WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO JUNE 1981
Find out what all happened February to June 1981

An earthquake registering 6.7 on the Richter scale hits Athens, killing 16 people and destroying buildings in several towns west of the city. (24. February 1981)

François Mitterrand wins the presidential election and becomes the first Socialist President of France in the French Fifth Republic. (10. May 1981)

Twenty-one association football spectators are trampled to death at Karaiskakis Stadium in Neo Faliro, Greece, after a football match between Olympiacos F.C. and AEK Athens FC. (8. February 1981)

Bihar train disaster: a passenger train travelling between Mansi and Saharsa, India, jumps the tracks at a bridge crossing the Bagmati river. The government places the official death toll at 268 plus another 300 missing; however, it is generally believed that the actual death toll is closer to 1,000. (6. June 1981)

In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies. (23. February 1981)

Dr. Michael R. Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center performs the world's first human open fetal surgery. (26. April 1981)

U.S. President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada's former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979-81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor. (16. June 1981)

Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse. (27. April 1981)

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology, makes its first flight. (18. June 1981)

The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) takes place - the STS-1 mission. (12. April 1981)

A massive riot in Brixton, South London, results in almost 300 police injuries and 65 serious civilian injuries. (11. April 1981)

The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. (3. April 1981)

The U.S. Navy nuclear submarine USS George Washington accidentally collides with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it. (9. April 1981)

After 19 years of presenting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time. (6. March 1981)

The Prime Minister of Italy Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due). (26. May 1981)

A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198. (10. February 1981)

100,000 US gallons (380 m3) of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating 8 workers. (11. February 1981)

The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force mounts an attack on H-3 Airbase and destroys about 50 Iraqi aircraft. (4. April 1981)

Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27. (5. May 1981)

STS-1 – The first operational space shuttle, Columbia (OV-102) completes its first test flight. (14. April 1981)