Historical eventNovember 121973

Last of the Summer Wine

The first episode of Last of the Summer Wine, the longest-running television sitcom in history, premiered on the BBC.

Everything on November 12Original source

In context

When
Monday, November 12 197353 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
20th century · 1970s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 1973.

What happened

Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom set in Yorkshire created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. Alan J. W. Bell produced and directed all episodes of the show from late 1981 to 2010. The BBC confirmed on 2 June 2010 that Last of the Summer Wine would no longer be produced and the 31st series would be its last. Subsequently,

November 12 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1973Last of the Summer Wine
  2. 2011Silvio Berlusconi
  3. 2011Bid Kaneh explosion
  4. 2014Mil Mi-24
  5. 2014European Space Agency
  6. 2014Philae (spacecraft)
  7. 2015Suicide attack
  8. 20172017 Iran–Iraq earthquake
  9. 2020PlayStation 5
  10. 2021Los Angeles County Superior Court
  11. 2022Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress

Also in 1973

  • May 11Pentagon PapersCiting government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg's charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times are di…
  • May 11Aeroflot Flight 6551Aeroflot Flight 6551 crashes in Semey, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (now Kazakhstan), killing all 63 aboard.
  • March 14Vietnam WarVietnam War: After having been captured by North Vietnamese forces five and a half years earlier, U.S. Navy pilot John McCain was release…
  • November 17Watergate scandalWatergate scandal: In Orlando, Florida, U.S. President Richard Nixon tells 400 Associated Press managing editors "I am not a crook."
  • November 17Athens Polytechnic uprisingThe Athens Polytechnic uprising against the military regime ends in a bloodshed in the Greek capital.
  • October 20Watergate scandalWatergate scandal: Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy William Ruckelshaus resigned after refusing to obey President Richar…
  • October 20Sydney Opera HouseThe Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.
  • July 13Watergate scandalWatergate scandal: Under questioning by Senate investigators, White House deputy chief of staff Alexander Butterfield revealed the existe…

Everything we record for 1973 →

Sources

Cite this page

“Last of the Summer Wine”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/last-of-the-summer-wine-1973-november-12, accessed October 28, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did Last of the Summer Wine happen?

November 12 1973 — 53 years ago, on a Monday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.