Historic Invention
Oct 11 American inventor Gordon Gould issued his first US patent for a optically pumped laser amplifier, 20 years after first claiming to have invented the laser
Gordon Gould
- Oct 12 4th test of space shuttle Enterprise
- Oct 12 Psychic Romark attempts to drive blindfolded, smashed into cop van
- Oct 12 US Supreme Court heard arguments in "reverse discrimination" case of Allan Bakke, white student denied admission to University of California Med School
- Oct 14 Princess Beatrice opens Amsterdam metro
- Oct 15 Arkansas' Steve Little kicks a record tying 67 yard field goal
- Oct 15 Don Ritchie runs world record 100 mile (11:30:51)
- Oct 17 Canada begins regular live TV coverage of Parliament
- Oct 17 West German commandos storm hijacked Lufthansa in Mogadishu, Somalia freeing all 86 hostages & killing 3 of 4 hijackers
- Oct 18 1st Islander 0-0 tie-Kings at Nassau-25th time shutout-Resch's 15th
- Oct 18 West German commandos liberate Boeing 737 with 86 hostages at Mogadishu
- Oct 19 Corpse of kidnapped West German, H M Schleyer, found
- Oct 19 Supersonic Concorde jet's 1st landing in NYC
Event of Interest
Oct 20 David Mamet's "Life in the Theater" premieres in NYC
David Mamet
- Oct 20 Hamilton Deane & John Balderstons "Dracula" premieres in NYC
- Oct 21 US recalls William Bowdler, ambassador to South Africa
- Oct 21 The European Patent Institute is founded.
- Oct 22 International Sun-Earth Explorers 1 & 2 launched into Earth orbit
- Oct 23 Panamanians vote 2:1 to approve new Canal treaties
- Oct 23 Paleontologist Elso Barghoorn announces discovery of a 3.4-billion year old one-celled fossil, one of the earliest life forms on Earth
- Oct 25 Digital Equipment Corporation releases OpenVMS V1.0.
- Oct 26 5th & final test of space shuttle Enterprise
- Oct 26 Dr Clifford R Wharton Jr named chancellor of State University of New York
- Oct 26 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Oct 26 Last natural case of smallpox discovered in Merca district, Somalia. Considered the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox, the most spectacular success of vaccination
- Oct 27 Amsterdam businessman M Caransa kidnapped
- Oct 27 NASA launches space vehicle S-200
- Oct 29 Texas' Russell Erideben kicks his 3rd 60 yard field goal of the season
- Oct 29 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Oct 30 Panama 747SP lands after polar flight around Earth in record 54:07
Event of Interest
Nov 1 US President Jimmy Carter raises the minimum wage from $2.30 to $3.35 an hour, effective from 1st Jan 1981
Jimmy Carter
- Nov 1 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Nov 2 Microbiologist Carl R. Woese and scientists from the University of Illinois announce the identification of methanogens, a form of microbial life (Archaea) dating back some 3.5 billion years
- Nov 4 UN Security council proclaims weapon embargo against South Africa
- Nov 6 39 killed in an earthen dam burst at Toccoa Falls Bible College, Ga
- Nov 8 Greek Archaeologist Manolis Andronikos discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon at Vergina
- Nov 9 Reds' George Foster wins NL MVP
- Nov 10 Amsterdam: Red Army Faction terrorists Gert Schneider and Christof Wackernagel arrested
- Nov 12 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- Nov 12 New Orleans elects 1st black mayor, Ernest "Dutch" Morial
- Nov 13 25th Islander shut-out Resch 6-0 Gilles scores on 5th penalty shot
- Nov 13 Final Al Capp comic strip of "Li'l Abner" (1934-77)
Event of Interest
Nov 14 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat repeats willingness to visit Israel to Walter Cronkite
Anwar Sadat
Walter Cronkite
- Nov 15 US President Jimmy Carter welcomes Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
- Nov 17 Bernard Pomerance's "Elephant Man" premieres in London
- Nov 17 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat formally accepts invitation to visit Israel
- Nov 19 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat arrives in Israel
- Nov 19 Libya drops diplomatic relations with Egypt
- Nov 20 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the 1st Arab leader to address Israeli Knesset
- Nov 21 First flight of Concorde (London to New York)
- Nov 22 Regular Concorde passenger service between NY and Europe begins
- Nov 23 European weather satellite Meteosat 1 launched from Cape Canaveral
- Nov 24 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- Nov 24 Miami Bob Greise passes for 6 touchdowns vs St Louis (55-14)
- Nov 25 David Steed balanced stationary on a bike for 9 hrs 15 mins
Dictator Bokassa I
Dec 4 Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowns himself Emperor of the Central African Empire in a lavish ceremony costing US$20 million - one third of the nation's budget
Learn More
Event of Interest
Dec 4 Neil Simon's "Chapter Two" premieres in NYC
Neil Simon
- Dec 5 Egypt breaks off diplomatic relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, Iraq & South Yemen
- Dec 6 South Africa grants Bophuthatswana independence
- Dec 7 Islander Billy Smith's 10th shut-out opponent-Black Hawks 4-0
- Dec 10 Soyuz 26 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station
- Dec 11 Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams, leaders of the group 'Peace People' (an organisation dedicated to encouraging a peaceful resolution of 'the Troubles' in Northern Ireland) receive the Nobel Peace Prize
- Dec 14 Egyptian & Israeli representatives gather in Cairo for first formal peace conference
Event of Interest
Dec 14 War criminal Pieter Menten sentenced in Amsterdam to 15 years
Pieter Menten
- Dec 17 Bobby Simpson scores 176 Australia v India at the WACA, aged 41
- Dec 17 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- Dec 18 Dutch Antilles: premier Boy Rozendal points independence off
- Dec 19 Dutch government of Van Agt/Wiegel forms
- Dec 20 1st Space walk made by Soviet cosmonaut Georgy Grechko during Salyut 6 EO-1 mission
- Dec 20 RAF -terrorist Knut Folkerts sentenced to 20 years
- Dec 22 36 die as grain elevator at Continental Grain Company plant explodes
- Dec 24 "Ghost to the Post", Raiders tight end Dave Casper ("The Ghost") catches a 42-yard reception to set up the Raiders' tying field goal near the end of regulation (Raiders win in OT)
Meeting of Interest
Dec 25 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in Egypt
Menachem Begin
Anwar Sadat
- Dec 26 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Dec 29 Ronald Ribman's "Cold Storage" premieres in NYC
- Dec 30 Carter holds 1st news conference by US President in Eastern Europe (Warsaw)
- Dec 31 Amir Sheikh Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah becomes leader of Kuwait
- Dec 31 Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with Vietnam
- Dec 31 Donald Woods, a banned anti-Apartheid white editor flees South Africa
