April 7, 1981 (Tuesday)
- National Guardsmen in El Salvador drove into the San Salvador neighborhood of Monte Carmelos, pulled out residents accused of rebellion against the government, and executed them. Reporters who arrived later found thirty bodies in the streets.
- The "Soyuz '81" maneuvers by armies of the Warsaw Pact nations came to an end, allaying fears that they were a prelude to an invasion of Poland to suppress the Solidarity union. Earlier in the day, Pact commander General Kulikov had a closed meeting with Polish leaders Stanislaw Kania and Jaruselski for a commitment to get the union movement under control.
- The explosion of a grain elevator at Corpus Christi, Texas, killed nine people and injured 30.
- Born: Suzann Pettersen, Norwegian golfer, 2007 LPGA Champion, in Oslo
- Died: Norman Taurog, 82 American film director who won an Academy Award in 1931 for the film Skippy
Read more about this topic: April 1981
Famous quotes containing the word april:
“Such comfort as do lusty young men feel
When well-apparelled April on the heel
Of limping winter treads.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)