WHAT ALL HAPPENED AUGUST TO DECEMBER 1981
Find out what all happened August to December 1981

Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas. (19. December 1981)

Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra. (19. August 1981)

Belize joins the United Nations. (25. September 1981)

Vanuatu becomes a member of the United Nations. (15. September 1981)

Belize is granted full independence from the United Kingdom. (21. September 1981)

Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected as the President of Egypt one week after the assassination of the President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat. (14. October 1981)

A suicide car bombing targeting the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, levels the embassy and kills 61 people, including Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon. The attack is considered the first modern suicide bombing. (15. December 1981)

South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa). (4. December 1981)

A coup d'état in the Central African Republic overthrows President David Dacko. (1. September 1981)

Citing official misconduct in the investigation and trial, Amnesty International charges the U.S. Federal Government with holding Richard Marshall[disambiguation needed ] of the American Indian Movement as a political prisoner. (14. October 1981)

Baseball: Nolan Ryan sets a Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter. (26. September 1981)

Abolition of capital punishment in France. (9. October 1981)

American Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy. (17. December 1981)

Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn (25. August 1981)

In the 39th game of his third NHL season, Wayne Gretzky scores five goals, giving him 50 on the year and setting a new NHL record previously held by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy, who earlier had each scored 50 goals in 50 games. (30. December 1981)

MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. (1. August 1981)

A coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann's PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings. (31. December 1981)

Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, crashes in Corsica, killing all 180 people on board. (1. December 1981)

President Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar of Iran are assassinated in a bombing committed by the People's Mujahedin of Iran. (30. August 1981)

Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset ratifies the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the occupied Golan Heights. (14. December 1981)