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September 5–6, 1972: 11 members of Israeli Olympic team killed by terrorists at Munich
The following events occurred in September 1972:
September 1, 1972 (Friday)
Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky
In the 21st game of chess for the World Chess Championship 1972, Bobby Fischer of the United States won the title, as defending champ Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union resigned. Under a system of one point for a win and ½ for a draw, the first to get 12½ points would win the matches played at Reykjavík, Iceland. Fischer's prize money was $154,677.50.
Raúl Sendic, leader of the Uruguayan guerilla group the Tupamaros, was captured after a shootout.
The United States formally dropped all claims to the Swan Islands and recognized the sovereignty of Honduras over the disputed territory.
A fire at the Blue Bird Café in Montreal killed 37 people. The blaze was set by three men who had been kicked out of the Wagon Wheel Bar earlier in the evening.
Milt Pappas of the Chicago Cubs had retired 26 batters and was one player away from a perfect game. Larry Stahl of the San Diego Padres reached the plate and was one strike away (2–2), then one pitch away (3–2). The final pitch was close, but umpire Bruce Froemming called it "ball four" instead of "strike three", turning the 8–0 Cubs win into a mere no-hitter.
The Soviet hockey team defeated Team Canada, 7-3, at the Montreal Forum, in the first game of the Summit Series between the two nations. Fans of the Canadian team, composed of National Hockey League stars who had confidently predicted that they would win all eight of the games scheduled against the Soviets, were stunned at the loss. The Canadian team had Ken Dryden and Tony Esposito as goaltenders, and included Phil Esposito and Bobby Clarke as forwards."
The Confederation of Arab Republics was created between Egypt, Libya and Syria.
The elections for the Khmer Republic's 126-member National Assembly took place. Because of a presidential decree designed to give President Lon Nol's Social Republican Party an advantage, the other parties withdrew from participating. The Socio-Republicans won all 126 seats on what was claimed to be a 78% turnout.
Born: Patty Cake, popular resident of New York City's Central Park Zoo as the gorilla born in captivity in the city; in Manhattan, New York City (d. 2013)
Bob Barker began a 35-year run as host of one of America's most popular game shows, as The New Price Is Right was shown for the first time on CBS. Barker would host the show (later simply The Price Is Right) until June 15, 2007.
Armed robbers stole 18 paintings, including a Rembrandt, along with 38 pieces of jewelry and figurines from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, in the largest theft of private property in Canadian history. Except for one painting returned during abortive efforts to negotiate a ransom, none of the pieces of art work have ever been recovered, nor has anyone been charged.
September 5, 1972 (Tuesday)
What would end as the Munich massacre began at the 1972 Summer Olympics were in progress, eight members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September broke into the Olympic Village in Munich, killed two members of Israel's Olympic team, and took nine others hostage. A rescue attempt the next day would end in disaster.
The Munich massacre took place following a bungled attempt by West Germany police to rescue kidnapped members of the Israeli Olympic team, held at Fürstenfeldbruck airport, Palestinian gunmen murdered all nine of their hostages. Five of the terrorists and one policeman died. The Olympic Games resumed after a brief interruption.
The Soviet Union's Council of Ministers issued a directive to amend Section 74 of the Soviet Regulations on Communications, providing that "The use of telephonic communications ... for aims contrary to the interest of the State and to public order is forbidden." Under the regulation, telephone service was disconnected for dissidents without formally charging them with a crime.
September 8, 1972 (Friday)
In retaliation for the killing of nine Israeli Olympic athletes in the Munich massacre, Israel's air force bombed Palestinian strongholds in Syria and Lebanon.
The British situation comedy Are You Being Served?, about employees of a department store, was first telecast, running until 1985.
A link between Kentucky's Mammoth Cave and the adjacent Flint Ridge Cave System was discovered by explorers from the Cave Research Foundation, creating the longest cave passageway in the world, 144.4 miles (232.4 km) from one end to the other.
At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, the American men's basketball team, which had 64 victories and no defeats since the sport was added in 1936, lost to the Soviet Union, 51–50, on a shot at the buzzer by Alexander Belov. The U.S. team had been ahead, 50–49, when time first ran out, but Olympic officials added three seconds to the clock. The Soviets won the gold medal, and the Americans voted unanimously to refuse the silver medal.
The three American television networks introduced their new cartoon schedules on the same morning. Among the new series being shown for the first time was Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
Charles B. DeBellevue became the last American flying ace, registering a fifth and sixth shootdown, the most during the Vietnam War.
Frank Shorter of the United States won the marathon at the Olympic Games in Munich, finishing with a time of 2:12:19.8.
The United States used its United Nations Security Council veto power for only the second time since the formation of the UN in 1945, killing a General Assembly resolution that demanded a halt to Israel's reprisals against Palestinian guerillas in Syria and Lebanon.
At the request of White House aide John Ehrlichman, John Dean met with IRS Commissioner Johnnie Walters and gave him a list of 490 individuals to investigate. Walters consulted with Treasury Secretary Schultz the next day, who directed him to do nothing.
Nearly four years after it was proposed by President Nixon, the federal revenue sharing plan, which would transfer $5.3 billion of U.S. government revenues to state and local governments, was approved by the Senate, 64–20. The measure had passed the House, 275–122, on June 22.
The attack on two British fishing trawlers, by the Icelandic gunboat ICGV Aegir, triggered the second Cod War between the UK and Iceland.
The television show Maude premiered on CBS-TV at 8:00 pm, opposite the premiere on ABC of Temperatures Rising.
Fifty-four North Korean members of its Red Cross delegation crossed the border at Panmunjom at 10:00 a.m. and were welcomed by their South Korean counterparts, in the first visit by North Korean officials since the end of the Korean War.
More than 30 people, mostly schoolchildren, drowned when a ferry across the Kerian River (in Malaysia's Perak state) capsized. Some children were able to swim to safety, but most drowned in 40-foot-deep (12 m) waters.
Air Mauritius, the national airline of Mauritania, made its first flight, five years after the company's founding, with a six-seat Piper PA-31 Navajo airplane that flew every Wednesday from Port Louis to Rodrigues and back again. Twenty-five years later, the Air Mauritius fleet would have four Airbus A340-300s, three Boeing 767s, two Boeing 747s, two ATR 42 turboprop carriers, and two Bell 206 helicopters.
Pope Paul VI issued a motu proprio, rejecting calls to allow women to have any formal ministerial role in the Roman Catholic Church. "In accordance with the venerable tradition of the Church," the Pope proclaimed, "installation in the ministries of lector and acolyte is reserved to men."
More than 33 years after the outbreak of World War II, West Germany and Poland restored diplomatic relations. East Germany had been an ally of Poland since that nation's establishment in 1949.
The People's Republic of China made its first commitment ever to purchasing food from the U.S., as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz announced that China had placed an order to buy 15 million bushels of U.S. wheat.
Grandma Walton and John-Boy
The Waltons, based on producer Earl Hamner's reminiscences of his rural childhood, began a ten-season run on CBS. The setting was the fictional "Jefferson County, Virginia" in the 1930s.
A federal grand jury indicted the five Watergate burglars, along with E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy. On the same day, White House staff attorney John Dean met with President Nixon for the first time concerning the scandal. In the meeting, which lasted from 5:27 to 6:17, they discussed the covering up of the White House role in the Watergate break-in. Dean would testify about his memory of the discussion at the Watergate hearings on June 25, 1973, unaware that Oval Office conversations were all recorded at Nixon's request. Nixon, Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, and Dean, discussed plans to take revenge on the President's enemies. "They are asking for it and they are going to get it," commented Nixon, adding "We haven't used the Bureau and we haven't used the Justice Department, but things are going to change now. They're going to get it right."
South Vietnam's army regained control of the city of Quảng Trị, more than three months after the provincial capital had been captured by North Vietnamese forces.
SAS Flight 130 was hijacked over Sweden by three members of the Croatian National Resistance terrorist group, after taking off from Gothenburg to Stockholm. The four crew and the other 83 passengers were held hostage as the DC-9 jet was diverted to Malmö. As a condition of release of the hostages, seven Croatian terrorists imprisoned in Sweden were set free and allowed to leave the country.
At least 103 people were killed in the collapse of the Colgante Bridge, during the festival for Our Lady of Peñafrancia, near Naga City in the Philippines. At 4:30 in the afternoon, the wooden bridge fell apart under the weight of spectators, plunging people and debris into the Bicol River.
W. Mark Felt, "Deep Throat"
"Deep Throat" (later revealed to be FBI Associate Director W. Mark Felt) listened over the telephone to reporter Bob Woodward's draft of a story on Watergate and confirmed an anonymous tip that money from Maurice Stans had been used to finance the Watergate break-in.
The Bob Newhart Show began a successful seven-season run on CBS, giving the master of the telephone monologue a situation comedy role as Chicago psychologist Dr. Robert Hartley. A variety show of the same name had appeared on NBC from 1961 to 1962.
September 17, 1972 (Sunday)
In the first release of prisoners of war since 1969, North Vietnam released three American POWs. Navy Lieutenants Norris Charles and Markham Gartley and Air Force Major Edward Elias were provided civilian clothes and then allowed to stay in Hanoi with an American welcoming team. Another 539 American POWs remained in captivity, and more than 1,000 Americans listed as missing in action were unaccounted for.
1,000 soldiers of the "Uganda People's Militia" invaded Uganda from Tanzania. The Ugandan Army would repel the invasion after two weeks of fighting.
The original cast of M*A*S*H
The popular television series M*A*S*H began an eleven-season run, eight years longer than the Korean War which provided its setting.
September 18, 1972 (Monday)
Former Japanese Foreign Minister Zentaro Kosaka publicly apologized, on behalf of Japan, at a banquet in Beijing for Japan's atrocities against China prior to and during World War II.
September 19, 1972 (Tuesday)
A parcel bomb sent to the Israeli Embassy in London killed Ami Schachori, the agricultural attaché, who was scheduled to return home after four years abroad. Another bomb arrived at the Israeli Embassy in Paris later in the day, but was disarmed. Both packages had been sent from Amsterdam. Other packages were delivered the next day in New York and Montreal, and defused.
The Oakland A's began a game in which they would use 30 players in a 15-inning game against the Chicago White Sox, setting a Major League Baseball record that still stands. The game also broke a major league record for most players used by both teams (51) in a game. The White Sox, at second place in the American League West division, beat the first place A's, 8 to 7 when the game ended at 12:59 the next morning after 4 hours and 41 minutes of play.
Britain's ratification of the Treaty of Accession to the Common Market was completed.
Floyd Patterson's comeback attempt came to an end with a bout against Muhammad Ali. Patterson, the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1956 to 1959, and 1961 to 1962, had been attempting to regain his crown since 1970. The fight was stopped in the seventh round after Ali opened a cut over Patterson's eye.
Died: Richard Oakes, 30, Mohawk American Indian activist who led the Occupation of Alcatraz from 1969 to 1971, was shot and killed during an argument with Michael Morgan, the caretaker of a YMCA camp in Annapolis, California. The homicide took place six days after a confrontation between Oakes and Morgan on use of the property.
Ben Kiwanuka, 50, Chief Justice of Uganda (who had been the African nation's first Prime Minister), was arrested in his courtroom by Ugandan soldiers on orders of President Idi Amin, then brutally tortured to death.
Willy Brandt called for a vote of confidence in his government, one he expected to lose, as a pretext for new parliamentary elections.
Hexachlorophene, an anti-bacterial compound that had been a popular additive in skin cleansers, cosmetics, deodorants, toothpastes and baby powder, was banned by the Food and Drug Administration except for prescription use. FDA studies had concluded that HCP caused brain damage in infants. The FDA ordered immediate removal of baby powder with more than 0.75% HCP, and directed that cleansers with 3% concentration could be sold only by prescription.
September 23, 1972 (Saturday)
Ferdinand Marcos, the President of the Philippines, appeared on television to announce that he had proclaimed martial law under Proclamation No. 1081. The immediate pretext was the attempted assassination of Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile the day prior; however, Marcos stated that the proclamation had been signed on September 21, two days before the announcement. Enrile's driver was killed during the staged attack.
A fire killed 31 people at the Oscar restaurant on the Greek island of Rhodes, after a short circuit set fire to bamboo paneling. Most of the dead were Scandinavian tourists.
At an annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund, U.S. Treasury Secretary George P. Schultz unveiled a proposal for "SDRs"—Special Drawing Rights—to replace gold reserves as the asset to which the world currencies would be tied.
"Moo-la the Cow" was unveiled in Stephenville, Texas, honoring the local dairy industry.
A 15-year-old boy in Waldport, Oregon, was killed, and two other people injured, after being struck by lightning. Although he was carrying a box containing 135 sticks of dynamite, the box did not explode, contrary to some repetitions of the story.
Twelve children and 11 adults were killed when an F-86 fighter aircraft crashed into a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour in Sacramento. The store, located across a highway from the edge of an airport runway, had at least 100 people inside at the time.
Voters in Norway decided whether to approveNorway's entry into the European Economic Community (the "Common Market"), voters rejected the Treaty of Accession. The final vote was 1,118,281 "Nei" and 971,687 "Ja". On November 28, 1994, voters would reject a second proposal to join the European Community. Prime Minister Trygve Bratteli, whose Norske arbeiderpartei (Norwegian Labour Party) had been divided over the issue of Common Market membership, resigned the next day.
Died:Alejandra Pizarnik, 36, Argentine poet, killed herself with an overdose of the barbiturate Seconal
Following a 342–34 approval by the House of Representatives, President Nixon signed into law the bill creating the WIC Program (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children).
U.S. Patent No. 3,693,535 was granted for the first automatic drip coffee brewing machine for homes, marketed under the name "Mr. Coffee". The machine went on sale as early as October 8 with the suggested retail price of USD $49.95, roughly $292 in 2017 dollars.
Time Inc. introduced its new monthly personal finance magazine, Money, on newsstands, with the first issue being dated for October 1972.
Born:Beto O'Rourke (Robert Francis O'Rourke), United States Congressman for the 16th district in Texas (2013-2018) and presidential candidate; in El Paso
In Fort Lauderdale, Susan Place, 17, and Georgia Jessup, 16, went with their friend, "Jerry Shepard", on a trip "to the beach to play the guitar". Their remains would be found seven months later as they became the first known victims of serial killer Gerard Schaefer. Schaefer had been dismissed from the office of the Martin County, Florida Sheriff's Department earlier in the year, and was awaiting trial after a failed kidnapping, on July 22, of two other teenage girls.
Bernardo Alvarado Monzón, 46, Guatemalan Communist and General Secretary of the Partido Guatemalteco del Trabajo (PGT), was executed by the Guatemalan Army the day after being captured in a raid on the PGT headquarters, along with seven other PGT officials and members. By order of the Guatemalan president, Carlos Arana Osorio, the bodies of the eight victims were dumped into the ocean.
After 66 years, the United States Secretary of the Army cleared the records of the black soldiers involved in the Brownsville Affair. The 167 members of the 25th United States Regiment had been dishonorably discharged after being accused of complicity in the shooting of two white men in Brownsville, Texas. Following the publication of John D. Weaver's book The Brownsville Raid, in 1970, the U.S. Army reopened the investigation of the incident and concluded that the men had been innocent.
September 29, 1972 (Friday)
Vasil Mzhavanadze, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Georgian SSR, and Soviet Georgia's de facto leader, was removed from his job by the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee. Mzhavadnadze retained his post as a full member of the Politburo, but was replaced as the Georgian leader by Eduard Shevardnadze.
In a story headlined "Mitchell Controlled Secret GOP Fund", Washington Post investigative reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward broke the story that "while serving as U.S. Attorney General, Mitchell personally controlled a secret Republican fund that was used to gather information about the Democrats, according to sources involved in the Watergate investigation."
The eight member nations of the European Space Research Organization (ESRO) officially adopted the METEOSAT programme, providing for European launched meteorological satellites.
Roberto Clemente made his 3,000th hit, which would also prove to be his very last. Clemente would be killed in a plane crash at the end of the year.
Dr. Irving Selikoff of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine addressed the annual National Cancer Conference in Los Angeles, and announced the increase in cases of mesothelioma among men who had been exposed to asbestos 30 years earlier during World War II.
J.A.S. Grenville and Bernard Wasserstein, The Major International Treaties of the Twentieth Century: A History and Guide With Texts, Volume 2 (Taylor & Francis, 2001)
Peter Heller, "In this corner ...!": Forty-two World Champions Tell Their Stories (Da Capo Press, 1994), p338
"Richard Oakes Slain In Coast Shooting", Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat, September 21, 1972, p1
"Indian Leader Oakes, YMCA Man in Dispute", Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat, September 15, 1972, p6
A.B.K. Kasozi, The Social Origins of Violence in Uganda, 1964–1985 (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994), p114
Kommers, Donald P. (1997). The Constitutional Jurisprudence of the Federal Republic of Germany. Duke University Press. p. 118.
"FDA Bans Danger Drug HCP". Oakland Tribune. September 22, 1972. p. 1.
"Japan, China OK Peace Pact". Oakland Tribune. September 28, 1972. p. 1.
"Norway Rejects Common Market in Stunning Government Defeat", by Don Cook, Los Angeles Times, September 26, 1972, p.I-5
Alyson J.K. Bailes, et al., eds., The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy (Oxford University Press, 2006), p101
"Norway's Cabinet to Resign", Des Moines (IA) Tribune, September 26, 1972, p.6
Lomperis, Timothy J. (1996). From People's War to People's Rule: Insurgency, Intervention, and the Lessons of Vietnam. University of North Carolina Press. p. 107.
Mark Kearney and Randy Ray, The Great Canadian Book of Lists: Greatest, Sexiest, Strangest, Best, Worst, Highest, Lowest, Largest (Hounslow Press, 1999), p107
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Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky
