1972

Birmingham's skyline with smog, August 1972

Cover of Stay Hungry, published 1972

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

Events

20th Street North in May 1972

• 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.
• Frank Barker and Bill Hay founded the Birmingham Theological Seminary at Edgewood Presbyterian Church.
• 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.
• William Noble was elected to the first of six terms as Mayor of Gardendale.
• April 1: The original Tutwiler Hotel closed its doors.
• May 18: The Birmingham Festival Theatre debuted with a performance of "The Threepenny Opera" at East Lake Library.
• July 15: The Buzzard Roost Bridge was destroyed by fire.
• Fall: The Red Mountain School opened.
• 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

• April: The Forty Thieves Restaurant and Lounge opened in Lakeview
• April: Seafood & Chicken Box opened.
• Ken Forbes, Jr opened the Angry Revolt head shop in Homewood.
• BE&K was founded.
• Chuck Binninger founded the Electronic Repair Company in East Lake.
• The Food World chain was launched by Bruno's.
• Carl Miller purchased office furniture dealer Bodine, Bryson and Rolling.
• The Owen-Richards Company became Motion Industries.
• The Salt and Pepper chain of fast food restaurants debuted with eight locations in Birmingham.
• The Thomas Jefferson Hotel was renamed the "Cabana Hotel".
• Trilogy Leather was founded.
• WBRC-FM and WBRC-AM were acquired by Mooney Broadcasting.
• WJLD-AM moved from downtown to Spaulding Ishkooda Road in Mason City.

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.

Works

Buildings

The First National-Southern Natural Building

• Arthur Elementary School
• Barber's Dairy dairy plant
• 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)
• Sheraton Inn at I-65 and 3rd Avenue North
• Ski Lodge Apartments I
• Tannehill Valley Estates bridge
• Garywood Assembly of God, new 450-seat sanctuary
• Expansion of Children's Hospital
• Completion of the Monte D'Oro subdivision
• Renovations to the YWCA Building
• May: The Arnold Palmer Putting Course opened at Cascade Plunge.
• July 22: Sloss Blast Furnace Site: 1st Avenue North was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Books

• Stay Hungry by Charles Gaines
• Reprint edition of Ethel Armes' 1910 The Story of Coal and Iron in Alabama by Book Keeper's Press

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

Individuals

• Elmer Moree left Woodlawn High School to become the first headmaster of Franklin Academy.
• Camille Desmarais was named rector of St John's Episcopal Church for the Deaf.

Births

• January 30: Jennifer Hale, actress and voice-over artist
• March 1: Jerome Murkerson, U. S. Marine gunnery sergeant killed in Iraq
• June 15: Carlos Subero, 2008 Birmingham Barons manager
• June 19: James-Paul Dice, meteorologist
• June 19: Antonio Spurling, attorney and real estate developer
• July 20: Jay Barker, football player and radio personality
• December 27: Walter Maddox, Mayor of Tuscaloosa
• Frank Adams, Jr, health care consultant, president of A. G. Gaston Boys and Girls Clubs
• Trey Devey, former executive director of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra
• Dearniki Echols, community activist
• Sandi Gregory, attorney
• Chiquita Holloway, education specialist
• Sean Meyer, sommelier
• Chris Newsome, chef
• Conlin Payne, Lipscomb Police chief
• Shannon Riley, president of One Stop Environmental

Graduations

• Kamau Afrika graduated from Parker High School.
• Dale Benos earned a bachelor's in biology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
• David Cromwell Johnson earned his juris doctorate from the Birmingham School of Law.
• David Cutcliffe graduated from Banks High School.
• Larry DeLucas earned a degree in chemistry from UAB.
• Owen Drake earned his associate's degree from Jefferson State Community College
• Rob Henrikson earned his juris doctorate at the Emory University School of Law.
• Larry Langford earned a degree in social and behavioral sciences from UAB.
• Branko Medenica earned a bachelor's degree in business at Birmingham-Southern College.
• Kim Price graduated from Benjamin Russell High School.
• Gary Weinberger completed a bachelors in American studies at the University of Alabama.
• Tobias Wolff earned a degree in English from Hertford College, Oxford.

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)
• October 12: Walter Roland, blues pianist

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 1972

See Also

• 1972 Birmingham Athletics

1970s

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