May 10, 1981 (Sunday)
- French presidential election, 1981: In the second round of the presidential elections in France, François Mitterrand beat President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, receiving 15,708,262 votes to Giscard's 14,642,306. Mitterrand had been defeated for the presidency in 1965 and in 1974 before winning a seven year term.
- Joseph Christopher, a serial killer who killed twelve people was arrested, and charged with the murders of four soldiers earlier in the year. He had been hospitalized on May 6 after a suicide attempt, the "Midtown Slasher", bragged to a nurse about his crimes.
Read more about this topic: May 1981