March 3, 1972: The Dedication of Stone Mountain

March 3, 1972: The largest bas-relief artwork in the world is opened to the public, at Stone Mountain Park, outside Atlanta. It is a "Confederate Mount Rushmore," featuring images of President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee, and General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson on horseback. They had become, in the minds of those promoting the "Lost Cause" view of the American Civil War, the most-honored figures of the Confederate States of America.

Why was it put there? Because Stone Mountain was where the current version of the Ku Klux Klan was founded, in 1915. It was why, in his speech to the March On Washington in 1963, Atlanta native Martin Luther King Jr. said, among other things, "Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain in Georgia." Work began on the mountain the next year, as a middle finger to the Civil Rights Movement.

Since the Charleston Church Massacre in 2015, there has been a movement to get the monument removed. Through March 3, 2022, it remains.

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March 3, 1972 was a Friday. Darren Anderton, the English soccer player who was injured so often that he was nicknamed "Sicknote," was born on this day. This was also the day that rock star Gary Glitter released the song "Rock and Roll Part 2," a.k.a. "The Hey Song." I have a separate entry for that event.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Buffalo Braves, 105-97 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 94-81 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 125-96 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 114-104 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. 

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets 108-107 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 90-80 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Chicago Bulls, 112-103 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Spencer Haywood led all NBA scorers on the night, with 35 points.

And there were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The Miami Floridians beat the Carolina Cougars, 130-127 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

* The Virginia Squires beat the Indiana Pacers, 121-116 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis. Charlie Scott topped all pro players on the night, with 42 points.

* And the Pittsburgh Condors beat the Memphis Pros, 115-114 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.

There were 4 NHL games played:

* The New York Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-3 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks, 7-3 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-0 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* And the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings, 7-4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.