Born in 1972
Turns 54 in 2026
Gifts for someone born in 1972
1972 Front PageTheir name. The news from their year.Unframed from $30.00Add their name
Their birth chartThe sky as astrology reads it, cast for one birth.Unframed from $30.00
The Years We Were BornThe whole family, together in years.Unframed from $30.00
Our Story timelineTheir life, told in your words.Unframed from $30.00
Front Page: United States edition. The year is filled in; add their name in the editor. “Your name” is a placeholder. Light news is selected. A new keepsake, not an original newspaper.
BACK TO 1972 · United States
A little history to go with their gift.
Apollo 17 completed the final crewed lunar landing, combining rover journeys with field geology. Atari’s Pong made electronic play easy to learn and watch, while Bobby Fischer’s victory over Boris Spassky ended 24 years of Soviet control of the world chess title.
What happened in 1972?
Nixon opens a door to China
Nixon's February 1972 visit to China brought the American president to Beijing and began a diplomatic opening between two Cold War powers.
Fischer defeats Spassky in Reykjavik
Fischer's victory over Spassky ended 24 years of Soviet control of the world chess title and became a Cold War sporting drama.
Bardeen Cooper and Schrieffer share a physics prize
The Nobel Prize recognized Bardeen, Cooper and Schrieffer for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity. The award brought attention to work that helped physicists explain how some materials conduct electricity without ordinary resistance.
Nobel Prize Outreach · U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science
Apollo 17 makes the last Apollo Moon landing
Apollo 17 landed in the Moon’s Taurus–Littrow valley on December 11, 1972.
Firsts and new ideas
Apollo 17 closes the Moon programme
NASA's Apollo 17 carried the final crewed lunar landing from 7 to 19 December 1972, combining rover journeys with field geology.
HP-35 ends the slide-rule habit
The HP-35 put trigonometric and logarithmic calculations into a handheld product, giving scientists and students a practical alternative to slide rules.
Number ones and music in 1972
Chart positions belong to the country and chart named in each record.
Bill Withers reaches No. 1 with “Lean on Me”
Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending July 8, 1972.
Eminem is born in St. Joseph
Eminem was born on 17 October 1972 and later turned Detroit's battle-rap tradition into a global mainstream music career.
Prices and everyday money in 1972
United States figures in the money of the time. Units and sources matter: these are not today's prices.
| Item or measure | Then | Unit and source |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic first-class letter postage | 8¢ | letter weighing one ounce or less Federal Register, U.S. Post Office Department; Smithsonian National Postal Museum |
| Federal minimum wage for workers covered by original FLSA and 1961 amendments | $1.60 | hour U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division; Congressional Record, U.S. House of Representatives; GovInfo |
| White pan bread, one-pound loaf, annual U.S. average | 24.7¢ | one-pound loaf U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service |
| Regular-grade gasoline, U.S. national annual retail average | 36.13¢ | U.S. gallon U.S. Census Bureau; Congressional Record, U.S. Senate; GovInfo, reprinting Associated Press |
Planning the birthday
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