December 1981 - December 19, 1981 (Saturday)

December 19, 1981 (Saturday)

• Penlee lifeboat disaster: Sixteen people died in the worst British sea disaster since 1946. The Union Star, with a crew of eight, was on its maiden voyage when a hurricane drove it onto the rocks at Cornwall. Eight volunteers from the town of Penlee guided the lifeboat Solomon Browne to the scene and rescued four people. Before the others could be pulled to safety, the waves drove the Union Star into the lifeboat, and everyone was killed as both boats capsized.
• The Tupolev Tu-160 "Blackjack" longe range strategic bomber was first flown. The airplane was put into production in in 1986, but discontinued in 1992 after the Cold War had ended.
• Dwight Braxton (later Dwight Muhammad Qawi) defeated Matthew Saad Muhammad to win the WBC light heavyweight boxing championship.
• Archbishop Luigi Poggi visited Polish General Jaruzelski and delivered a personal appeal from Pope John Paul II, asking that further bloodshed be avoided during the implementation of martial law.
• The Kingdom of Spain adopted a new national coat of arms, and a new flag displaying the symbol.
• Died: Selma Fraiberg, 63, American child psychologist and advocate