History of 1981

During the year of 1981 the following events have happened in our world's history.

January 01, 1981 - International Year for Disabled
January 01, 1981 - Palau (Trust Territory of Pacific Is.) becomes self-governing
January 06, 1981 - 50th hat trick in Islander history - John Tonelli scored 5 goals
January 13, 1981 - Islander's Mike Bossy's 15th career hat trick - 4 goals
January 15, 1981 - Hill Street Blues premiers
January 20, 1981 - US embassy hostages freed in Tehran
January 20, 1981 - Islander Glenn Resch's 25th & last shut-out opponent - Flames 5-0
January 20, 1981 - Iran hostages are freed after 444 days
January 22, 1981 - 40th Islander shut-out opponent - 3-0 vs Red Wings-Billy Smith 15th
January 24, 1981 - Islanders scored 5 power play goals against Nordiques
February 02, 1981 - Late Night with David Letterman premiers
March 03, 1981 - Isle's Mike Bossy 9th & final hat trick of season - 4 goals
March 06, 1981 - Soyuz 39 returns to Earth
March 07, 1981 - Walter Cronkite's final CBS anchor appearance
March 12, 1981 - Soyuz T-4 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station
March 12, 1981 - Walter R T Witschey installs world's largest sundial - Richmond - VA
March 19, 1981 - 2 workers killed in space shuttle Columbia accident
March 20, 1981 - Jean Harris sentenced 15 to life for slaying of Scarsdale Diet Dr
March 22, 1981 - 1st class postage raised to 18› from 15›
March 22, 1981 - Soyuz 39 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Mongolian) to Salyut 6
March 24, 1981 - Nightline with Ted Koppel premiers
March 30, 1981 - Pres Reagan shot & wounded by John W Hinckley Jr
April 12, 1981 - 1st launch of the space shuttle - Columbia.
May 04, 1981 - Ron Davis strikes out 8 consecutive Angels - ran record of 13 strike outs of last 14 faced - also saved Gene Nelsons 1st win 4-2
May 05, 1981 - 16th & final Mayor's Trophy Game - Mets beat Yanks 4-1 & hold 8-7 edge
May 08, 1981 - Ron Davis pitches 10th consecutive strike out - 1 short of record
May 12, 1981 - Isles tie own rec with 2 shorthanded playoff goals in a pd vs Minn
May 14, 1981 - Soyuz 40 is launched - 1st Rumanian in space
May 15, 1981 - Leonard Barker of Cleveland pitches perfect game vs Toronto
May 15, 1981 - Soyuz 40 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Rumanian) to Salyut 6
May 17, 1981 - Islanders score 5 power play goals against Flyers in a playoff
May 22, 1981 - Soyuz 40 returns to Earth
May 26, 1981 - Soyuz T-4 returns to Earth
June 03, 1981 - Pope John Paul II released from hospital after attempt on life
June 05, 1981 - TODAY/PC ran for 1st time
June 07, 1981 - Israel destroys alleged Iraqi plutonium production facility
June 12, 1981 - 3rd baseball strike starts
June 13, 1981 - A teen-ager fired six blanks at Queen Elizabeth II
June 18, 1981 - Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart retires (replaced by Sandra Day O'Connor 1st woman on high court)
June 19, 1981 - Boeing Coml Chinook two-rotor helicopter gets certified
June 19, 1981 - European Space Agency's Ariane carries two satellites into orbit
June 22, 1981 - Mark David Chapman pleads guilty to killing Beatle John Lennon
June 23, 1981 - 33 inning game ends Pawtuckett 3 Rochester 2
June 25, 1981 - Supreme Court held male-only draft registration - constitutional
July 17, 1981 - Lobby Walkways at KC's Hyatt Regency collapse kill 114 injure 200
July 17, 1981 - Humbar Estuary Bridge UK world's longest span (1.4 km) is opened.
July 25, 1981 - Voyager 2 encounters Saturn.
July 29, 1981 - Prince Charles & Lady Diana wed
July 31, 1981 - 7-week-old major league baseball strike ended.
July 31, 1981 - Leader of Panama Gen. Omar Torrijos killed in a plane crash.
August 01, 1981 - MTV premiers
August 10, 1981 - Pete Rose tops Stan Musial's NL record of 3630 hits
August 15, 1981 - Robin Leamy of US swims a record 7.98 kph for 50 m
August 25, 1981 - Voyager 2 closest approach to Saturn & discovers thousands of rings
August 26, 1981 - Voyager's closest approach to Saturn enroute to Uranus & Neptune
August 28, 1981 - John Hinckley Jr pleads innocent in attempt to kill Pres Reagan
August 29, 1981 - Broadcaster Lowell Thomas died in Pawling N.Y. at age 89
September 06, 1981 - Bob Lemon named Yankee manager
September 14, 1981 - Entertainment Tonight premiers
September 15, 1981 - Intl Peace Day
September 21, 1981 - Belize gains independence from Britain (National Day)
September 21, 1981 - Sandra Day O'Conner becomes the 1st female Supreme Court Justice
September 25, 1981 - Sandra Day O'Connor sworn in as 1st female supreme court justice
October 06, 1981 - Anwar Sadat assassinated Hosnai Mubarak becomes Egytian president
October 07, 1981 - In 1st Eastern Division championship Yanks beat Brewers 5-3
October 08, 1981 - Pres Reagan greeted predecessors Jimmy Carter Gerald R. Ford and Richard Nixon before sending them to Egypt for Anwar Sadat's funeral
October 11, 1981 - Yanks beat Brewers 7-3 & win only Eastern Championship Series
October 15, 1981 - Yanks defeat A's 4-0 & win 33 pennant
October 16, 1981 - Israel's General Moshe Dayan dies at 66
October 22, 1981 - US national debt tops $1 trillion
October 22, 1981 - Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization was decertified
November 01, 1981 - 1st Class Mail raised from 18 to 20 cents
November 12, 1981 - 2nd Space Shuttle Mission - Columbia 2 is launched
November 12, 1981 - Billy Martin named AL Manager of the Year (Oakland A's)
November 12, 1981 - 1st balloon crossing of Pacific completed (Double Eagle V)
November 12, 1981 - 1st time a spacecraft is launched twice (space shuttle Columbia)
November 13, 1981 - 1st manned balloon flight across Pacific Ocean ended
November 14, 1981 - 2nd Space Shuttle Mission - Columbia 2 returns to Earth
November 14, 1981 - Old Dutch Windmill in Golden Gate Park repaired & working again
November 20, 1981 - Anatoly Karpov USSR retains world chess championship
November 27, 1981 - Singer-actress Lotte Lenya dies in NY at 83
November 29, 1981 - Actress Natalie Wood drowns off Santa Catalina Calif. at 43
December 02, 1981 - Moscone Convention Center in SF opens
December 13, 1981 - Solidarity Day
December 31, 1981 - Lt Rawlings stages coup in Ghana