President Richard Nixon warns South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu in a private letter that his refusal to sign any negotiated peace agreement would render it impossible for the United States to continue assistance to South Vietnam. Nixon’s National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger had been working behind the scenes in […]
Continue ReadingYearly Archives: 1972
“American Pie” Hits #1 On The Pop Charts
On January 15, 1972, “American Pie,”, an epic poem in musical form that has long been etched in the American popular consciousness, hits #1 on the Billboard charts. The story of Don McLean’s magnum opus begins almost 13 years before its release, on a date with significance well-known to any […]
Continue ReadingNixon Announces Additional Troop Withdrawals
President Nixon announces that 70,000 U.S. troops will leave South Vietnam over the next three months, reducing U.S. troop strength there by May 1 to 69,000 troops.
Continue ReadingHubert Humphrey Criticizes President Nixon
Former Vice President Hubert Humphrey criticizes President Richard Nixon, saying that it was taking longer for President Nixon to withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam than it did to defeat Hitler.
Continue ReadingLaker Winning Streak Comes To An End
On January 9, 1972, the 24-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leads the Milwaukee Bucks in a 120-104 victory over Wilt Chamberlain and the Los Angeles Lakers, breaking the Lakers’ record 33-game winning streak, the longest of any team in American professional sports. Coached by former Boston Celtics star Bill Sharman and led […]
Continue ReadingQueen Elizabeth Destroyed By Fire
In Hong Kong harbor, a fire breaks out aboard the Queen Elizabeth, and by the next morning the famous vessel lies in a wreck on the bottom of the sea floor. The RMS Queen Elizabeth, boasting a 200,000-horsepower engine and an elegant art deco style, made its public debut in […]
Continue ReadingFire Breaks Out On Queen Elizabeth
On this day in 1972,, the ship Seawise University (formerly the RMS Queen Elizabeth) sinks in Hong Kong Harbor despite a massive firefighting effort over two days. The Queen Elizabeth, named after the wife of King George VI, was launched on September 27, 1938; at the time, it was the […]
Continue ReadingNixon Launches The Space Shuttle Program
Also on this day in presidential history, Richard Nixon signs a bill authorizing $5.5 million in funding to develop a space shuttle. The space shuttle represented a giant leap forward in the technology of space travel. Designed to function more like a cost-efficient “reusable” airplane than a one-use-only rocket-launched capsules, […]
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