June 1981 - June 21, 1981 (Sunday)

June 21, 1981 (Sunday)

• French legislative election, 1981: France's Socialist Party won control of the 491 member Assemblée nationale, more than doubling its number of seats from 117 to 285 for a majority. After 23 years in power, the coalition of Conservative parties dropped its share from 274 to 147. Pierre Mauroy, who had formed an interim government while elections were being held, was appointed Prime Minister of France by President Francois Mitterrand.
• In the deadliest accident to ever happen at Washington State's Mount Ranier National Park, 10 mountain climbers and their guide were killed when tons of ice fell without warning, sweeping them into a 100 foot deep crevasse, and burying them under 70 feet of ice. That afternoon, in the worst accident to ever happen at Oregon's Mount Hood, five mountain climbers were killed when a group of 16, linked by ropes for safety during their descent, fell 2,500 feet down the side of the mountain.
• The South African police claims to have arrested eight leaders of the South African Youth Revolutionary Council.