December 23, 1972: An earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, strikes Managua, the capital of the Central American nation of Nicaragua, shortly after Midnight, local time: 12:29 AM. It would not be a merry Christmas for the nation, already stricken by poverty and political unrest.
Managua, which lies on the southern shore of Lake Xolotlán, near the western coast of Nicaragua, is situated within an active volcanic zone known as the Central American Volcanic Chain. The city has a long history of volcanic and seismic activity: It had previously been hit by a 6.1 earthquake on March 31, 1931, resulting in a fire, and, between them, the quake and the fire killed about 2,450 people.
As with the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, there were fires started, and the city's firefighting equipment was damaged. Between the initial quake and the fires, the disaster killed about 11,000 people, and left about 300,000 of the city's 1 million or so people homeless. The city's top 4 hospitals were destroyed, and there were food shortages.
The world responded with relief, but the country's right-wing dictator, Anastasio Somoza Debayle -- my autocorrect poignantly tried to turn that into "Debacle" -- had it distributed according to his own purposes, much like an old-style American city "machine politician."
Among the relief efforts was one put together in Puerto Rico by baseball star Roberto Clemente. On December 31, he loaded up a plane with relief supplies -- over-loaded it, so that it crashed into the Caribbean Sea shortly after takeoff, and was never found. I have a separate entry for this event.
On April 10, 2014, Nicaragua was struck by another 6.1 earthquake. The next day, an aftershock registered at 6.6. However, these were not nearly as damaging as the quakes of 1931 and 1972, probably due to new building codes that made buildings more "earthquake-proof." Only one person is known to have died as a result of the 2014 quakes.
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December 23, 1972 was a Saturday. Baseball was out of season. Two NFL Playoff games were played that day. The Dallas Cowboys beat the San Francisco 49ers, 30-28 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. And the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders, 13-7 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, thanks to the last-minute touchdown pass from Terry Bradshaw to Franco Harris that became known as "The Immaculate Reception." I have a separate entry for that event.
The next day, Christmas Eve, the Washington Redskins beat the Green Bay Packers, 16-3 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. And the Miami Dolphins beat the Cleveland Browns, 20-14 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. The following week, New Year's Eve, saw the Conference Championships: Dolphins 21, Steelers 17 at Three Rivers; and Redskins 26, Cowboys 3 at RFK Stadium. On January 14, 1973, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Dolphins completed their undefeated season, beating the Redskins, 14-7 in Super Bowl VII.
There were 4 games played in the NBA on December 23, 1972:
* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Detroit Pistons, 104-97 at the Baltimore Civic Center. While the arena still stands, now known as the CFG Bank Arena, this would be the Bullets' last season in Baltimore, as they moved to the Washington area, and are now named the Washington Wizards.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 124-112 at The Omni in Atlanta. Pistol Pete Maravich scored 42 points, Super Lou Hudson scored 31, and Bob Christian scored 13 and had 25 rebounds.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 104-98 at the Milwaukee Arena. In 1974, it was renamed the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.
* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Chicago Bulls, 127-109 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
There were 4 games played in the American Basketball Association:
* The New York Nets lost to the Memphis Tams, 105-103 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis.
* The Virginia Squires beat the Dallas Chaparrals, 112-107 at The Scope in Norfolk. Julius "Dr. J" Erving scored 41 points.
* The Carolina Cougars beat the Utah Stars, 123-117 at the Greensboro Coliseum. Billy Cunningham scored 34 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.
* And the Kentucky Colonels beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 116-105 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
These games were played in the NHL:
* The expansion New York Islanders beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-3 at the Montreal Forum.
* The Boston Bruins beat the expansion Atlanta Flames, 3-1 at the Boston Garden.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-1 at the St. Louis Arena.
* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Buffalo Sabres, 2-0 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* The New York Rangers and the California Golden Seals were not scheduled.
And these games were played in the inaugural-season World Hockey Association:
* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Los Angeles Sharks, 2-1 at the Colisee de Quebec.
* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Minnesota Fighting Saints, 3-1 at the Cleveland Arena.
* The Chicago Cougars beat the Alberta Oilers (as the Edmonton Oilers were named in that inaugural season alone), 3-2 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.
* And the Houston Aeros beat the Philadelphia Blazers, 7-3 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.
Also: Arsenal played Birmingham City to a 1-1 draw at St. Andrews Stadium in Birmingham.
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