1973

1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar.

• January 1 – United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, now known as the European Union.
• January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, President of the United States Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.
• January 17 – Ferdinand Marcos becomes President for Life of the Philippines.
• January 22 – Supreme Court of the United States rules on Roe v. Wade.
• January 22 – George Foreman defeats Joe Frazier for the heavyweight world boxing championship.
• January 23 – Eruption in Heimaey begins.
• January 23 – President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord has been reached in Vietnam.
• January 27 – U.S. involvement in Vietnam War ends with the signing of peace pacts. See Paris Peace Accords.
• April 3 – The World Trade Center opens in New York City.
• September 11 – Augusto Pinochet takes power in Chile, in a coup, in which President Salvador Allende dies.
• September 15 – Ascension to the throne of King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
• The rock group KISS form in New York City.
• Homosexuality is no longer considered a mental disorder.
• Japans first video game, Elepong is produced

• January 8 – Sean Paul, Jamaican reggae singer
• January 22 – Rogério Ceni, brazilian football player
• February 16 – Cathy Freeman, Australian Aborigine athlete
• March 22 – Elvis Stojko, Canadian figure skater
• April 6 – Donnie Edwards, former American football linebacker, philanthropist, television personality, actor, and executive producer
• April 8 – Emma Caulfield, American actress
• April 14 – Adrien Brody, American actor
• April 23 – John Cena, American professional wrestler
• May 24 – Ruslana, Ukrainian singer
• June 10 – Faith Evans, American singer
• June 26 – Gretchen Wilson, American singer
• July 15 – John Dolmayan, Armenian-American drummer (System of a Down)
• July 23 – Monica Lewinsky, White House member of staff under Bill Clinton
• July 30 – Markus Näslund, Swedish hockey player
• August 7 – Zane Lowe, New Zealand disc jockey and television presenter
• September 13 – Fabio Cannavaro, Italian footballer
• September 18 – Mark Shuttleworth, South African businessman
• October 22 – Ichiro Suzuki, Professional baseball player for the Seattle Mariners
• October 28 – Alvin Burke, Jr., American professional wrestler
• October 30 – Adam Copeland, Canadian professional wrestler
• October 31 – Beverly Lynne, American actress
• November 6 – Sandy Robson, Canadian actor
• November 17 – Bernd Schneider, German footballer
• November 30 – Kate Fischer, Australian actress and model
• December 3 – Holly Marie Combs, American actress

• January 20 – Amilcar Cabral, Guinea-Bissau politician (b. 1924)
• January 22 – Lyndon Johnson, 36th President of the United States (b. 1908)

• February 11 – J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist (b. 1907)

• April 8 – Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter and sculptor (b. 1881)
• April 21 – Arthur Fadden, 13th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1894)
• April 25 – Frank Jack Fletcher, US Navy admiral during World War II (b. 1885)
• April 25 – Tanzan Ishibashi, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1884)

• May 6 – Ernest MacMillan, Canadian conductor (b. 1893)
• May 29 – P. Ramlee, Malaysian actor and singer (b. 1929)

• July 2 – Betty Grable, American actress (b. 1916)
• July 7 - Max Horkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist (b. 1895)
• July 7 - Veronica Lake, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
• June 13 – Viriato Clemente da Cruz, Angolan poet and politician (b. 1928)
• July 20 – Bruce Lee, Chinese-American actor and martial artist (b. 1940)
• July 25 – Louis St. Laurent, Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1882)

• August 1 – Walter Ulbricht, leader of East Germany (b. 1893)
• August 4 – Eddie Condon, American jazz guitarist (b. 1904)
• August 6 – Fulgencio Batista, President of Cuba (b. 1901)
• August 12 – Walter Rudolf Hess, Swiss physiologist (born 1881)
• August 12 – Karl Ziegler, German chemist (born 1898)
• August 31 – John Ford, American movie director (b. 1894)

• September 2 – J.R.R. Tolkien, English writer (b. 1892)
• September 11 – Salvador Allende, President of Chile (b. 1908)
• September 15 – Víctor Jara, Chilean singer (b. 1932)
• September 23 – Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet (b. 1904)
• September 26 – Anna Magnani, Italian actress (b. 1908)
• September 29 – W. H. Auden, English-American poet (b. 1907)

• October 2 – Paavo Nurmi, Finnish athlete (b. 1897)
• October 25 – Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian athlete (b. 1932)
• October 25 - Robert Scholl, German politician (b. 1891)
• October 25 - Cleo Moore, American actress (b. 1928)

• December 1 – David Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1886)
• December 20 – Bobby Darin, American singer (b. 1936)
• December 25 – İsmet İnönü, 2nd President of Turkey (b. 1884)

• American Graffiti
• Enter the Dragon
• Magnum Force
• Last Tango in Paris
• Papilon
• The Exorcist
• The Sting

• "Killing Me Softly with His Song" – Roberta Flack
• "Radar Love" – Golden Earring
• "Smoke on the Water" – Deep Purple
• "You're So Vain" – Carly Simon
• "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" – Jim Croce
• "Crocodile Rock" – Elton John
• "Delta Dawn" – Helen Reddy
• "D'yer Mak'er" – Led Zeppelin
• "Frankenstein" – The Edgar Winter Group
• "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" – Elton John
• "Half Breed" – Cher
• "Higher Ground" – Stevie Wonder
• "Keep On Truckin' " – Eddie Kendricks
• "Kodachrome" – Paul Simon
• "Let's Get It On" – Marvin Gaye
• "Live and Let Die" – Paul McCartney and Wings
• "Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)" – ABBA
• "Loves Me Like a Rock" – Paul Simon (with The Dixie Hummingbirds)
• "Me and Mrs. Jones" – Billy Paul
• "Midnight Train to Georgia" – Gladys Knight
• "Morning After"- Maureen McGovern
• "My Love" – Paul McCartney and Wings
• "The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia" – Vicki Lawrence
• "Over the Hills and Far Away" – Led Zeppelin
• "Photograph" – Ringo Starr
• "Ramblin' Man" – Allman Brothers Band
• "Ring Ring" – ABBA
• "Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting" – Elton John
• "Superstition" – Stevie Wonder
• "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" – Paul Simon
• "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin
• "Tie a Yellow Ribbon around the Old Oak Tree" – Tony Orlando & Dawn
• "Top of the World" – Carpenters
• "Touch Me in the Morning" – Diana Ross
• "Why Me" – Kris Kristofferson
• "Will It Go Around in Circles" – Billy Preston