May 1981 in History

Events in History

Event of Interest

May 5 After 66 days on hunger strike, 26 year old Provisional IRA member and British MP Bobby Sands dies in the Maze Prision. Nine more hunger strikers die in the next 3 months.

May 6 US expels Libyan diplomats
May 8 Ron Davis pitches 10th consecutive strike out, 1 short of record
May 9 Kazimiroff Blvd in Bronx named for a Bronx historian

The Motherland Monument

May 9 The Motherland Monument at 62 m (203 ft) high is opened in Kyiv, Ukraine in ceremony attended by Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev

Event of Interest

May 10 François Mitterrand defeats Valery Giscard d'Estang for Presidency of France

Assassination Attempt

May 13 Pope John Paul II is shot and critically wounded by Turkish gunman Mehemet Ali Agca in St Peter's Square, Vatican City

May 14 NASA launches space vehicle S-192
May 15 Len Barker of Cleveland pitches perfect game vs Toronto
May 15 Soyuz 40 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Romanian) to Salyut 6
May 19 5 British Army soldiers are killed when their armoured vehicle is ripped apart by a Provisional Irish Republican Army roadside bomb near Bessbrook, County Armagh
May 19 Pirate Jim Bibby gives up a leadoff single to Brave Terry Harper, then retires next 27 batters
May 21 François Mitterrand becomes president of France
May 22 Soyuz 40 returns to Earth
May 23 Barcelona fascists take 200 people hostage
May 23 NASA launches Intelsat V satellite, no. 501

Murder of Interest

May 23 Peter Sutcliffe is convicted for the "Yorkshsire Ripper" murders of 13 women at the Old Bailey in London and sentenced to life sentences for each

May 24 Hostage situation ends at Central Bank in Barcelona, Spain
May 25 Daniel Goodwin scales outside of Chicago's Sears Tower in 7 hours
May 25 Rangers' Bill Stein sets AL record with 7 consecutive pinch hits
May 26 Marine jet crashes on flight deck of USS Nimitz, killing 14
May 26 The Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due)

Ronald Reagan is Shot

May 27 John Hinckley attempts suicide by overdosing on Tylenol

The scene moments after John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to assassinate President Reagan on March 30, 1981

May 27 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
May 29 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
May 30 Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman is shot by group of rebel officers

Birthdays in History

May 6 Edyta Sliwinska, Polish professional dancer (Dancing With The Stars), born in Warsaw, Poland

Zara Phillips (42 years old)

May 15 English daughter of Princess Anne, born in London

Weddings in History

John Grisham

May 8 Author John Grisham (26) weds Renee Jones

May 16 Pretenders' Martin Chambers weds Tracy Atkinson

Deaths in History

May 1 Clarence A Bacote, historian/political scientist, dies at 75
May 4 Paul Green, American novelist and playwright (In Abraham's Bosom), dies at 87

Bobby Sands (1954-1981)

May 5 Irish IRA member and leader of the hunger strike at Maze Prison, dies in the 66th day of his hunger strike at 26

May 9 Nelson Algren, American novelist (Man with the Golden Arm), dies at 72
May 11 Hoyt J. Fuller, American editor (1st World magazine), dies at 57
May 11 Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist (Nobel 1969 - the study of the three-dimensional geometric structure of molecules), dies at 83
May 12 Benjamin Sheares, President of Singapore (1971-81), dies at 73
May 17 Jeannette Ridlon Piccard, 1st US woman free balloon pilot, dies
May 18 William Saroyan, American novelist & stagewriter (Time of your life), dies at 72
May 21 Patsy O'Hara, Irish hunger striker (b. 1957)
May 21 Raymond Mccreesh, Irish hunger striker (b. 1957)
May 23 David Lewis, Canadian labour lawyer and politician (b. 1909)
May 23 Rayner Heppenstall, English novelist (The Blaze of Noon), dies at 70
May 25 Fredric Warburg, British publisher (Animal Farm) and author, dies at 82
May 28 Stefan Wyszyński, Polish Cardinal, dies at 79
May 30 Ziaur Rahmen, President of Bangladesh, is assassinated
May 31 Barbara Ward, English economist and writer (Only One Earth), dies at 67
May 31 Giuseppe Pella, 31st Prime Minister of Italy, dies at 79