This is a timeline of incidents in 1973 that have been labelled as "terrorism" and are not believed to have been carried out by a government or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism).
| Date | Type | Dead | Injured | Location | Details | Perpetrator | Part of | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 7 | Spree shooting | 8 | 11 | New Orleans, United States | After shooting a police officer a week earlier, Mark Essex, a former Black Panther Party member, shot 19 people (ten of them police officers) in retaliation for police killings at a Howard Johnsons hotel. He also set fires in the hotel before being killed by police. | Mark Essex | ||
| January 20 | Car bombing | 1 | 14 | Dublin, Ireland | 1972 and 1973 Dublin bombings A car bomb exploded near a betting shop, killing a bus conductor. | Ulster Volunteer Force | The Troubles | |
| January 27 | 2 | Santa Barbara, California | Assassination of Turkish diplomats Mehmet Baydar and Bahadır Demir by an Armenian nationalist | Gourgen Yanikian | ||||
| March 1 | Hostage-taking | 3 | Khartoum, Sudan | 1973 Khartoum diplomatic assassinations Black September took ten hostages (five of them diplomats) at the Saudi Arabian embassy. Three western diplomats were killed.[1] Palestinian gunmen burst into the embassy, and took Moore hostage, as well as fellow American Cleo Allen Noel, a Belgian diplomat, and two others. | Black September | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | ||
| March 4 | Attempted bombings | 0 | 0 | New York City, United States | 1973 New York City bomb plot Black September member Khalid Duhham Al-Jawary attempted to bomb three Israeli locations to coincide with Golda Meir's visit to the city. However, the bombs were poorly wired and failed to detonate. | Black September | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| March 8 | Car bombing | 1 | 200 | London, United Kingdom | 1973 Old Bailey bombing PIRA car bombing of the Old Bailey courthouse, killing 1 person. | PIRA | The Troubles | |
| April 16 | Arson | 2 | Rome, Italy | Primavalle fire 3 activists of Potere Operaio burned the house of a militant of the Italian Social Movement and killed his two sons. | Potere Operaio | Years of Lead | ||
| May 17 | Bombing | 4 | 52 | Milan, Italy | Milan police headquarters bombing Gianfranco Bertoli, an anarchist activist, supporter of Max Stirner, attacked police headquarters with a hand grenade during a commemorative ceremony with Italian Prime Minister Mariano Rumor. | Gianfranco Bertoli (lone wolf) | Years of Lead | |
| May 18 | Bombing | 82 | 0 | Lake Baikal, USSR | An Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-104B flying from Irkutsk Airport to Chita Airport exploded in flight after a passenger detonated a bomb when refused passage to China. The plane crashed east of Lake Baikal, Russia, killing all 82 passengers.[2] | Lone wolf | ||
| June 12 | Car bombings | 6 | 33 | Coleraine, United Kingdom | 1973 Coleraine bombings Two Provisional Irish Republican Army car bombings targeted a wine shop and a garage. Six people were killed in the wine shop bombing and 33 others were injured. | Provisional Irish Republican Army | The Troubles | |
| June 20 | Massacre | 13+ | 365+ | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Ezeiza massacre Massacre of left-wing Peronists at rally celebrating his return from Spain at Ezeiza International Airport. Right-wing Peronists were blamed for the massacre. 13 victims were positively identified but more people may have been killed. | Right-wing Peronists | ||
| July 1 | Assassination | 1 | 0 | Washington, D.C., United States | The Israeli attaché, Yosef Alon, was shot dead . | Black September (suspected) | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| July 20 | Hijacking | 0 (+1) | 1 | Japan | Japan Air Lines Flight 404 Hijacking by a member of the Japanese Red Army and four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. One of the terrorists is killed when his grenade accidentally detonates. | Japanese Red Army PFLP | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| July 21 | Assassination | 1 | 0 | Lillehammer, Norway | Israeli Mossad agents shot and killed Ahmed Bouchiki, a Moroccan waiter and brother of musician Chico Bouchikhi. The agents had mistaken their target for Ali Hassan Salameh, the chief of operations for Black September. Six of the Mossad team of fifteen were arrested and convicted of complicity in the killing by a Norwegian court, in a major blow to the intelligence agency's reputation. | Mossad | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| August 5 | Mass shooting | 3 | 58 | Athens, Greece | Two Palestinian terrorists opened fire and threw four grenades in the transit area of Ellinikon International Airport at passengers waiting to board flights for Geneva and New York City and took thirty to thirty five hostages. Surrounded by Greek Police, they surrendered after two hours. They declared that they belonged to Black September and their objective was to hijack a flight to Tel Aviv, but they missed the flight because they were confused by the airport signs. | Black September | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| September 1 | Bombings | 0 | 21 | London, United Kingdom | King's Cross and Euston Station bombings The PIRA set off bombs at King's Cross and Euston stations, injuring 21 people.[3] | PIRA | The Troubles | |
| September 28–29 | Hijacking | 0 | 0 | Marchegg, Austria | Two Arab terrorists hijacked the Chopin-Express from Moscow to Vienna at the East-West border. The train was often used by Jewish exiles from the USSR. The terrorists demanded the closure of an Austrian transit camp for Jews on their way to Israel. Chancellor Bruno Kreisky (Jewish himself) complied and allowed the terrorists to escape to Libya.[4] | As-Sa'iqa | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| November 23 | Bombing | 4 | 0 | Marghera, Italy | Argo 16 A C-47 aircraft called the Argo 16 is bombed by unknown terrorists, killing all four people on board. | Unknown | ||
| November 25 | Hijacking | 0 | 0 | Iraq | KLM Flight 861 A hijacking by three Arabs demanding the release of seven Palestinian prisoners. The situation ended peacefully without casualties. | Arab Nationalist Youth Organization | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| December 14 | Bombing | 4 | 20 | Marseille, France | Algerian consulate bombing in Marseille The Algerian consulate was bombed by the anti-Arab Charles Martel Group. Four people were killed and another twenty were injured.[5] | Charles Martel Group | ||
| December 17–18 | Hijacking, bombing | 34 | 22 | Rome, Italy | 1973 Rome airport attacks and hijacking On Pan Am Flight 110, 30 passengers were killed when Palestinian guerrillas threw phosphorus bombs aboard the aircraft as it prepared for departure.[6] A Lufthansa plane was hijacked the same day by Palestinians, who killed 2 passengers. | Black September PLO | Israeli–Palestinian conflict | |
| December 20 | Bombing, assassination | 1 | Madrid, Spain | Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco Prime Minister Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco was assassinated by ETA. | ETA | |||
| December 27 | Kidnapping, murder | 1 | 0 | Belfast, United Kingdom | German industrialist Thomas Niedermayer was kidnapped and killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. His body was not discovered until 1980. | Provisional Irish Republican Army | The Troubles |