1972

1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday.

Events

• Designated International year of the book by UNESCO

January

• January 2 - The Pierre Hotel Heist: Six men rob the safety deposit boxes of The Pierre Hotel in New York City, of at least $4 million.
• January 4 - Rose Heilbron becomes the first woman judge at the Old Bailey in London.
• January 4 - Kurt Waldheim becomes the Secretary General of the United Nations.
• January 5 - U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the development of a space shuttle program.
• January 7 - An Iberian Airlines passenger plane crashes into an 800' peak on the island of Ibiza; 104 dead.
• January 9 - Howard Hughes speaks by telephone to denounce Clifford Irving's supposed biography about him.
• January 9 - RMS Queen Elizabeth is destroyed by fire in Hong Kong harbor.
• January 11 - East Pakistan wins independence with the name Bangladesh.
• January 14 - King Frederick IX of Denmark dies; his daughter Queen Margaret II of Denmark ascends to the throne on January 16.
• January 19 - The Libertarian enclave Minerva on a platform in the South Pacific, sponsored by the Phoenix Foundation, declares independence. Soon neighboring Tonga annexes the area and dismantles the platform.
• January 23 - A New Delhi bootlegger sells wood alcohol to a wedding party - 100 dead.
• January 24 - Japanese soldier Shoichi Yokoi is discovered in Guam. He had spent 28 years in the jungle.
• January 25 - Shirley Chisholm, the first African American Congresswoman, announces her candidacy for President.
• January 26 - Yugoslavian air stewardress Vesna Vulovic is the only survivor when her plane crashes in Czechoslovakia. She survives after falling about 30,000' in the tail section of the aircraft.
• January 28 - Richard Chanfray claims he is the Count of St Germain on French television.
• January 30 - Bloody Sunday: - the British Army kills 13 unarmed Roman Catholic civil rights marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland.
• January 30 - Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth of Nations.
• January 31 - King Mahendra of Nepal dies (the second king to die that month) and is succeeded by his son, Birendra.

February

• February 1 - First scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) is introduced (price $395).
• February 2 - A bomb explodes at the British Yacht Club in West Berlin. The only casualty is Irwin Beelitz, a German boat builder.
• February 2 - The German militant group Movement 2 June announces its support of the Irish Republican Army.
• February 2 - Anti-British riots throughout Ireland take place. The British Embassy in Dublin is burned to the ground, as are several British-owned businesses.
• February 4 - Mariner 9 sends pictures from Mars.
• February 5 - U.S. airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers and baggage.
• February 5 - Bob Douglas becomes the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
• February 9 - The British government declares a state of emergency over a miners' strike.
• February 15 - President of Ecuador José María Velasco Ibarra is deposed for the fourth time.
• February 15 - Phonorecords are granted U.S. Federal copyright protection for the first time.
• February 17 - Volkswagen Beetle sales exceed those of the Ford Model-T when the 15,007,034th Beetle is produced.
• February 18 - The California Supreme Court voids the state's death penalty, commuting all death sentences to life in prison.
• February 21 - The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
• February 21-February 28 - U.S. President Richard M. Nixon makes an unprecedented 8-day visit to the People's Republic of China and meets with Mao Zedong.
• February 22 - An Official IRA bomb kills 7 in Aldershot, England.
• February 23 - Angela Davis is released from jail. A Caruthers, California farmer, Rodger McAfee, helps her make bail.
• February 23 - A Lufthansa plane is hijacked and taken to Aden. Passengers are released after a ransom of 16 million German marks is agreed.
• February 24 - North Vietnamese negotiators walk out of the Paris Peace Talks to protest U.S. air raids.
• February 26 - A coal sludge spill kills 125 in Buffalo Creek.
• February 26 - Luna 20 comes back to Earth with a cargo of moon rocks.

March

• March 1 - The Thai province Yasothon is created after being split off from the Ubon Ratchathani Province.
• March 1 - British schoolboy Timothy Davey, 14, is sentenced in Turkey for "conspiring to sell cannabis."
• March 1 - The Club of Rome publishes its report Limits to Growth.
• March 2 - The Pioneer 10 spacecraft is launched from Cape Kennedy, to be the first man-made satellite to leave the solar system.
• March 2 - Jean-Bedel Bokassa becomes President of the Central African Republic.
• March 3 - Sculpted figures of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson are completed at Stone Mountain, Georgia.
• March 4 - Libya and the Soviet Union sign a cooperation treaty.
• March 5 - Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis leaves the Greek Communist Party.
• March 13 - The United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China elevate diplomatic exchanges to the ambassadorial level after 22 years.
• March 13 - Clifford Irving admits to a New York court that he had fabricated Howard Hughes' "autobiography."
• March 16 - The first building of the Pruitt-Igoe housing development is destroyed.
• March 19 - India and Bangladesh sign a friendship treaty.
• March 22 - The 92nd U.S. Congress votes to send the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification.
• March 24 - To prevent further unionist misrule, Britain takes over direct rule of Northern Ireland.
• March 25 - Après toi by Vicky Leandros (music by Mario Panas and Klaus Munro, text by Yves Dessca and Klaus Munro) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 for Luxembourg.
• March 26 - An avalanche on Mount Fuji kills 19 climbers.
• March 30 - Vietnam War: The Eastertide Offensive begins after North Vietnamese forces cross into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of South Vietnam.

April

• April 3 - The first cellular phone call is made in New York.
• April 7 - U.S. Mafioso Joe Gallo is shot in Umberto's Clam House in Little Italy.
• April 10 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union join some 70 nations in signing an agreement to ban biological warfare.
• April 10 - A 7.0 Richter scale earthquake kills 5,000 people in the Iranian province of Fars.
• April 10 - The 44th Annual Academy Awards are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles.
• April 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.
• April 15 - Roberta Flack's song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" reaches #1 on Billboard, remaining #1 for 6 weeks. Only 2 songs remain #1 for 6 weeks (the longest in 1972) - the other is "Alone Again (Naturally)" by Gilbert O'Sullivan on July 29.
• April 16 - Charlie Chaplin re-enters the U.S. to receive a Special Oscar (Academy Award) from Daniel Taradash.
• April 16 - Apollo 16 (John Young, Ken Mattingly, Charlie Duke) is launched. During the mission, the astronauts achieve a lunar rover speed record of 11 mph.
• April 16 - Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue offensive - Prompted by the North Vietnamese offensive, the United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
• April 18 - The Roland Corporation is founded in Osaka.
• April 22 - Sylvia Cook and John Fairfax finish rowing across the Pacific.
• April 27 - A no-confidence vote against German Chancellor Willy Brandt fails under obscure circumstances.
• April 29 - The fourth anniversary of the Broadway musical Hair is celebrated with a free concert at a Central Park bandshell, followed by dinner at the Four Seasons. There, 13 Black Panther protesters and the show's co-author, Jim Rado, are arrested for disturbing the peace and marijuana use.

May

• May 5 - An Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo, Sicily (115 dead).
• May 7 - General elections are held in Italy.
• May 8 - U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the mining of Haiphong Harbor in Vietnam.
• May 13 - Fire in a nightclub atop the Sennichi department store in Osaka, Japan, leaves 115 dead.
• May 15 - Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama is shot by Arthur Herman Bremer at a Laurel, Maryland political rally.
• May 17 - The closing notice is posted for the Broadway musical Hair.
• May 18 - Four troopers of both SAS and SBS are parachuted onto the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, 1,000 miles off Britain in the Atlantic, after a bomb threat and ransom demand, which turns out to be bogus.
• May 19 - Three out of 6 bombs explode in the Springer Press building in Hamburg, Germany, injuring 17 (the Red Army Faction claims responsibility).
• May 21 - In Rome, Laszlo Toth attacks Michelangelo's Pieta statue with a sledgehammer, shouting that he is Jesus Christ.
• May 22 - An earthquake lasting 20 seconds destroys most of Bingöl, Turkey - more than 1,000 are killed, 10,000 made homeless.
• May 22 - Ceylon becomes the republic of Sri Lanka under prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, when its new constitution is ratified.
• May 24 - Rangers lift the Cup Winners Cup, defeating Dynamo Moscow in the final at the Nou Camp. Their supporters cause a riot, with the team banned from defending the trophy the following season.
• May 24 - A RAF bomb explodes in the Campbell Barracks of the U.S. Army Supreme European Command in Heidelberg, West Germany. Three U.S. soldiers (Clyde Bonner, Ronald Woodard and Charles Peck) are killed.
• May 26 - Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT I treaty in Moscow, as well as the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and other agreements.
• May 26- First failed attempt at Watergate first break-in: the "Ameritas dinner" at the Watergate.
• May 26 - Willandra National Park is established in Australia.
• May 27 - Second failed attempt at Watergate first break-in.
• May 28 - Watergate first break-in.
• May 30 - The Angry Brigade goes on trial in the United Kingdom.
• May 30 - Three Japanese Red Army members kill 24 and injure 100 in Lod Airport, Israel.

June

June 8 1972: Phan Thị Kim Phúc, center left, running down a road near Trang Bang after an ARVN napalm chemical attack in the Vietnam War. (©Nick Ut/Associated Press).

• June - Iraq nationalizes the Iraq Petroleum Company.
• June - The first U.S. Libertarian Party National Convention is held in Denver, Colorado.
• June 2 - Andreas Baader, Jan-Carl Raspe, Holger Meins and some other members of Red Army Faction are arrested in Frankfurt am Main after a shootout.
• June 3 - Sally Priesand becomes the first female U.S. rabbi.
• June 4 - Angela Davis is found not guilty of murder.
• June 14-June 23 - Hurricane Agnes kills 117 on the U.S. East Coast.
• June 15 - Ulrike Meinhof and Gerhard Müller of Red Army Faction are arrested in a teacher's apartment in Langenhagen, West Germany.
• June 17 - Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee.
• June 17 - The United States returns Okinawa to Japan.
• June 17 - Chilean president Salvador Allende forms a new government.
• June 18 - A British European Airways Trident 1 jet airliner crashes alongside the busy A30 Staines bypass, killing all 118 passengers and crew.
• June 18 - West Germany beats the Soviet Union 3-0 to win Euro 72.
• June 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.
• June 26 - Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney found Atari.
• June 28 - U.S. President Richard Nixon announces that no new draftees will be sent to Vietnam.
• June 29 - Furman v. Georgia: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the death penalty is unconstitutional.

July

• July 1 - The Broadway production of the musical Hair closes after 1,752 performances.
• July 2 - Following Pakistan's surrender to India in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, both nations sign the historic Simla Agreement, agreeing to settle their disputes bilaterally.
• July 4 - The first Rainbow Gathering is held in Colorado.
• July 8 - The U.S. sells grain to the Soviet Union for $750 million.
• July 10 - A stampede of elephants kills 24 in the Chandka Forest in India.
• July 10-July 14 - The Democratic National Convention meets in Miami Beach. Senator George McGovern, who backs the immediate and complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from South Vietnam, is nominated for President. He names fellow Senator Thomas Eagleton as his running mate.
• July 15 - The Pruitt-Igoe housing development is demolished in Saint Louis, Missouri.
• July 18 - Anwar Sadat expels 20,000 Soviet advisors from Egypt.
• July 21 - Bloody Friday: 22 bombs planted by the Provisional IRA explode in Belfast, Ireland; 9 people are killed and 130 seriously injured.
• July 21 - Comedian George Carlin is arrested by Milwaukee, Wisconsin police for public obscenity, for reciting his “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” at Summerfest.
• July 23 - The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.
• July 25 - U.S. health officials admit that blacks were used as guinea pigs in a syphilis experiment.
• July 29 - A national dock strike begins in Britain.

August

• August 1 - U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, withdraws from the race after revealing he was once treated for mental illness.
• August 4 - Arthur Bremer is jailed for 63 years for shooting George Wallace.
• August 4 - Dictator Idi Amin declares that Uganda will expel 50,000 Asians with British passports to Britain within three months.
• August 12 - The last U.S. ground troops are withdrawn from Vietnam.
• August 16 - The Royal Moroccan Air Force mistakenly fires upon, but fails to bring down, Hassan II of Morocco's plane while he is traveling back to Rabat.
• August 21 - The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida renominates U.S. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew for a second term.
• August 22 - Twenty-seven-year-old John Wojtowicz and 18-year-old Sal Naturile hold several Chase Manhattan Bank employees hostage for 17 hours in Flatbush, Brooklyn, N.Y.
• August 28 - Prince William of Gloucester dies in an air crash.

September

One of the Black September kidnappers taking part in the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

• September 1 - Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky in a chess match at Reykjavík, Iceland, becoming the first American chess champion (see Match of the Century).
• September 4 - The Price Is Right debuts on CBS.
• September 5-September 6 - Munich Massacre: Eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich are murdered after 8 members of the Arab terrorist group Black September invade the Olympic Village; 5 guerillas and 1 policeman are also killed in a failed hostage rescue.
• September 14 - West Germany and Poland renew diplomatic relations.
• September 17 - Uganda announces that there are Tanzanian troops in its territory.
• September 17 - M*A*S*H debuts on CBS.
• September 18 - São Paulo Metro is inaugurated in Brazil.
• September 19 - A parcel bomb sent to the Israeli Embassy in London kills 1 diplomat.
• September 21 - Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos issues Proclamation No. 1081^[1] placing the entire country under martial law.
• September 24 - An F-86 fighter aircraft leaving an air show at Sacramento Executive Airport fails to become airborne and crashes into a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor, killing 12 children and 11 adults.
• September 25 - Norwegian EC referendum, 1972: Norway rejects membership in the European Economic Community.
• September 27 - The Joint Communique of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China is signed in Beijing.
• September 28 - The Canadian national men's hockey team defeats the Soviet national ice hockey team in game eight of the 1972 Summit Series (La Série du Siècle), 6-5, to win the series 4-3-1.
• September 29 - Sino-Japanese relations: Japan normalizes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China after breaking official ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan).
• September 30 - The WWWF Supershow is held at Shea Stadium in Flushing, NY. It is the first outdoor supershow in World Wrestling Entertainment history since breaking ties with NWA in 1963.

October

• October 1 - The first publication reporting the production of a recombinant DNA molecule, marks the birth of modern molecular biology methodology.

Jackson, David A.; Symons, Robert H.; and Berg, Paul. (1972). Biochemical Method for Inserting New Genetic Information into DNA of Simian Virus 40: Circular SV40 DNA Molecules Containing Lambda Phage Genes and the Galactose Operon of Escherichia coli. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 69(10), 2904-2909.

• October 2 - Denmark joins the European Community. The Faroe Islands stay out.
• October 5 - The United Reformed Church is founded out of the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches.
• October 6 - A train crash in Saltillo, Mexico kills 208.
• October 8 - R. Sargent Shriver is chosen to replace Thomas Eagleton as the U.S. vice-presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.
• October 12 - En route to her station in the Gulf of Tonkin, a racial brawl involving more than 100 sailors breaks out aboard the United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk. Nearly 50 sailors are injured.
• October 13 - Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571: A Fairchild FH-227D passenger aircraft transporting a rugby union team crashes at about 14,000' in the Andes mountain range, near the Argentina/Chile border. Sixteen of the survivors are found alive December 20 but they have had to resort to cannibalism to survive (a movie based on these events was directed by Frank Marshall (movie producer) in 1993 starring Ethan Hawke (see external links).
• October 16 - A plane carrying U.S. Congressman Hale Boggs of Louisiana and 3 other men vanishes in Alaska. The wreckage has never been found, despite a massive search at the time.
• October 16 - Rainbow, a British television programme for children, debuts.
• October 16 - Rioting Maze Prison inmates cause a fire that destroys most of the camp.
• October 17 - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visits Yugoslavia.
• October 25 - The first female FBI agents are hired.
• October 25 - Belgian Eddy Merckx sets a new world hour record in cycling in Mexico City.
• October 26 - Following a visit to South Vietnam, U.S. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger suggests that "peace is at hand."
• October 29 - The Black September group hijacks a Lufthansa Boeing 727 over Turkey, and demands the release of 3 of their comrades still held for the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympic games.
• October 30 - U.S. President Richard Nixon approves legislation to increase Social Security spending by US$5.3 billion.
• October 30 - A commuter train collision in Chicago kills 45, injures hundreds.

November

Nixon's landslide victory in the electoral college during the 1972 Election .

• November 1 (exact date not known) - At a scientific meeting in Honolulu, Herbert Boyer and Stanley N. Cohen conceive the concept of recombinant DNA. They publish their results in November 1973 in PNAS. Separately in 1972, Paul Berg also recombines DNA in a test tube. Recombinant DNA technology has dramatically changed the field of biological sciences, especially biotechnology, and opened the door to genetically modified organisms.
• November 5 - A group of Amerindians occupies the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• November 7 - U.S. presidential election, 1972: Republican incumbent Richard Nixon defeats Democratic Senator George McGovern in a landslide (the election had the lowest voter turnout since 1948, with only 55 percent of the electorate voting).
• November 11 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.
• November 14 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 1,000 (1,003.16) for the first time.
• November 16 - The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization adopts the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage [1].
• November 22 - Vietnam War: The United States loses its first B-52 Stratofortress of the war.
• November 29 - Atari kicks off the first generation of video games with the release of their seminal arcade version of PONG, the first game to achieve commercial success.
• November 30 - Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning United States troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.

December

• December 2 - Edward Gough Whitlam becomes the first Labour Party Prime Minister of Australia for 23 years. He is famously sworn in on the election night and his first action using executive power is to withdraw all Australian personnel from the Vietnam War.
• December 7 - Apollo 17 (Gene Cernan, Ron Evans, Harrison Schmitt), the last manned mission to the Moon to date, is launched.
• December 7 - PIRA kidnaps Jean McConville in Belfast.
• December 7 - Imelda Marcos is stabbed and seriously wounded by an assailant; her bodyguards shoot him.
• December 8 - United Airlines Boeing 737 from Washington National to Chicago Midway crashes short of the runway, killing 43 of 61 onboard and 2 on the ground.
• December 8 - Over $10,000 cash is found in the purse of Watergate conspirator Howard Hunt's wife.
• December 8 - International Human Rights Day is proclaimed by the United Nations.
• December 15 - The Commonwealth of Australia ordains equal pay for women.
• December 19 - Apollo program: Apollo 17 returns to Earth, concluding the program of lunar exploration.
• December 21 - East Germany and West Germany recognize each other.
• December 21 - ZANLA troopers attack Altera Farm in north-east Rhodesia.
• December 22 - Two small earthquakes are felt at about 9:30 and 10:15 local time in Managua, Nicaragua.
• December 22 - Australia establishes diplomatic relations with China and West Germany.
• December 23 - A 6.25 Richter scale earthquake in Nicaragua kills 5,000-12,000 in the capital, Managua; President Somoza will later be accused of pocketing millions of dollars worth of foreign aid intended for relief.
• December 24 - The highest recorded temperature in Australia is recorded in Birdsville, Queensland of 49.5C (121.1F).
• December 28 - The bones of Martin Bormann are identified in Berlin.
• December 29 - An Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-1011 crashes into the Everglades in Florida, killing 101 of 163 onboard.
• December 31 - Roberto Clemente dies in a plane crash off the coast of Puerto Rico while en route to deliver aid to Nicaraguan earthquake victims.

Unknown dates

• The last major epidemic of smallpox in Europe breaks out in Yugoslavia.
• Prime minister of Sweden, Olof Palme compares the American bombings of North Vietnam to Nazi massacres. The US breaks diplomatic contact with Sweden.
• The United Kingdom begin to train Special Air Service for anti-terrorist duties.
• Steve Jobs graduates from Homestead High School and enrolls in Reed College in Portland, Oregon but drops out after one semester.
• The Japanese government begins building a railway tunnel between Honshū and Hokkaidō.
• Stephen Hawking is confined to a wheelchair due to motor neuron disease.
• The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms becomes independent from IRS.
• The "tea house" Mellow Yellow opens on the Amstel River in Amsterdam, pioneering the legal sale of marijuana in the Netherlands.
• The Aboriginal Tent Embassy founded on the lawn of Parliament House in Canberra.
• First women admitted to Dartmouth College.
• Colombian looters find Ciudad Perdida but keep it a secret until government reveals it 1975.
• Frank Serpico exposes corruption in New York City police.
• Vietnam War veteran Richard McCoy hijacks a United Airlines jet and extorts $500,000 – he is later captured.
• The Yellow River dries up for the first time in known history.
• Somalian language gets a written form.
• Assassination of Zanzibar's leader Sheik Abeid Karume.
• Tamil United Front, pro-Tamil organization, founded.
• Worship of Norse gods officially approved in Iceland.
• Women are allowed to compete in the Boston Marathon for the first time.
• The Second Cod War between UK and Iceland.
• First use of the term Hadean.

Births

January

• January 2 - Taye Diggs, American actor
• January 9 - Jay Powell, American baseball player
• January 12 - Espen Knutsen, Norwegian hockey player
• January 13 - Nicole Eggert, American actress
• January 17 - Ken Hirai, Japanese singer and songwriter
• January 18 - Mike Lieberthal, American baseball player
• January 19 - Drea de Matteo, American actress
• January 22 - Romi Paku, seiyu (voice actress)
• January 23 - Marcel Wouda, Dutch swimmer
• January 27 - Mark Owen, British singer and Take That member
• January 27 - Keith Wood, Irish rugby player

February

• February 1 - Yoshi DeHerrera, American television personality
• February 2 - Klára Dobrev, wife of Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány
• February 4 - Giovanni Silva De Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
• February 5 - Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark
• February 5 - Koriki Chōshū, Japanese comedian
• February 7 - Alex Bassi, American race car driver
• February 8 - Paul Wight, American professional wrestler (billed as The Big Show)
• February 11 - Craig Jones, a member of the band Slipknot
• February 11 - Steve McManaman, British footballer
• February 13 - Gus Hansen, Danish poker player
• February 14 - Drew Bledsoe, American football player
• February 14 - Hiroshi, Japanese comedian
• February 15 - Jaromir Jagr, Czech hockey player
• February 16 - Jerome Bettis, American football player
• February 17 - Billie Joe Armstrong, American musician (Green Day)
• February 17 - YUKI, Japanese singer (JUDY AND MARY)
• February 17 - Philippe Candeloro, French figure skater
• February 19 - Malky Mackay, Scottish footballer
• February 21 - Seo Taiji, Korean musician
• February 22 - Michael Chang, American tennis player
• February 23 - Steve Holy, American country singer
• February 24 - Richard Chelimo, Kenyan athlete (d. 2001)
• February 28 - Nick Wright, English football player
• February 29 - Antonio Sabato Jr., Italian actor

March

• March 6 - Terry Murphy, Northern Irish snooker player
• March 6 - Shaquille O'Neal, American basketball player
• March 8 - Angie Hart, Australian pop singer
• March 10 - Takashi Fujii (Matthew Minami), Japanese television performer
• March 10 - Matt Kenseth, American race car driver
• March 10 - Eugene Roshal, Russian-born computer programmer
• March 15 - Mark Hoppus, American musician (blink-182)
• March 17 - Mia Hamm, American soccer player
• March 18 - Dane Cook, American comedian
• March 20 - Alexander Kapranos, British singer and guitarist (Franz Ferdinand)
• March 21 - Chris Candido, American Professional Wrestler (d.2005)
• March 22 - Shawn Bradley, American basketball player
• March 22 - Elvis Stojko, Canadian figure skater
• March 22 - Cory Lidle, American baseball player (d.2006)
• March 23 - Judith Godrèche, French actress
• March 27 - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Dutch footballer
• March 27 - Charlie Haas, American Professional Wrestler

April

• April 3 - Jennie Garth, American actress
• April 5 - Krista Allen, American actress
• April 11 - Jason Varitek, American baseball player
• April 12 - NiCole Robinson, American actress
• April 13 - Mariusz Czerkawski, Polish ice hockey player
• April 17 - Tony Boselli, American football player
• April 17 - Jennifer Garner, American actress
• April 17 - Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan cricketer
• April 19 - Rivaldo, Brazilian footballer
• April 20 - Le Huynh Đuc, Vietnamese footballer
• April 22 - Sarah Patterson, British actress
• April 24 - Chipper Jones, American baseball player
• April 29 - Roman Dirge, American artist, writer and cartoonist

May

• May 2 - The Rock, American professional wrestler and actor (birth name – Dwayne Johnson)
• May 2 - Paul Adcock, English footballer
• May 4 - Mike Dirnt, American musician (Green Day)
• May 5 - James Cracknell, British Olympic winning rower
• May 8 - Darren Hayes, Australian musician
• May 10 - Radosław Majdan, Polish goalkeeper
• May 20 - Busta Rhymes, American musician and actor
• May 21 - The Notorious B.I.G., American musician (d. 1997)
• May 23 - Rubens Barrichello, Brazillian racecar driver
• May 28 - Michael Boogerd, Dutch cyclist
• May 30 - Manny Ramírez, Dominican baseball player
• May 31 - Dave Roberts, Major League Baseball player

June

• June 2 - Wayne Brady, American comedian
• June 4 - Derian Hatcher, American hockey player
• June 4 - Rob Huebel, American comedian
• June 4 - Debra Stephenson, English actress
• June 5 - Pavel Kotla, Polish conductor
• June 5 - Justin Smith, American drummer
• June 5 - Mike Bucci, American Professional Wrestler, Nova, Simon Dean
• June 6 - Cristina Scabbia, Italian singer
• June 7 - Karl Urban, New Zealand actor
• June 14 - Matthias Ettrich, the computer scientist who founded the KDE project
• June 15 - Andy Pettitte, American baseball player
• June 17 - Iztok Čop, Slovenian rower
• June 19 - Brian McBride, American soccer player
• June 21 - Irene van Dyk, South African-born netball player
• June 21 - Christopher Matthews, English musician
• June 22 - Miguel Del Toro, Mexican baseball player
• June 23 - Zinedine Zidane, French footballer
• June 24 - Robbie McEwen, Australian professional road bicycle racer
• June 24 - Denis Zvegelj, Slovenian rower
• June 25 - Carlos Delgado, Puerto Rican baseball player
• June 25 - Mike Kroeger, Canadian bass guitarist (Nickelback)
• June 28 - John Heidenreich, American Professional Wrestler
• June 29 - Samantha Smith, American activist (d. 1985)

July

• July 3 - Asha Gill, British-born television host
• July 7 - Lisa Leslie, American Basketball player
• July 8 - Saurav Ganguly, Indian cricketer
• July 13 - Sean Waltman, American Professional Wrestler
• July 27 - Jill Arrington, American football reporter
• July 28 - Elizabeth Berkley, American actress

August

• August 1 - D-Von Dudley, American Professional Wrestler
• August 6 - Geri Halliwell, British musician (Spice Girls)
• August 7 - Sarah Cawood, British Television Presenter
• August 11 - Jonathon Prandi, American model and actor
• August 14 - Ed O'Bannon, American basketball player
• August 15 - Ben Affleck, American actor
• August 16 - Emily Robison, American country music performer (Dixie Chicks)
• August 25 - Marvin Harrison, American football player
• August 27 - Jimmy Pop, American Musician (Bloodhound Gang)
• August 30 - Cameron Diaz, American actress
• August 30 - Pavel Nedvěd, Czech footballer

September

• September 2 - Sergei Zholtok, Latvian hockey player (d. 2004)
• September 2 - Terry Bradshaw, American Football Hall of Famer
• September 8 - Lisa Kennedy, American disc jockey and political satirist
• September 8 - Tomokazu Seki, Japanese seiyu (voice actor)
• September 10 - Ghada Shouaa, Syrian athlete
• September 12 - Budi Putra, Indonesian journalist, writer and blogger
• September 12 - Jason Statham, British actor
• September 17 - Bobby Lee, American comedian
• September 21 - Liam Gallagher, British singer (Oasis)
• September 21 - Jon Kitna, American football player
• September 22 - Bob Sapp, American boxer and kickboxer
• September 24 - Karyn Bosnak, American author
• September 27 - Sylvia Crawley, American basketball player
• September 28 - Gwyneth Paltrow, American actress
• September 28 - Dita Von Teese, American burlesque artist
• September 30 - Ari Behn, Norwegian author

October

• October 5 - Grant Hill, American basketball player
• October 5 - Aaron Guiel, Canadian baseball player
• October 8 - Tricia Vessey, American actress
• October 9 - Etan Patz, disappeared school boy
• October 17 - Marshall Mathers, a.k.a. Eminem American rapper and actor
• October 17 - Wyclef Jean, Haitian rapper
• October 17 - Tarkan, Turkish singer
• October 24 - Pat Williams, American football player
• October 28 - Terrell Davis, American football player
• October 28 - Brad Paisley, American country music performer
• October 28 - Trista Rehn, American television personality
• October 29 - Takafumi Horie, Japanese entrepreneur (Livedoor)

November

• November 4 - Luís Figo, Portuguese footballer
• November 7 - Danny Grewcock, British rugby player
• November 6 - Thandie Newton, British actress
• November 9 - Doug Russell, American radio personality
• November 9 - Corin Tucker, American musician
• November 10 - Shawn Green, American baseball player
• November 13 - Takuya Kimura, Japanese actor

December

• December 1 - Norbert Wójtowicz, Polish historian and theologian
• December 4 - Nikki Tyler, American actress
• December 7 - Hermann Maier, Austrian skier
• December 7 - Tammy Lynn Sytch, American Wrestling Valet and Topless Model
• December 9 - Tre Cool, German drummer (Green Day)
• December 10 - Brian Molko, Belgian singer (Placebo)
• December 12 - Joel Cahen, Israeli artist
• December 13 - Chris Grant, Australian footballer
• December 16 - Chris Hart, American Traveler, Actor, & Founder Travel-Journal.org
• December 18 - DJ Lethal, member of Limp Bizkit and House of Pain
• December 19 - Alyssa Milano, American actress
• December 19 - Warren Sapp, American football player
• December 22 - Vanessa Paradis, French singer and actress
• December 26 - Leroy Dickson, American photographer
• December 28 - Patrick Rafter, Australian tennis player
• December 29 - Jason Kreis, American soccer player
• December 29 - Jude Law, British actor
• December 30 - Kerry Collins, American football player

Deaths

January

• January 1 - Maurice Chevalier, French entertainer (surgical complications) (b. 1888)
• January 6 - Chen Yi, Chinese communist military commander and politician (b. 1901)
• January 7 - John Berryman, American poet and scholar (b. 1914); suicide
• January 8 - Kenneth Patchen, American poet and painter (b. 1911)
• January 10 - Aksel Larsen, Danish politician (b. 1897)
• January 14 - King Frederick IX of Denmark (b. 1899)
• January 16 - Ross Bagdasarian, American record producer and creator of Alvin and the Chipmunks (b. 1919)
• January 26 - Mahalia Jackson, American singer (b. 1911)

February

• February 11 - Jan Wils, Dutch architect (b. 1891)
• February 19 - John Grierson, Scottish documentary filmmaker (b. 1898)
• February 20 - Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• February 20 - Walter Winchell, American journalist (b. 1897)
• February 22 - Tedd Pierce, American animator (b. 1906)

March

• March 13 - Tony Ray-Jones, British photographer (b. 1941)
• March 18 - Dinger McCloud, British pilot (b. 1899)
• March 21 - David McCallum, Sr., British violinist and the father of David McCallum (b. 1897)
• March 24 - Cristobal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier (b. 1895)
• March 27 - Sharkey Bonano, American jazz musician (b. 1904)
• March 27 - M.C. Escher, Dutch artist (b. 1898)
• March 29 - J. Arthur Rank, British industrialist and film producer (b. 1888)

April

• April 2 - Gil Hodges, baseball player (b. 1924)
• April 3 - Ferde Grofé, American composer (b. 1882)
• April 4 - Stefan Wolpe, German-born composer (b. 1902)
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