The following events occurred in October 1973:
October 1, 1973 (Monday) Spyros Markezinis was chosen by president Georgios Papadopoulos as the first prime minister of the Hellenic Republic of Greece since the overthrow of the monarchy on June 1, as the military junta of ministers stepped down/ The accidental explosion of an antipersonnel mine at Pakistan's largest ammunition factory killed 10 people and injured 12 others at the city of Wah near Rawalpindi. The kingdom of Denmark legalized abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 took effect, replacing the six counties of Northern Ireland (Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone) with 26 local government boroughs. Eight of the new districts contained parts of different counties; Craigavon had districts from Armagh, Down and Antrim. Born: Christian Borle, American stage actor, winner of two Tony Awards for his roles in Peter and the Starcatcher and in Something Rotten!; in Pittsburgh John Mackey, American classical music composer; in New Philadelphia, Ohio Devin Nunes, U.S. Congressman for California 2003 to 2022, later the CEO for former President Donald Trump's social media network, Truth Social; in Tulare, California Died: Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal, 52, former Prime Minister of Afghanistan, died in a prison in Kabul 11 days after his arrest on charges of plotting to overthrow President Mohammad Daoud Khan, either by suicide or by internal bleeding caused by torture.
October 2, 1973 (Tuesday) In a primary election race in Atlanta, Georgia, Vice Mayor Maynard Jackson, seeking to become the Southern U.S. city's first African-American mayor, with more than twice as many votes as incumbent Mayor Sam Massell, but his plurality of 47,041 votes was 47% of the vote, short of a majority. Massell had 18,946 votes for 18.9%. A runoff between Jackson and Massell took place on October 16. Born: Melissa Harris-Perry, American TV journalist and MSNBC commentator; in Seattle Lene Nystrøm, Norwegian singer-songwriter for Aqua; in Tønsberg Verka Serduchka (stage name for Andriy Danylko), Ukrainian drag queen comedian; in Poltava, Ukrainian SSR Susana González, Mexican TV actress; in Calera de Víctor Rosales, Zacatecas state Proof (stage name for DeShaun Holton), American rapper and actor; in Detroit (d. 2006); Died: Paavo Nurmi, 76, Finnish runner nicknamed "The Flying Finn", with nine Olympic gold medals Paul Hartman, 69, American dancer and film and TV actor
October 3, 1973 (Wednesday) The Providence Journal-Bulletin broke the news story that U.S. President Nixon had paid only $792.81 in federal income taxes in federal taxes for 1970 and only $878.03 in 1971, despite a salary of $200,000 in each year. Nixon successfully claimed a tax refund of $72,614 for 1970 and $58,889 for 1971. In one of the largest battles in South Vietnam in the year following the January 1973 ceasefire, the South Vietnamese Army fought the Battle of Ap Da Bien and defeated the invading North Vietnamese Army's 207th Regiment. The Soviet Union made the unprecedented launch of eight satellites simultaneously from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 2:46 in the morning local time (2146 October 2 UTC), sending up Kosmos 588, 589, 590, 591, 592, 593, 594 and 595. East Germany's parliament, the Volkskammer, elected premier Willi Stoph to the post of head of state, as Chairman of the Council of State. Erich Honecker, the de facto leader of the communist nation as First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party, nominated Stoph and, consistent with the policies in East European nations at the time, the Volkskammer gave its unanimous approval. Born: Neve Campbell, Canadian TV actress known for Party of Five; in Guelph, Ontario Lena Headey, Bermuda-born British actress known for Game of Thrones; in Hamilton, Bermuda Died: José Gregorio Liendo, 28, Chilean leftist guerrilla leader, was executed by firing squad after being convicted of the September 12 attack on the Neltume police station.