View source for September 1981

{{short description|Month of 1981}}
{{events by month|1981}}
{{calendar|year=1981|month=September}}
[[File:Amp tower center point tower sydney.jpg|165px|thumb|left|September 25, 1981: Sydney Tower opens]]
[[File:Photograph of Sandra Day O'Connor Being Sworn in a Supreme Court Justice by Chief Justice Warren Burger....jpg|280px|thumb|September 25, 1981: O'Connor becomes first woman justice on U.S. Supreme Court]]
[[File:TGV original livery 1987.jpg|280px|thumb|September 27, 1981: TGV high-speed train begins operations]]

The following events occurred in '''September 1981''':

==[[September 1]], 1981 (Tuesday)==
*[[1981 Pacific typhoon season#Typhoon Agnes (Pining)|Typhoon Agnes]] struck [[South Korea]], bringing with it the heaviest rainfall seen on the Korean peninsula in the 20th century, with as much as 28&nbsp;inches (71&nbsp;cm) falling over the next two days.<ref>"Typhoon Agnes leaves 51 dead", ''Montreal Gazette'', September 5, 1981, p8</ref>  The final toll was 120 people dead or missing.<ref>"Agnes", in ''Encyclopedia of Weather and Climate'', Volume 1 (Michael Allaby, ed.) (Infobase Publishing, 2002) p13</ref>
*[[David Dacko]], who had recently been re-elected, quit as [[President of the Central African Republic]], turned over control to army commander General [[Andre Kolingba]].<ref>"Central African president resigns", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 1, 1981, p2</ref>  General Kolingba remained in power until 1993.<ref>Pierre Kalck, ''Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic'' (Scarecrow Press, 2005)</ref>
*[[Roger Hargreaves]]' children’s book series, ''[[List of Little Miss characters|Little Miss]]'', made its debut as the female counterpart to his popular ''[[Mr. Men]]'' series of books, with the publication of ''Little Miss Bossy''.{{cn|date=November 2024}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146II-277, Albert Speer.jpg|100px|thumb|right|Albert Speer]]
*'''Died:'''  
**[[Albert Speer]], 76, German Nazi architect and war minister 
**[[Ann Harding]], 79, American actress

==[[September 2]], 1981 (Wednesday)==
*[[Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani|Mohammad Reza Mahdavi]] was approved as [[Iran]]'s third Prime Minister in as many months.<ref>"New Prime Minister", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 3, 1981, p10</ref>

==[[September 3]], 1981 (Thursday)==
*The United Nations [[Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women]] (CEDAW), adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 18, 1979, went into effect by its own terms after being ratified by at least 20 nations.<ref>[http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cedaw.htm  Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825232556/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cedaw.htm |date=2009-08-25 }}</ref>
*In [[Egypt]], a nationwide arrest of 1,536 people, most of them Islamist activists, was carried out on orders of President [[Anwar Sadat]].  One of those seized was Mohammed Islambouli, leader of the Islamic Association branch at [[Assiut University]].  His younger brother, Egyptian army Lt. Khalid Islambouli, a member of the group Jihad, was so outraged that he vowed to get revenge on Sadat.  A few days later, Khalid was assigned to be part of a military parade scheduled for October 6 to commemorate the eighth anniversary of Egypt's attack on Israel in the Yom Kippur War, and used the opportunity to conspire with fellow members of Jihad to carry out an assassination.<ref>Caryle Murphy, ''Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East: The Egyptian Experience'' (Simon and Schuster, 2002) p62; "Sadat sweep jails 500", ''Vancouver Sun'', September 4, 1981, p1</ref>
*'''Born:''' [[Fearne Cotton]], British television presenter, as Fearne Wood in [[Northwood, London]]

==[[September 4]], 1981 (Friday)==
[[File:Bottle of Ketchup.jpg|100px|right|thumb|A serving of vegetables?]]
*The [[United States Department of Agriculture]] proposed new regulations concerning nutritional requirements for the federally subsidized school lunch program.  Both [[ketchup]] and [[pickle relish]] were classified as vegetables for purposes of defining a balanced meal.  The USDA withdrew the proposal three weeks later after a reporter from the ''Washington Post'' called attention to the new rules.<ref>"Q: When Is Ketchup a Vegetable? A: When Tofu Is Meat", by Ward Sinclair, ''Washington Post'', September 9, 1981, pA7;
Manning Marable, ''Race, Reform, and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction in Black America, 1945-1990'' (University Press of Mississippi, 1991) p183; "Plan to count ketchup a vegetable left school lunch planners in a pickle", ''Miami News'', September 30, 1981, p6A</ref>
*An [[List of accidents and disasters by death toll#Coal mine disasters|explosion at a mine]] in [[Záluží (Beroun District)|Záluží]], [[Czechoslovakia]], killed 65 people.  Another 40 were rescued.<ref>"Mine blast kills 65", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 4, 1981, p2</ref>
*[[Louis Delamare]], [[France]]'s ambassador to [[Lebanon]], was assassinated in [[Beirut]].  Delamare was being driven home when four gunmen pulled alongside his BMW and opened fire.<ref>"French envoy slain", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 4, 1981, p2</ref>
*At 8:51&nbsp;a.m. on the day of its bicentennial, [[Los Angeles]] got what was nicknamed "the birthday quake", a tremor of 5.8 magnitude, the strongest since the 1971 quake that had killed 65 people.<ref>"Strong quake jolts L.A. area", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 4, 1981, p3</ref>
*[[Sobhuza II]] celebrated his 60th anniversary as [[King of Swaziland]], in a ceremony attended by Egypt's President Sadat and Britain's Princess Margaret.  Sobhuza was the first monarch since Queen Victoria to observe a diamond jubilee.<ref>"King hits 60 years on the throne", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 4, 1981, p2</ref>
*'''Born:''' [[Beyoncé Knowles]], American actress and R&B singer ([[Destiny's Child]]); in [[Houston]]

==[[September 5]], 1981 (Saturday)==
*Pope [[Shenuda III]], head of the [[Coptic Christians|Coptic Christian Church]] of [[Egypt]], was deposed from his job by President [[Anwar Sadat]], who charged that Muslim and Christian extremists were conspiring to overthrow the government.<ref>"Sadat rips religious extremists", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 6, 1981, p1</ref>   Three years after Sadat's assassination, Shenuda, who had been exiled to the monastery of Saint Bishoi, was allowed by President Hosni Mubarak to return to Cairo.<ref>Otto Friedrich and August Meinardus, ''Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity'' (American University in Cairo Press, 2002) p80</ref>
*[[John Barnes (footballer)|John Barnes]], who would become England's greatest{{Peacock term|date=September 2021}} black soccer football player, made his professional debut at age 17, playing for the last 15 minutes of [[Watford F.C.]]'s game against [[Oldham Athletic A.F.C.|Oldham Athletic]].<ref>Dave Hill, ''Out of His Skin: The John Barnes Phenomenon'' (WSC Books Limited, 2001) p74</ref>
*In the largest jailbreak within a Communist nation, 154 inmates escaped from a jail in [[Bydgoszcz]], [[Poland]].  The mass breakout happened after a riot that began when a 17-year-old burglary suspect had been shot during an attempted escape.<ref>"154 Polish inmates stage huge escape", ''Spokane Daily Chronicle'', September 7, 1981, p2</ref>

==[[September 6]], 1981 (Sunday)==
*[[Nawal El Saadawi]] was arrested as part of the roundup of Sadat's opponents, and stayed in the Barrage Prison until November 25.  She later recounted the story in her book, ''"Mozakerati fi signel nissa"'' ("Memoirs from the Women's Prison", 1983)<ref>Nawal El Saadawi, ''The Nawal El Saadawi Reader'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 1998) p23, p58</ref>

==[[September 7]], 1981 (Monday)==
*''[[The People's Court]]'' made its syndicated television debut on 39 television stations in the United States.  Created by producer [[Ralph Edwards]], the show presented real small claims court cases, with the litigants agreeing to dismiss court proceedings and to go before retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge [[Joseph A. Wapner]].  Of the $800 provided by the producers for each case, the amount not awarded to the plaintiff ($750 maximum) would be divided evenly between both sides.  The very first case saw a landlady receive an award of $614.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/08/arts/tv-people-s-court-reality-in-the-morning.html "TV: 'People's Court', 'Reality' in the Morning"], ''New York Times'', September 8, 1981; [https://web.archive.org/web/20071212054811/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924829,00.html "Law: Oyez! Don't Touch That Dial"], ''TIME'' Magazine, September 7, 1981</ref>
*The [[government of Malaysia]], as part of its New Economic Policy program and the efforts of Prime Minister [[Mahathir Mohamad]], engineered the takeover of the British-owned rubber plantation company, [[Guthrie (company)|Guthrie Group Ltd]]  The government investment company, [[Permodalan Nasional Berhad]] (PNB), purchased majority control of the stock in an early-morning buy on the [[London Stock Exchange]] of most of the shares of Guthrie in what was later called the "Dawn Raid attack" that achieved its goal within four hours after the market opened.<ref>"Guthrie falls to Malaysians; PNB wins control after surprise four-hour market swoop", ''The Guardian'' (London), September 8, 1981, p22</ref> The Guthrie Group's {{convert|312.5|sqmi}} of land was then redistributed by the government to Malaysian farmers.<ref>Tim Bunnell, ''Malaysia, Modernity and the Multimedia Super Corridor: A Critical Geography of Intelligent Landscapes'' (Taylor & Francis, 2004)</ref>
*At [[Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico]], two-year-old filly [[Special Effort]] won the [[All American Futurity]] to become [[American Quarter Horse|quarter horse racing]]'s first AQHA Triple Crown Winner.<ref>"'Effort' wins Futurity", ''The Morning News'' (Wilmington DE), September 8, 1981, pB4</ref>  At the same track, Special Effort had won the "Kansas Futurity" and the "Rainbow Futurity" earlier in the year.<ref>[https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/local/blogs/track/2017/05/16/all-american-futurity-winner-dies/101738022/ "All American Futurity winner dies"], by Felix F. Chávez, ''El Paso (TX) Times'', May 15, 2017</ref> 
*The first issue of the American weekly newsmagazine ''[[Education Week]]'' was published.<ref>Thomas C. Hunt, ''Encyclopedia of Educational Reform and Dissent'', Volume 2 (SAGE, 2010) p330</ref>
*'''Died:''' [[Edwin Link]], 77, American inventor who created the first flight simulator.

==[[September 8]], 1981 (Tuesday)==
*[[Stephen King]]'s horror novel about a crazed St. Bernard dog, ''[[Cujo]]'', was first published.<ref>Michael R. Collings, ''Scaring Us to Death: The Impact of Stephen King on Popular Culture'' (Wildside Press LLC, 1997) p50</ref>
*'''Born:''' [[Jonathan Taylor Thomas]], American TV actor, in [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]]
*'''Died:''' 
**[[Hideki Yukawa]], 74, Japanese theoretical physicist, 1949 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] laureate 
**[[Roy Wilkins]], 80, leader of the [[NAACP]].

==[[September 9]], 1981 (Wednesday)==
*[[India]]n newspaper owner [[Jagat Narain]], 92, was assassinated by three gunmen after publishing articles critical of Sikh militant [[Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale]] and Sikh demands for a separate nation.  On September 20, Bhindranwale surrendered to the police, but was released on October 14 by orders of Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]].<ref>Ananth V. Krishna, ''India Since Independence: Making Sense Of Indian Politics'' (Pearson Education India, 2011) pp273-274</ref>
*'''Born:'''  
**[[Julie Gonzalo]], Argentinian actress, in [[Buenos Aires]] 
**[[Ivan Elez]], Croatian footballer, in Split City, Yugoslavia 
**[[Nancy Wu]], Hong Kong TV actress, in [[Hong Kong]]
*'''Died:''' [[Jacques Lacan]], 80, French psychiatrist and founder of the Lacanian technique of psychoanalysis

==[[September 10]], 1981 (Thursday)==
*[[Picasso]]'s painting "[[Guernica (Picasso)|Guernica]]" was returned to the [[Museo del Prado]] in Madrid after having been kept at New York's [[Museum of Modern Art]] since 1939.  Transfer of the painting had been kept secret until its arrival.<ref>"Picasso's 'Guernica' goes home", ''Glasgow Herald'', September 11, 1981, p5</ref>
*In a hastily called [[referendum]], voters in Egypt overwhelmingly endorsed Sadat's crackdown against religious and political opponents, with a reported 99.45% of nearly 11 million ballots in favor, and only 33,561 against.<ref>"Sadat referendum victory put at 99.45%", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 11, 1981, p2</ref>
*John Carta, a 35-year-old unemployed stonemason from [[New Rochelle, New York]], became the first person to parachute on to the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]].  Carta jumped from a plane at an altitude of 10,000 feet, then guided himself to a landing on to the observation deck on Tower Two.<ref>"Parachutist courts fine, ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 11, 1981, p2</ref>

==[[September 11]], 1981 (Friday)==
*Iran's Ayatollah [[Mir Asadollah Madani]], who became the Imam for [[Tabriz]] after the 1979 assassination of the Ayatollah [[Mohammad Ali Qazi Tabatabaei]], was himself assassinated while conducting the [[Jumu'ah]], the Muslim Friday prayer service.<ref>"Grenade Blast Kills Key Iran Clergyman", by J. Michael Kennedy, ''Los Angeles Times'', September 12, 1981, pI-5</ref>  Madani was approached near the end of the service by a man who was carrying a grenade, and who then detonated it.  In addition to Madani and the assassin, six worshipers were fatally injured.
*A small plane crashed into the [[Swing Auditorium]] in [[San Bernardino, California]], damaging the venue beyond repair.  The crash happened at 4:40 in the afternoon and a {{convert|30|foot}} -high hole was torn into the side of the auditorium when the Cessna 310 struck the building.  The pilot, owner of a small chain of restaurants, was killed instantly along with his passenger.<ref>"Plane crashes into Swing hall, two die", by Mark Lundahl, ''San Bernardino County (CA) Sun'', September 12, 1981, p1</ref><ref>"2 Die as Plane Crashes Into San Bernardino Auditorium", by Lorraine Bennett, ''Los Angeles Times'', September 12, 1981, pI-30</ref>  The venue had no casualty insurance and could not be rebuilt.<ref>"Swing Auditorium not insured, may be demolished", by Mark Lundahl, ''San Bernardino County (CA) Sun'', September 13, 1981, p1</ref>
*'''Born:''' [[Dylan Klebold]], American mass murderer in the [[Columbine High School massacre]]; in [[Lakewood, Colorado]] (d. 1999)
*'''Died:''' [[Frank McHugh]], 83, American film actor

==[[September 12]], 1981 (Saturday)==
*''[[The Smurfs (1981 TV series)|The Smurfs]]'' began a nine-season run on NBC Saturday morning television.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081933/episodes IMDb]</ref>
*The [[National Assembly of France]] voted 329–129 to remove most of the powers of the prefects in France's 95 departments, in the first step toward decentralization of government.  The bill still needed to pass the [[Senate of France|Senate]] and the signature of President Mitterrand to become law.<ref>"French assembly approves decentralization",  ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 13, 1981, p2</ref>
*'''Born:''' [[Jennifer Hudson]], American singer and actress, in [[Chicago]]
*'''Died:''' [[Eugenio Montale]], 84, Italian writer, 1975 [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] laureate

==[[September 13]], 1981 (Sunday)==
*Two days of elections began in [[Norway]], and the Labor Party lost its majority in the 155 member [[Storting]].  Labor, led by [[Gro Harlem Brundtland]], retained 67 seats, but the Conservatives, led by supply side economist [[Kare Willoch]], claimed victory with 54 seats and a potential coalition of 79.<ref>"Conservatives claim Norwegian election", ''Anchorage Daily News'', September 15, 1981, pA-10</ref>

==[[September 14]], 1981 (Monday)==
*''[[Entertainment Tonight]]'' made its syndicated debut in various television markets.<ref>"Two magazine series to debut", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 13, 1981</ref>
*[[Nikolai Glushkov]], Chairman of the State Prices Commission in the [[Soviet Union]], confirmed rumors that had caused a run on stores,  announcing sharp price increases for the following day, doubling the price of gasoline from the equivalent of $1.06 a gallon to $2.12.  Glushkov also increased prices on tobacco and liquor, saying that it was in response to requests from workers "to limit the demand for them".  He also said that prices for synthetic fabrics, household appliances, medicines and some watches would be cut by up to 37%, and noted that meat, dairy and bread prices had been unchanged for nearly 20 years.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0FYaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NyoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6933,2590220&dq=some+russ+prices+soar&hl=en "Some Russ prices soar"], ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 15, 1981, p2</ref>

==[[September 15]], 1981 (Tuesday)==
*General [[Frederick J. Kroesen]], commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, was slightly injured in an assassination attempt in West Germany.  Two [[rocket-propelled grenades]] were fired at his armor-plated car as he was being driven through [[Heidelberg]].<ref>"US general survives ambush", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 15, 1981, p1</ref>
*The ''[[John Bull (locomotive)|John Bull]]'' became the oldest operable [[steam locomotive]] in the world, at 150 years old, when it operated under its own power outside [[Washington, DC]].
*'''Born:''' [[Ben Schwartz]], American actor and comedian, in the Bronx, New York City<ref>[https://www.upi.com/Top_News/2018/09/15/UPI-Almanac-for-Saturday-Sept-15-2018/8271536973400/ UPI Almanac for Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018]</ref>
*'''Died:''' [[Harold Bennett]], 81, British actor

==[[September 16]], 1981 (Wednesday)==
*[[World Boxing Council]] champion [[Sugar Ray Leonard]] and [[World Boxing Association]]  champion [[Thomas Hearns]] fought at [[Caesar's Palace]] in [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]] for the [[List of welterweight boxing champions|world welterweight boxing championship]].  In the 14th round, Leonard won in a technical knockout, pounding away with Hearns on the ropes, until referee Davey Pearl stopped the fight.<ref>"Leonard stuns Hearns in the 14th", ''Milwaukee Sentinel'', September 17, 1981, p2-1</ref>
*In [[United Kingdom|Britain]], the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] conference voted 1,688-112 for an electoral pact with the new [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]].<ref>"British centrists form pact",  ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 17, 1981, p2</ref>
* The stop-motion animated British children's series ''[[Postman Pat]]'' was introduced by the [[BBC One]] network. [https://www.bbc.com/news/av/entertainment-arts-14939816 "Postman Pat's creator looks back at its conception"], BBC News September 16, 2011
*'''Born:''' [[Alexis Bledel]], American actress, in [[Houston]]

==[[September 17]], 1981 (Thursday)==
*The [[Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum]] was dedicated at [[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] in a ceremony attended by the three heads of government of North America.  U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]], Canadian Prime Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]], and Mexican President [[Jose Lopez Portillo]] met in a "minisummit" at breakfast in Reagan's hotel suite, and comedian [[Bob Hope]] later entertained the 38th President and his guests.<ref>"Ford Museum Dedicated With A Note Of Hope", ''Pittsburgh Press'', September 18, 1981, p1</ref>
*[[Ric Flair]] defeated Dusty Rhodes to win his first World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]].
*'''Died:''' [[Rafael Méndez]], 75, Mexican-born trumpet virtuoso

==[[September 18]], 1981 (Friday)==
*EINECS, the [[European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances]], was issued by the [[European Community]], containing the first list of every chemical substance in the EC nations.<ref>Gordon L. Hollis, ''Surfactants Europa: A Directory of Surface Active Agents Available in Europe'' (Royal Society of Chemistry, 1995)</ref>
*The [[Memphis Group]], a collection of innovative post-modern furniture designers led by [[Ettore Sottsass]], debuted its work in [[Milan]], [[Italy]].<ref>Lakshmi Bhaskaran, ''Designs of the Times: Using Key Movements and Styles for Contemporary Design'' (Rotovision, 2005)</ref>
*An [[Yakovlev Yak-40#Notable accidents and incidents|Aeroflot passenger airplane]] with 33 people on board was making its approach for a landing at the Russian city of [[Zheleznogorsk-Ilimsky]] when it was struck by a Soviet Army helicopter on a training mission.  All 33 on the plane, and 7 on the helicopter, were killed.<ref>[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19810918-0 Aviation Safety Network]</ref>

==[[September 19]], 1981 (Saturday)==
*[[Simon & Garfunkel]] reunited to perform [[The Concert in Central Park]], a free concert in New York in front of approximately half a million people.<ref>"Simon-Garfunkel reunion draws huge crowd in New York",   ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 20, 1981, p15</ref>
*The [[Solidarity Day march]] took place in [[Washington D.C.]]
*The 80-year-old Brazilian river boat ''Sobral Santos'' capsized in the [[Amazon River]], [[Óbidos, Brazil]], killing at least 300 people.<ref>"300 bodies sought in Amazon", ''Ottawa Citizen'', September 21, 1981, p56</ref>

==[[September 20]], 1981 (Sunday)==
*For the first time, [[China]] launched three satellites into orbit, on a rocket from the [[Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center]].  The feat led some observers to speculate that China had gained the ability to launch multiple nuclear warheads<ref>"Chinese can launch multiple warheads", ''St. Petersburg (FL) Independent'', September 23, 1981, p13-A; [http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/icbm/df-5.htm Federation of American Scientists]</ref> or that it had set up an early warning system against missile attacks.<ref>"Chinese satellites to protect against nuclear missile hits",  ''Nashua (NH) Telegraph'', September 21, 1981, p4</ref>
*Karen Williams, a stewardess on board [[World Airways]] Flight 32, a DC-10, was crushed to death in the airplane's service elevator during a flight from Baltimore to London.<ref>"Stewardess' death probed",  ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 21, 1981, p2</ref>

==[[September 21]], 1981 (Monday)==
[[File:Flag of British Honduras (1919-1981).svg|150px|thumb|British Honduras]]
[[File:Flag of Belize.svg|150px|thumb|Belize]]
*[[Belize]], formerly [[British Honduras]] attained independence, with [[George Cadle Price|George Price]] serving as its first Prime Minister, and Dame [[Elmira Minita Gordon|Minita Gordon]] as its Governor-General.<ref>"Belize, independent at last, wary of future", ''Montreal Gazette'', September 21, 1981, p57</ref>
*The appointment of [[Sandra Day O'Connor]] was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, 99–0, for her to become the 102nd justice of the [[United States Supreme Court]].<ref>"99-0 Senate vote cheers O'Connor", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 22, 1981, p3</ref>
*'''Born:''' [[Nicole Richie]], American actress, singer and socialite, in [[Berkeley, California]]

==[[September 22]], 1981 (Tuesday)==
*The [[initial public offering]] of stock in [[The Home Depot]] was made at $12.00 per share as the company was listed on the [[NASDAQ]] exchange.<ref>[http://ir.homedepot.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=63646&p=irol-faq_pf HomeDepot.com, Investor FAQ] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120709211243/http://ir.homedepot.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=63646&p=irol-faq_pf |date=2012-07-09 }}</ref>  The stock was worth 20 times as much within two years, and with 13 successive stock splits over the next 18 years, the value of a 1981 share of stock was worth 370 times as much, so that initial investment of $5,000 in 1981 would have been worth $1.8 million in 1999.<ref>Chris Roush, ''Inside Home Depot: How One Company Revolutionized an Industry through the Relentless Pursuit of Growth'' (McGraw-Hill Professional, 1999) p2</ref>  By 2010, the $5,000 investment would have been worth more than six million dollars.<ref>[http://www.1stock1.com/1stock1_065.htm 1stock1.com]</ref>
*'''Born:''' [[Alexei Ramírez]], Cuban-born Major League Baseball player, in [[Pinar del Río]]
*'''Died:''' [[Harry Warren]], 87, American songwriter and three time Oscar winner

==[[September 23]], 1981 (Wednesday)==
*U.S. National Security Adviser Richard Allen announced plans by the Reagan Administration to create a [[Radio Marti|radio station]] that would broadcast to [[Cuba]], patterned after [[Radio Free Europe]].<ref>"U.S. To Beam Radio News To Cuba", ''Toledo Blade'', September 23, 1981, p2</ref>  Though initially set to launch in January 1982, [[Radio Marti]] did not start transmission until May 20, 1985.<ref>Loch K. Johnson, ''Strategic Intelligence'', Volume 1 (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007) pp112-113</ref>
*'''Died:''' [[Chief Dan George]], 82, Canadian First Nations actor

==[[September 24]], 1981 (Thursday)==
*A day after meeting for the first time, U.S. Secretary of State [[Alexander Haig]], and U.S.S.R. Foreign Minister [[Andrei Gromyko]] issued a joint statement that the two nations would resume discussions on controlling the growth of nuclear weapons in Europe, beginning on November 30 in [[Geneva]].<ref>"U.S.-Russian talks slated on nuclear arms control", ''Vancouver Sun'', September 24, 1981, pA7</ref>
*The largest crowd ever to attend a [[greyhound racing]] event in the United States—21,000 people—turned out at [[Southland Greyhound Park]] in [[West Memphis, Arkansas]], wagering 1.3 million dollars on the racing dogs.<ref>[http://www.southlandgreyhound.com/Racing.aspx Southland Greyhound Park website]</ref>

==[[September 25]], 1981 (Friday)==
*The [[Sydney Tower]], fifth tallest building in the world  opened to the public.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xv5jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2uYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3699,9097361&dq=sydney-tower&hl=en "Sydney Tower- A special Herald feature to mark today's opening to the public of Australia's tallest building"], ''Sydney Morning Herald'', September 25, 1981</ref>
*[[The Rolling Stones]] began their 40-city [[Tattoo You]] tour at [[JFK Stadium]] in [[Philadelphia]], playing before a crowd of 90,000.<ref>"Jagger, 38, still has some flash", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 26, 1981, p2</ref>
*[[Sandra Day O'Connor]] took her seat as the first female justice of the [[U.S. Supreme Court]].

==[[September 26]], 1981 (Saturday)==
[[File:Mustela nigripes 2.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Black-footed ferret: not extinct]]
[[File:Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-232 Farnborough 1982 Fitzgerald.jpg|200px|right|thumb|A Boeing 767-200]]
*Believed to have become extinct in 1975, the [[black-footed ferret]] (''Mustela nigripes'') was rediscovered in [[Meeteetse, Wyoming]] by a dog, which had attacked and killed the animal.  The following month, a live ferret was found in the same area.<ref>Miriam Aronin, ''Black-footed Ferrets: Back from the Brink'' (Bearport Publishing, 2007) p4</ref>
* The [[Boeing 767]] airliner made its first flight, taking off from [[Everett, Washington]] at 11:55 am.  Piloted by Tom Edmonds and Lew Wallick, along with John Britt, the jet reached an altitude of 17,000 feet and a speed of 260 miles per hour, and landing again at 1:58&nbsp;p.m.<ref>"Hydraulic problem fails to mar Boeing 767 test", ''Lewiston (ID) Morning Tribune'', September 27, 1981, p2-B</ref>
*'''Born:''' 
**[[Serena Williams]], American professional tennis player, ranked No. 1 in the world on five occasions from 2002 through 2010; in [[Saginaw, Michigan]] 
**[[Christina Milian]], American R&B singer and actress, in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]]
**[[Yao Beina]]，Chinese female singer, in [[Wuhan, Hubei]] (d. 2015)

==[[September 27]], 1981 (Sunday)==
*The first commercial run of the [[TGV]] high-speed rail service train began, traversing the 300-mile distance between [[Paris]] and [[Lyon]]s.  At 6:15 am, the '''T'''rain a  '''G'''rande '''V'''itesse pulled out of the Gare de Lyon in Paris with 772 passengers, then accelerated along the high-speed line at [[Saint-Florentin, Yonne|Saint-Florentin]] at 156 miles per hour, arriving in Lyons at 9:05 am.<ref>"Large crowds ride high-speed train", ''Calgary Herald'', September 28, 1981, pB10</ref>
*The hijacking of a Yugoslavian JAT Boeing 727 was thwarted after a fire alarm was sounded and the 101 passengers and 7 crew escaped unharmed.  The plane had been seized the night before during a flight from [[Dubrovnik]] to [[Belgrade]], flew to [[Athens]] for refueling, then landed at the Cypriot city of [[Larnaka]], where the escape took place.<ref>"Yugoslav plane hijacked", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 27, 1981, p2; "Yugoslav hijackers seized", ''Journal'', September 28, 1981, p2</ref>
*'''Died:''' [[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]], 77, American actor

==[[September 28]], 1981 (Monday)==
*After stock analyst [[Joseph Granville]] had predicted over the weekend that a "Blue Monday" would see stock prices fall, record sell-offs took place.  In Tokyo, where the markets opened first, the [[Nikkei 225]] fell 302.84 points, the largest single-day drop on record, and when the [[London Stock Exchange]] opened, the [[FT 30|FT Index]] dropped a record 29.4 points.  Less drastic declines happened in [[Sydney]], [[Singapore]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Frankfurt]], [[Zürich]] and [[Paris]]. Stock prices fell initially in New York and Toronto, but rallied later in the day.<ref>"Foreign stocks take a dive, but Wall St. gets up for the bell", ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', September 29, 1981, p1</ref>  Tokyo and London made strong recoveries the next day.<ref>"U.S. stocks edge higher; London, Tokyo recover", ''Madison (WI) Courier'', September 29, 1981, p1</ref>
*'''Died:''' [[Rómulo Betancourt]], 73, former [[President of Venezuela]]

==[[September 29]], 1981 (Tuesday)==
*President Reagan issued Executive Order 12324 to halt the flow of refugees from [[Haiti]] into the United States. Since 1978, almost 50,000 Haitian citizens fled the regime of [[Jean-Claude Duvalier]] and most were detained in South Florida.  Reagan ordered the U.S. Coast Guard to intercept and board any refugee vessels and return them to their nation of origin.<ref>"Reagan Orders Halt To Illegal Alien Flow From Caribbean", ''Toledo Blade'', September 30, 1981, p1</ref>
*U.S. Senator [[William Proxmire]] (D-Wisconsin) completed a [[filibuster]] at 10:27&nbsp;a.m., yielding the floor after beginning a speech of more than 16 hours the day before.  Proxmire, famous for his monthly "[[Golden Fleece Award]]" for wasteful government spending, had spoken out against U.S. Senate approval of a bill to raise the debt ceiling above one trillion dollars. The cost of his speech to taxpayers, most of it for printing in the Congressional Record, was estimated at $64,674.<ref>"Proxmire Filibuster on Wasteful Federal Spending Costs Taxpayers $64,000", ''Schenectady (NY) Gazette'', September 29, 1981, p4</ref>
*A 17-year-old [[Mojahed]] assassin detonated a hand grenade, killing Iranian Shia cleric [[Abdolkarim Hasheminejad]], the local Islamic Republican Party leader, along with himself after infiltrating the party headquarters in the city of [[Mashhad]] in Iran.<ref>"Mujahedeen murders clergyman, leading Khomeini to attack U.S.", AP report in ''Des Moines (IA) Register'', September 30, 1981, p2</ref><ref>Baqer Moin, ''Khomeini: Life of the Ayatollah'' (Macmillan, 2000) p242</ref>
*'''Died:''' [[Bill Shankly]], 68, British football manager who won multiple championships for [[Liverpool F.C.]]

==[[September 30]], 1981 (Wednesday)==
*The [[United States public debt#Debt ceiling|United States' debt ceiling]] was raised to one trillion dollars for the first time in history, the day after the U.S. Senate, by a margin of 64–34, approved an increase of the government's credit limit from $985 billion to $1,079,000,000,000.  President Reagan signed the legislation at 8:15 pm in Washington.<ref>"Reagan Signs Bill For Trillion-dollar Debt", ''Dubuque (IA) Telegraph-Herald'', October 1, 1981, p2</ref>
*Pakistani commandos stormed a hijacked [[Indian Airlines]] jet and rescued all 45 hostages, two hours before a deadline for action.  The plane had been seized the day before by three Sikh nationalists, then flown to [[Lahore]].<ref>"Indian jet hijacked", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 29, 1981, p2; "Indian hijacking ends safely", ''Milwaukee Journal'', September 30, 1981, p2</ref>
*The [[International Olympic Committee]] session in [[Baden-Baden]], [[West Germany]] awarded the [[1988 Winter Olympics]] in [[Calgary]] and the [[1988 Summer Olympics]] in [[Seoul]].<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20030424025744/http://aldaver.com/votes.html IOC vote history]}}</ref>
*'''Born:''' [[Cecelia Ahern]], Irish novelist, in [[Dublin]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{commons category|September 1981}}
{{Events by month links}}

[[Category:September 1981| ]]
[[Category:September by year|1981]]
[[Category:Months in the 1980s|*1981-09]]