History Today: How Palestinian militants carried out the Munich Olympics massacre

On September 5, 1972, Palestinian militants entered the Olympic Village apartment of the Israeli team in Munich, killing two athletes and taking nine others hostage during the Summer Olympics.

Later at Munich airport, a gunfight broke out in which all nine hostages were killed, along with five militants and a West German policeman.

Also on this day in 1975, US President Gerald R Ford survived an assassination attempt in California.

As part of Firstpost Explainers’ History Today series, here’s a look at what happened on September 5:

Munich Olympics massacre

On this day in 1972, Palestinian militants attacked the Israeli Olympic team at the Munich Games, killing two athletes and taking nine others hostage.

The attackers belonged to a group called Black September. In exchange for the hostages, they demanded Israel free more than 230 Arab prisoners held in its jails.

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At Munich airport, a shootout followed in which all nine hostages were killed, along with five militants and a West German policeman.

The Olympic Games were paused for 24 hours as memorial services were held for the murdered athletes.

The Munich Olympics had begun on August 26, 1972, featuring 195 events and 7,173 athletes from 121 nations. On the morning of September 5, masked gunmen stormed the Israeli team’s quarters.

German police opened fire from rooftops, killing three militants. A gun battle broke out that left the hostages dead, along with two more Palestinians and a policeman.

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After the memorial at the main Olympic stadium, International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage announced that the Games would go on, saying it was important to show the militants had not succeeded.

Although the massacre cast a dark shadow, the Games still witnessed spectacular sporting feats. American swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals, while teenage Russian gymnast Olga Korbut captured two golds in dramatic performances.

Following the killings, the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Golda Meir, ordered Mossad agents to hunt down and eliminate members of Black September. The 2005 film Munich by Steven Spielberg was inspired by these events.

US President Gerald Ford survived assassination attempt

On this day in 1975, US President Gerald R. Ford escaped an attempt on his life in Sacramento, California.

The attacker was Lynette Fromme, a small, red-haired young woman, who approached the president near the California Capitol and pointed a .45-calibre pistol at him.

Before she could fire, Secret Service agents jumped on her and pushed her to the ground.

Seventeen days later, another woman, Sara Jane Moore, a troubled accountant, also tried to kill Ford in San Francisco. Her plan was stopped when a bystander grabbed her arm as she aimed the gun.

Moore managed to fire once, but the shot missed. The bystander, Oliver Sipple, a former Marine and Vietnam veteran, was thanked personally by Ford three days later.

Fromme was convicted of attempted murder and given a life sentence in a West Virginia prison. She escaped in 1979 but was captured within 25 miles of the prison.

Meanwhile, Moore, who was jailed in the same facility, also escaped in 1989. She handed herself in two days later and, like Fromme, was moved to a higher-security prison.

Moore was released on parole in 2007, while Fromme was freed in 2009.

This Day, That Year

1986: Four hijackers who took control of a Pan Am jumbo jet in Karachi opened fire after the cabin lights went out. Twenty people were killed before Pakistani commandos stormed the aircraft.

1997: Mother Teresa died in Calcutta (now Kolkata) at the age of 87.

2001: At a scientific meet in Washington, DC, researchers reported observing energy flares that gave strong evidence of the theorised black hole at the centre of the Milky Way.