July 5, 1981 (Sunday)
- Israeli legislative election, 1981: After initial doubts about whether his Likud party had been defeated by the Labor Party of Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Menahem Begin was able to declare victory in the closest election in the history of Israel. Under the Israeli system of government, representation in Parliament was based upon the proportion of the overall balloting. With 718,941 votes, Likud had 37.1% for 48 seats, while the 708,356 for Labour was 36.6% for 47 seats, giving Begin the right to assemble the coalition in the 120 seat Knesset.
- Rajan Mahadevan recited pi to 31,811 digits before an audience in Mangalore. The event took 3 hours and 49 minutes, including a total of 26 minutes of breaks, and was sponsored by the local Lions Club International, Lion Seva Mandir. The record stood until 1987, when Hideaki Tomoyoni repeated the first 40,000 digits.
- Died: Manuel Urrutia, 81, former President of Cuba who was installed, and later deposed, by Fidel Castro following the 1959 Revolution
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Famous quotes containing the word july:
“All the experts here ... say “There will be no war.” They said the same thing all through July 1914.... In those days I believed the experts. Today I have my tongue in my cheek. This does not mean I am become cynical; but as President I have to be ready just like a Fire Department!”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)