1973

Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s

Years: 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 - 1973 - 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978

• January 1 - United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community
• January 3 - Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led by George Steinbrenner[?].
• January 15 - Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President of the United States Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
• January 17 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes President for Life of the Philippines
• January 22 - Supreme Court of the United States rules on Roe v. Wade
• January 17 - George Foreman breaks Joe Frazier's professional career undefeated heavyweight world boxing champion status.
• January 23 - President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.
• January 27 - U.S. involvement in Vietnam War ends with the signing of peace pacts
• February 11 - Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam takes place
• February 12 - Ohio becomes the first U.S. state to post distance in metric on signs.
• February 21 - Over the Sinai Desert[?], Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down a Libyan Airlines[?] jet killing 100.
• February 22 - Cold War: Following President Richard Nixon's visit to China, the United States and the People's Republic of China agree to establish liaison offices.
• February 27 - The American Indian Movement[?] occupies Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
• March 7 - Comet Kohoutek is discovered
• March 29 - The last United States soldiers leave Vietnam
• April 6 - Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft
• May 8 - A 71-day standoff between federal authorities and the American Indian Movement[?] who were occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation[?] at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, ends with the surrender of the militants.
• May 14 - Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.
• May 17 - Watergate scandal: Hearings begin in the United States Senate and are televised.
• June 1 - Greek military junta abolishes the monarchy and proclaims a republic
• June 9 - Secretariat wins the "Belmont Stakes" becoming the first Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing winner since 1948
• July 10 - The Bahamas gain full independence within the British Commonwealth
• August 15 - The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends, marking the official halt to 12 years of combat activity in Southeast Asia.
• September 11 - Chile's democratically elected government is overthrown in military coup after serious instability. President Salvador Allende dies, and General Augusto Pinochet heads a military junta that will govern Chile for the next 17 years.
• September 15 - Swedens king Gustav VI Adolf[?] dies. Carl XVI Gustav[?] becomes king
• September 20 - Billed as The Battle of the Sexes', Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs[?] 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
• October 6 - Fourth and largest Arab-Israeli conflict begins as Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israel as Jews mark Yom Kippur.
• October 10 - Spiro T. Agnew resigns as vice president of the United States and then, in federal court in Baltimore, pleads no contest to charges of evasion of income taxes on $29,500 he received in 1967 while he was governor of Maryland. He is fined $10,000 and put on three years' probation.
• October 20 - Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II
• November 11 - Egypt and Israel sign a United States-sponsored cease-fire accord
• December - Chile breaks diplomatic contacts with Sweden.

Art, Culture & Fashion

• 1973 in film
  • The Sting
  • American Graffiti directed by George Lucas, starring Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, and Ron Howard
  • The Exorcist
• 1973 in literature
• 1973 in music
• 1973 in sports
• 1973 in television
  • January 6 - Schoolhouse Rock! premieres
  • The Six Million Dollar Man debuts
  • Large-screen projection color TVs hit the market

Births

• February 4 - Oscar De La Hoya, boxing champion
• February 26 - Jenny Thompson, U.S. Olympic swimmer
• February 26 - Marshall Faulk[?], American football star
• February 28 - Eric Lindros[?], ice hockey star
• April 4 - David Blaine, illusionist
• May 1 - Oliver Neuville, soccer player, National Soccer Team of Germany
• May 10 - Dario Franchitti[?], automobile racer
• May 16 - Tori Spelling, actress
• July 20 - Haakon Magnus, Crown Prince of Norway
• October 3 - Neve Campbell, actress

Deaths

• January 22 - Lyndon Johnson, President of the United States
• January 23 - Kid Ory, musician
• January 24 - J. Carrol Naish[?], actor
• January 26 - Edward G. Robinson, actor
• February 11 - Hans D Jensen[?], German physicist.
• February 15 - Wally Cox[?], actor
• March 6 - Pearl S. Buck, writer
• March 10 - Eugene 'Bull' Connor[?], segregationist
• March 8 - Ron Pigpen McKernan of the Grateful Dead
• March 14 - Chic Young[?], cartoonist (Blondie[?])
• March 26 - Noel Coward, composer, playwright
• April 8 - Pablo Picasso, outstanding artist of the 20th century
• April 26 - Irene Ryan[?], actress
• May 11 - Lex Barker[?], actor
• May 18 - Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives
• July 6 - Otto Klemperer, conductor
• July 20 - Bruce Lee, Chinese-American martial artist and film star.
• August 17 - Jean Barraqué, composer
• September 11 - Salvador Allende, Chilean president
• September 19 - Gram Parsons, musician
• September 23 - Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet.
• October 2 - Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner.
• October 22 - Pau Casals, Catalan virtuoso cellist and conductor
• December 20 - Bobby Darin, singer
• W. H. Auden, English poet.

Nobel Prizes

• Physics - Leo Esaki, Ivar Giaever[?], Brian David Josephson[?]
• Chemistry - Ernst Otto Fischer[?], Geoffrey Wilkinson[?]
• Medicine - Karl von Frisch[?], Konrad Lorenz, Nikolaas Tinbergen
• Literature - Patrick White
• Peace - Henry A. Kissinger LeDuc Tho[?]
• Economics - Wassily Leontief[?]