1972

1972 was the 101st year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

Events

• First National Bank was renamed AmSouth Bancorporation.
• Mary Kay Beard made the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.
• St Elias Maronite Church hosted the 1972 National Apostolate of Maronites convention.
• James C. Parsons was named Birmingham Police Chief.
• Joe Shannon retired from the U. S. Air Force.
• Ralph M. Tanner was succeeded Charles D. Hounshell as President of Birmingham-Southern College.
• George Wallace was shot on the campaign trail. Jere Beasley served as acting governor.
• Bull Connor was defeated in re-election bid for the Alabama Public Service Commission.
• Gage Bush Englund donated her collection of dolls to the Birmingham Public Library.
• The Tuscaloosa Sailing Club was founded.
• The Grand Bijou Theatre revival cinema opened in the former Lyric Theatre.
• Bert Bank was appointed to oversee the implementation of court-ordered patient care improvements at Bryce Hospital and Partlow Hospital.
• April 1: The original Tutwiler Hotel closed its doors.
• October 2: John Scates was sworn in as Mayor of Vestavia Hills.
• November 10: Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham was hijacked and flown to Havana, Cuba.
• December 31: Bernard Kincaid married Alfreda Harris.

Business

• BE&K was founded.
• Trilogy Leather was founded.
• WJLD-AM moved from downtown to Spaulding Ishkooda Road in Mason City.
• Carl Miller purchased office furniture dealer Bodine, Bryson and Rolling.
• The Owen-Richards Company became Motion Industries.
• April: Seafood & Chicken Box opened.

Sports

• October: Alabama A&M beat Alabama State 8-7 in the Magic City Classic.
• December 2: Auburn defeated Alabama with two blocked punts in the 1972 Iron Bowl.
• Jimmy Means joined the Alabama Gang.
• Richard Gilliam was hired as Montevallo High School basketball coach.
• Eli Gold debuted as a sports announcer for the Mutual Broadcasting System.
• Mel Allen was inducted into the Sportswriters and Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Graduations

• Kamau Afrika graduated from Parker High School.
• David Cutcliffe graduated from Banks High School.
• Larry Langford earned a degree in social and behavioral sciences from UAB.
• Larry DeLucas earned a degree in chemistry from UAB.
• Tobias Wolff earned a degree in English from Hertford College, Oxford.
• David Cromwell Johnson earned his juris doctorate from the Birmingham School of Law.

Works

Buildings

• Arthur Elementary School
• Birmingham International Airport Terminal Building
• Carson Filter Plant
• Daniel Payne College, Sayreton Road campus
• East Town Shopping Center
• First National-Southern Natural Building (now Regions Center)
• Homewood High School
• Mercy Hospital (now Cooper Green Mercy Hospital)
• Ski Lodge Apartments I
• Tannehill Valley Estates bridge
• Expansion of Children's Hospital
• July 22: Sloss Blast Furnace Site: 1st Avenue North was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Books

• Stay Hungry by Charles Gaines

Films and TV

• Fair Play, starring Phillip Alford
• The Erotic Adventures of Zorro and The Adult Version of Jeckyll & Hide, produced by David F. Friedman
• Kate Jackson appeared in "The Rookies"

Songs

• "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", The Temptations, featuring Dennis Edwards
• "Black Tattler" / "Stop the Merry-Go-Round" & "Black Haze Express", Sam Dees
• ""I've Been Lonely for So Long." Frederick Knight, recorded by Neal Hemphill

People

• Elmer Moree left Woodlawn High School to become the first headmaster of Franklin Academy.

Births

• Sandra Gregory, abducted lawyer
• January 30: Actor Jennifer Hale
• July 20: Jay Barker, football player and radio personality

Deaths

• Bill Battle Jr, Birmingham-Southern athletic director
• Clifford Stiles, owner of the Redmont Hotel from 1946.
• May 4: Reverend Arthur W. Dycer
• October 10: Tom Stewart, U. S. Senator (Tennessee)

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 1972

See Also

• 1972 Birmingham Athletics

1970s

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