At A Glance

17 August 1973 at a glance

Day of the week
17 August 1973 was a Friday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “The Morning After” by Maureen McGovern.
Top Film of 1973
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1973 was The Exorcist.
Bestselling Novel of 1973
“Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1973.
Top-Rated TV Show
“All in the Family” (CBS) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1973–74 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 17 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 17 August 1973 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 17 August 1973 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 17 August

  • 1959 Quake Lake is formed by the magnitude 7.2 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake near Hebgen Lake in Montana.
  • 1970 Soviet Union Venera program: Venera 7 launched. It will become the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from the surface of another planet (Venus).
  • 1977 The Soviet icebreaker Arktika becomes the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
  • 1978 Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France near Paris, 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.
  • 1985 The 1985–86 Hormel strike begins in Austin, Minnesota.

Famous people born on August 17

  • Robert De Niro, American actor, entrepreneur, director, and producer (born 1943)
  • Phoebe Bridgers, American singer/songwriter (born 1994)
  • Sean Penn, American actor, director, and political activist (born 1960)
  • Larry Ellison, American businessman, co-founded the Oracle Corporation (born 1944)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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

Events of 1973 in the United States

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

  • January 22 – Roe v. Wade: The U.S. Supreme Court overturns state bans on abortion.
  • February 28 – The landmark postmodern novel Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon is published.
  • March 26 – TV soap opera The Young and the Restless and game show The $10,000 Pyramid debuts on CBS.

Life in the US in 1973

President

Richard Nixon

Gas (per gallon)

$0.40

Loaf of Bread

$0.27

Average House

$22,100

Weekly Wage

$165

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 →