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1981
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World Events
U.S. Events
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $3,115.90 billion
Federal spending: $678.25 billion
Federal debt: $994.8 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars): $19,074
Consumer Price Index: 90.9
Unemployment: 7.6%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.15 ($0.18 as of 3/22/81; $0.20 as of 11/1/81)
Sports
Super BowlOakland d. Philadelphia (27-10)World SeriesLA Dodgers d. NY Yankees (4-2)NBA ChampionshipBoston d. Houston (4-2)Stanley CupNY Islanders d. Minnesota (4-1)WimbledonWomen: Chris Evert Lloyd d. H. Mandlikova (6-2 6-2)
Men: John McEnroe d. B. Borg (4-6 7-6 7-6 6-4)Kentucky Derby ChampionPleasant ColonyNCAA Basketball ChampionshipIndiana d. North Carolina (63-50)NCAA Football ChampionsClemson (12-0-0)
Entertainment
Entertainment Awards
Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
Drama: Crimes of the Heart, Beth Henley Oscars awarded in 1981
Academy Award, Best Picture: Ordinary People, Ronald L. Schwary, producer (Paramount) Nobel Prize for Literature: Elias Canetti (Bulgaria) 1981 Emmy Awards 1981 Tony Awards Grammys awarded in 1981
Record of the Year: "Sailing," Christopher Cross
Album of the Year: Christopher Cross, Christopher Cross (Warner Bros.)
Song of the Year: "Sailing," Christopher Cross, songwriter Miss America: Susan Powell (OK) More Entertainment Awards...
Events- MTV goes on the air running around the clock music videos, debuting with "Video Killed the Radio Star."
- The Supreme Court rules to allow television cameras in the courtroom.
- Pacman-mania sweeps the country.
Movies- Raiders of the Lost Ark, Chariots of Fire, On Golden Pond, Reds, Atlantic City
Books
Science
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Roald Hoffmann (US) and Kenichi Fukui (Japan), for applying quantum-mechanics theories to predict the course of chemical reactions Physics: Nicolaas Bloembergen, Arthur L. Schawlow (both US), and Kai M. Siegbahn (Sweden), for developing technologies with lasers and other devices to probe the secrets of complex forms of matter Physiology or Medicine: Roger W. Sperry, David H. Hubel (both US), and Torsten N. Wiesel (Sweden), for studies vital to understanding the organization and functioning of the brain
- AIDS is first identified. Background: Understanding AIDS
- IBM introduces its first personal computer, running the Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS). Background: Computers and Internet
- The 236-m.p.h. TGV, Europe's first high-speed passenger train, begins operating out of Lyons, France.
- The FDA approves the use of the artificial sweetener aspartame (Nutrasweet). Background: Health & Nutrition
Deaths
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