March 1973

January – February – March – April – May – June – July  – August – September – October – November – December

The following events occurred in March 1973.

March 1, 1973 (Thursday)

• British MP Dick Taverne, having resigned from the Parliament on leaving the Labour Party, is re-elected as a 'Democratic Labour' candidate.
• Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, one of rock's landmark albums, is released in the US. It is released in the UK on March 24.
• Admiral Sourendra Nath Kohli becomes Chief of the Naval Staff (India).

March 2, 1973 (Friday)

• Skyline Towers collapse: The center section of the 26-storey Skyline Plaza in Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia, USA, gives way. The cascading concrete and steel kills 14 people and injures 34 others.^[1]

March 3, 1973 (Saturday)

• At the 15th Grammy Awards, Record of the Year is won by Joel Dorn (producer) & Roberta Flack for "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" performed by Roberta Flack, and Album of the Year by Phil Spector (producer), George Harrison (producer & artist), Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Ravi Shankar, Ringo Starr & Klaus Voormann for The Concert for Bangla Desh
• Two IRA bombs explode in London, killing one person and injuring 250 others. Ten people are arrested hours later at Heathrow Airport, on suspicion of being involved in the bombings.
• Tottenham Hotspur wins the UK Football League Cup final at Wembley, beating Norwich City 1–0.
• The Indian state of Orissa is brought under President's rule, ending the term of office of Nandini Satpathy.
• Died: Louis Prosper Gros, 79, French flying ace; Nikolai Nikitin, 65, Soviet structural designer and construction engineer

March 4, 1973 (Sunday)

• Parliamentary elections are held in Chile. The opposition Christian Democrat Party of Chile wins the election, but failed to ensure a two third majority necessary for blocking President Salvador Allende's policies or impeaching him.
• The British yacht "Auralyn" is struck by a whale and sank in the Pacific Ocean. Sailors Maurice and Maralyn Bailey were rescued 117 days later on a liferaft.
• The first round of voting takes place in the French legislative election to elect the 5th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.
• Died: Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai, 68, Indian historian

March 5, 1973 (Monday)

• The 1973 Australian Touring Car Championship begins at Symmons Plains. The first round is won by the eventual competition winner Allan Moffat.
• Pacific Legal Foundation is incorporated in Sacramento, California, making it the first and oldest conservative/libertarian public interest law firm in the United States.^[2]

March 6, 1973 (Tuesday)

• The New York Office of the US Immigration Department cancels John Lennon's visa extension five days after granting it.
• Operation End Sweep resumes after a short suspension in response to North Vietnamese delays in releasing prisoners-of-war.^[3]
• Died: Pearl S. Buck, 80, US novelist and Nobel Laureate

March 7, 1973 (Wednesday)

• Comet Kohoutek is discovered by Czech astronomer Luboš Kohoutek.

March 8, 1973 (Thursday)

• In the 'Border Poll', voters in Northern Ireland vote to remain part of the United Kingdom. Irish nationalists are encouraged to boycott the referendum. Turnout is 58.7%, but less than 1% for Catholics.^[4]
• Provisional Irish Republican Army bombs explode in Whitehall and the Old Bailey in London.
• Whiskey Au Go Go fire: A nightclub fire in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Australia, results in 15 deaths.^[5] The fire is caused by two 23-litre drums of diesel fuel being thrown into the building's foyer and set alight. James Richard Finch, 29, and John Andrew Stuart, 33, were later convicted of the crime.
• Paul McCartney is fined $240 after pleading guilty to charges of growing marijuana outside his Scottish farm.

March 9, 1973 (Friday)

• Operation End Sweep: A mine explodes during the minesweeping exercise carried out by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps to remove naval mines from Haiphong harbor and other coastal and inland waterways in North Vietnam; it is the only mine to explode during the whole operation.

March 10, 1973 (Saturday)

• In Northern Ireland, an armed robbery is carried out by members of the Glenanne gang, a loose alliance of Northern Irish loyalist extremists.^[6]
• Died: Sir Richard Sharples, 56, Governor of Bermuda, assassinated by the "Black Beret Cadre", a Bermudian Black Power group. Sharples was out walking with his dog, Horsa, and his aide-de-camp, Captain Hugh Sayers of the Welsh Guards. The two men and the dog were ambushed and gunned down near his official residence, Government House.^[7]

March 11, 1973 (Sunday)

• In the Argentine general election, Héctor José Cámpora is elected the country's new president. He serves only four months before relinquishing the position in favour of Juan Perón.
• In the second round of voting in the French legislative election, 1973, the left wins an increased number of votes and MPs, but the Presidential Majority wins the election.
• The Soviet Union's lunar rover Lunokhod 2 begins its third round of activity on the moon's surface.

March 12, 1973 (Monday)

• The last episode of the original Laugh-In airs on NBC. The show would continue with re-runs until May 14, 1973.
• In Chachoengsao Province, Thailand, an anonymous soldier kills one person and injures 25 when he throws a grenade into a crowd at a temple fair.^[8]

March 13, 1973 (Tuesday)

• Syria adopts a new constitution.^[9]
• The Amor asteroid 1943 Anteros is discovered by J. Gibson at El Leoncito.
• Born: Edgar Davids, Dutch footballer and manager, in Paramaribo, Suriname

March 14, 1973 (Wednesday)

• The 14th Government of Ireland is officially appointed by Dáil Éireann. The new Fine Gael–Labour Party government is led by the Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave. Cosgrave receives his seal of office from President Éamon de Valera at Áras an Uachtaráin.

March 15, 1973 (Thursday)

• The 29th National Assembly of Quebec begins its fourth and final session.

March 16, 1973 (Friday)

• The Writers Guild of America Awards 1972 are held at the Beverley Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles, USA. The films Cabaret, What's Up, Doc?, The Godfather and The Candidate win major awards.
• Died: José Gorostiza, 71, Mexican poet, educator, and diplomat

March 17, 1973 (Saturday)

• Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom opens the new London Bridge.
• Many of the few remaining United States soldiers begin to leave Vietnam. One reunion of a former POW with his family is immortalized in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy.
• Born: Caroline Corr, Irish musician and drummer of The Corrs, in Dundalk, County Louth

March 18, 1973 (Sunday)

• St John's High School, Dromore, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, is bombed by the Ulster Volunteer Force, causing extensive damage.
• US athlete Frank Shorter wins the Lake Biwa Marathon in Japan, in a time of 2:12:03.
• Opening of the Estadio 23 de Agosto in San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina.
• A serious rail accident occurs at East Palestine, Ohio, USA, when the last five cars of Amtrak's westbound Broadway Limited are derailed in a heavy snowstorm, killing one Penn Central employee riding on a pass, and injuring 19 of 167 passengers on board. A spokesman said recent heavy rains may have weakened the roadbed.^[10]
• Died: Constantin von Dietze, 81, German agronomist; Roland Dorgelès, 87, French novelist

March 19, 1973 (Monday)

• The Bahá'í Esperanto-League is founded.
• Died: Lauritz Melchior, 82, Danish Wagnerian tenor

March 20, 1973 (Tuesday)

• The Eider Barrage is opened, protecting the mouth of the river Eider near Tönning on Germany’s North Sea coast from storm surges.
• A British government White Paper on Northern Ireland proposes the re-establishment of an Assembly elected by proportional representation, with a possible All-Ireland council.

March 21, 1973 (Wednesday)

• The Lofthouse Colliery disaster occurs in Great Britain. Seven miners are trapped underground; none survive.^[11]

March 22, 1973 (Thursday)

• A hurricane in the Atlantic causes havoc with shipping:
  • The bulk carrier "MV Norse Variant", which had set out from Newport News, Virginia, USA, the previous day, with a cargo of coal for Glasgow, founders; only one of the 31 crew survives.
  • The cargo ship Anita founders with the loss of all 32 crew.^[12]
• In the Sound of Gunna, between Tiree and Coll, off the coast of Scotland, the ferry Loch Seaforth runs aground on Sleit Rock. All on board take to the lifeboats. Loch Seaforth is later refloated but declared a constructive total loss and scrapped.
• The state of Washington ratifies the Equal Rights Amendment.^[9]
• General Suharto is re-elected unopposed as President of Indonesia.^[9]
• Born: Beverley Knight, English singer-songwriter, in Wolverhampton; Péter Oszkó, Hungarian politician, in Budapest
• Died: Binkie Beaumont, 64, British theatre manager and producer; Hilda Geiringer, Austrian mathematician, 79

March 23, 1973 (Friday)

• Watergate scandal (United States): In a letter to Judge John Sirica, Watergate burglar James W. McCord Jr. admits that he and other defendants have been pressured to remain silent about the case. He names former Attorney General John Mitchell as 'overall boss' of the operation.

March 24, 1973 (Saturday)

• The 1973 Alpine Skiing World Cup concludes at Heavenly Valley, USA. The men's and women's overall champions are Gustav Thöni of Italy and Annemarie Pröll of Austria respectively.
• The All England Badminton Championships come to an end at Wembley Arena in London. The men's singles is won by Rudy Hartono and the women's singles by Margaret Beck.

March 25, 1973 (Sunday)

• The pilot episode of the sitcom Open All Hours (later voted 8th in the Britain's Best Sitcom poll) is broadcast on BBC2.

March 26, 1973 (Monday)

• Women are admitted into the London Stock Exchange for the first time.^[13]
• The long-running serial The Young and the Restless premieres on CBS television in the United States.
• Born: Larry Page, US computer scientist and entrepreneur, in Lansing, Michigan
• Died: Noël Coward, 73, English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer

March 27, 1973 (Tuesday)

• Died: Mikhail Kalatozov, Georgian film director, 69

March 28, 1973 (Wednesday)

• The Danish Maritime Safety Administration is established.

March 29, 1973 (Thursday)

• The last United States soldier leaves Vietnam.

March 30, 1973 (Friday)

• Born: Adam Goldstein (DJ AM), American DJ, record producer and musician, in Philadelphia, PA (died 2009)

March 31, 1973 (Saturday)

• Red Rum wins the Grand National steeplechase at Aintree, near Liverpool, UK, defeating co-favourite Crisp on the run-in, having trailed by 15 lengths at the final fence.^[14] Red Rum went on to win the Grand National on a further two occasions; his record remains unequalled in the history of the race.

References