At A Glance

16 January 1973 at a glance

Day of the week
16 January 1973 was a Tuesday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Long Haired Lover from Liverpool” by Little Jimmy Osmond.
Top Film of 1973
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1973 was The Exorcist.
Star sign
The star sign for 16 January is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 16 January 1973 fell in the Year of the Rat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 16 January 1973 was Waxing Gibbous.

On this day: 16 January

  • 1969 Space Race: Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of crewed spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
  • 1979 Iranian Revolution: The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
  • 1984 A radiation detector at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, United States, detects radioactivity after a truck carrying rebar accidentally passed through the laboratory's area, revealing a contamination incident that occurred in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, the previous month.
  • 1991 Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War.
  • 1992 El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives.

Famous people born on 16 January

  • Aaliyah, American singer and actress (1979–2001)
  • Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor, playwright, and composer (born 1980)
  • Sade, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer (born 1959)
  • Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor (born 1985)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1973 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1973 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 1 March – Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, one of rock's landmark and bestselling albums, is released in the UK. Sleeve design is by Hipgnosis.
  • 17 March – Elizabeth II opens the replacement London Bridge.
  • 6 July – The eighth James Bond film – Live and Let Die – is released in British cinemas, with the spy being played for the first time by 45-year-old The Saint star Roger Moore.

Life in 1973

Prime Minister

Edward Heath

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

20p

Loaf of Bread

12p

Average House

£9,942

Weekly Wage

£40.92

Or

Browse by Year

Famous Faces Born in the 1970s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

About The Day You Were Born

Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.

About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →