1981

Events from the year **1981 in the United States**.

## Incumbents

### Federal Government

* President: Jimmy Carter (D-GA) (until January 20), Ronald Reagan (R-CA) (starting January 20)
* Vice President: Walter Mondale (D-MN) (until January 20), George H. W. Bush (R-TX) (starting January 20)
* Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger (MN)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: Tip O'Neill (D-MA)
* Senate Majority Leader: Robert Byrd (D-WV) (until January 3), Howard Baker (R-TN) (starting January 3)
* Congress: 96th (until January 3), 97th (starting January 3)

Governors
* Governor of Alabama: Fob James (Democratic)
* Governor of Alaska: Jay Hammond (Republican)
* Governor of Arizona: Bruce Babbitt (Democratic)
* Governor of Arkansas: Bill Clinton (Democratic) (until January 19), Frank D. White (Republican) (starting January 19)
* Governor of California: Jerry Brown (Democratic)
* Governor of Colorado: Richard Lamm (Democratic)
* Governor of Connecticut: William A. O'Neill (Democratic)
* Governor of Delaware: Pierre S. du Pont IV (Republican)
* Governor of Florida: Bob Graham (Democratic)
* Governor of Georgia: George Busbee (Democratic)
* Governor of Hawaii: George Ariyoshi (Democratic)
* Governor of Idaho: John V. Evans (Democratic)
* Governor of Illinois: James R. Thompson (Republican)
* Governor of Indiana: Otis R. Bowen (Republican) (until January 12), Robert D. Orr (Republican) (starting January 12)
* Governor of Iowa: Robert D. Ray (Republican)
* Governor of Kansas: John W. Carlin (Democratic)
* Governor of Kentucky: John Y. Brown Jr. (Democratic)
* Governor of Louisiana: David C. Treen (Republican)
* Governor of Maine: Joseph E. Brennan (Democratic)
* Governor of Maryland: Harry R. Hughes (Democratic)
* Governor of Massachusetts: Edward J. King (Democratic)
* Governor of Michigan: William Milliken (Republican)
* Governor of Minnesota: Al Quie (Republican)
* Governor of Mississippi: William Winter (Democratic)
* Governor of Missouri: Joseph P. Teasdale (Democratic) (until January 12), Kit Bond (Republican) (starting January 12)
* Governor of Montana: Thomas Lee Judge (Democratic) (until January 5), Ted Schwinden (Democratic) (starting January 5)
* Governor of Nebraska: Charles Thone (Republican)
* Governor of Nevada: Robert List (Republican)
* Governor of New Hampshire: Hugh J. Gallen (Democratic)
* Governor of New Jersey: Brendan Byrne (Democratic)
* Governor of New Mexico: Bruce King (Democratic)
* Governor of New York: Hugh Carey (Democratic)
* Governor of North Carolina: Jim Hunt (Democratic)
* Governor of North Dakota: Arthur A. Link (Democratic) (until January 6), Allen I. Olson (Republican) (starting January 6)
* Governor of Ohio: Jim Rhodes (Republican)
* Governor of Oklahoma: George Nigh (Democratic)
* Governor of Oregon: Victor G. Atiyeh (Republican)
* Governor of Pennsylvania: Dick Thornburgh (Republican)
* Governor of Rhode Island: J. Joseph Garrahy (Democratic)
* Governor of South Carolina: Richard Riley (Democratic)
* Governor of South Dakota: William J. Janklow (Republican)
* Governor of Tennessee: Lamar Alexander (Republican)
* Governor of Texas: Bill Clements (Republican)
* Governor of Utah: Scott M. Matheson (Democratic)
* Governor of Vermont: Richard A. Snelling (Republican)
* Governor of Virginia: John N. Dalton (Republican)
* Governor of Washington: Dixy Lee Ray (Democratic) (until January 14), John Spellman (Republican) (starting January 14)
* Governor of West Virginia: Jay Rockefeller (Democratic)
* Governor of Wisconsin: Lee S. Dreyfus (Republican)
* Governor of Wyoming: Edgar J. Herschler (Democratic)

Lieutenant Governors
* Lieutenant Governor of Alabama: George McMillan (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Alaska: Terry Miller (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas: Joe Purcell (Democratic) (until January 19), Winston Bryant (Democratic) (starting January 19)
* Lieutenant Governor of California: Mike Curb (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Colorado: Nancy E. Dick (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut: Joseph J. Fauliso (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Delaware: James D. McGinnis (Democratic) (until January 20), Michael N. Castle (Republican) (starting January 20)
* Lieutenant Governor of Florida: Wayne Mixson (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Georgia: Zell Miller (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii: Jean King (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Idaho: Phil Batt (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Dave O'Neal (Republican) (until July 31), vacant (starting July 31)
* Lieutenant Governor of Indiana: Robert D. Orr (Republican) (until January 12), John Mutz (Republican) (starting January 12)
* Lieutenant Governor of Iowa: Terry E. Branstad (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kansas: Paul V. Dugan (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky: Martha Layne Collins (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana: Bobby Freeman (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Maryland: Samuel Bogley (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts: Thomas P. O'Neill III (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: James H. Brickley (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota: Lou Wangberg (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi: Brad Dye (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Missouri: William C. Phelps (Republican) (until January 12), Kenneth Rothman (Democratic) (starting January 12)
* Lieutenant Governor of Montana: Ted Schwinden (Democratic) (until January 5), George Turman (Democratic) (starting January 5)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska: Roland A. Luedtke (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Nevada: Myron E. Leavitt (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico: Roberto Mondragón (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of New York: Mario Cuomo (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: James C. Green (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota: Wayne G. Sanstead (Democratic) (until month and day unknown), Ernest Sands (Republican) (starting month and day unknown)
* Lieutenant Governor of Ohio: vacant
* Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma: Spencer Bernard (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: William Scranton III (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island: Thomas R. DiLuglio (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina: Nancy Stevenson (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota: Lowell C. Hansen II (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee: John S. Wilder (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Texas: William P. Hobby Jr. (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Utah: David Smith Monson (Republican)
* Lieutenant Governor of Vermont: Madeleine M. Kunin (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: Chuck Robb (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Washington: John Cherberg (Democratic)
* Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin: Russell A. Olson (Republican)

## Events

### January

* January 16 – Women in Housing and Finance: conduct first meeting in New York City.
* January 19 – United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
* January 20 – Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the 40th President of the United States, and George H. W. Bush is sworn in as Vice President of the United States. Minutes later, Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days, ending the Iran hostage crisis.
* January 25 – Super Bowl XV: The Oakland Raiders defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 27–10 at Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

### February

* February 10 – A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198.

### March

* March 6 – After 19 years hosting the *CBS Evening News*, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
* March 19 – Three workers are killed and five are injured during a test of the Space Shuttle *Columbia*.
* March 21 – Michael Donald is lynched in Mobile, Alabama.
* March 30 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley Jr. Two police officers and Press Secretary James Brady are also wounded.
* March 31 – The 53rd Academy Awards, hosted by Johnny Carson, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Robert Redford's directorial debut, *Ordinary People*, wins four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. David Lynch's *The Elephant Man* and Martin Scorsese's *Raging Bull* tie in receiving eight nominations each.

### April

* April 12 – The Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle *Columbia* (John Young, Robert Crippen) launches on the STS-1 mission, returning to Earth on April 14.
* April 18 – A Minor League Baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning is not played until June 23).
* April 26 – The 5.9 Mw Westmorland earthquake shook the Imperial Valley of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (*Very strong*), causing $1–3 million in damage.

### May

* May 15 – Donna Payant is murdered by serial killer Lemuel Smith, the first time a female correctional officer has been killed on-duty in the United States.

### June

* June 1 – The United States enters the severe early 1980s recession, exactly a year after the more minor 1980 recession ended; the unemployment rate is 7.2%
* June 5 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that five homosexual men in Los Angeles, California, have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems (the first recognized cases of AIDS).
* June 12
	+ Major League Baseball goes on strike, forcing the cancellation of 38 percent of the schedule.
	+ *Raiders of the Lost Ark*, directed by Steven Spielberg is released as the first film of the Indiana Jones film series.
* June 21 – Wayne Williams, a 23-year-old African American, is arrested and charged with the murders of two other African Americans. He is later accused of 28 others, in the Atlanta child murders.
* June 29 – Morris Edwin Robert, armed with a machine gun, holds hostages in the FBI section at the Atlanta, Georgia Federal Building. After three hours, the hostages are rescued and Robert is killed in a shootout with federal agents.

### July

* July 7 – President Ronald Reagan nominates the first woman, Sandra Day O'Connor, to the Supreme Court of the United States.
* July 8 – California Governor Jerry Brown, faced with a Mediterranean fruit fly infestation, chooses to delay the aerial spraying of malathion, in favor of continuing ground-based eradication efforts.
* July 9 – First release of *Donkey Kong* and debut of *Mario*.
* July 10 – Walt Disney Productions' 24th feature film, *The Fox and the Hound*, is released after a six month delay due to the departure of Don Bluth and his animation team from the studio. The film receives mixed-to-positive reviews and is a box office success.
* July 17
	+ Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: Two skywalks filled with people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri collapse into a crowded atrium lobby, killing 114.
	+ Israeli aircraft bomb Beirut, destroying multi-story apartment blocks containing the offices of PLO associated groups, killing approximately 300 civilians and resulting in worldwide condemnation and a U.S. embargo on the export of aircraft to Israel.
* July 27 – Adam Walsh, 6, is kidnapped from a Sears store in Hollywood, Florida.

### August

* August 1 – MTV (Music Television) is launched on cable television in the United States.
* August 5 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
* August 7 – *The Washington Star* ceases publication after 128 years.
* August 9 – Major League Baseball resumes from the strike with the All-Star Game in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium.
* August 10 – Exactly two weeks after his disappearance, the severed head of 6-year-old Hollywood, Florida native Adam Walsh is found in a canal in Vero Beach, Florida; to this day the rest of the boy's body has never been recovered.
* August 12 – The original Model 5150 IBM PC (with a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor) is released in the United States at a base price of $1,565.
* August 19
	+ Gulf of Sidra incident: Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi sends 2 Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets to intercept 2 U.S. fighters over the Gulf of Sidra. The American jets destroy the Libyan fighters.
	+ U.S. President Ronald Reagan appoints the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor.
* August 24 – Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison, after being convicted of murdering John Lennon in Manhattan eight months earlier.
* August 31 – A bomb explodes at the U.S. Air Force base in Ramstein, West Germany, injuring 20 people.

### September

* September 10 – Picasso's painting "Guernica" is moved from New York City to Madrid.
* September 11 – A small plane crashes into the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California, damaging the venue beyond repair.
* September 15 – The *John Bull* becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world, at 150 years old, when it operates under its own power outside Washington, DC.
* September 17 – Ric Flair defeats Dusty Rhodes to win his first World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in Kansas City.
* September 19 – Simon & Garfunkel perform The Concert in Central Park, a free concert in New York in front of approximately half a million people.
* September 25
	+ Sandra Day O'Connor takes her seat as the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
	+ The Rolling Stones begin their Tattoo You tour at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.

### October

* October 1 – Bee Gees' album, *Living Eyes* is released in the United States.
* October 28
	+ The thrash metal band Metallica forms in Los Angeles.
	+ The Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the New York Yankees, 4 games to 2, to win their fifth World Series Title.

### November

* November 12 – STS-2: Space Shuttle *Columbia* (Joe Engle, Richard Truly) lifts off for its second mission.
* November 16 – Luke and Laura marry on the U.S. soap opera *General Hospital*; it is the highest-rated hour in daytime television history.
* November 23 – Iran-Contra scandal: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), authorizing the Central Intelligence Agency to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
* November 30 – Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin negotiating intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings end inconclusively on Thursday, December 17).

### December

* December 5 – American general James L. Dozier is kidnapped in Verona by the Italian Red Brigades.
* December 8 – The No. 21 Mine explosion in Whitwell, Tennessee kills 13.
* December 11 – Boxing: Muhammad Ali loses to Trevor Berbick; this proved to be Ali's last-ever fight.
* December 28 – The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.

## Memoriam

* January 5
	+ Frederick Osborn, philanthropist and eugenicist (aged 91; New York City, NY, USA)
	+ Harold Urey, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (aged 87; La Jolla, CA, USA)
* January 7 – John Pascal, playwright, screenwriter, author and journalist (aged 48; New York City, NY, USA)
* January 8 – Matthew Beard, child film actor (aged 56; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* January 10
	+ Katharine Alexander, film actress (aged 82; Tryon, NC, USA)
	+ Richard Boone, Western film actor (aged 63; St. Augustine, FL, USA)
* January 11 – Beulah Bondi, actress (aged 91; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* January 13 – Robert Kellard, film actor (aged 65; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* January 25 – Adele Astaire, dancer (aged 84; Scottsdale, AZ, USA)
* February 9
	+ Jack Z. Anderson, U.S. Representative from California (aged 76; Hollister, CA, USA)
	+ Bill Haley, rock & roll musician (aged 55; Harlingen, TX, USA)
* February 22 – Ilo Wallace, Second Lady of the United States as wife of Henry A. Wallace (aged 92; South Salem, NY, USA)
* March 5 – Yip Harburg, lyricist (aged 84; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* March 7 – Bosley Crowther, film critic (aged 75; Mount Kisco, NY, USA)
* March 9 – Max Delbrück, biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (aged 74; Pasadena, CA, USA)
* April 4 – Brad Johnson, actor (aged 56; Burbank, CA, USA)
* April 5
	+ Bob Hite, musician (aged 38; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
	+ Lucile Godbold, Olympic athlete (aged 80; Columbia, SC, USA)
* April 7 – Norman Taurog, film director (aged 82; Rancho Mirage, CA, USA)
* April 8 – Omar Bradley, U.S. Army General (aged 88; New York City, NY, USA)
* April 12 – Joe Louis, African American heavyweight boxer (aged 66; Paradise, NV, USA)
* April 15 – John Thach, naval aviator and admiral (aged 75; Coronado, CA, USA)
* April 26
	+ Jim Davis, television actor (aged 71; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
	+ Madge Evans, actress (aged 71; Oakland, NJ, USA)
* April 27 – John Aspinwall Roosevelt, businessman and philanthropist (aged 65; New York City, NY, USA)
* April 28 – Cliff Battles, American footballer (Boston Redskins) (aged 70; Clearwater, FL, USA)
* May 9 – Nelson Algren, novelist (aged 72; Long Island, NY, USA)
* May 11 – Bob Marley, reggae musician (aged 36; Miami, FL, USA)
* May 18
	+ Arthur O'Connell, actor (aged 73; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
	+ William Saroyan, dramatist and author (aged 72; Fresno, CA, USA)
* May 23 – George Jessel, actor and entertainer (aged 83; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* May 28 – Mary Lou Williams, jazz pianist (aged 71; Durham, NC, USA)
* June 1 – Carl Vinson, U.S. Congressman (aged 97; Milledgeville, GA, USA)
* June 9 – Allen Ludden, television game show host (aged 63; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* July 10 – Ken McElroy, murder victim (aged 47; Skidmore, MO, USA)
* July 27
	+ Adam Walsh, murder victim and son of John Walsh (aged 6; Indian River County, FL, USA)
	+ William Wyler, film director (aged 79; Beverly Hills, CA, USA)
* July 29 – Robert Moses, urban planner (aged 92; West Islip, NY, USA)
* August 15 – Carol Ryrie Brink, author (aged 85; La Jolla, CA, USA)
* August 16 – Edward A. Teichert, laborer and political activist (aged 77; Greensburg, PA, USA)
* November 3 – H. C. Westermann, sculptor and printmaker (aged 58; Danbury, CT, USA)
* November 7 – Will Durant, philosopher and writer (aged 96; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* November 12 – William Holden, film actor (aged 63; Santa Monica, CA, USA)
* November 17 – Sibyl M. Rock, mathematician (aged 72; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* November 25 – Jack Albertson, actor, comedian, dancer and singer (aged 74; Los Angeles, CA, USA)
* November 27 – Lotte Lenya, singer (aged 83; New York City, NY, USA)
* November 29 – Natalie Wood, actress (aged 43; Santa Catalina Island, CA, USA)
* December 2 – Wallace Harrison, architect (aged 86; New York City, NY, USA)
* December 6 – Harry Harlow, psychologist (aged 76; Tucson, AZ, USA)
* December 13 – Pigmeat Markham, African American vaudevillian (aged 77; Bronx, NY, USA)
* December 18 – James C. Davis, politician (aged 86; Atlanta, GA, USA)
* December 27 – Hoagy Carmichael, composer and singer (aged 82; Rancho Mirage, CA, USA)