1972 in Michigan

Decades:	1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s;
See also:	History of Michigan; Historical outline of Michigan; List of years in Michigan; 1972 in the United States;

Events from the year 1972 in Michigan.

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The Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI) each selected the top news stories in Michigan for 1972 as follows:^[1]^[2]

The court order issued by federal judge Stephen Roth requiring cross-district busing throughout metropolitan Detroit (AP-1, UPI-1);
The beginning of the Michigan Lottery (AP-2, UPI-4);
The defeat of Proposal B that would have amended the state constitution to liberalize Michigan's abortion law (AP-3, UPI-3);
George Wallace's victory, attributed to the busing issue, in the 1972 Democratic Party Presidential primary with 51% of the vote (AP-4, UPI-2 [elections]);
The defeat of a ballot proposal that would have changed Michigan's system of funding public education, placed a cap on property taxes, and provided for a graduated income tax (AP-6, UPI-7);
Controversy concerning the Detroit Police Department's STRESS unit and a shootout between STRESS officers and off-duty Wayne County sheriff's deputies, resulting in the death of a deputy (AP-5, UPI-10);
The U.S. Senate campaign in which incumbent Republican Robert P. Griffin defeated Democratic challenger Frank J. Kelley (AP-9, UPI-2 [elections];
The skyjacking of an airliner by two Detroit residents, first to Detroit, then to Canada, and finally to Cuba (AP-10, UPI-9);
A school funding crisis in Detroit after voters thrice rejected millage proposals (UPI-5)
The automobile industry's record sales and profits and controversies over price increases, safety, and emission equipment (UPI-6);
High winds that pushed water over the shoreline and resulted in six counties being declared federal disaster areas (AP-7);
A collision near Port Huron that resulted in the sinking of the Sidney Smith in the St. Clair River, blocking the navigation channel (AP-8); and
Michigan's meat law prohibiting use of udders, snouts, and spleen in making hot dogs and lunch meat was overturned by a federal court (UPI-8).

The AP and UPI also selected the state's top sports stories as follows:^[3]^[4]

The 1972 Detroit Tigers winning the American League East division championship with a record of 86–70, then losing to the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series (AP-1 [ALCS], AP-2 [AL East championship], UPI-2);
Duffy Daugherty's resignation after 19 years as head coach of the Michigan State Spartans football team and the hiring of Denny Stolz as his replacement (AP-3 [Daugherty], AP-5 [Stolz], UPI-1 [both]);
Michigan Wolverines football, including the 1971 team's 13-12 loss to Stanford in the 1972 Rose Bowl and the 1972 team's 11-1 season and season-ending loss to Ohio State with Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler refusing to kick a game-tying field goal late in the game (AP-4 [OSU game], AP-9 [1972 Rose Bowl], UPI-3 [Rose Bowl and 1972 season]);
Gary Player's victory at the 1972 PGA Championship held at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township (AP-6 [tie], UPI-8);
Micki King's winning the gold medal in the springboard diving event at the 1972 Summer Olympics (AP-12, UPI-7);
The induction of Gordie Howe into the Hockey Hall of Fame and son Mark Howe's becoming the only Michigan athlete to medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics (UPI-3);
The 1972 Detroit Lions compiling an 8-5-1 record and failing to make the playoffs (UPI-5);
The 1971–72 Detroit Red Wings' finishing in fifth place and failing to make the playoffs (UPI-6);
The failure of a proposed domed stadium in downtown Detroit after the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the proposed manner of selling bonds to finance the stadium was illegal (AP-6 [tie]);
The hiring of Burt Smith as Michigan State University's athletic director (AP-6 [tie]);
Ed Brinkman setting several Major League Baseball fielding records for shortstops (AP-9);
Greg Landry's signing of a three-year contract with the Detroit Lions (AP-10 [tie]);
The Detroit Tigers' purchase of Woodie Fryman in early August and his winning 10 games for the Tigers in August and September (AP-10 [tie]); and
Michigan's high school basketball championships won by Flint Northern (Class A), River Rouge (Class B), Shelby (Class C), and Ewen-Trout Creek (Class D) (UPI-10).

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[2]

[3]

[4]

1970 Rank	City	County	1960 Pop.	1970 Pop.	1980 Pop.	Change 1970-80
1	Detroit	Wayne	1,670,144	1,514,063	1,203,368	−20.5%
2	Grand Rapids	Kent	177,313	197,649	181,843	−8.0%
3	Flint	Genesee	196,940	193,317	159,611	−17.4%
4	Warren	Macomb	89,246	179,260	161,134	−10.1%
5	Lansing	Ingham	107,807	131,403	130,414	−0.8%
6	Livonia	Wayne	66,702	110,109	104,814	−4.8%
7	Dearborn	Wayne	112,007	104,199	90,660	−13.0%
8	Ann Arbor	Washtenaw	67,340	100,035	107,969	7.9%
9	Saginaw	Saginaw	98,265	91,849	77,508	−15.6%
10	St. Clair Shores	Macomb	76,657	88,093	76,210	−13.5%
11	Westland	Wayne	60,743	86,749	84,603	−2.5%
12	Royal Oak	Oakland	80,612	86,238	70,893	−17.8%
13	Kalamazoo	Kalamazoo	82,089	85,555	79,722	−6.8%
14	Pontiac	Oakland	82,233	85,279	76,715	−10.0%
15	Dearborn Heights	Wayne	61,118	80,069	67,706	−15.4%
16	Taylor	Wayne	na	70,020	77,568	10.8%

1970 Rank	County	Largest city	1960 Pop.	1970 Pop.	1980 Pop.	Change 1970-80
1	Wayne	Detroit	2,666,297	2,666,751	2,337,891	−12.3%
2	Oakland	Pontiac	690,259	907,871	1,011,793	11.4%
3	Macomb	Warren	405,804	625,309	694,600	11.1%
4	Genesee	Flint	374,313	444,341	450,449	1.4%
5	Kent	Grand Rapids	363,187	411,044	444,506	8.1%
6	Ingham	Lansing	211,296	261,039	275,520	5.5%
7	Washtenaw	Ann Arbor	172,440	234,103	264,748	13.1%
8	Saginaw	Saginaw	190,752	219,743	228,059	3.8%
9	Kalamazoo	Kalamazoo	169,712	201,550	212,378	5.4%
10	Berrien	Benton Harbor	149,865	163,875	171,276	4.5%
11	Muskegon	Muskegon	129,943	157,426	157,589	0.1%
12	Jackson	Jackson	131,994	143,274	151,495	5.7%
13	Calhoun	Battle Creek	138,858	141,963	141,557	−0.3%
14	Ottawa	Holland	98,719	128,181	157,174	22.6%
15	St. Clair	Port Huron	107,201	120,175	138,802	15.5%
16	Monroe	Monroe	101,120	118,479	134,659	13.7%
17	Bay	Bay City	107,042	117,339	119,881	2.2%

1972 in Michigan

Office holders

State office holders

Mayors of major cities

Federal office holders

Population

Cities

Counties

Sports

Baseball

American football

Basketball

Ice hockey

Golf

Boat racing

Other

Music

Chronology of events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Births

Gallery of 1972 births

Deaths

Gallery of 1972 deaths

See also

References

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