On This Day

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What Happened in 1973

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Major Events

  • Jan 22 In a landmark decision the US Supreme Court legalizes most abortions (Roe v. Wade), authoring the majority opinion Harry Blackmun states that the criminalization of abortion does not have "roots in the English common-law tradition"
  • US Army helicopters such as these pictured in 1966 played a major role in the Vietnam War, moving troops and launching attacks
    America’s Agony Is Over: Vietnam War Ends
    Jan 23 US President Richard Nixon announces an accord has been reached to end the Vietnam War
  • Jan 27 Paris Peace Accords signed by US Secretary of State William P. Rogers, (North) Vietnam Minister for Foreign Affairs Nguyen Duy Trinh, Republic of South Vietnam Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Thị Bình, and Republic of Vietnam Minister for Foreign Affairs Trần Văn Lắm, ending America's then longest war and it's military draft.
  • Mar 8 The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) undertakes its first operation in Great Britain, planting four car bombs in London. Ten members of PIRA are later arrested at Heathrow Airport while trying to leave the country.
  • Apr 3 1st mobile phone call is made in downtown Manhattan, NYC by Motorola employee Martin Cooper to the Bell Labs headquarters in New Jersey
  • Apr 4 World Trade Center, then the world's tallest building, opens in New York (110 stories). Later destroyed in 9/11 terrorist attacks.
  • May 17 US Senate Watergate Committee begins its hearings into the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C.
  • Oct 17 OPEC oil ministers use oil as an economic weapon in the Arab-Israeli War, mandating a cut in exports and recommending an embargo against unfriendly states [1]
  • The Bosphorus Bridge, Istanbul that connects the continents of Europe and Asia
    Opening of the Bosphorus Bridge
    Oct 30 The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time
  • Dec 15 American Psychiatric Association declares homosexuality is not a mental illness
  • More 1973 Events

1973 in Film & TV

  • Mar 12 Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In last airs on NBC-TV
  • Aug 2 "American Graffiti", directed by George Lucas and starring Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard premieres at the Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland
  • Oct 13 "Badlands" directed by Terrence Malick and starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek premieres at the New York Film Festival

1973 in Music

  • Mar 1 Harvest (UK) and Capitol Records (US) release Pink Floyd's 8th studio album "Dark Side of the Moon"; it stays on Billboard Top 200 Album charts for most of the next 14 years, selling over 50 million copies worldwide
  • Jul 28 600,000 attend the "Summer Jam" rock festival featuring The Grateful Dead, The Band, and The Allman Brothers Band, at Watkins Glen, New York; at the time the largest ever audience at a pop festival
  • Jul 29 Led Zeppelin has more than $200,000 in cash stolen from a safety-deposit box at the New York Hilton hotel
  • The Sydney Opera House, New South Wales, Australia
    Sydney Opera House
    Oct 20 Queen Elizabeth II opens the Sydney Opera House
  • Dec 5 Apple Records releases Paul McCartney & Wings album "Band on the Run" in US; the commercial and critical pinnacle of his post-Beatle work tops the charts in 7 countries

1973 in Sport

  • Mar 20 Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame, 11 weeks after his death in a plane crash
  • Jun 9 105th Belmont: Ron Turcotte aboard Secretariat wins in 2:24, becoming the 1st Triple Crown winner in 25 years
  • Sep 8 Hank Aaron sets record of most HRs in 1 league (709)
  • Sep 20 Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in battle-of-sexes tennis match
  • Oct 20 US President Nixon proclaims Jim Thorpe to have been the greatest athlete of the 1st half of the 20th century
  • Dec 1 Jack Nicklaus finishes at 13-under-par 275 to win the Walt Disney World Open by 1 stroke from Mason Rudolph; becomes the first player to reach $2 million in PGA Tour career earnings

Did You Know?

A patent for the ATM is granted to Don Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain

June 4, 1973

Born in 1973

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Fun Fact About 1973

US President Richard Nixon tells AP "...people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook"

November 17, 1973

Who Died in 1973

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Famous Weddings in 1973

  • Jan 8 Actor Michael Caine (40) weds model Shakira Baksh (25) at Candlelight Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada
  • Jan 21 Actress Jane Fonda weds activist Tom Hayden
  • Apr 18 American sci-fi writer "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Philip K Dick marries 5th wife Leslie (Tessa) Busby

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