At A Glance

21 May 1972 at a glance

Day of the week
21 May 1972 was a Sunday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Metal Guru” by T. Rex.
Top Film of 1972
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1972 was The Godfather.
Star sign
The star sign for 21 May is Gemini.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 21 May 1972 fell in the Year of the Rat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for May is Emerald.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 21 May 1972 was Waxing Gibbous.

On this day: 21 May

  • 1966 The Ulster Volunteer Force declares war on the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland.
  • 1972 Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal, the mentally disturbed Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth.
  • 1981 The Italian government releases the membership list of Propaganda Due, an illegal pseudo-Masonic lodge that was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries.
  • 1981 Transamerica Corporation agrees to sell United Artists to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $380 million after the box office failure of the 1980 film Heaven's Gate.
  • 1988 Margaret Thatcher holds her controversial Sermon on the Mound before the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

Famous people born on 21 May

  • Josh Allen, American football player (born 1996)
  • Mr. T, American actor and wrestler (born 1952)
  • The Notorious B.I.G., American rapper (1972–1997)
  • Karen Khachanov, Russian tennis player (born 1996)

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.

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

Browse by Year

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)

About The Day You Were Born

Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.

About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →