December 1973

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

The following events occurred in December 1973.

December 1, 1973 (Saturday)

• Papua New Guinea gains self-government from Australia as a forerunner to independence.
• Died: David Ben-Gurion, 87, Polish-born Zionist leader and first Prime Minister of Israel

December 2, 1973 (Sunday)

• Born: Monica Seles, tennis player, in Novi Sad, Serbia (then Yugoslavia)

December 3, 1973 (Monday)

• Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.

December 4, 1973 (Tuesday)

• John De Camp House, Cockroach Key and Hiram Ramsdell House are among properties added to the US National Register of Historic Places.
• Died: Michael O'Shea, 67, American film and television actor and husband of Virginia Mayo

December 6, 1973 (Thursday)

• The United States House of Representatives votes 387–35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States; he is sworn in the same day.

December 7, 1973 (Friday)

• Canada sells its first CANDU Reactor to South Korea

December 9, 1973 (Sunday)

• 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.

December 10, 1973 (Monday)

• A partial lunar eclipse takes place.

December 11, 1973 (Tuesday)

• The Treaty of Prague is signed by the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and Czechoslovakia, in which the two States recognize each other diplomatically and declare the 1938 Munich Agreements to be null and void, acknowledging the inviolability of their common borders and abandoning all territorial claims.

December 15, 1973 (Saturday)

• Gay rights: The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its DSM-II.

December 16, 1973 (Sunday)

• O. J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills became the first running back to rush for 2,000 yards in a pro football season.

December 17, 1973 (Monday)

• Born: Paula Radcliffe, English athlete, in Davenham, Cheshire

December 18, 1973 (Tuesday)

• Islamic Development Bank created as a specialized agency of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) (effective 12 August 1974).

December 19, 1973 (Wednesday)

• The Oriental Monarch, a Liberian-registered cargo ship, founders 150 nautical miles (280 km) off Victoria, British Columbia, with the loss of all 40 crew.

December 20, 1973 (Thursday)

• Spanish prime minister Luis Carrero Blanco is assassinated in Madrid by the terrorist organization ETA.
• Died: Bobby Darin, 37, American singer

December 21, 1973 (Friday)

• The Geneva Conference opens under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary General, in an attempt to negotiate a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
• Died: James Stirratt Topping Kennedy, GC, 42, security guard for British Rail Engineering Limited, killed while trying to prevent a payroll robbery

December 22, 1973 (Saturday)

• Died: Irna Phillips, 72, American actress and writer

December 23, 1973 (Sunday)

• OPEC doubles the price of crude oil.
• The Aero Boero 260AG makes its first flight.

December 24, 1973 (Monday)

• Mohammad Mohammadullah becomes Acting President of Bangladesh.
• An annular solar eclipse occurs.
• Born: Stephenie Meyer, American novelist known for the Twilight series, in Hartford, Connecticut

December 25, 1973 (Tuesday)

• The US bulk carrier Elwood Mead runs aground on her maiden voyage, off Guernsey in the Channel Islands. She remains aground for 61 days until refloated on 24 February 1974.
• Died: İsmet İnönü, 89, Turkish Army General, former Prime Minister and President of Turkey; Gabriel Voisin, 93, French aviation pioneer

December 28, 1973 (Friday)

• The Endangered Species Act is passed in the United States.

December 30, 1973 (Sunday)

• Terrorist Carlos fails in his attempt to assassinate British businessman Joseph Sieff.

December 31, 1973 (Monday)

• Legislative elections take place in Israel, returning Golda Meir's Alignment party to power.
• In the United Kingdom, as a result of coal shortages caused by industrial action, the Three-Day Week electricity consumption reduction measure comes into force.
• AC/DC perform their first major gig in Sydney, Australia.