1973 CE

The 1973 oil crisis begins after an OPEC embargo; the Yom Kippur War erupts as Egypt and Syria attack Israel; the 1973 Chilean coup d'état ousts Salvador Allende and installs Augusto Pinochet; the Saturday Night Massacre deepens the Watergate scandal under Richard Nixon; the Paris Peace Accords end U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War; Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion nationwide; the 1973 Israeli raid in Lebanon escalates regional conflict; the Athens Polytechnic uprising is violently suppressed; and Skylab launches as the first U.S. space station.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 17 – Ferdinand Marcos becomes President for Life of the Philippines.source
January 27 – U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ends with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.source
February 28 – The Republic of Ireland general election is held. Liam Cosgrave becomes the new Taoiseach.source
March 20 – A British government White Paper on Northern Ireland proposes the re-establishment of an Assembly elected by proportional representation, with a possible All-Ireland council.source
April 5 – Fahri Korutürk becomes the sixth president of Turkey.source
April 10 – The Islamic Republic of Pakistan introduced its new constitution, its supreme law.source
April 15 – Naim Talu, a former civil servant, forms the new government of Turkey (36th government).source
May 10 – The Polisario Front, a Sahrawi movement dedicated to the independence of Spanish Sahara, is formed.source
May 25 – Héctor José Cámpora becomes democratic president of the Argentine Republic ending the 1966 to 1973 Revolución Argentina military dictatorship.source
June 1 – The Greek military junta abolishes the monarchy and proclaims a republic.source
June 25 – Erskine Hamilton Childers is elected the 4th President of Ireland.source
June 28 – Elections are held for the Northern Ireland Assembly, which will lead to power-sharing between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland for the first time.source
July 10 – The Bahamas gains full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations.source
August 1 – Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) is inaugurated.source
September 18 – The two German Republics, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), are admitted to the United Nations.source
September 27 – Luís Cabral declares the independence of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau from the Estado Novo regime in Portugal. It is later granted in September 1974.source
October 10 – Spiro Agnew resigns as Vice President of the United States.source
October 25 – The Yom Kippur War ends.source
October 26 – The United Nations recognizes the independence of Guinea-Bissau.source
November 7 – The Congress of the United States overrides President Richard Nixon's veto of the War Powers Resolution, which limits presidential power to wage war without congressional approval.source
November 27 – The United States Senate votes 92–3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States.source
December 1 – Papua New Guinea gains self-government from Australia.source
December 6 – The United States House of Representatives votes 387–35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States; he is sworn in the same day.source
December – Chile breaks diplomatic contacts with Sweden.source

Conflict & Security

January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.source
February 8 – A military insurrection in Uruguay poses an institutional challenge to President Juan María Bordaberry.source
March 8 – The Troubles: A referendum is held in Northern Ireland over whether to reunite with the Republic of Ireland or to stay a part of the UK. The result was 98% remain. The Provisional Irish Republican Army responds to the referendum by planting four car bombs in London on the same day, two of which went off, causing one death and injuring over 200 people.source
March 10 – Sir Richard Sharples, Governor of Bermuda, is assassinated outside Government House, along with his aide-de-camp.source
April 10 – Operation Spring of Youth: Israeli commandos raid Beirut, assassinating 3 leaders of the Palestinian Resistance Movement. The Lebanese army's inaction brings the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Saeb Salam, a Sunni Muslim.source
April 17 – The West German counter-terrorist force GSG 9 is officially formed in response to the Munich massacre.source
June 20 – The Ezeiza massacre occurs in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Snipers shoot at left-wing Peronists, killing at least 13 and injuring more than 300.source
June 27 – Coup d'état in Uruguay: pressed by the military, President Juan María Bordaberry dissolves Parliament; a 12-year-long civic-military dictatorship begins.source
July 3 – Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).source
July 16 – Watergate scandal: Former White House aide Alexander Butterfield informs the United States Senate Watergate Committee that President Richard Nixon had secretly recorded potentially incriminating conversations.source
July 17 – King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan is deposed by his cousin Mohammed Daoud Khan while in Italy undergoing eye surgery.source
July 20 – France resumes nuclear bomb tests in Mururoa Atoll, over the protests of Australia and New Zealand.source
August 5 – Black September members open fire at the Athens airport; 3 people are killed, 55 injured.source
August 15 – The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends, officially halting 12 years of combat activity in Southeast Asia according to the Case–Church Amendment-an act that prohibits military operations in Laos, Cambodia, and North and South Vietnam as a follow-up of the Paris Peace Accords.source
September 11 – Chile's democratically elected government is overthrown in a violent military coup after serious political instability. President Salvador Allende allegedly commits suicide during the coup in the presidential palace and General Augusto Pinochet heads a US-backed military junta that governs Chile for the next 17 years.source
September 20 – Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in a singles tennis match billed as the "Battle of the Sexes".source
October 6 – Yom Kippur War begins: The fourth and largest Arab–Israeli conflict begins, as Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights on Yom Kippur.source
October 14 – Thai popular uprising: Students revolt in Bangkok – In the Thammasat student uprising over 100,000 people protest in Thailand against the Thanom military government, 77 are killed and 857 are injured by soldiers.source
October 17 – An OPEC oil embargo against several countries supporting Israel triggers the 1973 energy crisis.source
October 20 – The Saturday Night Massacre: U.S. President Richard Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to dismiss Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refuses and resigns, along with Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus. Solicitor General Robert Bork, third in line at the Department of Justice, then fires Cox. The event prompts calls for Nixon's impeachment.source
November 17 – The Athens Polytechnic uprising occurs against the military regime in Athens, Greece.source
November 25 – Greek dictator Georgios Papadopoulos is ousted in a military coup led by Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannidis.source
December 20 – Spanish prime minister Luis Carrero Blanco is assassinated in Madrid by the separatist organization ETA.source
December 30 – Terrorist Carlos fails in his attempt to assassinate British businessman Joseph Sieff.source

Exploration & Expansion

May 5 – Shambu Tamang becomes the youngest person to climb to the summit of Mount Everest.source
May 18 – Second Cod War: Joseph Godber, British Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, announces that Royal Navy frigates will protect British trawlers fishing in the disputed 80 km mi limit around Iceland.source
A large Song dynasty trade ship of c. 1277 A.D. is dredged up from the waters near the southern coast of China with 12 compartments in its hull. It confirms the descriptions of bulkheaded hull compartments for junks in Zhu Yu's Pingzhou Table Talks of 1119.source

Religion & Belief

December 18 – The Islamic Development Bank is created as a specialized agency of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) (effective August 12, 1974).source

Economy & Finance

January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.source
April 1 – Value Added Tax (VAT) is introduced in the United Kingdom.source

Technology & Infrastructure

April 3 – The first handheld mobile phone call is made by Martin Cooper of Motorola in New York City.source
May 3 – The Sears Tower in Chicago, United States, is topped-out, becoming the world's tallest building at 1451 ft m.source
May 11 – The Data Act (Sw. Datalagen) − the world's first national data protection law − is enacted in Sweden.source
June 10 – Henri Pescarolo and co-driver Gérard Larrousse (both France) win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Equipe Matra MS670B.source
June 24 – Leonid Brezhnev addresses the American people on television, the first Soviet leader to do so.source
July 5 – A catastrophic BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) occurs in Kingman, Arizona, United States, following a fire that broke out as propane was being transferred from a railroad car to a storage tank, killing 11 firefighters. This explosion becomes a classic incident, studied in fire department training programs worldwide.source
September 9 – Scottish racing driver Jackie Stewart becomes World Drivers' Champion when his Tyrrell 003-Cosworth finishes fourth in the 1973 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.source
October 30 – The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus Strait for the first time in history.source
November 16 – U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.source

Science & Discovery

March 18 – Comet Kohoutek is discovered.source
April 4 — The original World Trade Center is officially dedicated.source
April 5 – Pioneer 11 is launched on a mission to study the Solar System.source
May 14 – Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.source
May 25 – Skylab 2 (Pete Conrad, Paul Weitz, Joseph Kerwin) is launched on a mission to repair damage to the recently launched Skylab space station.source
June 30 – A very long total solar eclipse occurs. During the entire second millennium, only seven total solar eclipses exceeded seven minutes of totality.source
July 25 – The Soviet Mars 5 space probe is launched.source
July 28 – Skylab 3 (Owen Garriott, Jack Lousma, Alan Bean) is launched, to conduct various medical and scientific experiments aboard Skylab.source
August 5 – Mars 6, also known as 3MP No. 50P, is launched by the Soviet Union to explore Mars.source
September 27 – Soviet space program: Soyuz 12 (Vasily Lazarev, Oleg Makarov), the first Soviet crewed flight since the Soyuz 11 tragedy in 1971, is launched.source
November 3 – Mariner program: NASA launches Mariner 10 toward Mercury (on March 29, 1974, it becomes the first space probe to reach that planet).source
November 16 – Skylab program: NASA launches Skylab 4 (Gerald Carr, William Pogue, Edward Gibson) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on an 84-day mission.source
December 3 – Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.source
December 18 – Soviet space program: Soyuz 13 (Pyotr Klimuk, Valentin Lebedev) is launched.source

Crime & Justice

July 21 – Lillehammer affair: Agents of Mossad, the Israeli secret intelligence agency, shoot and kill a Moroccan waiter in Lillehammer, Norway, mistakenly believing him to be a senior member of the Palestinian Black September Organization.source
August 8 – South Korean politician Kim Dae-jung is kidnapped in Tokyo by the KCIA.source
August 23 – The Norrmalmstorg robbery occurs, famous for the origin of the term Stockholm syndrome.source
August 25 – Disappearance of Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon: Two Australian girls go missing whilst attending an Australian rules football match at the Adelaide Oval, never to be seen again.source
November – Queen Sisowath Kossamak of Cambodia is released from house arrest to Beijing.source
December 14 – Rhodesia executes two Blacks at Salisbury Central Prison for murder.source

Disasters & Accidents

January 22 – A Royal Jordanian Boeing 707 flight from Jeddah crashes in Kano, Nigeria; 176 people are killed.source
February 21 – Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 (Boeing 727) is shot down by Israeli fighter aircraft over the Sinai Desert, after the passenger plane is suspected of being an enemy military plane. There are 108 fatalities, and only five people on board survive (one crew member and four passengers).source
March 21 – The Lofthouse Colliery disaster occurs in Great Britain. Seven miners are trapped underground; none survive.source
June 3 – A Tupolev Tu-144 crashes at the Paris air show; 15 are killed.source
June 24 – UpStairs Lounge arson attack, an as-yet unsolved attack on a gay bar in New Orleans, Louisiana, in which 32 patrons are killed.source
June 26 – At Plesetsk Cosmodrome, nine people are killed in the explosion of a Cosmos 3-M rocket.source
July 11 – Varig Flight 820 crashes near Orly, France; 123 people are killed.source
July 23 – The Avianca Building in Bogotá, Colombia, suffers a serious fire, in which four people are killed.source
August 2 – A flash fire kills 51 at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.source
September 20 – Jim Croce, Maury Muehleisen and four others are killed in a plane crash shortly after takeoff following a concert at Northwestern Louisiana University in Natchitoches.source
November 3 – Pan Am flight 160, a Boeing 707-321C, crashes at Logan International Airport, Boston, killing three people.source
November 29 – 104 people are killed in a Taiyo department store fire in Kumamoto, Kyūshū, Japan.source

Climate & Environment

April 1 – India launches the wildlife conservation program Project Tiger.source
October 15 – Typhoon Ruth crosses Luzon, Philippines, killing 27 people and causing $5 million in damage.source
December 28 – The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.source

Culture & Society

January 22 – The Sunshine Showdown: George Foreman defeats Joe Frazier to win the heavyweight world boxing championship in Kingston, Jamaica.source
March 27 – At the 45th Academy Awards, The Godfather wins best picture.source
April 7 – Tu te reconnaîtras by Anne-Marie David (music by Claude Morgan, text by Vline Buggy) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 for Luxembourg.source
October 20 – The Sydney Opera House in Australia is opened by Queen Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction work.source
November 8 – Millennium '73, a festival hosted by Guru Maharaj Ji at the Astrodome, is called by supporters the "most significant event in human history".source

Births

January 11 – Rahul Dravid, Indian cricket player and coach.source
January 17 – Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Mexican footballer and politician, Governor of Morelos 2018-2024source
March 26 – Larry Page, American entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Google (2011–2015)source
May 24 – Ruslana, Ukrainian pop star, activist, Eurovision Song Contest 2004 winnersource
June 2 – Kevin Feige, American film producer and president of Marvel Studiossource
June 15 – Neil Patrick Harris, American actor, comedian, singer, presenter and hostsource
June 20 – Josh Shapiro, American politician, Governor of Pennsylvaniasource
June 22 – Carson Daly, American television personality, host of NBC's The Voice and Last Call with Carson Dalysource
July 22 – Rufus Wainwright, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and composersource
August 21 – Sergey Brin, Russian-born American entrepreneur, co-founder of Googlesource
September 15 – Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, né Olof Daniel Westling, Swedish prince, married to Crown Princess Victoriasource
October 14 – George Floyd, African-American victim of police brutality (d. 2020)source
October 26 – Seth MacFarlane, American actor, screenwriter, producer, director and singersource
December 8 – Corey Taylor, American rock vocalist (Slipknot, Stone Sour)source

Deaths

March 6 – Pearl S. Buck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)source
March 21 – Âşık Veysel, Turkish poet, songwriter and saz player (b. 1894)source
April 13 – Henry Darger, American outsider artist and writer (b. 1892)source
July 20 – Bruce Lee, Chinese-American martial artist and actor (b. 1940)source
July 23 – Eddie Rickenbacker, American World War I flying ace and race car driver (b. 1890)source
August 1 – Nikos Zachariadis, Greek politician, leader of the Communist Party of Greece (b. 1903)source
August 1 – Walter Ulbricht, East German politician, leader of the Communist Party and 2nd head of State of the GDR (b. 1893)source
August 16 – Selman Waksman, Ukrainian-American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1888)source
August 17 – Paul Williams, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1939)source
September 15 – Carl XVI Gustaf, becomes King of Sweden following the death of his grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf.source
September 23 – Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)source
October 18 – Leo Strauss, German-American political philosopher (b. 1899)source
December 3 – Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, 47th President of Mexico (b. 1889)source
December 20 – Richard Cain, police officer associated with the Chicago Outfit (b. 1931).source