The following events occurred in November 1981:
November 1, 1981 (Sunday)
The nation of Antigua and Barbuda gained independence from the United Kingdom. At midnight in St. John's, Antigua, the British flag was hauled down and the Antiguan flag raised in its place at the city's cricket park. Princess Margaret, appearing on behalf of her sister, Queen Elizabeth II, presented the instruments of state to Prime Minister Vere Cornwall Bird."349 years of British rule end", Glasgow Herald, November 2, 1981, p4 Paid maternity leave was introduced in the Soviet Union as part of the 11th Party Congress reforms.Henry W. Morton, Robert C. Stuart, The Contemporary Soviet city (M.E. Sharpe, 1984) p101 Born: LaTavia Roberson, American singer (Destiny's Child), in Houston
November 2, 1981 (Monday) At the U.S. Polaris nuclear submarine base at the Holy Loch in Scotland, a Poseidon missile slipped from a crane that was transferring the weapon from a ballistic missile submarine to the submarine tender . The missile fell 17 feet without incident, although the magazine New Statesman reported in its November 27 issue that the missile had ten nuclear warheads, that there had been the risk of an explosion that could have released a large radioactive cloud, and that the crews had been evacuated."Potential hazard seen in Navy missile mishap, Milwaukee Sentinel, November 27, 1981, p2-7 Although the story has sometimes been retold as an incident where "we almost nuked Scotland" and that the fully armed Poseidon missile "did not detonate, but it could have",Carl Jensen, 20 years of censored news (Seven Stories Press, 1997) p116 the magazine itself emphasized that "The risk was not thermonuclear explosion but detonation in the fierce, sensitive chemical explosives of the warhead trigger-system" that would have released a radioactive cloud."Accidents Will Happen", by Norman Solomon and Duncan Campbell, New Statesman, November 27, 1981 Born: Tatiana Totmianina, Russian pair figure skater, two-time world champion and Olympic gold medals; in Perm Katharine Isabelle, Canadian actress, in Vancouver Died: Kenneth Oakley, 70, English anthropologist whose testing exposed the Piltdown Man as a fraud.
November 3, 1981 (Tuesday) High school junior Anthony Jacques Broussard raped and strangled 14-year-old Marcy Conrad, in Milpitas, California. "The unusual, and perhaps more disturbing, aspect of the crime was what ensued in the two days between the murder and the notification of police",Geoffrey T. Holtz, Welcome to the jungle: the why behind "Generation X" (Macmillan, 1995) p55 an author would write later. Broussard not only bragged about the murder, he took at least 13 of his classmates to see the body before one of them finally told the police."Police say boy bragged, showed body of victim", Milwaukee Sentinel, November 25, 1981, p1 Demonstrators marched in Codrington, on the island of Barbuda, the smaller (population 1,200) of the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, in support of secession from the newly independent nation. Hilbourne Frank, chairperson of the Barbuda Council, declared that at least 75% of the people wanted to separate from the more populous (76,000 people) island of Antigua."Barbuda Island wants to secede from newly independent Antigua", Lewiston (ID) Morning Tribune, November 4, 1981, p6A
November 4, 1981 (Wednesday)
Eagerly anticipated as mankind's first trip into space on a reused vehicle, the second launch of the space shuttle Columbia was called off at literally the last minute. Countdown halted at 00:00:31 when a computer detected an increase of oil pressure in two of the three auxiliary power units."Space Shuttle Flight Halted 31 Seconds Short of Launch", Los Angeles Times, November 4, 1981, pA1 Poland's Communist Party leader, General Wojciech Jaruzelski conferred with Solidarność union leader Lech Wałęsa in a meeting arranged by Cardinal Józef Glemp in a last-ditch effort to resolve the labor crisis in that nation. Wałęsa declined to put the independent union under government control, and a crackdown would follow a month later.Eric Frattini and Dick Cluster, The Entity: Five Centuries of Secret Vatican Espionage (Macmillan, 2008) p335 Dr. George C. Nichopoulos, who had been indicted for overprescribing addictive drugs to Elvis Presley (and indirectly causing Presley's death) was acquitted of all charges."Doctor Ruled Innocent In Elvis Drug Case", Pittsburgh Press, November 5, 1981, pA-6 Hungary applied to the World Bank. It was only the second Communist nation to join.Adam Zwass, The Economies of Eastern Europe in a Time of Change (M.E. Sharpe, 1984) p100, p119; "Hungary Seeks To Join IMF" NYTimes Nov 5, 1981 The Vietnamese Buddhist Songha was created in Hanoi at the behest of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, as the only legal religious organization in that nation, accountable to its government.Philip Taylor, Modernity and Re-Enchantment: Religion in Post-Revolutionary Vietnam (Lexington Books, 2008) p309 After a successful off-Broadway run, Crimes of the Heart began a run at the John Golden Theatre. Playwright Beth Henley, who had been encouraged by friends four years earlier to put her script into production, would later win a Pulitzer Prize for the play, the first of several successful efforts.Don B. Wilmeth and Christopher Bigsby, eds., The Cambridge History of American Theatre: Post-World War II to the 1990s (Cambridge University Press, 2000) p382 The first transfer of land was made under the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981, as South Australian premier David Tonkin transferred back to the control of the Australian Aborigines, the aboriginal landholder.Marcia Langton, Settling with Indigenous People: Modern Treaty and Agreement-making (Federation Press, 2006) Born: Vince Wilfork, American NFL player, in Boynton Beach, Florida
November 5, 1981 (Thursday) Following an all-night meeting in Ottawa of nine of the premiers of the ten provinces of Canada, an agreement was reached on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Excluded was René Lévesque of Quebec, who was told of the results at breakfast later that morning. The agreement of the leaders of the English-speaking provinces was that the power to opt out of application of an amendment to the future Constitution of Canada would be limited to matters of education or culture.Stephen L. Newman, Constitutional politics in Canada and the United States (SUNY Press, 2004) p255; John F. Conway, Debts to pay: the future of federalism in Quebec (James Lorimer & Company, 2004) p115; "Ottawa, 9 provinces get BNA deal but Levesque vows he'll fight on", Montreal Gazette, November 6, 1981, p1 It was announced from Buckingham Palace that Diana, Princess of Wales was pregnant and that her due date would be in June."'Di' Is Cast As Lady Waiting June Birth", Pittsburgh Press, November 5, 1981, pA-1 Prince William would be born on June 21, 1982. The Glucometer, the first portable meter to measure blood sugar levels of patients with diabetes, was introduced."Portable Meter To Aid Diabetics", Pittsburgh Press, November 6, 1981, pA-6 Died: Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa Lama, 57, spiritual leader of the Karma Kagyu system of Tibetan Buddhism, at a hospital in Zion, Illinois. There is a dispute within the Karma Kagyu as to whether he was reincarnated as Ogyen Trinley Dorje (b. 1985)Michele Martin, Music in the sky: the life, art, and teachings of the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje (Snow Lion Publications, 2003) p19 or Trinley Thaye Dorje (b. 1983)
November 6, 1981 (Friday) What was intended as a "tune-up" bout for WBC heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes nearly became an upset when unheralded challenger Renaldo Snipes nearly knocked out Holmes in the 7th round in their fight at Pittsburgh."'Easy' tuneup nearly a nightmare for Holmes", Milwaukee Journal, November 7, 1981, p9 A powerful overhand right by Snipes sent Holmes to the canvas, and the champ staggered into the post in his corner. Holmes came back into the fight as the count reached 8 and continued. In the 11th round, referee Rudy Ortega stopped the fight as Holmes was hitting Snipes with a barrage of punches, and declared Holmes the winner."Referee Stops Fight; Holmes Retains Title", Anchorage Daily News, November 7, 1981, pB-1 The government of Sweden permitted Soviet submarine U-137 to leave its territorial waters, nine days after the sub had run aground while approaching the Karlskrona Naval Base."Swedes free sub; outcry mounts", Milwaukee Journal, November 6, 1981, p3 Born: Cassie Bernall, American victim of the Columbine High School massacre and subject of the book She Said Yes; in Wheat Ridge, Colorado (killed 1999)
November 7, 1981 (Saturday) The skeleton of Saint Lucy, who was martyred in the year 304 and was designated as the patron saint of eyesight, was taken by two masked youths from the Church of San Geremia in Venice, near the Santa Lucia railway station."Saint's remains stolen", Milwaukee Journal, November 9, 1981, p2 Saint Lucy and her relics were recovered on December 13, 1981, which coincided with her feast day. Gianfranco Tiozzo was arrested at a hunting lodge in nearby Marcon, where Lucy's remains had been kept by him."Venetian police recover stolen skeleton of saint", Milwaukee Journal, December 14, 1981, p15 Colonel Ryszard Kukliński, the Chief of Strategic Defense Planning for the People's Army of Poland, escaped to West Germany along with his wife and children, then flew to the United States four days later. Only after his departure was it revealed that the adviser to General Jaruzelski had been spying for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency since 1970. Died: Will Durant, 96, American historian and co-author, with his wife Ariel Durant, of The Story of Civilization
November 8, 1981 (Sunday) In elections in Belgium, Mark Eyskens was forced out of office as Prime Minister of Belgium after only eight months. The French and Flemish Christian Democratic Party candidates lost 21 seats overall, while the two Belgian Socialist parties gained 3 seats, giving the two groups each 61 seats."Weak coalition regime likely after Belgian vote", Milwaukee Journal, November 9, 1981, p3 Wilfried Martens, whose government had collapsed in April, formed a coalition that lasted until 1992.Inter-Parliamentary Union report on Belgium election 8 November 1981 Born: Joe Cole, English footballer, in Islington
November 9, 1981 (Monday) Edict No. 81-234 legally abolished slavery in Mauritania.Edward H. Lawson and Mary Lou Bertucci, Encyclopedia of Human Rights (Taylor & Francis, 1996) p990. Despite bans made by the French colonial administration in 1905 and by the Mauritanian government in 1960 and 1980, the practice persisted, and a report to the U.N. Human Rights Commission by the London-based Anti-Slavery Society estimated that the nation of 1.5 million people had 100,000 slaves."Mauritania has 100,000 slaves: report", The Age (Melbourne), October 8, 1981, p7
November 10, 1981 (Tuesday)