Events Date 1981 P 4 | History by KabAstro

Events 601 - 650 of 650

Dec 2 Moscone Convention Center, San Francisco, opens at 11:30 AM

Valenzuela NL Rookie

Dec 2 Pitcher Fernando Valenzuela becomes 3rd consecutive LA Dodgers player to be named National League Rookie of the Year; Rick Sutcliffe 1979, Steve Howe 1980

Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher Fernando Valenzuela

Dec 2 Spanish government requests membership of NATO
Dec 3 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Dec 4 "Falcon Crest" premieres on CBS-TV
Dec 4 According to South Africa, Ciskei gains independence. Not recognized as an independent country outside South Africa.

Reagan Executive Order on Intelligence

Dec 4 Reagan Executive Order on Intelligence (No 12333) that allows CIA to engage in domestic counter-intelligence

Dec 5 47th Heisman Trophy Award: Marcus Allen, Southern Cal (RB)
Dec 5 France performs nuclear test
Dec 6 Rob de Castella of Australia sets Marathon record at 2:08:18
Dec 7 Spain becomes a member of the NATO
Dec 8 France performs nuclear test
Dec 9 Porn star John Holmes charged with Laurel Canyon murders
Dec 10 -13] El Salvador army kills 900
Dec 10 Jules Feiffer's "Grownups" premieres in NYC
Dec 10 The United Nations General Assembly approves Pakistan's proposal for establishing nuclear free-zone in South Asia.
Dec 11 Argentine President General Roberto Viola flees
Dec 11 El Mozote massacre: Salvadoran armed forces kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the country's civil war.

Ali's Last Fight

Dec 11 Former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali's 61st and last fight; loses to Trevor Berbick by unanimous decision in 10 rounds at Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, Nassau, Bahamas

Dec 11 Spacelab I arrives at Kennedy Space Center
Dec 11 UN Security Council chooses Javier Pérez de Cuélla of Peru as the 5th Secretary-General of the United Nations
Dec 11 Wash Capitals biggest margin of victory (9) beating Toronto 11-2
Dec 12 Gambia & Senegal sign agreement to be known as Senegambia in Feb 1982
Dec 13 Poland's authoritarian communist government declares martial law and arrests Solidarity activists in a failed attempt to crush the opposition
Dec 14 Israel annexes Golan Heights (seized from Syria in war of 1967)
Dec 15 NASA launches Intelsat V satellite, no. 503
Dec 16 Dutch Van Agt's 2nd government falls
Dec 17 Members of Red Brigades kidnap Brigadier General James L Dozier
Dec 19 Romuald Spasowski, Polish ambassador to the United States defects to show support for the Solidarity movement amid a crackdown
Dec 19 Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee, Cornwall, lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
Dec 20 Browns set team records for most fumbles (9) & most turnovers (10)
Dec 20 Winnipeg left wing Doug Smail sets NHL record by scoring just 4 seconds into Jets' 5-4 win over the St Louis Blues; fastest goal from opening face-off to back of net in history; later tied by Bryan Trottier and Alex Mogilny
Dec 21 Cincinnati beats Bradley 75-73 in 7 OTs (NCAA record)

Leopoldo Galtieri Sworn in

Dec 22 Argentine general Leopoldo Galtieri sworn in as military dictator and President of Argentina

Dictator and President of Argentina Leopoldo Galtieri

Dec 22 Belgium's 5th government of Martens forms
Dec 23 Geoffrey Boycott becomes leading run-scorer in Test Cricket with 8033
Dec 24 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Dec 26 One of the great day's Test Cricket at the MCG Australia v West Indies

Lille Leading Wicket-taker

Dec 27 Australian Dennis Lillee becomes the leading wicket-taker in test cricket with 310 wickets

Gretzky Fastest to 100

Dec 27 Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky becomes fastest NHLer to get 100 point in a season (his 38th game), with 4 goals and an assist in 10-3 win over visiting Los Angeles Kings

Dec 27 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
Dec 28 1st American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr is born in Norfolk, Virginia
Dec 28 Cleveland Metroparks Administrative offices move from downtown to Zoo (Cleveland, Ohio)
Dec 28 Warner-Elektra-Atlantic raises price of 45 records from $1.68 to $1.98
Dec 29 Ballon d'Or: German 1-2-3 with Bayern Munich forward Karl-Heinz Rummenigge taking title of Europe's best football player for the 2nd straight year; beats teammate Paul Breitner and Barcelona midfielder Bernd Schuster

That Girl

Dec 30 "That Girl" single released by Stevie Wonder (Billboard Song of the Year -1982)

Dec 30 Wayne Gretzky scores 5 goals and an assist in Edmonton's 7-5 win over Philadelphia; gives Gretzky 50 goals in 39 games, the fastest 50 in 50 in NHL history; also sets NHL record with 15-game assist streak
Dec 31 CNN Headline News cable TV channel debuts in US
Dec 31 Lt Jerry Rawlings becomes head of Ghana, suspends constitution
Dec 31 Netherlands unemployment stands at record 475,000