May 6, 1981 (Wednesday)
- Citing Libya's support of international terrorism, the United States ordered the closure of the Libyan Embassy in Washington, D.C.. Ambassador Ali Houderi was summoned to the U.S. State Department, and told to withdraw the 27 diplomats and their families within one week. The U.S. Embassy in Libya had closed in 1980. Diplomatic relations were restored in 2004.
- Maurice Papon, the Minister of the Budget of France, was revealed by the newspaper Le Canard enchaîné to have been a collaborationist with the Nazi German occupation forces in Vichy France during World War II. Documents discovered by Le Canard showed Papon's signature on orders deporting French Jews to Germany. Papon would later be tried for and convicted of crimes against humanity.
- The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund announced that it had accepted the design of 21 year old architecture student Maya Ying Lin for the memorial in Washington D.C. Lin's proposal #1026 out of 1,421 reviewed by a panel of judges.
- A U.S. Air Force C-135 plane, similar to a Boeing 707, exploded at 10:45 while at an altitude of 28,000 feet. All 21 USAF personnel on board were killed, and the wreckage was scattered over an area near Frederick, Maryland.
- Died: Frank Fitzsimmons, 72, Teamsters union President. Roy Williams succeeded him on May 15.
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