1972Nov, 28
Last executions in Paris: Claude Buffet and Roger Bontems are guillotined at La Santé Prison.
Claude Buffet (19 May 1933 – 28 November 1972) was a French criminal who was executed along with his accomplice, Roger Bontems (1936–1972), on 28 November 1972 by guillotine at La Santé Prison and buried at Ivry Cemetery. Both men had been convicted of the murders of prison warder Guy Girardot and prison nurse Nicole Comte in 1971, whom they had taken hostage while Buffet was already serving a life sentence in Clairvaux Prison. Robert Badinter was their defence lawyer.
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Events on 1972
- 21Feb
Sino-American relations
United States President Richard Nixon visits the People's Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations. - 8May
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. - 22May
Sri Lanka
Ceylon adopts a new constitution, becoming a Republic, changes its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations. - 23Jun
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. - 1Sep
Bobby Fischer
In Reykjavík, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beats Russian Boris Spassky to become the world chess champion.