WHAT ALL HAPPENED JUNE TO DECEMBER 1972
Find out what all happened June to December 1972

Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th. (18. December 1972)

Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham, Alabama is hijacked and, at one point, is threatened with crashing into the nuclear installation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After two days, the plane lands in Havana, Cuba, where the hijackers are jailed by Fidel Castro. (10. November 1972)

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes mountains, near the border between Argentina and Chile. By December 23, 1972, only 16 out of 45 people lived long enough to be rescued. (13. October 1972)

The United States Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. (3. August 1972)

The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system has its opening day of passenger service. (11. September 1972)

Roberto Clemente records the 3,000th and final hit of his career. (30. September 1972)

The Soviet Union makes its final attempt at successfully launching the N-1 rocket. (23. November 1972)

Watergate scandal: five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition. (17. June 1972)

In a referendum, the people of Norway reject membership of the European Community. (25. September 1972)

An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 crashes outside Moscow killing 174. (13. October 1972)

The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts. (11. July 1972)

Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission. (14. December 1972)

HBO launches its programming, with the broadcast of the 1971 movie Sometimes a Great Notion, starring Paul Newman and Henry Fonda. (8. November 1972)

Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth. (19. December 1972)

Vietnam War: Vietnamization – The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam. (11. November 1972)

Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies. (22. August 1972)

Vietnam War: As part of Operation Linebacker II, 120 American B-52 Stratofortress bombers attacked Hanoi, including 78 launched from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the largest single combat launch in Strategic Air Command history. (26. December 1972)

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000. (23. December 1972)

Watergate scandal: An 18½-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex. (20. June 1972)

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos signs Proclamation № 1081, placing the entire country under martial law and marking the beginning of his authoritarian rule. (21. September 1972)