IrishCanadian25
Going on 10 years with WrestleZone
Authors Note- this is an early release from the "IC25's Time Machine Series" and will continue with the remainder of 1981 either next week or after the New Year.
In early 1981, a six-year reign of terror came to an end in England when Peter "Y 2 Jake" Sutcliffe, the man who would become known as "The Yorkshire Ripper," was arrested in Sheffeild. In 20 separate incidents, Sutcliff had murdered 13 women and attacked 7 who survived. He would later become admin of a quasi-popular pro wrestling forum.
Kidding. I don't think Y2Jake is the Yorkshire Ripper.
Of interesting note, Sutcliff is still alive, and despite being sentenced to life in prison, he does have the opportunity for parole in 2011. This case relates to a current debate on whether Life Imprisonment is a violation of Human Rights. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new thread topic. Either way, it Sutcliff is deemed no longer harmful to society, I want to challenge Lee to get his picture taken with him.
Of particular note for the United States, the conflict with Iran raged on as an agreement was signed on January 19th which called for the release of 52 American hostages. These 52 people had been abducted 18 months prior.
One day later, one of the more influential US Presidents of all time - Ronald Reagan, was sworn into office to take over for Jimmy Carter. Moments later, Iran released the prisoners. Reagan would spend his presidency steeped in bi-partisan controversy, and to this day, Republicans often consider him the finest president in US history.
For you soccer fans out there, in February of '81, 17 fans of the Olympiacos Footbal Club were killed following the end of the game. The cause of death? Trampled in a stampede. The cause of the stampede?
Gate 7 didn't open right away.
Ah, soccer fans.
In March, popular and legendary news anchor Walter Kronkite signed off for the final time. And that's the way it was.
Of course, I'd be remiss not to mention what happened March 30th. Just two months after being sworn into office, John Hinckley shoots US President Ronald Reagan twice in the chest outside of a hotel. Hinkley was abducted, causing the folks who shot Kennedy to shake their heads in shame. The shooting of Reagan by Hinkley was loosely tied to an obsession he had with Robert DeNiro's character in Taxi Driver. There is no substantial evidence to suggest that the assassination attempt on Reagan lent lyrics to P.O.D.'s "Youth of the Nation."
In an effort to give the Russians more sleep, the USSR finally introduces Daylight Savings Time.
June 5th is a date in 1981 that people don't realize the importance of. A doctor diagnoses 5 men with a very rare case of pneumonia, which the doctor concludes can only be the result of a severely weakened immune system. The common thread between the 5 men? All homosexual. The condition? The first known diagnosis of AIDS.
A day later, a train derails into a river in India, killing 800 people. This event is figured to have set the Compuer Programming, IT, and Customer Service fields back a year or two.
Sorry, that was mean.
Back to the UK, 1981 saw the Toxteth riots in the inner city Liverpool area, which was essentially a racial conflict between white cops and black residents. Tensions boiled over from perceptions of racial profiling - police officers randomly stopping and searching young black men and women for searches and harrassment. Though there was only one reported death, there were 468 police officers injured, 500 people arrested, and at least 70 buildings damaged so severely by fire that they had to be demolished.
Striking a blow for unshaven armpits everywhere, US President Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor as the first ever female Supreme Court Justice. Her swearing in, however, which occured on September 25th, 1981, was overshadowed by a far more significant event.
In early August, a stand-off occured between Presdient Reagan and PATCO - the Professional Air Traffic Controller Union - who had gone on strike. Reagan stepped in and demanded they return to work while new collective bargaining occured. They refused. He fucking fired all 11,359 of them.
For $1,565, you could official purchase the first ever IBM PC. For that, you'd get the molasses-in-January speed of a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor. SlyFox probably still has one on which he only plays Pong.
Mark David Chapman, who had recently murdered musician John Lennon, was convicted on August 24th. Chapman is currently 54 years old, and was originally sentenced to 5 a prison term carrying 20 years to life. His parole has been denied 5 times, mainly due to Yoko Ono's threats to sing to the parole board if Chapman were released.
At the end of August '81, a bomb exploded at the U.S. Air Force base in Ramstein, West Germany, injuring 20 people. In related news, some 20 years later, German metal band Rammstein drops bombs of its own, injuring hundreds more.
On September 18th, France made the decision to abolish Capital Punishment. In its place, inmates are now required to bathe and be polite to visitng Americans, which often results in the inmate's death by suicide.
ON SEPTEMBER 25TH, 1981, THE GREAT IRISHCANADIAN25 WAS BORN IN A SMALL HOSPITAL IN BERGEN COUNTY, NJ. Feminists everywhere are outraged that the birth of the future WZ admin outshined the first official day that Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female to serve on the US Supreme Court, but most of those feminists dropped their complains in the late 90's citing "an unquenchable desire to find IC25 and hit that."
Admists conflicts with Israel, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is assassinated by members of an Islamic jihadist army.
Throughout October '81, IRA bombs continued to go off at specific targets in London. This distraction allows Antigua and Barbuda to escape from the UK and become independent.
In December, the worst massacre in the history of Latin America occured, as US-trained El Salvadoran armed forces murder nearly 1000 civilians as part of an anti-guerrilla campaign. Despite the support of military force by the US to El Salvador, President Reagan called much of the news "anti-US propaganda," citing the US's priority towards human rights.
Throughout the year, the Cold War continued as civilians everywhere anxiously awaited Rocky 4.
What do you feel were the most important news stories and special events of 1981?
In early 1981, a six-year reign of terror came to an end in England when Peter "Y 2 Jake" Sutcliffe, the man who would become known as "The Yorkshire Ripper," was arrested in Sheffeild. In 20 separate incidents, Sutcliff had murdered 13 women and attacked 7 who survived. He would later become admin of a quasi-popular pro wrestling forum.
Kidding. I don't think Y2Jake is the Yorkshire Ripper.
Of interesting note, Sutcliff is still alive, and despite being sentenced to life in prison, he does have the opportunity for parole in 2011. This case relates to a current debate on whether Life Imprisonment is a violation of Human Rights. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new thread topic. Either way, it Sutcliff is deemed no longer harmful to society, I want to challenge Lee to get his picture taken with him.
Of particular note for the United States, the conflict with Iran raged on as an agreement was signed on January 19th which called for the release of 52 American hostages. These 52 people had been abducted 18 months prior.
One day later, one of the more influential US Presidents of all time - Ronald Reagan, was sworn into office to take over for Jimmy Carter. Moments later, Iran released the prisoners. Reagan would spend his presidency steeped in bi-partisan controversy, and to this day, Republicans often consider him the finest president in US history.
For you soccer fans out there, in February of '81, 17 fans of the Olympiacos Footbal Club were killed following the end of the game. The cause of death? Trampled in a stampede. The cause of the stampede?
Gate 7 didn't open right away.
Ah, soccer fans.
In March, popular and legendary news anchor Walter Kronkite signed off for the final time. And that's the way it was.
Of course, I'd be remiss not to mention what happened March 30th. Just two months after being sworn into office, John Hinckley shoots US President Ronald Reagan twice in the chest outside of a hotel. Hinkley was abducted, causing the folks who shot Kennedy to shake their heads in shame. The shooting of Reagan by Hinkley was loosely tied to an obsession he had with Robert DeNiro's character in Taxi Driver. There is no substantial evidence to suggest that the assassination attempt on Reagan lent lyrics to P.O.D.'s "Youth of the Nation."
In an effort to give the Russians more sleep, the USSR finally introduces Daylight Savings Time.
June 5th is a date in 1981 that people don't realize the importance of. A doctor diagnoses 5 men with a very rare case of pneumonia, which the doctor concludes can only be the result of a severely weakened immune system. The common thread between the 5 men? All homosexual. The condition? The first known diagnosis of AIDS.
A day later, a train derails into a river in India, killing 800 people. This event is figured to have set the Compuer Programming, IT, and Customer Service fields back a year or two.
Sorry, that was mean.
Back to the UK, 1981 saw the Toxteth riots in the inner city Liverpool area, which was essentially a racial conflict between white cops and black residents. Tensions boiled over from perceptions of racial profiling - police officers randomly stopping and searching young black men and women for searches and harrassment. Though there was only one reported death, there were 468 police officers injured, 500 people arrested, and at least 70 buildings damaged so severely by fire that they had to be demolished.
Striking a blow for unshaven armpits everywhere, US President Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O'Connor as the first ever female Supreme Court Justice. Her swearing in, however, which occured on September 25th, 1981, was overshadowed by a far more significant event.
In early August, a stand-off occured between Presdient Reagan and PATCO - the Professional Air Traffic Controller Union - who had gone on strike. Reagan stepped in and demanded they return to work while new collective bargaining occured. They refused. He fucking fired all 11,359 of them.
For $1,565, you could official purchase the first ever IBM PC. For that, you'd get the molasses-in-January speed of a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor. SlyFox probably still has one on which he only plays Pong.
Mark David Chapman, who had recently murdered musician John Lennon, was convicted on August 24th. Chapman is currently 54 years old, and was originally sentenced to 5 a prison term carrying 20 years to life. His parole has been denied 5 times, mainly due to Yoko Ono's threats to sing to the parole board if Chapman were released.
At the end of August '81, a bomb exploded at the U.S. Air Force base in Ramstein, West Germany, injuring 20 people. In related news, some 20 years later, German metal band Rammstein drops bombs of its own, injuring hundreds more.
On September 18th, France made the decision to abolish Capital Punishment. In its place, inmates are now required to bathe and be polite to visitng Americans, which often results in the inmate's death by suicide.
ON SEPTEMBER 25TH, 1981, THE GREAT IRISHCANADIAN25 WAS BORN IN A SMALL HOSPITAL IN BERGEN COUNTY, NJ. Feminists everywhere are outraged that the birth of the future WZ admin outshined the first official day that Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female to serve on the US Supreme Court, but most of those feminists dropped their complains in the late 90's citing "an unquenchable desire to find IC25 and hit that."
Admists conflicts with Israel, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is assassinated by members of an Islamic jihadist army.
Throughout October '81, IRA bombs continued to go off at specific targets in London. This distraction allows Antigua and Barbuda to escape from the UK and become independent.
In December, the worst massacre in the history of Latin America occured, as US-trained El Salvadoran armed forces murder nearly 1000 civilians as part of an anti-guerrilla campaign. Despite the support of military force by the US to El Salvador, President Reagan called much of the news "anti-US propaganda," citing the US's priority towards human rights.
Throughout the year, the Cold War continued as civilians everywhere anxiously awaited Rocky 4.
What do you feel were the most important news stories and special events of 1981?
