OPEC Shuts Oil: Global Crisis Reshapes Geopolitics
OPEC's Arab members announced an oil embargo on October 17, 1973, targeting nations that supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The embargo hit the United States, the Netherlands, Portugal, and South Africa. Global oil prices quadrupled from $3 to $12 per barrel within months. American gas stations ran dry. Lines stretched for blocks. The federal government imposed a 55 mph speed limit and banned Christmas light displays to save energy. The crisis exposed a fundamental vulnerability: the Western world had built its entire economy on cheap Middle Eastern oil and had no backup plan. The shock accelerated the development of North Sea and Alaskan oil fields, prompted the creation of the International Energy Agency, and launched the first serious research into solar, wind, and nuclear energy alternatives.
October 17, 1973
53 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on October 17
Cyrus the Great entered Babylon without a battle. The city's priests had turned against their own king. Cyrus issued a decree allowing exiled peoples to return …
Ricimer defeated the Roman emperor Avitus near Piacenza with help from Majorian. Avitus had ruled for just 14 months. He fled to a church, was made a bishop aga…
Wu Zetian declared herself emperor of China on October 16th, 690, the only woman to ever claim that title outright. She'd been a concubine, then empress consort…
A tornado tore through London on October 17th, 1091, destroying 600 houses and killing two people. Medieval chroniclers said it lifted the roof off a church and…
King David II of Scotland invaded northern England while Edward III was fighting in France. Bad timing. English forces intercepted him at Neville's Cross near D…
King David II of Scotland invaded England in 1346 while Edward III was busy in France. Bad timing. English forces caught David at Neville's Cross near Durham on…
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