September 1972 - September 9, 1972 (Saturday)

September 9, 1972 (Saturday)

• A link between Kentucky's Mammoth Cave and the adjacent Flint Ridge Cave System was discovered by explorers from the Cave Research Foundation, creating the longest-cave passageway in the world, 144.4 miles from one end to the other.
• At the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, the American men's basketball team, which had 64 victories and no defeats since the sport was added in 1936, lost to the Soviet Union, 51–50, on a shot at the buzzer by Alexander Belov. The U.S. team had been ahead, 50–49, when time first ran out, but Olympic officials added three seconds to the clock. The Soviets won the gold medal, and the Americans voted unanimously to refuse the silver medal.
• The three American television networks introduced their new cartoon schedules on the same morning. Among the new series being shown for the first time were Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
• Charles B. DeBellevue became the last American flying ace, registering a fifth and sixth shootdown, the most during the Vietnam War.
• Born: Natasha Kaplinsky, British news anchor, in Brighton