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 problems facing the air-travel industry. […]
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 espionage and falsification of official […]
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, and in rooms the men […]
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 the stairwell to various hallways […]
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 strong winds hit the Florida […]
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 Vietnam. Court-martial charges were brought […]
Continue ReadingSouth Vietnamese Soldiers Reach An Loc
Part of a relief column composed mainly of South Vietnamese 21st Division troops finally arrives in the outskirts of An Loc. The division had been trying to reach the besieged city since April 9, when it had been moved from its normal station in the Mekong Delta and ordered to attack up Highway 13 from […]
Continue ReadingFlash Flood Hits Rapid City
A flash flood in Rapid City, South Dakota, kills more than 200 people on this day in 1972. This flood demonstrated the danger of building homes and businesses in a floodplain region. The native Sioux called the river Minnelusa when European settlers overtook the Black Hills region in 1876 as part of one of the […]
Continue ReadingFlash Flood Hits Rapid City
A flash flood in Rapid City, South Dakota, kills more than 200 people on this day in 1972. This flood demonstrated the danger of building homes and businesses in a floodplain region. The native Sioux called the river Minnelusa when European settlers overtook the Black Hills region in 1876 as part of one of the […]
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