1972
- The Stanford marshmallow experiment results are published
- The Tiffany Building in San Francisco is completed
- Playland (pictured) in San Francisco closes
- Bay Area Rapid Transit (early car model pictured) begins operations
- The Haas-Lilienthal House in San Francisco opens to the public
- Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is founded in Menlo Park
- Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in the Napa Valley produces its first vintage
- The first San Francisco Pride festival, then called Christopher Street West, attracts an estimated 54,000 attendees (1983 parade pictured)
- The Oakland A's win the World Series
- The pornographic film Behind the Green Door is released, directed by the San Francisco based Mitchell Brothers