1981 Time Capsule

[Sandy]

Population: 4.529 billion


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

More World Statistics...
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.


More History...
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

More U.S. Statistics...
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).


More History...
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)



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)
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)


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)

More Entertainment Awards...
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
Deaths
Joe Louis


Anwar Sadat


Bobby Sands


Bill Haley
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Bunny Sandy Photo Album