July 16, 1981 (Thursday)
- Mahathir bin Mohamad was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia, succeeding Hussein Onn, who retired because of ill health. Mahathir would serve for 22 years, retiring in 2003.
- Died: Harry Chapin, folk singer and hunger activist, was killed in a car wreck near Jericho, New York on the Long Island Expressway. Chapin had shifted lanes into the path of a Rickel Home Centers truck, which was unable to avoid a collision with his car, and died of a ruptured aneurysm caused by the impact. A jury later found Chapin to be 40% at fault in the accident, with the driver primarily liable, and awarded $7,200,000 to his widow.
Read more about this topic: July 1981
Famous quotes containing the word july:
“April is in my mistress’ face,
And July in her eyes hath place,
Within her bosom is September,
But in her heart a cold December.”
—Unknown. Subject #4: July Subject #5: September Subject #6: December. All Seasons in One. . .
Oxford Book of Sixteenth Century Verse, The. E. K. Chambers, comp. (1932)