1981
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1 January 1981 The Republic of Palau is created within the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
Abdou Diouf replaces Léopold Sédar Senghor as President of Senegal.
Greece becomes the tenth member of the European Community.
3 January 1981 Algerian intermediaries convey the latest US initiative for freeing the hostages to Iranian leaders.
Two US agricultural advisors and the director of the land reform program of El Salvador are shot to death in a San Salvador hotel. Conservative death squads are suspected.
5 January 1981 Iranian forces begin a counteroffensive against invading Iraqis. It will not achieve its objectives.
The Italian government refuses demands made by Red Brigades holding magistrate Giovanni D’Urso.
The Ninety-seventh Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. The Republican Party of President-elect Ronald Reagan controls the Senate while the Democratic Party controls the House of Representatives.
6 January 1981 Scientists in Switzerland report that they have succeeded in cloning a mammal for the first time, having produced three mice.
Dramatische Szenen aus Orpheus II for orchestra by Hans Werner Henze (54) is performed for the first time, in Zürich.
7 January 1981 Leaders of Solidarity declare a five-day work week.
8 January 1981 A study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows a definite link between high cholesterol levels and increased risk of heart disease.
9 January 1981 Francisco Pinto Balsemão replaces Diogo Freitas do Amaral as Prime Minister of Portugal.
10 January 1981 Solidarity estimates that 80% of Poland’s heavy industries are shut down as workers take the first Saturday off after the proclamation of a five-day work week.
11 January 1981 The government of El Salvador imposes a nationwide dusk-to-dawn curfew.
12 January 1981 The Macheteros, a Puerto Rican nationalist group, destroy nine aircraft and damage two others at the Muñiz Air National Guard Base near San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Fünfte Abgesangsszene for orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (28) is performed for the first time, in Kiel.
Beast 708 for computer generated tape or flute, clarinet, two horns, two trombones, vibraphone, piano, violin, and double bass by Charles Wuorinen (42) in memory of Arnold Schoenberg (†29), is performed for the first time, at the Arnold Schoenberg Institute of UCLA conducted by the composer. (The UCLA libraries have no record of this event.)
13 January 1981 Apparition-elegiac songs & vocalises, a cycle for soprano and amplified piano by George Crumb (51) to words of Whitman, is performed for the first time, at the 92nd Street Y, New York.
15 January 1981 Red Brigades release abducted magistrate Giovanni D’Urso unharmed in Rome.
16 January 1981 Protestant terrorists shoot and seriously injure Catholic rights advocate Bernadette Devlin and her husband Michael McAliskey at their home in County Tyrone. The three gunmen are captured by the British army.
17 January 1981 Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law in his country, however he retains all decrees promulgated in the last eleven years.
18 January 1981 Samuel Barber (70) is released from University Hospital, New York suffering from a stroke he had at the beginning of October, multiple myeloma, and the effects of chronic alcoholism. He is brought to his home in Manhattan.
Suite for twelve trombones by Vladimir Ussachevsky (69) is performed for the first time, at the Peabody Conservatory, Baltimore.
19 January 1981 Iran agrees to free the Americans they hold in Teheran in return for $8,000,000,000 in Iranian assets frozen by the United States in 1979.
Four UN soldiers, three from Senegal and one from Fiji, are killed by the PLO in southern Lebanon.
John Cage (68) participates in the first live performance of his Roaratorio, an Irish Circus on Finnegan’s Wake at IRCAM in Paris.
Piano Sonata no.3 by Lejaren Hiller (56) is performed for the first time, in Buffalo, 31 years after it was composed.
20 January 1981 Ronald Wilson Reagan replaces James Earl Carter as President of the United States. 52 Americans held hostage by Iran in Teheran for 444 days are put on a plane to Algiers moments after the inauguration. The Algerian government places them in the hands of Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher who puts them on US Air Force planes for a flight to Wiesbaden, West Germany.
21 January 1981 IRA terrorists kill Protestant leader Norman Stronge and his son at Tynan Abbey in South Armagh.
22 January 1981 Warning strikes take place throughout Poland, involving hundreds of thousands of workers, over the five-day work week.
23 January 1981 The death penalty given to Korean opposition leader Kim Dae Jung is commuted to life in prison by President Chun Doo Hwan.
Samuel Barber dies in his New York home of multiple myeloma (cancer of the lymphatic system), aged 70 years, ten months, and 14 days.
24 January 1981 South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan ends the martial law existing in his country since the murder of President Park Chung Hee in 1979.
Another workless Saturday is observed by millions of workers in Poland.
Concerto for violin by John Harbison (42) is performed for the first time, in Emmanuel Church, Boston.
25 January 1981 Jiang Qing, widow of Mao Zedong, is sentenced to death for counterrevolutionary crimes during the Cultural Revolution. The sentence is suspended for two years during which she will be given a chance to “reform.” The other “Gang of Four” members are convicted along with six others. Prison sentences of various lengths are handed out.
Three for Six for violin/viola, cello, flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, percussion, and piano by Ralph Shapey (59) is performed for the first time, in the Harvey M. Meyerhoff Center for the Performing Arts, Brooklandville, Maryland.
26 January 1981 Former Congressman Richard Kelly and two co-defendants are found guilty of bribery and conspiracy in the Abscam scandal.
After a funeral service in the First Presbyterian Church, the mortal remains of Samuel Barber are laid to rest in Oaklands Cemetery, West Chester, Pennsylvania.
27 January 1981 52 Americans held hostage in Iran are feted by the citizens of Washington as they travel through the streets of the city to be greeted by President Reagan at the White House.
28 January 1981 US President Ronald Reagan decrees an end to controls on oil prices.
29 January 1981 Adolfo Suárez González resigns as Prime Minister of Spain and leader of his party.
31 January 1981 The Polish government and Solidarity agree that three out of every four Saturdays will be non-working.
1 February 1981 The Iranian government cuts diplomatic relations with Jordan and Morocco because of their support for Iraq.
Concerto for cello and ten players by Richard Wernick (47) is performed for the first time, at the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington.
2 February 1981 When the Argentine government devalues the peso by 9% panic ensues, with a run on the US dollar.
4 February 1981 Gro Harlem Brundtland replaces Odvar Nordli as Prime Minister of Norway. She is the first female prime minister in Scandinavia.
5 February 1981 Novellette for flute and harp by Isang Yun (63) is performed for the first time, in Bremen.
9 February 1981 General Wojciech Jaruzelski is named Prime Minister of Poland, replacing Józef Pinkowski.
Garden of Joy and Sorrow for flute, harp, and viola with speaker ad lib by Sofia Gubaidulina (49) to words of Tanzer is performed for the first time, in the Hall of the Composers Union, Moscow.
10 February 1981 The New China News Agency reports that the first Chinese-made nuclear reactor has gone on line.
The Polish Supreme Court denies recognition to the independent farm workers’ union Rural Solidarity.
A sale of US wheat to Nicaragua worth $9,600,000 is cancelled by the Reagan Administration.
11 February 1981 Eight Corsican separatists are given prison sentences in Paris. At night, on Corsica, 46 bombs are set off.
The Big Lightning, an unfinished operetta by Dmitri Shostakovich (†5) to words of Aseyev, is performed for the first time, in Leningrad Conservatory Bolshoy Hall 49 years after it was composed. Also premiered is Shostakovich’s Scherzo in E flat op.7 for orchestra 57 years after it was composed.
12 February 1981 Rev. Ian Paisley, MP is suspended from the House of Commons when he calls Humphrey Atkins, Secretary for Northern Ireland, a liar and refuses to retract it.
13 February 1981 Australian millionaire Rupert Murdoch buys The Times of London.
Aïs for solo percussion, amplified baritone, and orchestra by Iannis Xenakis (58) to words of Homer and Sappho is performed for the first time, in Munich.
Axolotl for cello and electronics by Morton Subotnick (47) is performed for the first time, in Washington. See 15 February 1982.
In Praise of Winds for band by Gunther Schuller (55) is performed for the first time, in Hill Auditorium of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
15 February 1981 The Goose Girl, a children’s opera by Thomas Pasatieri (35) to his own words after the Brothers Grimm, is performed for the first time, in Fort Worth, Texas.
16 February 1981 Sonata in c minor for cello and piano by Ethel Smyth (†36) is performed publicly for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London 101 years after it was composed.
17 February 1981 The Polish government recognizes an independent university students’ union.
Amnesty International charges that 5,000 people have been kidnapped and killed in Guatemala since President Romeo Lucas García took office in 1978. They accuse the President personally.
18 February 1981 Gending Hermes for Javanese gamelan by Lou Harrison (63) is performed for the first time, in Evans Auditorium, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon.
19 February 1981 The consuls for Austria, El Salvador, and Uruguay are kidnapped by Basque terrorists in Bilbao and Pamplona. The kidnappers demand the release of 300 of their colleagues.
20 February 1981 Croat Franjo Tudjman is sentenced to three years in prison for criticizing the Yugoslav regime in western publications.
The Reagan administration ends a trade embargo against the military dictatorship of Chile.
Gazebo Dances for orchestra by John Corigliano (43) is performed for the first time, in Woodbury, New Jersey.
21 February 1981 Ecclesiastical Symphonies for orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (42) is performed for the first time, in Centennial Hall, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
22 February 1981 After Reading Shakespeare for cello by Ned Rorem (57) is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia.
23 February 1981 A group of Spanish Civil Guards seize the lower house of the Cortes in Madrid and take most of the country’s leaders hostage. Soldiers of the regular army take control of the state television station outside Madrid. A state of emergency is declared in Valencia.
A way a lone for string quartet by Toru Takemitsu (50) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
24 February 1981 Several Spanish military units join with the Madrid Civil Guard and the Valencia contingent in insurrection. After loyal troops regain the broadcasting station, King Juan Carlos appears on television to denounce the mutiny. The uprising thereupon collapses.
Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of the Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer.
26 February 1981 Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo y Bustelo succeeds Adolfo Suárez González as Prime Minister of Spain. He heads an all-civilian cabinet.
Howard Hanson dies after a short illness in Rochester, New York, aged 84 years, three months, and 29 days.
Incidental music to the play Klim Samgin after Gorky by Alfred Schnittke (46) is performed for the first time, in Mayakovsky Theatre, Moscow.
Symphony no.2 by Peter Maxwell Davies (46) is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston.
27 February 1981 Over 1,000,000 people march through the streets of Madrid in support of King Juan Carlos and democracy, and against the army insurrection.
The Reagan administration accuses the Nicaraguan government of sending support to leftist guerrillas in El Salvador and threatens to end economic aid to the country.
Night Journey, a choreographic poem for 15 instruments by William Schuman (70), is performed for the first time, in Albany, New York.
28 February 1981 Three consuls kidnapped on 19 February by Basque separatists are released unharmed in San Sebastián.
The Palace for bass-baritone and electronic sound generators by Roger Reynolds (46) to words of Borges is performed publicly for the first time, in Los Angeles. See 19 December 1980.
2 March 1981 In Britain, twelve centrist Labour MPs resign from the party and form a new group called the Social Democrats.
The Reagan administration sends 20 more military advisors to El Salvador and announces an escalation of $25,000,000 to the junta there.
4 March 1981 Armenian terrorists kill two Turkish diplomats in Paris.
5 March 1981 American Hymn: Variations on an Original Melody for band by William Schuman (70) is performed for the first time. See 30 March 1981.
7 March 1981 Fanfare for brass ensemble and percussion by Karel Husa (59) is performed for the first time, in Portland, Oregon.
8 March 1981 56 workers are exposed to radioactivity when waste water is spilled at a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Japan. The owner, Japan Atomic Power Company, will not report the accident and it will be discovered by government inspectors.
10 March 1981 Two Studies for saxophones and piano by Ross Lee Finney (74) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
Symphony no.9 “Sinfonia Capriciosa” by Peter Mennin (57) is performed for the first time, in Washington.
11 March 1981 2,000 Albanian students demonstrate in Pristina, Kosovo, Yugoslavia against poor economic conditions.
Representatives of Belize, Guatemala, and the United Kingdom sign an agreement in London which will bring independence to Belize before the end of the year.
13 March 1981 Interlude and Ecstatic Alice from In Memory of a Summer Day for amplified soprano and orchestra by David Del Tredici (43) is performed for the first time, in Bovard Auditorium, Los Angeles. See 23 February 1980.
14 March 1981 Tutuguri I for orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (29) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
Three Moravian songs for chorus by Karel Husa (59) to folk texts are performed for the first time, in Holland, Michigan.
15 March 1981 Donnerstag aus Licht, an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen (52) to his own words, is staged incompletely, for the first time, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan. The critics are scathing.
16 March 1981 Christian militia bombardment kills three UN (Nigeria) soldiers and injures eleven others in Qantara.
The New York Times reports that former members of the Nicaraguan National Guard of Anastasio Somoza have been training in Florida with Cuban exiles to overthrow the new government of Nicaragua.
17 March 1981 Como una fantasía for cello by Joaquín Rodrigo (79) is performed for the first time, in Sala Netzahuacoyotl, Mexico City. Later, a fire breaks out in the Mexico City hotel where the composer and his wife are staying. They manage to make it to the elevator but find it not working. Finally, two maids arrive in a freight elevator and guide them to safety. They lose most of their belongings but are unhurt.
19 March 1981 In Bydgoszcz, Poland, riot police are sent in to evict Solidarity members in negotiation with the provincial council. Several of the negotiators are made to run a gauntlet of police with batons. Some are seriously injured. See 10 September 1987.
Governor Frank White of Arkansas signs into law a measure requiring the teaching of “creation science” in the state’s schools. It gives equal weight to the Bible story of creation and Darwin’s evolution theory.
20 March 1981 About 500,000 workers stage two-hour strikes in Bydgoszcz, Torun, Grudziadz and Wloclawek to protest the actions of yesterday. Solidarity suspends all talks with the government.
22 March 1981 The Italian government devalues the lira by six percent against the other currencies in the European Monetary System. They also increase the discount rate to a record 19%.
23 March 1981 The New York Times reports that a study done by the CIA contradicts the Reagan administration claim that the USSR is directly helping international terrorist organizations.
Dances and Fanfares for a Festive Occasion for orchestra by Vladimir Ussachevsky (69) is performed for the first time, at Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield.
24 March 1981 On the first anniversary of the murder of Archbishop Romero, vigils and demonstrations are held throughout the United States to protest the Reagan administration’s military escalation in El Salvador.
25 March 1981 Riots break out in Prizren, Kosovo, Yugoslavia.
Armed leftists attack the United States embassy in San Salvador with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.
26 March 1981 University students in Pristina, Kosovo, Yugoslavia riot again.
The Social Democratic Party of Great Britain formally comes into existence. It currently boasts 14 MPs and high approval ratings.
The West German Bundestag votes to support the decision of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt to deploy new medium-range nuclear missiles.
The Turfan Fragments for orchestra by Morton Feldman (55) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Swiss-Italian Radio.
27 March 1981 Millions of Polish workers stage a four-hour nationwide strike protesting police attacks on members of Solidarity. An indefinite general strike is called off after negotiations with the government.
The Wall Street Journal reports that many US companies doing business in Angola favor maintaining the present government, in spite of the Reagan administration’s attempts to aid rebels trying to overthrow it.
28 March 1981 A domestic Indonesian flight is hijacked by Moslem extremists and ordered to fly to Srik Lanka. They refuel in Malaysia and finally land at Bangkok. The hijackers demand the release of 80 of their comrades in Indonesian jails and $1,500,000.
Back to Life for counter-tenor and double bass by Ned Rorem (57) to words of Gunn, is performed for the first time, in Trinity Episcopal Church, Hartford, Connecticut.
Wizard Oil and Indian Sagwa for speaker and clarinet by R. Murray Schafer (47) is performed for the first time, in Toronto.
The Trojan Women, a ballet by Karel Husa (59), is performed for the first time, in Louisville, Kentucky conducted by the composer. See 28 October 1988.
29 March 1981 General Roberto Eduardo Viola Prevedini replaces Jorge Rafael Videla Redondo as President of the military government of Argentina.
30 March 1981 In an attempt to impress a movie actress with whom he is infatuated, John W. Hinckley fires several shots at the presidential entourage exiting the Washington Hilton Hotel. Struck by bullets are President Reagan, White House Press Secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent, and a Washington policeman. All will survive. Hinckley is captured at the scene.
Embellie for viola by Iannis Xenakis (58) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
American Hymn for brass quintet by William Schuman (70) is performed for the first time, in New York. See 5 March 1981.
31 March 1981 Indonesian commandos storm a hijacked Indonesian plane in Bangkok, killing two of the hijackers and freeing all 55 hostages. The other two hijackers are killed on the way back to Indonesia.
Demonstrations take place in Obilic, Kosovo, Yugoslavia.
Three leading Romanian gymnastics trainers, Bela Karolyi, his wife, and Geza Pozar, apply for political asylum in New York.
Quodlibets II for flute by Donald Martino (49) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.
1 April 1981 Police and demonstrators battle in the streets of Pristina, Kosovo. The students are soon joined by workers.
The Reagan administration reneges on $15,000,000 of economic aid promised by President Carter to Nicaragua.
Night Music for John Lennon for brass quintet by Lukas Foss (58) is performed for the first time, in Avery Fisher Hall, New York. See 8 December 1980.
Beauty and the Beast for alto and string quartet by R. Murray Schafer (47) is performed for the first time, in Montreal.
2 April 1981 In the worst outbreak of fighting since 1976, Lebanese Christians battle Syrians in Beirut and environs. 37 people are killed, 160 injured.
3 April 1981 Troops loyal to Thai Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda put down a coup attempt begun two days ago.
Li sao for bamboo flute and orchestra by Tan Dun (23) is performed for the first time, in Beijing.
Violence erupts in three cities in Kosovo, Yugoslavia.
Donnerstag aus Licht, an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen (52) to his own words, is staged completely for the first time, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
4 April 1981 Mario Moretti, a leader of the Red Brigades, is arrested with three others in Milan.
6 April 1981 Mark Eyskens replaces Wilfried Martens as Prime Minister of Belgium.
7 April 1981 Federal security forces enter the town of Soyopango, El Salvador and summarily execute at least 30 unarmed civilians leaving their bodies on a dirt road. A search for weapons in the town reveals none.
8 April 1981 Speaking in Prague, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev announces the end of Warsaw Pact maneuvers around Poland. He says that Poland can solve its own problems.
A cease-fire ordered by President Elias Sarkis takes hold in Lebanon.
The Ernst von Siemens Prize is awarded to Elliott Carter (72) in ceremonies at the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, Munich.
9 April 1981 The US State Department deplores the killings of 7 April but iterates its support for the central government of El Salvador.
10 April 1981 35 nations sign a treaty in Geneva banning the use of napalm against civilians. The United States is not one of them.
IRA member Bobby Sands, currently in prison, wins a by-election for the British Parliament in Northern Ireland.
The Polish Parliament votes a two-month ban on strikes.
Winter Variations for chamber ensemble by Tod Machover (27) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York the composer conducting.
11 April 1981 Hundreds of youths, most of them black, riot in the Brixton section of London over the next two days, particularly battling with police.
Peter Quince at the Clavier for chorus and piano concertante by Dominick Argento (53) to words of Stevens, is performed for the first time, in Schwab Auditorium, Pennsylvania State University, College Park. It was commissioned to celebrate the tercentenary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
12 April 1981 After a performance in Fürth, West Germany, conductor Maksim Shostakovich and pianist Dmitri Shostakovich, son and grandson of the composer (†5), seek political asylum.
Columbia, the first space shuttle, launches into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
14 April 1981 The first space shuttle, Columbia, returns to Earth at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert.
Evocation no.2 for cello, percussion, and piano by Ralph Shapey (60) is performed for the first time, at the Juilliard School, New York.
15 April 1981 The Reagan administration pardons two former high FBI officials who have been charged with authorizing break-ins and searches without warrants. The two did not ask for the pardons.
PolyGram, Philips, and Sony introduce the “Compact Disc Digital Audio System” at the Salzburg Easter Festival.
Harmonium for chorus and orchestra by John Adams (34) to words of Donne and Dickinson is performed for the first time, in Louise M. Davies Hall, San Francisco.
16 April 1981 Corsican separatists explode a bomb in a luggage locker at Ajaccio airport. One person is killed, seven injured.
The South African government orders Bishop Desmond Tutu to surrender his passport because of anti-apartheid statements he made in Europe and the US.
The United States admits Maksim and Dmitri Shostakovich as refugees.
19 April 1981 Christian militiamen bombard Sidon (Saida), Lebanon killing at least 22 people.
Two people are killed in Londonderry when a British army vehicle rams a crowd of Catholics throwing firebombs.
At the Haunted End of Day, a television profile of William Walton (79), is shown for the first time, on British television.
20 April 1981 Thy Song Expands My Spirit for piano by Samuel Adler (53) is performed for the first time, in the National Gallery, Washington.
21 April 1981 Italian government investigators release a membership list of a secret Masonic lodge led by Licio Gelli. It includes 953 men including two cabinet ministers, members of parliament, judges, generals, leading bankers, and journalists. Most deny membership.
The Reagan administration announces it has decided to sell billions of dollars worth of warplanes and missiles to Saudi Arabia, including five AWACS planes.
22 April 1981 23 people are killed in fighting by several different factions in and around Beirut.
Grave, metamorphoses for cello and piano by Witold Lutoslawski (68), is performed for the first time, in the National Museum, Warsaw. See 26 August 1982.
Gending Alexander for Javanese gamelan by Lou Harrison (63) is performed for the first time, at the University of Delaware.
23 April 1981 Catholics riot in four cities in Northern Ireland, including Belfast, battling with police and troops.
Concerto for violin, cello, and chamber orchestra by Arvo Pärt (45) is performed for the first time, in London.
24 April 1981 Doctors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report that they have successfully used artificial skin to treat burn patients.
IBM introduces its first personal computer.
US President Reagan lifts the grain embargo on the USSR.
The second and third of the Trilogy: Song of Songs for soprano, baritone, ensemble, and tape by Ralph Shapey (60) are performed for the first time, in Mandel Hall, Chicago the composer conducting. See 29 February 1980.
25 April 1981 De Profundis for male chorus, percussion, and organ by Arvo Pärt (45) is performed for the first time, in the Martinskirche, Kassel.
Sappho: Lyrical Fragments for two sopranos and strings by John Tavener (37) is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.
The Celestial Sphere for chorus, orchestra, and tape ad lib by Charles Wuorinen (42) to words of Fuller is performed for the first time, in Centennial Hall, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
26 April 1981 Officials at Japan Nuclear Power Company’s Tsuruga reactor admit to another incident where 45 workers were exposed to radiation in late January.
Teile dich Nacht, a cycle for soprano and chamber ensemble by Isang Yun (63) to words of Sachs, is performed for the first time, in Witten.
27 April 1981 15 Western nations agree to reschedule Poland’s debt falling due this year to prevent bankruptcy.
28 April 1981 For the first time, Israeli forces come to the aid of the Lebanese Christian militia. They shoot down two Syrian helicopters.
A bill to legalize abortion receives final approval by the Dutch Parliament.
29 April 1981 Peter Sutcliffe admits to being the “Yorkshire Ripper” responsible for killing 13 women and attempting to kill seven others. He pleads guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of “diminished responsibility.”
30 April 1981 The conservative governments of France, the United Kingdom, and the United States veto four Security Council resolutions to impose economic sanctions on South Africa for its Namibia policy.
White voters in South Africa give a victory to the governing National Party in parliamentary elections, with a slightly reduced majority. The Progressive Federal Party increases its representation to 26 seats.
Descensio for three trombones, three percussionists, harp, piano, and celesta by Sofia Gubaidulina (49) is performed for the first time, at Centre Pompidou, Paris.
1 May 1981 The Reagan Administration cuts off all aid to Nicaragua.
The US-backed military dictatorship in Chile dismantles the social security system and hands it over to private businesses.
A federal court in New York convicts Senator Harrison Williams of bribery, conspiracy, and other crimes in the Abscam scandal.
Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night, a monodrama by Dominick Argento (53) to words of Olon-Scrymgeour after Dickens, is performed for the first time, in Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis.
2 May 1981 The Reagan administration announces it will support groups seeking to overthrow the Vietnamese-backed government of Cambodia.
Symphony no.46 “to the Green Mountains” by Alan Hovhaness (70) is performed for the first time, in Vermont.
3 May 1981 The New York Times reports on the campaign of murder and torture against moderates and leftists by the conservative government of General Romeo Lucas García of Guatemala. 86 leaders of two moderate and leftist political parties have been killed in an attempt to frighten them into not contesting the 1981 elections. Only six conservative parties remain.
Toward the Sea for alto flute and guitar by Toru Takemitsu (50) is performed completely for the first time, in Seibu Theatre, Tokyo.
Massive peaceful rallies mark Constitution Day in Poland. The observance has been illegal since 1948.
4 May 1981 The First of October Antifascist Resistance Organization kills General Andrés Gonzáles de Suso and a policeman in Madrid. Two attackers are also killed. The group kills two Civil Guards in Barcelona.
5 May 1981 Indian troops are sent to the outskirts of Bihar city after five days of violence between Hindus and Moslems which has caused 48 deaths.
Bobby Sands, the imprisoned IRA leader and elected member of parliament, dies in Maze Prison near Belfast after a 66-day hunger strike. Violent clashes between Roman Catholics and British troops continue in Belfast and Londonderry.
6 May 1981 The Reagan administration orders Libya to close its embassy in Washington citing Libya’s “support for international terrorism.”
7 May 1981 Fearful of events in Poland, the Czechoslovak government begins widespread arrests of dissidents.
Basque terrorists bomb the car of Lieutenant General Joaquín Valenzuela, a senior aide to King Juan Carlos, wounding him and killing a colonel and two other soldiers in Madrid.
8 May 1981 Exemplum in memoriam Kwangju for orchestra by Isang Yun (63) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.
All in the Golden Afternoon for amplified soprano and orchestra by David Del Tredici (44), to words of Carroll, is performed for the first time, at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia.
9 May 1981 Aus Deutschland, a Lieder-Oper by Mauricio Kagel (49), is performed for the first time, in the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
10 May 1981 Independent Polish publisher Miroslaw Chojecki opens an exhibit of previously banned books at Warsaw Technical University.
Socialist François Mitterand defeats incumbent Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in the second round of the presidential election in France.
11 May 1981 The Associated Press reports that Guatemala’s Indian population is joining the rebels in ever increasing numbers due to mass killings and other atrocities by government troops.
Cats opens in London.
12 May 1981 The Polish government recognizes the independent farmers’ union Rural Solidarity.
Francis Hughes, a second IRA hunger striker, dies in Maze Prison. The death inspires more violence in Belfast.
13 May 1981 Pope John Paul II is shot and seriously injured as he rides through St. Peter’s Square in an open vehicle. The assailant, Mehmet Ali Agca, also wounds two women near the Pope. Agca flees the scene but is later arrested by police.
14 May 1981 Carlos Humberto Mendez López, leader of Guatemala’s largest private army, the National Liberation Movement, is shot to death in Guatemala City by unknown gunmen. The National Liberation Army is responsible for killing priests, university students and professors, and labor leaders.
New Scientist reports a Brazilian study that shows burning vegetation to produce farmland is an important source of air pollution, comparable with industrial pollution.
15 May 1981 Tailitnama Song for chamber ensemble by Peter Sculthorpe (52) is performed for the first time, in Paddington Town Hall, Sydney.
Sergej Kraigher replaces Cvijetin Mijatovic as President of Yugoslavia.
16 May 1981 Garden for violin and chamber orchestra by Robert Erickson (64) is performed for the first time, in San Diego.
17 May 1981 Israeli forces smash three Arab terrorist cells in Gaza, killing 13 and injuring 22.
Pantomime for double bass and piano by Sofia Gubaidulina (49) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
18 May 1981 Pope John Paul II is removed from the intensive care unit to a private suite.
Italy’s voters choose to retain their fairly liberal abortion law, in spite of strong pressure from the Catholic Church.
William Saroyan dies in Fresno, California at the age of 72.
Dritte Abgesangsszene for baritone and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (29) to words of Huchel is performed for the first time, in Freiburg.
Sequoia for orchestra by Joan Tower (42) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
19 May 1981 Five British soldiers are killed by a mine on a country road in South Armagh.
A Reagan administration spokesman says that the United States is not bound by the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties of 1972 and 1979, despite legal opinions to the contrary from within the government itself.
20 May 1981 A suite from the opera Der Revisor for trumpet and orchestra by Werner Egk (80) is performed for the first time, in Schwetzingen.
21 May 1981 A third IRA hunger striker, Raymond McCreesh, dies in Maze Prison.
François Mitterand replaces Valéry Giscard d’Estaing as President of France. He names Pierre Mauroy to replace Raymond Barre as Prime Minister.
In Geneva, the World Health Organization votes 118-1-3 to require a code of ethics to curtail the use of baby formulas in the third world. When mixed with contaminated water, these formulas cause disease and death. The Reagan administration casts the lone dissenting vote. Two high officials of the US Agency for International Development resign over the vote, calling it “unconscionable.”
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin demands that Syria remove its surface-to-air missiles from Lebanon.
22 May 1981 Patrick O’Hara becomes the fourth IRA hunger striker to die in Maze Prison.
A London court finds Peter Sutcliffe, the “Yorkshire Ripper” guilty of 13 murders and seven attempted murders. He is sentenced to life in prison.
The Czechoslovak government releases 26 of the 36 human rights activists arrested earlier this month.
23 May 1981 25 heavily armed men seize the Barcelona headquarters of the Central Bank, take 200 people hostage, and demand the release of four fascist army officers.
Italian Justice Minister Adolfo Sarti resigns as part of the ongoing Masonic lodge scandal. He is not on the membership list but evidence suggests he applied for membership.
Piano Sonata by Peter Maxwell Davies (46) is performed for the first time, in the Guildhall, Bath.
24 May 1981 Spanish police attack the fascist terrorists in the Barcelona bank. One terrorist is killed. All others are captured and all hostages are freed.
President Jaime Roldós Aguilera of Ecuador, his wife and four others are killed in a plane crash near the Peruvian border.
25 May 1981 The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (Gulf Cooperation Council) is founded by Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
26 May 1981 The Italian government of Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani resigns in the wake of the ongoing Masonic lodge scandal.
In Dutch parliamentary elections, the ruling center-right coalition posts small losses, but enough to lose its majority. The Labor Party also loses seats.
27 May 1981 Leonard Bernstein’s (62) nocturne Halil for flute, strings, and percussion is performed for the first time, in Jerusalem the composer conducting.
28 May 1981 Israeli jets destroy Libyan anti-aircraft missiles around PLO bases south of Beirut.
Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, the Roman Catholic primate of Poland, dies at the age of 79.
Italian caretaker Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani suspends five high officials of the military and intelligence service for membership in the P-2 Masonic lodge.
Touches for piano by Leonard Bernstein (62) is performed for the first time, as part of the Sixth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas.
29 May 1981 Heavy fighting resumes between Syrian and Lebanese Christian forces in the Beirut area.
The Blue Bamboula for piano by Charles Wuorinen (42) is performed for the first time, in Tokyo.
30 May 1981 President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh and eight others are shot and killed in the midst of an insurrection in Chittagong. The insurrection will be crushed within days.
Offertorium for violin and orchestra by Sofia Gubaidulina (49) is performed for the first time, in Vienna. See 24 September 1982 and 2 November 1986.
The Bairns of Brugh for piccolo, bass clarinet, piano, marimba, viola, and cello by Peter Maxwell Davies (46) is performed for the first time, in the Håkonshallen, Bergen.
Das atmende Klarsein for chorus, bass flute and electronics by Luigi Nono (57) to words of Cacciari is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Pergola, Florence.
31 May 1981 Rain Tree for three percussionists or keyboard players by Toru Takemitsu (50) is performed for the first time, in Seibu Theatre, Tokyo.
Agnus Dei for chorus by Krzysztof Penderecki (47) is performed for the first time, in Warsaw at the funeral of Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski.
1 June 1981 Arab extremists shoot to death PLO moderate Naim Khader in Brussels.
Conservative death squads kill 36 people in the village of San Mateo Ixtatán, Guatemala.
2 June 1981 Amidst the collapse of a military takeover, Abdus Sattar is appointed acting President of Bangladesh.
Israeli forces stage several raids on PLO staging areas in southern Lebanon today and tomorrow.
3 June 1981 Pope John Paul II walks unaided from the hospital, having successfully recovered from an attempt on his life on 13 May. On the same day he empanels a “Commission for the Study of the Ptolemaic-Copernican Controversy” to look into the case of Galileo Galilei.
5 June 1981 Dr. Michael Gottlieb, writing in the newsletter of the Centers for Disease Control, describes a strange disorder observed in five homosexual men in Los Angeles. It is the first description of AIDS.
Ernest Lefever withdraws as presidential nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights after a Senate committee voted 13-4 not to recommend him due to his extremist opinions.
The Reagan administration approves the sale of 50 trucks and 100 jeeps to the military dictatorship of Guatemala. The approval, as part of plan to improve US relations with Guatemala which were cut off in 1977 because of the government’s atrocious human rights record, is not announced publicly.
6 June 1981 A train derails and goes off a bridge over the Bagmati River in Bihar State, India. Somewhere between 500 and 800 people are killed. It is the highest number of fatalities for a railroad accident in history.
Three Scenes for soprano and instrumental ensemble by Alfred Schnittke (46) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
7 June 1981 Israeli planes bomb and destroy a nuclear power plant near Baghdad. Israel claims the facility was intended to produce nuclear weapons. All planes return safely.
Poet Czeslaw Milosz, 1980 Nobel laureate, is given an enthusiastic welcome as he returns to Poland from exile.
Cornelius Cardew (45) chairs the Conference against Racism and Fascism in Conway Hall, London. It consists of about 500 people of varying political associations.
String Quartet no.8 by Ernst Krenek (80) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
8 June 1981 The Wall Street Journal reports on a Reagan administration white paper released 23 February entitled “Communist Interference in El Salvador.” The white paper concludes that the USSR is orchestrating a well-organized campaign to overthrow the junta in El Salvador. A study of the captured guerrilla documents on which the report was based, however, shows that the effort is not well-organized, is not orchestrated, is not effective, and is not Soviet.
10 June 1981 Ayatollah Khomenei removes President Bani-Sadr as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Nine people are convicted in a Managua court for the 1978 killing of newspaper publisher Pedro Joaquín Chamorro.
11 June 1981 An earthquake in southeast Iran kills 3,000 people.
Parliamentary elections in Ireland fail to produce a majority. The ruling Fianna Fail party loses seven seats, even though the Dail Eireann is increased by an overall 18 seats. Fine Gael and Labour will form a coalition.
12 June 1981 Major League Baseball players in the United States go on strike.
13 June 1981 Estampie for Susan Summerfield for organ by Lou Harrison (64) is performed for the first time, in Chico, California.
14 June 1981 Swiss voters approve a constitutional amendment to guarantee equal rights for women.
16 June 1981 Grisha Stanchev Filipov replaces Stanko Georgiev Todorov as Prime Minister of Bulgaria.
The US Secretary of State Alexander Haig announces that the United States will sell weapons to China.
19 June 1981 The European Ariane rocket is successfully launched from Kourou, French Guiana and places two satellites in orbit.
Lullaby for Lucy for chorus by Peter Maxwell Davies (46) to words of George Mackay Brown is performed for the first time, in St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney.
20 June 1981 Riots today and tomorrow in Casablanca over food price increases kill 100 people.
The Rainbow, music-theatre for young children by Peter Maxwell Davies (46), is performed for the first time, in the Primary School, Stromness, Orkney. Also premiered is Davies’ incidental music to George Mackay Brown’s play The Well in the Arts Theatre, Kirkwall, Orkney conducted by the composer.
21 June 1981 In the second stage of French parliamentary elections, the Socialist party scores a large victory, winning 285 of 491 seats.
23-year-old Wayne Williams is arrested in Atlanta and charged with the murder of one of 28 people killed in the area over the last 22 months.
O Licht... for chorus, violin, and percussion by Isang Yun (63) to words of Sachs and a Buddhist prayer, is performed for the first time, in Nuremberg.
The Medium, a monodrama for mezzo-soprano solo by Peter Maxwell Davies (46) is performed for the first time, in the Academy Hall, Stromness, Orkney.
Fanfares for brass quintet by Ralph Shapey (60) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of Chicago radio station WFMT in honor of the composer’s 60th birthday.
22 June 1981 Ayatollah Ruollah Khomeini removes President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr from office. He is replaced by a four-man Provisional Presidential Council.
The Spanish Cortes approves a bill legalizing divorce.
23 June 1981 Unemployment in Great Britain reaches 11.1%, the highest since the Great Depression.
25 June 1981 Microsoft is incorporated in the State of Washington.
The US Supreme Court rules in Rostker v. Goldberg that the government may conscript men without also conscripting women.
28 June 1981 Nocturnal for piano by Peter Sculthorpe (52) is performed for the first time, in North Caulfield, Victoria.
As Iranian Chief Justice Ayatollah Mohammed Beheshti addresses a meeting of the Islamic Republican Party, a bomb goes off killing Beheshti and 73 party leaders, including four cabinet ministers and over 20 Parliament members.
Giovanni Spadolini is named Prime Minister of Italy, replacing Arnaldo Furlani whose government collapsed in scandal.
29 June 1981 Hu Yaobang replaces Hua Guofeng as head of the Chinese Communist Party as part of a consolidation of power by Deng Xioapeng and the pragmatist wing of the party.
30 June 1981 The Chinese Communist Party criticizes Mao Zedong for his policies during the Cultural Revolution, but says in total, his contributions are more important than his errors.
At the inauguration of President Ferdinand Marcos in Manila, US Vice President George Bush praises Marcos and his government for its “adherence to democratic principles and to the democratic processes.”
Syrian forces lift the siege of the Christian town of Zahle.
In Israeli parliamentary elections, the ruling Likud Party wins a one-seat plurality over Labor, but no majority. Likud will form the new coalition.
Garret FitzGerald of Fine Gael replaces Charles James Haughey of Fianna Fail as Prime Minister of Ireland.
A court in Düsseldorf sentences eight former death camp guards to prison terms for their activities at Majdanek during World War II.
1 July 1981 President José Napoleón Duarte of El Salvador states that the greatest threat to his government comes from conservative businessmen, not leftist rebels.
2 July 1981 Exeunt for orchestra by Lukas Foss (58) is performed for the first time, at Indiana University, the composer conducting. The work is performed under the title Dissertation.
3 July 1981 Approximately 200 fascist youths rampage through west London throwing gasoline bombs at police and harassing Asian residents.
4 July 1981 Truong Chinh replaces Nguyen Huu Tho as Chairman of the Council of State of Vietnam.
Mountains for piano by Peter Sculthorpe (52) is performed for the first time, in Verbrugghen Hall of Sydney Conservatorium.
5 July 1981 100 policemen are injured in Liverpool as they are bombarded by stones and gasoline bombs. Within the month, violence spreads to all major British cities.
6 July 1981 The body of executive Giuseppe Taliercio is found in the trunk of a car outside his petrochemical plant in Montedison. Red Brigades take responsibility.
EI du Pont de Nemours agrees to buy Conoco Inc. for $6,900,000,000 in stock and cash. It is the largest merger in corporate history to date.
Cello Concerto no.2 by Alberto Ginastera (65) is performed for the first time, in Buenos Aires by the dedicatee, Aurora Natola (Sra. Ginastera).
7 July 1981 The Iranian government orders Reuters News Agency out of the country. Along with other expulsions, Agence France-Presse is now the only major news agency operating in Iran.
The Solar Challenger flies from Cormeilles-en-Vexin, France to Manston RAF base in England in five-and-a-half hours powered by 16,000 photovoltaic cells on its wings.
8 July 1981 Over the next week, 40 alleged leftist supporters of deposed President Bani-Sadr are executed in Teheran.
Joseph McDonnell becomes the fifth IRA hunger striker to die in Maze Prison, renewing violent clashes in Northern Ireland.
Rioting in London and Liverpool spreads to Manchester.
9 July 1981 Speaking in Parliament, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher denies that unemployment is the cause of all the rioting. They are rather an expression of greed.
10 July 1981 Seven American playwrights sign an open letter to the Czechoslovak government urging them to release Vaclav Havel.
Israeli forces conduct several raids against PLO staging areas in southern Lebanon over the next week.
Today and tomorrow mark the height of rioting in British cities.
Promenade Overture for orchestra by John Corigliano (43) is performed for the first time, in Boston.
12 July 1981 Monsignor Arturo Rivra Damas, the highest Catholic Church official in El Salvador, says that government troops tortured and murdered 27 civilians in Chalatenago Province last week.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports results of their exhaustive investigation which suggests that the murder of four US churchwomen last December was carried out by Salvadoran soldiers with the knowledge of high military officials. The Reagan administration claims the killings were carried out by rogue enlisted men.
13 July 1981 Martin Hurson becomes the sixth IRA hunger striker to die in Maze Prison.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher meets with city and community leaders in Liverpool and tells them that the rioting can not be explained by the level of unemployment. Upon leaving the meeting, Mrs. Thatcher receives two tomatoes and several rolls of toilet paper.
14 July 1981 The five-day emergency congress of the Polish United Workers’ Party opens. Secret ballots with multiple candidates are used for the first time.
15 July 1981 After three days of rain, the Yangtze River floods, inundating 200,000 hectares.
At the emergency party congress in Poland, former First Secretary Edward Gierek, former Prime Minister Edward Babiuch and four other former high officials are expelled from the party.
16 July 1981 Ars combinatoria for small orchestra by Milton Babbitt (65) is performed for the first time, in Bloomington, Indiana.
17 July 1981 Israeli warplanes attack the headquarters of the PLO in downtown Beirut as well as other bases in Beirut and other cities. Over the next week, they carry out air attacks against PLO bases in southern Lebanon. In retaliation, the PLO sends rockets into Nahariya, Israel, hitting a maternity hospital. Four patients are injured.
The emergency party congress in Poland chooses 200 members of a new Central Committee, 182 of whom have never held high office before.
18 July 1981 At the emergency party congress in Poland, Stanislaw Kania is reelected as leader of the party by secret ballot, unheard of in communist countries.
19 July 1981 3,000 protesters greet the South African rugby team as it arrives in Auckland for a tour of New Zealand. 25 people are arrested.
A PLO rocket attack on Kiryat Shemona, Israel kills a boy and injures 24 others.
At the emergency party congress in Poland, the new Central Committee elects a new Politburo of 15 which retains only four of the previous members.
The Nicaraguan government announces a wide nationalization program.
Principal Sound for organ by Morton Feldman (55) is performed for the first time, in Hartford, Connecticut.
21 July 1981 Governor David Treen of Louisiana signs into law a requirement that the state’s schools teach the Bible creation story on an equal basis with Darwin’s evolution theory.
22 July 1981 Mehmet Ali Agca is convicted by an Italian court of attempting to kill Pope John Paul II and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Armenian terrorists explode two bombs at the main railway station in Geneva, injuring five people.
23 July 1981 Large food price increases proposed by the Polish government are published. There are already protest strikes throughout the country.
24 July 1981 Israel and the PLO agree to a cease-fire.
All secret societies are banned in Italy.
25 July 1981 A game in Hamilton, New Zealand featuring the South African rugby team is cancelled when 300 people occupy the field. Battles ensue between protesters and fans.
Official government figures released today show the floods in Sichuan and Hubei Provinces this month caused 753 known deaths with 558 missing. Unofficial death toll estimates run as high as 4,000.
Meeting in Brighton, England, the International Whaling Commission votes an almost total ban on commercial whaling after this year.
Hill Runes for guitar by Peter Maxwell Davies (46) is performed for the first time, in Dartington, Devon.
28 July 1981 A conservative death squad kills Rev. Stanley Rother, a US priest, in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala.
29 July 1981 Before 2,500 guests in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London and approximately 700,000,000 television viewers world-wide, Prince Charles of Wales marries Lady Diana Spencer.
Deposed Iranian President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr arrives in Paris after a dramatic night flight from Teheran.
Both houses of the US Congress pass President Reagan’s controversial tax cut plan.
30 July 1981 The French government announces a suspension of work on five nuclear power plants until a national debate over nuclear power can take place.
31 July 1981 A strike by Major League Baseball players in the United States ends after 49 days.
Panamanian leader General Omar Torrijos Herrera is killed in the crash of his airplane in western Panama, along with three others. (Officially an accident, speculation, along with some evidence, has always centered on a murder plot by US conservatives, perhaps including the Reagan administration.)
1 August 1981 Kevin Lynch becomes the seventh IRA hunger striker to die in Maze Prison. Riots follow in Belfast.
Paddy Chayefsky dies in New York at the age of 58.
MTV goes on the air, in northern New Jersey.
Der Tribun, a radio play by Mauricio Kagel (49), is staged for the first time, in Aix-en-Provence. See 7 November 1979.
2 August 1981 Kieran Doherty becomes the eighth hunger striker to die in Maze Prison.
Mohammad Ali Rajai becomes President of Iran, replacing a provisional council.
3 August 1981 Representatives of Egypt and Israel sign an agreement creating a peacekeeping force for the Sinai after the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
United States air traffic controllers go on strike after rejecting a contract offer from the government.
4 August 1981 Mohammad Javad Bahonar replaces Mohammad Ali Rajai as Prime Minister of Iran.
The Reagan administration calls on the World Bank to stop plans to create an energy affiliate to encourage energy development in third world countries.
Mottetti di Montale for soprano and piano by John Harbison (42) is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. See 29 October 2000.
5 August 1981 Iran gives the French ambassador three days to leave the country. The French government urges its citizens to leave Iran.
Polish citizens stage a general strike against food price rises.
Refusing to negotiate with the air traffic controllers union, the Reagan administration fires all 13,000 of them.
6 August 1981 The Norwegian government freezes prices as an anti-inflation measure.
7 August 1981 1,000,000 workers in Silesia strike for four hours after talks between the Polish government and Solidarity about food break down.
Piano Quintet by John Harbison (42) is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
8 August 1981 Four days of fighting between rival Moslems in Beirut ends with a cease-fire after 30 people are killed, 50 injured.
Thomas McElwee becomes the ninth IRA hunger striker to die in Maze Prison.
10 August 1981 Demonstrations take place in six Polish cities to protest a cut in meat rations.
The Reagan administration announces it will go ahead with neutron warheads for Lance missiles and artillery shells.
A strike by Canadian postal workers ends after 43 days with a new contract.
11 August 1981 Prime Minister Francisco Pinto Balsemão of Portugal resigns citing irreconcilable differences in his coalition.
12 August 1981 The last of 107 French diplomats depart Iran.
The national leadership of Solidarity asks local members and chapters to desist from protest strikes over food shortages and rationing.
The Commission for Human Rights in Central America reports that the US-backed Salvadoran army killed 96 unarmed civilians last week and that the army was using toxic gases, white phosphorous, and bacteriological weapons that caused the deaths of thousands of children and elderly people.
IBM introduces its personal computer model 5150.
13 August 1981 In a New York federal courtroom, four congressmen, a mayor, and a city councilman are sentenced to jail terms and fines for their parts in the Abscam scandal.
14 August 1981 Karl Böhm dies in Salzburg at the age of 86.
17 August 1981 The government of Sri Lanka declares a state of emergency to deal with communal violence between Sinhalese and Tamils.
Fratres for violin and piano by Arvo Pärt (45) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.
18 August 1981 Rosa Judith Cisneros, prominent advocate for women and the poor, is shot to death by conservative death squads in a suburb of San Salvador.
19 August 1981 As part of a provocative naval exercise off the coast of Libya, United States aircraft shoot down two Libyan military jets.
About 2,000 squatters are arrested in Cape Town and deported to their “homeland” of Transkei.
20 August 1981 Michael Devine becomes the tenth IRA hunger striker to die in Maze Prison.
In a by-election in Northern Ireland, IRA supporter Owen Carron wins a seat in Parliament.
Akhmatova: Requiem for soprano, bass, and orchestra by John Tavener (37) is performed for the first time, in Usher Hall, Edinburgh.
22 August 1981 The Alfred C. Kinsey Institute for Sex Research reports that environmental factors in homosexuality have been “greatly exaggerated.” They conclude that homosexuality is a predisposition.
23 August 1981 Cherubino for piano by Hans Werner Henze (55) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
24 August 1981 72 people are executed by the Iranian government today. They are reported to be political opponents, religious minorities and drug and sex offenders.
Angola announces that South African forces have invaded their country in two places, penetrating as far as 130 km.
25 August 1981 Voyager 2 comes within 101,000 km of Saturn, its closest approach.
27 August 1981 Monkey for children’s ensemble by Pauline Oliveros (49) is performed for the first time, in Aptos, California.
28 August 1981 President José Napoleón Duarte of El Salvador orders an investigation into the wave of beheadings by conservative death squads sweeping the country. Claims indicate as many as 100 people may have died in this way.
29 August 1981 Two Arab terrorists attack a synagogue in Vienna with hand grenades and automatic weapons. Two people are killed, 20 injured. The attackers are captured.
France and Mexico recognize leftist guerrillas in El Salvador as a “representative political force” which should be included in negotiations to end the conflict.
30 August 1981 Iran’s President Mohammed Ali Rajai, Prime Minister Mohammed Javad Bahonar, and five others are killed when a bomb goes off in the Prime Minister’s office. 15 others are wounded. Rajai is replaced by a Provisional Presidential Council.
Tashi Gomang for orchestra by Pauline Oliveros (49) is performed for the first time, in Aptos, California.
31 August 1981 Leftist guerrillas explode a bomb at the headquarters of the US Air Force in Ramstein, West Germany. 20 people are injured.
The Reagan administration vetoes a Security Council resolution condemning the South African attack into Angola.
Moans, Groans, Cries, and Sighs, a madrigal for six-part chorus by Gian Carlo Menotti (70) is performed for the first time, in Usher Hall, Edinburgh.
1 September 1981 An exhibit of prints by John Cage (68) opens at Real Art Ways in Hartford, Connecticut.
2 September 1981 Mohammad Reza Mahdavi-Kani replaces Mohammad Javad Bahonar as Prime Minister of Iran.
President Antonio Ramalho Eanes of Portugal gives his approval to a new government organized by Prime Minister Francisco Pinto Balsemao.
3 September 1981 Iranian authorities ban narcotics, alcohol, “obscene” pictures, and popular songs. They order that all women must cover their heads.
Egyptian authorities begin two days of arrests of about 1,500 opponents and critics of the government of President Sadat.
4 September 1981 Gunmen kill Louis Delamare, French ambassador to Lebanon, in Beirut by agents of the Syrian government.
The Tunisian government sentences 107 Moslem extremists to varying prison terms.
IRA supporter Matthew Devlin abandons his hunger strike in Maze Prison after 52 days.
5 September 1981 A bomb explodes under the Teheran office of Hojatolislam Ali Qoddousi, Iran’s prosecutor general, killing him.
Solidarity opens its first national congress in Gdansk. 892 delegates attend. 100,000 Soviet troops carry out maneuvers on the Polish border.
6 September 1981 IRA supporter Laurence McKeown abandons his hunger strike in Maze Prison after 70 days.
Serment-Orkos for chorus by Iannis Xenakis (59) to words of Hippocrates is performed for the first time, in Athens.
7 September 1981 The First Shoot, music for brass arranged from the ballet by William Walton (79), is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London. See 4 February 1936.
9 September 1981 The national congress of Solidarity sends an open letter to other eastern European countries calling on them to create independent unions.
The government of Nicaragua declares a nationwide economic emergency, bans strikes, raises tariffs, and cuts government spending.
A scherzo, the only extant movement of a piano sonata composed in 1913 by Arnold Bax (†27), is heard for the first time, in a recording session in the EMI studios on Abbey Road, London.
10 September 1981 The national congress of Solidarity calls for free and open elections in Poland.
Guernica, Pablo Picasso’s monumental tribute to the victims of fascism, returns to Spain after having been housed for 42 years at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
11 September 1981 Eight people are killed and twelve injured in a grenade attack during Friday prayers in Tabriz. Among those killed are Ayatollah Assadollah Madani, an associate of Ayatollah Khomeini, and his killer.
Because of the illness of President Kekkonen, Prime Minister Mauno Henrik Koivisto becomes acting President of Finland. Eino Oskari Uusitalo becomes acting Prime Minister.
Marking the eighth anniversary of his military coup, President Augusto Pinochet of Chile declares his country to be a “stronghold of liberty.” He announces the ban on political activity will continue.
12 September 1981 South Africa’s rugby team plays the last game of its current tour of New Zealand, in Auckland. Police call the accompanying protests and violence the worst in the country’s history.
13 September 1981 Umhergetrieben, aufgewirbelt for mezzo-soprano, baritone, chorus, and flutes by Wolfgang Rihm (29) to words of Nietzsche is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt-am-Main.
14 September 1981 Two days of voting in parliamentary elections in Norway result in a defeat for the ruling Labor Party and a victory for conservative parties. The Conservative Party will form a minority government.
The Swedish government devalues the krona by ten percent and cuts the value added tax.
Ross Lee Finney’s (74) dance score Heyoka is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
15 September 1981 The Republic of Vanuatu is admitted to the United Nations.
Leftist guerrillas attempt to kill General Frederick Kroesen, commander of US forces in Europe, in Heidelberg. He escapes with minor injuries.
16 September 1981 The Polish Communist Party accuses Solidarity of making itself an opposition party which will have disastrous consequences.
17 September 1981 The command center for a Palestinian terrorist group in Sidon (Saida), Lebanon is destroyed by a bomb planted by a conservative Lebanese group. Over 20 people, most of them bystanders, are killed, 90 are wounded.
Deux études op.43 for orchestra by Alexander Goehr (49) is performed for the first time, in Glasgow.
18 September 1981 President João Baptista Figueiredo of Brazil suffers a heart attack.
19 September 1981 President João Baptista Figueiredo of Brazil temporarily steps down from his office. His duties are taken up by Vice President Aureliano Chaves.
20 September 1981 Tehillim for three sopranos, alto, flute, piccolo, oboe, english horn, two clarinets, bassoon, percussion, and string quintet (all amplified) by Steve Reich (44) to words of the Psalms, is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR, originating in Cologne. See 16 September 1982.
Tutuguri VI (Kreuze) for six percussionists by Wolfgang Rihm (29) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.
21 September 1981 Sikh militant leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale is arrested and charged with the murder of a Hindu editor. Rioting ensues in which nine people are killed.
The Belgian government of Mark Eyskens resigns over financing the steel industry.
Belize, under Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister George Price, becomes independent of Great Britain in ceremonies at Belmopan.
23 September 1981 Olympic Hymn for chorus and orchestra by Leonard Bernstein (63) to words of Kunert is performed for the first time, in Baden-Baden for the International Olympic Congress.
24 September 1981 Polish Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski announces a crackdown on growing anti-Soviet activity.
Io, frammento dal Prometeo for three sopranos, chorus, bass flute, contrabass clarinet, and electronics by Luigi Nono (57) to words of Cacciari, is performed for the first time, in Venice.
25 September 1981 The Polish Sejm passes two laws giving workers greater powers in managing their factories.
Sandra Day O’Connor takes her seat as the first female member of the United States Supreme Court.
Belize is admitted to the United Nations.
26 September 1981 Two works by R. Murray Schafer (48) are performed for the first time: String Quartet no.3 in Boston, and The Princess of the Stars for speakers, soprano, dancers, seven instruments, percussion, and canoeists, at Heart Lake, near Brampton, Ontario.
27 September 1981 Iranian forces break the Iraqi siege of Abadan.
Leftists battle Revolutionary Guards in the streets of Teheran. Ten people are killed.
Train à grande vitesse (TGV) begins operations between Paris and Lyon.
Guatemalan troops kill 45 people and injure 80 in the village of San Miguel Chicaj during a fiesta.
29 September 1981 A plane crash near Teheran kills Iran’s Minister of Defense, Chief of Staff, and two other high ranking military men.
30 September 1981 The French National Assembly votes to abolish the death penalty.
The Supreme Court of Canada rules 7-2 that repatriation of the constitution is legal but “it offends the federal principle” because it is being done without provincial approval.
Layers for computer by John Melby (39) is performed for the first time, in Venice.
Reprising his 1966 performance, Aaron Copland (80) appears as the Narrator in a production of Igor Stravinsky’s (†10) L’histoire du soldat at the Whitney Museum. Roger Sessions (84) plays the part of the soldier and appearing as the Devil is Virgil Thomson (84).
1 October 1981 A conservative Lebanese group explodes a bomb outside PLO offices in Beirut killing 83 people, injuring 250 others and tearing the facades off five buildings.
Alberto Ginastera (65) receives the UNESCO-International Music Council Music Prize in Budapest.
3 October 1981 The six remaining hunger strikers in Maze Prison near Belfast reluctantly call off the strike. Their families will not allow them to die.
4 October 1981 Two works for piano by Virgil Thomson (84) are performed for the first time, at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut: Richard Flender: Solid Not Stolid and Scott Wheeler: Free-Wheeling.
5 October 1981 The French government announces price freezes for certain goods and services.
Triadic Memories for piano by Morton Feldman (55) is performed for the first time, at the Institute for the Contemporary Arts in London.
6 October 1981 As a military parade takes place in Nasser City, near Cairo, four members of a Moslem fundamentalist group leap from a truck and attack the reviewing stand, killing President Anwar el-Sadat and ten others and wounding 38. Sufi Abu Talib becomes acting President.
8 October 1981 Louis Malle’s film My Dinner with André is shown for the first time, at the New York Film Festival.
9 October 1981 A new law in Hungary allows citizens to form private companies with as many as 30 employees. It becomes effective 1 January.
Credo for piano, chorus, and orchestra by Arvo Pärt (46) is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.
10 October 1981 Heads of state and government from around the world, including three former US presidents and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel attend the funeral of Anwar Sadat in Cairo.
250,000 people march in Bonn to oppose NATO plans to deploy medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe.
The IRA explodes a bomb in a van in London as a bus carrying British soldiers passes by. Two people are killed and about 40 are injured.
A Birthday Fanfare for seven trumpets and percussion by William Walton (79) is performed for the first time, in Recklinghausen at the home of the dedicatee, Karl-Friedrich Still. Still is a neighbor of the composer on Ischia.
11 October 1981 Prayer for the World for 16 solo voices by John Tavener (37) is performed for the first time, at the Round House, London. The audience is polite.
12 October 1981 Sayyed Ali Khamenei becomes President of Iran, replacing a provisional council.
14 October 1981 Hosni Mubarak is sworn in as President of Egypt succeeding Anwar el-Sadat.
Conservative Kaare Willoch replaces Gro Harlem Brundtland of the Labor Party as Prime Minister of Norway at the head of a minority Conservative government.
15 October 1981 Loud protests are heard when Zubin Mehta leads the Israel Philharmonic in an excerpt from Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner (†98), in Tel Aviv. Many walk out.
An OAS report blames the Guatemalan government for thousands of extra-judicial executions over the last four years.
16 October 1981 The military junta of Turkey dissolves all political parties and seizes their assets.
17 October 1981 The IRA explodes a bomb in London in the car of Lt. General Steuart Pringle of the Royal Marines. Pringle loses part of a leg, but will survive.
18 October 1981 Polish Communist Party leader Stanislaw Kania is removed from office and replaced by Prime Minister Wojciech Jaruzelski. In addition, the Central Committee of the Communist Party demands an end to all strikes, a suspension of the right to strike, and resumption of the six-day work week.
The Panhellenc Socialist Movement wins the Greek general election. Mikis Theodorakis (56) is elected to Parliament.
The New York Times reports that the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research told Secretary of State Alexander Haig repeatedly that, contrary to Reagan administration statements, “there is no substantially new evidence” showing Soviet support of terrorism.
Répons for six percussionists, small orchestra and electronic sound generators by Pierre Boulez (56) is performed for the first time, in Donaueschingen conducted by the composer. The work is “in progress.” See 6 September 1982.
19 October 1981 Risen! for chorus, brass, percussion, piano, and strings by John Tavener (37) to words of the Orthodox liturgy is performed for the first time, at Bedford School conducted by the composer.
20 October 1981 The USSR extends full diplomatic relations to the PLO.
Dusan Dragosavic replaces Lazar Mojsov as President of the Presidium of the League of Yugoslav Communists.
A bomb explodes in a van near a synagogue in Antwerp. Two people are killed, about 100 injured.
21 October 1981 Riots over food shortages and price rises take place in Poland.
Andreas Georgiou Papandreou replaces Georgios Ioannou Rallis as Prime Minister of Greece, thus ending 35 years of conservative government in the country.
Minnesang for 52 choristers by Alfred Schnittke (46) to words of the medieval Minnesinger is performed for the first time, in Graz.
The first four of the Five Songs for tenor and piano by Gian Carlo Menotti (70) are performed for the first time, in Merkin Concert Hall, New York. See 12 December 1983.
22 October 1981 The Federal Labor Relations Authority decertifies the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization for conducting a strike of its members.
23 October 1981 Walzer 1 “Sehnsuchtswalzer” for orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (29) is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart. See 21 February 1987 and 6 July 1988.
Fanfare for a Festive Occasion for brass and percussion by Richard Wernick (47) is performed for the first time, at the University of Pennsylvania for the inauguration of a new president.
Concerto for Orchestra by Roger Sessions (84) is performed for the first time, in Boston. This work will win the Pulitzer Prize. See 12 April 1982.
24 October 1981 Hundreds of thousands of people march today and tomorrow in major cities in western Europe to protest NATO plans to deploy medium-range nuclear weapons, and President Reagan’s concept of a “limited” nuclear war in Europe.
26 October 1981 The French National Assembly approves the nationalization of five industrial groups, 36 banks, and two financial organizations.
James C. Miller, Chairman of the US Federal Trade Commission, announces that the Reagan administration will significantly reduce its role in protecting consumers from false advertising and defective products.
33 Haitian refugees drown off Florida when their boat capsizes.
Olivier Messiaen (72) and his wife move into a second country retreat called La Sauline, north of Bourges.
27 October 1981 President Urho Kekkonen of Finland resigns, citing health reasons.
A Soviet submarine runs aground near the Karlskrona Naval base in Sweden.
During the final reading of the British Nationality Bill in the House of Commons, Conservative member Enoch Powell rises to speak. As he does, from the Strangers’ Gallery, Cornelius Cardew (45) shouts “this house stinks of racism” and with another man, Hakim Ali, begins showering the chamber with leaflets against the legislation. The two are bodily removed from the house. They are detained in a local police station until the House session ends and then released. The two are banned from the House of Commons for seven years.
28 October 1981 The US Senate approves the sale of $8,500,000,000 of arms to Saudi Arabia, including five AWACS surveillance planes.
29 October 1981 Mir Hossein Moussavi replaces Mohammad Reza Mahdavi-Kani as Prime Minister of Iran.
30 October 1981 The USSR apologizes to Sweden for the incident of 27 October, but Swedish authorities refuse to allow Soviet vessels to tow the submarine off until the captain submits to questioning.
Divertimento for electronic valve instrument, flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, horn, trombone, string orchestra, and tape by Vladimir Ussachevsky (70) is performed for the first time, in Brooklyn, conducted by Lukas Foss (59).
1 November 1981 Antigua and Barbuda, under Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Vere Cornwall Bird, gains independence from Great Britain, in ceremonies at St. Johns.
Wölfli-Liederbuch for bass-baritone and piano by Wolfgang Rihm (29) is performed for the first time, in Graz.
2 November 1981 Captain Pyotr Gushin of the Soviet submarine is questioned by Swedish authorities. His ship is towed to a safer area by Swedish vessels.
Peripeteia for orchestra by Thea Musgrave (53) is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, the composer conducting.
The first public performance of Study for Player Piano no.42 by Conlon Nancarrow (69) takes place in Los Angeles.
5 November 1981 A compromise agreement between the federal government and nine of Canada’s ten provinces designed to bring Canada’s constitution home is signed, shortly after midnight, in Ottawa. Quebec Premier René Lévesque is asleep in Hull.
Symphony no.3 by Alfred Schnittke (46) is performed for the first time, in the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
6 November 1981 Sweden releases a Soviet submarine that ran aground on Sweden on 27 October.
8 November 1981 Elections in Belgium sees gains for the right-wing Liberal Party and losses for the Christian Democrats.
Passacaglia for orchestra by Alfred Schnittke (46) is performed for the first time, in Baden-Baden.
Symphony for organ by Gunther Schuller (55) is performed for the first time, in House of Hope Presbyterian Church, St. Paul, Minnesota.
9 November 1981 La Seconde Apothéose de Rameau for instrumental ensemble by Henri Pousseur (52) is performed for the first time, at the Théâtre de la Ville, Paris.
10 November 1981 Comments by US Budget Director David Stockman appear in the Atlantic Monthly. He doubts that President Reagan’s economic program will work and predicts huge budget deficits. He says “supply-side” economics is only a new name for old ideas favoring the rich. Stockman explains that he thought he was speaking off the record.
11 November 1981 Independence Day is officially celebrated in Poland for the first time in 36 years.
Antigua and Barbuda is admitted to the United Nations.
12 November 1981 The minority Danish government of Prime Minister Anker Jorgensen falls over a stimulus program. He calls elections for 8 December.
Four men are indicted for the murder of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. 20 others are indicted for conspiracy.
A gunman fires six shots at Christian Chapman, US charge d’affaires in Paris, as Chapman leaves his house. No one is injured.
President João Baptista Figueiredo of Brazil reassumes his duties after suffering a heart attack 19 September.
Serenade no.4 op.28 for violin and piano by Vincent Persichetti (66) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
13 November 1981 Tears, idle tears for voice and piano by Frank Bridge (†40) to words of Tennyson is performed for the first time, at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, 76 years after it was composed.
Remembering Tommy for piano, cello, and orchestra by Ned Rorem (58) is performed for the first time.
14 November 1981 IRA gunmen kill Rev. Robert Bradford, MP in Belfast. Bradford, a Protestant, represented South Belfast.
Every Day for chorus by Karel Husa (60) to words of Thoreau is performed for the first time, at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.
15 November 1981 Acting President Abdus Sattar wins election as President of Bangladesh.
John W. Hinckley, accused of shooting US President Ronald Reagan, attempts to hang himself in his cell at a federal prison in Fort Meade, Maryland. Federal marshals foil the attempt and transport Hinckley to a hospital where he is treated for neck injuries.
16 November 1981 Dutch Prime Minister Andreas Van Agt announces that his government is putting off a decision about whether to deploy nuclear armed cruise missiles.
US President Ronald Reagan formally approves a secret plan to send $20,000,000 to the conservative rebels attempting to overthrow the government of Nicaragua.
18 November 1981 The government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau introduces its constitutional reform proposals to the Canadian Parliament.
19 November 1981 “Luzifers Traum oder Klavierstuck XIII” no.51, an excerpt from Karlheinz Stockhausen’s (53) opera Samstag aus Licht for bass and piano, is performed for the first time, in Metz.
Quaint Events from Child Alice part 2 by David Del Tredici (44) is performed for the first time, in Slee Chamber Hall at SUNY Buffalo. See 23 February 1980, 16 September 1980 and 27 April 1986.
20 November 1981 Pulse Sampler for oboe and claves by Harrison Birtwistle (47) is performed for the first time, in Huddersfield Polytechnic Music Hall.
21 November 1981 Over 300,000 people march in Amsterdam to demand that the Dutch government not participate in the planned modernization of NATO nuclear forces.
The first three parts of Mitternachtsstük for speaker, solo voices, chorus and instruments by Mauricio Kagel (49) to words of Robert Schumann (†125) are performed for the first time, in the Théâtre Municipal, Metz.
Clarinet Quintet by Harrison Birtwistle (47) is performed for the first time, in St. Paul’s Hall, Huddersfield.
22 November 1981 Andrey D. Sakahrov and his wife Yelena G. Bonner begin a hunger strike, demanding that the Soviet government allow their daughter-in-law to emigrate to the US and join her husband.
Thirty Pieces for Five Orchestras by John Cage (69) is performed for the first time, in Pont-à-Mousson, near Metz, France. Also premiered is Komboï for amplified harpsichord and percussion by Iannis Xenakis (59).
24 November 1981 Symphony no.47 “Walla Walla, Land of Many Waters” by Alan Hovhaness (70) is performed for the first time, in Walla Walla, Washington.
25 November 1981 A scheduled three-day Arab League summit meeting in Fez, Morocco collapses after six hours. Eight of the 21 heads of state do not even show up. At issue is a peace plan proposed by Saudi Arabia.
27 November 1981 Lotte Lenya dies of cancer in the New York apartment of her former lover, Margo Harris, at the age of 83.
28 November 1981 Parliamentary elections in New Zealand leave the ruling National Party with a slim majority.
Maddalena, an opera by Sergey Prokofiev (†28) to words of Lieven and the composer after Lieven, orchestrated by E. Downs, is staged for the first time, in Graz approximately 68 years after it was composed. See 25 March 1979.
29 November 1981 Iranian forces recapture the town of Bustan from the Iraqis.
A bomb in Damascus kills 64 people. A Lebanese group takes responsibility.
30 November 1981 Negotiations between the USSR and the United States to limit nuclear weapons in Europe begin in Geneva.
1 December 1981 President Reagan signs a “finding” stating that covert aid to the Nicaraguan Contras is important to US national security. Appropriate congressmen are informed and told (falsely) that the only purpose of the aid is to interdict weapons travelling from Nicaragua to El Salvador, not to overthrow the recognized government of Nicaragua.
3 December 1981 Tutuguri III for orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (29) is performed for the first time, in Karlsruhe.
4 December 1981 The US Labor Department announces a November unemployment rate of 8.4%, the highest since 1975.
President Reagan signs an executive order allowing the CIA, for the first time, to conduct covert operations inside the US.
The Republican-controlled US Senate approves a $208,000,000,000 military spending bill, the largest spending proposal ever approved by the US Congress. It is $12,000,000,000 more than the one approved by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
Finale for chamber ensemble by Mauricio Kagel (49) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.
7 December 1981 Reagan administration officials admit that their budget deficit projection of $43,100,00,00 for fiscal 1982 has to be revised to $109,100,000,000.
8 December 1981 Andrey D. Sakahrov and his wife Yelena G. Bonner end their hunger strike of over two weeks when Soviet authorities agree to allow their daughter-in-law to emigrate to the US.
The ruling Social Democratic Party loses nine seats in parliamentary elections in Denmark. The returns leave the seats almost equally divided between right and left. Social Democrat Prime Minister Anker Jørgensen will form a new government.
The Canadian Senate approves the constitutional reform bill, already passed by the House of Commons. The resolution is presented to Governor General Edward Schreyer and thereupon placed aboard a Canadian Forces jet with Justice Minister Jean Chretien and carried to London.
10 December 1981 Following a week of accusations, counter-accusations and saber rattling by US President Ronald Reagan and Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi, the Reagan administration asks all US citizens to leave Libya.
11 December 1981 The United Nations General Assembly elects Peruvian diplomat Javier Perez de Cuellar as the fifth Secretary-General.
Carlos Alberto Lacoste replaces Roberto Eduardo Viola Prevedini as President of the military government of Argentina.
A federal appeals court overturns most of the ruling against Kerr-McGee Corp. in the death of Karen Silkwood. They order Kerr-McGee to pay the Silkwood family $5,000 for the destruction of her car.
Sonata for violin and piano no.2 by David Diamond (66) is performed for the first time, in the Library of Congress, Washington.
12 December 1981 Leaders of Solidarity meet in Gdansk and call for a national referendum on the communist system and Poland’s military relationship with the USSR.
Nunc dimittis for male chorus by John Harbison (42) is performed for the first time, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
13 December 1981 Between 01:00 and 01:30 Brian Cornelius McDonough Cardew is struck and killed by a car near his home in Leyton, East London, aged 45 years, seven months, and six days. There are no witnesses to the actual event. (Many details remain sketchy and unsolved. The driver has never been identified.)
The government of Poland declares martial law. Civil rights are curtailed. Solidarity is banned, its leaders arrested, along with former government members. A nationwide 22:00 to 06:00 curfew is imposed. All demonstrations are banned. All artistic performances, sporting events, and other entertainments will require a permit. Censorship of mail and other communication is imposed. All firearms must be turned in within 24 hours. The six-day work week is reimposed. Gasoline is prohibited to private vehicles.
14 December 1981 The Israeli Knesset annexes the Golan Heights seized from Syria in 1967.
Industrial installations throughout Poland are stormed by soldiers and riot police, forcibly breaking strikes. The government institutes a news blackout. About 3,000 miners occupy two coal mines in Silesia.
Wings for clarinet by Joan Tower (43) is performed for the first time, in Merkin Recital Hall, New York.
15 December 1981 A bomb destroys the Iraqi embassy in Beirut. At least 30 people are killed and 100 injured.
A coroner’s inquest into the death of Cornelius Cardew concludes that the death was accidental.
The Reagan administration announces that it will be training about 1,500 Salvadoran soldiers to fight leftist guerrillas.
Vers le soleil op.174, seven monodies for ondes martenot by Charles Koechlin (†30) is performed for the first time, at the École de Musique, Verrières-le-Buisson, 42 years after it was composed.
16 December 1981 The Gdansk shipyard, home of Solidarity, is overrun by Polish troops.
A Christmas Carol, an opera by Thea Musgrave (53) to her own words after Dickens, is performed for the first time, in Norfolk Center Theatre, Norfolk, Virginia.
17 December 1981 The United Nations Security Council unanimously declares Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights illegal.
Red Brigades kidnap US Brigadier General James Dozier from his Verona apartment.
Wilfried Martens replaces Mark Eyskens as Prime Minister of Belgium at the head of a center-right coalition.
Prime Minister Mehmet Shehu of Albania dies, reportedly a suicide. (It will be revealed in 1985 that he has been “liquidated” by party leader Enver Hoxha.)
Canzonetta for oboe and strings by Samuel Barber (†0) is performed for the first time, in New York.
18 December 1981 The French National Assembly overrides Senate opposition and approves a plan to nationalize five industrial groups, 36 banks, and two financial institutions.
The United States announces that it is suspending its three-week-old security agreement with Israel because of the annexation of the Golan Heights.
20 December 1981 Romuald Spasowski, Polish ambassador to the United States, asks for and is granted political asylum.
22 December 1981 After a brief service, about 150 people, mostly his communist comrades, accompany the body of Cornelius Cardew to its final rest in Manor Park Cemetery, London. They sing Immortal Sacrifice and The Internationale.
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli replaces Carlos Alberto Lacoste as President of the military government of Argentina.
The Brazilian Federal Territory of Rondônia becomes a state.
23 December 1981 The US announces several economic sanctions against Poland.
Zdzislaw Rurarz, ambassador from Poland to Japan, arrives in the US and requests political asylum. It is granted.
28 December 1981 Warsaw Radio reports that strikes at coal mines in Silesia have ended.
29 December 1981 The United States imposes economic sanctions against the USSR, blaming it for the martial law crackdown in Poland.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
24 January 2012
Last Updated (Tuesday, 24 January 2012 07:41)