1973: Roe V. Wade, Arab-Israeli War, Watergate Investigations, Vietnam Cease-Fire, Agnew Resigns

By Patrick Mondout

While the Roe V. Wade abortion ruling, another Arab/Israeli war, and the cease-fire in Vietnam were the big stories, the expanding Watergate Scandal dominated the headlines in 1973. A comet that was billed as the Comet of the Century before its arrival turned out to be a dud. Comet Kohoutek was hardly visible to the naked eye.

January 14: The Miami Dolphins complete a perfect season by beating the Washington Redskins 14-7 in Super Bowl VII.

January 20: President Nixon is inaugurated for his second term.

January 22: All state laws preventing a woman's right to an abortion during the first three months are ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

January 23: A cease-fire agreement between the U.S. and Vietnam is announced in Paris.

January 27: The cease-fire agreement is signed and the military draft ends in the United States.

February 12: The first U.S. prisoners of war are handed over near Hanoi.

February 14: The first returning U.S. POWs land at Travis Air Force Base in California.

April 8: Spanish artist Pablo Picasso dies at age 91.

April 30: Nixon henchmen H.R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign while Nixon fires John Dean as White House consel.

May 7: Thanks to the Watergate efforts of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post wins a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

May 17: Senator Sam Ervin's Watergate hearings begin.

June 9: Secretariat becomes the first horse since 1948 to win the Triple Crown.

July 16: The White House admits that recording equipment has been used to tape virtually all presidential meetings.

August 22: Henry Kissinger is named U.S. secretary of state.

September 11: Chilean President Salvador Allende is killed in a coup.

September 18: The United Nations accepts East and West Germany as member nations.

October 6: A war between Israel and both Egypt along the Suez Canal and Syria along the Golan Heights begins.

October 10: Spiro Agnew resigns as vice president of the United States after pleading nolo contendere to a count of tax-evasion.

October 17: OPEC begins its oil embargo against the West.

October 24: Their militaries demoralized and decimated, Egypt and Syria accept a United Nations cease-fire agreement ending the 2nd Arab-Israeli war.

December 3: The first close-up color photos of Jupiter are transferred from Pioneer 10.

December 6: Confirmed by the Senate, Gerald R. Ford becomes the first unelected vice-president of the United States.