaration by its Resolution 2994, by a vote of 112–0 with ten abstentions. - A rockfall, inside a mile-long railway tunnel near SoissonsSoissonsSoissons is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France, located on the Aisne River, about northeast of Paris. It is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital of the Suessiones...
, France, led to the collision and derailment of two passenger trains, killing 107 people. At , six carloads of passengers were traveling from Paris to LaonLaonLaon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-History:The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance...
, and after entering the tunnel, ran into a pile of rock and concrete. Minutes later, as survivors lay in the wreckage, a second train came into the tunnel, from the opposite direction, with its own three carloads of passengers, colliding with the rubble and the first train. There were 90 persons who survived their injuries.
June 17, 1972 (Saturday)
- At around 2:30 in the morning, five men-- James W. McCord, Jr.James W. McCord, Jr.James Walter McCord, Jr. is a former CIA agent, later involved, as an electronics expert, in the Watergate burglaries .-Career:...
, Bernard BarkerBernard BarkerBernard Leon Barker , known as "Macho" or by his mother's maiden name, "Terry", was a Watergate burglar, and burglar of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office....
, Eugenio MartínezEugenio MartínezEugenio Rolando Martinez was a member of the anti-Castro movement in the early 1960s, and later was one of the five men recruited by G. Gordon Liddy and E. Howard Hunt in 1972 for the Memorial Day weekend Watergate first break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C...
, Frank SturgisFrank SturgisFrank Anthony Sturgis , born Frank Angelo Fiorini, was one of the Watergate burglars.-Early Life and Military Service:...
and Virgilio González-- were arrested at Democratic National Committee headquarters on the sixth floor of the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C., by city police. Sergeant Paul Leeper, and plainclothes officers John Barret and Carl Shollfer, had arrived after being called by security guard Frank WillsFrank WillsFrank Wills was the security guard who alerted police to a possible break-in at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., which eventually led to the uncovering of the truth about the Watergate Scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.Frank Wills was born in North Augusta,...
. The attempt by President Nixon, to prevent the FBI from investigating the break-in, would unravel his presidency. - Born: Iztok ČopIztok CopIztok Čop is a Slovenian rower and Olympic gold medallist.Iztok started rowing at the age of 13 in Bled, where Slovenia's best rowing club is located....
, Slovenian rower, in KranjKranj' is the third largest municipality and fourth largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 54,500 . It is located approximately 20 km north-west of Ljubljana...
, YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
June 18, 1972 (Sunday)
- In the worst air disaster in Britain up to that time, all 118 persons aboard British European Airways Flight 548British European Airways Flight 548British European Airways Flight 548 was a Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C airliner, registration G-ARPI, operating as a British European Airways scheduled commercial passenger flight from London Heathrow Airport to Brussels, Belgium...
were killed when the Trident jetliner crashed at , shortly after takeoff from Heathrow. - The first Libertarian PartyLibertarian Party (United States)The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
convention closed in Denver, with the 100 delegates nominating Professor John HospersJohn HospersJohn Hospers was an American philosopher. In 1972 he was the first presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party, and the only minor party candidate to receive an electoral vote in the 1972 U.S. Presidential election....
as President, and Theodora Nathalia NathanTheodora Nathalia NathanTheodora Nathalia "Tonie" Nathan is the first woman to have received an electoral vote in a United States presidential election...
as his running mate. The Hospers-Nathan third party ticket would receive one electoral vote, from Nixon elector Roger MacBrideRoger MacBrideRoger Lea MacBride was an American lawyer, political figure, and television producer. He was the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1976 election....
of Virginia.
June 19, 1972 (Monday)
- Bringing an end to an era of secret wiretapping by the U.S. Justice Department, the Supreme Court of the United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
ruled, 8–0, in United States v. U.S. District CourtUnited States v. U.S. District CourtUnited States v. U.S. District Court, 407 U.S. 297 , also known as the Keith case, was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision that upheld, in a unanimous 8-0 ruling, the requirements of the Fourth Amendment in cases of domestic surveillance targeting a domestic threat.-The case:The United...
(407 U.S. 297), that the American government did not have the authority to spy, without a warrant, upon private citizens within the United States. On the same day, the Supreme Court upheld professional baseball's antitrust law exemption, in Flood v. KuhnFlood v. KuhnFlood v. Kuhn was a 1972 United States Supreme Court decision upholding, by a 5–3 margin, the antitrust exemption first granted to Major League Baseball in Federal Baseball Club v. National League. It arose from a challenge by St. Louis Cardinals' outfielder Curt Flood when he refused to be...
. - Airline pilots launched a worldwide 24-hour strike to protest hijacking, but only three U.S. carriers were grounded and one of those resumed flights at midmorning.
- Born: Brian McBrideBrian McBrideBrian Robert McBride is a retired American soccer player who finished his career for Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer , but spent the majority of his time in MLS playing for the Columbus Crew. For much of his career he played in Europe, notably for Fulham in the English Premier League...
, U.S. soccer player, in Arlington Heights, IllinoisArlington Heights, IllinoisArlington Heights is a village in Cook and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about 25 miles northwest of the city's downtown. The population was 75,101 at the 2010 census....
; and 0Poppy MontgomeryPoppy MontgomeryPoppy Montgomery , is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Samantha Spade on Without a Trace...
, Australian actress (Without A Trace), in SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
June 20, 1972 (Tuesday)
- From 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 pm, on their first day back at the White House after the Watergate break-in, President Nixon and Chief of Staff Haldeman met at the Oval Office. When the tape recording of their conversation was subpoenaed later by a special prosecutor, it was found that 18½ minutes of the tape had been erased.
- The Tallahatchie BridgeTallahatchie RiverThe Tallahatchie River flows from Tippah County, Mississippi to Leflore County, Mississippi, where it joins the Yalobusha River to form the Yazoo River.-History:Tallahatchie is a Choctaw name meaning "rock of waters"....
mentioned in Billie Gentry's "Ode to Billie JoeOde to Billie Joe"Ode to Billie Joe" is a 1967 song written and recorded by Bobbie Gentry , a singer-songwriter from Chickasaw County, Mississippi. The single, released in late July, was a number-one hit in the United States, and became a big international seller. The song is ranked #412 on Rolling Stones list of...
" collapsed. - Died: Howard JohnsonHoward Deering JohnsonHoward Deering Johnson was an entrepreneur, businessman, and the founder of an American chain of restaurants and motels under one company of the same name, Howard Johnson's.-Early life:...
, 75, founder of Howard Johnson'sHoward Johnson'sHoward Johnson's is a chain of hotels and restaurants, located primarily throughout the United States and Canada. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Howard Johnson's was the largest restaurant chain in the United States, with over 1,000 restaurants...
hotel chain
June 21, 1972 (Wednesday)
- The world record for highest altitude in a helicopter ( or ) was set by Jean Boulet in an Aerospatiale SA-315 Lama. Boulet said that "that flight also wound up being the longest autoration in history because the turbine died as soon as I reduced power."
- Born: Irene van DykIrene van DykIrene van Dyk, MNZM is one of the world's best-known netball players and the most capped player of all time....
, South African netballNetballNetball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
star, most capped player of all time, in Vereeniging
June 22, 1972 (Thursday)
- MCIMCI CommunicationsMCI Communications Corp. was an American telecommunications company that was instrumental in legal and regulatory changes that led to the breakup of the AT&T monopoly of American telephony and ushered in the competitive long-distance telephone industry. It was headquartered in Washington,...
(Microwave Communications, Inc.), which would successfully fight the monopoly held by AT&TAT&TAT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
on American telephone service, went public, offering 40 percent of its shares for sale at ten dollars per share. The offering sold out immediately, and MCI's valuation was over $120,000,000. - The 1,000,000th Ford Thunderbird was produced, rolling off of an assembly line in Los Angeles. The car was first produced in 1955.
- Died: Vladimir DurkovićVladimir DurkovicVladimir Durković was a Serbian football defender who was very successful in both clubs and Yugoslav national team....
, 34, footballer (Yugoslavian national team), shot by police
June 23, 1972 (Friday)
- U.S. President Richard NixonRichard NixonRichard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
and his Chief of Staff, H. R. HaldemanH. R. HaldemanHarry Robbins "Bob" Haldeman was an American political aide and businessman, best known for his service as White House Chief of Staff to President Richard Nixon and for his role in events leading to the Watergate burglaries and the Watergate scandal – for which he was found guilty of conspiracy...
, had three conversations, where the President directed that the FBI should be told to stop further investigation of the Watergate burglary. All Oval Office conversations were recorded by a voice-activated system, and when the transcript of the "smoking gun" tape was released on August 5, 1974, Nixon would resign at the end of the week. - The Omnibus Education Bill, providing, for the first time, direct federal aid to private and public colleges and universities, was signed into law by President Nixon. Title IX of the law said in part, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance". Those words fueled the growth of women's college sports, as the schools had to provide athletic programs for women as well as for men. As federal school funding expanded, so did opportunities for girls at the primary and secondary school level.
- Hurricane AgnesHurricane AgnesHurricane Agnes was the first tropical storm and first hurricane of the 1972 Atlantic hurricane season. A rare June hurricane, it made landfall on the Florida Panhandle before moving northeastward and ravaging the Mid-Atlantic region as a tropical storm...
had been downgraded to a tropical storm after reaching Florida on June 19, but combined with existing storm systems in the northeast U.S. to produce record-breaking rainfalls and floods. Ultimately, 118 people died, and 370,000 were left homeless. Five states—New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Florida—were declared disaster areas. - Born: Zinedine ZidaneZinedine ZidaneZinedine Yazid Zidane is a retired French footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Zidane was a leading figure of a generation of French players that won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship...
, French footballer, in MarseilleMarseilleMarseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
June 24, 1972 (Saturday)
- Helen ReddyHelen ReddyHelen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
's song I Am WomanI Am Woman"I Am Woman" is a song cowritten by Helen Reddy and singer/songwriter/guitarist Ray Burton and performed by Reddy. Released in its most well-known version in 1970, the song became an enduring anthem for the women’s liberation movement.-Success:...
entered the Billboard Top 100 at No. 99, but dropped back out after three weeks. In September, it re-entered at No. 87, then made a gradual climb, hitting No. 1 on December 9. - SkyjackerAircraft hijackingAircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
Martin Joseph McNally hijacked American AirlinesAmerican AirlinesAmerican Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
Flight 119 as it flew from St. LouisSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
to TulsaTulsa, OklahomaTulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
. At St. Louis, he received a suitcase with $502,200 ransom money and parachutes, but the jetliner was rammed by a car that crashed through an airport fence and raced down the runway. Moving to another plane, he then made plans to bail out with the suitcase, but needed instructions on how to parachute safely. The $502,200 suitcase was swept out of McNally's hands by the airstream left by the jet. Having lost his money, McNally safely reached the ground, and was arrested near Detroit on June 28.
June 25, 1972 (Sunday)
- Guerrillas in the Armed Commanders of Guerrero began ambushes of the Mexican Army, killing ten soldiers and wounding two others.
- Died: Jan MatulkaJan MatulkaJan Matulka was a Czech-American modern artist originally from Bohemia. Matulka's style would range from Abstract expressionism to landscapes, sometimes in the same day.-Early life:...
, 81, American painter
June 26, 1972 (Monday)
- EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
started a new era as an exporter of petroleum, as the first oil began flowing from the fields of Sucumbíos ProvinceSucumbíos ProvinceSucumbíos is a province in northeast Ecuador. The capital and largest city is Nueva Loja . It is the fifth largest province in the country, with an area of 18,009 km²...
, through the 312 mile Trans-Ecuadorean Pipe Line, to the port of BalaoBalaoBalao is a town located in southern Guayas, Ecuador, near Azuay and El Oro provinces. It is the seat of Balao Canton, created in 1987.As of the census of 2001, there are 17,262 people residing within canton limits. The city is communicated with Guayaquil and Machala. It has an airstrip.The city and...
. - Boxer Roberto DuránRoberto DuránRoberto Durán Samaniego is a retired professional boxer from Panama, widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. A versatile brawler in the ring, he was nicknamed "Manos de Piedra" during his career....
defeated WBA lightweight champion Ken Buchanan in a fight at New York's Madison Square Garden, beginning a 17 year reign in boxing at the levels of lightweight (1972–79), welterweight (1980), junior middleweight (1983) and middleweight (1989). - The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle jet fighter was introduced, at the McDonnell DouglasMcDonnell DouglasMcDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...
factory in St. LouisSt. Louis, MissouriSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
.
June 27, 1972 (Tuesday)
- Nolan BushnellNolan BushnellNolan K. Bushnell is an American engineer and entrepreneur who founded both Atari, Inc and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza-Time Theaters chain...
and Ted DabneyAtariAtari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
incorporated AtariAtariAtari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
in California, to mass produce video game machines. Their first choice of name, "Syzygy", was already in use by a candlemaker in Mendocino, so the entrepreneurs used a term from Japanese gaming. - William Reagan Johnson became the first openly gay minister of a major American denomination, as the United Church of ChristUnited Church of ChristThe United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
ordained hij. - The new World Hockey AssociationWorld Hockey AssociationThe World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
scored a coup with the signing of Bobby HullBobby HullRobert Marvin "Bobby" Hull, OC is a former Canadian ice hockey player. He is regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time and perhaps the greatest left winger to ever play the game. Hull was famous for his blonde hair, blinding skating speed, and having the hardest shot, earning...
to a contract that made him, at the time, the highest paid athlete in North America. Hull, longtime star of the National Hockey LeagueNational Hockey LeagueThe National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
and the Chicago BlackhawksChicago BlackhawksThe Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
, jumped to the new Winnipeg Jets.
June 28, 1972 (Wednesday)
- The Simla Summit took place at SimlaShimlaShimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
, capital of India's Himachal PradeshHimachal PradeshHimachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
, as two enemy nations worked to resolve future disagreements without war. India's Prime Minister Indira GandhiIndira GandhiIndira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
hosted Pakistan's President Zulfikar Ali BhuttoZulfikar Ali BhuttoZulfikar Ali Bhutto was 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and prior to that, 4th President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973. Bhutto was the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party — the largest and most influential political party in Pakistan— and served as its chairman until his...
for five days.
June 29, 1972 (Thursday)
- The landmark case of Furman v. GeorgiaFurman v. GeorgiaFurman v. Georgia, was a United States Supreme Court decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was...
, on the unconstitutionality of all existing American state laws permitting the execution of prisoners, was decided by the Supreme Court of the United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
. Chief Justice Warren E. BurgerWarren E. BurgerWarren Earl Burger was the 15th Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Although Burger had conservative leanings, the U.S...
, along with Justices William RehnquistWilliam RehnquistWilliam Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer, jurist, and political figure who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States...
, Harry BlackmunHarry BlackmunHarold Andrew Blackmun was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 until 1994. He is best known as the author of Roe v. Wade.- Early years and professional career :...
and Lewis F. Powell, Jr., voted to sustain the death penalty, and Justices William J. Brennan, Jr.William J. Brennan, Jr.William Joseph Brennan, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1956 to 1990...
, Thurgood MarshallThurgood MarshallThurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
, William O. DouglasWilliam O. DouglasWilliam Orville Douglas was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court...
and Potter StewartPotter StewartPotter Stewart was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. During his tenure, he made, among other areas, major contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.-Education:Stewart was born in Jackson, Michigan,...
voted to declare the laws unconstitutional. The 4–4 tie was broken by the last of the justices to weigh in, Byron WhiteByron WhiteByron Raymond "Whizzer" White won fame both as a football halfback and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed to the court by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, he served until his retirement in 1993...
, who surprised observers by agreeing that the laws violated guarantees against cruel and unusual punishment. All 629 American prisoners on death row were spared by the ruling, including William Henry FurmanWilliam Henry FurmanWilliam Henry Furman is an American convicted felon who was the central figure in Furman v. Georgia, the case in which the United States Supreme Court outlawed most uses of the death penalty in the United States...
, who would be paroled in 1984. No person had been executed in America since June 2, 1967, when Luis MongeLuis MongeLuis José Monge was a convicted murderer who was executed in the gas chamber at Colorado State Penitentiary in 1967. Monge was the last inmate to be executed before an unofficial moratorium on executions began in the United States in 1972.- Murders :Monge, a Denver salesman, was a native of...
died in the gas chamber in Colorado. In Utah, Gary GilmoreGary GilmoreGary Mark Gilmore was an American criminal, and murderer, who gained international notoriety for demanding that his own death sentence be fulfilled following two murders he committed in Utah. He became the first person executed in the United States after the U.S...
became the first American prisoner to be executed (January 17, 1977) after individual states passed new laws to comply with the Furman guidelines. - Born: Samantha SmithSamantha SmithSamantha Reed Smith was an American schoolgirl and child actress from Manchester, Maine, who became famous in the Cold War-era United States and Soviet Union...
, American child peace activist, in Houlton, MaineHoulton, MaineHoulton is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, on the United States – Canada border, located at . As of the 2010 census, the town population was 6,123. It is perhaps best known as being at the northern terminus of Interstate 95 and for being the birthplace of Samantha Smith...
; killed in plane crash, 1985; and Nawal Al Zoghbi, Lebanese singer, in ByblosByblosByblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic name of Jubayl and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades...
June 30, 1972 (Friday)
- For the first time, a leap secondLeap secondA leap second is a positive or negative one-second adjustment to the Coordinated Universal Time time scale that keeps it close to mean solar time. UTC, which is used as the basis for official time-of-day radio broadcasts for civil time, is maintained using extremely precise atomic clocks...
was observed. The National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado, stopped the clock at 23:59:59 GMT ( local time), adding 23:59:60 before moving over to 0h 0m 0s. - Forward Pass won the 1968 Kentucky DerbyKentucky DerbyThe Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
, more than four years after the horse race had been run, when Kentucky's highest court denied a petition for a rehearing of its April 28 decision. Dancer's ImageDancer's ImageDancer's Image was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is the only winner in the history of the Kentucky Derby to have been disqualified. Owned and bred by businessman Peter Fuller, the son of former Massachusetts Governor Alvan T. Fuller, the colt was trained by Lou Cavalaris, Jr...
had finished first on May 4, 1968, but was then disqualified, for the drug Butazolidin, by Churchill Downs. The decision upheld by the state racing commission, reversed by a circuit court in 1970, then restored by the Court of Appeals. The Derby purse of $122,600 was then released to the owners of the horse that crossed the line second, Forward Pass.