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.

In the 1970s, the 20th century.

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
  • 18 February – Presidential elections were scheduled to be held but, as incumbent President Makarios III was the only candidate, the elections were not held and Makarios III was automatically declared the winner. A separate election for the vice president also took place. Rauf Denktaş stood unopposed and was elected.Cyprussource
  • 21 February - The Vientiane Treaty is signed.Laossource
  • 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
  • March: The only legislative assembly election took placeCape Verdesource
  • 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
  • 30 May – 1973 Balkans Cup: Albania defeats Romania 2-0 at Ruzhdi Bizhuta, ElbasanAlbaniasource
  • 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
  • July 29: Republic referendum held. Abolition of monarchy confirmed.Greecesource
  • August 1 – Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) is inaugurated.source
  • 28 August: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh signed a trilateral agreement, termed the Delhi Agreement, allowing the repatriation of prisoners of war and interned officials held in the three countries after the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.Bangladeshsource
  • 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
  • 21 October – A peace declaration was signed between the Malaysian government and the North Kalimantan Communist Party (NKCP) at Simanggang, Sarawak. After the signing, the district and division of Simanggang were later renamed Sri Aman ("town of peace").Malaysiasource
  • 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
  • Hafez al-Assad met King Hussein.Jordansource

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
  • January 22 – Roe v. Wade: The U.S. Supreme Court overturns state bans on abortion.United Statessource
  • 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 18 – President Marcos announces that the insurgency in Mindanao has almost been crushed. This follows a fighting that has started in late February after a failed two-month amnesty program. The fighting in North Cotabato, the largest among others, between government troops and Moslem dissidents has killed about 300.Philippinessource
  • 4 April - Cambodian National Assembly declares a state of national danger following continuation of subversive activities against the government.Cambodiasource
  • 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
  • 25 April – 1973 Balkans Cup: Albania is defeated by Yugoslavia 1-0 at Gradski stadion (Nikšić), NikšićAlbaniasource
  • 10 May – The Polisario Front leads the Sahrawi insurgency in an effort to end colonial rule in the Spanish Sahara.Spainsource
  • 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 20 – Ezeiza massacre: Former president Juan Perón returns to Argentina. His plane has to be redirected to a military airport because of fighting between armed Peronist factions that have massed to greet his arrival at Buenos Aires's main airport. This event, known as the Ezeiza massacre, left 13 dead and more than 300 injured.Argentinasource
  • 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
  • 17 July: The first amendment was made to the constitution. The amendment inserted an additional clause, Article 47(3), that states that any law regarding prosecution or punishment of war crimes cannot be declared void or unlawful on grounds of unconstitutionality. A new Article 47A was also added, which specifies that certain fundamental rights will be inapplicable in those cases.Bangladeshsource
  • July 20 – France resumes nuclear bomb tests in Mururoa Atoll, over the protests of Australia and New Zealand.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
  • 6 October – Yom Kippur War: The fourth and largest Arab–Israeli conflict begins, as Egypt and Syria initiate a surprise attack on Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Hebrew calendar. Jordan, Iraq and other Arab nations support the Epyptian-Syrian war effort but do not take part in the conflict.Israelsource
  • 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 14–17: Athens Polytechnic uprising against the military junta governing the country. The uprising ended in a bloodshed after the intervention of the military.Greecesource
  • 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 30 – Terrorist Carlos fails in his attempt to assassinate British businessman Joseph Sieff.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • 4 February – The details of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement are announcedNew Zealandsource
  • February – KFC Malaysia opened its first restaurant at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Kuala Lumpur.Malaysiasource
  • April 14 - Pedro Vuskovic, Vice President of the CORFO was authorized by the government to contract with the Moscow Bank of Commerce an extension of 40 million dollars in recently contracted credits.Chilesource
  • 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 limit around Iceland.source
  • May 18 - Joseph Godber, British Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, announces that Royal Navy frigates will protect British trawlers fishing in the disputed 50-mile limit round Iceland.Icelandsource
  • 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
  • In November, Dinamo Minsk from Soviet Union toured Dhaka, Jessore and Comilla, and played four exhibition matches between 5 and 14 November.Bangladeshsource
  • Ürümqi Tianshan International Airport opensChinasource
  • The founding of the kibbutz Ketura.Israelsource
  • North Korea disputed the Northern Limit Line.North Koreasource

Religion & Belief

  • 24 April – Chipko movement in Garhwal division against logging under the leadership of Chandi Prasad Bhatt.Indiasource
  • 20 June – Ernest Arendt is appointed to the Council of State.Luxembourgsource
  • 6 July – St Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore, is gazetted as a national monument.Singaporesource
  • Michael Lapsley, an Anglican priest, arrives in South Africa.South Africasource
  • September 18 - The Archbishop of Santiago Raúl Silva Henríquez performs the traditional Te deum of national holidays where General Augusto Pinochet and former presidents Jorge Alessandri, Gabriel González Videla participate. and Eduardo Frei Montalva.Chilesource
  • October – The Likud party is founded by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties.Israelsource
  • 1 November – James Flanagan, first and only Roman Catholic Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, replaces Graham Shillington.Northern Irelandsource
  • 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
  • Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan: Tuanku JaafarMalaysiasource

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
  • January 11 - Inflation reaches 180%Chilesource
  • 3 March – Republican Party merges with Reliance Party to become Republican Reliance Party.Turkeysource
  • March 19 – Konami is established.Japansource
  • April 1 – Value Added Tax (VAT) is introduced in the United Kingdom.source
  • 22 July – The first NTUC Welcome (now NTUC FairPrice) opens its first outlet in Toa Payoh to fight inflation caused by the oil crisis.Singaporesource
  • 12 November — Bharatiya Jana Sangh leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and two other leaders drove a Bullock cart to the Parliament of India on the first day of winter session to protest against fuel price hike in India following the oil crisis.Indiasource
  • Date unknown: German company Gerry Weber was founded.Germanysource
  • Tun Pengiran Ahmad Raffae (until March)Malaysiasource
  • Club Deportivo Tapatío is founded when CD Guadalajara buy a Tercera División license.Mexicosource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • 9 January - The European Court of Justice building is opened in Kirchberg, Luxembourg City.Luxembourgsource
  • 30 March – RTS partitions its two channels among language lines, after ten years of television broadcasts in all four languages on the same channel. Channel 5 was used to broadcast in English and Malay and Channel 8, Chinese and Tamil.Singaporesource
  • 1 April – The establishment of Taiwan Water Corporation.Taiwansource
  • 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 1,451 ft.source
  • May 11 – The Data Act (Sw. Datalagen) − the world's first national data protection law − is enacted in Sweden.source
  • 21 May – Official opening of the Rantau Panjang – Sungai Golok Bridge of Malaysia-Thailand border in Kelantan.Malaysiasource
  • 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
  • 18 July – The office of Governor of Northern Ireland, at this time held by The Lord Grey of Naunton, is abolished under Section 32 of the Northern Ireland Constitution Act. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, a UK cabinet office created in 1972, takes over the functions of the Governor on 20 December 1973 under Letters patent.Northern Irelandsource
  • 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 4 – Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation began radio-television operations.Philippinessource
  • November 16 – U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of the Alaska Pipeline.source
  • 11 December – Tal Berman, Israeli TV host and Radio broadcaster.Israelsource
  • Eesti Power Plant were commissioned.Estoniasource

Science & Discovery

  • 1 January – The 1973 New Year Honours are announcedNew Zealandsource
  • February 12 – Ohio becomes the first U.S. state to post road distance signs in metric (see Metric system in the United States).United Statessource
  • 21 February – Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973Germanysource
  • 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
  • April 13 - The ship Sierra Maestra from Cuba arrives at Talcahuano with 11,400 tons of sugar.Chilesource
  • April 20 - Anik A2 is launched.Canadasource
  • 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
  • 17 October – Bernt Balchen, polar and aviation pioneer in America (born 1899).Norwaysource
  • 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
  • Los caballeros de la cama redonda, directed by Gerardo SofovichArgentinasource
  • Elo Hansen and Ulla Strand win gold in mixed doublesDenmarksource

Health & Medicine

  • 16 February – The Misuse of Drugs Act is passed to deal with the problem of drug abuse more effectively.Singaporesource
  • March 8 – According to Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency official confirmed report, Yawata General Hospital fire in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, total 13 patients were fatalities.Japansource
  • 15 March – Mark Dvorzhetski (born 1908), Russian (Lithuania)-born Israeli physician and historian.Israelsource
  • Steve Biko is banned by the government.South Africasource
  • May 28 — A man suffering from a "nerve disorder" kills his wife and daughter in Xianhu, Wuming, Nanning; he then broke into the village's communal building, killing an additional nine people and injuring nine others, before being lynched by an angry mobChinasource
  • 1 August – The 25th anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO) was celebrated.Malaysiasource
  • September 7 - Salvador Allende requests the relocation of Synco's Operations Room, from its original location in Providencia to La Moneda PalaceChilesource
  • Los Doctores las prefieren desnudas, directed by Gerardo SofovichArgentinasource

Crime & Justice

  • January 15 – Chinese Lim Seng (Guan Suo So), upon order from Pres. Marcos on January 3, is publicly executed by firing squad in a firing range in Fort Bonifacio, Rizal for drug trafficking; the country's first execution by that method after 27 years, and only drug convict executed in the martial law era. He was charged in connection to a case wherein illegal drugs were seized in an operation in parts of Metro Manila in 1972.Philippinessource
  • 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
  • 27 July – For the first time in Singapore, the government executed its first female death row inmate in the country since its independence eight years back. 34-year-old Mimi Wong was earlier sentenced to death by the High Court for the 1970 murder of Ayako Watanabe, and has lost her appeals since. Wong's 40-year-old husband Sim Wor Kum, who assisted her to commit the murder, was also executed on the same day as Wong.Singaporesource
  • 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
  • 1 September – The establishment of Criminal Investigation Bureau.Taiwansource
  • 15 September – The 50th anniversary of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) was celebrated.Malaysiasource
  • October - Lieutenant Colonel Avraham Lanir (born 1940), the highest ranking Israeli fighter pilot to fall into enemy hands. He was tortured to death by his Syrian captors.Israelsource
  • 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
  • 30 December – The sentences of the "Carabanchel Ten" are announced following the Proceso 1001 trial.Spainsource
  • Furia infernal, directed by Armando BóArgentinasource
  • BIDC won the Dhaka First Division Football League title, while Abahani Krira Chakra, Mohammedan SC and Dhaka Wanderers came out joint runners-up.Bangladeshsource

Disasters & Accidents

  • 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
  • 10 April – A plane on route from Bristol, England to Basel crashes into a hillside while approaching the airport killing 108 out of the 145 people on board.Switzerlandsource
  • The Nigerian ship Napier runs aground on Guamblín Island, spilling around 30,000 tons of Oil into the sea.Chilesource
  • July 31 – A Delta Air Lines DC-9 aircraft flying as Delta Air Lines Flight 723 lands short of Logan Airport runway at Boston, United States, in poor visibility, striking a sea wall about 165 feet (50 m) to the right of the runway centerline and about 3000 feet (914 m) short. All 6 crew members and 83 passengers are killed; one of the passengers died several months after the accident.source
  • August 2 – A flash fire kills 51 at the Summerland amusement centre at Douglas, Isle of Man.source
  • 13 August – Aviaco Flight 118 crashes while attempting to land at Alvedro Airport.Spainsource
  • 3 September – A ferry capsizes in Kaohsiung, killing 25 women.Taiwansource
  • 18 October – 42 people, mostly Indians, were crushed to death when a 200-foot-long limestone slab fell off a cliff, collapsed and crashed onto a village at Gunung Cheroh, Ipoh, Perak.Malaysiasource
  • November 3 – Pan Am flight 160, a Boeing 707-321C, crashes at Logan International Airport, Boston, killing three people.source
  • 25 November - KLM Flight 861 is hijacked on an Amsterdam to Tokyo flight. All 247 passengers on board survive.Netherlandssource
  • 17 December – Five Palestinian terrorists shoot at passengers waiting in an El Al Israel Airlines lounge at a Rome airport, killing two civilians. Then they hurled incendiary grenades at a Pan-Am Boeing 707 awaiting to take off, killing 29 passengers.Israelsource
  • List of Mexican films of 1973.Mexicosource

Climate & Environment

  • January 23 - Eldfell on Heimaey erupts.Icelandsource
  • January 30: The 7.5 Ms Colima earthquake causes 56 deaths, 390 injuries, and a non-destructive tsunami in Mexico.Mexicosource
  • March 17 – A magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit a southern Luzon area kills 14 and injures a hundred. It causes an estimated $2 million in damage; the municipalities of Lopez and Calauag in Quezon are the hardest hit.Philippinessource
  • April 1 – India launches the wildlife conservation program Project Tiger.source
  • September 23 – Argentine general election, September 1973: The second general election is held, following the resignation of Vice President Vicente Solano Lima and Senate President Alejandro Díaz Bialet. The runners-up in the March elections — Ricardo Balbín (UCR) and Francisco Manrique (APF) — again accepted their respective parties' nominations, with Manrique obtaining the endorsement of the PDP and naming its leader as his running mate. Juan Perón, with his wife Isabel Perón as his running mate, win with a record landslide on the same FREJULI umbrella ticket on which Cámpora had been elected only six months earlier.Argentinasource
  • 11 October - 23 November: Earthquake in the AzoresPortugalsource
  • October 15 – Typhoon Ruth crosses Luzon, Philippines, killing 27 people and causing $5 million in damage.source
  • 12 November: Bangladesh joined FAO.Bangladeshsource
  • December 28 – The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.source
  • Sultan of Terengganu: Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin ShahMalaysiasource
  • List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1973Netherlandssource

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
  • 7 April – Luxembourg City hosts the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 after Vicky Leandros' victory the previous year. Representing Luxembourg, Anne-Marie David successfully defends Luxembourg's title, winning with the song Tu te reconnaîtras.Luxembourgsource
  • 21 July – The establishment of Flying Camel.Taiwansource
  • 29 July - 1973 Dutch Grand PrixNetherlandssource
  • 6 September: Bangladesh joins Non-Aligned Movement(NAM).Bangladeshsource
  • September 15 – Carl XVI Gustaf, becomes King of Sweden following the death of his grandfather, King Gustaf VI Adolf.source
  • 1–8 September - Singapore hosts the 7th South East Asian Peninsular Games for the first time. It clinched the second place, accumulating a total of 140 medals.Singaporesource
  • 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
  • GS Castilho won the Cape Verdean Football ChampionshipCape Verdesource
  • Raja of Perlis: Tuanku Syed PutraMalaysiasource
  • 23–24 June – The 1973 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships take place in Muotathal.Switzerlandsource

Births

Deaths

  • January 22 – Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States (born 1908)source
  • January 22 – A Royal Jordanian Boeing 707 flight from Jeddah crashes in Kano, Nigeria; 176 people are killed.source
  • 25 March – Edward Steichen, photographerLuxembourgsource
  • April 8 – Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist (born 1881)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
  • 17 July - Fazlul Qadir Chaudhry, politician (born 1919)Bangladeshsource
  • July 20 – Bruce Lee, Chinese-American martial artist and actor (born 1940)source
  • July 23 – The Avianca Building in Bogotá, Colombia, suffers a serious fire, in which four people are killed.source
  • 2 August – Tun Dr Ismail the deputy prime minister died due to heart attack. He was buried in Makam Pahlawan, near Masjid Negara, Kuala Lumpur. He was the first national leader to be buried here.Malaysiasource
  • August 5 – Black September members open fire at the Athens airport; 3 people are killed, 55 injured.source
  • September 2 – J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (born 1892)source
  • September 11 – Salvador Allende, 30th President of Chile (born 1908)source
  • 29 September – W. H. Auden, British-American poet (born 1973 in England)Austriasource
  • November 29 – 104 people are killed in a Taiyo department store fire in Kumamoto, Kyūshū, Japan.source
  • December 1 – David Ben-Gurion, 1st Prime Minister of Israel (born 1886)source
  • December 20 – Spanish prime minister Luis Carrero Blanco is assassinated in Madrid by the separatist organization ETA.source
  • December 25 – İsmet İnönü, Turkish general and statesman, 3-time Prime Minister of Turkey and 2nd President of Turkey during World War II (born 1884)source