What happened in 1972? - USA
Project Apollo Archive, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
We look at events, films and music from 1972 in the USA.
In the news
- January 1972 - Ms magazine was launched.
- February 1972 - President Nixon visited the People's Republic of China and shook hands with Chairman Mao.
- March 1972 - The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was approved by the US Senate.
- May 1972 - President Nixon visited Moscow for a summit with the Soviet Premier General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. The two leaders finalized the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT 1).
- May 15 1972 - George Wallace, who stood as an independent candidate in the 1968 presidential election, was shot and severely wounded. It put him out of the 1972 election. Wallace was known for his pro-segregation views.
- June 1972 - Five men were arrested after a bungled break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in the Watergate Building, Washington DC. Washington Post journalists Woodward and Bernstein started their investigation that helped uncover Nixon's involvement.
- July 1972 - Shirley Chisholm was the first African-American to run for President when she tried to win the Democratic Party Nomination. She was the first woman to run for the Democratic Party nomination, but one hundred years earlier Victoria Woodhull campaigned to be President for the Equal Rights Party.
- August-September 1972 - Swimmer Mark Spitz set a new world record by winning seven gold medals at the Munich Olympics.
- September 1972 - Munich Olympics Massacre - eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were killed after being taken hostage by the terrorist group Black September.
- November 1972 - President Richard Nixon was re-elected. His opponent George McGovern blamed Nixon for the beak-in on June 17 1972. It did not stop Nixon from winning the election by a huge margin.
- December 1972 - Apollo 17 was the last mission to the moon in the Apollo programme. Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were the last humans on the lunar surface.
Series: Nixon White House Photographs, 1/20/1969 - 8/9/1974 Collection: White House Photo Office Collection (Nixon Administration), 1/20/1969 - 8/9/1974, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Facts
- The population of the USA was 209 million in 1972.
- President: Richard Milhous Nixon (Republican).
- Vice President: Spiro Agnew (Republican)
- Senate Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield of Montana (Democrat).
- House of Representatives Majority Leader: Hale Boggs (Democrat).
- Median family income in 1972 was $11,549.
- Smoking: in 1971 Americans smoked 529 billion cigarettes. 3,473 for every adult at a cost of $11.5 billion [1].
- The best-selling cigarette was Winston made by R J Reynolds [1].
- Automobiles: 56,000 people died and nearly five million were injured in road accidents in 1972.
- Six million US households subscribed to cable television channels in 1972 - 10% of the population. More than 96% had a television.
- 92% of US households had a telephone in 1972.
- Pan Am offered a 'psychic' tour of Britain, including a visit to Stonehenge with the Chief Druid[].
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States 1973 or 1974, except where another reference is given
Films
Sipuede7, CC BY-SA 4.0 Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)
The top twenty grossing films released in 1972 were:
- The Godfather
- The Poseidon Adventure
- What's Up, Doc?
- Deliverance
- Jeremiah Johnson
- Cabaret
- Deep Throat
- The Getaway
- Lady Sings the Blues
- Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
- Sounder
- The Valachi Papers
- The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
- The Cowboys
- Pete 'n' Tillie
- The New Centurions
- Snowball Express
- Skyjacked
- Superfly
- Frenzy
Source: Box office report - retrieved from Wayback Machine
Television
The top-rated TV shows of the 1972 to 1973 season were:
- All in the Family
- Sanford and Son
- Hawaii Five-O
- Maude
- Bridget Loves Bernie
- The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show
- Gunsmoke
- The Wonderful World of Disney
- Ironside
Source: US TV Nielsen Ratings 1972-1973
Other notable shows that started in 1972 included:
- M*A*S*H - it was about the Korean War not the Vietnam War
- Streets of San Francisco - crime drama
- The Waltons
The largest TV audience for any program in 1972 was for the Super Bowl VI.
'Year by Year in the Rock Era' by Herb Hendler, published by Greenwood Press, 1983
TV facts
- Six million US households subscribed to cable television channels in 1972 - 10% of the population.
- There were 690 TV stations broadcasting in the US in 1972
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States 1973 or 1974
Music
The best-selling pop records of 1972 in the USA were:
- The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
- Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O'Sullivan
- American Pie - Parts I & II - Don MacLean
- Without You - Nilsson
- I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash
- A Horse With No Name - America
- Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me - Mac Davis
- Me And Mrs Jones - Billy Paul
- The Candy Man - Sammy Davis Jr
- Lean On Me - Bill Withers
Source: USA Top 1000 Singles compiled by Joe Whitburn, published by Guinness in 1986
Music facts
- 1950s' acts were discovered again by a new generation. Bill Haley and Fats Domino earned over $400,000 from their 1950s' hits
- Radio stations started playing "Golden Oldies" from the 1950s
- Simon and Garfunkel split up in 1972
- Grease (the musical) opened in New York
- Two large rock festival took place in 1972: Pocono, Pennsylvania and Evansville, Illinois
- Three Dog Night were paid $125,000 to appear at Pocono
Sport
Baseball: The Oakland Athletics beat the Cincinnati Reds to win the 1972 World Series.
American Football: The Dallas Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins to win the sixth Super Bowl on January 16 1972.
Boxing: Joe Frazier defended WBC and WBA World Heavyweight titles in 1972 defeating Terry Daniels and Ron Stander
Golf: Jack Nicklaus won the US Open in 1972.
Horse racing: Riva Ridge won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes in 1972.
Source: Encyclopedia Year Book 1972, published by Grolier
Fashion news
- Levis were guaranteed to shrink, wrinkle and fade according to their advertising
- Tee-shirt dresses were fashionable
- Men and women were still wearing bell-bottoms
- Denim overalls were fashionable for young men
- Monokinis (topless swimsuits) worn women on California and Florida beaches
- Bow ties popular with men
'Year by Year in the Rock Era' by Herb Hendler, published by Greenwood Press, 1983
Products
- Urethane wheels replaced steel and clay on skateboards[2]
- New electronic arcade games became popular, such as the Pong tennis game [2]
- The first LED digital watch, the Pulsar Time Computer, went on sale it cost $2,100 [3]
- Magnavos Odyssey, the first video game for the home, was launched in 1972. It cost $100 [4]
- Polaroid launched the SX70, a folding instant SLR camera [5]
References
[1]'The Guinness Book of Records 1974', published by Guinness Superlatives, page 260
[2] 'Year by Year in the Rock Era' by Herb Hendler, published by Greenwood Press, 1983, page 152
[3] 'Collectable Technology from retro to 21st Century gadgets' by Pepe Tozzo, published by Carlton books, 2005, page 80
[4] 'Collectable Technology from retro to 21st Century gadgets' by Pepe Tozzo, published by Carlton books, 2005, page 113
[5] 'Collectable Technology from retro to 21st Century gadgets' by Pepe Tozzo, published by Carlton books, 2005, page 79
More on 1972
See also
More on the 1970s
By Steven Braggs, August 2021
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