1973
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1 January 1973 Bangladeshis protesting the bombing of North Vietnam set fire to the US Information Service in Dacca. Two people are killed by police in the demonstration.
Great Britain, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Common Market.
British Honduras is renamed Belize.
2 January 1973 After a New Year’s truce of 36 hours, US air forces resume bombing of North Vietnam.
3 January 1973 The Ninety-third Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. The opposition Democratic Party controls both houses.
Carlos Chávez (73) is appointed head of the Department of Music in the Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico and Director of the National Symphony Orchestra. He will resign both positions before the month is out in disputes over artistic control with the orchestra board and musicians.
4 January 1973 United States military sources admit that during the heavy American bombing of Hanoi at the end of December bombs fell on Bach Mai Hospital and Gia Lam Airport.
40 non-aligned countries at the United Nations issue a joint statement protesting the US bombing of North Vietnam, calling it “indiscriminate and savage.” They call for its immediate halt.
5 January 1973 The Canadian House of Commons passes a resolution deploring US air raids on North Vietnam and calls on the US to stop bombing Hanoi and Haiphong. It is passes without dissent.
“...explosante-fixe...” (second realization) for flute, clarinet, trumpet, harp, vibraphone, violin, viola, cello, and electronic instruments by Pierre Boulez (47) is performed for the first time, in New York. See 17 June 1972.
6 January 1973 Agence France-Presse reports from Haiphong that the city’s industrial zone has been destroyed by US bombing.
7 January 1973 President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines announces that martial law is being reimposed and freedom of speech is restricted.
Scorpius, a ballet by Thea Musgrave (44), is performed for the first time, in Glasgow. The work is an arrangement of her Chamber Concerto no.1. See 16 April 1962.
8 January 1973 Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho resume secret talks near Paris to end the war in Vietnam.
Israeli and Syrian forces engage in air and land battles along their cease-fire line.
Representatives of the US and the Greek military dictatorship sign agreements in Athens making that city the home port of the US Sixth Fleet.
9 January 1973 The Australian Maritime Union calls off its boycott of US ships instituted 28 December of last year because of a counter-boycott of Australian ships by the US International Longshoremen’s Association.
Arab terrorists blow up the offices of the Jewish Agency in Paris.
Eugene Ormandy informs Vincent Persichetti (57) that the piece he has composed for the presidential inauguration, A Lincoln Address, will not be performed.
10 January 1973 Antiwar demonstrators attack the US consulate in Lyon, France. In Frankfurt, the America House library is set on fire.
The Chilean government announces the imposition of food rationing.
11 January 1973 US President Richard Nixon ends mandatory wage and price controls, except in food, health care, and construction.
E. Howard Hunt pleads guilty to the six charges against him for his involvement in the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Building in Washington.
Vincent Persichetti (57) writes a letter to President Nixon, informing him of the cancellation of his work and asking him to reconsider. He will not receive a reply.
12 January 1973 Moira Musik in C for orchestra by Werner Egk (71) is performed for the first time, in Nuremberg.
Night Music for violin and piano by Ned Rorem (49) is performed for the first time, in the Library of Congress, Washington.
13 January 1973 A bomb explodes in a pub in a Catholic district of Belfast.
14 January 1973 Two policemen are killed when an IRA bomb explodes beneath their car in Londonderry.
Laurie Anderson (24) performs part of her International Dream Series at Coney Island.
Speculum Speculi for flute, oboe, bass clarinet, percussion, piano, and double bass by Charles Wuorinen (34) is performed for the first time, in Chester Fritz Auditorium, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
15 January 1973 Four of the Watergate burglars plead guilty to the charges against them in a Washington court.
US President Nixon suspends all offensive action by American forces against North Vietnam because of progress in the Paris peace talks.
16 January 1973 The Soviet space probe Luna 21 lands on the moon. It carries with it a roving vehicle which will explore the lunar surface.
17 January 1973 President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines announces a new constitution giving him unlimited power.
18 January 1973 The Finnish Parliament votes to extend the term of President Urho Kekkonen for another four years without a new election.
In a performance of Steve Reich’s (36) Four Organs at Carnegie Hall, New York, members of the audience become restive, annoyed, complaining, and in some cases are moved to action. According to one story, a woman walks to the front, bangs her head on the stage and cries, “all right--I’ll confess!”
19 January 1973 Leonard Bernstein (54) conducts a Concert for Peace in the National Cathedral, Washington to protest tomorrow’s second inauguration of Richard Nixon.
20 January 1973 Spain’s Roman Catholic bishops ask the government for the separation of church and state.
A Black November Turkey for chorus by John Corigliano (34) to words of Wilbur is performed for the first time, in San Antonio, Texas.
22 January 1973 A ruling by the United States Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade overturns all state laws banning abortions during the first three months of pregnancy.
23 January 1973 US President Nixon announces that a cease-fire in Vietnam has been agreed by negotiators Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho.
Former President Lyndon Johnson dies in a plane transporting him to San Antonio for treatment of a heart attack he suffered at his home in Johnson City, Texas.
Con voce for three mute players by Mauricio Kagel (41) is performed for the first time, in the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.
String Quartet no.3 by Elliott Carter (64) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York. See 7 May 1973.
24 January 1973 A school desegregation plan goes into effect in Memphis.
String Quartet no.6 by Lejaren Hiller (48) is performed for the first time, in New York.
25 January 1973 PLO representative Hussain al Bathir is killed when bombs he is carrying explode in his Nicosia hotel room.
A Lincoln Address op.124 for narrator and orchestra by Vincent Persichetti (57) is performed for the first time, in St. Louis.
26 January 1973 After a two-month government crisis, Edmond Leburton replaces Gaston Eyskens as Prime Minister of Belgium.
27 January 1973 A cease-fire agreement is signed in Paris by representatives of North Vietnam, the Viet Cong, the Saigon government, and the United States.
The United States government ends conscription.
28 January 1973 A cease-fire, agreed to in Paris by negotiators Le Duc Tho and Henry Kissinger, goes into effect at 08:00 Saigon time. The agreement calls for the removal of all American troops in South Vietnam and the release of all American prisoners held by North Vietnam. It sets up an International Commission of Control and Supervision made up of Canada, Hungary, Indonesia, and Poland to supervise the agreement’s provisions.
29 January 1973 Prime Minister Lon Nol of Cambodia declares a unilateral cease-fire.
The two groups charged with overseeing the Vietnam cease-fire, the ICCS and the JMG, hold their first meetings in Saigon. The ICCS discusses procedures while the JMG is crippled by a refusal by the Viet Cong delegation to submit a list of it members.
Violence begins anew in Northern Ireland when two Catholics are shot to death by Protestant terrorists.
Busing to achieve racial integration in schools goes into effect peacefully in Prince Georges County, Maryland (suburban Washington).
Mikis Theodorakis (47) tells reporters in London that he can no longer describe himself as a Communist.
30 January 1973 G. Gordon Liddy and James McCord are convicted of complicity in the break-in and attempted bugging of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington. Both have ties to the Nixon campaign committee.
A Triptych for Hieronymous for actors, Dancers, Projections, Tape, and Orchestra by Lejaren Hiller (48) to words of Smalley is performed for the first time, in Brockport, New York.
31 January 1973 Pan American Airways and TWA cancel their options to buy Concorde supersonic transport planes.
1 February 1973 Protestant terrorists throw a hand grenade into a bus carrying Catholic laborers. One person is killed, nine injured.
Variations on Three Blind Mice for orchestra by John Tavener (29) is performed for the first time.
2 February 1973 Communist forces cut the highway between Phnom Penh and the port of Kompong Som.
A court in Bologna acquits Bernardo Bertolucci, Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, and two others of obscenity for producing Last Tango in Paris. It also lifts a ban on the film in Italy.
3 February 1973 Nine people are killed in two days of violence in Northern Ireland sparked by Protestant atrocities.
5 February 1973 Truce monitors from the ICCS and JMG depart Saigon to take up their positions throughout South Vietnam.
Chorus and Orchestra II for soprano, chorus, and orchestra by Morton Feldman (47) is performed for the first time, in London.
6 February 1973 US naval vessels begin clearing mines from the approaches to Haiphong.
The Argentine government bars the return of Juan Perón to the country and begins legal action to dismantle his political coalition.
Rioting starts in Custer, South Dakota when police use clubs and tear gas to disperse a protest march by the American Indian Movement. The courthouse is firebombed. 37 people are arrested.
7 February 1973 Protestant terrorists fire on a funeral in Belfast for three Catholics killed in recent violence in Northern Ireland. Two people are wounded. A strike called by Protestants slows Belfast to a halt. Protestants rampage through Catholic districts of Belfast, attacking police stations, churches, and Catholic homes.
Dwight Chapin, a former White House aide, informs the FBI that he ordered Herbert Kalmbach, President Nixon’s personal attorney, to pay Donald Segretti for a campaign of sabotage against Democratic presidential candidates.
The US Senate approves the creation of a select committee to investigate irregularities in the Presidential campaign of 1972.
Canada formally recognizes North Vietnam.
8 February 1973 Great Britain and France recognize East Germany.
Makrokosmos Vol. I for amplified piano by George Crumb (43) is performed for the first time, at Colorado College, Colorado Springs. See 12 June 1980.
9 February 1973 The leader of the ICCS, Canadian Michel Gauvin, says that a truce is not in effect in South Vietnam. The Saigon government and Viet Cong do not agree on clear lines delineating the territory they hold.
Kyldex 1 by Nicholas Schöffer, Pierre Henry (45), and Alwin Nikolaïs is performed for the first time, at the Hamburg Opera. It is termed a “spectacle spatio-lumino dynamique et cybernétique.”
10 February 1973 Khmer Rouge forces capture Banam on the Mekong River.
11 February 1973 Voters in Liechtenstein reject a measure that would grant suffrage to women.
Voices and Instruments II for three female voices, flute, two cellos, and double bass by Morton Feldman (47) is performed for the first time, in Buffalo.
12 February 1973 North Vietnam and the Viet Cong release the first 142 American prisoners they hold. 250 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong are exchanged for 140 Saigon government soldiers.
The United States devalues the dollar by ten percent.
13 February 1973 Japan and Italy allow their currencies to float.
14 February 1973 The US and North Vietnam announce a plan for postwar reconstruction of the country.
15 February 1973 The US and Cuba agree to work together to curtail hijacking of planes and ships.
16 February 1973 Approximately 100 university students are arrested in Athens protesting the loss of draft deferments to anti-government students.
17 February 1973 Medical, polytechnic, and law students at Athens University boycott classes in protest against government attempts to control student opposition.
18 February 1973 Swing Set for clarinet and piano by TJ Anderson (44) is performed for the first time, at the University of Iowa.
19 February 1973 Joseph Szigeti dies in Lucerne at the age of 80.
20 February 1973 Senior air traffic controllers strike in France for higher pay and the right to strike. Air traffic in the country is severely disrupted.
21 February 1973 A cease-fire agreement is signed in Vientiane between the Laotian government and Pathet Lao rebels.
Israeli forces strike Arab guerrilla bases near Tripoli, Lebanon.
After repeated demands by radio, hand signals, and warning shots that it land, a Libyan commercial airliner is shot down by Israeli jets over the Sinai peninsula. 106 people are killed, seven survive.
Cindy for chorus by Roy Harris (75) is performed for the first time, in University Theatre, California State University, Los Angeles.
22 February 1973 Noon. A cease-fire between Royal Laotian forces and Pathet Lao rebels goes into effect.
The United States and China announce their intention to set up liaison offices in each other’s capital.
23 February 1973 At the request of the Laotian government, American B-52s blast Pathet Lao positions.
Yugoslav filmmaker Dusan Makavejev is expelled from the League of Communists for films critical of the government. He will emigrate to western Europe.
The first movement of the Trio for violin, cello, and piano by Isang Yun (55) is performed for the first time, in Berlin. See 13 May 1976.
25 February 1973 The Israeli cabinet decides to compensate the families of the victims of the Libyan airplane shot down 21 February.
26 February 1973 Talks begin in Vientiane between the government and Pathet Lao rebels to implement the truce agreement signed 21 February.
Australia and North Vietnam establish diplomatic relations.
The New York Times reports that James McCord named John W. Dean, counsel to the president, and Jeb Stuart Magruder, deputy director of the Nixon campaign committee, as having prior knowledge of the Watergate break-in.
27 February 1973 About 250,000 British civil servants strike for the first time in history, in support of their wage demands.
200-300 members of the American Indian Movement take over the Wounded Knee trading post on the Oglala Sioux reservation in South Dakota. Taking eleven hostages they demand a full Senatorial investigation of the government’s treatment of Indians. One person is injured, 17 arrested.
The USSR informs the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that as of 27 May 1973 it will begin adhering to the Universal Copyright Convention.
28 February 1973 29,000 railroad engineers strike in Britain, halting all rail and subway traffic.
Parliamentary elections in Ireland result in a loss of overall majority for the ruling Fianna Fail Party. The second largest party, Fine Gael, will form a coalition with Labour.
Five Songs of Experience on Poems of William Blake for chorus, percussion, and string quartet by John Harbison (34) is performed for the first time, in Sanders Theatre of Harvard University.
String Quartet no.4 op.122 by Vincent Persichetti (57) is performed for the first time, at Pennsylvania State University.
1 March 1973 Eight Arab terrorists invade the Saudi Arabian embassy in Khartoum where many diplomats are gathered for a reception for departing United States counselor George Moore. They take twelve people hostage and demand the release of their associates held in various countries, including Sirhan Sirhan.
Eleven hostages held by Indians at Wounded Knee, South Dakota are released.
Roses, a cycle for soprano and piano by Sofia Gubaidulina (41) to words of Aigi, is performed for the first time, at the Moscow Youth Musical Club in an evening dedicated to her and her music.
2 March 1973 After negotiations break down, Arab terrorists in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Khartoum murder United States Ambassador Cleo Noel, counselor of the American embassy George Moore, and Belgian Chargé d’affaires Guy Eid.
Foreign Ministers of 13 governments sign an agreement in Paris to guarantee the Vietnam peace accords.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species is signed by representatives of 80 countries in Washington banning the trade in 375 species of animals at the point of extinction.
4 March 1973 North Vietnam renews the release of prisoners of war. 106 US personnel and two Thais are set free.
Eight Arab terrorists surrender to Sudanese authorities in Khartoum, releasing their nine surviving hostages.
6 March 1973 The Greek government closes Athens University in the face of student strikes and demonstrations.
Pearl Buck dies in Danby, Vermont at the age of 80.
8 March 1973 Two IRA bombs explode in London, after warnings and exact locations are telephoned to the London Times. One goes off in front of the army recruiting office in central London near Trafalgar Square, the other in front of the Old Bailey. One person is killed, about 200 injured. Another bomb is made safe by police near the British Forces Broadcasting System.
A referendum in Northern Ireland votes in favor of continued ties with Great Britain. Less than one percent of the Catholics in the province cast votes. During the day, six bombs explode in Belfast and Londonderry, injuring several people. One British soldier is shot dead.
9 March 1973 Two works by Karlheinz Stockhausen (44) are performed for the first time, in London: Stop (London version) for 19 instruments, and Ylem no.37 for 19 players or singers.
10 March 1973 Governor Sir Richard Sharples of Bermuda and his aide are shot to death outside the governor’s residence in Hamilton by Erskine Burrows for anti-colonial reasons. A state of emergency is declared.
Loops for Instruments for flute, clarinet, trumpet, alto saxophone, bassoon, and marimba by Robert Erickson (56) is performed for the first time, in Los Angeles.
11 March 1973 Despite gains for the united left, Gaullists and their allies retain control in the second round of elections for the French National Assembly.
The first round of elections in Argentina are largely won by Peronist forces.
Fantasia for violin and orchestra by Walter Piston (79) is performed for the first time, at Dartmouth College.
Lily for soprano and chamber orchestra by Leon Kirchner (54) to words of Bellow and the composer, from his unperformed opera of the same name, is performed for the first time, in New York.
12 March 1973 The US government charges that North Vietnam has sent down the Ho Chi Minh trail 30,000 soldiers and hundreds of tanks, artillery pieces, and anti-aircraft weapons since 1 January in violation of the Paris peace agreement.
Cambodian government troops abandon Samrong Yong and Chambak, 30 km south of Phnom Penh.
13 March 1973 The Saigon government releases 1,200 prisoners of war at Loc Ninh.
Statisch und ekstatisch for orchestra by Ernst Krenek (72) is performed for the first time, in Zürich directed by the composer.
14 March 1973 140 US prisoners of war are released in Hanoi today and 16 March.
Liam Cosgrave of Fine Gael replaces John Mary Lynch of Fianna Fail as Prime Minister of Ireland.
Voice and Instruments, a vocalise for soprano and orchestra by Morton Feldman (47), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Sender Freies Berlin.
15 March 1973 Concerto for two pianos and orchestra by Luciano Berio (47) is performed for the first time, in New York, conducted by Pierre Boulez (47).
16 March 1973 Representatives of the EEC, Canada, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States sign an agreement in Paris to end the current monetary crisis.
“Image Formation by Induced Local Interactions: Examples Employing Nuclear Magnetic Resonance” by Paul Lauterbur of SUNY Stony Brook is published in Nature. It is seen as the beginning of magnetic resonance imaging.
Satyricon, an opera by Bruno Maderna (52) to words of Strasfogel and the composer after Petronius, is performed for the first time, in Scheveningen, Netherlands.
Compass for tenor, bass, cello, double bass, four-track tape, and visual projections by Roger Reynolds (38) to words of Borges is performed for the first time, in Los Angeles. See 7 March 1974.
17 March 1973 So Patra, son-in-law of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, steals a plane and bombs the presidential palace in Phnom Penh in an attempt to kill Cambodian dictator Lon Nol. The President is uninjured but 43 people are killed. Lon Nol orders a state of emergency and suspends all civil rights.
Notre Dame des fleurs, a “mini-opera” for soprano, mezzo-soprano, counter-tenor, flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, and cello by Peter Maxwell Davies (38) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London the composer conducting. Also premiered is Davies’ Song of the Forest Bird after Wagner for flute/piccolo and celesta.
Version 3 of Algorithms I for nine instruments and tape by Lejaren Hiller (49) is performed for the first time, in Rochester, New York.
19 March 1973 Talks begin on the future of South Vietnam in Paris between the Saigon government and the Viet Cong.
20 March 1973 A Japanese court finds Chisso Corporation negligent in discharging methylmercury in its wastewater causing over 2,200 victims of “Minamata disease” in 1956. They are required to pay a total of ¥937,000,000 to victims and their survivors.
Approximately 100 Cambodians, including newspaper editors and opposition politicians, are arrested by the US-backed government.
Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi of Iran announces the nationalization of his country’s oil industry.
A British White Paper published today calls for an 80-member assembly in Northern Ireland with proportional representation and power shared by Protestants and Catholics. Moderates welcome the proposals, hard liners reject it.
About 800 students who have gathered to press demands for greater civil liberties are forcibly evicted from Athens University by Greek police.
A strike by French air traffic controllers, begun 20 February, is suspended.
William Merriam, a vice-president of International Telephone and Telegraph, testfies before a US Senate committee that ITT, together with the CIA, worked against the election of Salvador Allende as President of Chile.
Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray informs a Senate committee that he has been ordered by Attorney General Richard Kleindienst to refuse to answer any questions about the Watergate case.
21 March 1973 Saigon government forces break a siege on the outpost of Rach Bap, 35 km north of Saigon.
22 March 1973 The US tells the Viet Cong that its withdrawal from South Vietnam will be suspended until a list of all US prisoners, including those held by the Pathet Lao, is provided. The Viet Cong respond by suspending its release of US prisoners of war.
The Saigon government releases 1,200 prisoners in return for 585 from the communists.
String Quartet no.2 by Lejaren Hiller (49) is performed for the first time, in Zagreb, 22 years after it was composed.
Piano Concerto no.2 by Alberto Ginastera (56) is performed for the first time, in Indianapolis.
23 March 1973 Three British soldiers are shot dead and one is seriously injured by IRA members in Belfast.
Before sentencing, the judge in the Watergate burglars case, John Sirica, reveals that one of the defendants, John McCord, has informed him that “others” are involved in the case and have escaped capture, that perjury occurred during the trial, and that “political pressure to plead guilty and remain silent” was put on him and other defendants. Judge Sirica then sentences the other four burglars to 40 years in prison, E. Howard Hunt to 35 years, and G. Gordon Liddy to six years, eight months to 20 years in prison. He suspends sentencing for McCord until he has a private meeting with him.
American Standards for orchestra by John Adams (26) is performed for the first time, at San Francisco Conservatory. Also on the program is the premiere of Adams’ Christian Zeal and Activity for speaker and orchestra. Both are conducted by the composer.
24 March 1973 President Anwar Sadat of Egypt forces the resignation of Prime Minister Aziz Sidky and his government.
Jordan reports that jailed terrorist Abu Daoud has told them that the organization known as Black September is merely a “camouflage” for Yassir Arafat’s Fatah movement.
25 March 1973 The Dreamer that Remains: a Study in Loving, a film with music by Harry Partch (71) is shown for the first time, at the Unicorn Cinema in La Jolla, California. The film is a documentary about Partch.
26 March 1973 Truong Dinh Dzu, a losing candidate in the 1967 presidential elections, is released from a Saigon jail after serving five years for advocating a negotiated settlement with the Viet Cong.
President Anwar Sadat of Egypt names himself to the post of Prime Minister.
Students at Athens University suspend an eight-week long strike after school officials agree to negotiate with the university senate.
27 March 1973 Suite in Old Style for violin and piano by Alfred Schnittke (38) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
28 March 1973 In compliance with the Paris peace agreement, North Vietnam and the United States end their participation in the Joint Military Commission to oversee the truce.
Trio no.3 for flute, cello, and piano by Charles Wuorinen (34) is performed for the first time, in the New York Cultural Center, the composer at the keyboard.
29 March 1973 The last American combat troops leave Vietnam as the North Vietnamese release the last 67 prisoners-of-war they hold. Former POWs presently in the United States tell of physical and psychological torture practiced on them by their captors.
Tekin Ariburun replaces Cevdet Sunay as President of Turkey ad interim.
Over 15,000 Saudi Arabian troops enter Kuwait to help defend it against Iraqi incursions.
30 March 1973 The government of Argentina declares the Peronist candidate, Hector Campora, winner of the 11 March presidential election.
2 April 1973 Stage 2 of Prime Minister Heath’s anti-inflation program goes into effect with the inauguration of the Pay Board, which will make decisions on wage claims.
International Telephone and Telegraph admits that it offered money to the Central Intelligence Agency to oppose President Allende of Chile.
Six Choruses for women’s or children’s voices with piano op.15 by Sergey Rakhmaninov (†30) are performed for the first time, in Moscow, 77 years after they were composed, during the centennial year of the composer’s birth.
3 April 1973 29 people, among them police officials, telephone company employees, and private detectives, are arrested in Rome and Milan for illegal wiretaps.
The first call on a cellular telephone is made by the inventor Martin Cooper of Motorola, from a New York street to his competition, Bell Laboratories.
4 April 1973 After the Khmer Rouge have cut all major roads into Phnom Penh, the Cambodian government declares a “state of danger” in the capital.
The World Trade Center is dedicated in New York. At 411 meters, the twin towers are the tallest buildings in the world.
5 April 1973 Viet Cong forces attack government installations throughout South Vietnam.
An agreement is signed between Indians and the US government to end the occupation and siege of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
Persian Surgery Dervishes by Terry Riley (37) is performed for the first time, at the Whitney Museum, San Francisco.
6 April 1973 Fahri Sabri Korutürk replaces Tekin Ariburun as President of Turkey.
Peter Niesewand, a Rhodesian reporter working for Reuters, the BBC, and the Manchester Guardian, is sentenced to two years at hard labor in a Salisbury court. Although the charges against him are unspecified, his conviction is believed to be based on his reporting on black guerrillas operating from Mozambique.
Parable IX op.121 for band by Vincent Persichetti (57) is performed for the first time, in Des Moines, Iowa.
7 April 1973 An ICCS helicopter is shot down by Viet Cong rocket fire in Quang Tri province. All nine people aboard, including four ICCS truce observers, are killed.
8 April 1973 India takes over administrative control of its protectorate Sikkim, at the request of the hereditary ruler, Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, to deal with increasing political violence.
With the aid of heavy US bombing, five ships are able to break the blockade of the Mekong River by Khmer Rouge forces. They are the first supplies to reach Phnom Penh in two weeks.
Pablo Picasso dies at his home in Mougins, France at the age of 91.
9 April 1973 Cambodian government forces reopen Route Four, the only link between Phnom Penh and the sea.
Arab terrorists explode a bomb destroying the entrance to an apartment building in Nicosia housing the family of the Israeli ambassador to Cyprus. Cypriot police fire on the attackers who flee. No one in the apartment is injured. The terrorists then attempt to hijack an Israeli plane but are thwarted by Cypriot police and Israeli security agents. Seven terrorists are arrested, one is killed, one escapes.
The New York Times reports that James McCord told a federal grand jury that the Watergate defendants were pressured to plead guilty and had received cash payments for their silence. He named Kenneth Parkinson, an attorney for President Nixon’s campaign committee, as the one applying the pressure.
10 April 1973 US planes begin airlifting fuel into Phnom Penh.
The third constitution for Pakistan is approved by the National Assembly.
Israeli raids strike terrorist bases in the center of Beirut and the town of Saida. Three leading members of Fatah are killed and bomb making facilities are destroyed.
11 April 1973 Israel begins arresting terror suspects based on documents taken in their raid on Beirut.
12 April 1973 100,000 soldiers are mobilized by the Argentine government to deal with a wave of election-related terrorism.
Apotheosis of this earth for chorus and orchestra by Karel Husa (57), to his own words, is performed for the first time, at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. See 1 April 1971.
13 April 1973 The Canadian delegation to the ICCS accuses North Vietnam of sending troops into South Vietnam in violation of the truce. They also accuse the Hungarian and Polish members of the ICCS of blocking investigations into North Vietnamese violations.
Eridanos for eight brass players and ten string players by Iannis Xenakis (50) is performed for the first time, in La Rochelle.
Chorus and Orchestra I, a vocalise for soprano, chorus, and orchestra by Morton Feldman (47) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR, Cologne.
14 April 1973 Greek police announce that eight people have been arrested for singing the music of Mikis Theodorakis (47).
Parable IX op.123 for alto saxophone by Vincent Persichetti (57) is performed for the first time, in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
15 April 1973 Mehmet Naim Talu replaces Ferit Sadi Melen as Prime Minister of Turkey.
In an open letter to Prime Minister Papadopoulos, four retired generals urge him to restore democracy in Greece.
In runoff elections in Argentina, the Peronist coalition wins nearly all governor and senator seats at stake.
16 April 1973 At the request of the Laotian government, American bombers attack North Vietnamese positions at Tha Vieng.
Milena, a cantata by Alberto Ginastera (57) to words of Kafka, is performed for the first time, in Denver.
17 April 1973 US President Nixon announces that he will allow his staff to testify before the Senate Watergate Committee and that there have been “major developments in the case”. He does not elaborate. Press Secretary Ron Ziegler announces that all previous statements by the president denying involvement by his staff in the matter are now “inoperative.”
Shooting breaks out between FBI agents and Indians occupying Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Several Indians are injured.
Harp Variations for harp, violin, viola, and cello by Charles Wuorinen (34) is performed for the first time in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.
18 April 1973 Communist forces capture Kep, Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand.
19 April 1973 The US government announces it is suspending mine clearing operations on the North Vietnam coast and stopping economic assistance talks in Paris. This is in reaction to the continued infiltration of the south by North Vietnam in violation of the Paris peace agreements.
Cello and Orchestra for cello and orchestra by Morton Feldman (47) is performed for the first time, in Royan.
20 April 1973 Autour for harpsichord by Betsy Jolas (46) is performed for the first time, in Royan.
22 April 1973 On Alligators for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and string quartet by Charles Wuorinen (34) is performed for the first time.
23 April 1973 Myshkin, a television opera by John C. Eaton (38) to words of Creagh after Dostoyevsky, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the Public Broadcasting Service.
27 April 1973 L. Patrick Gray resigns as acting director of the FBI after his burning of files from the safe of E. Howard Hunt becomes public.
The presiding judge in the Ellsberg-Russo trial, William Byrne, reveals that two of the Watergate defendants, E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, broke into the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, intent on stealing his medical records.
The General Accounting Office reports that President Nixon’s 1972 campaign committee concealed “substantial expenditures” in violation of election law. This will lead to criminal charges.
During a gunfight between Indians and US marshals at Wounded Knee, Oglala Sioux Lawrence LaMont is killed.
Clapping Music for two humans by Steve Reich (36) is performed for the first time, in New York.
28 April 1973 Changing the System for any instruments by Christian Wolff (39) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
29 April 1973 The Price Commission begins operations in Great Britain to rule on price rises.
Members of the American Indian Movement burn the trading post at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
30 April 1973 Three high-level presidential advisors, HR Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and John Dean, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign their posts due to charges in the Watergate scandal. President Nixon tells the nation that he is not involved in political espionage and cover-up but takes responsibility for it.
Rear Admiral Hermes Quijada, former chairman of the Argentine Joint Chiefs of Staff, is shot to death as he rides to work in Buenos Aires. One of the two assailants, members of the Trotskyite Peoples Revolutionary Army, is killed by Quijada’s driver. The government declares a state of emergency in Buenos Aires and five provinces.
A federal appeals court in Cincinnati orders the City of Chattanooga to racially integrate its schools.
Concerto for organ with percussion orchestra by Lou Harrison (55) is performed for the first time, at San Jose State University.
1 May 1973 An appeals court in Rhodesia overturns the 6 April conviction of Peter Niesewand.
Gun battles between students and police at the Autonomous University of Puebla result in the deaths of four students.
Federal investigators report that they have information linking several top-level members of the Nixon administration and the Committee to Re-elect the President to the Watergate break-in.
Presidential Press Secretary Ron Ziegler says he will apologize to the Washington Post and its reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward for accusing them of “shabby journalism” and “character assassination.”
Governor Ronald Reagan of California says that the Watergate burglars should not be considered criminals because they “are not criminals at heart.”
Judge William Byrne of the Ellsberg-Russo trial announces from the bench that he met presidential advisor John Ehrlichman and President Nixon. They discussed the possibility of an appointment as head of the FBI. He told them he could not discuss it until the end of the trial.
Mannheim 87.87.87 by Charles Wuorinen (34) is performed for the first time, in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York.
Forces for orchestra by Leslie Bassett (50) is performed for the first time, in Des Moines, Iowa.
2 May 1973 Heavy fighting breaks out between the Lebanese army and guerrillas in Beirut.
E. Howard Hunt tells a federal grand jury in Washington that the Watergate conspirators received equipment and documents from the CIA.
The New York Times reports that elements of President Nixon’s campaign committee engaged in widespread espionage and sabotage of Democratic presidential candidates in 1972.
Poems of Time and Eternity for chorus and nine instruments by Gunther Schuller (47) to words of Dickinson, is performed for the first time, in Jordan Hall, Boston.
3 May 1973 Fighting in Beirut spreads to guerrilla strongholds in southern Lebanon.
The Washington Post reports that wiretaps were placed on the telephones of New York Times reporters by the Watergate conspirators, authorized by John Mitchell.
The Sears Tower is completed in Chicago. At 442 meters, it is the tallest building in the world.
4 May 1973 Grand jury testimony by E. Howard Hunt is revealed showing that the White House, abetted by the CIA, supervised the burglary at the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist.
Former Nixon campaign employee Donald Segretti is indicted in Florida for the fabrication and dissemination of a campaign document during the 1972 Florida primary.
Six Early Songs for Lyric Soprano and Orchestra by Gunther Schuller (47) is performed for the first time, in Jordan Hall, Boston, conducted by the composer, 28 years after they were written.
5 May 1973 President Salvador Allende of Chile declares a state of emergency in Santiago Province after a week of strikes and street battles.
Agreement is reached between federal agents and the American Indian Movement to end the occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota.
Detto II for cello and chamber ensemble by Sofia Gubaidulina (41) is performed for the first time, in Malyi Hall of Moscow Conservatory.
6 May 1973 Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan dies in Toronto, aged 79 years, eight months, and 18 days. He has been unconscious following a brain hemorrhage ten days ago.
Gazebo Dances for band by John Corigliano (35) is performed for the first time, in Evansville, Indiana.
7 May 1973 The government of Lebanon declares a state of emergency due to continued fighting between its soldiers and guerrillas.
Elliott Carter (64) wins the Pulitzer Prize in Music for the second time, for his String Quartet no.3. See 23 January 1973.
8 May 1973 A cease-fire is arranged between guerrillas and the Lebanese army. Syria closes its border with Lebanon.
Benjamin Britten (59) undergoes heart surgery at the National Heart Hospital, London. A faulty heart valve is replaced but the composer suffers a small stroke during the procedure which leaves him with reduced use of his right arm. This ends his career as performing pianist and conductor.
After over two months of gun battles and broken agreements between federal agents and Indians occupying Wounded Knee, South Dakota, four deaths and five injuries, both sides leave peacefully.
9 May 1973 Thousands of guerrillas enter Lebanon from Syria to aid their comrades against the Lebanese army.
Symphony no.4 by Ross Lee Finney (66) is performed for the first time, in Baltimore.
10 May 1973 The Chilean government declares a state of emergency in O’Higgins Province. A strike by copper miners is in its fourth week.
Sworn testimony in a civil case by Hugh Sloan, former treasurer of the Nixon campaign committee, is made public today. Sloan describes attempts by his superiors to persuade him to perjure himself about the amount of money he gave to Gordon Liddy.
Former Attorney General John Mitchell and former Commerce Secretary Maurice Stans are indicted by a federal grand jury in New York for their parts in the 1972 Nixon campaign. Each are charged with three counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice and six counts of perjury.
Owen Wingrave, an opera by Benjamin Britten (59) to words of Piper after James, is staged for the first time, at Covent Garden. See 16 May 1971.
11 May 1973 The West German Bundestag formally ratifies a treaty establishing diplomatic relations with East Germany and approving entry of both countries into the United Nations.
Joop den Uyl of the Labor Party replaces Barend Biesheuvel as Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
All charges against Daniel Ellsberg and Anthony Russo in the Pentagon Papers case are dismissed by the trial judge. He cites government misconduct, including the break-in at the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist by a clandestine White House group abetted by the CIA.
13 May 1973 Variationen ohne Fuge for orchestra by Mauricio Kagel (41) is performed for the first time, in the Musikhalle, Hamburg.
Mass for chorus, eight trombones, and percussion by Ben Johnston (47) is performed for the first time, at the University of Illinois.
14 May 1973 The House of Commons votes to abolish the death penalty in Northern Ireland. It was retained in that province after being banned in the rest of Britain in 1969.
William Ruckelshaus, acting director of the FBI, announces that lost files of 17 wiretaps on reporters and government employees have been found. They were in a safe in the office of John Ehrlichman, former advisor to President Nixon.
Skylab 1 is launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida but two solar panels do not deploy as planned. NASA postpones a manned flight scheduled for tomorrow.
15 May 1973 A public memorial service takes place in memory of Ernest MacMillan at Convocation Hall, Toronto.
Notturno for chamber ensemble by Donald Martino is performed for the first time, in New York, on the eve of the composer’s 42nd birthday. It will win the Pulitzer Prize. See 7 May 1974.
16 May 1973 The ICCS reports several accounts by its observers of North Vietnamese troops moving into South Vietnam.
Two new works by Steve Reich (36) are performed for the first time, at the John Weber Gallery in New York: Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ, and Six Pianos.
17 May 1973 The Lebanese government reaches agreement with guerrillas to end the fighting between them.
Four British soldiers are killed, one seriously injured when a bomb goes off in the car they are entering in Omagh.
A state of emergency in Santiago Province is lifted by the Chilean government.
Hearings by the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities of the United States Senate open in Washington.
The Washington Post reports that the Nixon administration for four years has carried out widespread attacks on its opponents, much of it illegal. They say the administration used the FBI, the Secret Service and the Justice Department for these political attacks.
18 May 1973 Harvard Law School Professor Archibald Cox is named a special prosecutor in the Watergate scandal.
James McCord, one of the Watergate burglars, testifies before the Senate Watergate committee that a high White House official offered him executive clemency, money, and a position in return for his silence.
19 May 1973 Leaders of the Soviet Union and West Germany sign three agreements in Bonn covering increased economic cooperation, cultural exchanges, and landing rights for each country’s airlines.
The General Accounting Office of the US Congress charges Maurice Stans, former Commerce Secretary and head of finance for President Nixon’s campaign committee, with a deliberate attempt to evade the disclosure requirements of the federal campaign spending law.
The Argentine government lifts the state of emergency and martial law imposed 1 May.
Offrande musicale sur le nom de Bach op.187 for orchestra, organ and piano by Charles Koechlin (†22) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Radio Frankfurt, 31 years after it was composed.
Sonata for harp op.437 by Darius Milhaud (80) is performed for the first time, at Conservatoire Rocquencourt.
Milhaud’s Promesse de Dieu op.438 for chorus to words of the Bible is premiered at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
20 May 1973 A national referendum in Switzerland repeals articles in the federal constitution banning the Jesuits and the opening of new convents and monasteries.
Suite for two cellos and piano by Gian Carlo Menotti (61) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
Cantata to Life by Roy Harris (75) to words of Gibran is performed for the first time, in Dikelspiel Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.
21 May 1973 Chase Manhattan Bank becomes the first US bank to open offices in Moscow in 50 years.
Solemn Prelude, a fanfare for eleven brass instruments by Ned Rorem (49) is performed for the first time, at the Metropolitan Opera.
22 May 1973 Lord Lambton, defense undersecretary for the Royal Air Force, resigns after it becomes known that he has consorted with prostitutes.
US President Nixon releases a statement saying that some of his closest aides were probably involved in the Watergate affair. He admits he tried to limit the investigation into the affair but that this was because of national security implications. He claims he had no prior knowledge of the break-in and did not take part in any cover-up.
24 May 1973 Ephraim Katzir replaces Zalman Schazar as President of Israel.
Lord Jellicoe, leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal, resigns his position after it becomes known that he has consorted with prostitutes.
25 May 1973 Thirty officers and enlisted men aboard the Greek destroyer Velos, led by Captain Nichlolas Pappas, mutiny to protest the conservative military government of Greece. The ship will gain asylum in Italy tomorrow.
Héctor José Cámpora Demaestre, leader of the Peronist Party, becomes President of Argentina, replacing the military government of Alejandro Agustín Lanusse Gelly.
Three astronauts are launched from Cape Kennedy aboard an Apollo spacecraft. They rendezvous with the damaged Skylab 1 launched 14 May and after several hours work, dock with the spacecraft.
Five Moods for tuba quartet by Gunther Schuller (47) is performed for the first time, at the University of Indiana, Bloomington.
26 May 1973 Three astronauts enter the damaged Skylab 1 and effect repairs.
Piano Sonata no.3 by Michael Tippett (68) is performed for the first time, in the Bath Assembly Rooms.
29 May 1973 The Canadian government announces it will withdraw from the ICCS by 31 July because constant truce violations. They say that Poland and Hungary, two of the other three members of the ICCS, see themselves as representatives of North Vietnam. The commission has not been overseeing a cease-fire but observing a war.
31 May 1973 Meetings of the ICCS are postponed indefinitely.
Lustro for eight voices, orchestra, and tape by R. Murray Schafer (39) is performed for the first time, in Toronto. It is a triptych of two previously performed works, Divan i Shams i Tabriz and Music for the Morning of the World, and a new work, Beyond the Great Gate of Light.
1 June 1973 Georgios Christou Papadopoulos, leader of the conservative military regime in Greece, announces that the Greek monarchy has been abolished. He names himself President.
2 June 1973 Orpheus for violin or viola or cello and orchestra by Lukas Foss (50) is performed for the first time, in Ojai, California. On the same program is the premiere of Threnody II: Beatrice Cunningham in memoriam for alto flute, two violins, viola, and cello by Aaron Copland (72).
3 June 1973 A Soviet supersonic transport explodes during a demonstration at Le Bourget airport, Paris. 13 people are killed, in the plane and on the ground.
5 June 1973 A deposition given in a civil suit by former Nixon advisor John Ehrlichman is released to the public. Ehrlichman says former Attorney General John Mitchell approved three Democratic Party sites for electronic listening devices.
Canticum Canticorum Salamonis quod hebraice dicitur “Sid hasirim” for chorus and chamber orchestra by Krzysztof Penderecki (39) is performed for the first time, in Lisbon.
6 June 1973 Hugh Sloan, former treasurer of President Nixon’s campaign committee, testifies to the Senate Watergate Committee that his superiors made a consistent effort to get him to cover up payments he made to the Watergate conspirators and to perjure himself.
7 June 1973 Willy Brandt becomes the first German Chancellor to visit Israel.
8 June 1973 Luis Carrero Blanco replaces Francisco Franco Bahamonde as Prime Minister of Spain.
10 June 1973 Requiem for Father Malachy for solo voices, chorus, and chamber ensemble by John Tavener (29) is performed for the first time, the composer conducting.
12 June 1973 Former campaign finance director for Richard Nixon, Maurice Stans, testifies before the Senate Watergate committee that he has no knowledge of the espionage on political opponents or the cover-up of the Watergate affair, either before, during, or after the fact.
William Walton (71) conducts Façade on its 50th anniversary in Aeolian Hall, London. It is the last time he conducts in public.
13 June 1973 The four parties to the Vietnam peace accords sign a new pact in Paris designed to strengthen the agreement and halt all truce violations by 15 June.
US President Nixon orders a 60-day freeze on all prices except certain agricultural products and rents.
14 June 1973 Jeb Stuart Magruder, former deputy director of the Committee to Re-elect the President, testifies before the Senate Watergate committee. He admits to espionage on Democratic presidential candidates, implicating former Attorney General John Mitchell, former Presidential Counsel John Dean, and former White House Chief of Staff HR Haldeman. Magruder also admits committing perjury when testifying before the Watergate grand jury, again implicating Mitchell, Dean, and Haldeman in his act. He states that he informed HR Haldeman of everything he knew about Watergate in January 1973 and sent detailed espionage plans to Haldeman’s assistant Gordon Strachan.
M: Writings ‘67-’72 by John Cage (60) is published by Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut.
16 June 1973 Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, lands in the United States for a visit of ten days.
Northwestern University confers an honorary doctorate on Dmitri Shostakovich (66) in Chicago.
Death in Venice op.88, an opera by Benjamin Britten (59) to words of Piper after Mann, is performed for the first time, at Snape Maltings. The composer, still recovering from last month’s heart surgery, is too ill to attend.
17 June 1973 Five Roman Catholic bishops in Rhodesia say they will ignore new racial pass laws. Leaders of the Anglican and Methodist churches will join them.
20 June 1973 Former dictator Juan Perón returns to Argentina after almost 20 years of exile in Spain. His return is accompanied by violence which leads to 20 deaths and 400 injuries when rival Peronist groups among the 2,000,000 gathered at the airport begin shooting at each other.
Thousands of teachers, students and professionals go on strike in Chile to support the two-month strike by workers at the El Teniente copper mine.
Time and Beyond for baritone, clarinet, cello, and piano by Leslie Bassett (50) is performed for the first time, at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti.
21 June 1973 The mutual recognition of East and West Germany goes into effect.
Most business and transportation in Santiago, Concepción, Arica and Valparaiso provinces and more workers strike in support of copper miners in Chile.
22 June 1973 The crew of Skylab 2, Charles Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, and Paul Weitz return to Earth after setting a space endurance record of 672 hours, 49 minutes, and 49 seconds.
Symphony no.2 “Copernican” op.31 for soprano, baritone, chorus, and orchestra by Henryk Górecki (39) to words of the Psalms and Copernicus is performed for the first time, in Warsaw.
25 June 1973 Cambodian government troops abandon Batheay, 48 km north of Phnom Penh.
Erskine Hamilton Childers replaces Eamon de Valera as President of Ireland.
In a statement lasting six hours, former Counsel to the President John Dean lays bare his knowledge of the Watergate break-in and subsequent cover-up and President Nixon’s complicity in the crimes.
27 June 1973 The US Defense Department announces that Haiphong harbor is cleared of mines.
John Dean testifies to the Senate Watergate committee that President Nixon was “less than accurate” in his 22 May statement denying any involvement in Watergate.
J. Fred Buzhardt, special counsel to the President for the Watergate affair, sends a statement to the Senate Watergate committee naming John Dean as the mastermind of the Watergate cover-up, and claiming that Dean had consistently misled the president.
John Dean turns over to the Senate Watergate committee the “Opponents List and Political Enemies Project” of the Nixon administration. The documents “several inches thick” list those who were to be attacked by the mechanisms of the federal government. The list includes Senators, Congressmen and other politicians, journalists, businessmen, academics, and Hollywood celebrities.
Frederick LaRue, a former campaign strategist for President Nixon, pleads guilty in a Washington court to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice in the Watergate matter.
President Juan María Bordaberry of Uruguay abolishes the Congress, thus ending 40 years of democratic rule.
28 June 1973 Elections to a 78-member legislative assembly take place in Northern Ireland.
Senator Lowell Weicker announces that highly placed members of the administration tried to intimidate him after he became a member of the Senate Watergate committee.
Fanfare for chamber orchestra and folk instruments by Lukas Foss (50) is performed for the first time, in Istanbul.
29 June 1973 An attempt by rebels in the military to overthrow Chilean President Salvador Allende is put down by loyal troops.
30 June 1973 Warsaw University confers an honorary degree on Witold Lutoslawski (60).
1 July 1973 Arab terrorists murder Yosef Alon, air and naval attaché to the Israeli embassy, outside his residence in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
2 July 1973 The US Defense Department reports bombing in Cambodia has increased by 50% over the last week.
Striking copper miners at the El Teniente mine agree to return to work after 74 days. The strike has cost Chile over $70,000,000.
3 July 1973 A Swedish newspaper publishes an article by Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov in which he calls the Soviet system “anti-democratic in its essence.”
Representatives of 33 European nations, Canada, and the United States meet in Helsinki for the opening of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
4 July 1973 Communist forces once again cut Route 4 connecting Phnom Penh with the sea.
6 July 1973 Guerrillas kidnap 282 teachers, nurses, and children from a Roman Catholic mission in northern Rhodesia. They say they want to train the children to be guerrillas. Rhodesian forces rescue all but 20 by tomorrow.
Otto Klemperer dies in Zürich at the age of 88.
Concerto for oboe and orchestra no.3 by Bruno Maderna (53) is performed for the first time, in Amsterdam.
Jesse James for four solo voices and piano by Lejaren Hiller (49) to words of Benet, is performed for the first time, in Buffalo 23 years after it was composed.
7 July 1973 US President Nixon informs the Senate Watergate committee that he will not testify before it nor allow them access to presidential papers.
8 July 1973 Mariano Rumor replaces Giulio Andreotti as Prime Minister of Italy at the head of a center-left coalition.
The central banks of Canada, Japan, Western Europe, and the United States announce agreement in Basel to support their currencies, especially the US dollar.
Duke Ellington (74) is inducted into the Legion of Honor in a ceremony at the French Consulate in New York.
10 July 1973 Communist forces take Chilea, 43 km north of Phnom Penh.
The London Times reports that Portuguese soldiers have been “carrying out the systematic genocidal massacre of people in villages thought to have helped FRELIMO.” Portugal denies the charges.
Former US Attorney General and Director of the Committee to Re-elect the President John Mitchell testifies before the Senate Watergate committee that he did not inform the President of the Watergate break-in and cover-up and other espionage activities. He denies his own complicity in the espionage scheme against Democratic candidates, calling Jeb Magruder a liar.
The Bahamas, under Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Lynden Pindling, are proclaimed independent of Great Britain in ceremonies attended by the Prince of Wales.
12 July 1973 Alyeksandr Vasilyevich Mosolov dies in Moscow, aged 72 years, eleven months, and one day.
13 July 1973 President Héctor José Cámpora Demaestre of Argentina resigns to make way for the election of Juan Domingo Perón Sosa. He is replaced by Raúl Alberto Lastiri as acting President.
15 July 1973 The Viet Cong release two Canadian members of the ICCS and their Vietnamese interpreter and driver after holding them for two weeks. The Canadians say they were abused by their captors.
Cambodian government troops retreat from their perimeter defense 20 km from Phnom Penh.
Three Nocturnes for Orchestra by Gunther Schuller (47) is performed for the first time, in Interlochen, Michigan.
16 July 1973 Herbert Kalmbach, former counsel and fund-raiser for President Nixon, testifies before the Senate Watergate Committee that he raised $220,000 for the Watergate defendants on the orders of John Dean, approved by John Ehrlichman.
Defense Secretary James Schlesinger confirms that American planes secretly attacked communist positions in Cambodia during 1969 and 1970.
Alexander Butterfield, a former White House official, reveals to the Senate Watergate committee the existence of listening devices and a taping system in the Oval Office of the White House. The committee states that they will seek the tapes relevant to their investigation.
Ode pour Jérusalem for orchestra op.440 by Darius Milhaud (80) is performed for the first time, in Israel.
17 July 1973 The Cambodian government orders its first conscription. All men between the ages of 18 and 35 are drafted.
Mohammed Daud Khan leads junior army officers in deposing his cousin and brother-in-law, King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan. A republic is proclaimed.
Great Britain recognizes North Vietnam.
18 July 1973 Anthony Ulasewicz testifies before the Senate Watergate committee that he distributed $219,000 to the Watergate defendants.
Frederick LaRue, an official of the Committee to Re-elect the President, testifies before the Senate Watergate committee that he distributed $230,000 to the Watergate defendants.
US President Nixon describes Phase Four of economic controls. He will attempt to reinstitute voluntary wage and price controls which have so far proved unsuccessful.
“Construction of Biologically Functional Bacterial Plasmids In Vitro” by Stanley Cohen, Annie Chang, Herbert Boyer, and Robert Helling is communicated to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It is the first of three articles describing how DNA can be broken up and recombined. This is seen as the beginning of genetic engineering. It will be published in November.
19 July 1973 Robert Mardian, former assistant Attorney General, testifies before the Senate Watergate committee that it was his impression that both President Nixon and Attorney General John Mitchell knew and approved of the burglary at the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. Mardian further testifies that Mitchell approved $250,000 for an espionage scheme, but denied his own complicity.
Symphony no.1 by Krzysztof Penderecki (39) is performed for the first time, in Peterborough Cathedral, Northamptonshire the composer conducting.
20 July 1973 Khmer Rouge forces attack the Phnom Penh defense perimeter in seven places.
A Japan Air Lines jet is hijacked by Arab terrorists shortly after takeoff from Amsterdam. The plane is flown to Dubai.
Gordon Strachan, former assistant to White House Chief of Staff HR Haldeman, testifies before the Senate Watergate committee that Haldeman was aware of a “sophisticated political intelligence gathering system” two months before the Watergate break-in.
The US Congress passes a bill limiting the power of the President to commit forces to a conflict without congressional approval.
Assistant Secretary of Defense Jerry Friedheim tells a US Senate committee that the Pentagon knowingly falsified reports to Congress to cover up the secret bombing of Cambodia.
A federal judge orders the State of Indiana to racially integrate the schools of the Indianapolis metropolitan area.
21 July 1973 Ignoring an injunction from the International Court of Justice and a worldwide protest movement, France detonates the first of a series of atomic explosions on the Pacific atoll of Muruoa.
23 July 1973 Citing the doctrine of separation of powers, President Nixon refuses to release tapes of his Oval Office conversations to either the Senate Watergate committee or special prosecutor Archibald Cox. The committee issues subpoenas for the tapes.
Gordon Strachan testifies that three days after the Watergate break-in, HR Haldeman told him to “make sure our files are clean.” He shredded documents which would show Haldeman’s complicity.
24 July 1973 The Japan Air Lines jet hijacked 20 July is flown from Dubai to Benghazi. Minutes after landing, the 137 passengers and crew are evacuated and the plane is destroyed.
The new Italian government declares a freeze on most prices.
Former presidential advisor John Ehrlichman testifies before the Senate Watergate committee that John Dean hampered President Nixon’s desire to get to the truth in the Watergate matter. He also claims that the break-in of the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist was necessary as part of the President’s duty to protect national security. Ehrlichman denies his complicity.
Purcell: Fantasia upon One Note for flute, clarinet, harpsichord, percussion, violin, and cello by Peter Maxwell Davies (38) is performed for the first time, in London the composer conducting.
26 July 1973 The British and Australian embassies in Phnom Penh evacuate their dependents.
Federal Judge John Sirica orders the White House to show cause why they should not be compelled to produce the tapes.
27 July 1973 The naval aide to Chilean President Salvador Allende, Arturo Araya, is shot to death by unknown gunmen outside his Santiago home.
28 July 1973 Khmer Rouge forces capture Saang, south of Phnom Penh, and Baren, north of the city.
Siamo la gioventù del Vietnam for unison chorus by Luigi Nono (49) to words of Federici and the Declaration of Independence of Vietnam, is performed for the first time, in East Berlin.
29 July 1973 Published results of a national referendum held today support the end of the Greek monarchy as declared on 1 June.
Two works by Peter Maxwell Davies (38) are performed for the first time, in Dartington, Devon conducted by the composer: Renaissance Scottish Dances for flute, clarinet, guitar, violin, cello, and percussion; and Si quis diligit me for alto flute, clarinet, celesta, crotales, viola, and cello.
30 July 1973 Former White House Chief of Staff HR Haldeman testifies before the Senate Watergate committee that neither he nor the President knew anything about the Watergate break-in and that John Dean thwarted the president’s investigation. He says he has recently listened to the Oval Office tapes.
31 July 1973 All 249 Canadian members of the ICCS depart South Vietnam. The US announces that Iran has agreed to take their place.
Thailand reports that its troops have begun to withdraw from Laos.
Protestant hard liners disrupt the first meeting of the newly elected Northern Ireland legislative assembly and force it to adjourn.
1 August 1973 Bulgaria and West Germany agree to establish full diplomatic relations.
Gian Francesco Malipiero dies in Treviso City Hospital of a heart ailment, aged 91 years, four months, and 14 days.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is founded by Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.
2 August 1973 Former CIA director Richard Helms and his assistant Robert Cushman testify before the Senate Watergate committee about White House pressure to aid in the Watergate cover-up.
3 August 1973 Khmer Rouge forces reach to within five km of the center of Phnom Penh.
Former Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray testifies before the Senate Watergate committee that he burned files from the safe of E. Howard Hunt with his Christmas trash.
60,000 bus, truck, and taxi owners join the strike by private truckers bringing transportation in Santiago de Chile virtually to a halt.
4 August 1973 A North Vietnamese assault on Kon Tum city is repulsed by Saigon government troops.
5 August 1973 Cambodian troops recapture Veal Sbou, five km southeast of Phnom Penh.
Arab terrorists fire automatic weapons and throw hand grenades into a passenger lounge in Athens airport, killing three people and injuring 55 others. The two criminals are arrested and charged with premeditated murder.
6 August 1973 US bombers mistakenly strike the village of Neak Luong, 61 km southeast of Phnom Penh, killing 137 government soldiers and civilians. 268 people are injured. The Air Force attaché at the US embassy, who visits the scene later in the day, calls it “no great disaster.”
US Vice President Spiro Agnew announces that he is under investigation by the Justice Department for kickbacks to contractors while Governor of Maryland.
Duo Fantasy for violin and piano by William Bolcom (35) is performed for the first time, in Portland, Oregon, the composer at the keyboard.
7 August 1973 Having completed the first part of its investigation, the Senate Watergate committee recesses its televised hearings until September.
Several mid-level military officers tell the US Senate Armed Services Committee that they falsified reports of bombing raids deep inside Cambodia in 1970, took part in ground combat in Laos and Cambodia as early as 1966, and routinely selected hospitals as bombing targets.
9 August 1973 The Senate Watergate committee files suit in federal court for the release of tapes and other documents held by the President.
The Senate Armed Services Committee produces a previously classified Pentagon memorandum which shows former Defense Secretary Melvin Laird approved the falsification of reports of US bombing of Cambodia in 1969.
In the face of mounting public pressure, President Salvador Allende of Chile admits military officers back into his cabinet.
Concerto for trumpet and winds by Karel Husa (52) is performed for the first time, at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.
Summer Divertimento for orchestra by William Bolcom (35) is performed for the first time, in Portland, Oregon.
10 August 1973 Gulf Oil Corporation and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company reveal that they gave large, illegal donations to President Nixon’s reelection campaign.
The Grande Sonate op.33 of Valentin Alkan (†85) is performed completely for probably the first time, at York University, England.
11 August 1973 The Middle East News Agency reports that Libya has nationalized 51% of Occidental Petroleum Corp., a US-owned oil company.
Juan Perón and his wife Isabel accept the nominations of the Justicialista Party for President and Vice-President of Argentina.
12 August 1973 Three weeks of devastating floods begin in Pakistan.
A Roman Catholic march against internment is stopped in West Belfast by British troops before it can reach a detention camp. The marchers then proceed to riot.
Incidental music to Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice by John Harbison (34) is performed for the first time, in Francestown, New Hampshire.
13 August 1973 Viola Concerto by Thea Musgrave (45) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London, the composer conducting.
14 August 1973 Pursuant to an act of Congress, the United States military ends all bombing raids in Cambodia and Laos.
As a new constitution goes into effect, Fazal Elahi Chaudhry replaces Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as President of Pakistan. Bhutto becomes Prime Minister.
Almost all the districts of Punjab state, Pakistan are declared disaster areas due to massive flooding.
15 August 1973 The Defense Department announces that since 1965, US planes have dropped 7,400,000 tons of bombs on Indochina.
US President Nixon tells his country to stop its “backward-looking obsession” with Watergate.
Grimethorpe Aria for brass by Harrison Birtwistle (39) is performed for the first time, in Royal Hall, Harrogate the composer conducting.
16 August 1973 Viet Cong forces begin a major assault on Hue.
Libya nationalizes 51% of US-owned Oasis Oil Company.
Jeb Stuart Magruder, once deputy director of President Nixon’s campaign committee, pleads guilty to planning the Watergate break-in, obstructing a Justice Department investigation into the break-in, perjury and suborning perjury, making false statements to the FBI, and secretly raising money to buy the silence of the Watergate defendants.
17 August 1973 US Defense Secretary James Schlesinger announces that the Soviet Union has successfully tested a MIRV (multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicles).
Phillips Petroleum Company reveals that it made a $100,000 illegal contribution to President Nixon’s reelection campaign. Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) also revealed a $30,000 illegal contribution to Nixon’s campaign.
North/White for orchestra and snowmobile by R. Murray Schafer (40) is performed for the first time, in Vancouver.
18 August 1973 The Chilean government accedes to the major demand of striking truckers by sacking Jaime Faivovich as Undersecretary of Transport. Truckers agree to resume negotiations but the crippling strike continues.
19 August 1973 George Papadopoulos becomes President of the new Greek republic.
20 August 1973 About 400 Laotian soldiers led by a right-wing general cross into the country from Thailand and take over Vientiane airport in an attempt to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma. The coup is quickly put down by loyal troops.
De temporum fine comeodia, a Bühnenspiel by Carl Orff (78) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Salzburg. See 15 May 1994.
21 August 1973 Leading Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov gives an open conference to western journalists. He speaks openly about the USSR and the direction it is taking.
Most professional organizations in Chile join strikes against the government.
23 August 1973 All the 70,000 residents of Khanpur, Pakistan are evacuated just before the Indus River floods and inundates the city.
Braniff Airways announces that it made two illegal donations to President Nixon’s reelection campaign totaling $50,000.
The most important ally of President Salvador Allende in the Chilean military, General Carlos Prats Gonzalez, resigns as Minister of Defense and Commander in Chief of the army. He is replaced as Commander in Chief by General August Pinochet Ugarte.
24 August 1973 Khmer Rouge rebels cut Route 5 connecting Phnom Penh with the rice-growing Battambang Province.
26 August 1973 Khmer Rouge rebels cut Route 4 connecting Phnom Penh with the sea.
50,000 people flee their homes in Sind Province, Pakistan before flood waters of the Indus River. The river reaches a record flood level of 7.3 meters at Hyderabad.
27 August 1973 An IRA letter bomb explodes in the British embassy in Washington, severely wounding an embassy employee.
28 August 1973 An agreement is signed in New Delhi between India and Pakistan settling many problems from their 1971 war. 90,000 Pakistani POWs are to be returned by India, coinciding with the exchange of Bengalis from Pakistan to Bangladesh and Biharis in the opposite direction.
Store owners in Chile join the nationwide strikes for 48 hours.
29 August 1973 Five Iranians arrive in Saigon as Iran replaces Canada in the ICCS.
Federal Judge John Sirica orders President Nixon to hand over to him the tapes demanded by special prosecutor Archibald Cox. By listening to the tapes, Sirica will decide if any privilege applies.
31 August 1973 A federal jury in Gainsville, Florida acquits seven members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War who were charged with conspiring to disrupt the 1972 Republican Convention.
1 September 1973 The government of Libya nationalizes all foreign-owned oil companies.
2 September 1973 The “first definitive version” of Anton Bruckner’s (†76) Symphony no.8 is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC, 86 years after it was completed. See 18 December 1892 and 5 July 1939.
3 September 1973 Nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov is officially condemned by the Soviet Union. A letter appears in Pravda signed by twelve prominent Soviet musicians supporting the condemnation. Among the signatories are Dmitri Shostakovich (66) and Aram Khachaturian (70).
30,000 Arab workers strike in Marseille against racism.
4 September 1973 Oil ministers from ten Arab nations meet in Kuwait to discuss ways of using oil as a weapon against Israel.
20,000 Arab workers strike in Toulon against racism.
Four former members of the Nixon administration are indicted in the break-in at the office of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist.
5 September 1973 Five Arab terrorists attack the Saudi Arabian embassy in Paris, take 13 hostages and demand the release of a fellow terrorist held by Jordan.
Corticalart III for tape by Pierre Henry (45) is performed for the first time, at L’Abbaye Saint-Victor de Marseille.
Tamu-Tamu, a chamber opera by Gian Carlo Menotti (62) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in the Studebaker Theatre, Chicago.
6 September 1973 Arab kidnappers in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Paris release all but four of their hostages and board a plane for Kuwait.
7 September 1973 Arab terrorists and their Saudi hostages take off from Kuwait and circle over Riyadh, threatening to throw their hostages out unless Saudi Arabia assist in convincing Jordan to release their comrade. Both Saudi Arabia and Jordan refuse.
8 September 1973 Back in Kuwait, the Arab terrorists seize Ali Yassin, the PLO representative in Kuwait. Finally they surrender and release their hostages, their demands not met.
9 September 1973 140 junior officers in the Portuguese army meet near Evora to respond to a decree allowing conscripted officers to join the career military. It is seen as the very beginning of the overthrow of the government.
7 September 1973 In parliamentary elections in Norway, the Labor Party loses seats but will form a minority government.
11 September 1973 After a week of heavy fighting, Cambodian government troops push Khmer Rouge rebels out of Kompong Cham, 70 km northeast of Phnom Penh.
Police kill eleven black miners in a riot over a wage dispute in Carletonville, South Africa.
A violent military coup led by General Augusto Pincohet Ugarte with the complicity of Richard Nixon and his government overthrows the constitutionally elected government of Chilean President Salvador Allende Gossens. President Allende is killed in the coup, although the military claims he committed suicide. The coup begins after President Allende refuses military demands that he resign, saying, “I am ready to resist with whatever means, even at the cost of my life, to serve as a lesson in the ignominious history of those who have strength but not reason.” The military begins arresting, torturing and murdering anyone it believes to be its enemy.
13 September 1973 Flying over international waters of the Mediterranean, Israeli fighters are attacked by Syrian war planes. 13 Syrian jets are shot down. One Israeli plane is lost. It is the largest air battle in the Middle East since the Six Day War.
Autumn for biwa, shakuhachi, and orchestra by Toru Takemitsu (42) is performed for the first time, in Metropolitan Festival Hall, Tokyo. Also premiered is Takemitsu’s Voyage for three biwas.
14 September 1973 Representatives of the Laotian government and Pathet Lao rebels sign an agreement in Vientiane creating a coalition government.
15 September 1973 King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden dies in Hälsingborg, and is succeeded by his grandson Carl XVI Gustaf.
16 September 1973 The United Nations Children’s Fund reports that at least 50,000 people have died during a famine in Wollo Province, Ethiopia.
General elections in Sweden see gains for center and rightist parties but the Social Democrats remain in power.
18 September 1973 Cambodian government troops reopen Route 4, the link between Phnom Penh and the sea.
The Bahamas, the German Democratic Republic, and the Federal Republic of Germany are admitted to the United Nations.
The second session of the Conference on European Security and Cooperation opens in Geneva.
1898 for children’s voices and instruments by Mauricio Kagel (41) is performed for the first time, in Congress Centrum, Hamburg to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft.
19 September 1973 The Algerian government suspends all emigration to France until France can guarantee the safety of Algerians during a wave of racist violence.
Former Special Counsel to the President Charles Colson refuses to testify before the Senate Watergate committee citing self-incrimination.
21 September 1973 The military dictatorship in Chile bans all Marxist parties and says all non-Marxist parties are “in recess.”
22 September 1973 Henry Kissinger is sworn in as US Secretary of State at the White House.
Stone Litany, Runes from a House for the Dead for mezzo-soprano and orchestra by Peter Maxwell Davies (39) to words of a Viking stone inscription on Orkney, is performed for the first time, in City Hall, Glasgow.
23 September 1973 After an exile of 18 years, Juan Domingo Perón is elected President of Argentina.
Pablo Neruda dies in Santiago at the age of 69.
24 September 1973 Portuguese Guinea unilaterally declares its independence from Portugal.
Convicted Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt testifies before the Senate Watergate committee that Former White House counsel Charles Colson was aware of a widespread intelligence scheme which included the Watergate break-in.
The United States recognizes the military dictatorship in Chile.
25 September 1973 The crew of Skylab 3, Alan Bean, Jack Lousma, and Owen Garriott return to Earth after setting a space endurance record of 1,427 hours, nine minutes, and four seconds.
US Vice President Spiro Agnew asks House Speaker Carl Albert to begin an investigation into his conduct because of that body’s “sole power of impeachment.” Albert declines.
The military dictatorship of Chile removes all mayors and city council members in the country. The largest labor group, the Central Labor Federation with 800,000 members, is abolished.
26 September 1973 Former presidential advisor Patrick Buchanan admits to the Senate Watergate committee that he advocated to President Nixon a plan to undercut the presidential candidacies of certain Democrats while elevating others.
28 September 1973 Arab terrorists seize five hostages on a Moscow-Vienna train in Czechoslovak territory. The hostages are three Soviet Jews and an Austrian woman with her infant son. They cross the border and get off the train, take an Austrian customs official, and drive to Schwechat airport in Vienna.
Lawyers for US Vice President Spiro Agnew file suit in federal court in Baltimore to block a grand jury investigation into criminal wrongdoing by Agnew.
29 September 1973 Arab terrorists release their hostages when Chancellor Bruno Kreisky of Austria promises to close down the Vienna transit facility for Jews fleeing the Soviet Union and heading for Israel. The terrorists are given a plane and fly to Libya.
The military dictatorship of Chile forces the resignations of all university rectors in the country.
WH Auden dies in Vienna at the age of 66.
30 September 1973 Night Thoughts (Homage to Ives) for piano by Aaron Copland (72) is performed for the first time, in Ft. Worth, Texas.
1 October 1973 Donald Segretti pleads guilty to one count of conspiracy and two counts of distributing fake campaign literature during the 1972 presidential campaign..
Spiros Vasiliou Markezinis, a civilian, replaces Georgios Papadopoulos as Prime Minister of Greece.
2 October 1973 Beyond Silence, a cantata for tenor, clarinet, trombone, viola, cello, and piano by TJ Anderson (45) to words of Hanson, is performed for the first time, at Busch-Reisinger Museum of Harvard University.
Prime Minister Willi Stoph of the German Democratic Republic is named President and is succeeded as Prime Minister by Horst Sindermann.
Donald Segretti testifies before the Senate Watergate committee about the many “dirty tricks” he perpetrated on Democratic presidential candidates and that he reported on his activities to Dwight Chapin, former appointment secretary to President Nixon.
4 October 1973 Political negotiations in Paris on the future of South Vietnam collapse when the Viet Cong delegate walks out.
Ouverture for orchestra by Isang Yun (56) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
5 October 1973 An agreement to form a uniform European Patent Organization is signed by representatives of 21 countries in Munich.
6 October 1973 Syria and Egypt attack Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. Egyptian forces manage to create a bridgehead on the east bank of the Suez Canal. Israeli planes attack the bridges and other targets in Egypt.
7 October 1973 Israeli forces turn back Syrian advances on the Golan Heights but Egyptian troops establish effective bridgeheads on the east bank of the Suez Canal and push inland.
8 October 1973 After an initial advance of 15 km into the Golan Heights, Syrian forces are thrown back by a strong Israeli counterattack.
The first all-civilian Greek cabinet since the conservative-fascist military coup of 1967, led by Spyros Markezinis, is installed. He promises new elections.
The London Broadcasting Company begins operations. It is the first legal independent local radio station in Great Britain.
9 October 1973 Israeli warplanes attack Damascus and Homs.
Witold Lutoslawski (60) is awarded the Sibelius Prize in Helsinki.
Leonard Bernstein (55) gives the first of his lectures entitled The Unanswered Question as Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University. Well into the talk, a bomb threat is received and the theatre has to be cleared.
Initium for orchestra by Carlos Chávez (74) is performed for the first time, in Edwin J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, Akron, Ohio.
10 October 1973 Israeli forces succeed in ridding the Golan Heights of Syrian troops. All Syrian gains since 6 October are now lost. Egyptian forces reach as far as 15 km east of the Suez Canal.
US Vice-President Spiro Agnew resigns and pleads no contest in federal court in Baltimore to one count of income tax evasion. In return, the Justice Department drops all other charges against him and recommends leniency.
12 October 1973 Israeli forces push well beyond the cease-fire line to within 30 km of Damascus. Egyptian forces continue to fortify their positions on the east bank of the Suez Canal.
Juan Domingo Perón Sosa becomes the President of Argentina once again. His vice-president is his wife, Isabel.
US President Nixon names Representative Gerald R. Ford to replace Spiro Agnew as Vice President.
A federal appeals court in Washington orders President Nixon to hand over the White House tapes to Judge John Sirica.
The US government sets a mandatory allocation plan for distillate fuels to take effect 1 November.
Koto Music I for amplified piano and tape by Peter Sculthorpe (44) is performed for the first time, in the Sydney Opera House.
13 October 1973 Israeli forces destroy an Iraqi division 20 km inside Syria.
A UN commission of foreign jurists reports confirmed cases of torture and execution by the US-backed military dictatorship in Chile.
14 October 1973 Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn of Thailand and his military cabinet are forced to resign because of mounting student unrest. He is replaced by Sanya Thammasak.
Parliamentary elections in Turkey result in a plurality for the opposition Republican Peoples Party.
An Egyptian offensive in the Sinai is stopped by Israeli forces.
Chile’s new US-backed fascist dictatorship outlaws all left-wing parties.
Serenade for chorus by Charles Ives (†19) to words of Longfellow is performed for the first time, in Battell Chapel, Yale University.
Sonority Forms no.1 for orchestra by Otto Luening (73) is performed for the first time, in North Bennington, Vermont.
15 October 1973 Elements of the Israeli army cross the Suez Canal to the west bank north of Great Bitter Lake.
Israeli forces move into Sa’sa, Syria, 30 km from Damascus.
The US government begins shipments of arms to Israel to counter Soviet arms going to the Arab countries.
Clocks and Clouds for female chorus and orchestra by György Ligeti (50) is performed for the first time, in Graz.
16 October 1973 President Anwar el-Sadat of Egypt calls for a cease-fire in the Yom Kippur War. Prime Minister Golda Meir of Israel answers that the war will end when the enemy is defeated. Arab oil producers announce a cutback in oil shipments to “unfriendly” nations.
Trygve Bratteli of the Labor Party replaces Lars Korvald of the Christian Democratic Party as Prime Minister of Norway at the head of a minority government.
Maynard Jackson is elected the first black mayor of a major city in the southern US (Atlanta).
17 October 1973 Major tank battles between Egyptian and Israeli forces begin on both sides of the Suez Canal.
Arab oil producers meeting in Kuwait decide on a policy of cutting oil production and raising prices in an attempt to change US support of Israel.
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M), and American Airlines plead guilty in federal court to making illegal contributions to President Nixon’s reelection campaign. The companies and two of their chairmen are fined.
The US-backed military dictatorship of Chile bans political activity by any individual or group.
18 October 1973 Trio for flute, oboe, and violin by Isang Yun (56) is performed for the first time, in Mannheim.
19 October 1973 25 hours after Arab terrorists seize the Bank of America office in Beirut taking 40 hostages, Lebanese police and army commandos storm their way into the bank. One hostage and two kidnappers are killed.
Libya ends all oil shipments to the US because of its support of Israel.
US President Nixon offers a compromise with the special prosecutor and the Senate Watergate committee on the tapes. He will provide summaries of the tapes in question, their veracity to be verified by Senator John Stennis. Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox rejects the compromise.
Former Counsel to the President John Dean pleads guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice for his part in the cover-up of the Watergate break-in. He will be sentenced to one to four years in prison.
March no.3, with My Old Kentucky Home for small orchestra by Charles Ives (†19) is performed for the first time, at Yale University. Also premiered is Ives’ Decoration Day for violin and piano and the song They Are There! to his own words.
20 October 1973 Queen Elizabeth officially opens the Sydney Opera House.
After establishing an effective bridgehead on the west bank of the Suez Canal, Israeli forces begin a three-pronged offensive.
Saudi Arabia says it will end all oil sales to the US because of its support of Israel.
Zwei-Mann-Orchester by Mauricio Kagel (41) is performed for the first time, in the Stadthalle, Donaueschingen.
President Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refuses and resigns. Nixon then orders Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox. Ruckelshaus also refuses and Nixon fires him. Finally, Nixon orders Solicitor-General Robert Bork to dismiss Cox. Bork complies. Nixon abolishes the office of special prosecutor. FBI agents are sent to seal off the prosecutor’s offices. The incident becomes known as the “Saturday Night Massacre” and causes serious doubts about Nixon’s complicity in the Watergate affair.
21 October 1973 Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Dubai end shipments of oil to the United States. Iraq nationalizes the Dutch share of Basra Oil Company because of the Netherlands’ support of Israel.
Two Arab terrorists enter the Moscow apartment of Dr. Andrei Sakharov and threaten to kill him and his wife if he issues any more statements supporting Israel.
22 October 1973 The UN Security Council votes to call for a cease-fire in the Middle East war.
Acting Attorney General Robert Bork says he has placed Assistant Attorney General Henry Petersen in charge of the Watergate investigation.
America’s largest labor organization, the AFL-CIO, meeting in convention in Bal Habour, Florida, approves a resolution calling on President Nixon to resign, or failing that, his impeachment.
Pablo Casals dies in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico at the age of 96.
23 October 1973 The US House of Representatives begins to consider impeachment proceedings against President Nixon. Eight impeachment resolutions are offered today.
President Nixon agrees to turn over tapes requested by federal judge John Sirica.
The UN Security Council again calls for a cease-fire in the Middle East and for all parties to return to positions they held at the last cease-fire.
Arthur Conte is sacked as President and Director-General of ORTF after he criticized French government interference in news reporting.
Evryali for piano by Iannis Xenakis (51) is performed for the first time, in Lincoln Center, New York.
Behold My Servant for chorus by George Rochberg (55) is performed for the first time, at the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York.
24 October 1973 As Israeli forces complete their isolation of the Egyptian Third Army on the west bank of the Suez Canal, a cease-fire goes into effect.
US President Nixon vetoes a bill which would limit his power to make war without Congressional approval.
Third Sacred Concert for soloists, choruses, and players by Duke Ellington (74) is performed for the first time, in Westminster Abbey, in the presence of Princess Margaret and Prime Minister Edward Heath.
25 October 1973 To counter a reported mobilization of Soviet airborne troops for the Middle East, the US government places its military on a worldwide “precautionary alert.”
Three women authors go on trial in Lisbon for publishing New Portuguese Letters, a collection of feminist essays and poetry. The government says it contains obscenity.
The UN Security Council votes to send a peacekeeping force to the Middle East to ensure respect for the recently negotiated cease-fire.
Concerto for violin and orchestra no.1 by Bohuslav Martinu (†14) is performed for the first time, in Chicago, 40 years after it was composed.
26 October 1973 President Nixon says he is not angry with the news media because “one can only be angry with those he respects.”
27 October 1973 The UN Security Council approves a 7,000 man force to be stationed between Egyptian and Israeli forces in the Sinai.
28 October 1973 113 people are arrested at a Barcelona church when they meet to prepare an Assembly of Catalonia.
Bassoon Variations for bassoon, harp, and timpani by Charles Wuorinen (35) is performed for the first time, in Sanders Theatre, Harvard University.
29 October 1973 The surrounded Egyptian Third Corps begins receiving food, water, and medical supplies with the permission of the victorious Israelis.
A British report says that between 100,000 and 150,000 Ethiopians have died in recent drought and famine.
The US Congress has received 350,000 telegrams since 20 October, overwhelmingly calling for the impeachment of President Nixon.
Ernst Krenek’s (73) music to his own television play Flaschenpost vom Paradies, oder Der englische Ausflug is performed for the first time, over Österreichische Rundfunk, originating in Vienna. See 8 March 1974.
30 October 1973 A new suspension bridge, 1,000 meters long, opens over the Bosporus.
In an Autumn Garden for gagaku instruments by Toru Takemitsu (43) is performed for the first time, in the National Theatre, Tokyo. It will be incorporated into a much larger work with the same name. See 28 September 1979.
String Quartet no.14 op.142 by Dmitri Shostakovich (67) is performed for the first time, privately at the USSR Composers’ Club, Moscow. See 12 November 1973.
31 October 1973 The US military stands down from its worldwide alert.
A White House lawyer tells federal Judge John Sirica that two tapes requested by the court do not exist.
1 November 1973 The Greek government says Mikis Theodorakis (48) may return to the country. They allow 40 songs of Theodorakis to be performed.
The Italian government lifts the freeze on most foods and other products.
Acting US Attorney General Robert Bork appoints Leon Jaworski as Watergate Special Prosecutor, replacing Archibald Cox.
2 November 1973 The French government introduces price restraints on some food and consumer goods. Retailers organize protests and strikes.
4 November 1973 The Netherlands bans Sunday pleasure driving. Ireland orders heat lowered in all public buildings.
Greek police attack and beat anti-government demonstrators in Athens.
Both Republican Senator Edward Brooke and Time Magazine, in its first editorial ever, call on President Nixon to resign.
5 November 1973 Today begins two weeks of protest and unrest by university students in South Korea. They demand a return to democracy.
Arab oil producers agree to further reduce their output in December to 75% of September production.
Belgium bans all pleasure driving on Sundays.
Grand Union for cello and drums by Charles Wuorinen (35) is performed for the first time, at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
6 November 1973 Israel agrees to allow more resupply of the surrounded Egyptian army.
EEC foreign ministers refuse a Dutch request to pool oil resources in the face of a threatened Arab oil boycott.
Denmark lowers speed limits and closes schools on Saturdays.
Six Roman Catholic priests begin a hunger strike in a prison in Zamora, Spain. The six are in jail on political offenses.
Etcetera for small orchestra, tape, and three conductors by John Cage (60) is performed for the first time, in Paris. See 8 December 1986.
7 November 1973 Saigon government bombers devastate Loc Ninh, the Viet Cong administrative center.
The United States and Egypt agree to resume diplomatic relations.
The government of Luxembourg orders all gas stations closed on Saturday and Sunday.
The US Congress overrides President Nixon’s veto of the War Powers Act, limiting the President’s ability to make war without congressional approval.
In a national address, US President Nixon outlines mandatory and voluntary measures to deal with the projected shortfall in oil. He also says he has no intention to resign.
On orders of the school committee of Drake, North Dakota, 32 copies of Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut are burned as “tools of the Devil.” They do not renew the contract of the teacher who assigned the book.
8 November 1973 The Portuguese government imposes gasoline rationing and orders gas stations to close on weekends.
Pierre Boulez (48) announces in New York that he will resign his posts with the New York Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony and return to France to head a new music institute.
9 November 1973 The US announces an agreement between Egypt and Israel to continue the cease-fire, establish final truce lines and to establish a UN buffer force.
Six of the seven Watergate break-in defendants are sentenced in federal court in Washington. Three receive sentences of one to four years in prison. Bernard Barker receives 18 months to six years. James McCord receives one to five years. E. Howard Hunt gets 30 months to eight years and fined $10,000.
10 November 1973 Reuters reports that six close aides to Archbishop Helder Camara of Olinda and Recife have disappeared without a trace. Camara is an outspoken critic of the military government of Brazil.
11 November 1973 Representatives of Egypt and Israel sign a cease-fire agreement sponsored by the United States in a tent on the road between Cairo and Suez (El Suweis).
Ani maamin, un chant perdu et retrouvé op.441 for soprano, four speakers, chorus, and orchestra by Darius Milhaud (81) to words of Wiesel, is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York conducted by Lukas Foss (51).
12 November 1973 President Nixon reveals that an already mentioned memorandum on his 15 April meeting with John Dean does not exist.
Today and tomorrow, three companies are found guilty and fined by a federal court in Washington for making large illegal donations to President Nixon’s reelection campaign: Braniff International Airways Inc., Ashland Petroleum Gabon Corp., and Gulf Oil Corp.
String Quartet no.14 op.142 by Dmitri Shostakovich (67) is performed publicly for the first time, in Glinka Concert Hall, Leningrad. See 30 October 1973.
Six Songs on Poems of Marina Tsvetayeva op.143 for alto and piano by Dmitri Shostakovich (67) are performed for the first time, in Bolshoy Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic.
13 November 1973 Over the next three days, the Senate Watergate committee hears testimony from offices of six major companies about how they circumvented federal election laws to make large contributions to President Nixon’s reelection campaign.
Bruno Maderna dies in Darmstadt, aged 53 years, six months, and 23 days.
Prime Minister Edward Heath of Great Britain declares a state of emergency to deal with a work slowdown by the National Union of Miners.
14 November 1973 About 1,000 anti-government students occupy the Polytechnic University in Athens while 15,000 of their comrades block traffic.
A federal judge in Washington rules that President Nixon’s firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox was illegal.
Reports from Chile indicate that universities or university departments who are considered too leftist have been closed. Professors and students have been called upon to denounce faculty with the wrong beliefs. All university rectors have been replaced with military men.
Birthday Canon for Richard Hall’s 70th Birthday for wind quintet by Peter Maxwell Davies (39) is performed for the first time, in Leeds University Great Hall. It is one of six pieces composed by Hall’s former students to celebrate the event. Another work is contributed by Alexander Goehr (41).
15 November 1973 Egypt and Israel begin exchanging prisoners of war through the Red Cross.
Anti-government students take over Patras University in Greece.
16 November 1973 Korea University in Seoul is closed for one week after anti-government student unrest and clashes with police.
17 November 1973 The Greek government imposes martial law. Police forcibly drive students off the campus of Patras University. Five people are killed, hundreds injured.
Leaders of France and Great Britain sign an agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel.
US President Nixon, speaking before newspaper executives in Orlando, Florida, declares, “I am not a crook.”
18 November 1973 The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, meeting in Vienna, decides to cancel the further five percent decrease in oil output. This is in response to the shift in EEC foreign policy towards the Arabs.
The Greek military is put on alert to deal with recent unrest. Marines are deployed on the streets of Athens.
Alois Hába dies in Prague, aged 80 years, four months, and 28 days.
Cantata on Poems of Edward Lear for soprano, baritone, chorus, and piano by Virgil Thomson (76) is performed for the first time, in the Fine Arts Building Concert Hall, Towson State University, Towson, Maryland the composer conducting.
19 November 1973 West Germany bans all private driving on the next four Sundays.
Inauguration Fanfares for brass and timpani by Vladimir Ussachevsky (62) is performed for the first time, at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
20 November 1973 Interval for piano four hands by Karlheinz Stockhausen (45) is performed for the first time, in New York. The pianists must be blindfolded and they must be friends with each other.
21 November 1973 Leaders in Northern Ireland work out a compromise for a power-sharing executive between the two communities.
White House lawyers tell a federal judge in Washington that 18 minutes of a crucial tape recording was erased by the President’s secretary Rose Mary Woods. They call it a “terrible mistake.”
22 November 1973 “Ceylon”, no.17 of Für kommende Zeiten by Karlheinz Stockhausen (45), is performed for the first time, in Metz.
23 November 1973 Incenters for orchestra by Jacob Druckman (45) is performed for the first time, in Minneapolis. See 7 May 1968.
24 November 1973 Three Dances op.34 for orchestra by Henryk Górecki (39) is performed for the first time, in Rybnik.
25 November 1973 The Greek military removes President Georgios Christou Papadopoulos from power. Phaedon Dimitriou Ghizikis becomes President. Adamantios Androutsopoulos replaces Spiros Vasiliou Markezinis as Prime Minister.
Chilean military and police beat the Swedish ambassador to Chile and four of his secretaries as they arrest an Uruguayan woman at a Santiago hospital. The woman is under Swedish protection.
26 November 1973 The Canadian government asks its citizens for a 15% voluntary cut in fuel consumption.
Bertha, an opera by Ned Rorem (50) to words of Koch, is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
27 November 1973 Cradle II for four sets of tube drums and instrumental ensemble by Robert Erickson (56) is performed for the first time, at the University of California at San Diego.
28 November 1973 Talks between British Prime Minister Edward Heath and the National Union of Miners over the present strike break down.
29 November 1973 Disengagement talks between Egypt and Israel on the Cairo-Suez road break down in failure.
Anniversary Fanfare for brass and percussion by William Walton (71) is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, London in a concert celebrating the 75th anniversary of EMI.
30 November 1973 Prime Minister Joop den Uyl of the Netherlands announces gasoline rationing will begin in his country on 7 January.
The French government announces lowered speed limits on all roads, fewer airline flights, and reduced lighting for public buildings and advertising. Weeknight television must end at 23:00.
The Intergovernmental Commission of European Migrations says in Geneva that 1,200 refugees from 28 countries have been transferred from Chile since the coup.
Former White House official Egil Krogh pleads guilty to conspiracy in the break-in at Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office in 1971.
Six Romances on Verses by British Poets op.140 for voice and orchestra by Dmitri Shostakovich (67) is performed for the first time, in Moscow Conservatory Bolshoy Hall.
Intermezzo for 24 strings by Krzysztof Penderecki (40) is performed for the first time, in Zürich.
Konzertante Figuren for orchestra by Isang Yun (56) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
1 December 1973 The government of Uruguay bans 14 left-wing organizations, including the Socialists and Communists.
3 December 1973 Viet Cong rockets destroy a fuel depot eleven km southeast of Saigon. Lost are 68,000,000 liters of gasoline, almost half the government’s civilian fuel supply.
The British public begins a run on gasoline.
The Greek government bans driving on alternate Sundays.
The American space probe Pioneer 10 passes Jupiter and reaches as close as 140,000 km above the surface.
4 December 1973 Arab terrorists explode a hand grenade in Jerusalem injuring 20 people.
Independent truckers begin four days of protests throughout the US. They block highways to protest rising fuel prices and lower speed limits.
The military dictatorship in Chile expels Swedish ambassador Harald Edelstam. He is the first non-communist diplomat to be expelled since the coup.
Elections for the Folketing cause an upheaval in Danish politics. Over half of the members are thrown out and five new parties gain representation. The ruling socialist parties lose a combined 30 seats.
Centering for violin and ten instruments by Earle Brown (46) is performed for the first time, in Manchester, England.
5 December 1973 A bomb explodes on a bus near Natanya, Israel injuring 15 people.
Danish Prime Minister Anker Jørgensen resigns after his government suffered heavy losses in yesterday’s election.
The Norwegian government announces gasoline rationing will begin 7 January. Sunday driving is banned.
The British government announces new restrictions on outdoor lighting, and heat and light in businesses.
French Foreign Minister Valéry Giscard d’Estaing announces a range of measures to combat inflation.
For Frank O’Hara for flute/piccolo/alto flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, and cello by Morton Feldman (47) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.
6 December 1973 The members of the Arab League, meeting in Cairo, agree to gradually withdraw all of their assets in US banks.
Workers in France stage a 24-hour general strike to protest new anti-inflation measures.
Gerald Ford is inaugurated as Vice-President of the United States.
7 December 1973 The British government reduces fuel for airlines by 17%. Small planes are forbidden to fly on Sundays.
Music for Pieces of Wood by Steve Reich (37) is performed for the first time, at New York University in New York City.
8 December 1973 Voters in Australia disapprove a government plan for wage and price controls.
Four Silhouettes for band by Ulysses Kay (56) is performed for the first time, in New York.
9 December 1973 Nine Arab oil producing countries meeting in Kuwait agree to a further cutback in production by 750,000 barrels a day effective 1 January.
The governments of Great Britain, Ireland, and Northern Ireland create a Council of Ireland to improve communications between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
10 December 1973 Saigon government forces take Kien Duc in the Central Highlands after a week-long see-saw battle.
Sonata no.2 for violin and piano by Lejaren Hiller (49) is performed for the first time, in Warsaw.
11 December 1973 Czechoslovakia and West Germany establish relations.
12 December 1973 Railway workers in Britain begin a nationwide work slowdown. The government extends the state of emergency for a month.
In honor of his 65th birthday, the New York Public Library opens an exhibition entitled “Elliott Carter: Sketches and Scores in Manuscript.”
13 December 1973 British Prime Minister Edward Heath declares a three-day work week to conserve energy in the face of the work slowdown by coal miners.
Technical experts appointed by Judge Sirica to investigate the 18-minute gap in one of the tapes report that they doubt the explanation of the gap given by the White House.
Delizie Contente che L’Alme Beate for woodwind quintet and tape by Jacob Druckman (45) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
14 December 1973 Four people are killed and 20 injured when a bomb explodes at the Algerian consulate in Marseille.
15 December 1973 Reversing a 100-year-old decision, the American Psychiatric Association declares that homosexuality is not a mental illness.
17 December 1973 Arab terrorists begin shooting in a lounge at Fiumicino Airport near Rome. They then board a PanAm jet on the runway and throw incendiary bombs inside the plane killing 29 people on board. After killing an Italian customs official, they take five Italian hostages and board a Lufthansa plane and take off for Athens, Damascus, and Kuwait, where they release the plane and its hostages in return for free passage to an unknown destination.
18 December 1973 The Swedish government announces rationing of heating oil and electricity along with gasoline beginning in January.
Four bombs explode in London, injuring 60 people. They are part of a wave of bombings from 17-26 December.
19 December 1973 Poul Hartling replaces Anker Jørgensen as Prime Minister of Denmark. Hartling’s Left-Liberals constitute the smallest minority government in Danish history but they are supported by five other center-right parties.
Judge John Sirica rules that almost all of the three White House tapes requested by the Watergate special prosecutor will be withheld as irrelevant.
The land reform program instituted in Chile in 1960, designed to make land available to the poor, is ended by the US-backed military dictatorship.
20 December 1973 Spanish Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco is killed in his car by a bomb. Basque separatists are suspected. He is replaced ad interim by Torcuato Fernández Miranda Hevia.
A wholly revised version of Candide, a comic operetta by Leonard Bernstein (55) to words of Wilbur, LaTouche, Sondheim, and the composer after Wheeler after Voltaire, is performed for the first time, in New York. See 29 October 1956.
21 December 1973 West Germany establishes diplomatic relations with Bulgaria and Hungary.
The first Middle East peace conference opens in Geneva. Those attending are Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the USSR, and the US.
Viet Cong negotiators walk out of both the political and military talks in Paris.
22 December 1973 The Japanese government declares a national emergency with several measures to deal with the oil shortage.
The US Congress passes a bill to lower the speed limit nationwide to 55 miles per hour (88 kph).
23 December 1973 Persian Gulf oil producers meeting in Teheran agree to double the price of oil effective 1 January.
25 December 1973 Arab oil producers meeting in Kuwait agree to cancel a 5% cut in production and institute a 10% increase on 1 January. Total embargos will remain for the Netherlands and US.
26 December 1973 Long Boret replaces In Tam as Prime Minister of Cambodia.
Mohammad Mohammadullah replaces Abu Sayeed Chowdhury as President of Bangladesh.
27 December 1973 Reinforcements are sent to the Mekong Delta by the Saigon government army after recent heavy losses in the area.
28 December 1973 The South Korean government announces new press censorship restrictions.
Venezuela announces it will almost double the price of its oil on 31 December.
The Gulag Archipelago by Alyeksandr Solzhenitsyn is first published, in Paris. It is the first expose of the Soviet penal system.
29 December 1973 Carlos Arias Navarro replaces Torcuato Fernández Miranda Hevia as Prime Minister of Spain.
31 December 1973 Libya, Nigeria, Bolivia, and Indonesia raise the price of their oil from 60%-80%.
Elections to the Israeli Knesset see losses for the ruling Labor Alignment and gains for the conservative Likud Party. But Labor still forms the next coalition.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
23 January 2012
Last Updated (Monday, 23 January 2012 07:40)