May 1, 1981 (Friday)

• The first frequent-flyer program was introduced, with American Airlines
  American Airlines
  American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
  
   launching "AAdvantage." People flying on "AA" were rewarded with credits that could be amassed and used for free travel. Soon, other airlines followed suit.
• An 8-year old boy in Spain
  Spain
  Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
  
   became the first victim of toxic oil syndrome
  Toxic oil syndrome
  Toxic Oil Syndrome or simply Toxic Syndrome was the name given to a disease outbreak in Spain in 1981, which killed over 600 people. Its first appearance was as a lung disease, with unusual features: though the symptoms initially resembled a lung infection, antibiotics were ineffective...
  
  , dying from acute respiratory insufficiency after eating food prepared in a cooking oil
  Cooking oil
  Cooking oil is purified fat of plant origin, which is usually liquid at room temperature ....
  
   that contained aniline
  Aniline
  Aniline, phenylamine or aminobenzene is an organic compound with the formula C6H5NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the prototypical aromatic amine. Being a precursor to many industrial chemicals, its main use is in the manufacture of precursors to polyurethane...
  
  . Before the source was located, 20,643 cases were documented and 312 others died within the first year.
• U.S. Senator Harrison Williams
  Harrison A. Williams
  Harrison Arlington "Pete" Williams, Jr. was a Democrat who represented New Jersey in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate . Williams was convicted on May 1, 1981 for taking bribes in the Abscam sting operation, and resigned from the U.S. Senate in 1982...
  
   of New Jersey
  New Jersey
  New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
  
   was convicted on felony charges of bribery and conspiracy, and sentenced to 3 years in prison. Senator Williams refused to resign until his conviction was upheld on appeal, and quit on March 11, 1982.
• In response to pressure from the United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
  , Japan
  Japan
  Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
  
  's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) enacted a voluntary restraint agreement (VRA), reducing the number of car sales to the U.S. to 1,680,000 units. The VRA remained in effect until March 1, 1985.
• Born: Alexander Hleb, Belarusian-born soccer football player, in Minsk
  Minsk
  - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
  
  

May 2, 1981 (Saturday)

• Aer Lingus Flight 164
  Aer Lingus Flight 164
  Aer Lingus flight EI 164 was a scheduled Boeing 737 passenger flight, from Dublin Airport in the Republic of Ireland to London Heathrow Airport, which was hijacked on 2 May 1981....
  
   from Dublin to London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
   was hijacked by Laurence James Downey, whose motive was to learn the 3rd of the Three Secrets of Fátima
  Three Secrets of Fatima
  The Three Secrets of Fátima consist of a series of visions and prophecies given by an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three young Portuguese shepherds, Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, starting on 13 May 1917. The three children claimed to have been visited by a...
  
  . After dowsing himself with gasoline and threatening to set himself afire, Downey ordered the Boeing 737 to fly to the French city of Le Touquet and held the 113 people on board hostage, demanding publication of his manifesto, and for Pope John Paul II
  Pope John Paul II
  Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
  
   to disclose the third secret. French anti-terrorist police rushed aboard the airliner after 8 hours and took Downey into custody, without the secret being revealed. Downey lived to see the Vatican's release of the secret on June 26, 2000.

May 3, 1981 (Sunday)

• Symeon of Thessaloniki
  Symeon of Thessaloniki
  Symeon was born in Constantinople, most likely between 1381 and 1387. He was archbishop of Thessaloniki from 1416 or 1417 until his death in 1429.-Life:...
  
   was proclaimed a saint of the Greek Orthodox Church
  Greek Orthodox Church
  The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...
  
   by unanimous decision of church officials.

May 4, 1981 (Monday)

• The U.S. Federal Communications Commission
  Federal Communications Commission
  The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
  
   announced that it had set aside the 40 MHz range of the radio spectrum for future use by cellular telephone systems, with each market to received two equal blocks, one of which would be granted to the local telephone service provider, and the other to the highest bidder. The number of available channels for communication had been 44 since 1946, and was increased to 666 by the ruling.
• Born: Jacques Rudolph
  Jacques Rudolph
  Jacobus Andries Rudolph , popularly known as Jacques Rudolph, is a South African Test and ODI cricketer currently playing in England with Yorkshire CCC and in South Africa with Titans.He had an unbeaten 222 in his debut Test inning...
  
  , South African cricketer, in Springs
  Springs, Gauteng
  Springs is a city on the East Rand in the Gauteng province of South Africa.It lies 50 km east of Johannesburg. The name of the city derives from the large number of springs in the area; it has a population of more than 200,000, and is situated at 5,340 ft a.s.l...
  
  
• Died: Paul Green
  Paul Green
  Paul Eliot Green was an American playwright best known for his depictions of life in North Carolina during the first decades of the twentieth century...
  
  , American playwright

May 5, 1981 (Tuesday)

• The Declaration on Euthanasia was issued by Pope John Paul II
  Pope John Paul II
  Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
  
  .
• While in orbit in the Salyut 6
  Salyut 6
  Salyut 6 , DOS-5, was a Soviet orbital space station, the eighth flown as part of the Salyut programme. Launched on 29 September 1977 by a Proton rocket, the station was the first of the 'second-generation' type of space station. Salyut 6 possessed several revolutionary advances over the earlier...
  
   space station, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok
  Vladimir Kovalyonok
  -Honours and awards:* Hero of the Soviet Union, twice * Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class * Order of Military Merit * Three Orders of Lenin...
  
   saw what he described as an unidentified flying object that resembled a transparent barbell, kept the same speed as the station, and then exploded. Kovalyonok described the experience 12 years later in an interview.
• Born: Craig David
  Craig David
  Craig Ashley David is an English singer and songwriter. He has released five studio albums: Born to Do It, Slicker Than Your Average, The Story Goes..., Trust Me, Signed Sealed Delivered and a Greatest Hits album...
  
  , English R&B singer, in Southampton
  Southampton
  Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
  
  
• Died: Bobby Sands
  Bobby Sands
  Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze....
  
  , inmate at the Maze Prison, convicted activist of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and a Member of the Parliament, died on the 66th day of his hunger strike, at the age of 27. Sands had gone into a coma and succumbed at 1:17 am local time. British policy toward hunger strikers had been changed in 1974 to prohibit forced feeding or other medical intervention.
• Died: Alphonse Indelicato, 50; Dominick Trinchera
  Dominick Trinchera
  Dominick "Big Trin" Trinchera was a Bonanno crime family capo who was murdered with Alphonse Indelicato and Phillip Giaccone for planning the overthrow of aspiring Bonanno boss Phillip Rastelli.-Biography:Born in Rockland, New York, Trinchera was the son of an immigrant from Rome, Italy and an...
  
  , 44; and Philip Giaccone
  Philip Giaccone
  Phillip Giaccone also known as "Philly Lucky" and "The Priest" was a Bonanno crime family member.-The three capos murder:...
  
  , 48, three high ranking bosses in the Bonanno crime family
  Bonanno crime family
  The Bonanno crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia ....
  
  , were shot to death after being invited to a meeting at the 20/20 Nightclub in Brooklyn by Joseph Massino of the Rastelli family. Massino's men then disposed of the bodies.

May 6, 1981 (Wednesday)

• Citing Libya
  Libya
  Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
  
  's support of international terrorism, the United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
   ordered the closure of the Libyan Embassy in Washington, D.C.
  Washington, D.C.
  Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
  
  . Ambassador Ali Houderi was summoned to the U.S. State Department, and told to withdraw the 27 diplomats and their families within one week. The U.S. Embassy in Libya had closed in 1980. Diplomatic relations were restored in 2004.
• Maurice Papon
  Maurice Papon
  Maurice Papon was a French civil servant, industrial leader and Gaullist politician, who was convicted for crimes against humanity for his participation in the deportation of over 1600 Jews during World War II when he was secretary general for police of the Prefecture of Bordeaux.Papon also...
  
  , the Minister of the Budget of France
  France
  The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
  
  ,
• The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
  Vietnam Veterans Memorial
  The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C. It honors U.S. service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for during the War.Its...
  
   Fund announced that it had accepted the design of 21 year old architecture student Maya Ying Lin for the memorial in Washington D.C. Lin's proposal #1026 out of 1,421 reviewed by a panel of judges.
• A U.S. Air Force C-135 plane, similar to a Boeing 707, exploded at 10:45 while at an altitude of 28,000 feet. All 21 USAF personnel on board were killed, and the wreckage was scattered over an area near Frederick, Maryland
  Frederick, Maryland
  Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
  
  .
• Died: Frank Fitzsimmons
  Frank Fitzsimmons
  Frank Edward Fitzsimmons , was an American labor leader. He was acting president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1967 to 1971, and president from 1971 to 1981.-Early life:...
  
  , 72, Teamsters union President. Roy Williams
  Roy Lee Williams
  Roy Lee Williams was an American labor leader who was president of the Teamsters from May 15, 1981, to April 14, 1983.-Early life and career:...
  
   succeeded him on May 15.

May 7, 1981 (Thursday)

• Stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld
  Jerry Seinfeld
  Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
  
  , of Massapequa, New York
  Massapequa, New York
  Massapequa is a hamlet located in the suburban Nassau County, New York. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 21,685.Massapequa is located on the South Shore of Long Island....
  
  , performed for a national audience for the first time, introduced by Johnny Carson
  Johnny Carson
  John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
  
   on The Tonight Show
  The Tonight Show
  The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
  
  . His routine, taped in the evening, aired an hour into that night's show. Seinfeld's national television debut had been in 1980 on three shows of the TV comedy Benson.
• A school bus accident in Surakarta
  Surakarta
  Surakarta, also called Solo or Sala, is a city in Central Java, Indonesia of more than 520,061 people with a population density of 11,811.5 people/km2. The 44 km2 city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoharjo Regency to the east and...
  
  , Indonesia, killed 31 people, mostly children, when the driver ignored a signal at a railroad crossing.

May 8, 1981 (Friday)

• A sinkhole
  Sinkhole
  A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...
  
   in Winter Park, Florida
  Winter Park, Florida
  Winter Park is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,090 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 28,083. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area...
  
   began forming near South Denning Drive and West Fairbanks Avenue at 8 p.m. By Saturday, it had "swallowed" the home of 67-year old beautician Mae Rose Owens, along with six cars at German Car Service, a Porsche dealership, and part of the municipal swimming pool before stabilizing.
• Maureen Mosie, believed to be the last victim of the "Trans-Canada Highway Killer", was found beaten to death at Kamloops in British Columbia
  British Columbia
  British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
  
  . Beginning on October 19, 1973, and continuing for more than seven years, 28 young women and girls, in British Columbia and Alberta, most of them hitchhikers, were raped and murdered. The crimes remain unsolved.
• Died: Uri Zvi Grinberg, 84, Israeli poet and journalist

May 9, 1981 (Saturday)

• Direct elections were held in Nepal
  Nepal
  Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
  
   for the first time for the parliament, the Rashtriya Panchayat.
• India's Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi
  Indira Gandhi
  Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
  
   overwhelmingly won a vote of confidence, 275-90, following a ten hour debate that had begun the afternoon before.
• Died: Nelson Algren
  Nelson Algren
  Nelson Algren was an American writer.-Early life:Algren was born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Goldie and Gerson Abraham. At the age of three he moved with his parents to Chicago, Illinois where they lived in a working-class, immigrant neighborhood on the South Side...
  
  , 72, American author

May 10, 1981 (Sunday)

• French presidential election, 1981
  French presidential election, 1981
  The French presidential election of 1981 took place on 10 May 1981, giving the presidency of France to François Mitterrand, the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic....
  
  : In the second round of the presidential elections in France, François Mitterrand
  François Mitterrand
  François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
  
   beat President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
  Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
  Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...
  
  , receiving 15,708,262 votes to Giscard's 14,642,306. Mitterrand had been defeated for the presidency in 1965 and in 1974 before winning a seven year term.
• Joseph Christopher
  Joseph Christopher
  Joseph Christopher was an American serial killer who was active from September 22, 1980 until his arrest on May 10, 1981. He was known as the ".22-Caliber Killer" and the "Midtown Slasher." It is believed that he killed twelve individuals and wounded numerous others, almost all of them African...
  
  , a serial killer
  Serial killer
  A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
  
   who killed twelve people was arrested, and charged with the murders of four soldiers earlier in the year. He had been hospitalized on May 6 after a suicide attempt, the "Midtown Slasher", bragged to a nurse about his crimes.

May 11, 1981 (Monday)

• Andrew Lloyd Weber's hit musical Cats
  Cats (musical)
  Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
  
   was performed for the first time, beginning an 8,949 show run at the New London Theatre
  New London Theatre
  The New London Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden...
  
  , closing on May 11, 2002. The Broadway production would open at the Winter Garden Theatre
  Winter Garden Theatre
  The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1634 Broadway in midtown Manhattan.-History:The structure was built by William Kissam Vanderbilt in 1896 to be the American Horse Exchange....
  
   on September 23, 1982.
• Born: Lauren Jackson
  Lauren Jackson
  Lauren Elizabeth Jackson is an Australian professional basketball player. Jackson began her professional career at the Australian Institute of Sport in the WNBL before moving on to the Canberra Capitals. She is currently a forward/centre with the Seattle Storm of the WNBA and the Australian...
  
  , Australian-born pro basketball player, MVP winner of WNBA in 2003, 2007 and 2010, and of Australia's WNBL
  Women's National Basketball League
  The Women's National Basketball League is the pre-eminent women's professional basketball league in Australia. It currently is composed of ten teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Basketball League...
  
    in 1999, 2000, and 2004; in Albury, NSW; and Daisuke Matsui
  Daisuke Matsui
  is a Japanese footballer who currently plays for Dijon in Ligue 1.-Early years:In 2000, Matsui graduated from and began his professional career with Kyoto Purple Sanga of the J. League.-Kyoto Purple Sanga:...
  
  , Japanese soccer football player, in Kyoto
  Kyoto
  is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
  
  
• Died: Bob Marley
  Bob Marley
  Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
  
  , 36, Jamaican singer and musician

May 12, 1981 (Tuesday)

• U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Richard Schweiker
  Richard Schweiker
  Richard Schultz Schweiker is a former U.S. Congressman and Senator representing the state of Pennsylvania. He later was Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Cabinet of President Ronald Reagan.-Early life:...
  
   announced the Reagan administration's plan to balance the budget by reducing social security benefits paid for early retirement from 80% of the full rate to 55%. The proposal was so unpopular that both Republicans and Democrats agreed on it, voting 96-0 on a resolution to condemn the idea.
• Died: Benjamin H. Sheares, 73, President of Singapore
  President of Singapore
  The President of the Republic of Singapore is Singapore's head of state. In a Westminster parliamentary system, as which Singapore governs itself, the prime minister is the head of the government while the position of president is largely ceremonial. Before 1993, the President of Singapore was...
  
   since 1971; and Francis Hughes
  Francis Hughes
  Francis Hughes was an Irish volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army . Hughes was the most wanted man in Northern Ireland until his arrest following a shoot-out with the Special Air Service in which an SAS soldier was killed...
  
  , 25, hunger striker at Maze Prison
• Last known simmage date for www.cricsim.com

May 13, 1981 (Wednesday)

• Pope John Paul II
  Pope John Paul II
  Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
  
   was shot and seriously wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca
  Mehmet Ali Agca
  Mehmet Ali Ağca is a Turkish assassin who murdered left-wing journalist Abdi İpekçi on February 1, 1979 and later shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981, after escaping from a Turkish prison. After serving 19 years of imprisonment in Italy, he was deported to Turkey, where he served a...
  
  , a Turkish gunman, as he entered St. Peter's Square in Vatican City to address a general audience. At 5:17 pm local time (11:17 am EST), the Pontiff was wounded by Agca, who fired from a distance of 15 feet. Bystanders Ann Odre of the United States, and Rose Hill of Jamaica, were also injured.

May 14, 1981 (Thursday)

• 1981 NBA Finals
  1981 NBA Finals
  The 1981 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1980-81 NBA season, pitting the Boston Celtics against the Houston Rockets.-Houston Rockets:...
  
  : The Boston Celtics
  Boston Celtics
  The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
  
   defeated the Houston Rockets
  Houston Rockets
  The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
  
   102-91 to win the National Basketball Association championship series, 4 games to 2.
• The collision between an express train and the rear of another passenger train, near Kyongsan, South Korea
  South Korea
  The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
  
   killed 53 people and injured 233 others. The first train had backed up 300 yards after striking a stalled motorcycle, and the second was unable to stop in time after rounding a blind curve.

May 15, 1981 (Friday)

• Dying of leukemia, Soong Ching-ling
  Soong Ching-ling
  Soong Ching-ling , also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, was one of the three Soong sisters—who, along with their husbands, were amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. She was the Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China...
  
  , 90, was named as the ceremonial head of state of the People's Republic of China
  People's Republic of China
  China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
  
  . The widow of Sun Yat-sen
  Sun Yat-sen
  Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
  
  , she was the first person to hold the office since Liu Shaoqi
  Liu Shaoqi
  Liu Shaoqi was a Chinese revolutionary, statesman, and theorist. He was Chairman of the People's Republic of China, China's head of state, from 27 April 1959 to 31 October 1968, during which he implemented policies of economic reconstruction in China...
  
   (Liu Shao-chi) was deposed as President in 1967. She died two weeks later.
• Len Barker
  Len Barker
  Leonard Harold Barker III , better known as Lenny Barker or Len Barker, is a former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher. He pitched the tenth perfect game in baseball history. Barker pitched for the Texas Rangers , Cleveland Indians , Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers...
  
   pitched the first perfect game
  Perfect game
  A perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposing player reaches base. Thus, the pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batsmen, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any...
  
   in Major League Baseball
  Major League Baseball
  Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
  
   since 1968, in the Cleveland Indians
  Cleveland Indians
  The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
  
  ' 3-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays
  Toronto Blue Jays
  The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
  
  . A crowd of only 7,290 saw the game in Cleveland. Barker's catcher, Ron Hassey
  Ron Hassey
  Ronald William Hassey is a retired Major League Baseball catcher. Hassey began his career with the Cleveland Indians after the Indians drafted him in the 18th round of the 1976 MLB amateur draft...
  
  , also caught the perfect game pitched on July 28, 1991, by Dennis Martinez
  Dennis Martínez
  José Dennis Martínez Emilia , nicknamed "El Presidente" , is a former Major League Baseball pitcher...
  
   in the Expos' 2-0 win over the Dodgers.
• Born: Patrice Evra
  Patrice Evra
  Patrice Latyr Evra is a French international footballer who currently plays for English club Manchester United in the Premier League and the France national team. Originally an attacker, he primarily plays as a left back and is described as "the classic example of a modern full-back" who is...
  
  , Senegalese-born French footballer, in Dakar
  Dakar
  Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
  
  ; Justin Morneau
  Justin Morneau
  Justin Ernest George Morneau is a Canadian Major League Baseball first baseman for the Minnesota Twins. At 6 feet 4 inches and 225 lbs, Morneau was originally drafted as a catcher by the Twins in 1999. He converted to first base in the minor leagues and made his MLB debut in 2003...
  
  , Canadian-born MLB baseball player, in New Westminster, BC; and Zara Phillips
  Zara Phillips
  Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips, MBE is the second child and only daughter of Princess Anne and her first husband Captain Mark Phillips and is 13th in the line of succession to the throne...
  
  , British princess and equestrian sports champion, in London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
  
• Died: Odd Hassel
  Odd Hassel
  Odd Hassel was a Norwegian physical chemist and Nobel Laureate.-Biography:Born in Kristiania, his parents were Ernst Hassel, a gynaecologist, and Mathilde Klaveness. In 1915, he entered the University of Oslo where he studied mathematics, physics and chemistry, and graduated in 1920...
  
  , 83, Norwegian chemist and 1969 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry
  The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
  
   laureate

May 16, 1981 (Saturday)

• Soyuz 40
  Soyuz 40
  -Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: 6800 kg*Perigee: 198.1 km*Apogee: 287 km*Inclination: 51.6°*Period: 89.06 minutes-Mission highlights:...
  
  , carrying the first Romanian cosmonaut, Dumitru Prunariu
  Dumitru Prunariu
  Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu is a retired Romanian astronaut who flew aboard Soyuz 40.-Early life and career:Born on September 27, 1952 in Braşov, Romania, Prunariu graduated from the Physics and Mathematics high school in Braşov in 1971 and from the University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest in 1976,...
  
  , and veteran Leonid Popov
  Leonid Popov
  Leonid Ivanovich Popov is a former Soviet cosmonaut.Popov was born in Oleksandriia, Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. He was selected as a cosmonaut on April 27, 1970, and flew as Commander on Soyuz 35, Soyuz 40 and Soyuz T-7, logging 200 days, 14 hours, and 45 minutes in space before his...
  
  , docked with the Salyut-6 space station, two days after launching. The pair were greeted by Vladimir Kovalyonok and Viktor Savinykh, who had been in outer space since March 12.

May 17, 1981 (Sunday)

• Sheikh Hasina
  Sheikh Hasina
  Sheikh Hasina is a Bangladeshi politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Awami League, a major political party, since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh and widow of a reputed nuclear...
  
  , the daughter of Bangladesh
  Bangladesh
  Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
  
   founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
  Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
  Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali nationalist politician and the founder of Bangladesh. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its Prime Minister. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its...
  
   returned from India after more than five years exile that began after his assassination. More than one million of her supporters turned out to welcome her return, and she urged the nation to work toward restoring democracy. On May 30, President Ziaur Rahman would be assassinated. As leader of the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina would become Prime Minister of Bangladesh in 2009.
• Died: Jeannette Piccard
  Jeannette Piccard
  Jeannette Ridlon Piccard was an American high-altitude balloonist, and in later life an Episcopal priest. She held the women's altitude record for nearly three decades, and according to several contemporaneous accounts was regarded as the first woman in space.Jeannette was the first licensed...
  
  , 86, first woman to be ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church

May 18, 1981 (Monday)

• The first news article about AIDS
  AIDS
  Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
  
   appeared on page 7 of the New York Native
  New York Native
  The New York Native was a fortnightly Pre-Immunization Revolution newspaper published in New York City from December 1980 until January 13, 1997. It was the only paper in New York City during the early part, and pioneered the notion of cancer in combination with AIDS, when most others ignored it...
  
  , a gay bi-weekly newspaper, under the headline "Disease Rumors Largely Unfounded." Larry Mass, a physician and contributor to the Native, had been alerted to an increase in reported cases of pneumocystis pneumonia
  Pneumocystis pneumonia
  Pneumocystis pneumonia or pneumocystosis is a form of pneumonia, caused by the yeast-like fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii...
  
   among gay men, and broke the news two weeks before it was officially announced in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
• Died: William Saroyan
  William Saroyan
  William Saroyan was an Armenian American dramatist and author. The setting of many of his stories and plays is the center of Armenian-American life in California in his native Fresno.-Early years:...
  
  , 72, American author

May 19, 1981 (Tuesday)

• Pitcher Jim Bibby
  Jim Bibby
  James Blair Bibby was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. During a 12-year baseball career, he pitched from 1972-1984 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he was a member of its 1979 World Series Champions...
  
   of the Pittsburgh Pirates
  Pittsburgh Pirates
  The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
  
   had a near perfect baseball game against the Atlanta Braves
  Atlanta Braves
  The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
  
  . After the first batter hit a single, Bibby kept the next 27 batters from reaching first base, for a 5-0 win.
• Born: Georges St-Pierre, Canadian UFC fighter, in Saint-Isidore
  Saint-Isidore, Montérégie, Quebec
  Saint-Isidore is a parish municipality in the Roussillon Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada, situated in the Montérégie administrative region. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 2,489. It is hometown of mixed martial arts superstar Georges St-Pierre.-Population:Population...
  
  , Quebec

May 20, 1981 (Wednesday)

• The first major biotechnology
  Biotechnology
  Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
  
   contract was signed between the Massachusetts General Hospital
  Massachusetts General Hospital
  Massachusetts General Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts...
  
   and the German pharmaceutical firm Hoechst AG
  Hoechst AG
  Hoechst AG was a German chemicals then life-sciences company that became Aventis Deutschland after its merger with France's Rhône-Poulenc S.A. in 1999...
  
  , with the corporation agreeing to pay the hospital $70,000,000 over ten years for genetic research.
• Born: Iker Casillas
  Íker Casillas
  Iker Casillas Fernández is a Spanish football goalkeeper who plays for the Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Spanish national team, being the captain of both...
  
  , Spanish World Cup winning goalkeeper, in footballer, in Móstoles
  Móstoles
  Móstoles is the second-largest city in population belonging to the autonomous community of Madrid. It is located 18 kilometres southwest from central Madrid. Móstoles was for a long time only a small village, but expanded rapidly in the twentieth century....
  
  
• Died: Harry Vaughn, controversial aide to President Harry Truman

May 21, 1981 (Thursday)

• The World Health Organization
  World Health Organization
  The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
  
   approved the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
  International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
  The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes is an international health policy framework for breastfeeding promotion adopted by the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization in 1981...
  
   by a vote of 118 to 1. The lone vote against the code came from the United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
  .
• François Mitterrand
  François Mitterrand
  François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
  
   was inaugurated as President of France for the first of two terms of seven years each.
• The New York Islanders
  New York Islanders
  The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
  
   won their second consecutive Stanley Cup
  Stanley Cup
  The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
  
  , beating the Minnesota North Stars
  Minnesota North Stars
  The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white...
  
   5-1 in Game 5 of the series.
• The mysterious death of a 15 month old infant became the first sign that ICU Nurse Genene Jones
  Genene Jones
  Genene Anne Jones is a former pediatric nurse who killed somewhere between 11 and 46 infants and children in her care. She used injections of digoxin, heparin and later succinylcholine to induce medical crises in her patients, with the intention of reviving them afterward in order to receive...
  
   was murdering her young patients.
• Born: Anna Rogowska
  Anna Rogowska
  Anna Rogowska is a Polish pole vaulter, current reigning World Champion.-Career:Born in Gdynia, she won the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics, narrowly beating Monika Pyrek, another Polish pole vaulter born in Gdynia. Early 2005 brought success as she won the silver medal in the European Indoor...
  
  , Polish pole vaulter, in Gdynia
  Gdynia
  Gdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...
  
  ; and Josh Hamilton, American baseball player, in Raleigh, NC

May 22, 1981 (Friday)

• Atlanta Child Murders
  Atlanta child murders
  The Atlanta Child Murders, known locally as the "missing and murdered children case", were a series of murders committed in Atlanta, Georgia, United States from the summer of 1979 until the spring of 1981. Over the two-year period, a minimum of twenty-eight African-American children, adolescents...
  
  : A white Chevrolet station wagon driven by Wayne Williams
  Wayne Williams
  Wayne Bertram Williams is an American serial killer who committed most of the Atlanta Child Murders that occurred in 1979 through 1981. In January 1982, Williams was found guilty of the murder of two adult men...
  
   was stopped by FBI agents and Atlanta police, shortly after they had seen his car stop on a bridge over the Chattahoochee River
  Chattahoochee River
  The Chattahoochee River flows through or along the borders of the U.S. states of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers and emptying into Apalachicola Bay in the Gulf of...
  
  , heard a loud splash, and watched the car drive away. A stakeout of bridges over the river had been unproductive, and the operation had been scheduled to end a 6:00 am. Williams was released, but kept under surveillance. Two days later, the body of Nathaniel Cater was found in the river. Cater had last been seen with Williams on the night before the incident, and animal hairs on his body were consistent with those belong to Williams's dog.
• Serial killer Peter Sutcliffe
  Peter Sutcliffe
  Peter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...
  
  , known as the Yorkshire Ripper, was convicted of 13 counts of murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment, with no parole for at least 30 years.

May 23, 1981 (Saturday)

• The first victim of the Ripper Crew
  Ripper Crew
  Ripper Crew or Chicago Rippers was a satanic cult and organized crime group composed of Robin Gecht and three associates . They were suspected in the disappearances of 18 women in Chicago, Illinois in 1981 and '82...
  
  , four men who were part of a satanic cult in Chicago
  Chicago
  Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
  
  , was abducted in the suburb of Elmhurst, Illinois
  Elmhurst, Illinois
  Elmhurst is a suburb of Chicago in DuPage and Cook Counties, Illinois. The population is 46,013 as of the 2008 US Census population estimate.-History:...
  
  . Her mutilated body was found ten days later, one breast having been cut off. The pattern continued over the next 17 months, with at least six other women who were kidnapped and had a breast slashed; two survived. Robin Gecht, Ed Spreitzer, and brothers Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis were eventually convicted of various attacks. Andrew was executed on March 16, 1999.

May 24, 1981 (Sunday)

• Jaime Roldos Aguilera
  Jaime Roldós Aguilera
  Jaime Roldós Aguilera was President of Ecuador from 10 August 1979 to 24 May 1981. In his short tenure, he became known for his firm stance on human rights. His death in a plane crash gave rise to speculation of involvement by the United States government in the accident.-Early life and...
  
  , the 40 year old President of Ecuador, was killed in a plane crash, along with his wife, the nation's Defense Minister, and six other people. President Roldos was on the way to the town of Zapotillo
  Zapotillo Canton
  Zapotillo Canton is a canton of Ecuador, located in the Loja Province. Its capital is the town of Zapotillo. Its population at the 2001 census was 10,940.- GENERAL INFORMATION :Header Cantonal: ZapotilloElevation: 325 m.s.n.m...
  
   for a ceremony when the Avro 748
  Avro 748
  The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed by the British firm Avro in the late 1950s as a replacement for the now-aged DC-3s then in widespread service as feederliners. Avro concentrated on performance, notably for STOL operations, and found a dedicated...
  
   crashed into the side of a mountain. In his 2004 book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
  Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
  Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a book written by John Perkins and published in 2004. It provides Perkins' account of his career with consulting firm Chas. T. Main in Boston. Before employment with the firm, he interviewed for a job with the National Security Agency...
  
  , author John Perkins stated his belief that the crash was an assassination carried out after Roldos threatened the oil companies that operated in Ecuador.
• The body of Heather Scaggs, the last victim of "The Trailside Killer"
  David Carpenter
  David Carpenter may refer to:*David Carpenter, early Texas settler and namesake of Carpenters Bayou*David Aaron Carpenter, violist, *David Carpenter , British historian*David Carpenter , Canadian novelist...
  
  , was found in a remote part of the Big Basin State Park in California. Scaggs had last been seen alive on May 2, when she got in a car with her coworker, David Carpenter, and he became the prime suspect. Investigators linked his .38 caliber revolver to the murder of Scaggs, and six hikers who had been murdered over the previous seven months.
• Spanish commandos rescued all 70 hostages taken in the takeover of the Central Bank of Barcelona
  Barcelona
  Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
  
  .
• Died: George Jessel
  George Jessel (actor)
  George Albert Jessel was an American illustrated song "model," actor, singer, songwriter, and Academy Award-winning movie producer. He was famous in his lifetime as a multitalented comedic entertainer, achieving a level of recognition that transcended his limited roles in movies...
  
  , 83, American actor

May 25, 1981 (Monday)

• Dressed as Spider-Man
  Spider-Man
  Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
  
  , professional acrobat Daniel Goodwin climbed up the side of the 1,454 foot high Sears Tower
  Sears Tower
  Sears' optimistic growth projections were not met. Competition from its traditional rivals continued, with new competition by retailing giants such as Kmart, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart. The fortunes of Sears & Roebuck declined in the 1970s as the company lost market share; its management grew more...
  
   in Chicago
  Chicago
  Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
  
  , using climbing hooks and ropes, reaching the top after 7 1/2 hours. Police unsuccessfully tried stop him by lowering a window-washing scaffold, but Goodwin moved sideways with the aid of suction cups along the glass facade. At the 55th floor, Goodwin and the police negotiated a deal, allowing him to climb to the roof of the 110 story tower, and then to be arrested.
• The Gulf Cooperation Council GCC) was created in Riyadh
  Riyadh
  Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
  
   by Saudi Arabia
  Saudi Arabia
  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
  
  , the United Arab Emirates
  United Arab Emirates
  The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
  
  , Kuwait
  Kuwait
  The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
  
  , Oman
  Oman
  Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
  
  , and Qatar
  Qatar
  Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
  
   as an economic and military alliance.
• The hijacking of a Turkish Airlines jet, with 90 hostages, on board, ended after passengers attacked the group. The DC-9, with 119 people on board, had landed in Bulgaria
  Bulgaria
  Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
  
   at Burgas
  Burgas
  -History:During the rule of the Ancient Romans, near Burgas, Debeltum was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower...
  
  , after being seized while enroute from Istanbul
  Istanbul
  Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
  
   to Ankara
  Ankara
  Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
  
  .
• Died: Rosa Ponselle
  Rosa Ponselle
  Rosa Ponselle , was an American operatic soprano with a large, opulent voice. She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is generally considered by music critics to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the past 100 years.-Early life:She was born Rosa Ponzillo on January 22, 1897,...
  
  , 84, American soprano

May 26, 1981 (Tuesday)

• The crash of an EA-6B Prowler  jet on the USS Nimitz killed 14 sailors, injured 48, and caused $100,000,000 in damage to the nuclear powered aircraft carrier. Autopsies showed that the pilot had had six times the normal level of the stimulant brompheniramine
  Brompheniramine
  Brompheniramine , commonly marketed as its salt brompheniramine maleate is an antihistamine drug of the propylamine class...
  
   in his blood, and that several of the deckhands had traces of marijuana. The United States Navy adopted a zero tolerance policy toward drugs and became the first branch of the American services to begin regular drug-testing.
• Italy's Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani
  Arnaldo Forlani
  This article is about the Italian legislator. For the similar name used as an alias by terrorist Ramzi Yousef for Philippine Airlines Flight 434, see Ramzi Yousef....
  
   and his entire cabinet resigned, days after Forlani had released the list of names of members of the P-2 secret society. Forlani stayed on until a new government could be formed.
• Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Kovalyonok
  Vladimir Kovalyonok
  -Honours and awards:* Hero of the Soviet Union, twice * Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class * Order of Military Merit * Three Orders of Lenin...
  
   and Viktor Savinykh
  Viktor Savinykh
  Viktor Petrovich Savinykh was born in Berezkiny, Kirov Oblast, Russian SFSR on March 7, 1940. Married with one child. Selected as a cosmonaut on December 1, 1978. Retired on February 9, 1989.Flew as Flight Engineer on Soyuz T-4, Soyuz T-13 and Soyuz TM-5....
  
   became the last people to leave the Salyut 6
  Salyut 6
  Salyut 6 , DOS-5, was a Soviet orbital space station, the eighth flown as part of the Salyut programme. Launched on 29 September 1977 by a Proton rocket, the station was the first of the 'second-generation' type of space station. Salyut 6 possessed several revolutionary advances over the earlier...
  
   space station, and returned to Earth after a then-record 75 days in outer space.
• Ronald Reagan
  Ronald Reagan
  Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
  
   became the oldest man to serve as President of the United States
  President of the United States
  The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
  
  , reaching the age of 70 years and 109 days. Dwight D. Eisenhower
  Dwight D. Eisenhower
  Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
  
   had been 70 years, 108 days old on his last day of office, January 20, 1961.

May 27, 1981 (Wednesday)

• Roger Wheeler , President of Telex Corporation and owner of World Jai Alai, was shot to death by gunmen after finishing a round of golf at the Southern Hills country club in Tulsa, Oklahoma
  Tulsa, Oklahoma
  Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
  
  . In 2001, mob hitman John Martorano pleaded guilty to Wheeler's murder.

May 28, 1981 (Thursday)

• Bambi Bembenek murdered Christine Schultz, her husband's first wife, in Milwaukee. Convicted in 1982 and was released from prison ten years later, but not before she had escaped to Canada and been extradited. Bembenek's case inspired two made-for-TV movies and many books.
• Died: Mary Lou Williams
  Mary Lou Williams
  Mary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records...
  
  , 71, American jazz composer; Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, 79, Polish Roman Catholic archbishop; and Lem Billings
  Lem Billings
  Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings was a prep school roommate and then lifelong close friend of President John F. Kennedy. Billings took leave from his business career to work on Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign...
  
  , 65, long-time confidant of John F. Kennedy

May 29, 1981 (Friday)

• Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer
  Pramoedya Ananta Toer
  Pramoedya Ananta Toer was an Indonesian author of novels, short stories, essays, polemic and histories of his homeland and its people...
  
   had two novels banned by the government of Indonesia on grounds that the two books Bumi Mamusia (This Earth of Mankind) and Anak Semua Bangsa (Child of All Nations) were an attempt to spread Communist teachings throughout that nation.
• Born: Andrei Arshavin, Russian soccer football player, captain of national team; in Leningrad
  Leningrad
  Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
  
  
• Died: Soong Ching-ling
  Soong Ching-ling
  Soong Ching-ling , also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, was one of the three Soong sisters—who, along with their husbands, were amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. She was the Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China...
  
  , 90, widow of Sun Yat-sen
  Sun Yat-sen
  Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
  
   and honorary president of China.

May 30, 1981 (Saturday)

• Ziaur Rahman
  Ziaur Rahman
  President Ziaur Rahman, Bir Uttam, was a Bangladeshi politician and general, who read the declaration of Independence of Bangladesh on March 26, 1971 on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He later became the seventh President of Bangladesh from 1977 until 1981...
  
  , the President of Bangladesh
  President of Bangladesh
  Since 1991, the President of Bangladesh is the head of state, a largely ceremonial post elected by the parliament. Since 1996, the President's role becomes more important after the term of the government has finished, when his executive authority is enhanced as laid down in the constitution of the...
  
  , was assassinated, along with eight of his aides were assassinated as Rahman spent the night in Chittagong
  Chittagong
  Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading...
  
  . Taking place at 4:00 am local time, the attack was planned by Major General Muhammed Manzur, whom Ziaur had recently fired as the army chief of staff. Lt. Col. Motiur Rahman killed the pajama-clad President Ziaur with an automatic rifle.

May 31, 1981 (Sunday)

• Buster Douglas, who would become the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1990, began his professional career, knocking out Dan Banks in the third round in a bout in Columbus, Ohio
  Columbus, Ohio
  Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
  
  .
• Born: Jake Peavy
  Jake Peavy
  Jacob Edward Peavy is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the Chicago White Sox. He bats and throws right-handed...
  
  , American MLB pitcher, in Mobile, AL
• Died: Giuseppe Pella
  Giuseppe Pella
  Giuseppe Pella was an Italian Christian Democratic politician who served as the 32nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1953 to 1954. He was also President of the European Parliament from 1954 to 1956 after the death of Alcide De Gasperi.He was born in Valdengo, Piedmont...
  
  , 79, former Prime Minister of Italy
  Prime minister of Italy
  The Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic...