May 5, 1981 (Tuesday)
- The Declaration on Euthanasia was issued by Pope John Paul II.
- While in orbit in the Salyut 6 space station, Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Kovalyonok saw what he described as an unidentified flying object that resembled a transparent barbell, kept the same speed as the station, and then exploded. Kovalyonok described the experience 12 years later in an interview.
- Born: Craig David, English R&B singer, in Southampton
- Died: Bobby Sands, inmate at the Maze Prison, convicted activist of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and a Member of the Parliament, died on the 66th day of his hunger strike, at the age of 27. Sands had gone into a coma and succumbed at 1:17 am local time. British policy toward hunger strikers had been changed in 1974 to prohibit forced feeding or other medical intervention.
- Died: Alphonse Indelicato, 50; Dominick Trinchera, 44; and Philip Giaccone, 48, three high ranking bosses in the Bonanno crime family, were shot to death after being invited to a meeting at the 20/20 Nightclub in Brooklyn by Joseph Massino of the Rastelli family. Massino's men then disposed of the bodies.
Read more about this topic: May 1981