Deaths on December 20

Adolfo Orsi

Died on December 20, 1972

Adolfo Orsi, Italian businessman (b. 1888)

Adolfo Orsi (23 March 1888 – 20 December 1972) was an Italian industrialist, known for owning the Maserati automobile maker.

Born within a poor family in Sant'Agnese, near Modena, Orsi lost his father in 1899 - an event that forced him to start working at a very young age. In the late 1920s he started his own business as scrap iron, steel mill and farm equipment manufacturer, eventually employing hundreds of people from Modena and the surrounding area. Orsi soon started pursuing interests outside of the company, including running the trolley company of Modena, and being involved with the local soccer team, Modena F.C. in its successful early years. With his brother, Marcello, he was also involved in a Fiat dealership, the Fiat A.M. Orsi (1935).

References

Adolfo Orsi

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Events on 1972

21 Feb

Sino-American relations
United States President Richard Nixon visits the People's Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.
8 May

Richard Nixon
Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon announces his order to place mines in major North Vietnamese ports in order to stem the flow of weapons and other goods to that nation.
22 May

Sri Lanka
Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a Republic, changes its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
23 Jun

Central Intelligence Agency
Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into the Watergate break-ins.
1 Sep

Bobby Fischer
In Reykjavík, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beats Russian Boris Spassky to become the world chess champion.

Deaths on December 20

Adolfo Orsi

Died on December 20, 1972

References

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Events on 1972

Sino-American relations

Richard Nixon

Sri Lanka

Central Intelligence Agency

Bobby Fischer