October 1981 - October 5, 1981 (Monday)

October 5, 1981 (Monday)

• The last model of the Triumph Motor Company's legendary sports cars, a 1982 Triumph TR7, rolled off of the assembly line at Solihull, West Midlands, England.
• In the Washington Post gossip column "The Ear", Diana McLellan outraged former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter by writing that "word's around Rosalynn's close pals about exactly why the Carters were so sure" that incoming First Lady Nancy Reagan wanted them out prior to the expiration of Carter's term: "They're saying that Blair House, where Nancy was lodging... was bugged. And at least one tattler in the Carter tribe has described listening in to the tape itself... Ear is absolutely appalled. Stay tuned, uh, whoever's listening." Three days later, the Carters announced plans to sue the Post, and, on October 23, the newspaper printed Publisher Donald Graham's apology, which was accepted.
• Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during World War II, and vanished after being arrested by the Soviet Union, was made an honorary American citizen in a resolution signed by President Reagan.
• The first 8-team playoff in Major League Baseball began as the Kansas City Royals lost to the visiting Oakland A's, 4-0, in an afternoon game. The occasion was the American League West title between the two winners of 1981's split season. The Cincinnati Reds, with the best overall record in the 1981 season (66-42) did not qualify for the playoffs because they failed to win the NL West in either half of the season. MLB returned to the 4 team playoff system for the next 12 seasons, then realigned, with eight teams in the playoffs in 1995, after the 1994 strike season.
• The Reverend Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church, was indicted for U.S. federal income tax invasion. He was convicted and served an 18 month prison sentence.
• Born: Enrico Fabris, Italian speed skater; Olympic gold medalist 2006; in Asiago
• Died: Gloria Grahame, 58, American film actress and winner of 1952 best supporting actress Oscar; and Jud Strunk, 45 American singer and songwriter ("A Daisy a Day"), in an airplane crash in Farmington, Maine.