what happened in 1981...year i was born

• Ronald Reagan becomes president of the US
• Minutes after Ronald Reagan becomes president, Iran releases 52 American hostages that had been held captive for 444 days
• President Reagan is shot in the chest by would be assassin John Hinkley
• Space shuttle Columbia, the world's first reusable spacecraft, is sent into space
• A suspended walkway in the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel collapses, killing 113
• A female former lover files a "palimony" suit against tennis star Billie Jean King
• President Reagan appoints Sandra Day O'Connor to be the first woman on the Supreme Court
• The Pac-Man video game is introduced in the US
• Alicia Keys, Elijah Wood, Kelly Rowland, Anna Kournikova, and Britney Spears are born
• Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series
• Oakland Raiders win Superbowl XV
• New York Islanders win the Stanley Cup
• Raiders of the Lost Ark is the top grossing film
• "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes spends the most time at the top of the US charts
• MTV debuts on cable television, playing music videos 24 hours a day
• Gimme a Break premieres