June 1981 - June 18, 1981 (Thursday)

June 18, 1981 (Thursday)

• Potter Stewart retired from the United States Supreme Court after a service that began in 1958, clearing the way for the appointment of the first woman to serve on "the highest court in the land". Stewart explained the next day that he had quit after receiving a letter in 1980 from Donna Gallus, a senior at Technical High School in St. Cloud, Minnesota. As part of a social studies assignment to write to a national figure, Gallus had asked why Stewart was still on the Court after 22 years, and that the letter, said Stewart, "sort of started me thinking".
• The F-117A Nighthawk "Stealth" fighter made its first flight, with Lockheed test pilot Hal Farley at the controls.
• The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) was created by the signing of the Treaty of Basseterre, with Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• The first genetically-engineered vaccine, created by Genentech to protect livestock against hoof-and-mouth disease, was announced by U.S. Secretrary of Agriculture John Block in a visit to Sacramento.
• Born Ella Chen (Chen Chia-Hwa), Taiwanese singer with S.H.E., in Pingtung
• Died: Pamela Hansford Johnson, 79, English poet, novelist, playwright, literary and social critic