In Washington, D.C., the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, headed by Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina, begins televised hearings on the escalating Watergate affair. One week later, Harvard law professor Archibald Cox was sworn in as special Watergate prosecutor. On June 17, 1972, five men were arrested for breaking into and illegally […]
Nolan Ryan Pitches First No-hitter
On May 15, 1973, California Angel Nolan Ryan strikes out 12 Kansas City Royals and walks three to pitch the first no-hitter of his career. The game was played under protest, as Royals Manager Jack McKeon complained that Ryan wasn’t maintaining contact with the pitching rubber while throwing. Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. was born January […]
Skylab Launched
Skylab, America’s first space station, is successfully launched into an orbit around the earth. Eleven days later, U.S. astronauts Charles Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, and Paul Weitz made a rendezvous with Skylab, repairing a jammed solar panel and conducting scientific experiments during their 28-day stay aboard the space station. The first manned Skylab mission came two […]
First Battle Of The Sexes
On May 13, 1973, during the early years of the women’s liberation movement, tennis stars Bobby Riggs and Margaret Court face off in a $10,000 winner-take-all challenge match. The 55-year-old Riggs, a tennis champion from the late 1930s and 40s who was notoriously skeptical of women’s talents on the tennis court, branded the contest a […]
AIM Occupation Of Wounded Knee Ends
On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, armed members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) surrender to federal authorities, ending their 71-day siege of Wounded Knee, site of the infamous massacre of 300 Sioux by the U.S. 7th Cavalry in 1890. AIM was founded in 1968 by Russell Means, Dennis Banks, and other Native-American […]
“Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree” Tops The U.S. Pop Charts And Creates A Cultural Phenomenon.
The yellow ribbon— has long been a symbol of support for absent or missing loved ones. There are some who believe that the tradition of the yellow ribbon dates back as far as the Civil War era, when a yellow ribbon in a woman’s hair indicated that she was “taken” by a man who was […]
President Nixon Hints At Reintervention
President Nixon hints that the United States might intervene again in Vietnam to prevent communist violations of the truce. A cease-fire under the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords had gone into effect on January 27, 1973, but was quickly and repeatedly violated by both sides as they jockeyed for control of territory in South […]
Johnny Bench Hits Tthree Home Runs Off Steve Carlton
On May 9, 1973, Johnny Bench, All-Star catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, hits three home runs in one game off All-Star pitcher Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies. As Bench had homered in his previous at-bat the game before as well, this gave him four home runs in four consecutive trips to the plate. In […]