The following events occurred in December 1972:
December 1, 1972 (Friday) India and Pakistan exchanged prisoners of war taken during the 1971 war between the two nations. In all, 542 Pakistanis and 639 Indians were repatriated."Developments in the Subcontinent— The Post-Bangladesh Phase", by Mohammed Ayoob, in Self Reliance and National Resilience (Abhinav Publications, 2003), p18 Died: Antonio Segni, 81, Prime Minister of Italy 1955-1957, 1959-1960; President of Italy, 1962 to 1964"Italy's Segni Dead At Age 81", Baltimore Evening Sun, December 1, 1972, p.A1
December 2, 1972 (Saturday)
In elections in Australia, the Australian Labor Party (ALP), led by Gough Whitlam, won 67 of the 125 seats in the House of Representatives, to take control of the government from the coalition of the Liberal Party (headed by Prime Minister William McMahon) and the Country Party, removing the Liberals from a majority for the first time in 23 years. However, since the election was only for the House of Representatives, the DLP held the balance of power in the Senate. This in effect deprived the incoming Labor Government a Senate majority. Whitlam was sworn in as Prime Minister three days later and introduced dramatic economic, social and political reforms, including withdrawal of troops from Vietnam, freeing imprisoned draft protesters, and setting up ties with China, North Vietnam and East Germany. One of the most spectacular examples of a sinkhole was formed in a matter of hours in Shelby County, Alabama. The "December Giant", also known as the "Golly Hole", sank to a depth of and left a crater. Died: José Limón, 64, Mexican choreographer Ip Man, 79, master of Wing Chun Kung Fu
December 3, 1972 (Sunday) Spantax Flight 275 crashed shortly after takeoff from Tenerife, killing all 155 people on board. Of the 148 passengers, 143 were West German travelers returning to Munich following the end of a South Atlantic Ocean liner cruise."Holiday Jetliner Disaster Kills 155", Oakland Tribune, December 4, 1972, p3 Died: Bill Johnson, 100, American jazz musician
December 4, 1972 (Monday) Ramón Ernesto Cruz, who had been elected President of Honduras in 1971, was overthrown in a coup led by the Army. General Oswaldo López Arellano, who had handed power over to Cruz following the election, returned to office as president. Steven Stayner, age 7, was kidnapped while walking home from school in Merced, California. For more than seven years, Steven would live as "Dennis Parnell" with his kidnapper, Kenneth Parnell, until Parnell kidnapped another child, Timmy White. Stayner would be reunited with his family at age 14 after he and White went to the police in Ukiah, California. The story became a book and a 1988 television movie, with the title I Know My First Name Is Steven.
December 5, 1972 (Tuesday) Screening of all passengers and carry-on luggage would be required in all American airports by January 5, 1973, under emergency regulations announced the United States Department of Transportation. Federal funds would pay for the equipment, and the additional personnel would be paid for by the airlines and airport operators."U.S. Order To Deter Hijacking", Oakland Tribune, December 5, 1972, p1 There had been 29 hijackings in the United States in 1972. In 1973 there were two.Amitai Etzioni, The Spirit of Community: The Reinvention of American Society (Simon & Schuster, 1994), p168 A United States appellate court panel set aside a regulation that would have required airbags in motor vehicles made on or after August 15, 1975."Court Bars Care Airbags Use in 1975", Oakland Tribune, December 5, 1972 A U.S. government spokesman, who asked not to be identified, announced that for the first time in United States history, the fertility rate had dropped below the zero population growth (ZPG) standard of 2.11 births for every woman, from 2.28 in 1971 to 2.04 in 1972."U.S. Births Go Below Zero Rate", Oakland Tribune, December 5, 1972, p1
December 6, 1972 (Wednesday) The United Nations, through UNESCO, voted to fund the restoration of Borobudur, a Buddhist shrine constructed in the 9th century in Indonesia. The work was completed in 1983.UNESCO Report Died: Janet Munro, 38, British actress, died of alcohol-related myocarditis.
December 7, 1972 (Thursday) The last draft call for induction of American adult males into the U.S. Armed Forces was made,"Vietnam Lotteries", U.S. Selective Service System"Draft Boards call numbers 1 to 95", Jersey City (NJ) Journal, December 7, 1972, p.1, p.4"Most 19-Year-Olds Won't Get Draft Calls Next Year", Tulsa (OK) Daily World, December 21, 1972, p.B-5 and no person has been drafted into the U.S. military in more than half a century since then.
Imelda Marcos, First Lady of the Philippines, was slashed repeatedly by a bolo knife–wielding assassin, who attacked her at an awards ceremony at the Nayong Pilipino theme park in Pasay. Mrs. Marcos required 75 stitches."Assassin Tries to Kill Marcos' Wife", Oakland Tribune, December 7, 1972, p1 Apollo 17 was launched from Cape Kennedy at EST after a delay of nearly three hours. Carrying astronauts Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans, Harrison Schmitt, and five mice, the mission was the last crewed trip to the Moon for at least 50 years."Apollo in Fiery Trip To Moon", Oakland Tribune, December 7, 1972, p1, With an orbital trajectory that permitted a fully illuminated view of the entire planet, the crew snapped a famous image of the planet, colloquially called The Blue Marble.Ron Vernon, Beneath Our Feet: The Rocks of Planet Earth (Cambridge University Press, 2000), p8 After three hours, rockets were fired and the three astronauts of Apollo 17 became the last people for over 50 years to go beyond the orbit of the Earth. Born: Hermann Maier, Austrian skier; in Altenmarkt im Pongau Tammy Lynn Sytch, American wrestling personality
December 8, 1972 (Friday) United Airlines Flight 553 Boeing 737 from Washington to Chicago crashed at while attempting to land at Chicago Midway Airport during an ice storm. Killed were 43 of 61 people on board, and two people in a house at 3722 W. 70th Place. The dead included Dorothy Hunt (wife of Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt), CBS News reporter Michelle Clark, and Illinois Congressman George W. Collins. This was the first fatal crash of a Boeing 737."Chicago Jet Toll Grows To 55 Dead", Oakland Tribune, December 9, 1972, p1; "3 area residents reported dead, 4 missing, 7 homes destroyed in crash that killed 45", Southtown Economist (Chicago), December 10, 1972, p1 Florida became the first state, since the June 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Furman v. Georgia, to reinstate capital punishment. Governor Reubin Askew signed the bill into law a week after it had passed both houses of the State Legislature. Dr. Mahmoud Hamshari, the PLO representative in France, was fatally wounded by a bomb, planted near his telephone by agents of Israel's Mossad, in retaliation for his suspected role in the 1972 Munich Massacre. After the explosive had been placed during Hamshari's absence, an agent telephoned him and asked enough questions to confirm his identity. The bomb was then detonated by remote control, possibly by a signal through the telephone line.Ami Pedahzur, The Israeli Secret Services and the Struggle Against Terrorism (Columbia University Press, 2009), p43
December 9, 1972 (Saturday) Pilot Marten Hartwell was rescued in the Canadian Arctic more than a month after he and three other people had crashed near Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories. The plane's disappearance had led to the largest aviation search in Canada's history. Born: Tré Cool (Frank Edwin Wright III), drummer and backup singer for the group Green Day; in Frankfurt, West Germany. Died Louella Parsons, 91, American gossip columnist"Louella Parsons, Gossip Columnist, Dies", The New York Times, December 10, 1972, p.85
December 10, 1972 (Sunday) In Japan's parliamentary election, the Liberal Democratic Party won again, losing 24 seats but retaining 271 of the 491 in the lower house of the Diet."Tanaka Party Retains Japan Rule", Salt Lake Tribune, December 11, 1972, p1 Amnesty International launched its first worldwide Campaign for the Abolition of Torture.Jonathan Power, Like Water on Stone: The Story of Amnesty International (Northeastern University Press, 2001), pp113–114 Richard Fliehr made his professional wrestling debut in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, under the name of Ric Flair.Keith Elliot Greenberg, Pro Wrestling: From Carnivals to Cable TV (LernerSports, 2000) pp61–62 The American League adopted the designated hitter rule, initially on a three-year trial.Russell O. Wright, Dominating the Diamond: The 19 Baseball Teams with the Most Dominant Single Seasons, 1901–2000 (McFarland, 2002), p141 Born: Brian Molko, British-American musician for the band Placebo; in Brussels, Belgium
December 11, 1972 (Monday) People from Earth landed on the Moon for the sixth and last time, as the Apollo 17 lunar module Challenger touched down at 19:54 UTC ( Houston time) at the Taurus–Littrow crater.Eugene Cernan with Don Davis, The Last Man on the Moon: Astronaut Eugene Cernan and America's Race in Space (St. Martin's Griffin, 2000)"Apollo 17 Lands on Moon— 'We Is Here'", Salt Lake Tribune, December 12, 1972, p1 Soviet and Chinese soldiers clashed at the border, with several of the Soviet soldiers being killed.Raymond L. Garthoff, Détente and Confrontation: American-Soviet Relations from Nixon to Reagan (Brookings Institution, 1994), p358 "Don't Buy Farah Day" was declared by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers union, which asked Americans nationwide to boycott the non-union Farah Manufacturing, in protest over low wages and benefits paid by one of the largest clothing makers in the United States. During the course of a strike that lasted from May 1972 to March 1974, Farah's sales dropped by twenty million dollars."Farah Strike (1972–1974)", in Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia (Indiana University Press, 2006) pp249–250 Born: Daniel Alfredsson, Swedish NHL player; in Gothenburg
December 12, 1972 (Tuesday) A boatload with 65 Haitian refugees, mostly black, landed in Florida, the first "boat people" to flee from Haiti to the United States. Landings were sporadic until 1978, when thousands of Haitians, fleeing the Duvalier regime, began seeking sanctuary in the U.S.Felix Masud-Piloto, From Welcomed Exiles to Illegal Immigrants: Cuban Migration to the U.S., 1959–1995 (Rowman & Littlefield, 1996), p115 MCA Inc. unveiled Disco-Vision, a videodisc system to rival RCA's SelectaVision. The picture quality was poor and the system never went on sale.Albert Abramson, The History of Television, 1942 to 2000 (McFarland, 2003), p148 Born: Chris Senn, professional skateboarder; in Grass Valley, California
December 13, 1972 (Wednesday) North Vietnam's negotiators walked out of the Paris Peace Talks. President Nixon issued an ultimatum to the North Vietnamese to return to the talks within 72 hours, or face severe measures. On December 18, the United States began Operation Linebacker II, the most massive aerial bombardment ever made of North Vietnam.Walter J. Boyne, The Influence of Air Power upon History (Pelican 2003), p338 Born: Chris Grant, Australian rules football star; in Daylesford, Victoria
December 14, 1972 (Thursday)