Editing 1972 (section)

===January===
{{Main|January 1972}}
* [[January 1]] – [[Kurt Waldheim]] becomes [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-waldheim-factbox/factbox-the-life-of-ex-un-head-kurt-waldheim-idUSL1487718320070614|title=FACTBOX: The life of ex-U.N. head Kurt Waldheim|date=June 14, 2007|access-date=June 8, 2019|agency=Reuters}}</ref>
* [[January 4]] – The first scientific hand-held calculator ([[HP-35]]) is introduced (price $395).<ref>{{cite book|title=1976 WESCON Technical Papers: Western Electronic Show and Convention : Papers Presented at the Western Electronic Show and Convention in Los Angeles, California, September 14–17, 1976|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2klGAQAAIAAJ|year=1976|publisher=Western Electronic Show and Convention|page=1}}</ref>
* [[January 7]] – [[Iberia Airlines Flight 602]] crashes into a 462-meter peak on the island of [[Ibiza]]; 104 are killed.
* [[January 9]] – The [[RMS Queen Elizabeth|RMS ''Queen Elizabeth'']] catches fire and sinks in Hong Kong's Victoria harbor while undergoing conversion to a floating university.
* [[January 10]] – Independence leader [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] returns to [[Bangladesh]] after spending over nine months in prison in Pakistan.<ref name="Johari1991">{{cite book|author=J. C. Johari|title=Governments and Politics of South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZF0hAQAAIAAJ|year=1991|publisher=Link Press|isbn=978-1-873444-00-9|page=378}}</ref>
* [[January 11]] – Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declares a new constitutional government in Bangladesh, with himself as president.<ref name="Johari1991"/>
* [[January 12]] – In a 10-hour siege, a cell of 4 left-wing insurgents hold off a task force of 2500 army soldiers and police agents in [[Santo Domingo]], [[Dominican Republic]]: eight members of the security forces and the entire insurgent cell are killed in the course of the siege.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.diariolibre.com%2Fespeciales%2Freportajes%2Fla-intensa-batalla-en-que-acribillaron-a-los-palmeros-GK11820723|title=La intensa batalla en que acribillaron a Los Palmeros|website=Diario Libre|access-date=September 2, 2021}}</ref>
* [[January 13]] – Prime Minister of [[Ghana]] [[Kofi Abrefa Busia]] is overthrown in a military coup by Colonel [[Ignatius Kutu Acheampong]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Who's who in Africa: The Political, Military and Business Leaders of Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DA4ZAQAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=African Development|isbn=978-0-9502755-0-5|page=162}}</ref>
* [[January 14]] – Queen [[Margrethe II of Denmark]] succeeds her father, King [[Frederik IX of Denmark|Frederik IX]], on the throne of Denmark, the first queen regnant of Denmark since 1412 and the first Danish monarch not named Frederick or Christian since 1513.
*[[January 18]] – Members of the [[Mukti Bahini]] lay down their arms to the government of the newly independent [[Bangladesh]], 33 days after winning the war against the occupying [[Pakistan Army]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1027878cf31917aa32db9fe6d6d1635f|title=Bangladesh Guerrilla Fighters Give Up Arms in Dhaka|agency=Associated Press|access-date=March 8, 2021|date=January 18, 1972}}</ref>
* [[January 19]] – The [[Libertarianism|Libertarian]] enclave [[Republic of Minerva|Minerva]] on a platform in the South Pacific, sponsored by the [[Phoenix Foundation]], declares independence. Soon neighboring [[Tonga]] annexes the area and dismantles the platform.
* [[January 20]] – President [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]] announces that Pakistan will immediately begin a [[nuclear weapon]]s program.
* [[January 21]]
** A New Delhi [[moonshine|bootlegger]] sells [[methanol|wood alcohol]] to a wedding party; 100 people die.
** [[Tripura]], part of the former independent [[Twipra Kingdom]], becomes a full [[States and union territories of India|state of India]].
* [[January 24]] – Japanese soldier [[Shoichi Yokoi]] is discovered in [[Guam]]; he has spent 28 years in the jungle, having failed to surrender after [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite book|last=LastName|first=FirstName|title=The last Japanese soldier: Corporal Yokoi's 28 incredible years in the Guam jungle|publisher=Tom Stacey Ltd|location=London|year=1972|isbn=9780854682935|page=7}}</ref>
* [[January 26]]
** [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]n air stewardess [[Vesna Vulović]] is the only survivor when her plane crashes in [[Czechoslovakia]]. She survives after falling {{convert|10160|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}} in the tail section of the aircraft.<ref>{{cite news|last=Zimonjic|first=Vesna|newspaper=The Independent|title=Too good to be true? Miracle woman who survived '33,000ft fall'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/too-good-to-be-true-miracle-woman-who-survived-33000ft-fall-6294556.html|date=January 26, 2012|access-date=August 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810043228/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/too-good-to-be-true-miracle-woman-who-survived-33000ft-fall-6294556.html|archive-date=August 10, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> 
** The [[Aboriginal Tent Embassy]] is set up on the lawn of [[Parliament House, Canberra|Parliament House]] in [[Canberra]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Lines|first=William|title=Taming the great south land : a history of the conquest of nature in Australia|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|year=1991|isbn=9780520078307|page=244}}</ref>
* [[January 30]]
** [[Bloody Sunday (1972)|Bloody Sunday]]: The British Army kills 14 unarmed [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] civil rights marchers in [[Derry]], Northern Ireland.
** [[Pakistan]] withdraws from the [[Commonwealth of Nations]].
* [[January 31]] – King [[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra]] succeeds his father as King of [[Nepal]].