The following events occurred in July 1981:
July 1, 1981 (Wednesday) Typhoon Kelly struck the Philippines and killed more than 150 people in and around Legaspi City. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers walked out on strike at midnight. Mail delivery would be halted for six weeks, finally resuming on August 11. Eastern Airlines Flight 984 was scheduled to depart Guatemala City for Miami at 3:30 pm, but mechanical problems delayed the takeoff. As baggage was being prepared for loading on the Boeing 727, a time bomb exploded inside one of the suitcases at 4:15, when the jet would have been in flight over the Caribbean. Andrija Artukovic, Nazi collaborator who had served as the Minister of the Interior for the Independent State of Croatia before taking up residence at Seal Beach, California, was ordered deported to Yugoslavia to stand trial for war crimes. Four bodies were found in a home at 8763 Wonderland Avenue in the hills above Los Angeles, along with a seriously injured woman. All five had been bludgeoned with a steel pipe. Neighbors had heard screams earlier in the morning, but nobody called the police until 12 hours later. Pornographic movie star John Holmes and nightclub owner Eddie Nash were both indicted for the killings; both were acquitted.
July 2, 1981 (Thursday) The United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that then-President Jimmy Carter had acted within his authority in ending the Iran hostage crisis when he agreed in the Algiers Accords to release frozen Iranian assets no later than July 19, in return for the release of 52 American hostages from Iran. The decision, made only 8 days after the Court heard arguments, cleared the way for $2.3 billion to be transferred from U.S. banks to Iran. Earlier on the same day, eight of the former hostages sued Iran in federal court, seeking $5,000,000 apiece, despite a waiver of the right to sue as part of the same accords."Hostages deal wins court OK"; "Ex-hostages seek $5 million each"; Spokane Spokesman-Review, July 3, 1981, p1
July 3, 1981 (Friday) Chris Evert Lloyd defeated Hana Mandlíková in straight sets, becoming the first woman in 14 years to win the singles championship at Wimbledon without losing a single set. In seven matches, she lost only 26 games. A race riot began in Southall, London, as a group of white "skinheads" clashed with British Asians. The next day, black British youths in the Toxteth section of Liverpool fought with police, and within a week, disturbances would break out in other English cities. The New York Times became the first major newspaper to report on the existence of AIDS, with a report on page 20, headlined "Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals". Initially referred to as "GRID" (for "Gay Related Immune Disorder"), the illness would later be named Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The news, picked up by CNN the next day, was based on an article in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, entitled "Kaposi's Sarcoma and Pneumocystis Pneumonia Among Homosexual Men- New York City and California". Died: Ross Martin, 61, American TV actor best known as Artemus Gordon on The Wild Wild West. Born as Martin Rosenblatt in Poland, Martin was playing tennis at Ramona, California, when he collapsed. Chen Wen-chen, 31, an assistant mathematics professor in the United States at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, was killed by security police during a vacation in his homeland in Taiwan.
July 4, 1981 (Saturday) Kenji Urada, an employee at the automated Kawasaki Heavy Industries factory, became what was reported as the first person to be killed by a robot. However, an American worker, Robert Williams of the Ford Motor Company plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, had been killed by a robot two years earlier, on January 25, 1979. After losing the first set, 4–6, to Björn Borg, John McEnroe won the men's singles championship at Wimbledon with three straight sets (7-6, 7–6 and 6-4), but not without outraging his hosts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club by his outbursts against the officials. The first gay pride event in Britain was held outside London for the first time in solidarity with the Gemini Club in Huddersfield West Yorkshire. The event also featured the first national Pride march beginning at Leeds Road.
July 5, 1981 (Sunday) After initial doubts about whether his Likud party had been defeated by the Labor Party of Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Menachem Begin was able to declare victory in the closest election in the history of Israel. Under the Israeli system of government, representation in Parliament was based upon the proportion of the overall balloting. With 718,941 votes, Likud had 37.1% for 48 seats, while the 708,356 for Labour was 36.6% for 47 seats, giving Begin the right to assemble the coalition in the 120-seat Knesset. Rajan Mahadevan recited pi to 31,811 digits before an audience in Mangalore. The event took 3 hours and 49 minutes, including a total of 26 minutes of breaks, and was sponsored by the local Lions Club International, Lion Seva Mandir. The record would stand until 1987, when Hideaki Tomoyoni repeated the first 40,000 digits. Died: Pedro Henrique of Orléans-Braganza, 71, Brazilian farmer and claimant to the throne of the abolished monarchy of Brazil as great-grandson of Dom Pedro II, the last Emperor, who had been deposed in 1889. Pedro's son, Brazilian chemist Luiz Orléans-Braganza, became the new claimant to the throne. Manuel Urrutia Lleó, 81, former President of Cuba who was installed, and later deposed, by Fidel Castro following the 1959 Revolution
July 6, 1981 (Monday) On trial in Los Angeles under accusation of being the Hillside Strangler, Kenneth Bianchi took the witness stand in his own defense. After initially denying his involvement in the slayings of ten young women, Bianchi unexpectedly began a detailed confession and calmly described each of the murders in detail.
July 7, 1981 (Tuesday) Infosys, a worldwide outsourcing and information technology service, was founded in Maharashtra, India. Piloted by Stephen Ptacek, the Solar Challenger, an airplane powered entirely by the sun, crossed the English Channel. Built by Paul MacCready, the plane, covered with 16,128 solar cells, took off from France at Cormeilles-en-Vexin, then traveled in 5 hours and 23 minutes and landed in England at RAF Manston, landing at 4:47 p.m. "I'm pleased to announce that upon completion of all the necessary checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, I will send to the Senate the nomination of Judge Sandra Day O'Connor of the Arizona Court of Appeals for confirmation as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court." With those words, U.S. President Ronald Reagan named O'Connor as the 102nd person, and first woman, to ever serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Born: MS Dhoni (Mahendra Singh Dhoni), Indian cricketer, in Ranchi, Bihar state (now Ranchi, Jharkhand state) Died: Peace Pilgrim (Mildred Norman), 72, American pacifist who attracted attention to her causes by walking across the United States; in an auto accident near Knox, Indiana
July 8, 1981 (Wednesday) Lt. Adriano Bomba of Mozambique flew a Soviet-built MiG-17 jet fighter into South Africa and then signaled to intercepting forces that he wished to surrender. Bomba, a black African defector, was given asylum by the white minority government that ruled the nation during the apartheid era, in return for military intelligence. During an arson attack on a bus depot in Belfast in Northern Ireland, 16-year-old Catholic John Dempsey became the first of two teenagers in two days to be killed by British Army snipers. The next day, Danny Barrett, 15, was killed by a British soldier. Born: Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player, 2004 French Open winner; in Moscow Died: Irish Republican Joe McDonnell, 29, at the Long Kesh Internment Camp after a 61-day hunger strike
July 9, 1981 (Thursday) Donkey Kong, a video game created by Nintendo, was released. The game marked the debut of Nintendo's then-future mascot, Mario. The Minitel videotex system for the general public was given its first test, in the town of Vélizy, France, before being taken nationwide. Died: Ruth Brooks Flippen (born Ruth Albertina Brooks), 59, American television and motion picture screenwriter, 1975 Emmy Award winner Meyer Levin, 75, American Jewish novelist
July 10, 1981 (Friday) The Israel Defense Forces began a regular bombardment of Palestine Liberation Organization strongholds in Lebanon. The siege escalated after the Palestinian guerillas began shelling Israeli settlements. Until a July 24 ceasefire, 450 Palestinians and Lebanese, and 6 Israelis, died. Ken Rex McElroy was murdered in Skidmore, Missouri by several unknown gunmen as a group of 60 people, frustrated with McElroy's continued violations of the law, gathered. The example of vigilante justice would later be recounted in books and a made-for-TV movie. The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, cult leader from India, purchased a ranch near Antelope, Oregon and named the haven Rajneeshpuram.
July 11, 1981 (Saturday) Rioting in the UK reached its height, with thousands of people fighting with police in cities across England. In addition to London, violence flared in Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield, Nottingham, Hull, Manchester, Preston and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The Writers Guild of America ended its 13-week strike, which had begun on March 2.
July 12, 1981 (Sunday) Three days of torrential rains began in China's Sichuan Province, with up to raising the level of the Yangtze River and its tributaries as much as . Initial reports from the Xinhua news agency reported 3,000 deaths and 100,000 injuries. The official numbers would be revised two weeks later, but the toll was still high, with 753 dead, 558 missing, 28,140 injured and 1.5 million people left homeless.
July 13, 1981 (Monday) American track and field athlete Ben Plucknett, the world record holder for the discus throw, was banned for life by the International Association of Athletics Federations, after his urine tested positive for anabolic steroids. Plucknett's July 7 record of , and an earlier mark of , were stricken, and the official world record reverted to the mark set by Wolfgang Schmidt of East Germany. Troopers Merle J. Cook and Robert L. Pruitt and Corporal Cleo L. Tomlinson, Jr., of the Florida Highway Patrol died on duty in an aircraft accident while searching for two burglary suspects. Born: Ágnes Kovács, Hungarian swimmer, in Budapest Died: Irish Republican Martin Hurson, 24, at the Long Kesh Internment Camp after a 46-day hunger strike
July 14, 1981 (Tuesday) Max Hugel, a millionaire who had been appointed by CIA Director William Casey to serve as Deputy Director for Clandestine Operations despite having "no visible qualifications", resigned hours after The Washington Post broke a story headlined, "Spymaster Is Accused of Improper Stock Practices".
July 15, 1981 (Wednesday) Aspartame, the artificial sweetener marketed as NutraSweet, was approved for sale in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration. Initially, the product was cleared only for use at home, but would later be approved as a food additive.
July 16, 1981 (Thursday) Mahathir Mohamad was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. Mahathir would serve for 22 years, retiring in 2003. Died: Harry Chapin, 38, folk singer and hunger activist, was killed in a car wreck near Jericho, New York on the Long Island Expressway. Chapin had shifted lanes into the path of a Rickel Home Centers truck, which was unable to avoid a collision with his car, and died of a ruptured aneurysm caused by the impact. Chapin's death came at 12:29 p.m., seven-and-a-half hours before he was scheduled to perform in a free outdoor concert at Eisenhower Park at East Meadow. A jury later found Chapin to be 40% at fault in the accident, with the driver primarily liable, and awarded $7,200,000 to his widow.
July 17, 1981 (Friday)