This year in history
In the year 1981
January
1st
Greece was admitted into the European Community.
January
20th
Iran terrorists released 52 American hostages that were being held hostage inside the American embassy in Tehran since November 4, 1979.
January
25th
Mao Zedong's widow Jiang Qing was sentenced to death for her role in the cultural revolution of China which claimed the lives of millions of civilians. The sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
January
28th
American actor, Elijah Wood, was born in Iowa. He began acting at the age of nine and is best known for portraying the character of Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
February
14th
A fire at a nightclub in Dublin, Ireland killed 48 people.
February
17th
American socialite, Paris Hilton, was born in New York City. She is the heir of the Hilton hotel empire who was catapulted to world fame after the unauthorized release of a private sexual video with her then boyfriend, Rick Salomon.
March
6th
Legendary reporter, Walter Cronkite, presents the CBS Evening News for the last time. He had been presenting them for 19 years. Walter Cronkite stood out as one of the most trusted reporters in 20th century America.
March
30th
US President, Ronald Reagan, was shot in the chest outside a hotel in Washington, D.C. The assailant was John Hinckley, Jr., who was later declared insane.
April
12th
The Columbia space shuttle was launched for the first time. This launch marked the first ever launch of the space shuttle type of spacecraft, which has been in use by NASA for over 2 decades.
April
12th
American boxer, Joe Louis, died at the age of 67. He was the world heavyweight champion in boxing for almost 12 straight years.
April
24th
The first IBM PC was introduced. The model was called the IBM 5150. It is now the dominant 'type' of personal computer available.
April
25th
An accident in the nuclear power plant of Tsuruga, Japan, caused more than 100 workers to become exposed to radiation.
April
27th
The computer mouse was first introduced by the Xerox PARC company, a research division of the Xerox Corporation.
May
11th
Jamaican singer and musician, Bob Marley, died at the age of 36. He is the most widely known writer and performer of Reggae music and the one that made it popular around the world. He died from cancer, his last words to his son were 'Money can't buy life'.
May
13th
Turkish terrorist, Mehmet Ali Agca, attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The would be assassin served 19 years in an Italian jail, before being extradited to serve the remaining sentence in Turkey.
June
5th
The first ever cases of AIDS were identified in Los Angeles, USA, although at the time it was identified as a type of pneumonia.
June
7th
Russian tennis player, Anna Kournikova, was born in Moscow. She was a successful international tennis player who enjoyed more popularity for her looks than for her tennis abilities.
June
9th
Israeli-born actress, Natalie Portman, was born in Jerusalem, Israel. She became a star at the age of twelve after being cast in the hit movie, Leon. She is most known for participating in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
July
29th
Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer were married in St Paul's Cathedral.
August
1st
The music channel, MTV, began broadcasting. The first song played was 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by the Buggles.
August
7th
After 128 years of publication the Washington Star newspaper stopped being printed.
August
8th
Swiss tennis player, Roger Federer, was born in Oberwil. He is one of the most successful tennis players of all time.
August
12th
The first IBM PC (Personal Computer) was made available to the public. It is the forefather of the now dominant type of personal computers available to the world.
August
24th
Mark David Chapman was sentenced to life in prison for murdering John Lennon. He has so far (2007) been denied parole four times.
September
1st
Nazi official, Albert Speer, died at the age of 76. He had served the Nazi regime as minister for armaments. He was tried and sentenced to 20 years in prison, which he served in the now infamous Spandau prison.
September
19th
Singers, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, reunited for a single free concert in New York's Central Park. It was known as 'The Concert in Central Park' and was attended by more than half a million people.
September
21st
Belize was granted full independence from the United Kingdom. The central American country of Belize borders with Mexico and Guatemala and was known as British Honduras up until 1973. Though an independent parliamentary democracy, it is also a constitutional monarchy which recognizes Queen Elizabeth II as Sovereign.
September
26th
American tennis player, Serena Williams, was born in Saginaw, Michigan. She is considered as one of the top female players of the last decade, having been, previously, ranked number one in the world. She is also the younger sister of tennis star, Venus Williams.
October
6th
Egyptian President, Anwar al-Sadat, was assassinated by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization. He was considered to be one of the most influential Egyptian and Middle Eastern political figures in modern history.
October
14th
Then Vice President, Hosni Mubarak ascended to the presidency of Egypt, one week after President Anwar Sadat was assassinated. 25 years later (2006) he is still the President of Egypt.
October
28th
The heavy metal music band Metallica was formed in Downey, California. It was formed by Lars Ulrich (drummer) and James Hetfield (guitarist and vocalist). It is the most commercially successful band to ever appear on the heavy metal stage.
November
1st
Antigua and Barbuda gained independence as a unified country from the United Kingdom.
November
12th
American actor, William Holden, died at the age of 63.
December
11th
Boxer, Muhammad Ali, was defeated by Trevor Berbick in his last professional fight.
December
11th
Peruvian diplomat, Javier Perez de Cuellar, became the United Nations Secretary General.
December
13th
Martial law was declared in Poland in an effort to curtail the efforts of Solidarity towards a more democratic state. Martial law lasted for 17 months during which period any pro democracy movements were banned and their leaders imprisoned.
December
17th
NATO's deputy chief of staff, Brigadier General James L. Dozier, was abducted by members of the Red Brigade terrorist group in Verona, Italy. He was freed 42 days later after by members of the Italian anti-terrorism unit.
December
28th
The first American test-tube baby was born in Norfolk, Virginia.
 
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