1972

• February 18 – U.S. President Richard Nixon visits China.
• May 15 – Governor George C. Wallace of Alabama is shot by Arthur H. Bremer at a Laurel, Maryland political rally.
• June 13-22 – Hurricane Agnes strikes Florida and moves through the East Coast of the United States. In Pennsylvania and New York, Agnes caeses heavy flooding that kills many people. Total damage from the storm is $3 billion.
• June 29 – The United States Supreme Court rules that the death penalty is unconstitutional.
• July 25 – The first newspaper stories about the Tuskegee syphilis experiment are published. This will lead to the end of the experiment, where poor African-Americans were infected with syphilis and not given treatment.
• September 17 – The television comedy series M*A*S*H premieres in the United States.
• Writer and pen club president Heinrich Böll receives the Nobel Prize for literature.

• January 2 – Adam Elliot, Australian animator
• January 11 – Amanda Peet, American actress
• January 16 - Greg Page, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
• February 17 – Billie Joe Armstrong, American singer (Green Day)
• February 17 – Yuki Isoya, Japanese singer (Judy and Mary)
• March 6 – Shaquille O'Neal, professional basketball player, actor and rapper
• March 7 - Simon Pryce, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
• March 15 – Mark Hoppus, American musician (Blink 182)
• March 17 – Oksana Grishuk, Ukrainian figure skater
• March 23 – Jonas Björkman, Swedish tennis player
• April 17 – Jennifer Garner, American actress
• April 20 – Carmen Electra, American model
• May 2 – Dwayne Johnson, Retired professional wrestler and actor
• May 4 – Mike Dirnt, American musician (Green Day)
• May 6 – Martin Brodeur, Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender
• June 23 – Zinedine Zidane, French footballer
• August 6 – Geri Halliwell, English singer (Spice Girls)
• August 7 - Heidi Cruz, American investment manager
• August 9 – Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez, Colombian singer ad songwriter
• August 15 – Ben Affleck, American actor
• August 25 – Rachael Ray, American talk show host and cook
• August 27 – Denise Lewis, English athlete
• August 27 – Dalip Singh Rana, Indian professional wrestler and actor
• August 30 – Cameron Diaz, American actress
• September 7 - Simon Nash, English actor
• September 28 – Gwyneth Paltrow, American actress
• October 17 – Eminem, American rapper
• December 9 – Tré Cool, American musician (Green Day)
• December 19 – Alyssa Milano, American actress
• December 28 – Pat Rafter, Australian tennis player

January

• January 16 – Ross Bagdasarian, American actor and songwriter (b. 1919)
• January 27 – Mahalia Jackson, American gospel singer (b. 1911)
• January 31 – King Mahendra of Nepal (b. 1920)

February

• February 20 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist (b. 1906)

March

• March 22 – Miguel Gustavo, Brazilian journalist, radio personality and composer (b. 1922)
• March 31 – Meena Kumari, Indian actress and poet (b. 1933)

April

• April 6 – Heinrich Lübke, 2nd President of Germany (b. 1894)
• April 25 – George Sanders, British actor (b. 1906)
• April 27 – Kwame Nkrumah, 1st President of Ghana (b. 1909)

May

• May 2 – J. Edgar Hoover, 1st Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (b. 1895)
• May 11 – Lee Beom-seok, Prime Minister of South Korea (b. 1900)
• May 28 – King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)

June

July

• July 31 – Paul-Henri Spaak, 31st Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)

August

September

• September 15 – Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, 2nd President of Iceland (b. 1894)

October

• October 1 – Louis Leakey, British archaeologist and naturalist (b. 1903)

November

December

• December 1 – Antonio Segni, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1891)
• December 2 – Yip Man, Hong Kong martial artist (b. 1893)
• December 26 – Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States (b. 1884)
• December 27 – Lester Pearson, 14th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1897)

• Deliverance
• Super Fly
• The Godfather
• The Posiedon Adventure
• What's Up, Doc

• "People Need Love" – ABBA
• "He Is Your Brother" – ABBA
• "Starman" – David Bowie
• "Take It Easy" – The Eagles
• "Jealous Guy" – John Lennon
• "All The Young Dudes" – Mott the Hoople
• "You're So Vain" – Carly Simon
• "Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard" – Paul Simon
• "Mother and Child Reunion" – Paul Simon
• "Duncan" – Paul Simon
• "America" – Simon and Garfunkel
• "You Wear It Well" – Rod Stewart
• "Ben"- Michael Jackson
• "Parle plus bas (Le Parrain)"- Dalida
• "Les choses de l'amour"- Dalida
• "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me" – Mac Davis
• "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" – Simon and Garfunkel
• "American Pie" – Don McLean
• "Horse With No Name" – America
• "Ventura Highway" – America
• "Crocodile Rock" – Elton John
• "Rocket Man" – Elton John
• "Layla" – Derek & the Dominoes
• "Rock & Roll Part 2" – Gary Glitter
• "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" – Jim Croce
• "The Candyman" – Sammy Davis Jr.
• "Lean on Me" – Bill Withers
• "Freddie's Dead (Theme From Superfly)" – Curtis Mayfield
• "If You Don't Know Me By Now" – Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes
• "I Gotcha" – Joe Tex
• "Without You" – Harry Nilsson
• "Let's Stay Together" – Al Green
• "Brand New Key" – Melanie
• "Signs" – The Drifters
• "My Ding-A-Ling" – Chuck Berry
• "Morning Has Broken" – Cat Stevens
• "I Can See Clearly Now" – Johnny Nash
• "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" – Roberta Flack
• "I'll Take You There" – The Staple Singers
• "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" – Looking Glass
• "Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)" – Hollies
• Papa Was a Rollin' Stone – The Temptations
• "Heart of Gold" – Neil Young
• "Alone Again (Naturally)" – Gilbert O'Sullivan
• "Nights in White Satin" – The Moody Blues
• "Back Stabbers" – The O'Jays
• "I'm Stone in Love With You" – The Stylistics
• "I Am Woman" – Helen Reddy
• "I Gotcha" – Joe Tex
• "Song Sung Blue" – Neil Diamond
• "The Candy Man" – Sammy Davis Jr.
• "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" – Robert John
• "Rock and Roll" – Led Zeppelin
• "Metal Guru" – T.Rex
• "Two Divided By Love" – The Grass Roots
• "Burning Love" – Elvis Presley
• "Joy" – Apollo 100

• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson

Media related to 1972 at Wikimedia Commons