Events of Our Senior Year
September 1972
1 - Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky in a chess match at Reykjavík, Iceland, and becomes the first American chess champion
4 - The Price Is Right debuts on CBS.
17 - M*A*S*H debuts on CBS.
October 1972
8 - R. Sargent Shriver is chosen to replace Thomas Eagleton as the U.S. vice-presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.
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 fifty sailors are injured.
25 - The first female FBI agents are hired.
30 - US President Richard Nixon approves legislation to increase Social Security spending by US$5.3 billion.
November 1972
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).
11 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.
December 1972
7 - Apollo 17 (Gene Cernan, Ron Evans, Harrison Schmitt), the last manned mission to the Moon, is launched.
8 - United Airlines 737 from Washington National to Chicago Midway crashes short of the runway, killing 43 of 61 onboard and 2 on ground.
8 - Over $10,000 cash is found in the purse of Watergate conspirator Howard Hunt's wife.
26 - Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States dies of heart failure.
29 - An Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-1011 crashes into the Everglades in Florida, killing 101 of 163 onboard.
January 1973
3 - Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led by George Steinbrenner.
8 - The USSR launches Luna 21 for Moon landing.
11 – Trail of the Watergate burglars begins in Washington DC.
15 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
17 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes President for Life of the Philippines
20 - U.S. President Richard Nixon is inaugurated for his second term.
22 - Lyndon Johnson, President of the United States dies
22 - The U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Roe v. Wade, overturns state bans on abortion.
22 - George Foreman breaks Joe Frazier's professional career undefeated heavyweight world boxing champion status.
27 - U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ends with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.
February 1973
3 – President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act into law.
11 - Vietnam War: The first release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place.
March 1973
23 - Watergate scandal: - In a letter to Judge John Sirica, Watergate burglar James W. McCord Jr. admits that he and other defendants have been pressured to remain silent about the case. He names Attorney General John Mitchell as 'overall boss' of the operation.
24 - Pink Floyd releases The Dark Side of the Moon.
26 – Soap opera “The Young and the Restless” premiers.
28 – Last US troops leave Vietnam, nine years after Tonkin Gulf Resolution.
April 1973
4 - The World Trade Center officially opens in New York with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
6 - Pioneer 11 is launched.
30 – President Nixon announces the resignation of Haldeman, Ehrlichman, et al.
May 1973
3 - The Sears Tower in Chicago is topped out as the world's tallest building.
14 - Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.
14 – US Supreme court approves equal rights to females in the military.
17 - Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.
22 - The Ethernet is invented by Robert Metcalfe.
22 – President Nixon confesses his role in the Watergate cover-up.
June 1973
4 - A patent for the ATM is granted to Don Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain.
22 - William Mark Felt ("Deep Throat") retires from the FBI.