The year awesome was born: 1981

In 1981...

• The top selling movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark. ("You Americans, you're all the same. Always overdressing for the wrong occasions.")

• Academy Award for Best Movie: Chariots of Fire. ("You can praise God by peeling a spud if you peel it to perfection. Don't compromise. Compromise is a language of the devil. Run in God's name and let the world stand back and in wonder. ")
  

• The first DeLorean DMC-12 rolls off the production line. (Time to go back to the future!)
  

• Ronald Reagan succeeds Jimmy Carter as the 40th president of the United States of America.
  

• Daylight Savings Time is introduced in the (then) USSR.
  

• The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor.
  

• A Minor League Baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, becomes the longest professional baseball game in history lasting 8 hours and 25 minutes, with 33 innings.
  

• France abolishes capital punishment.

• Metallica is born in Los Angeles. (Say your prayers little one.)
  

• Elektra was introduced by Marvel. (Hotness!)
  

• The wreckage of the Titanic is found in the North Atlantic. (Sorry they still haven't found Jack.)
  

• Muhammad Ali finally retires with career record of 55 wins and 5 losses.
  

• Pope John Paul II, is shot but not killed by Mehemet Ali Agca in Vatican City.
  

• Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales.

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

• The introduction of the first Frequent Flyer Miles, AAdvantage, introduced by American Airlines.
  

• Antigua and Barbuda Gains Independence From Great Britain.
  

• The AIDS epidemic is formally recognized by medical professionals in San Francisco, California. Five homosexual men are some of the first known cases.
  

• First Space Shuttle flight as the Space Shuttle Columbia launches on the STS-1 mission and returns to Earth on April 14. It is the first time a manned reusable spacecraft has returned from orbit.
  

• IBM launches it's first PC which uses Microsoft Software MS DOS (Anyone have a macro floppy?)
  

• The term "INTERNET" was first mentioned.
  

• Post It Notes launched by 3M Corp.
  

• China Clones the first fish a Golden Carp. (I wonder if they stamped it "Made in China")

• MTV (Music Television) is launched. (They actually played music videos once upon a time.)

• Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Eli Manning, Deadmau5, Howie Day, Pitbull, Elijah Wood, Paris Hilton, Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Travie McCoy, Beyonce Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Alexis Bledel, Nicole Richie, Christina Milian, Serena Williams, Christian Bautista, Tila Tequila, Ivanka Trump, Natasha Bedingfield, Barbara Pierce Bush, & the hot Sienna Miller were born.
  

• Joe Louis & Bob Marley pass away.
  

• Muhammad Ali talks a despondent 21 year old out of committing suicide.
  

• 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days are freed.
  

• French Bullet Train  Train Grande Vitesse (TGV) averages 380 kph on trial run becoming the fastest train in the world servicing Paris-Lyon route.
  

• "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes hits #1 for 9 consecutive weeks helping it become the Song of the Year on the Billboard charts.
  

• Liverpool wins 26th Europe Cup 1 at Paris (Woooot!)
  

• The solar-powered aircraft, Solar Challenger, successfully completes a 163 mile flight across the English Channel.
  

• Multiple nuclear tests conducted by the USA, USSR, India & France.
  

• Voyager 2 encounters Saturn.
  

• LA Dodgers beat NY Yankees, 4 games to 2 in 78th World Series. (Woooot!)
  

• 1st balloon crossing of Pacific is completed by the Double Eagle V.
  

• "Dreamgirls" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 1522 performances.
  

• Wayne Gretzky becomes fastest NHLer to get 100 pts on his 38th game.
  

• Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law. (Yay!)