February 1973

[February 1], 1973 (Thursday)

• The "bantustan" of Venda, located in northeast South Africa near the border with Rhodesia, became the fifth of the "homelands" set for the white-ruled nation's black residents, with limited self-government. Plans for eventual separation as a nominally independent nation separate from South Africa would be made effective on September 13, 1979. Patrick Mphephu was named the Chief Minister of Venda.
• North Vietnam's government provided the names of only seven of the 319 Americans who had been listed by the U.S. as having been captured in Laos. There were 308 U.S. servicemen and four civilians who had been listed as missing in action or as prisoners of war.
• The United Kingdom's five Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly called the "Law Lords" and serving as Britain's highest court, ruled 4 to 1 that private clubs in the UK could continue to refuse memberships on the grounds of race, reversing a decision by a lower court. The court ruling declared that the Race Relations Act 1968 did not apply to private clubs because the clubs did not provides goods or services to the general public, and that "a refusal to elect to membership on the ground of colour would not be unlawful."
• Jean Poiret's farce La Cage aux Folles, was premièred at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris.
• Metropolitan State University, established in St. Paul, Minnesota, as a night school college for working adults, had its first graduates, a class of 12 of the 50 students admitted in 1972.
• The United States First Fleet was inactived by the U.S. Navy and its duties and equipment were transferred to the United States Third Fleet.
• The Ekin Airbuggy, a single-seat autogyro powered by a Volkswagen 75 horsepower engine, made its first flight. Although the "flying motorcycle" would not become operational, the Airbuggy would go on sale in December 1975.
• Joseph Lyles, 17, became the 28th victim of serial killer Dean Corll, whom he had befriended after being introduced by a 17-year-old neighbor, David Owen Brooks. The remains of Lyles, buried on a beach in Jefferson County, Texas, would not be located until more than 10 years later, and would not be identified until 2009.
• Born: Abu Saleh al-Afri, Iraqi terrorist who was the later the financier for the ISIS, the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" group; as Muwaffaq Mustafa Mohammed al-Karmoush in Iraq

  [February 2], 1973 (Friday)

• Three people were killed and 139 injured when a mentally-ill man walked into the Concord Cafeteria in Miami Beach, Florida, poured gasoline out of a large jar, and set it afire with a match.
• James R. Schlesinger became the new U.S. Director of Central Intelligence, succeeding Richard M. Helms, who resigned after almost seven years as DCI. At the same time, five new members of the presidential cabinet secretaries were sworn in— Elliot Richardson, Frederick B. Dent, Peter J. Brennan, James T. Lynn and Claude S. Brinegar.
• Pope Paul VI created the offices of 30 new Roman Catholic cardinals from 17 nations, with seven from Italy. The addition increased the size of the College of Cardinals to 145.
• Thirteen people were killed in an explosion that leveled the Chatterbox Cafe and a neighboring Coast to Coast hardware store in Eagle Grove, Iowa.
• The Midnight Special, introduced by Wolfman Jack, began an 8-season run as the first U.S. network series to run at 1:00 in the morning, premiering on NBC. A pilot episode had been shown on August 19, 1972, and the series premiere was hosted by Helen Reddy, with Ike and Tina Turner as the opening act.
• President Richard Nixon sent his written State of the Union message to Congress rather than speaking to a joint session. For the first time since 1956, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was recovering from a heart attack, the President of the United States had the text printed rather than speaking on national television.
• Born: Latino, Brazilian singer; in Rio de Janeiro
• Died: Margaret Lowenfeld, 82, British pioneer in child psychology

  [February 3], 1973 (Saturday)

• Six people were shot to death and more wounded in two shootings by the Ulster Defense Association and by the British Army that happened within a few hours of each other in the predominantly-Catholic New Lodge neighborhood of Belfast in Northern Ireland. Three of the dead were Irish Republican Army members, while another three were civilians who happened to be in the group fired upon.
• "Crocodile Rock", a song about a dance that never actually existed, reached the top of the U.S. charts, giving Elton John his first U.S. number-one single.
• A Scottish Cup tie at Glebe Park, Brechin, gave the stadium its highest ever attendance, greater than the total population of the town of Brechin.
• Born: Ilana Sod, Mexican newscaster; in Mexico City

  [February 4], 1973 (Sunday)

• The U.S. comic strip Hägar the Horrible, which would become popular worldwide, made its debut as a Sunday feature, with a daily version bowing in even more newspapers on Monday, February 5. Created by cartoonist Dik Browne, who also worked on Hi and Lois, the strip about a medieval viking and his family was introduced by King Features Syndicate.
• The first round of voting took place in the elections for the 18-member Conseil national in the principality of Monaco. The ruling Union Nationale et Démocratique, and Jean-Eugène Lorenzi the Monegasque Action party who won the runoff election against UND's Edmond Laforest de Minotty by 47 votes.
• An avalanche in Austria killed 10 members of a Bavarian skiing club, after sweeping down the side of Kirchspitze mountain in the Zillertal Alps near Innsbruck. The 36-member group was from Bad Aibling in West Germany and 24 were buried.
• The 1976 Winter Olympics were awarded by the International Olympic Committee to the Austrian city of Innsbruck after the U.S. city of Denver had become the first Olympic site to turn down an award to host the Games. Innsbruck finished ahead of Lake Placid, New York in the U.S., Chamonix in France, and Tampere in Finland.
• Former Tunisian Finance Minister and Minister for Planning Ahmed Ben Salah, who had been jailed since 1970 after being convicted of treason, financial irregularities, falsification of statistics and "lack of trust in the head of state", was able to escape from prison in Tunis and fled to freedom in neighboring Algeria.
• The U.S. television news show 60 Minutes aired a segment, "The Selling of Colonel Herbert", which led to the CBS network being sued for libel by U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel) Anthony Herbert. The lawsuit would lead to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1979 in Herbert v. Lando, which rejected a claim of First Amendment protection against discovery requests of the editorial process. Herbert would end up losing his lawsuit in 1986.

  [February 5], 1973 (Monday)

• The People's Republic of China and Japan agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations. By agreement between the two nations, Chen Chu, the Deputy Representative of China to the United Nations, was named ambassador to Tokyo and Heishiro Ogawa Japan's emissary to Tokyo.
• "Riding a wave of popularity," the Republic of Ireland's Prime Minister Jack Lynch asked President Éamon de Valera to dissolve Parliament and to order a national election for the 144-seat Dáil Éireann, to be held on February 28. Lynch had set as a goal the strengthening of his government's position in bargaining with the UK on the future of Northern Ireland. The move would backfire.
• The Army of the Kingdom of Laos halted Operation Maharat II against the Communist Pathet Lao guerrillas after five weeks.
• A U.S. Air Force spy plane was shot down over Laos one week after the Paris Peace Accords had officially ended the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. All eight crew of the EC-47 airplane were listed as killed, though the remains of only four crewmen would be located and their classification would later be changed to missing in action.
• In Fairfield, California, a trial judge sentenced serial killer Juan Corona to 25 life sentences, one for each of the 25 men whom he had been convicted of murdering. Superior Judge Richard Patton added that the life sentences would "be served consecutively and not concurrently." Corona had been convicted of the crimes on January 18. Despite the sentence, California Adult Authority ruled the next day that Corona would be eligible for parole after only seven years rather than 175 years and that the consecutive sentences would be merged to run concurrently. An official commented, "Corona can serve only one life." Corona would spend the rest of his life in prison, dying at age 85 in 2019.
• U.S. Army Colonel William B. Nolde, the last American serviceman to die in the Vietnam War, was buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Afterward, Nolde's widow and their five children met with U.S. President Nixon at the White House, where he told the children, "Your father gave his life so that you may live in a generation without war." Nolde had been killed ten hours before the January 28 ceasefire went into effect.
• The Australian version of The Price Is Right premiered on Network 10, five months after the re-imagined version by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman had made its debut in the U.S. The Australian version was initially hosted by Garry Meadows and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation.
• The rock band Queen recorded the first four tracks of their album At the Beeb.
• The Portuguese volleyball team Castêlo da Maia Ginásio Clube, which would later win multiple men's and women's national championships, was founded.
• Born:
• *Trijntje Oosterhuis, popular Dutch singer; as Judith Katrijntje Oosterhuis in Amsterdam
• *Diego Serrano, Ecuadorian-born American soap opera actor; in Quito
• Died: Pete Morrison, 82, American film actor and star of numerous westerns, including the lead role of Santa Fe Peete.