October 20, 1981 (Tuesday)
- Brink's robbery (1981): A group of armed robbers from the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground attacked a Brink's Armored Car at the Nanuet Mall in Nanuet, New York, killing one of the Brink's guards and stealing 1.6 million dollars in cash, then killed two police offers who had given chase. Among those captured on the first day was Kathy Boudin, who had been a fugitive for more than a decade.
- Died: Mary Coyle Chase, 75, American playwright (Harvey)
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