Ah, 1973.
Richard Nixon is inaugurated for his second term.
The Paris Peace Accords are signed.
Ohio becomes the first US state to post distance in metric on signs. (How’s that going, Ohio?)
Pink Floyd, not satisfied that they have exhausted their creative potential with Bike, releases The Dark Side of the Moon.
The Godfather wins the best picture Oscar.
Picasso dies.
Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.
Former White House aide Alexander Butterfield spills the beans about the president’s greatest hits collection on tape. As Watergate starts simmering, Nixon tells a pack of Associated Press editors “I am not a crook.”
O.J. Simpson becomes the first running back to rush for 2,000 yards in a pro football season; he will offer a similar plea some years later.
Elvis Presley’s concert Aloha From Hawaii is watched by more people via telecast than tuned into the moon landings. He wears the same suit that Buzz Aldrin wore.
Elizabeth II opens London Bridge III.
IDEAL Toys debuts the Evel Knievel stunt-cycle, a best seller.
Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in the battle of the sexes.
Wyoming (official nickname: ‘The Equality State’; unofficial nickname: ‘The most perfectly rectangular state after Colorado’) becomes the first state of the union of the year to ratify the ultimately unsuccessful Equal Rights Amendment.
Papua New Guinea gives Australia the finger.
it’s on their flag
OPEC doubles the price of crude oil.
The Supremes decide in Roe v. Wade that privacy extends to the womb until the little blighter is feeling viable.
The Young and the Restless debuts on CBS. In Belgium Les Feux de l’Amour runs 3 years behind, so no spoilers please.
The existence of a 18½-minute gap is revealed in The Dark Side of the Moon.
The Soviet Mars 5 space probe is launched; discovers life on Mars.
The DEA is founded.
Tiny Tim goes a-wandering to a bike shop.
Crossposted as a public service to Generation Y, to help them more fully appreciate the decade which preceded their zygotehood.