Stock Photo - Dec 04, 1973 - London, England, UK - The 1973 oil crisis began on October 17, 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries announced, as a result of the ongoing Yom Kippur War, that they would no longer ship oil to nations that had supported Israel in its conflict with Syria and Egypt (the United States, its allies in Western Europe, and Japan). Because of the dependence of the industrialized world on crude oil and the predominant role of OPEC as a global supplier, these price increases were dramatically inflationary to the economies of the targeted countries, while at the same time suppressive of economic activity. The targeted countries responded with a wide variety of new, and mostly permanent, initiatives to contain their further dependency. PICTURED: Alternate ways of transport - a man in a racing sulky. (Credit Image: © Keystone Press Agency/Keystone USA via ZUMAPRESS.com)