Back in the US

-On July 15, 1972, Secretariat won his first race of many to follow.
              Secretariat would later be recognized as the greatest racehorse EVER.
              He is on the list of the top 50 athletes in history.

-Dallas Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins 24-3 in Super Bowl VI

-Jack Nicklaus wins the Masters Championship. He won 6 masters championships in his professional golf career.










-Oakland A's beat the Cincinnati Reds for the world series, 4 games to 3.







Historical Events of 1972
Secretariat

Watergate
This led to be on of the largest attempted cover ups in US history. The Nixon administration attempted to cover up its involvement with the 1972 break in of the Watergate office complex in Washington, DC. The Democratic National Committee headquarters was the home of a fund providing campaign support for the Democratic Party. The burglars were found with money that had been taken from this fund. Tapes recording the conversations involving Nixon with this scandal were turned over BY nixon. This led to Nixon's resignation as President of the United States, the only president to resign in US history.

The Munich Massacre

The Munich Massacre, was a terrible tragedy that occurred during the 1972 summer olympics in Munich, Germany. Eight members of The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) smuggled their way in to the olympic village, took nine hostages and murdered a coach and an olympic athlete. The Palestinians  then started making demands. They wanted 200 of their own people released from prison and free ride out of the country. Obviously the Germans wouldn't just allow this to happen. So they negotiated for several hours and finally came to an agreement. The Palestinians and their hostages would take a bus to a designated location, where they would take helicopters to an airfield with a plane waiting to take them to Cairo, Egypt. Once the helicopters landed at the airbase, German snipers attempted to take out the terrorists, thus resulting in the bloody battle. The hostages were safe, until yet another battle erupted and all of the hostages were murdered. One of the helicopters containing hostages was blown up via hand grenade, and the remaining hostages were shot by one of the terrorists. The attack took place on September 5, 1972 at 4:30 in the morning, and lasted till 3am the following day.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/munich.html

Cultural/Artistic Development

There were many cultural and artistic developments that swept our nation in 1972. First on the list is the first of Francis Ford Cappola's master movie series The Godfather. This story is about the Corleone family, which is at the head of the New York Mafia. The Corleone's are a close knit family who has done things in the mafia the same way for a long time. But problems start to arise when some of the young family members don't want to live up to the family's expectations. While this is going on, another mafia family decides that it wants to make a run at being the biggest mafia family in New York. Old traditions and new ways clash causing an uproar between the families.
Another major development artistic development was the comedy series M.A.S.H. This series is of a surgical hospital set during the Korean War. Because of being so far away from home, they are forced to keep their sanity by creating fun ways to keep themselves entertained.

Scientific/Technological Development

In the year 1972, there were many advancements and breakthroughs in the scientific/technological field. X-ray technology became, what was then, high tech, allowing for more accurate diagnosing in the medical field. Then Robert Ledley (England) invented the Computed Axial Tomography (CAT) scan. This scan uses X-Rays to produce a three dimensional image of the body being scanned. This was later patented in 1975. Sticking with the medical advances, Scottish scientists developed a drug that would treat   depression called Prozac.

1972 Winter Olympics

The 1972 Winter Olympic games were hosted in Sapporo, Japan. This chilly city was scheduled to host the winter olympic games in 1940, which were cancelled due to the Second World War. This was he first year that the winter olympics were held outside of Europe or The United States. 35 nations participated in these games, consisting of 10 events, opposed to the 15 events that are held in the current winter olympic games.
-Alpine Skiing; also known as downhill skiing, is an event with many parts. Races that include different lengths, turn sizes and speed.
-Biathlon; a cross country skiing event where the athlete must ski to designated areas, shoot a set number of targets, and move on to more skiing and shooting.
-Bobsleigh (Bobsled); an event based purely on brut force and precision. Athletes push a sled, jump in, and make skilled turns down a track of ice.
-Cross Country Skiing; skiing using only poles and heelless bound skis.
-Figure Skating
-Ice Hockey
-Luge; Single athlete pushed sled on an ice track.
-Nordic Combined; athletes perform in 2 events: ski jumping(distance) and cross country skiing.
-Ski Jumping
-Speed Skating

The top contending nations were, The Soviet Union with 16 medals, East Germany with 14 medals and Switzerland with 10 medals. The United States came in 5th in terms of medal count with 8 medals. Japan
won only 3 medals.

Official Olympic Report
Olympic Site