June 1981 - June 23, 1981 (Tuesday)

June 23, 1981 (Tuesday)

• The Pawtucket Red Sox beat the Rochester Red Wings, 3-2, in the 33rd inning of a game that had started 67 days earlier. The game had been halted in the early morning of April 19, tied 2-2 after 32 innings and more than 8 hours of game time. The game ended 18 minutes after it resumed, with Dave Koza's single bringing in Cliff Speck for the game winner. Future MLB stars Cal Ripken and Wade Boggs participated for Rochester and Pawtucket, respectively.
• The first execution under the new criminal procedure law of the People's Republic of China took place at Nanjing. On June 10, rules were changed to allow death sentences to be approved by intermediate People's Courts, previously reserved to the nation's Supreme Court. A murderer named Luo, whose arrest, trial, conviction and appeal took place over an 8-day period, was publicly executed a rally attended by 10,000 people.
• Died: Zarah Leander, 74, Swedish-born actress in German film, described as "the greatest screen idol of the Third Reich"