Queen Opens Sydney Opera House

After 14 years of construction the Sydney Opera House was formally opened by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on 20 October 1973. 

The ceremony included a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, as well as a fireworks display. The Danish architect, Jørn Utzon, was neither invited nor even mentioned at all, due to an earlier falling out which had led to Utzon's resignation from the project.

On the very same day Steve Miller Band released "The Joker" and 19 years later Madonna launched her album "Erotica" (1992).

Elsewhere in the world, the 49th paralllel was established as the border between the US and Canada (1818), first code of American football rules was drafted by Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Rutgers universities (1873); Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen departed the Bay of Whales, Antarctica, on his expedition to the South Pole (1911); JFK's widow Jackie married Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis (1968) and former Libyan leader/dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed by revolutionaries/freedom fighters (2011).

Sir Christopher Michael Wren, the (most) famous English architect and designer of St. Pauls Catehdral in London was born in East Knoyle/England (1632), Australian pop singer Dannii Minogue was born in Melbourne as well as US rapper Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr., better known as Snoop Dogg, in Long Beach/California (both 1971) and US actor Burt Lancaster died (Los Angeles, 1994).