- Sep 1 Dutch embassy in Israel moves from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv
Telethon
Sep 1 Jerry Lewis' 15th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $31,103,787
Cricket History
Sep 2 Australian cricket batsman Kim Hughes becomes 3rd player to bat on all 5 days of a Test match as the rain affected Centenary Test peters out to a draw at Lord's; BBC's John Arlott calls his final match
- Sep 4 Progressive rock group Yes performs its last concert at Madison Square Garden, NYC
Satyagraha
Sep 5 Philip Glass and Constance DeJong's opera "Satyagraha", loosely based on the life of Mahatma Gandhi, premieres the Schouwburg, in Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Sep 5 Poland party leader Edward Gierek resigns
- Sep 5 World's longest road tunnel, St Gotthard in Swiss Alps, opens
- Sep 6 French runner Chantal Langlacé sets women's 100k world record (7h 27m 22s) in Amiens, France
- Sep 6 Macalaster U of St Paul, Minn beats Mount Senario 17-14
- Sep 6 Susan Powell of Oklahoma (21), crowned 53rd Miss America 1981
- Sep 6 US College football longest losing streak of 50 games ends for Macalester College (St. Paul)
US Open Women's Tennis
Sep 6 US Open Women's Tennis: In the centenary women's singles final, Chris Evert-Lloyd wins her 5th US title; beats Hana Mandlíková 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
- Sep 7 32nd Emmy Awards: "Taxi"; "Lou Grant"; Ed Asner & Barbara Bel Geddes win. Notable for going ahead despite 51 of the 52 nominated performers boycotting the event due to a strike by members of the Screen Actors Guild.
- Sep 7 Cape Verde adopts its constitution
- Sep 7 Earnest Gray becomes 2nd NY Giant to score 4 TDs (vs St Louis)
- Sep 7 Oakland A's pitch record 78th complete game of season
- Sep 7 Turkish coup d'état - armed forces led by Kenan Evren announce they are dissolving the government [1]
US Men's Tennis Open
Sep 7 US Open Men's Tennis: In centenary men's singles final John McEnroe retains title; beats Björn Borg 7-6, 6-1, 6-7, 5-7, 6-4
Sports History
Sep 8 Bowie Kuhn suspends Ferguson Jenkins indefinitely due to drug arrest
- Sep 10 Expos Bill Gullickson, sets rookie record of striking out 18
- Sep 10 Peter Comita replaces Tom Peterson of Cheap Trick
- Sep 11 Chile adopts its constitution
- Sep 11 Ron LeFlore (91st) & Rodney Scott (58th), set teammate steal record
- Sep 12 Military coup under General Kenan Evren in Turkey
- Sep 13 1st United Negro College Fund
- Sep 13 5th Toronto International Film Festival: "Bad Timing" directed by Nicolas Roeg wins the People's Choice Award
- Sep 14 "Charlie & Algernon" opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 17 performances
- Sep 14 Dwight Clark begins NFL streak of 105 consecutive game receptions
Temporary Secretary
Sep 15 Paul McCartney releases single "Temporary Secretary"
Divine Madness
Sep 17 Bette Midler's concert film "Divine Madness", directed by Michael Ritchie, premieres
- Sep 17 Iraq breaks 1975 treaty with Iran and proclaims sovereignty over Shatt al-Arab waterway
- Sep 17 Iraq under Saddam Hussein signs accord with Algeria
- Sep 17 Oak A's Rick Langford is removed with 2 outs in 9th inning ending his consecutive complete-game streak at 22
Event of Interest
Sep 17 Polish workers under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa found the Solidarity movement at the Gdańsk Shipyard
Event of Interest
Sep 17 South Korea opposition leader Kim Dae-jung sentenced to death
- Sep 18 Alain Boubil and Herbert Kretzner's musical "Les Misérables" premieres at Palais des Sports, Paris
- Sep 18 Royals Willie Wilson steals AL-record 28 consecutive base
- Sep 18 Soyuz 38 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Cuban) to Salyut 6 space station
Ordinary People
Sep 19 "Ordinary People" film directed by Robert Redford and starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore and Judd Hirsch premieres (Academy Award - Best Picture, 1981)
- Sep 19 US Titan II Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile explodes in its storage silo near Damascus, Arkansas; 1 person killed and over 20 injured, but safety features prevented thermonuclear detonation
Blizzard of Ozz
Sep 20 "Blizzard of Ozz", the debut solo album by English rock musician Ozzy Osbourne, is released in the United Kingdom
- Sep 20 Bronze plaque dedicated to memory of catcher Thurman Munson unveiled at Yankee Stadium: Munson died in plane crash in 1979
Sports History
Sep 20 George Brett goes 0-for-4 dropping his avg below .400 for good
- Sep 20 Spectacular Bid runs in Belmont alone as 3 horses drop out
- Sep 21 Kerry GAA beat Roscommon GAA in Croke Park during the All-Ireland Football Final by 1-9 to 1-6 thus winning the championship and a three-in-a-row.
- Sep 21 LA Ram Johnnie Johnson scores a 99 yard interception
Music History
Sep 21 Reggae singer Bob Marley collapses while jogging in New York City's Central Park; medical exam finds his cancer had spread to his brain, lungs, and liver
- Sep 21 Richard Todd of NY Jets completes 42 passes in a game (NFL record)
- Sep 22 Iraq invades Iran in an attempt to control the Shatt al-Arab waterway
Contract of Interest
Sep 22 John Lennon and Yoko Ono sign a recording contract with Geffen Records
- Sep 23 Reggae legend Bob Marley's final concert at Stanley Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Sep 24 Braves join every NL team with 1,000,000+ attendance for this season
- Sep 24 Iraqi troops cross Iran's border, encircling Abadan
Film & TV History
Sep 25 Comedian Chevy Chase calls Cary Grant a homo on "Tomorrow" show, a $10M defamation lawsuit follows, settled out-of-court for an undisclosed sum
Sports History
Sep 25 Jerry Mumphrey joins Ozzie Smith and Gene Richards to steal 50 bases this year for Padres
- Sep 25 The first congress of the Democratic Youth Organization of Afghanistan held in Kabul
- Sep 25 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Sep 25 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Sep 26 Bomb attack on Octoberfest in Munich, 12 killed
- Sep 26 Cuban government closes Mariel Harbor ending "freedom flotilla"
- Sep 26 Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 38 returns to Earth
- Sep 27 Marvin Hagler defeats Alan Minter to claim boxing's world Middleweight championship in London. They have to be escorted away by police after a riot forms.
- Sep 27 WHOT (Brooklyn New York pirate radio station) begins on 1620 AM & 92.5 FM
- Sep 28 "Charlie & Algernon" closes at Helen Hayes Theater NYC after 17 performances
- Sep 28 Australian Williams driver Alan Jones clinches his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by winning the Canadian Grand Prix at Île Notre-Dame Circuit
Event of Interest
Sep 28 Carl Sagan's 13 part "Cosmos" premieres on PBS
- Sep 28 Jaromir Wagner is 1st to fly Atlantic standing on wing
Film & TV History
Sep 29 Actor Malcolm McDowell weds actress Mary Steenburgen
- Sep 30 1,754 turn out to see Phillies play NY Mets at Shea Stadium
Iran–Iraq War
Sep 30 Iran rejects a truce call from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
Baseball Record
Sep 30 Oakland outfielder Rickey Henderson sets AL stolen base record with his 97th in A's 5-1 win over Chicago White Sox; breaks Ty Cobb's mark of 96 set in 1915
- Sep 30 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
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