In 1973, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" topped the charts, The Sting packed theaters, a stamp cost 8¢, the average home went for about $32,500.
🎵 Top songs of 1973
"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando and Dawn
"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" — Jim Croce
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" — Roberta Flack
🎬 In theaters
The Sting
The Exorcist
American Graffiti
What things cost in 1973
$0.39
Gallon of gas
8¢
Postage stamp
$1.77
Movie ticket
$1.31
Gallon of milk
$32,500
Average home
$4,052
New car
$10,500
Household income
A $0.39 gallon of gas in 1973 has the buying power of roughly $2.75 in 2024 dollars. An 8¢ stamp is around 57¢ today, and a $1.77 movie ticket is about $12.50.
The biggest moments of 1973
The mighty racehorse Secretariat won the Triple Crown, taking the Belmont Stakes by an incredible 31 lengths.
The World Trade Center's twin towers opened in New York and Chicago's Sears Tower became the world's tallest building.
Elvis Presley's "Aloha from Hawaii" concert was beamed around the globe by satellite to more than a billion viewers.
Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match on September 20, 1973, watched by an estimated 90 million people.
Motorola engineer Martin Cooper made the world's first handheld cellphone call on a New York sidewalk on April 3, 1973.
Skylab, America's first space station, launched in May 1973 and hosted three astronaut crews.
Toys, TV & trends of 1973
Shrinky Dinks were invented, letting kids color plastic sheets and watch them shrink in the oven.
Schoolhouse Rock! debuted on Saturday mornings, teaching kids with catchy songs like "Conjunction Junction."
The Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle toy was a smash hit as skateboarding took off thanks to new urethane wheels.
Kenner's Baby Alive, the doll that could really "eat" and drink, became the best-selling doll of 1973.
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters splashed onto Saturday mornings, the latest slice of Sid and Marty Krofft's wonderfully weird world.
Nissin brought Cup Noodles to America in 1973, and the instant hot lunch was never the same.
The music scene
Roberta Flack made Grammy history in 1973 — "Killing Me Softly with His Song" made her the first artist ever to win Record of the Year two years in a row. It was also a bittersweet year: Jim Croce died in a plane crash that September at just 30, and his gentle "Time in a Bottle" reached #1 after his death. Meanwhile, Pink Floyd released The Dark Side of the Moon, which would stay on the album charts for an astonishing 14-plus years.
At the movies
The Sting took home seven Oscars including Best Picture, riding a wave of Scott Joplin ragtime that put "The Entertainer" back on the pop charts. The Exorcist became a genuine phenomenon, with lines around the block, and earned the first Best Picture nomination ever for a horror film. Ten-year-old Tatum O'Neal of Paper Moon became the youngest competitive Oscar winner in history.
Cartoons kids loved
Super Friends
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Speed Buggy
Super Friends brought Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman to Saturday mornings — but network standards of the day meant the heroes rarely threw a punch, solving ecological mysteries instead. Star Trek: The Animated Series reunited nearly the entire original cast to voice their characters, and it later won Star Trek its first Emmy Award.
The world in 1973
World population: about 3.9 billion
U.S. President: Richard Nixon
The Sydney Opera House officially opened in Australia after 14 years of construction.
The Paris Peace Accords were signed in January 1973, ending direct American involvement in the Vietnam War.
The OPEC oil embargo that began in October 1973 brought gas lines and fuel rationing to much of the Western world.
Britain, Ireland, and Denmark joined the European Economic Community on January 1, 1973, growing the future European Union to nine nations.
1973 birthday questions
How old is someone born in 1973?
Someone born in 1973 turns 53 in 2026 (52 if their birthday has not come round yet).
What was the number one song in 1973?
"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" by Tony Orlando and Dawn was among the biggest hits of 1973.
What movie came out in 1973?
The Sting was one of the films packing theaters in 1973.
How much did gas cost in 1973?
A gallon of gas ran about $0.39 in 1973, and a postage stamp cost 8¢.
How much did a house cost in 1973?
The average home went for roughly $32,500 in 1973, against a typical household income of about $10,500.