Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s - 1970s - 1980s 1990s 2000s
Years: 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 - 1978 - 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983
Events
- January 1 - the Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law.
- January 1 - Air India's Boeing 747 explodes near Bombay - 213 dead.
- January 4 - Referendum in Chile supports policies of Augusto Pinochet.
- January 10 - Assassination of Pedero Jaoquin Chamorro[?] who had critizised Nicaraguan government. Riots erupt against Somoza's government.
- January 18 - The European Court of Human Rights finds the United Kingdom government guilty of mistreating prisoners in Northern Ireland, but not guilty of torture.
- January 19 - Federal Appeals Court Judge William H. Webster[?] appointed as Director of the FBI
- January 22 - Ethiopia announces ambassador of West Germany as Persona non grata[?]
- January 23 - Sweden becomes the first nation to ban aerosol sprays that are thought to damage earth's protective ozone layer.
- January 24 - Soviet nuclear military satellite falls into atmosphere over Canada
- January 30 - Blizzards in USA kill 90
- February 1 - Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl
- February 8 - Proceedings of the United States Senate are broadcasted on radio for the first time.
- February 11 - 16 Unification Church couples wed in New York NY.
- February 11 - Mobilization[?] in Somalia due to apparent Ethiopian attack
- February 11 - The People's Republic of China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, Shakespeare, & Dickens.
- February 15 - Rhodesia's prime minister Ian D. Smith[?] and three black leaders agree on the transfer to black majority rule.
- February 15 - Ted Bundy is captured in Florida
- February 16 - The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois).
- March 3 - Ethiopia admits that its troops are fighting with the aid Cuban soldiers against Somalian troops in Ogaden[?].
- March 3 - Charles Chaplin's remains are stolen from Cosier-sur-Vevey[?], Switzerland but are recovered 11 weeks later near Lake Geneva.
- March 3 - Rhodesia attacks Zambia.
- March 11 - Palestinian terrorists on the Tel Aviv Haifa highway[?] kill 34 Israelis
- March 15 - United States Senate approves the Panama Canal neutrality treaty; votes to turn the canal over to Panama by the year 2000 on April 18.
- March 16 - Israeli forces invade Lebanon.
- March 16 - Former Italian premier Aldo Moro is kidnapped by left wing terrorists, who kill five bodyguards; he is found dead on May 9.
- March 22 - Karl Wallenda[?] of the Flying Wallendas[?] dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- April 8 - Regular broadcasts of proceedings in British Parliament start
- April 16 - In Cologne, 15.000 former members of resistance movement demonstrate against national socialism
- April 27 - President of Afghanistan, Daud Khan[?] is killed during a military coup - Mohammed Takain succeeds him.
- May 8 - Norway opens a natural gas field in Polar Sea.
- May 18 - Soviet dissident Juri Orlov is sentenced for seven years hard labor for distributing counterrevolutionary material
- May 18-May 19 - Belgian and French paratroopers fly to Zaire to aid the fight against the rebels.
- May 20 - Mavis Hutchinson[?], 53, becames the first woman to run across USA - trek took 69 days
- May 25 - A bomb explodes in the security section of Northwestern University - security guard is wounded. The first bomb of the Unabomber case.
- May 26 - DC-10 crashes in O'Hare international airport[?]
- May 26 - In Atlantic City, New Jersey, Resorts International[?], the first legal casino in the eastern United States, opens.
- June 6 - Californians in referendum approve Proposition 13 for a nearly 60% slash in property tax revenues.
- June 12 - David Berkowitz[?], "Son of Sam," in sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
- June 17 - Police of Switzerland finds Charlie Chaplin's body in its coffin in 10 miles from the cemetery.
- June 23 - Josip Broz Tito is named for Yugoslavian president for life.
- June 24 - President of Yemen Arab Republic Hussein al-Ghashmi[?] is killed
- June 26 - Bomb of Breton nationalists causes destruction in Versailles.
- June 28 - The Supreme Court of the United States, in the Bakke case, bars quota systems[?] in college admissions but affirms constitutionality of programs giving advantage to minorities.
- June 30 - Ethiopia begin a massive offensive in Eritrea.
- July 25 - First human birth, girl Louise Brown[?], from in vitro fertilization (the test tube baby)
- August 6 - Pope Paul VI[?] dies at age of 80. The new Pope, John Paul I[?], age 65, dies unexpectedly after 34 days in office on September 28. He is succeeded by Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland as John Paul II on October 16.
- August 20 - Gunmen open fire on an Israeli El Al airline bus in London
- August 20 - in Abadan[?], Iran, nearly 400 killed when arsonist set cire to crowded theater.
- August 25 - Shroud of Turin on public display for the first time in 45 years.
- September 17 - Camp David peace agreement between Israel and Egypt
- October 1 - Vietnam attacks Cambodia
- October 14 - Daniel arap Moi becomes president of Kenya.
- November 7 - Indira Gandhi re-elected to Indian parliament.
- November 18 - Reverend Jim Jones's 900 followers commit mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, by drinking a cyanide-laced fruit drink.
- November 20 - Military coup in Spain fails.
- December 11 - Lufthansa Heist on NY airport
- December 11- Massive anti-Shah demonstration in Iran - 2 million demonstrators.
- December 27 - Spanish Constitution approved in referendum officially ending 40 years of military dictatorship.
Science
Art, Culture & Fashion
Births
Deaths
- January 13 - Hubert H. Humphrey, U.S Vice President and Senator
- January 13 - Joe McCarthy, baseball manager
- January 14 - Kurt Gödel, US mathematician
- January 23 - Jack Oakie[?], actor
- January 23 - Terry Kath[?], musician ("Chicago (band)")
- February 4 - Bergen Evans[?], television host[?]
- February 11 - James B Conant[?], headmaster of Harvard University.
- March 18 - Leigh Brackett, science fiction author
- March 31 - Charles Best, medical scientist
- May 1 - Aram Khachaturian, composer
- May 9 - Aldo Moro, former Prime Minister of Italy
- May 22 - Joe Colombo[?], gangster - he had been in coma since the assassination attempt
- July 30 - Umberto Nobile[?], Italian aviator
- August 6 - Pope Paul VI; heart attack
- August 22 - Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan statesman
- August 26 - Charles Boyer, actor
- September 7 - Keith Moon, drummer of The Who; drug overdose.
- September 9 - Jack Warner, Hollywood studio founder
- September 11 - Georgi Markov, Bulgarian dissident; assassinated with a poisoned umbrella. Dies 4 days later.
- September 15 - Willy Messerchmitt[?], German aircraft engineer
- October 22 - Anastas Mikojan[?], Soviet politician
- November 15 - Margaret Mead, cultural anthropologist
- Boumedienne[?], president of Algeria.
Nobel Prizes