At A Glance

15 August 1972 at a glance

Day of the week
15 August 1972 was a Tuesday.
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 15 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 15 August 1972 fell in the Year of the Rat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 15 August 1972 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 15 August

  • 1969 The Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in Bethel, New York, featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.
  • 1970 Patricia Palinkas becomes the first woman to play professionally in an American football game.
  • 1971 President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard by ending convertibility of the United States dollar into gold by foreign investors.
  • 1971 Bahrain gains independence from the United Kingdom.
  • 1975 Takeo Miki makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.

Famous people born on 15 August

  • Napoleon, French general and emperor (1769–1821)
  • Ben Affleck, American actor and filmmaker (born 1972)
  • Jennifer Lawrence, American actress and producer (born 1990)
  • Joe Jonas, American singer, songwriter, and actor (born 1989)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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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.

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.

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

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