What happened onMarch 17, 1973Saturday Week 11

Today is September12, 2026 Saturday.

March 17 is a Saturday again in 1979.

About March 17

March 17 Events On this day through the years

Born ?

March 17FamousBirthdays

In loving memoryFamous DeathsMarch 17

The World in 1973 the year the first mobile call was made

The handheld phone used for that first sidewalk call weighed about two and a half pounds, roughly a full carton of milk pressed against your ear. Ten hours on the charger bought you about half an hour of talking.

Life back then

Watergate hearings ran live on daytime television through the summer, and people who had never watched Congress before knew the senators by name. Music at home came off a record player or an eight track cartridge that clunked in the middle of a song. Stereo companies pushed quadraphonic sound with four speakers around the room, and hardly anyone bought it. Then autumn brought the oil shock, and shops in Tokyo sold out of toilet paper because a rumour said it would run short.

The year in 8 events

• 🤝Jan 1 Britain, Ireland and Denmark join the European Community. It now has nine members.
• ⚖️Jan 22 The US Supreme Court decides Roe v Wade, making abortion legal across the country.
• 🎵Mar 1 Pink Floyd, a British band, releases The Dark Side of the Moon. It stays on the American album chart for years.
• 📱Apr 3 A Motorola engineer makes the first call on a handheld mobile phone, standing on a New York sidewalk.
• 🥋Jul 20 Bruce Lee dies in Hong Kong at the age of 32, weeks before Enter the Dragon reaches cinemas.
• 🕯️Sep 11 Chile's army overthrows the government. President Salvador Allende dies and General Pinochet takes power.
• 🛢️Oct 6 Egypt and Syria attack Israel. Arab oil producers then cut shipments to countries backing Israel, and fuel prices jump worldwide.
• 🪐Dec 3 Pioneer 10 flies past Jupiter, the first spacecraft ever to reach the planet.

Who Was in Charge?

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