President Nixon announces that Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, the chief North Vietnamese negotiator, have initialled a peace agreement in Paris “to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.” Kissinger and Tho had been conducting secret negotiations since 1969. After the South Vietnamese had blunted the massive North […]
Foreman Beats Frazier To Win Heavyweight Title In Jamaica
On January 22, 1973, in Kingston, Jamaica, the 24-year-old George Foreman pulls off a stunning upset, defeating reigning champion Joe Frazier in four minutes and 35 seconds to win the heavyweight championship of the world. At 6’3″ and 217 1/2 pounds, four inches taller and 3 1/2 pounds heavier than Frazier, “Big George” was the […]
Lyndon Baines Johnson Dies In Texas
On this day in 1973, former President Lyndon Baines Johnson dies in Johnson City, Texas, at the age of 64. After leaving the White House in 1968, L.B.J. returned to his beloved home state, Texas, with his wife, Ladybird, and immersed himself in the activity dearest to him: ranching. Although ostensibly retired, L.B.J. kept up […]
Supreme Court Legalizes Abortion
In a historic decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Roe v. Wade that women, as part of their constitutional right to privacy, can terminate a pregnancy during its first two trimesters. Only during the last trimester, when the fetus can survive outside the womb, would states be permitted to regulate abortion of a healthy […]
Plane Crashes At Nigerian Airport
On this day in 1973, a plane returning Muslim pilgrims from Mecca crashes in Kano, Nigeria, killing 176 people. It was the deadliest air disaster of its time. The Royal Jordanian Boeing 707-300 was chartered by Nigeria Airways to take Muslims in Nigeria on a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. There were 198 passengers […]
Roe v. Wade
The Supreme Court decriminalizes abortion by handing down their decision in the case of Roe v. Wade. Despite opponents’ characterization of the decision, it was not the first time that abortion became a legal procedure in the United States. In fact, for most of the country’s first 100 years, abortion as we know it today […]
King Louis XVI Executed
One day after being convicted of conspiracy with foreign powers and sentenced to death by the French National Convention, King Louis XVI is executed by guillotine in the Place de la Revolution in Paris. Louis ascended to the French throne in 1774 and from the start was unsuited to deal with the severe financial problems […]
Country Star Jerry Lee Lewis Rocks The Grand Ole Opry
Years after he was known as “The Killer,”, a rock pioneer who released such rock standards as “Great Balls of Fire” and “Breathless,” Jerry Lee Lewis made a name for himself in a very different musical genre: country. And on this day in 1973, he capped off his road to country stardom with an appearance […]