Today in History for January 1981

Months in 1981: February March April May June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 72 of 72

1st - Georgia beats Notre Dame in Sugar Bowl for college football title
1st - Greece is 10th country to join European Economic Community
1st - International Year for the Disabled begins
1st - Palau (Trust Territory of Pacific Is) becomes self-governing
1st - Roger Smith becomes CEO of General Motors
2nd - Mary Terstegge Meagher swims female record 200 m butterfly (2:05.65)
2nd - Sylvester Clarke knocks out spectator with brick, WI v Pakistan
3rd - 55th Australian Womens Tennis: H Mandlikova beats W Turnbull (60 75)
3rd - Cleveland Cavaliers retire jersey # 34, Austin Carr
3rd - Greg Chappell scores 204 v India at the SCG
3rd - Mary Terstegge Meagher swims female record 100 m butterfly (58.91)
4th - "Frankenstein" opens & closes on Broadway
4th - "Peter Pan" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 578 performances
4th - 69th Australian Mens Tennis: B Teacher beats Kim Warwick (75 76 63)
4th - British police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper"
5th - "Nightline" with Ted Koppel extended from 20 mins to 30 mins
5th - British police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, a truck driver later convicted of "Yorkshire Ripper" murders of 13 women
6th - 50th hat trick in Islander history-John Tonelli scored 5 goals
8th - "Pirates of Penzance" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 772 performances
8th - India all out 63 in one-day international v Australia
8th - Reds become last team to sign a free agent (Larry Biitner)
9th - Francisco Balsamao elected pres of Portugal
10th - El Salvador guerrilla group FMLN opens "general offensive"
10th - John Severin sets 100-mi unicycle speed record, 9 h 21 m
11th - "Tintypes" closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 93 performances
11th - Palau adopts constitution
11th - Brit team led by Ranulph Fiennes completes longest & fastest crossing of Antarctica, reaching Scott base after 75 days (2,500 miles)
12th - "Dynasty" with Joan Collins premieres on ABC-TV
12th - -35°F (-37°C), Chester, Massachusetts (state record)
12th - Dynasty, a prime time soap opera inspired by Dallas, premieres on ABC
13th - Barbara Sonntag, Colo, crochets record 147 stitches/min for 1/2 hour
13th - Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to May Swenson & Howard Nemerov
13th - Islander's Mike Bossy's 15th career hat trick-4 goals
14th - FCC frees stations to air as many commercials an hour as they wish
15th - "Hill Street Blues" premieres on NBC-TV
15th - Bob Gibson elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
16th - Boxer Leon Spinks is mugged, his assailants even took his gold teeth
16th - John Lennon releases "Woman" in UK
16th - Protestant gunmen shoot & wound Bernadette Devlin McAliskey & husband
16th - Ivan Lendl intentionally loses a match in Volvo Masters in order to avoid having to play Bjorn Borg
17th - Philippino president Marcos ends state of siege
18th - Iran accepts US offer of $7.9 billion in frozen assets
18th - Wendy O Williams arrested in Milwaukee for on-stage obscenity
Heavyweight Boxing Champ Muhammad Ali 19th - Muhammad Ali talks a despondent 21 year old out of committing suicide
19th - US & Iran sign agreement to release 52 American hostages
20th - 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days freed
20th - Adm Stansfield Turner, USN (Ret), ends term as 12th director of CIA
20th - Frank C Carlucci, ends term as deputy director of CIA
20th - Islander Glenn Resch's 25th & last shut-out opponent-Flames 5-0
20th - Ronald Reagan inaugurated as president
21st - "Shakespeare's Cabaret" opens at Bijou Theater NYC for 54 performances
21st - Bernhard Goetz is assault for 1st time on a NY subway train
22nd - 40th Islander shut-out opponent-3-0 vs Red Wings-Billy Smith 15th
22nd - O A "Bum" Phillips becomes head coach of New Orleans Saints
23rd - 1st Richard Nixon museum opens (San Clemente California)
23rd - Jochem Bird elected mayor of West Berlin
23rd - Mike Bossy becomes 1st in NHL to score 50 goals in 50 games
23rd - Red Sox trade Fred Lynn to Angels for Frank Tanana & Joe Rudi
US President & Actor Ronald Reagan 24th - Islanders scored 5 power play goals against Nordiques
24th - Kim Hughes scores 213 v India at Adelaide
25th - 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived back in US
25th - Mao's widow Jiang Qing sentenced to death
25th - Superbowl XV: Oakland Raiders beat Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10 in New Orleans Superbowl MVP: Jim Plunkett, Oakland, QB
26th - Sandeep Patil scores memorable 174 v Australia at Adelaide Oval
28th - "5 O'Clock Girl" opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 12 performances
28th - William J Casey becomes 13th director of CIA (until 1987)
28th - Olympic Glory tanker at Galveston Bay, Texas, spills 1 million gallons of oil in a ship collision
29th - AL approves sale of White Sox to Jerry Reinsdorf & Eddie Einhorn for $20 million, & 80% of Mariners to George Argyros for $104 million
30th - 8th American Music Award: Kenny Rogers wins
31st - "The Tide Is High" by Blondie hits #1
31st - 38th Golden Globes: Ordinary People, Coal Miner's Daughter
31st - Gaetan Boucher skates world record 1000m (1:13.39)

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 82 of 82

1st - Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian race car driver
1st - Abdülkadir Koçak, Turkish boxer
1st - Jonas Armstrong, Irish actor
1st - Eden Riegel, American actress
2nd - Hanno Balitsch, German footballer
2nd - Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
2nd - Ryan Garko, American baseball player
2nd - Kirk Hinrich, American basketball player
3rd - Eli Manning, American football player
3rd - Chris Blais, California racecar driver
5th - Corey Flynn, New Zealand rugby union footballer
5th - Brooklyn Sudano, American actress
6th - Mike Jones, American rapper
6th - Rinko Kikuchi, Japanese actress
6th - Jérémie Renier, Belgian actor
6th - Asante Samuel, National Football League Defensive Back
7th - Alex Auld, Canadian ice hockey player
7th - Marquis Daniels, American basketball player
8th - Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player
8th - Xie Xingfang, Chinese badminton player
9th - Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer
10th - Brian Joo, Korean-American singer
11th - Jamelia Niela Davis, Birmingham, English singer
11th - Tom Meighan, British singer (Kasabian)
12th - Dan Klecko, American football player
13th - Reggie Brown, American football player
13th - Shad Gaspard, American professional wrestler, bodyguard, and actor
13th - Jason James, Welsh musician (Bullet for My Valentine)
13th - Darrell Rasner, American baseball player
14th - Abdelmalek Cherrad, Algerian football
14th - Rosa López, Spanish singer
14th - Pitbull, American rapper
15th - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
15th - Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby union footballer
15th - Howie Day, American singer
16th - Nick Valensi, American guitarist (The Strokes)
16th - Bobby Zamora, English footballer
17th - Ray J, singer
17th - Warren Feeney, Northern Irish footballer
17th - Scott Mechlowicz, American actor
17th - Ray J, American R&B singer
18th - Kimberly Gloudemans, Miss California Teen USA (1997)
18th - Latoya Farley, Miss Oklahoma Teen USA (1996)
18th - Khari Stephenson, Jamaican footballer
18th - Kang Dong-won, South Korean model and actor
18th - Olivier Rochus, Belgian tennis player
19th - Asier Del Horno, Spanish footballer
19th - Lucho González, Argentine footballer
20th - Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
20th - Christine Bleakley, BBC Television Host
20th - Owen Hargreaves, English international footballer
20th - Crystal Lowe, Canadian actress
21st - Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
21st - Gillian Chung Yan-tung, Hong Kong singer (Twins)
21st - Jamie Dalrymple, English cricketer
21st - Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player
21st - Andy Lee, Korean singer (Shinhwa)
21st - Izabella Miko, Polish-born actress and model
21st - Alex Ubago, Spanish-Basque singer-songwriter
22nd - Ibrahima Sonko, French footballer
22nd - Willa Ford, American singer
22nd - Beverley Mitchell, American actress
23rd - Rob Friend, Canadian footballer
23rd - Greg Smith, American UFC fighter
24th - Travis Hanson, American baseball player
25th - Tose Proeski, Macedonian Singer (d. 2007)
25th - Francis Jeffers, English footballer
Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys (25th) 25th - Alicia Keys [Cook], New York NY, singer-songwriter (Fallin, Where Do We Go From Here)
26th - Juan Jose Haedo, Argentinian Cyclist
27th - Jonny Lang, blues musician
27th - Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player
28th - Elijah Wood, Cedar Rapids Iowa, actor (Radio Flyer, Good Son)
28th - Rick Razzano, American football player
29th - Álex Ubago, Spanish musician
29th - Darío Lopilato, Argentine actor
30th - Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer
30th - Mathias Lauda, Austrian racing driver
30th - Peter Crouch, English footballer
30th - Josh Kelley, American musician
31st - Sergio D. Acosta, Chicano Filmmaker
31st - Julio Arca, Argentinian football player
31st - Justin Timberlake, Memphis, Tennessee, singer-songwriter (Sexyback, My Love)

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 34 of 34

1st - Hephzibah Menuhin, American-Jewish concert pianist (b. 1920)
2nd - David Lynch, singer (Platters-My Prayer), dies at 51
3rd - Princess Alice of Albany (b. 1883)
5th - Harold C Urey, US chemist (Deuterium, Nobel 1934), dies at 87
5th - Paul Félix, Flemish architect (Song of the Sun), dies at 67
5th - Lanza del Vasto, Italian philosopher (b. 1901)
6th - A[rchibald] J[oseph] Cronin, physician/author (Citadel), dies at 84
6th - A. J. Cronin, Scottish writer (b. 1896)
7th - Jose Ardevol, composer, dies at 69
7th - Alvar Lidell, UK radio broadcaster (b. 1908)
7th - Eric Robinson, Australian politician (b. 1926)
8th - Matthew Beard, entertainer, dies
8th - Woody Chamblis, actor (Mr Lathrop-Gunsmoke), dies at 66
9th - Kazimierz Serocki, composer, dies at 58
10th - Richard Boone, actor (Paladin-Have Gun Will Travel), dies at 63
10th - Fawn M. Brodie, American historian (b. 1915)
11th - Beulah Bondi, actress (It's a Wonderful Life), dies at 88
12th - Beulah Bondi, actress (It's a Wonderful Life), dies at 89
12th - Isobel Elsom, actress (Unseen, Jane Eyre, Illegal), dies at 87
13th - Emiel van Hemeldonck, Belgian writer (Mary, My Child), dies at 83
14th - John O'Grady, Australian writer (Nino Culotta) (b. 1907)
15th - Emanuel Celler, (Rep-D-NY, 1923-73), dies at 92
16th - Bernard Lee, English actor (Fallen Idol, Dr No), dies at 73
17th - Loukas Panourgias, Greek footballer (b. 1899)
21st - Allyn Joslyn, actor (They Won't Forget, Cafe Society), dies at 79
22nd - Fannie Thomas, US, dies at 113
22nd - Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, Pakistani historian and educationist (b. 1903)
23rd - Bobby Sherwood, orchestra leader (Milton Berle Show), dies at 66
23rd - Samuel Barber, US composer (School for Scandal), dies at 70
25th - Adele Marie Astaire, sister of Fred Astaire, dies at 82
25th - Richard Talmadge, actor (Speed Reporter), dies
25th - [Adele] Marie Astaire, actress (Last Man on Earth, Millie), dies at 82
27th - Leo Collard, Belgian minister of Education (1946/54-58), dies at 78
29th - Cozy Cole, rocker (Topsy Part II), dies