| 1972-05-15
In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while he is campaigning to be become President.
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| 1972-07-24
Bugojno group is caught by Yugoslav security forces.
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| 1972-09-01
In Reykjavík, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beats Russian Boris Spassky and becomes the world chess champion.
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| 1972-05-30
In Tel Aviv members of the Japanese Red Army carry out the Lod Airport Massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.
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| 1972-03-30
Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.
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| 1972-01-10
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returns to the newly independent Bangladesh as president after spending over nine months in prison in Pakistan.
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| 1972-12-16
Vietnam War: Henry Kissinger announces that North Vietnam has left private peace negotiations, in Paris.
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| 1972-02-02
The British embassy in Dublin is destroyed in protest at Bloody Sunday.
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| 1972-01-13
Prime Minister Kofi Busia and President Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana are ousted in a bloodless military coup by Col. Ignatius Kutu Acheamphong.
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| 1972-02-21
President Richard Nixon visits the People's Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.
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| 1972-10-30
A collision between two commuter trains in Chicago, Illinois kills 45 and injures 332.
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| 1972-07-31
Northeast Airlines flies its last flight before being integrated into Delta Air Lines the next day.
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| 1972-06-30
The first leap second is added to the UTC time system.
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| 1972-04-16
Apollo program: The launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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| 1972-08-03
The United States Senate ratifies the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
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| 1972-07-01
The first Gay Pride march in England takes place.
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| 1972-02-01
Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
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| 1972-07-21
Bloody Friday bombings by the Provisional IRA around Belfast, Northern Ireland – 22 bombs are detonated, killing 9 and seriously injuring 130.
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| 1972-12-18
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.
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| 1972-09-05
Munich Massacre: A Palestinian terrorist group called "Black September" attack and take hostage 11 Israel athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. 2 die in the attack and 9 die the following day.
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| 1972-04-06
Vietnam War: Easter Offensive – American forces begin sustained air strikes and naval bombardments.
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| 1972-02-21
The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
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| 1972-06-29
The U.S. Supreme Court rules the death penalty could constitute "cruel and unusual punishment".
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| 1972-12-11
Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and last Apollo mission to land on the Moon.
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| 1972-02-18
The California Supreme Court in the case of People v. Anderson, 6 Cal.3d 628 invalidates the state's death penalty and commutes the sentences of all death row inmates to life imprisonment.
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| 1972-06-17
Watergate scandal: five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee, in an attempt by some members of the Republican party to illegally wiretap the opposition.
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| 1972-04-13
The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.
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| 1972-03-03
Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashes as a result of a control malfunction and insufficient training in emergency procedures.
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| 1972-06-23
45 countries leave the Sterling Area allowing their currencies to fluctuate independently of the British Pound.
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| 1972-01-11
East Pakistan renames itself Bangladesh.
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| 1972-05-06
Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan are executed in Ankara for attempting to overthrow the Constitutional order.
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| 1972-12-23
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000.
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| 1972-11-28
Last executions in Paris, of the Clairvaux Mutineers, Roger Bontems and Claude Buffet, guillotined at La Sante Prison. (Bontems had been found innocent of murder by the court, but as Buffet's accomplice is condemned to death anyway.) The chief executioner is Andre Obrecht.
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| 1972-05-04
The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation".
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| 1972-02-26
The Buffalo Creek Flood caused by a burst dam kills 125 in West Virginia.
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| 1972-07-11
The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky starts.
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| 1972-09-30
Roberto Clemente records his 3,000th and final hit and final hit of his career.
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| 1972-09-19
A parcel bomb sent to Israeli Embassy in London kills one diplomat.
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| 1972-02-05
Bob Douglas becomes the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
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| 1972-07-31
Operation Motorman: British troops move into the no-go areas of Belfast and Derry, Northern Ireland. End of Free Derry.
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| 1972-01-30
Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.
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| 1972-07-31
Three car bombs are detonated in Claudy, Northern Ireland, killing nine in what is believed to be a Provisional Irish Republican Army attack.
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| 1972-06-16
The largest single-site hydro-electric power project in Canada starts at Churchill Falls, Labrador.
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| 1972-03-14
Italian publisher and former partisan Giangiacomo Feltrinelli is killed by an explosion near Segrate.
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| 1972-11-10
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.
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| 1972-12-14
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. This is the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th century.
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| 1972-01-07
Iberia Airlines Caravelle 6-R crashes into Mont San Jose on approach to Ibiza Airport killing all 104 on board.
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| 1972-08-22
Rhodesia is expelled by the IOC for its racist policies.
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| 1972-05-08
Vietnam War – U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announces his order to place mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.
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| 1972-05-21
Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal, the mentally disturbed Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth.
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| 1972-12-30
Vietnam War: The United States halts heavy bombing of North Vietnam.
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| 1972-04-20
Apollo 16 landed on the moon commanded by John Young.
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| 1972-12-07
Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, is launched. The crew takes the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they leave the Earth.
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| 1972-12-19
Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
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| 1972-11-11
Vietnam War: Vietnamization – The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.
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| 1972-12-23
The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism.
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| 1972-06-16
Red Army Faction member Ulrike Meinhof is captured by police in Langenhagen.
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| 1972-05-02
In the early morning hours a fire broke out at the Sunshine mine located between Kellogg and Wallace, ID, killing 91 workers.
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| 1972-02-29
Hank Aaron becomes the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to sign a $200,000 contract.
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| 1972-09-21
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos signs Proclamation No. 1081 placing the entire country under martial law.
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| 1972-05-15
The island of Okinawa, under U.S. military governance since its conquest in 1945, reverts to Japanese control.
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| 1972-05-13
Faulty electrical wiring ignites a fire underneath the Playtown Cabaret in Osaka, Japan. Blocked exits and non-functional elevators lead to 118 fatalities, with many victims leaping to their deaths.
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| 1972-02-22
The Official Irish Republican Army detonates a car bomb at Aldershot barracks, killing seven and injuring nineteen others.
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| 1972-01-24
Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
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| 1972-09-15
A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö-Bulltofta Airport.
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| 1972-12-29
An Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 (a Lockheed Tristar) crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
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| 1972-10-12
En route to the Gulf of Tonkin, a racial brawl involving more than 100 sailors breaks out aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk
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| 1972-12-13
Apollo program: Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) or "Moonwalk" of Apollo 17. This is the last manned mission to the moon of the 20th century.
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| 1972-10-13
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.
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| 1972-09-04
Mark Spitz becomes the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games.
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| 1972-01-30
Bloody Sunday: British Paratroopers kill fourteen unarmed civil rights/anti internment marchers in Northern Ireland.
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| 1972-08-14
An East German Ilyushin Il-62 crashes during takeoff from East Berlin, killing 156.
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| 1972-05-30
The Angry Brigade goes on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout Britain.
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| 1972-04-10
Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
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| 1972-05-22
Ceylon adopts a new constitution, thus becoming a Republic, changes its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
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| 1972-04-10
20 days after he is kidnapped in Buenos Aires, Oberdan Sallustro is executed by communist guerrillas.
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| 1972-08-16
The Royal Moroccan Air Force fires upon, in an unsuccessful coup d'état attempt, Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
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| 1972-10-13
An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 crashed outside Moscow killing 176.
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| 1972-03-24
The United Kingdom imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland.
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| 1972-07-23
The United States launch Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.
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| 1972-09-23
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos announces over television and radio the implementation of martial law.
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| 1972-05-26
The United States and the Soviet Union sign the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
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| 1972-11-30
Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.
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| 1972-06-11
The Eltham Well Hall rail crash, caused by an intoxicated train driver, kills six people and injures 126.
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| 1972-03-02
The Pioneer 10 space probe is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with a mission to explore the outer planets.
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| 1972-02-28
Sino-American relations: The United States and People's Republic of China sign the Shanghai Communiqué.
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| 1972-02-19
The Asama-Sansō hostage standoff begins in Japan.
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| 1972-02-17
Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model-T.
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| 1972-10-11
A race riot occurs on the United States Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk off the coast of Vietnam during Operation Linebacker.
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| 1972-02-29
Vietnam War: Vietnamization – South Korea withdraws 11,000 of its 48,000 troops from Vietnam.
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| 1972-10-25
The Washington Post reports that White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman is the fifth person to control a secret cash fund designed to finance illegal political sabotage and espionage during the 1972 presidential election campaign (see also Watergate scandal).
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| 1972-04-02
Vietnam War: The Easter Offensive begins – North Vietnamese soldiers of the 304th Division take the northern half of Quang Tri Province.
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| 1972-01-04
Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London.
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| 1972-09-25
In a referendum, the people of Norway reject membership of the European Community.
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| 1972-09-06
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.
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| 1972-08-11
Vietnam War: the last United States ground combat unit departs South Vietnam.
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| 1972-02-15
Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.
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| 1972-04-02
Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.
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| 1972-04-22
Vietnam War: Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
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| 1972-12-08
United Airlines Flight 553 crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45.
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| 1972-11-29
Nolan Bushnell (co-founder of Atari) releases Pong (the first commercially successful video game) in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California.
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| 1972-10-22
Vietnam War: In Saigon, Henry Kissinger and South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu meet to discuss a proposed cease-fire that had been worked out between Americans and North Vietnamese in Paris.
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| 1972-06-18
Staines air disaster – 118 are killed when a plane crashes two minutes after take off from London Heathrow Airport.
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| 1972-03-01
The Thai province of Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani province.
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| 1972-05-26
Willandra National Park is established in Australia.
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| 1972-12-02
Gough Whitlam becomes the first Labor Prime Minister of Australia for 23 years.
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| 1972-09-10
The United States suffers its first loss of an international basketball game in a disputed match against the Soviet Union at Munich, Germany.
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| 1972-09-29
Sino-Japanese relations: Japan establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China.
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| 1972-04-25
Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
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| 1972-03-19
India and Bangladesh sign a friendship treaty.
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| 1972-01-05
U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.
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| 1972-06-23
Watergate Scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into the Watergate break-ins.
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| 1972-09-18
First Ugandans expelled by Idi Amin arrive in the United Kingdom.
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