1973 History

1973 – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Fun…

 

January 1 - CBS sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led by George Steinbrenner (3.2 million dollars less than CBS bought the Yankees for)

January 14 - Elvis Presley's concert in Hawaii. The first worldwide telecast by an entertainer watched by more people than watched the Apollo moon landings.

January 15 - Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.

January 22 - Roe v. Wade: The U.S. Supreme Court overturns state bans on abortion.

January 27 – U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War ends with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.

February 22 – Following President Richard Nixon's visit to mainland China, the United States and the People's Republic of China agree to establish liaison offices.

March 1 – Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, one of rock's landmark albums, is released in the US. It is released in the UK on March 24.

March 29 – The last United States soldier leaves Vietnam.

April 2 – The LexisNexis computerized legal research service begins

April 3 – The first handheld mobile phone call is made by Martin Cooper of Motorola in New York City

April 4 – The World Trade Center officially opens in New York City with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

April 30 – President Richard Nixon announces that top White House aides H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and others have resigned.

May 3 – The Sears Tower in Chicago is finished, becoming the world's tallest building at 1,451 feet

May 14 - Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched

May 17 – Televised coverage of the United States Senate Watergate Hearings begin.

June 4 – A patent for the ATM is granted to Donald Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain

June 7 - WBHS Class of 1973 Commencement at Price Field

June 9Secretariat wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing winner since 1948 (EDITORS NOTE:  Secretariat still holds the record for the fastest time in all three triple crown races!)

June 24 – Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev addresses the American people on television, the first to do so.

July 1 – The United States Drug Enforcement Administration is founded.

July 16 – Former White House aide Alexander Butterfield informs the United States Senate Watergate Committee that President Richard Nixon had secretly recorded potentially incriminating conversations.

July 28 - The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, a massive rock festival featuring the Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band and The Band, attracts over 600,000 music fans

August 15 – The U.S. bombing of Cambodia ends, officially halting 12 years of combat activity in Southeast Asia

September 20The Battle of the Sexes: Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in a televised tennis match, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3, at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. With an attendance of 30,492, this remains the largest live audience ever to see a tennis match in US history. The global audience that viewed on television in 36 countries was estimated at 90 million.

October 6Yom Kippur War: The fourth and largest ArabIsraeli conflict begins, as Egyptian and Syrian forces attack Israeli forces in the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights on Yom Kippur.

October 10 - Spiro T. Agnew resigns as Vice President of the United States and then, in federal court in Baltimore, Maryland, pleads no contest to charges of income tax evasion on $29,500 he received in 1967, while he was governor of Maryland. He is fined $10,000 and put on 3 years' probation

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 raises calls for Nixon's impeachment.

November 11Egypt and Israel sign a United States-sponsored cease-fire accord.

November 17 -  In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook."

November 27 – The United States Senate votes 92–3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States

December 16O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills became the first running back to rush for 2,000 yards in a pro football season.

Date Unknown - Lite Beer is introduced in the U.S. by the Miller Brewing Company.