1981

Ronald Reagan succeeds Jimmy Carter, becoming the 40th President of the United States. Minutes later, Iran releases 52 Americans held 444 days.

The first De Lorean DMC-12 automobile, a stainless steel sportscar with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.

The Oakland Raiders win Super Bowl XV, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Rupert Murdoch buys The Times and The Sunday Times for £12 million.

After 19 years hosting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.. Two police officers and Press Secretary James Brady are also wounded.

The rock band Yes splits up (regrouping in 1983).

Indianapolis 500: Bobby Unser wins for a third time for both he as a driver and Roger Penske as a car owner, but the race sanctioning-body USAC temporarily strips him of victory over an accusation of illegally passing other cars under a caution period (see racing flags). After the team's appeal, Unser's win is reinstated on October 8.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 5 homosexual men in Los Angeles, California have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems (the first recognized cases of AIDS).

Major League Baseball goes on strike, forcing the cancellation of 38 percent of the schedule.

Wayne Williams, a 23-year-old African American, is arrested and charged with the murders of 2 other African Americans. He will later be suspected of 28 others, in the Atlanta child murders.

Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: Two skywalks filled with people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri collapse into a crowded atrium lobby, killing 114.

Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales.

August 1, The birth of MTV, the 24 hour-a-day music television station

Pac-Man is introduced in the US and sparks a huge craze.

Spain allows legal divorces.

Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.

The original Model 5150 IBM PC with a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor is released in the United States at a base price of $1,565.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan appoints the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor.

First flight of the Boeing 767 airliner.

The heavy metal band Metallica forms.

Luke and Laura marry on the U.S. soap opera General Hospital; it is the highest-rated hour in daytime television history.

The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.

Deaths:

Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
Bob Marley, Jamaican singer and musician (b. 1945)
Natalie Wood, American actress (drowned) (b. 1938)