The Apollo 17 spacecraft, containing astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Ronald E. Evans, and Harrison H. Schmitt, glided to a safe splashdown at 2:25 p.m. EST on Dec. 19, 1972, 648 kilometers (350 nautical miles) southeast of American Samoa.
Image: NASA.

In 1972 on this date, Apollo 17, the last Apollo flight to the Moon, splashed down successfully in the Pacific Ocean. This flight, carrying Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald E. Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison H. Schmitt, was the last Apollo flight to the Moon. See NASA’s Mission Archive pages about the mission here.