"Old times there are not forgotten"
Divorces hit an all time high. A world wide recession continued. The third straight year of double digit inflation was experienced in the United States while unemployment hit 7.4%. The sale of arms and advanced military equipment to Saudi Arabia was approved over the protest of Israel. The sale of arms to the People's Republic of China was authorized for the first time. The maiden voyage of the space shuttle Columbia was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Covert domestic intelligence operations by the Central Intelligence Agency and other federal agencies was authorized for the first time by President Reagan. Ten major airlines reported losses twice that of one year previous. IBM introduced the personal computer.
New book titles: Thomas Jefferson(six volumes), The Company of Women, The Hotel New Hampshire and The World According to Garp.
At the movies: Arthur, Chariots of Fire, On Golden Pond, Superman II and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
On stage: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby and Piaf.
Emmy Awards: Daniel J. Travanti and Barbara Babcock for Hill Street Blues, Shogun for best limited series, Anthony Hopkins for The Bunker, and Vinessa Redgrave for Playing for Time.
January 20
The Iranian hostage crisis ended with the release of 52 American captives seized in 1979.
March 30
President Ronald Reagan was shot by 25 year old John Hinckley in Washington, D.C.
May 18
Classmate Carol Ann Potts-Bradley, a resident of Sheffield Lake, Ohio died in a Lorain, Ohio hospital following a long illness. Following high school, Sparkie enrolled in Beckley College but we are left without further details of her adult life. Carol Ann was survived by her husband, one daughter and one son.
August 4
An income tax act was approved by the Congress that reduced the rates of income tax while increasing income tax revenue by the elimination of allowable deductions.
September 25
Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, first female member of that court.
December 31
West Virginia University defeated the University of Florida by the score of 26-6 in the Peach Bowl, played in Atlanta, Florida.