WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO DECEMBER 1972
Find out what all happened February to December 1972

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

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

The United States suffers its first loss of an international basketball game in a disputed match against the Soviet Union at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. (10. September 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)

In Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park, a Cave Research Foundation exploration and mapping team discovers a link between the Mammoth and Flint Ridge cave systems, making it the longest known cave passageway in the world. (9. September 1972)

A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö-Bulltofta Airport. (15. September 1972)

The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets. (2. March 1972)

Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time. (15. February 1972)

Japan Airlines Flight 472, operated Douglas DC-8-53 landed at Juhu Aerodrome instead of Santacruz Airport in Bombay, India. (24. December 1972)

Munich Massacre: 9 Israel athletes taken hostage at the Munich Olympic Games by the Palestinian "Black September" terrorist group died (as did a German policeman) at the hands of the kidnappers during a failed rescue attempt. 2 other Israeli athletes are slain in the initial attack the previous day. (6. September 1972)

The Troubles: A Provisional IRA car bomb kills seven and injures 148 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was the first of many car bomb attacks by the group. (20. March 1972)

United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45. The crash is the first-ever loss of a Boeing 737. (8. 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)

The first leap second is added to the UTC time system. (30. June 1972)

A parcel bomb sent to Israeli Embassy in London kills one diplomat. (19. September 1972)

Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. (16. April 1972)

Vietnam War: Easter Offensive – American forces begin sustained air strikes and naval bombardments. (6. April 1972)

First edition of the BBC comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue is broadcast, one of the longest running British radio shows in history. (11. April 1972)

The Thai province of Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani province. (1. March 1972)

Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers in Shandong. (10. April 1972)