From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Events from the year 1973 in the United Kingdom.
[edit] Incumbents
[edit] Events
- 1 January - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later became the European Union.[1]
- 11 January - Open University awards its first degrees.[2]
- 19 January - the super tug Statesman is sent to protect British fishing vessels from Icelandic ships in the Cod War.[3]
- 25 January - English actor Derren Nesbitt is convicted of assaulting his wife Anne Aubrey.
- 8 March - IRA bombs explode in Whitehall and the Old Bailey in London.
- 9 March - Northern Ireland vote overwhelmingly to remain within the UK. Voter turnout is reportedly at 59%, although less than 1% of Catholics vote.[4]
- 10 March - the governor of Bermuda Richard Sharples and his aide-de-camp assassinated.[5]
- 17 March - Queen Elizabeth II opens the modern London Bridge.[6]
- 24 March - Pink Floyd release The Dark Side of the Moon.
- 26 March - Women are admitted into the London Stock Exchange for the first time.[7]
- April - British Leyland launches its new Austin Allegro range of small family saloons, to replace the ageing 1100 and 1300 ranges that were sold under the Austin, Morris, Riley, Wolseley, MG and Vanden Plas brands from the range's 1962 launch.
- 1 April - VAT comes into effect.[8]
- 1 May - 1.6 million workers go on strike over government pay restraints.[9]
- 5 May - Sunderland achieve a shock 1-0 win over Leeds United in the FA Cup final at Wembley. Ian Porterfield scores the only goal of the game. It is the first time that an FA Cup winning team has not contained a single player to be capped at full international level.
- 20 May - the Royal Navy sens three frigates to protect British fishing vessels from Icelandic ships in the Cod War dispute.[10]
- 23 June - A fire at a house in Hull which kills a 6-year-old boy is passed off as an accident; it later emerges as the first of 26 fire deaths caused over the next seven years by arsonist Peter Dinsdale.
- 10 July - The Bahamas gain full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations.[11]
- 30 July - £20 million compensation is paid to victims of Thalidomide following an 11-year court case.[12]
- 31 July - Militant protesters of Ian Paisley disrupt the first sitting of the Northern Ireland Assembly.[13]
- 21 August - the coroner in the Bloody Sunday inquest accuses the British army of "sheer unadulterated murder" after the jury returns an open verdict.[14]
- 8 September - the IRA detonates bombs in Manchester and Victoria Station in London.[15]
- 10 September
- 12 September - further IRA bombs in Oxford Street and Sloane Square.[15]
- 23 September - The BBC introduces Ceefax, which with ITV's ORACLE first broadcast in 1974, are the world's first teletext systems.[17]
- 8 October - London Broadcasting Company, Britain's first legal commercial Independent Local Radio station, begins broadcasting.[18]
- 20 October - The Dalai Lama makes his first visit to the UK.[19]
- 14 November
- 9 December - The Sunningdale Agreement is signed in Sunningdale, Berkshire by Prime Minister Edward Heath, Irish premier Liam Cosgrave, and representatives of the Ulster Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party and the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.[22]
- 31 December - Due to coal shortages caused by industrial action, the electricity consumption reduction measure - the Three-Day Week comes into force.
[edit] Undated
[edit] Publications
[edit] Births
- 18 January - Crispian Mills, British musician (The Jeevas and Kula Shaker)
- 8 February - Sonia Deol, presenter
- 26 April - Chris Perry, English footballer
- 10 May - Dario Franchitti, Scottish race car driver
- 24 May - Dermot O'Leary, British TV Star
- 30 May - Leigh Francis, British comedian
- 9 June - Iain Lee, British comedian and radio and television presenter
- 3 July - Emma Cunniffe, British actress
- 23 July - Fran Healy, British singer (Travis)
- 26 July - Kate Beckinsale, English actress
- 12 August - Richard Reid, English terrorist
- 12 September - Darren Campbell, British athlete
- 21 October - Beverly Turner, British TV and radio presenter
- 29 November - Ryan Giggs, Welsh footballer
- 17 December - Paula Radcliffe, British athlete
- Katie Carr, actress and model
[edit] Deaths
[edit] January - April
- 15 January - Neil M. Gunn, Scottish novelist, critic, and dramatist(born 1891)
- 19 January - Max Adrian, Northern Irish actor (born 1903)
- 28 January - Francis Romney, English cricketer (born 1873)
- 16 February - Harold Gibbons, English cricketer (born 1904)
- 12 March - David Lack, British ornithologist and biologist (born 1910)
- 26 March - Noel Coward, English composer and playwright (born 1899)
- 30 March - Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, British politician and Conservative peer (born 1903)
[edit] May - August
- 11 May - Russell Everitt, English cricketer (born 1881)
- 14 May - A. C. Ewing, British philosopher (born 1899)
- 6 June - Jimmy Clitheroe, aka 'The Clitheroe Kid', English comedian (born 1921)
- 18 June - Roger Delgado, English actor (Doctor Who) (born 1918)
- 1 July - Charles Ernest Garforth, English soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross (born 1891)
- July 8 - Wilfred Rhodes, English cricketer (born 1877)
- 18 July - John Brown Hamilton, Scottish soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross (born 1896)
- 29 July
- 6 August - James Beck, actor (born 1929)
- 16 August - A. K. Chesterton, British politician and journalist (born 1896)
- 17 August - George Benson, British Labour Party politician (born 1889)
- 18 August - Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough, British Ulster Unionist politician (born 1888)
- 29 August - Stringer Davis, English actor (born 1896)
[edit] September - December
- 2 September - J. R. R. Tolkien, British writer (born 1892)
- 6 September - William Henry Harris, English organist and composer (born 1883)
- 11 September - E. E. Evans-Pritchard, British anthropologist (born 1902)
- 21 September - C. H. Dodd, Welsh scholar and theologian (born 1884)
- 24 September - Barbara Freyberg, Baroness Freyberg, British peeress
- 25 September - George Porter, British Labour Party politician (born 1884)
- September 29 - W. H. Auden, English poet (born 1907)
- 4 October - Walter Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch, British politician and Conservative peer (born 1894)
- 9 October - Hilda Plowright, English actress (born 1890)
- 10 November - Gerald Cock, British broadcasting executive (born 1887)
- 5 December - Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, Scottish inventor (born 1892)
- 9 December - Anthony Gilbert (pen name of Lucy Beatrice Malleson), British crime-fiction writer (born 1899)
[edit] References
- ^ "1973: Britain joins the EEC", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: First Open University degrees awarded", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: Super tug to defend fishing fleet", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: Northern Ireland votes for union", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: British officials shot dead in Bermuda", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ (2006) Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. ISBN 0-141-02715-0.
- ^ "1973: Stock Exchange admits women", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ Palmer, Alan & Veronica (1992). The Chronology of British History. London: Century Ltd, 434-435. ISBN 0-7126-5616-2.
- ^ "1973: Thousands strike over pay and prices", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: Royal Navy moves to protect trawlers", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: Bahamas' sun sets on British Empire", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: Final deal for thalidomide victims", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: Chaotic meeting of Belfast Assembly", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: 'Bloody Sunday' inquest accuses Army", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ a b c "1973: Bomb blasts rock central London", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: Big Biba opens its doors", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ (1999) The Hutchinson Factfinder. Helicon. ISBN 1-85986-000-1.
- ^ "1973: Commercial radio joins UK airwaves", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: Dalai Lama makes first UK visit", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: IRA gang convicted of London bombings", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: Crowds cheer marriage of Princess Anne", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ "1973: Sunningdale Agreement signed", BBC On This Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Physics 1973. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
- ^ The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1973. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
1973 in the United Kingdom: 
England | 
Scotland
