By Jon and Mike S.
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1973 was an exciting year full of change and important events. Advances were made, but more solemn events occurred, too. The internet was developed by the Department of Defense, original intended for military use, but forever changing how people can communicate and obtain information. Members of AIM (American Indian Movement) occupy Wounded Knee, South Dakota, the site of a massacre of Native Americans in 1890. Moscow agrees to follow the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention, and Pepsi-Cola becomes the first American product that is licensed to be sold in the Soviet Union. A tennis match, the "battle of the sexes" is played between Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King in the Houston Astrodome. Riggs loses. Women account for 44.7% of the U.S. work force. Salaries differ as much as 20% between men and women performing the same job. The first Endangered and Threatened Species List is created by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and automatic teller machines (ATMs) are manufactured for the first time. The demand for blue jeans increases, and U.S. textile mills produce 482 million square yards of cotton denim: 45 million more than in 1971. Watergate and the President's involvement lead the news.
In baseball, the American League introduces the designated hitter rule, which allows another player to bat instead of the pitcher in a team's lineup on January 11.
The Miami Dolphins defeat the Washington Redskins 14–7 in Los Angeles, California, to become the first team in NFL history to win all their regular and post-season games on January 14, 1973 in Super Bowl VII.
In Roe v. Wade the U.S. Supreme Court rules that state restrictions on abortion are unconstitutional and that a woman has the right to an abortion within the first six months of pregnancy on January 22
The United States, North and South Vietnam, and the Vietcong sign a Vietnam War cease-fire agreement in Paris, France on January 27.
On February 22, Winthrop Rockefeller, who was a U.S. politician and Governor of Arkansas, dies in Palm Springs, California at the age of sixty.
The last U.S. troops leave Vietnam and most of the remaining U.S. prisoners of war, captured during the Vietnam War, are released on March 29.
Pablo Picasso, a Spanish painter and sculptor, dies in Mougins, France on April 8.
The U.S. athlete Dwight Stones has a world record for a high jump of 7 ft 6½ in, in Munich, West Germany on July 11.
Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigns under pressure October 10 due to charges of tax evasion and other issues. Gerald R. Ford is named Vice President.
Special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox, Jr. is fired the night of October 20 when he insists that the President turn over tape recordings of conversations about the Watergate break-in. Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson, resigns in protest, and President Nixon names Leon Jaworski, to replace Cox. The White House releases the tapes, but some have gaps or missing parts, creating still more controversy. The event was known as the Saturday Night Massacre.
The Oakland A’s win the Word Series 4 games to 3 against the New York Mets on October 21 in the 1973 World Series.
The black American world light-heavyweight champion Bob Foster beats Pierre Fourie with a crowd of 40,000 people on December 1.
O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills becomes the first professional football player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season.
The Kung Fu film, Enter the Dragon, is released in the United States and stars Bruce Lee.
The horror film, The Exorcist, is released in the United States. Based on the best-selling novel by William Peter Blatty, it is directed by William Friedkin and stars Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow, and Linda Blair.
The British heavy metal rock group Led Zeppelin releases The Song Remains the same, a film of their concert at Madison Square Garden, New York, New York. It is directed by Peter Clifton and Joe Massot.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that advertisements for employment cannot specify gender.
The rise in the price of oil booms and oil supply is restricted after war breaks out in the Middle East disrupting Western economies. The price of oil increases from $5.10 to $11.65 a barrel.
Some of the new Broadway and off-Broadway musicals were El Grande de Coca-Cola, with Ron House and Diz White, A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim, and Seesaw by Cy Coleman.
The British rock group the Rolling Stones releases and the album Goat's Head Soup.
The British pop star Elton John releases the albums Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player. The Los Angeles Times calls him “the first superstar of the Seventies.”
The British heavy metal rock group Led Zeppelin releases the album Houses of the Holy.
The U.S. pop singer Stevie Wonder releases the album Innervisions.
U.S. rock and roll star Elvis Presley divorces his wife Priscilla after six years of marriage, giving her a $750,000 settlement.
The Sears Tower opens in Chicago, Illinois, with 110 stories and 443 m/1,454 ft high, it is the world's tallest office building until 1996.
46th Academy Awards
Best Actor: Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger
Best Actress: Glenda Jackson in A Touch of
Class
Best Picture: The Sting
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Comedy: M*A*S*H (CBS)
Outstanding Drama: Masterpiece Theatre: Upstairs,
Downstairs (PBS)
16th Annual Grammy Awards
Record of the Year: Killing Me Softly With His Song
by Roberta Flack
Album of the Year: Innervisions by Stevie Wonder
Song of the Year: Killing Me Softly With His Song by
Roberta Flack
Best New Artist: Bette Midler