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April 1973

Month of 1973 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

April 1973
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The following events occurred in April 1973:

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April 30, 1973: White House policy advisor John Ehrlichman and Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman forced to resign after being implicated in Watergate
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April 8, 1973: Pablo Picasso, "the most famous artist of his time",[1][2][3] dies at the age of 91
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April 4, 1973: World Trade Center officially opens in New York City
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April 1, 1973 (Sunday)

  • VAT (Value Added Tax) went into effect in the UK.[4] Described as "the most significant change in Britain's tax system since the war"[5] the VAT replaced the purchase tax and the selective employment tax. A government advert told readers "VAT spreads taxation more evenly. Many prices stay ABOUT THE SAME, some go UP, and some come DOWN", and emphasized that the prices on food, household appliances, newspapers and toys would go down because of the elimination of purchase tax, while those for clothing and shoes, fabrics, furniture, and most services would go up.[6][7]
  • The government of India launched Project Tiger, a six-year campaign to save the tiger from extinction. Dr. Karan Singh, India's Minister of Tourism, announced the program, declaring Jim Corbett National Park and eight other protected areas as off limits to people.[8] Only 1,800 tigers remained in India when the Project started, compared to 40,000 at the start of the 20th century.[9]
  • The U.S. Army Health Services Command was activated as part of a reorganization of the Army Medical Department, and took control of Army medical facilities in the continental United States.[10]
  • The first Doraemon anime began airing on Nippon TV in Japan.
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April 2, 1973 (Monday)

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April 3, 1973 (Tuesday)

  • The first handheld cellular phone call was made by Martin Cooper in New York City, at a press conference held by the Motorola company to unveil its new "DYNA T-A-C radio-telephone" and announce its commitment to spend up to five million dollars to install transmission towers throughout the city. Cooper's call was made possible by the installation of temporary towers on two buildings on Fifth Avenue.[13]
  • The Soviet Union launched its second orbiting space station, Salyut 2. While the station went into Darth orbit, a cloud of fragments from an exploded rocket stage struck the station on April 15, tearing off both of its solar panels and rendering it without power to control its altitude.[14] Salyut 2 would fall from orbit on May 28 and burn up in Earth's atmosphere.[15]
  • A group of 15,000 rebels began an uprising in the Kingdom of Sikkim, a semi-independent state within India, against the government of King Palden Thondup Namgyal. A group of protesters surrounded the royal palace to protest the composition of the Sikkim Council, and Crown Prince Tenzing and police fired into the crowd, killing at least three demonstrators. The King called for the assistance of the Indian Army on April 5, and the rebellion was halted the next day as Indian troops stopped the rebel column from approaching the Sikkimese capital of Gangtok.[16] In return for the assistance, India would later annex Sikkim, which would become the 25th state of India on May 16, 1975.
  • In India's Kerala state, 35 women at an agricultural workers colony were killed when the area where they were standing was hit by a lightning bolt.[17]
  • The city of Montreal announced Canada's first lottery to help pay for the 1976 Summer Olympics.[citation needed]
  • Born: Adam Scott, American actor; in Santa Cruz, California

April 4, 1973 (Wednesday)

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April 5, 1973 (Thursday)

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The launch of the Atlas-Centaur carrying the Pioneer G (11) spacecraft on April 5, 1973
  • Representatives of the American Indian Movement (AIM), headed by Russell Means, and the United States government, by Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kent Frizzell, signed an agreement to end the 37-day siege of the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, by the AIM and militants within the Oglala Sioux nation. The six point agreement provided that Means would be invited to Washington D.C. to meet with White House representatives on April 7 and that the militants would leave Wounded Knee on the same day, submit to arrest by federal agents and travel to Rapid City for arraignment. The U.S. Department of Justice agreed to a federal investigation of affairs at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, an audit of tribal funds, and consideration of civil rights lawsuits on behalf of individuals for possible abuses by the tribal government or the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the U.S. presidential treaty commission pledged to re-evaluate an 1868 treaty between the United States and the Sioux Nation.[21]
  • Pioneer 11 was launched on a mission to study the Solar System. The craft was sent up from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Kennedy at Florida at 3:11 in the afternoon local time.[22]
  • Born: Pharrell Williams, American singer-songwriter known for the hit song Happy; in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
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April 6, 1973 (Friday)

  • Fahri Korutürk was elected as the sixth President of Turkey on the 15th round of voting that had started on March 13. Admiral Korutürk, who had previously served as the Chief of the Navy of Turkey, received 365 votes out of 635 in the Grand National Assembly. The office of President had been vacant for nine days, since the term of President Cevdet had expired on March 28, and Korutürk was sworn in immediately.[23][24]
  • Pierre Messmer appointed his second cabinet as Prime Minister of France, following the wishes of President Georges Pompidou to have a new image of less adherence to the policies of Pompidou's predecessor, General Charles de Gaulle.[25]
  • Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees became the first designated hitter in Major League Baseball, playing in a game at Boston's Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox. Blomberg Was brought in during the first inning with the bases loaded and two outs, but was walked on ball four with five pitches from Luis Tiant. In the evening, Tony Oliva of the Minnesota Twins became the first-ever "DH" to hit a home run during the Twins 8 to 3 win over the host Oakland A's. Other designated hitters who saw action on the first on their teams were Orlando Cepeda (Boston), Ollie Brown (Milwaukee), and Dave McNally (Baltimore).[26]
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April 7, 1973 (Saturday)

  • Viet Cong guerrillas in South Vietnam shot down a helicopter that was carrying members of the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS), killing all nine people aboard. The multinational peacekeeping team that was supervising the truce and ceasefire arising from the Paris Peace Accords, was flying from Can Tho to Vi Thanh, and was composed of two Hungarians, one Canadian, one Indonesian, two Viet Cong officers and three U.S. Air Force crew when it was hit. A Vietcong spokesman confirmed the deaths and said "The Provisional Revolutionary Government deeply regrets this unexpected accident."[27][28] Another ICCS helicopter carrying 10 people (including observers from Poland, Hungary, Indonesia and Canada), was able to return safely to Can Tho after being hit by groundfire
  • Tu te reconnaîtras ("You'll Recognize Yourself"), sung by Anne-Marie David, gave Luxembourg its second consecutive victory in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing four points ahead of the entry from Spain, Eres tú, performed by the Spanish band Mocedades finished second and would go on to become a hit single in the U.S. and other nations in 1974. With 17 nations participating, the annual contest had 17 nations entered, and took place in Luxembourg City. For the first time, the Middle Eastern nation of Israel was allowed to participate with the European countries, and the requirement, that a nation's entry had to be sung in that nation's language, was dropped.
  • The 1973 International Seven-A-Side Tournament, the first Rugby Sevens tournament to feature national representative teams,[29] was played with teams from Australia, England, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, Wales, and an eight team, the Scottish Rugby Union's "Presidents VII", with players from South Africa, which was not allowed to send a team. All the games took place at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. In the final, England defeated Ireland, 22 to 18.
  • Died:
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April 8, 1973 (Sunday)

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Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon from 1907
  • Pablo Picasso, renowned as "the greatest artist of his time and a giant in the history of painting"[30] died of heart failure at his home in France at Mougins in the Alpes-Maritimes département. Picasso and his wife Jacqueline Roque Picasso had been entertaining friends for dinner the previous night, and the artist went to his in-home studio to work on another painting before retiring in the early morning hours for sleep. Picasso had been scheduled to bring his new works to a showing at Avignon. Another critic observed, "We have still more than a quarter left in this century but it is highly unlikely that it will produce an artist to eclipse Pablo Picasso, the world's most influential and prolific modern painter."[31]
  • Israel's cabinet, led by Prime Minister Golda Meir, voted to prohibit any plans for Israeli citizens or private companies for purchase of land in the West Bank and other formerly Arab territories captured during the Six-Day War of 1967.[32]
  • Jackie Stewart won the 1973 BRDC International Trophy motor race at Silverstone.
  • Born:
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April 9, 1973 (Monday)

April 10, 1973 (Tuesday)

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April 11, 1973 (Wednesday)

April 12, 1973 (Thursday)

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King Sobhuza II[44]
  • In the southern African kingdom of Swaziland (now Eswatini), King Sobhuza II annulled the constitution of 1968, dissolved the legislature, and assumed authority in all executive, judicial, and legislative matters. He would rule by decree until his death in 1982.
  • The mid-air collision of two airplanes killed 16 people in the U.S. at NAS Moffett Field near Sunnyvale, California. A Convair 990 Coronado jet, with 11 civilian employees of NASA, was approaching its landing while a U.S. Navy Lockheed P3C Orion turboprop plane was making "touch-and-go" landings and takeoffs on the same runway. The two aircraft were reported to be "on roughly parallel courses" for a landing on the runway and were 300 feet (91 m) above the ground when the collision occurred.[45][46]
  • Born: David A. Marcus, French-born U.S. Internet entrepreneur and cryptocurrency; in Paris

April 13, 1973 (Friday)

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Magruder
  • Jeb Stuart Magruder, a deputy campaign manager for U.S. President Nixon told federal prosecutors that he had perjured himself during a trial of the Watergate burglars, and implicated White House counsel John Dean and campaign manager (and former U.S. Attorney General) John Mitchell in the scandal.[47] Magruder subsequently resigned on April 26.[48]
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • Dudley Senanayake, 61, Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) 1952–1953, 1960 and 1965–1970; from a heart ailment
    • Pete Herman (ring name for Peter Gulotta), 77, U.S. boxer and world bantamweight champion 1917-1920 and 1921 despite his height of 5'2" (157 cm)
    • Balraj Sahni, 59, Indian Punjabi film and stage actor, died of a heart attack
    • Henry Darger, 81, celebrated outsider artist and writer, famous for his posthumously discovered 15,145 page manuscript The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What Is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, died in Chicago.[49]

April 14, 1973 (Saturday)

  • The popular children's magazine Bobo for school-aged children was launched in Indonesia, five years after the Dutch version had been launched for preschoolers in the Netherlands.
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • Sam DeStefano, 63, American mob enforcer described by FBI agent William F. Roemer Jr. as "the worst torture-murderer in the history of the United States",[51] was shot and killed at his home in the Galewood neighborhood of Chicago.[52]
    • John Gurdon, 74, British flying ace credited with 28 victories in the First World War
    • Minna Gombell, 80, American stage and film actress between 1929 and 1951, who also performed under the stage names Nancy Gardner and Winifred Lee

April 15, 1973 (Sunday)

  • In Libya's Berber city of Zuwarah, leader Muammar Gaddafi was expected to announce his resignation after having told his colleagues in the Revolutionary Command Council that he would agree to step down. Instead, Gaddafi announced his plan for a "Popular Revolution".[53][54]
  • Mehmet Naim Talu became the new Prime Minister of Turkey and formed a new cabinet of ministers. Talu had served as Minister of Trade and replaced Ferit Melen.
  • In the South American nation of Chile, workers at the El Teniente copper mines walked off the job to demand higher wages, further damaging Chile's troubled economy. The strike would drag into June, leading to an attempted coup d'état against President Salvador Allende on June 29. On September 11, Allende would be killed in a coup by the Chilean Armed Forces and the military would rule the nation for 16 years.
  • Attorney General Richard Kleindienst informed U.S. President Nixon that White House lawyer John Dean had been cooperating with federal prosecutors in the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into criminal charges against Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman and Domestic Affairs advisor John Ehrlichman. Nixon fired Dean on April 30 and asked Haldeman and Ehrlichman to resign.
  • The first Scrabble Players Championship, which had opened on March 18 and was limited to residents of the Brooklyn borough of New York City, was won by Jonathan Hatch.
  • Born:

April 16, 1973 (Monday)

April 17, 1973 (Tuesday)

April 18, 1973 (Wednesday)

  • Amin al-Hafez was appointed as the new Prime Minister of Lebanon after Saeb Salam's resignation. Hafez, selected by President Suleiman Franjieh, was approved by parliament and formed a cabinet one week later, taking office on April 25.[67][68]
  • U.S. President Nixon halted all taxes and restrictions on imported oil in order to fight a growing problem with a shortage of gasoline.[69]
  • The Oklahoma Sooners college football team, which had finished with a record of 10–1–0, won the Sugar Bowl after the season, and finished with a number 3 ranking, forfeited seven of its wins and the postseason victory, for an official finish of 3–8–0, after an assistant coach admitted altering the high school transcripts of several freshmen players in order to let them qualify for the team.[70] The Sooners would later be suspended by the NCAA from postseason participation in the 1974 and 1975 seasons.
  • Three robbers, including Mace Brown, who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, invaded a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank in the Harlem section of New York City and took 30 people hostage. A New York police patrol car was alerted moments after the men entered the bank, and Brown and the two men were surprised as they came back out with bags of cash. Brown was killed in the gunbattle that followed, and the other two men surrendered after negotiations.[71]
  • The science fiction film Soylent Green, set in the then-future year of 2022, premiered in the United States. Starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Connors and (in his final film role) Edward G. Robinson, the dystopian detective film was set in an overpopulated world, where the city of New York by itself had population of 40 million people and food, energy and housing were in short supply. Critics were unfavorable, with one saying "You still don't have much of a movie," and "As usual [Director Richard Fleischer] proves himself adept at subverting potentially meaningful material by shamelessly exploiting it",[72] while another wrote "The script is starved for lack of wit or intelligence."[73]
  • Born:

April 19, 1973 (Thursday)

April 20, 1973 (Friday)

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Mitchell
  • As the extent of the Watergate scandal was further investigated, former U.S. Attorney General John N. Mitchell told a federal grand jury that he had attended meetings where plans had been discussed to set listening devices in the Democratic Party headquarters, but that he had never approved the scheme. The testimony contradicted statements before the U.S. Senate that he had no prior knowledge or involvement in the "bugging" of the Democratic National Party offices.[75]
  • Born: Toshihide Saito, Japanese soccer football defender and national team member; in Shizuoka
  • Died:

April 21, 1973 (Saturday)

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Kemper

April 22, 1973 (Sunday)

  • A gunman in the south side of Los Angeles killed six people and wounded nine others in less than an hour, while on a shooting spree on Easter Sunday. William Ray Bonner had become enraged after arguing with a guest in his home, then shot people whom he knew. A security guard who pursued Bonner, Versell Bennett, became a seventh fatality when police mistook him for the gunman. Police wounded Bonner during a gun battle.[79][80] Bonner was later sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders.
  • The first LGBT protest in the South American nation of Chile took place in Santiago as a group of 50 gay, lesbian and transvestite demonstrators turned out to call attention to police harassment and brutality. The national police force, the Carabineros de Chile, declined to break up the protest, but moved a van into the area, after which the protesters dispersed on their own.[81]
  • The final Singapore Grand Prix was held before the event was discontinued. It would be brought back in 2008 as a round of the Formula One World Championship. The 1973 race was won by Vern Schuppan of Australia.
  • Born:
  • Died: Dalip Singh Saund, 73, Indian-born U.S. Congressman who was the first Asian American, the first native of India, the first member of a faith other than Christianity or Judaism (Saund was of the Sikh religion) to be elected to the United States Congress. Saund served two terms representing California's 29th District.

April 23, 1973 (Monday)

April 24, 1973 (Tuesday)

The Supreme Court of India, by a margin of only 7 to 6, rendered its landmark judgment in the case of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, referred to as "The Fundamental Rights Case". The Court held that it had the right to strike down any amendments to the Constitution of India that were in violation of the fundamental principles of the constitution.

April 25, 1973 (Wednesday)

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Italian league scoring leader Bob Morse

April 26, 1973 (Thursday)

  • The first day of trading took place on the Chicago Board Options Exchange for the purpose of buying and selling options to acquire stocks at a future time. The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit the same day.[84][85]
  • A rocket attack on and near Cambodia's largest airport killed 24 civilians and wounded 55 others, as Communist Khmer Rouge fired 122-mm rockets into a district of squatter huts in Phnom Penh and at the terminal itself.[86]
  • Died: Irene Ryan, 70, American comedian and actress most famous for the long-running sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies. Ryan died after collapsing on stage on March 10 while appearing in the Broadway production of Pippin in New York City.[87]

April 27, 1973 (Friday)

April 28, 1973 (Saturday)

April 29, 1973 (Sunday)

  • In Mexico, six people were killed and 15 injured (five critically) in the 18th annual road race of 30 miles (48 km) from Jerez to Zacatecas City in the state of Zacatecas, as driver Daniel Quesada lost control and his car flipped into a crowd of spectators along the roadside.[102]
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Most-favored for the 1976 Republican nomination, Spiro Agnew
  • U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew was the leading candidate among Republicans for the 1976 U.S. presidential election, according to the results of a survey released by opinion pollster George Gallup, with more than one-third (35%) of Republicans surveyed reporting Agnew as their first choice for the nomination, with California Governor Ronald Reagan a distant second at 20 percent.[103] Agnew told a reporter for U.S. News and World Report the same day, "I'll run to win and I can win." Agnew would resign in a bribery scandal less than six months later.[104]
  • The singles competition at the 1973 Swedish Pro Tennis Championships in Gothenburg was won by Stan Smith of the U.S. over Australia's John Alexander. The doubles were won by Roy Emerson and Rod Laver, both of Australia, over the team of Yugoslavia's Nikki Pilić and Australia's Allan Stone.[105]
  • Born: David Belle, French actor, film choreographer and stunt coordinator credited as the founder of the sports discipline parkour; in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime département,
  • Died: Flux Dundas, 74, British colonial administrator

April 30, 1973 (Monday)

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John Dean, fired

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