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News and Events of 1981

Year by Year: 1900-2012 View a 1981 calendar

World Events

World Statistics

Population: 4.529 billion
population by decade

Nobel Peace Prize:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

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US-Iran agreement frees 52 hostages held in Teheran since 1979 (Jan. 20); hostages welcomed back in US (Jan. 25). Background: Iran Hostage Crisis
Pope John Paul II wounded by gunman (May 14).
Israel annexes the disputed Golan Heights territory (Dec. 14).
Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat is assassinated by Islamic extremists during a military parade in Cairo (Oct. 6).
President Hilla Limann is overthrown in Ghana as Jerry J. Rawlings seizes power.

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U.S. Events

U.S. Statistics

President: Ronald W. Reagan
Vice President: George Bush
Population: 229,465,714
Life expectancy: 74.1 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 58.6
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 52.6

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Ronald Reagan takes oath as 40th President (Jan. 20).
President Reagan wounded by gunman, with press secretary and two law-enforcement officers (March 30).
US Supreme Court rules, 4–4, that former President Nixon and three top aides may be required to pay damages for wiretap of home telephone of former national security aide (June 22).
Reagan nominates Judge Sandra Day O'Connor, 51, of Arizona, as first woman on US Supreme Court (July 7).
Air controllers strike, disrupting flights (Aug. 3); government dismisses strikers (Aug. 11).

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Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $3,115.90 billion
Federal spending:   $678.25 billion
Federal debt:   $994.8 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $19,074
Consumer Price Index:   90.9
Unemployment:   7.6%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.15 ($0.18 as of 3/22/81; $0.20 as of 11/1/81)

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Sports

Sports Links

Pro Football Summary

Pro Basketball Summary

Pro Baseball Summary

Super Bowl

Oakland d. Philadelphia (27-10)

World Series

LA Dodgers d. NY Yankees (4-2)

NBA Championship

Boston d. Houston (4-2)

Stanley Cup

NY Islanders d. Minnesota (4-1)

Wimbledon

Women: Chris Evert Lloyd d. H. Mandlikova (6-2 6-2)
Men: John McEnroe d. B. Borg (4-6 7-6 7-6 6-4)

Kentucky Derby Champion

Pleasant Colony

NCAA Basketball Championship

Indiana d. North Carolina (63-50)

NCAA Football Champions

Clemson (12-0-0)

Entertainment

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
Drama: Crimes of the Heart, Beth Henley

Oscars awarded in 1981
Academy Award, Best Picture: Ordinary People, Ronald L. Schwary, producer (Paramount)

Nobel Prize for Literature: Elias Canetti (Bulgaria)

1981 Emmy Awards

1981 Tony Awards

Grammys awarded in 1981
Record of the Year: "Sailing," Christopher Cross
Album of the Year: Christopher Cross, Christopher Cross (Warner Bros.)
Song of the Year: "Sailing," Christopher Cross, songwriter

Miss America: Susan Powell (OK)

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Events

MTV goes on the air running around the clock music videos, debuting with "Video Killed the Radio Star."
The Supreme Court rules to allow television cameras in the courtroom.
Pacman-mania sweeps the country.

Movies

Raiders of the Lost Ark, Chariots of Fire, On Golden Pond, Reds, Atlantic City

Books

Salman Rushdie, Midnight's Children
John Updike, Rabbit is Rich

Science

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: Roald Hoffmann (US) and Kenichi Fukui (Japan), for applying quantum-mechanics theories to predict the course of chemical reactions

Physics: Nicolaas Bloembergen, Arthur L. Schawlow (both US), and Kai M. Siegbahn (Sweden), for developing technologies with lasers and other devices to probe the secrets of complex forms of matter

Physiology or Medicine: Roger W. Sperry, David H. Hubel (both US), and Torsten N. Wiesel (Sweden), for studies vital to understanding the organization and functioning of the brain

AIDS is first identified. Background: Understanding AIDS
IBM introduces its first personal computer, running the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS). Background: Computers and Internet
The 236-m.p.h. TGV, Europe's first high-speed passenger train, begins operating out of Lyons, France.
The FDA approves the use of the artificial sweetener aspartame (Nutrasweet). Background: Health & Nutrition