At A Glance

11 August 1972 at a glance

Day of the week
11 August 1972 was a Friday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “School's Out” by Alice Cooper.
Top Film of 1972
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1972 was The Godfather.
Star sign
The star sign for 11 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 11 August 1972 fell in the Year of the Rat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 11 August 1972 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 11 August

  • 1962 Vostok 3 launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev becomes the first person to float in microgravity.
  • 1969 The Apollo 11 astronauts are released from a three-week quarantine following their liftoff from the Moon.
  • 1972 Vietnam War: The last United States ground combat unit leaves South Vietnam.
  • 1973 At the 1520 Sedgwick Avenue apartment building in The Bronx, New York, DJ Kool Herc hosts a house party widely considered to mark the birthplace of hip-hop culture and music. DJ Kool Herc demonstrates a new technique of beat juggling and Coke La Rock performs a new style of vocal performance called rapping.
  • 1975 East Timor: Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a coup by the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.

Famous people born on 11 August

  • Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani general and politician, 10th President of Pakistan (1943–2023)
  • Chris Hemsworth, Australian actor (born 1983)
  • Viola Davis, American actress (born 1965)
  • Hulk Hogan, American professional wrestler (1953–2025)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1972 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1972 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 1 April – William Whitelaw is appointed as the first Northern Ireland Secretary.
  • 4 April – First broadcast of the long-running BBC Television children's programme Newsround.
  • 12 May – The Crown Court is established by the Courts Act 1971 to replace the courts of Assize and Quarter Sessions in England and Wales. Property qualifications requiring jurors to be householders are abolished.
More events of 1972 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in 1972

Prime Minister

Edward Heath

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

18p

Loaf of Bread

11p

Average House

£7,374

Weekly Wage

£36.10

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1970s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Matthew Rhys8 November 1974ActorView their day →Hannah Waddingham28 July 1974ActressView their day →Andy Burnham7 January 1970PoliticianView their day →Christopher Nolan30 July 1970FilmmakerView their day →Lucy Davis17 February 1973ActressView their day →Tom Hardy15 September 1977ActorView their day →Christian Bale30 January 1974ActorView their day →Kelly Macdonald23 February 1976ActressView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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