January 1981 - January 21, 1981 (Wednesday)

January 21, 1981 (Wednesday)

• The very first DeLorean DMC-12 automobile was produced in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. The sports car was stainless steel and had gull-wing doors, and was immortalized in Back to the Future.
• In his first full day at the White House as National Security Advisor to President Reagan, Richard V. Allen accepted at least $1,000 and watches from the Japanese women's magazine Shufo no tomo in return for arranging an interview with First Lady Nancy Reagan. After the matter came to light, Allen was forced to resign on January 4, 1982.
• Feodor Fedorenko, who had come to the U.S. in 1949 after earlier having been a supervisor of the Treblinka extermination camp, lost his citizenship when the United States Supreme Court affirmed prior rulings by a 7-2 vote. Fedorenko was deported to the Soviet Union in 1984, where he was executed for treason in 1987.
• Born: Dany Heatley, German-born player for Canadian national ice hockey team; and Gillian Chung, Chinese singer (Twins), in Hong Kong