Stig H:son Ericson

The Swedish king, Gustaf VI Adolf, at the age of 90, holds a council with the Swedish government at the Royal Castle, receives ambassadors from various countries, on a state visit to West Germany, shows the Livrustkammaren, inaugurates the Oskarshamn nuclear power plant, listens to the opera singer Birgit Nilsson, and shows an Etruscan excavation for the National Antiquary Ronald Pålsson.

At the end of August 1973, a robber takes hostages at the Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg. A week or so later, on September 15, King Gustaf VI Adolf dies in Helsingborg's hospital and Sweden gets a new king: Carl XVI Gustaf. In Chile, the military takes power and the popularly elected president Salvador Allende is overthrown. That and much more in this column about the year 1973.