July 1981 - July 17, 1981 (Friday)

July 17, 1981 (Friday)

• Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: At 7:05 pm, a fourth floor skywalk at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri broke from its moorings and dropped onto a second floor walk directly below, and then both fell into the hotel lobby below. Both walkways and the lobby were crowded with people who had gathered for a dance; 114 were killed and 185 more injured. Ultimately, the disaster was traced to a flaw in design and construction. While the original plan was for the two walkways to hang separately, nuts and bolts intended to bear the weight of the fourth floor were holding the weight of both. The failure of a single nut under the stress led to the chain reaction.
• Israeli bombing of Beirut Aircraft from Israel bombed a residential area of West Beirut that housed PLO headquarters. Ten apartment buildings were destroyed, more than 300 people were killed and 800 or more injured. Most were civilians.

• The Nissan Motor Company announced that it was phasing out the name "Datsun" for its cars and trucks sold outside of Japan.