50 Fun Facts about 1973

March 1, 1973: Charlotte's Web, the animated film based on the children's book of the same name, is released.

April 3, 1973: On a New York City street, Motorola researcher Martin Cooper made the first public call on a handheld mobile phone.

May 3, 1973 - The Sears Tower in Chicago is finished, becoming the world's tallest building (record held until 1998).

May 5, 1973: Led Zeppelin plays before 56,800 people at Tampa Stadium on the band's 1973 North American Tour, thus breaking the August 15, 1965, record of 55,600 set by The Beatles at Shea Stadium.

November 21, 1973: Maya Angelou on the Noble Story of Black Womanhood interview with Bill Moyers. Click photo for link to interview video and transcript.

May 14, 1973: Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched.

November 20, 1973 - The animated Thanksgiving special "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" premieres on CBS. It ends up winning an Emmy Award the following year.

September 12, 1973 - Birth of Tarana Burke, American activist, founder of #MeToo, born in New York City

June 9, 1973 - Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, achieving the first American Triple Crown victory in a quarter-century.

April 8, 1973 - Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer, who co-founded the Cubist movement, dies at 91.

October 30, 1973 - The Bosphorus Bridge is completed joining Europe and Asia in Istanbul, one day after the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey.

January 14, 1973 - Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite was a concert starring Elvis Presley that took place at the Honolulu International Center and was broadcast live via satellite to audiences in Asia and Oceania.

September 20, 1973 - The Battle of the Sexes: Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in a televised tennis match, 6–4, 6–4, 6–3, at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. With an attendance of 30,492, this remains the largest live audience ever to see a tennis match in US history. The global audience that views on television in 36 countries is estimated at 90 million.

July 10, 1973 - The Bahamas became a free and sovereign country, ending 325 years of peaceful British rule.

June 4, 1973 - A United States patent for the Docutel automated teller machine (ATM) is granted to Donald Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain.

March 26, 1973 - Following a 24 to 5 majority, the Council of the London Stock Exchange voted to admit women members to the trading floor. 

June 14, 1973 - Barrie Trinkle wins the 46th National Spelling Bee by spelling "vouchsafe".