February 18, 1981 (Wednesday)
- In a 35-minute speech to a joint session of Congress, President of the United States Ronald Reagan outlined the details of a package of reforms that would reduce both inflation and unemployment by reducing federal government spending and cutting the federal income tax rate. The annual inflation rate, 13.58% at the beginning of 1981, had dropped to 6.16% by 1983 and 1.91% by 1987. The unemployment rate, 7.5% when Reagan took office, rose to a high of 10.8% at the end of 1982, falling to 5.3% at the end of Reagan's term.
- Born: Andrei Kirilenko, Russian pro basketball player ("AK47"), in Izhevsk; and Ivan Sproule, Northern Irish footballer, in Castlederg
- Died: Jack Northrop, 85, founder of Lockheed Corporation and Northrop Corporation
Read more about this topic: February 1981
Famous quotes containing the word february:
“If a man is a good lawyer, a good physician, a good engineer ... he may be a fool in every other capacity. But no deficiency or mistake of judgment is forgiven to a woman ... and should she fail anywhere, if she has any scientific attainment, or artistic faculty, instead of standing her interest as an excuse, it is censured as an aggravation and offence.”
—E.P.P., U.S. women’s magazine contributor. The Una, p. 28 ( February 1855)