November 1981 - November 11, 1981 (Wednesday)

November 11, 1981 (Wednesday)

• The USS Ohio was commissioned at Groton, Connecticut. At the time, it was the largest submarine to begin service, and was the first Ohio-class submarine, designed to carry 24 Trident II missiles, each missile in turn capable of carrying 17 nuclear warheads. On December 12, 1981, an even larger class of subs, the Soviet Typhoon class submarine, was first commissioned with the launch of the TK-208. U.S. Vice-President, and future President George H.W. Bush declared, "If she is successful in her life's mission, she will never fire a shot. Her purpose is to deter enemies of the United States, potential enemies of the free world. Her mission is to preserve peace."
• Fernando Valenzuela became first rookie to win the Cy Young Award, given to the best pitcher in Major League Baseball as voted by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Valenzuela received 70 points overall based on 5 for first place, 3 for second and 1 for third, finishing ahead of Tom Seaver by the margin of a single second-place vote.
• Born: Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, heir apparent to the throne since 2000; Natalie Glebova, Russian-born Canadian beauty queen, Miss Universe in 2005, in Tuapse, USSR; and Jyothika, Indian Tamil film actress, in Mumbai