What Happened in December 1973

Historical Events

Dec 1 38th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 35-0 in Birmingham
Dec 1 Australia grants self-government to Papua New Guinea

Australia Victory

Dec 1 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Cleveland, Ohio: Rod Laver and John Newcombe beat American pair Stan Smith and Erik van Dillen 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to give Australia an unassailable 3-0 lead, (ends 5-0); 23rd Cup title for Australia

Jack Nicklaus

Dec 1 Jack Nicklaus finishes at 13-under-par 275 to win the Walt Disney World Open by 1 stroke from Mason Rudolph; becomes the first player to reach $2 million in PGA Tour career earnings

Dec 2 Capital Centre (USAir Arena) opens in Landover Maryland; NBA's Washington Bullets beat Seattle SuperSonics, 98-96 in opening game; arena demolished 2002
Dec 2 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Cleveland: After clinching a famous victory the previous day, Australians Rod Laver and John Newcombe finish a 5-0 rout of the US with wins over Stan Smith and Tom Gorman
Dec 3 Pioneer 10 passes Jupiter (1st fly-by of an outer planet) [Dec 4-GMT]

Band on the Run

Dec 5 Apple Records releases Paul McCartney & Wings album "Band on the Run" in US; the commercial and critical pinnacle of his post-Beatle work tops the charts in 7 countries

Dec 5 Chicago Cubs Ron Santo becomes 1st baseball player to invoke 10-5 rule and veto his trade (with the California Angels)
Dec 6 Bahrain's constitution goes into effect

Gerald Ford VP

Dec 6 Gerald Ford sworn-in as first unelected Vice President, succeeds Spiro Agnew who resigned over corruption allegations

Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew

Dec 6 NL votes to move San Diego Padres to Washington, D.C. (doesn't happen)
Dec 7 Apple Records releases Paul McCartney & Wings album "Band on the Run" in UK; the commercial and critical pinnacle of his post-Beatle work tops the charts in 7 countries
Dec 7 Orioles sell pitcher Eddie Watt to the Phillies
Dec 8 "Seesaw" closes at Uris Theater NYC after 296 performances
Dec 8 39th Heisman Trophy Award: John Cappelletti, Penn State (RB)

Năstase's 3rd Consecutive ATP

Dec 8 Romanian tennis star Ilie Năstase wins his 3rd consecutive season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix title with a 6–3, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 win over Dutchman Tom Okker in Boston, Massachusetts

Dec 9 "Pajama Game" opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC for 65 performances
Dec 9 Arab oil ministers announce a further production cut of 5 percent for January for non-friendly countries
Dec 9 NFL St. Louis Cardinal Jim Bakken kicks 6 field goals vs Atlanta Falcons
Dec 9 Sunningdale Agreement in Northern Ireland

Sammartino vs. Stasiak

Dec 10 Bruno Sammartino beats Stan Stasiak, to become WWWF champ for 2nd time

Strongman and Professional Wrestler Bruno Sammartino

Two Tennis No. 1s

Dec 10 For the first time since 1885, tennis has 2 top-ranked male players - Americans Stan Smith and Jimmy Connors [1]

Dec 11 Houston Astro César Cedeño jailed for the death of a 19-year-old woman
Dec 11 NA Soccer League awards LA, San Francisco, Seattle & Vancouver franchises

Trade with Czechoslovakia

Dec 11 West German chancellor Willy Brandt normalizes trade with Czechoslovakia

Dec 12 Canada begins selling Olympic coins ($5 & $10 silver coins)
Dec 12 San Diego files anti-trust against NL (stopping Padres move to DC)
Dec 13 MPLA/FNLA accord about combat against Portuguese Libya
Dec 13 World Football League grants 1st franchise (Detroit)
Dec 15 American kidnap victim John Paul Getty III freed after ransom paid by oil tycoon grandfather John Paul Getty
Dec 15 American Psychiatric Association declares homosexuality is not a mental illness
Dec 15 Pirates of Caribbean ride opens at Disneyland
Dec 15 Sandy Hawley becomes 1st jockey to win 500 races in 1 year
Dec 15 Tennessee beats Temple 11-6 in low scoring NCAA basketball game

Simpson Rush Record

Dec 16 O.J. Simpson becomes 1st NFL running back to rush for 2,000 yards in a season

NFL Running Back and Convicted Criminal O.J. Simpson

Dec 17 Arabs terrorists shoot passengers on Boeing 737 to Kuwait
Dec 18 Soyuz 13 launched into Earth orbit for 8 days
Dec 18 Yanks sign Dick Williams as manager, overturned later by AL Pres
Dec 19 Grenada adopts constitution

Cronin Refuses Williams

Dec 20 AL president Joe Cronin refuses to allow Dick Williams to manage Yankees

Dec 20 Dutch Antillean government of Juancho Evertsz forms

Richard Scores 1,000

Dec 20 Montreal Canadien Henri Richard scores his 1,000th NHL point

Dec 21 3rd Fiesta Bowl: #10 Arizona State beats Pittsburgh, 28-7
Dec 21 Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, US & USSR meet in Geneva to discuss the Arab-Israeli conflict
Dec 22 OPEC Gulf Six decides to raise the posted price of marker crude from $5.12 to $11.65 per barrel effective January 1, 1974
Dec 23 6 Persian Gulf nations double their oil prices
Dec 23 French Caravelle airliner crashes in Morocco, 106 killed
Dec 24 District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.
Dec 24 Ferryboat capsized off coast of Equador, drowning 200

"The Sting"

Dec 25 "The Sting" directed by George Roy Hill, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, with music inspired by Scott Joplin, premieres in Los Angeles and New York (Best Picture 1974)

Dec 25 1st pictures of a comet from space (Comet Kohoutek), taken by NASA astronauts Jerry Carr and William Pogue during a spacewalk from Skylab 4
Dec 25 Arab oil ministers cancel January 5 percent production cut; Saudi Arabian oil minister promises 10 percent OPEC production rise

Johan Cruyff's Second Award

Dec 25 Ballon d'Or: Ajax forward Johan Cruyff wins his second award for best European football player ahead of Juventus goalkeeper Dino Zoff and Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller

Dec 25 The ARPANET crashes when a programming bug causes all ARPANET traffic to be routed through the server at Harvard University, causing the server to freeze
Dec 25 Tommy Chambers (Scotland) finishes 51 yr cycle tour (799,405 miles)
Dec 26 2 Skylab 3 astronauts walk in space for a record 7 hours

"The Exorcist"

Dec 26 Horror film "The Exorcist" based on book and screenplay by William Peter Blatty, starring Linda Blair, rated X, premieres - 1st horror film to be nominated for Best Picture

Writer and Filmmaker William Peter Blatty

Dec 26 Soyuz 13 returns to Earth
Dec 27 MLB Los Angeles Dodgers announce their home night games will start at 7:30 instead of 8
Dec 28 Akron Ohio's Chamber of Commerce terminates itself from Soap Box Derby

"Gulag Archipelago"

Dec 28 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn publishes "Gulag Archipelago" - a literary investigation of the police-state system in the Soviet Union

Writer and Nobel Laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Dec 28 Comet Kohoutek at perihelion
Dec 28 US President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act into law
Dec 29 Jerry Livingston, Leonard Adelson and Mack David's musical "Molly", starring Kaye Ballard closes at Alvin Theater. NYC, after 68 performances

Dolphins Defeat Raiders

Dec 30 AFC Championship, Miami Orange Bowl: Miami Dolphins beat Oakland Raiders, 27-10

Dec 30 NFC Championship, Texas Stadium, Irving: Minnesota Vikings beat Dallas Cowboys, 27-10
Dec 31 40th Sugar Bowl: #3 Notre Dame beats #1 Alabama, 24-23

Goologong Defeats Evert

Dec 31 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley beats Chris Evert 7-6, 4-6, 6-0 for her first of 4 home singles titles

Dec 31 Johan Cruyff chosen European Football Player of theYear

Events in 1973

Famous Birthdays

Dec 1 Jon Theodore, American drummer (Queens of the Stone Age), born in Baltimore, Maryland
Dec 2 Graham Kavanagh, Irish soccer midfielder (16 caps, Rep of Ireland; Stoke City, Cardiff City), born in Dublin, Ireland
Dec 2 Jan Ullrich, German road cyclist (Olympic gold road race 2000; Tour de France 1997; Vuelta a España 1999), born in Rostock, Germany

Monica Seles (50 years old)

Dec 2 Yugoslavian-American tennis player (9-time Grand Slam title champion), born in Novi Sad, Serbia

Dec 3 Francisco Islas Rueda [Super Crazy], Mexican pro wrestler (WWE; NJPW, Zero-1, AJPW), born in Tulancingo, Hidalgo, Mexico
Dec 3 Holly Marie Combs, American actress (Picket Fences; Charmed), born in San Diego, California
Dec 3 Sammy Leung, Hong Kong disc jockey
Dec 4 Corliss Williamson, American basketball forward (NBA C'ship 2004, Detroit Pistons; NBA 6th Man of the Year 2002; NCAA Final 4 MOP 1994), born in Russellville, Arkansas
Dec 4 Ferry Corsten, Dutch musician and DJ, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands
Dec 4 Kate Rusby, English folk singer and songwriter, born in Barnsley, England
Dec 4 Racci Shay, American musician, born in LaGrange, Georgia
Dec 4 Steven Menzies, Australian rugby league lock (13 Tests; NSW 20 games; Manly Sea Eagles), born in Sydney, Australia

Tyra Banks (50 years old)

Dec 4 American supermodel and actress (Higher Learning; Fresh Prince of Bel Air), born in Inglewood, California

Dec 5 Corissa Yasen, American WNBA forward and guard (Sacramento Monarchs), born in Omaha, Nebraska
Dec 5 Luboš Motl, Czech theoretical physicist, born in Plzeň, Czech Republic
Dec 5 Shalom Harlow, model (House of Style, Harper's Bazaar), born in Toronto, Ontario
Dec 5 Sorin Grindeanu, Romanian Prime Minister (2017), born in Caransebeș, Romania
Dec 6 Jolyon Dixon, English session and touring guitarist (Rachel Fuller; Pete Townsend; Toyah Willcox; Illingworth), born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England
Dec 6 Rebekah "Bekah" Mercer, American "Mercer Family Foundation" director and Republican donor, born in Yorktown Heights, New York

Terrell Owens (50 years old)

Dec 7 American Pro Football HOF wide receiver (5 × First-team All-Pro; 6 × Pro Bowl; 3 × NFL receiving TD leader; SF 49ers, Dallas Cowboys), born in Alexander City, Alabama

Dec 8 Corey Taylor, American rock singer (Slipknot, Stone Sour), born in Des Moines, Iowa
Dec 8 Doron Bell Jr., Canadian actor, born in Montreal, Canada
Dec 8 Mitch Jacoby, American football tight end (St Louis Rams), born in Port Washington, Wisconsin
Dec 9 Stacey Abrams, American politician, lawyer and voting rights activist, born in Madison, Wisconsin
Dec 9 Tony Batista, Dominican baseball infielder (Oakland A's), born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Dec 10 Bernard Holsey, defensive tackle (NY Giants)
Dec 10 Marcus Wall, CFL receiver (Montreal Alouettes)
Dec 10 Rusty LaRue, NBA guard (Chicago Bulls)
Dec 11 Erin Moorad, America pairs skater (with partner Richard Gillam), born in Chicago, Illinois
Dec 11 Luke Casserly, Australian soccer defender (Olyroos, Olympics 1996), born in Sydney, Australia
Dec 11 Mos def [Yasiin Bey], American rapper, singer-songwriter and actor, born in Brooklyn, New York
Dec 11 Ralph Intranuovo, Canadian NHL center (Edmonton Oilers), born in East York, Toronto, Ontario
Dec 11 Valentina Lisitsa, Ukrainian-American concert, pianist, born in Kiev, Ukraine, Soviet Union
Dec 12 Michael Di Venuto, Australian cricketer (exciting Tasmanian batsman), born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Dec 12 Reinard Wilson, American football linebacker (Cincinnati Bengals), born in Gainesville, Florida
Dec 12 Walter Otta, Argentine footballer (Blooming), born in Río Tercero, Argentina
Dec 13 Christie Clark, American actress (Carrie Brady-Days of Our Life), born in Los Angeles, California
Dec 13 Shandon Anderson, American NBA forward (Utah Jazz), born in Atlanta, Georgia
Dec 14 Thuy Trang, Vietnamese-American actress (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), born in Saigon, Vietnam (d. 2001)
Dec 14 Tia Texada, American actress and singer, born in Louisiana
Dec 15 Ryu Seung-wan, South Korean actor and director, born in Onyang, South Korea
Dec 15 Tammy Pearman, American soccer defender (9 caps; NY Power FC), born in Brooklyn, New York
Dec 16 Mariza [Marisa dos Reis Nunes], Portuguese fado singer, born in Maputo, Portuguese Mozambique
Dec 16 Scott Storch, Canadian-American hip-hop producer, born in Long Island, New York
Dec 17 Paula Radcliffe, English long-distance runner (marathon world record holder), born in Davenham, England
Dec 17 Rian Johnson, American filmmaker (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Knives Out), born in Silver Springs, Maryland
Dec 18 Keith Washington, NFL defensive end (Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens)
Dec 19 Takashi Sorimachi, Japanese actor
Dec 19 Zulfiya Zabirova, Uzbek road cyclist Olympic gold time trial 1996; UCI World C'ship gold 2002), born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Dec 20 Cory Stillman, Canadian NHL center (Calgary Flames), born in Peterborough, Canada
Dec 20 Jenny Boucek, WNBA guard (Cleveland Rockers), born in Nashville, Tennessee
Dec 20 Muadianvita Kazadi, American football linebacker (St Louis Rams), born in Zaire
Dec 21 Karmen Stavec, Slovene pop singer, born in West Berlin, West Germany
Dec 21 Mike Alstott, American football fullback (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), born in Joliet, Illinois
Dec 22 Annie Pelletier, Canadian diver (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Montreal, Quebec
Dec 22 Jamel Williams, American football safety (Washington Redskins), born in Gary, Indiana
Dec 22 Katarzyna Duda, Polish concert violinist, born in Warsaw, Poland
Dec 23 Tony Graziani, American football quarterback (Atlanta Falcons), born in Las Vegas, Nevada
Dec 24 Eddie Pope, soccer defender (Olympic gold 1996), born in Greensboro, North Carolina

Stephenie Meyer (50 years old)

Dec 24 American author (Twilight Saga), born in Hartford, Connecticut,

Dec 25 Alexandre Trudeau, Canadian journalist, born in Ottawa, Canada
Dec 25 Chris Harris, American professional wrestler, born in Kentucky
Dec 26 Reichen Lehmkuhl, American television personality, born in Cincinnati, Ohio
Dec 26 Ryan Berube, American 800m freestyle relay (Olympic gold 1996), born in Tequesta, Florida
Dec 26 Steve Prescott, English rugby league fullback (2 Tests England, 4 Ireland; St. Helens RLFC, Hull RLFC, Wakefield Trinity RLFC), born in St. Helens, England (d. 2013)
Dec 27 Dee Ferris, British painter, born in Paulton, Somerset, England
Dec 27 Kristoffer Zegers, Dutch pianist and contemporary classical composer (Pianophasing), born in Breda, Netherlands
Dec 27 Wilson Cruz [Echevarría], American stage and screen actor (My So Called Life; Party of Five), born in Brooklyn, NYC
Dec 28 Herborg Kråkevik, Norwegian folk singer and musical theater actress, born in Jondal, Norway

Seth Meyers (50 years old)

Dec 28 American actor, comedian, writer and producer (Late Night with Seth Meyers, Saturday Night Live), born in Evanston, Illinois

Dec 29 Theo Epstein, American baseball executive and President of Baseball Operations, born in New York City
Dec 29 Tomas Perez, Barquisimeto Venezuela, infielder (Toronto Blue Jays), born in Lara, Venezuela
Dec 30 Ato Boldon, Trinidadian athlete
Dec 30 Don Reid, NBA guard/forward (Detroit Pistons)
Dec 30 Jon Theodore, American drummer (The Mars Volta, 2001-06; Queens of the Stone Age, 2013-present), born in Baltimore, Maryland
Dec 31 Curtis Myden, Canadian swimmer (Olympic bronze 400m medley 1996, 2000; 200m medley 1996), born in Calgary, Alberta
Dec 31 Malcolm Middleton, Scottish musician (Arab Strap), born in Dumfries, United Kingdom

Born in 1973

Famous Deaths

David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973)

Dec 1 1st Prime Minister of Israel (1948-53, 1955-63), dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 87

Dec 2 Watson Washburn, American tennis player (runner-up Wimbledon doubles 1924, US Nationals 1921, 23; founder International Tennis Hall of Fame), dies at 79
Dec 3 Emile Christian, American jazz trombonist, dies at 78
Dec 4 Alfred Fuller, Canadian-American businessman ('Fuller Brush Man'), dies at 88
Dec 4 Michael O'Shea, American actor (Smart Woman), dies of a heart attack at 67

Robert Watson-Watt (1892-1973)

Dec 5 Scottish physicist and developer of the radar and radio direction finding in WWII, dies at 81

Dec 6 Justus Hermann Wetzel, German composer, dies at 94
Dec 10 Earle Foxe, American actor (Dance Fools Dance), dies at 81
Dec 13 Henry Green, English author (b. 1905)
Dec 14 Yitzhak Edel, Israeli composer, dies at 77
Dec 15 Orest Evlahkov, Russian Soviet composer and educator (Leningrad Conservatory), dies at 61
Dec 16 Sid Barnes, Australian cricket batsmen (13 Tests, 3 x 100, 5 x 50, HS 234; NSWCA), dies of barbiturate and bromide poisoning at 57
Dec 17 Charles Greeley Abbot, American astronomer (Solar Constant), dies at 101
Dec 17 Patrick Hadley, English composer (La Belle Dame sans merci; The Hills), pedagogue, and conductor, dies of throat cancer at 74
Dec 18 Julio César Brero [or Giulio Cesare], Italian-born Argentine composer (Novella), and lawyer, dies at 64
Dec 18 Rasheed Turabi, Pakistani scholar, orator and philosopher, dies at 65
Dec 20 Bobby Darin [Walden Robert Cassotto], American singer ("Mack the Knife"; "Splish-Splash"; "Beyond the Sea"), and actor, dies of a heart attack at 37
Dec 20 Luis Carrero Blanco, Prime Minister of Spain (1973), assassinated by ETA
Dec 22 Domingo Julio Gomez Garcia, composer, dies at 87
Dec 22 James Anderson, Australian tennis player (Australasian C'ship 1922, 24, 25), dies at 79
Dec 23 Arthur Richardson, Australian cricket all-rounder (9 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 100, 12 wickets; South Australia, Western Australia), dies at 85
Dec 23 Gerard Kuiper, Dutch-American astronomer after whom the Kuiper belt is named (discovered moons of Uranus, Neptune), dies of a heart attack at 68
Dec 23 Irna Phillips, American scriptwriter who created 6 soap operas (Guiding Light), dies at 72
Dec 24 Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, Indian Social social activist and reformer, dies at 94
Dec 25 Gabriel Voisin, French aviation pioneer and luxury automobile manufacturer, dies at 93
Dec 25 İsmet İnönü, Turkish military officer and statesman (President of Turkey, 1938-50; Prime Minister, 1923-37 and 1961-65), dies at 89
Dec 26 Harold B. Lee, American religious leader, Head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies at 74
Dec 26 Steven Geray, American actor (French Line), dies at 69
Dec 26 William Haines, American actor (Little Annie Rooney), dies of cancer at 73
Dec 30 Henri-Paul Busser, composer, dies at 101

On This Day