Boxing athlete Gerry Penalosa

Events in 1972 and 7-8

Events in the world in the birth year of Gerry Penalosa

• President Nixon makes unprecedented eight-day visit to Communist China and meets with Mao Zedong (Feb. 17).
• Britain takes over direct rule of Northern Ireland in bid for peace (March 24).
• Eleven Israeli athletes at Olympic Games in Munich are killed after eight members of an Arab terrorist group invades Olympic Village; five guerrillas and one policeman are also killed (Sept. 5).
• Nixon orders "Christmas bombing" of North Vietnam (Dec.). Background: Vietnam War

Birthday Gerry Penalosa (7-8) in history

• Day 7-8 year 1789: Congress established the U.S. War Department.
• Day 7-8 year 1947: The wooden raft Kon-Tiki, which carried Thor Heyerdahl and five companions more than 4,000 miles, crashed into a reef in the Pacific.
• Day 7-8 year 1959: The United States launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of Earth.
• Day 7-8 year 1964: Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which expanded President Johnson's use of military powers in the Vietnam War.
• Day 7-8 year 1987: Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, making the 2.7 mile trip through the frigid waters of the Bering Strait. Cox is surprised by the (relatively) warm welcome she receives from the Soviets.
• Day 7-8 year 1998: U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed, by terrorists. Some 224 were killed and more than 5,500 injured.
• Day 7-8 year 2000: Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Conn., was selected by Al Gore to be the first Jewish vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket.
• Day 7-8 year 2007: Barry Bonds passes Hank Aaron on baseball’s all-time homerun list. The record, however, is discredited by many because of Bond’s alleged steroid use.