Top News Stories from 1981

World Events

• 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.

U.S. Events

• 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).

Economics

Sports

Super Bowl

World Series

NBA Championship

Stanley Cup

Wimbledon

Kentucky Derby Champion

NCAA Basketball Championship

NCAA Football Champions

Entertainment

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

• 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

Death

• Joe Louis
• Anwar Sadat
• Bobby Sands
• Bill Haley

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