December 12, 1981 (Saturday)
- Meeting in Gdansk, the national commission of the Polish independent union Solidarity discussed lobbying for a referendum to set up multiparty elections in Communist Poland. By then, police across the nation had been informed by the government that the first phase of arrests would begin at 11:30 pm. At 11:57 pm, all 3.4 million private telephones in Poland were cut off.
- TK-208, the first of the Soviet Union's Typhoon-class submarines and the largest sub that had been built up to that time, was commissioned. The previous largest submarine to be commissioned had been the USS Ohio, first of the Ohio-class submarines, which had been commissioned on November 11, 1981.
- West Germany Chancellor Helmut Schmidt visited East Germany, where he was welcomed by SED First Secretary Erich Honecker, who proclaimed in a toast, "Whatever differences may exist between our countries, either politically or socially, we cannot and must not permit ourselves to be pulled away from our responsibility to the people of Europe.
- Died: Queen Khamphoui of Laos, 69, former Queen Consort of King Savang Vatthana who had ruled from 1959 to 1975; in a Communist re-education camp. She was preceded in death by her husband and her son, former Crown Prince Vong Savang, who had died in the internment camp at Sop Hao in 1979.
- Died: Charles P. Alexander, American entomologist who cataloged over 10,000 species of insects, primarily crane flies in the genus Tipula, during his career.
Read more about this topic: December 1981
Famous quotes containing the word december:
“Work—work—work,
In the dull December light,
And work—work—work,
When the weather is warm and bright—
While underneath the eaves
The brooding swallows cling
As if to show me their sunny backs
And twit me with the spring.”
—Thomas Hood (1799–1845)