July 24, 1981 (Friday)
- Kosmos 1275, a Soviet satellite that had been launched on June 4, was struck by debris while in orbit 600 miles (970 km) over Alaska, breaking into more than 140 pieces of space junk.
- American mediator Philip Habib brokered a cease-fire between Israel and the PLO, temporarily halting the Lebanese Civil War.
- In one of the largest alleged UFO sightings, thousands of people in China claimed to have observed a bright object surrounded by "Saturn-like rings" in Tibet, flying for seven minutes. China's official Xinhua News Agency reported the story eleven days later.
Read more about this topic: July 1981
Famous quotes containing the word july:
“...there was the annual Fourth of July picketing at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. ...I thought it was ridiculous to have to go there in a skirt. But I did it anyway because it was something that might possibly have an effect. I remember walking around in my little white blouse and skirt and tourists standing there eating their ice cream cones and watching us like the zoo had opened.”
—Martha Shelley, U.S. author and social activist. As quoted in Making History, part 3, by Eric Marcus (1992)