Information for the Year 1981

Click Here to Return to the Home Page

  • US-Iran agreement frees 52 hostages held in Teheran since 1979 (Jan. 20); hostages welcomed back in US (Jan. 25).
  • 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.
  • Population:   4.529 billion
  • Nobel Peace Prize:  Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
  • 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).
  • President:  Ronald W. Reagan
  • Vice President:  George Bush
  • Population:  229,465,714
  • Life expectancy:  74.1 years
  • 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)
  • Super Bowl  Oakland Raiders defeated Philadelphia Eagles (SCORE 27-10)
  • World Series of Baseball  Los Angeles Dodgers defeated New York Yankees
  • National Basketball Association Championship  Boston defeated Houston
  • National Hockey League Stanley Cup  New York Islanders defeated Minnesota Wild
  • Women Wimbledon Tennis  Chris Evert Lloyd defeated H. Mandlikova (6-2 6-2)
  • Men Wimbledon Tennis   John McEnroe defeated Bjon Borg (4-6 7-6 7-6 6-4)
  • Kentucky Derby Horse Race Champion   Pleasant Colony
  • National College Athletic Association Basketball Championship  Indiana d. North Carolina (SCORE 63-50)
  • National College Athletic Association Football Champions  Clemson (RECORD 12-0-0)
  • 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.
  • Academy Award, Best Picture:  Ordinary People
  • Grammy Award - Record of the Year  Sailing by Christopher Cross
  • Emmy Award - Best Television Comedy  Taxi - ABC
  • Miss America:   Susan Powell (Okalahoma)
  • IBM introduces its first personal computer, running the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS).
  • 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).

 

All of the Information on this site is from Fact Monster