World Events

• President Nixon makes unprecedented eight-day visit to Communist China and meets with Mao Zedong (Feb. 17).
  
  
• Britain takes over direct rule of Northern Ireland in bid for peace (March 24).
  
  
• Eleven Israeli athletes at Olympic Games in Munich are killed after eight members of an Arab terrorist group invades Olympic Village; five guerrillas and one policeman are also killed (Sept. 5).
  
  
• Nixon orders "Christmas bombing" of North Vietnam (Dec.). Background: Vietnam War
  
  

U.S. Events

• Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama is shot by Arthur H. Bremer at Laurel, Md., political rally (May 15).
  
  
• Five men are apprehended by police in attempt to bug Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C.’s Watergate complex—start of the Watergate scandal (June 17).
  
  
• US Supreme Court rules that death penalty is unconstitutional (June 29).
  
  

Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $1,237.30 billion
Federal spending:   $230.68 billion
Federal debt:   $435.9 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $9,697
Consumer Price Index:   41.8
Unemployment:   5.9%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.08

Sports

Super Bowl

Dallas d. Miami (24-3)

World Series

Oakland A's d. Cincinnati (4-3)

NBA Championship

LA Lakers d. New York (4-1)

Stanley Cup

Boston d. NY Rangers (4-2)

Wimbledon

Women: Billie Jean King d. E. Goolagong (6-3 6-3)
Men: Stan Smith d. I. Nastase (4-6 6-3 6-3 4-6 7-5)

Kentucky Derby Champion

Riva Ridge

NCAA Basketball Championship

UCLA d. Florida St. (81-76)

NCAA Football Champions

USC (12-0-0)

1972 Summer Olympics

1972 Winter Olympics

Entertainment

Events

• Time Inc. transmits HBO, the first pay cable network.
• Women dominate the 1971 Grammy Awards, taking all four top categories. Carole King won Record, Album and Song of the Year, while Carly Simon takes the Best New Artist award.
• The National Institute of Mental Health and the surgeon general issue a report that claims exposure to violence on television fosters aggression in children.
• Gloria Steinem's Ms magazine debuts.
• M*A*S*H premieres on CBS.
• Atari introduces the arcade version of Pong, the first video game. The home version comes out in 1974.

Movies

• The Godfather, Deliverance, Cabaret, Sleuth, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

Books

• John Ashberry, Three Poems
• John Gardner, The Sunlight Dialogues
• Maxine Kumin, Up Country
• James Merrill, Braving the Elements
• Eudora Welty, The Optimist's Daughter

Science

• CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography) scanning is developed in England.
• The compact disk is developed by RCA (US).
• The antidepressant Prozac (fluoxetine) is developed by Bryan B. Malloy (Scotland) and Klaus K. Schmiegel (US). Background: Health & Nutrition
• The video disk is introduced by Philips Company (Netherlands).
• Electronic mail is introduced. Queen Elizabeth will send her first email in 1976. Background: Computers and Internet
• Apollo XVII, the last manned moon landing to date, returns to Earth with 250 pounds of lunar samples. Background: US Staffed Space Flights

Deaths

• Gil Hodges
  
  
• J. Edgar Hoover
  
  
• Harry S. Truman