Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing were given to Nixon in 1972
Richard Nixon visited China and was given two giant pandas
I think that one of them was named Chi-Chi. I can't remember the name of the other one. Correction to this answer. Chi Chi died in 1972. When Edward Heath visited China in 1974, he was given a present of two pandas by the Chinese government which he donated to London Zoo. These two pandas were named Ching Ching and Chia Chia.
Giant Bicycles was created in 1972.
nixion
The last time humans visited the moon was during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. No humans have ventured to the moon since then.
The Giant Jam Sandwich was created in 1972.
http://www.weddingvendors.com/baby-names/popular/1972/
1972
Octopus - Gentle Giant album - was created on 1972-12-01.
In 1972, NASA started to make the first space shuttle. Also in 1972, Yogi Berra was inducted into the baseball hall of fame, the US got 2 pandas, and Angela Davis was acquitted.
The Giant Panda was used as a diplomatic gift, to try and smooth the way for more communication between the two governments. The Giant Pandas was very popular, diplomatically a success, and closely studied by conservation groups. For more details, please see site listed below.
it was 1972 an it was apollo 17 and that ended the apollo program