The year 1973 · in the United States and the world
What happened in 1973
The cost of living, the songs at #1, the news and the people in charge in 1973, rebuilt from public records. Born that year? Your exact day has its own story.
Postage stamp
8¢
78¢ today
President
Richard Nixon
Biggest #1
“Killing Me Softly With His Song”
Roberta Flack
$1 then is
$7.57
in today’s money
01 · Cost of living
How much things cost in 1973
U.S. average prices for 1973, next to the latest official figure (Sep 2026). By the Consumer Price Index, $1 in 1973 buys what $7.57 buys today.
GENERAL STORE
U.S. AVERAGE PRICES · 1973
POSTAGE STAMP COSTS 9.8× WHAT IT DID
Yearly averages · wage and stamp on July 1
— = no official series for 1973 yet
Housing: the median new home sold for $32,600, or about 10 years of full-time work at the minimum wage. Today the median is $393,300.
Mail: a first-class stamp cost 8¢. It is 78¢ now.
Stocks: the S&P 500 now stands about 71× its average level in 1973 (price only, before dividends and inflation).
Not yet tracked in 1973: gallon of gas (official averages start in 1976), loaf of white bread (official averages start in 1980), gallon of milk (official averages start in 1996), dozen eggs (official averages start in 1980), pound of coffee (official averages start in 1980). We leave these blank rather than guess.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average prices, Census Bureau and Department of Labor viaFRED; USPS rate history; S&P from Robert Shiller’s public data.
02 · On the radio
The #1 songs of 1973
27 songs reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973. The one that stayed longest:
“Killing Me Softly With His Song”
Roberta Flack · 5 weeks at #1 in 1973
Tap the cover for a 30-second preview
- Jan 6You're So VainCarly Simon3 wks
- Jan 27SuperstitionStevie Wonder1 wk
- Feb 3Crocodile RockElton John3 wks
- Feb 24Killing Me Softly With His SongRoberta Flack5 wks
- Mar 24Love TrainThe O'Jays1 wk
- Apr 7The Night The Lights Went Out In GeorgiaVicki Lawrence2 wks
- Apr 21Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak TreeDawn Featuring Tony Orlando4 wks
- May 19You Are The Sunshine Of My LifeStevie Wonder1 wk
- May 26FrankensteinEdgar Winter Group1 wk
- Jun 2My LovePaul McCartney And Wings4 wks
- Jun 30Give Me Love - (Give Me Peace On Earth)George Harrison1 wk
- Jul 7Will It Go Round In CirclesBilly Preston2 wks
- Jul 21Bad, Bad Leroy BrownJim Croce2 wks
- Aug 4The Morning AfterMaureen McGovern2 wks
- Aug 18Touch Me In The MorningDiana Ross1 wk
- Aug 25Brother LouieStories2 wks
- Sep 8Let's Get It OnMarvin Gaye2 wks
- Sep 15Delta DawnHelen Reddy1 wk
- Sep 29We're An American BandGrand Funk1 wk
- Oct 6Half-BreedCher2 wks
- Oct 20AngieThe Rolling Stones1 wk
- Oct 27Midnight Train To GeorgiaGladys Knight And The Pips2 wks
- Nov 10Keep On Truckin' (Part 1)Eddie Kendricks2 wks
- Nov 24PhotographRingo Starr1 wk
- Dec 1Top Of The WorldCarpenters2 wks
- Dec 15The Most Beautiful GirlCharlie Rich2 wks
- Dec 29Time In A BottleJim Croce1 wk
Dates are the first chart week at #1 in 1973; weeks count only those in 1973.Find the #1 song on your birthday →
Your day, not just your year
Born in 1973? Meet your day.
The weather in your city, the moon over it and the song on the radio the day you arrived in 1973.
See your exact day →The weather, the sky and the #1 song from that exact day, in your city
03 · The news
Major events of 1973
Moments from 1973 that are still remembered, in date order.
- Jan 1Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom are admitted into the European Economic Community.
- Jan 3CBS announced the sale of the New York Yankees professional baseball team to a group of investors headed by American businessman George Steinbrenner.
- Mar 14Vietnam War: After having been captured by North Vietnamese forces five and a half years earlier, U.S. Navy pilot John McCain was released with 108 other prisoners of war.
- May 17Watergate scandal: Televised hearings begin in the United States Senate.
- Jun 9The racehorse Secretariat, of Meadow Stables, won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, achieving the first American Triple Crown victory in a quarter of a century.
- Jun 21The U.S. Supreme Court delivered its decision in the landmark case Miller v. California, establishing the Miller test for determining what is obscene material.
- Jun 23The Los Angeles Dodgers started Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Ron Cey, and Bill Russell in the infield, beginning a record eight-year run in Major League Baseball for four people designated as starters for those positions.
- Jul 10The Bahamas gains full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations.
- Jul 13Watergate scandal: Under questioning by Senate investigators, White House deputy chief of staff Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of a secret taping system in the Oval Office.
- Sep 20Singer Jim Croce, songwriter and musician Maury Muehleisen and four others die when their light aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Natchitoches Regional Airport in Louisiana.
- Sep 20Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, in an internationally televised tennis match dubbed the "Battle of the Sexes".
- Oct 8Yom Kippur War: Israel loses more than 150 tanks in a failed attack on Egyptian-occupied positions.
- Oct 12President Nixon nominates House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford as the successor to Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.
- Dec 1Papua New Guinea gains self-government from Australia.
Event summaries from Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Each links to its article.
04 · Who was in charge
The president and world leaders in 1973
U.S. President
Richard Nixon
UK Prime Minister
Edward Heath
Prime Minister of Canada
Pierre Trudeau
President of France
Georges Pompidou
German Chancellor
Willy Brandt
Prime Minister of Japan
Kakuei Tanaka
Soviet leader
Leonid Brezhnev
Everyone who held the office at some point in 1973, from Wikidata.
05 · At the movies and on TV
Films and TV of 1973
Best Picture at the 1973 Oscars
The Godfather
honouring films of 1972
The 1973 film that won next spring
The Sting
Best Picture at the 1974 Oscars
American films released
- Charlotte's Web
- Robin Hood
- The Exorcist
- Live and Let Die
- The Sting
- American Graffiti
New on American TV
- Star Trek: The Animated Series
- Kojak
- The Young and the Restless
A selection of the best-documented titles on Wikidata, by first release year; not a box-office ranking.
06 · Born in 1973
Famous people born in 1973
Anyone born in 1973 belongs to the Generation X (1965–1980).
Dan HarmonAmerican television writer, producer, animator, and actor · Jan 3
Chris KilmoreAmerican musician and DJ · Jan 21
Jalen RoseAmerican basketball player and sportscaster · Jan 30
Portia de RossiAustralian-American actress · Jan 31
Oscar De La HoyaAmerican boxer · Feb 4
Tara StrongCanadian-American voice actress and singer · Feb 12
Steve McNairAmerican football player (died 2009) · Feb 14
Anson MountAmerican actor · Feb 25
Len WisemanAmerican director, producer, and screenwriter · Mar 4
David DraimanAmerican singer-songwriter · Mar 13
From Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick answers
Quick answers about 1973
How much did a house cost in 1973?
The median sale price of a new home in the U.S. was $32,600 in 1973, according to the Census Bureau. The latest figure is $393,300 (Jul 2026).
What was the #1 song of 1973?
“Killing Me Softly With His Song” by Roberta Flack spent the most weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973: 5 weeks. 27 different songs reached #1 that year.
Who was president in 1973?
Richard Nixon was President of the United States for all of 1973.
How much is $1 from 1973 worth today?
Prices have risen about 7.6× since 1973, so $1 then buys what about $7.57 buys today, by the Consumer Price Index (Sep 2026). A first-class stamp cost 8¢ in 1973.
Your day, not just your year
1973 was the year. Which day was yours?
Pick your birthday and city. We’ll rebuild that day: the weather outside, the sky overhead, the song on the radio and what a dollar bought.
See your exact day →The weather, the sky and the #1 song from that exact day, in your city