1981 - What happened in 1981 ?

January 1981

Thursday 01:

The Republic of Palau achieves self-government; it is not yet independent from the United States of America.

Friday 02:

Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, is arrested.

Monday 19:

United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.

Tuesday 20:

Iran releases 52 American hostages bare minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. president.

Sunday 25:

Super Bowl XV: The Oakland Raiders defeat the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10.

February 1981

Tuesday 10:

A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198.

Wednesday 11:

100,000 gallons (380 m³) of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating 8 workers

Monday 23:

23-F, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.

Tuesday 24:

Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Dr. Herman Tarnower, the author of the bestselling The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet.

March 1981

Thursday 05:

Cannibal Alferd Packer pardoned posthumously.

Friday 06:

After 19 years presenting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.

Thursday 19:

Three workers are killed and five injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

Sunday 29:

First running of the London Marathon

Monday 30:

President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., family friend of the Vice President.

April 1981

Saturday 04:

In Dublin, Ireland, Bucks Fizz win the twenty-sixth Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom singing "Making Your Mind Up".

Saturday 11:

A massive riot in Brixton, South London, results in almost 300 police injuries and 65 serious civilian injuries.

Sunday 12:

1989 - T.V Show Fast Forward starts on The ATN-7 Network (Australia)

Tuesday 14:

The Space Shuttle Columbia passes its first test flight.

Monday 27:

Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse.

May 1981

Sunday 10:

François Mitterrand takes office as the first Socialist President of France.

Monday 11:

Death of Reggae legend Bob Marley.

Wednesday 13:

Mehmet Ali Ağca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome.

Sunday 24:

First International Women's Day for Disarmament

Monday 25:

In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

June 1981

Friday 05:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that five homosexual men in Los Angeles, California, have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems (these were the first recognized cases of AIDS).

Friday 12:

Major League Baseball players begin a 49 day strike over the issue of free-agent compensation.

Saturday 13:

At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II.

Tuesday 16:

Ken Taylor honoured for helping six Americans escape from Iran during hostage crisis

Wednesday 24:

For what would be the world's longest single-span suspension bridge for 17 years, the Humber Bridge, connecting Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, opens.

July 1981

Thursday 09:

Movement for the Labour Party (LD-MPT) legally recognized.

Tuesday 14:

MCLN bombs a popular cinema in Bangui, Central African Republic. Afterwards a declaration is issued, demanding withdrawal of French troops from the country.

Friday 17:

Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: Two skywalks filled with people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri collapse into a crowded atrium lobby killing 114.

Monday 20:

The United States suspends sales of F-16 fighter jets to Israel.

Monday 27:

British television: On Coronation Street, Ken Barlow marries Deirdre Langton, which proves to be a national event, with massive viewer numbers earned for the show.

August 1981

Saturday 01:

First broadcasts by MTV. The first video played was "Video Killed The Radio Star" by the Buggles.

Wednesday 05:

Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.

Friday 07:

1981 -The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.

Wednesday 12:

The IBM PC, an early personal computer, is introduced

Friday 28:

The National Centers for Disease Control announce a high incidence of Pneumocystis and Kaposi's sarcoma in gay men. Soon, these will be recognized as symptoms of an immune disorder, which will be called AIDS.

September 1981

Friday 11:

The Pee-wee Herman Show airs as a special on HBO.

Tuesday 15:

The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, DC.

Saturday 19:

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel reunite for a free concert in New York's Central Park

Monday 21:

Belize is granted full independence from the United Kingdom.

Wednesday 23:

Jack Henry Abbott, best-selling author, is arrested for murder.

October 1981

Saturday 03:

The Hunger Strike by Irish Republican Army prisoners at the Maze jail in Belfast ends after seven months and 10 deaths.

Monday 05:

Raoul Wallenberg becomes an honorary U.S. citizen.

Tuesday 06:

Anwar al-Sadat is assassinated.

Wednesday 14:

Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected President of Egypt one week after Anwar Sadat was assassinated.

Thursday 22:

The United States Federal Labor Relations Authority votes to decertify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization for its strike the previous August.

November 1981

Sunday 01:

Antigua and Barbuda gain independence from the United Kingdom.

Monday 16:

Luke and Laura marry on General Hospital; it is the highest-rated hour in daytime television history.

Monday 23:

Iran-Contra scandal: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

Sunday 29:

Off Santa Catalina Island, 43-year-old actress Natalie Wood drowns during a boating accident.

Monday 30:

Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings ended inconclusively on December 17).

December 1981

Tuesday 01:

A Yugoslavian Inex Adria Aviopromet DC-9 crashes in Corsica killing 178.

Friday 11:

The Salvadoran armed forces massacre 900 villagers in the El Mozote massacre

Sunday 13:

General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland

Monday 14:

Israel annexes the Golan Heights

Thursday 17:

U.S. army officer James Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy