In Furman v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court rules by a vote of 5-4 that capital punishment, as it is currently employed on the state and federal level, is unconstitutional. The majority held that, in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, the death penalty qualified as “cruel and […]
Continue ReadingMonthly Archives: June 1972
Nixon Announces Draftees Will Not Go To Vietnam
President Nixon announces that no more draftees will be sent to Vietnam unless they volunteer for such duty. He also announced that a force of 10,000 troops would be withdrawn by September 1, which would leave a total of 39,000 in Vietnam.
Continue ReadingU.S. Aircraft Shifted To Thailand
The shift of fighter-bomber squadrons, involving up to 150 U.S. planes and more than 2,000 pilots from Da Nang, to bases in Thailand is completed. The shift was necessitated by the pending withdrawal of the U.S. infantry brigade that provided security for flyers at Da Nang. The departure of the […]
Continue ReadingTitle IX Enacted
On this day in 1972, Title IX of the education amendments of 1972 is enacted into law. Title IX prohibits federally funded educational institutions from discriminating against students or employees based on sex. It begins: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from […]
Continue ReadingNixon Signs Higher Education Act
On this day in 1972, President Richard Nixon signs into law the Higher Education Act, which includes the groundbreaking Title IX legislation. Title IX barred discrimination in higher education programs, including funding for sports and other extracurricular activities. As a result, women’s participation in team sports, particularly in collegiate athletics, […]
Continue ReadingNew Troops Sent To An Loc
South Vietnam’s 21st Division, decimated by repeated attempts to relieve An Loc, is replaced by the 25th Division. At the same time, U.S. helicopters flew 18th Division troops to positions south of An Loc to replace badly battered 9th Division troops that had also been trying to get to the […]
Continue ReadingAbrams Appointed As Army Chief Of Staff
President Richard Nixon appoints General Creighton W. Abrams, commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam, to be U.S. Army Chief of Staff. Abrams had become Gen. William Westmoreland’s deputy in 1967, and succeeded him as commander of all U.S. forces in Vietnam in July 1968 when Westmoreland returned to the […]
Continue ReadingCurt Flood Case Decided
On June 19, 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court rules against Curt Flood in Flood v. Kuhn, denying Flood free agency as a baseball player. Flood was trying to break the reserve clause that had tied baseball players to one franchise since the establishment of professional baseball. Curt Flood was traded […]
Continue ReadingMysterious Crash At Heathrow
On this day in 1972, a Trident jetliner crashes after takeoff from Heathrow Airport in London, killing 118 people. The official cause of this accident remains unknown, but it may have happened simply because the plane was carrying too much weight. As the summer of 1972 approached, there were serious […]
Continue ReadingWatergate Burglars Arrested
Five men are arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Senate investigations eventually revealed that President Richard Nixon had been personally involved in the subsequent cover-up of the break-in; additional investigation uncovered a related group of illegal activities that included political […]
Continue ReadingWatergate Break-Ins Set The Stage For All The President’s Men
On this day in 1972, five men are caught trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Continue ReadingWatergate Burglars Arrested
In the early morning of June 17, 1972, five men are arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate, an office-hotel-apartment complex in Washington, D.C. In their possession were burglary tools, cameras and film, and three pen-size tear gas guns. At the scene of the crime, […]
Continue ReadingNixon’s Re-Election Employees Are Arrested For Burglary
Five burglars are arrested in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office and apartment complex in Washington, D.C. James McCord, Frank Sturgis, Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, and Eugenio Martinez were apprehended in the early morning after a security guard at the Watergate noticed that several doors leading from […]
Continue ReadingHurricane Agnes Is Born
On this day in 1972, severe weather conditions over the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico begin to converge and form a tropical depression that would become Hurricane Agnes over the next two weeks. By the time the storm dissipated, damages were in the billions and 121 people were dead. Although incredibly […]
Continue ReadingLavelle Testifies Before Congress
Gen. John D. Lavelle, former four-star general and U.S. Air Force commander in Southeast Asia, testifies before the House Armed Services Committee. He had been relieved of his post in March and later demoted after it was determined that he had repeatedly ordered unauthorized bombings of military targets in North […]
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