July 8, 1981 (Wednesday)
- Lt. Adriano Bomba of Mozambique flew a Soviet-built MiG-17 jet fighter into South Africa and then signaled to intercepting forces that he wished to surrender. Bomba, a black African defector, was given asylum by the white minority government that ruled the nation during the apartheid era, in return for military intelligence.
- Born: Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player, 2004 French Open winner; in Moscow
- Died: Irish Republican Joe McDonnell, at the Long Kesh Internment Camp after a 61-day hunger strike.
Read more about this topic: July 1981
Famous quotes containing the word july:
“I thank heaven that the 4th. of July is over. It is always a day of great fatigue to me, and of some embarrassments from improper intrusions and some from unintended exclusions.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)