October 1973

[October 1], 1973 (Monday)

• Spyros Markezinis was chosen by president Georgios Papadopoulos as the first prime minister of the Hellenic Republic of Greece since the overthrow of the monarchy on June 1, as the military junta of ministers stepped down.
• The accidental explosion of an antipersonnel mine at Pakistan's largest ammunition factory killed 10 people and injured 12 others at the city of Wah near Rawalpindi.
• The kingdom of Denmark legalized abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
• The Local Government Act 1972 took effect, replacing the six counties of Northern Ireland with 26 local government boroughs. Eight of the new districts contained parts of different counties; Craigavon had districts from Armagh, Down and Antrim.
• Born:
• *Christian Borle, American stage actor, winner of two Tony Awards for his roles in Peter and the Starcatcher and in Something Rotten!; in Pittsburgh
• *John Mackey, American classical music composer; in New Philadelphia, Ohio
• *Devin Nunes, U.S. Congressman for California 2003 to 2022, later the CEO for former President Donald Trump's social media network, Truth Social; in Tulare, California
• Died: Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal, 52, former Prime Minister of Afghanistan, died in a prison in Kabul 11 days after his arrest on charges of plotting to overthrow President Mohammad Daoud Khan, either by suicide or by internal bleeding caused by torture.

  [October 2], 1973 (Tuesday)

• In a primary election race in Atlanta, Georgia, Vice Mayor Maynard Jackson, seeking to become the Southern U.S. city's first African-American mayor, with more than twice as many votes as incumbent Mayor Sam Massell, but his plurality of 47,041 votes was 47% of the vote, short of a majority. Massell had 18,946 votes for 18.9%. A runoff between Jackson and Massell took place on October 16.
• Born:
• *Melissa Harris-Perry, American TV journalist and MSNBC commentator; in Seattle
• *Lene Nystrøm, Norwegian singer-songwriter for Aqua; in Tønsberg
• *Verka Serduchka, Ukrainian drag queen comedian; in Poltava, Ukrainian SSR
• *Susana González, Mexican TV actress; in Calera de Víctor Rosales, Zacatecas state
• *Proof, American rapper and actor; in Detroit
• Died:
• *Paavo Nurmi, 76, Finnish runner nicknamed "The Flying Finn", with nine Olympic gold medals
• *Paul Hartman, 69, American dancer and film and TV actor

  [October 3], 1973 (Wednesday)

• The Providence Journal-Bulletin broke the news story that U.S. President Nixon had paid only $792.81 in federal income taxes in federal taxes for 1970 and only $878.03 in 1971, despite a salary of $200,000 in each year. Nixon successfully claimed a tax refund of $72,614 for 1970 and $58,889 for 1971.
• In one of the largest battles in South Vietnam in the year following the January 1973 ceasefire, the South Vietnamese Army fought the Battle of Ap Da Bien and defeated the invading North Vietnamese Army's 207th Regiment.
• The Soviet Union made the unprecedented launch of eight satellites simultaneously from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 2:46 in the morning local time, sending up Kosmos 588, 589, 590, 591, 592, 593, 594 and 595.
• East Germany's parliament, the Volkskammer, elected premier Willi Stoph to the post of head of state, as Chairman of the Council of State. Erich Honecker, the de facto leader of the communist nation as First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party, nominated Stoph and, consistent with the policies in East European nations at the time, the Volkskammer gave its unanimous approval.
• Born:
• *Neve Campbell, Canadian TV actress known for Party of Five; in Guelph, Ontario
• *Lena Headey, Bermuda-born British actress known for Game of Thrones; in Hamilton, Bermuda
• Died: José Gregorio Liendo, 28, Chilean leftist guerrilla leader, was executed by firing squad after being convicted of the September 12 attack on the Neltume police station.

  [October 4], 1973 (Thursday)

• The United Nations General Assembly barred South Africa's Foreign Minister, Dr. Hilgard Muller, from addressing the UN in response to criticism of the white-minority ruled nation's apartheid policy. South Africa's UN Ambassador, Carl von Hirschberg, was also denied the right to speak as part of the UN's most powerful action to that time against South Africa. The next day, General Assembly President Leopoldo Benites of Ecuador ruled that no member of the UN could be denied the right to have its representatives speak, but representatives of the other African member nations walked out as Hirschberg rose to speak. The General Assembly voted, 72 to 37, to reject the credentials of the South African representatives, although the move did not affect South Africa's membership in the UN.
• The ballet Adagio Hammerklavier, choreographed by Hans van Manen to the music of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29, premiered with a performance by the Dutch National Ballet at the Stadsschouwburg theater in Amsterdam
• Died: Alfred Gottschalk, 79, German biochemist

  [October 5], 1973 (Friday)

• Elton John released his critically-acclaimed and best-selling double album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, with lyrics by Bernie Taupin and John composing the music.
• Jules Léger was appointed as the new Governor General of Canada by Queen Elizabeth II, to succeed Roland Michener on January 14.
• Born: Cédric Villani, French mathematician; in Brive-la-Gaillarde, Corrèze département
• Died:
• *Milunka Savić, 85, highly-decorated Yugoslav Serbian World War One veteran and one of the most honored female combatants in the history of warfare. Savić received France's Légion d’Honneur and Croix de Guerre, Russia's Cross of St. George, and Britain's Order of St Michael and St George for heroism.
• *John Paul Chase, 71, American bank robber and murderer described by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover as "a rat with a patriotic-sounding name", died of cancer seven years after his parole from prison.

  [October 6], 1973 (Saturday)

• Egypt and Syria staged a surprise attack on Israel with an invasion of the Israeli-occupied Sinai peninsula and the Golan Heights, beginning the Yom Kippur War. Fighting began at 2:05 in the afternoon on the post-1967 cease-fire line between Syria and Israel. The attack, stage during the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday and the Islamic Ramadan, marked the start of the fourth, and largest, Arab–Israeli conflict, after wars in 1948, 1956 and 1967.
• French Formula One driver François Cevert was killed during a qualifying round prior to the U.S. Grand Prix in Watkins Glen, New York. Cevert's teammate, world driving champion Jackie Stewart, announced his retirement after the event.
• Born:
• *Ioan Gruffudd, Welsh film and television actor known for the Hornblower films and for Fantastic Four; in Aberdare, Mid Glamorgan
• *Jeff B. Davis, American comedian and impressionist known for Whose Line Is It Anyway?; in Los Angeles
• *Rebecca Lobo, American college and WNBA basketball player and sportscaster, enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame; in Hartford, Connecticut
• Died:
• *Sidney Blackmer, 78, American stage and film actor, 1950 Tony Award winner for Come Back, Little Sheba ;
• *Dick Laan, 79, Dutch children's writer known for his Pinkeltje series of books.
• *Dennis Price, 58, English television actor known for his portrayal of the valet Jeeves in the British TV series The World of Wooster, died of heart failure following a hip fracture
• *Margaret Wilson, 91, American novelist and Pulitzer prize winner for The Able McLaughlins
• *Boris Agapov, 74, Soviet journalist

  [October 7], 1973 (Sunday)

• Iraq nationalized the holdings of the two U.S. oil companies operating in the Arab nation, Exxon and Mobil, as a show of support for Egypt and Syria in their war against Israel. The Iraqi government urged other Arab nations to immediately halt the export of their oil to the U.S. and to any other nations supporting Israel.
• An attempt to assassinate the President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III, failed after land mines placed along the road he was traveling exploded prematurely. Makarios was being driven from Nicosia to Sunday mass at the Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Agios Sergios and the four explosives detonated five minutes before his car would have passed over them.
• On the second day of the Yom Kippur War, the Israel Defense Force's 162nd Division destroyed 60 tanks of the Egyptian 25th Brigade in a battle in the Sinai peninsula, at the loss of only three Israeli tanks. On the same day, the Israeli Navy sank five Syrian Missile boats in the Battle of Latakia, the first naval battle in history to see combat between surface-to-surface missile-equipped missile boats and the first to make use of electronic deception.
• Born:
• *Grigol Mgaloblishvili, Prime Minister of Georgia, 2008 to 2009, Georgian representative to NATO since 2009; in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
• *Dida, Brazilian soccer football goalkeeper with 91 caps for the Brazil national team; in Irará, Bahia state
• *Priest Holmes, American football running back, 2001 NFL rushing yards leader and 2002 NFL scoring leader; in Fort Smith, Arkansas
• *Sami Hyypiä, Finnish soccer football centre-back with 105 caps for the Finland national team; in Porvoo

  [October 8], 1973 (Monday)

• As Syrian tanks swept across the Golan Heights, and a counter-attack against Egypt in the Sinai peninsula failed to halt an advance, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir gave Defense Minister Moshe Dayan an authorization to assemble Israel's 13 nuclear weapons and to distribute them to Israeli Air Force units. The nuclear bombs were to be used only if Egyptian or Syrian troops invaded Israel itself.
• The United Kingdom's 50-year monopoly on radio broadcasting came to an end as the London Broadcasting Company became the first legal commercial radio station. Starting at 6:00 in the morning with David Jessel announcing, and operating on 720 kHz on the AM dial, LBC transmitted Independent Radio News reports and commentary 24 hours a day.
• Spyros Markezinis was sworn in as Greece's first civilian Prime Minister since 1967, but would be forced to resign before the end of the year after an abortive attempt to lead Greece to parliamentary rule.
• South Africa introduced postal codes for more accurate sorting and delivery of mailed items, ranging from 0002 for Pretoria, to 9781 for the Bloemfontein suburb of Botshabelo.
• Died: Gabriel Marcel, 83, French philosopher known for ''The Mystery of Being''