Since then, the world has taken a 180 degree turnwith significant advances, but also with some setbacks that challenge achievements achieved in recent decades. But what was reality like in 1972, the last time humans went to the Moon?
The last manned mission of the Apollo program
Shortly after Europe found itself plunged into the horrors of the Second World War, a new conflict, led by the two great powers of the time, the USA ea Soviet Unionknocked on the door again: Cold War. With it was born one of the main episodes that marked the 20th century: the space race.
The sixth and final mission took place at December 7, 1972with the Apollo 17which still holds the record for stay on the lunar surfacewith around 75 hours. O program was eventually closed due to lack of funding and lack of public interest.
At the time, the commander Eugene A. Cernanthe command module pilot Ronald E. Evans and the pilot of the lunar module Harrison H. Schmittthe first scientist astronaut to set foot on the Moon, were the main protagonists of the last mission in which human beings traveled beyond Earth’s orbit.
The beginning of Watergate: o scandal that shook the USA
On November 7, 1972, the Republican Richard Nixon was re-elected President of the United States, defeating Democrat George McGovern. However, this second term was marked by one of the biggest scandals of North American political history: the case Watergate. The controversy broke out and quickly turned the summer of that year into one of the most tense and turbulent in political life in the United States.
It all started to June 17thwhen five men were detained by the police in a attempt to bugthe interior of the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, housed in the Watergate complex in Washington, DC About a month earlier, four of them had already participated in a first break-in, which occurred on May 28, 1972.
The arrest of the five individuals was reported the following day by the which ended up expose a political espionage network which would profoundly shake the North-American administration.. The journalists discovered that the suspects had ties to the CIA and that one of them, James McCordwas head of security for the Republican President’s re-election campaign.
The Nixon administration initially denied any involvement in the robberywith the President himself doing so in August 1973, in a television broadcast in front of millions of Americans. However, journalistic and judicial investigations revealed a cover-up effort by the White Houseincluding destruction of evidence and pressure on official bodies.
A August 9, 1974two years after the start of the scandal WatergateRichard Nixon became the first president in United States history to resign. The decision was announced directly from the Oval Office, in a speech broadcast simultaneously on television and radio, motivated by the conviction that it would be the target of a process of impeachment and would end up being removed from office.
The Munich massacre Olympic Games
A September 5, 1972during the second week of the Munich Olympic Games, 11 athletes and coaches from the Israeli Olympic team were murdered by a Palestinian terrorist command, called “Black September”.
Known as the “Munich Massacre”the attack occurred at a time when the country was divided into two states: RFA – Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), where the city of Munich was located, and the RDA – German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
A lack of security by the West German Olympic Organizing Committee, designed to avoid an excessively militarized sporting event reminiscent of the Berlin Olympic Games (1936) under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, allowed eight members of the terrorist organization to infiltrate the Olympic Village, kill two members of the Israeli delegation and kidnapped nine others in two apartments where they were staying.
The terrorists demanded the release of 234 Palestinian prisoners and two German militants. After hours of unsuccessful negotiations, the kidnappers transported the hostages by helicopter to the Fürstenfeldbruck air base. One failed rescue attempt by the German police ended in tragedy: they died 17 peopleincluding all nine Israeli hostagesa policeman e five two terrorists.
The attack was accompanied by more than 900 million peoplethanks to the live broadcast of the television channel being the first live television broadcast of a terrorist attack during the Olympic Games.
The air disaster Andes Mountains
On October 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 carrying 45 people including the pilotsthe rugby team “Old Christians Club” friends and family crashed into Mount Seler, in Andes Mountainsduring a trip between Uruguay and Chile.
Of the 45 people on board, 12 died immediately following the fall and other six in the following days. Survivors who, while fighting to ensure their own survival and dealing with serious injuriesfaced extreme conditions, with temperatures reaching minus 30 degrees e rarefied air.
As the days passed, one of the biggest problems began to become evident: the fome. Initially, the survivors managed to maintain some nutrition with the snacks they brought in their suitcases or with the plane’s on-board service. When these reserves ran out, the group had to face the difficult decision of resorting to cannibalism to stay alive.
On the 17th day after the accident, a avalanche it reached the place where the plane had crashed, burying part of the group while everyone was sleeping. Of the few who had managed to survive until that day, eight ended up dyingremaining buried for three days.
The rescue of survivors only took place in December, around two months after the plane crashafter two members of the group began a 10-day trek through the Andes Mountains in search of help. Of the 45 passengers, only 16 managed to survive over more than 70 days, at the mercy of fate.
Portugal under the shadow of the Estado Novo
In 1972, Portugal already gave some signs of change towards freedom that many dreamed of, although few believed it was so close.
Even so, the country continued under the Estado Novo regime. Americo Tomas was re-elected President of the Republic that year, while Marcello Caetano he remained prime minister, having succeeded António de Oliveira Salazar in 1968.
It was a year marked by the intensification of social protest against the regime. THE Guerra Colonial continued to haunt the country, more than a decade after its beginning, while the political repression continued and criticism, both internal and international, grew stronger.
The student revolt of 1972
There were several episodes that marked the Portuguese DNA that year. One of the most striking was linked to the student movementwhich gained strength on May 16, following the riot police invasion to the Instituto Superior Técnico and the then Instituto Superior de Ciências Econômicas e Financeiras (ISCEF).
The student movement against the Government had a central figure: José Antônio Ribeiro Santos26-year-old Law student, murdered by a PIDE/DGS agent on October 12, 1972, in an ISCEF amphitheater, due to his opposition to the Estado Novo regime.
The period leading up to and following the funeral was marked by clashes e demonstrationswhich resulted in injuries and arrests, with repercussions that lasted over time.
A vigil at the Mouse Chapel
In the years leading up to April 25, 1974, the colonial war and the repression imposed by the Estado Novo dictatorship were the main reasons for revolt in Portuguese society.
One of the most striking episodes of this opposition occurred December 30, 1972with the Mouse Chapel Vigilin Lisbon. A group of progressive Catholics organized a vigil and fasting for peacein protest against the war in African colonies, which Portugal had been waging since 1961. Riot police interrupted the vigil the following day, after storming the chapel and detaining around 50 people.
The episode had immediate political repercussions in the following days: it led to an open debate in the National Assembly between the deputy Casal-Ribeirodefender of the regime, and deputy Miller Guerrafrom the Liberal Wing, which defended freedom of thought and expression and would end up resign from office the following month.
“The Three Marys”
In the area of culture, Maria Velho da Costa, Maria Teresa Horta e Maria Isabel Barrenobetter known as “The Three Marys” published the work “New Portuguese Letters”in which he denounced repression in the country and the lack of freedom and rights for women.
The book was seized by censorship three days after its publication and took the authors to court about a year later, accused of attack on public moralshaving been acquitted after April 25th.
