United States in 1973
You were born in 1973 — Dark Side of the Moon was released, the Watergate hearings played all summer on TV, and the oil embargo made the 70s feel very real.
💰 How much things cost in 1973
| Item | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 0.40 USD/gallon | verified (U.S. EIA (pre-embargo)) |
| Cinema ticket | ~1.77 USD | estimate |
| Coffee | ~0.15 USD | estimate |
| Ice cream | ~0.20 USD (scoop) | estimate |
Currency: USD
🎵 The music of 1973
The song of the year: Tony Orlando & Dawn – Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree (Billboard Year-End Hot 100 #1)
Other songs people listened to in 1973:
- Tony Orlando – Tie a Yellow Ribbon
- Jim Croce – Bad Bad Leroy Brown
- Roberta Flack – Killing Me Softly
- Marvin Gaye – Let's Get It On
- Wings – My Love
- Stevie Wonder – You Are the Sunshine of My Life
- Paul McCartney – Live and Let Die
- Elton John – Crocodile Rock
- Carly Simon – You're So Vain
📺 TV, cinema and pop culture
Cartoons: Super Friends (ABC, premiere Sept 8, 1973) — Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman. Together. (on ABC). Watergate hearings on television all summer. Nixon's 'I am not a crook.' The presidency unraveling.
TV series: The Watergate Hearings (all networks, summer 1973) — real drama more gripping than any fiction.
At the cinema: American Graffiti (Lucas) — 1962 small-town California, one night, everyone's future ahead of them.
Person of the moment: Howard Baker at the Watergate hearings — 'What did the President know and when did he know it?'
The cult toy: Dungeons & Dragons (launched January 1974 — announced 1973) / Hot Wheels / Uno. The oil embargo begins October 17: gas lines, rationing, odd-even days. America's first energy crisis.
👗 Fashion and snacks
Fashion: Glam rock: platform boots, glitter, androgyny. David Bowie and Ziggy Stardust as style gods.
Snacks: Cracker Jack, Cap'n Crunch, Oreos, Popsicles, Kool-Aid (energy crisis didn't affect candy)
📰 What happened in 1973
Event of the year: Watergate Senate hearings on live TV. Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion. US withdraws from Vietnam.
Sport: Super Bowl VII: Miami Dolphins beat Washington Redskins 14-7 — completing the only perfect 17-0 NFL season.
💻 Technology and everyday life
Tech news: Ethernet invented at Xerox PARC. Motorola demonstrates the first handheld cellular phone prototype.
The gadget to have: Xerox Alto (1973) — the first computer with a mouse and windows. Almost nobody saw it.
How people communicated: Watergate hearings televised all summer. Nixon resigns coming. The trust in government collapses.
How people listened to music: Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon released March 1973. Stayed on Billboard charts for 937 weeks.
The weekend: The Arab oil embargo starting October: gas lines, rationing, odd-even license plate days.
📵 What didn't exist yet in 1973
- personal computers for consumers (1975+)
- cell phones (1983)
- internet for all
- Star Wars (1977)
- D&D widely (1974)
🎯 Guess the year — Every day a new mystery year from United States. You have 5 guesses: every miss reveals another clue.
More years from the 1970s
Main sources: EIA, Billboard, NATO