25 Years Ago

It's April 1981. Henry Cisneros, 33, the son of Mexican immigrants, is elected mayor of San Antonio.

A week after being shot,  President Reagan is still hospitalized. He is running a fever and being given antibiotics, but is said to be alert and in good spirits.  

 In the first game of the baseball season, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2. The "first ball," which was to have been thrown by President Reagan, is replaced by a moment of silence and thanks that the President survived the shooting.   Reagan returns to the White House 12 days after being shot. He tells reporters that he feels great.

 A new era begins with the first mission of the Space Shuttle as Columbia lifts off with two crew members, Commander John Young and Pilot Robert Crippen. During the launch, 16 tiles are lost and 148 are damaged.

STS-1 Crew  - John Young and Robert Crippen

 New York Governor Hugh Carey marries  Evangeline Gouletas, 44, on his 62nd birthday.

 After a two-day mission,  Columbia lands on schedule and without a hitch at Edwards Air Force Base.

 The novel A Confederacy of Dunces wins the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The author, John Kennedy Toole, committed suicide 12 years ago when he could not get his book published.

 The Pulitzer Prize for feature writing is awarded to Janet Cooke, 26, of The Washington Post for her article about an eight-year-old heroin addict. Days later, Cooke admits that the story was not true. She returns the prize and resigns from the Washington Post. 

 Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 55th birthday with her family at Windsor Castle.     Maureen Reagan, daughter of President Reagan and his first wife, Jane Wyman, marries Dennis Revell, 28, in California.  

 Actor Jim Davis, 65, best known as patriarch Jock Ewing on Dallas, dies in California following surgery for an ulcer.

 At the Academy of Country Music Awards, Barbara Mandrel is chosen Top Female Vocalist and Merle Haggard is chosen Top Male Vocalist. Single of the Year is Elvira by the Oak Ridge Boys.

 No-frills airline People Express Airline begins service from Newark Airport to Buffalo, Norfolk, and Columbus with ticket prices at less than half that of the competition.

 The movie Caveman starring Ringo Starr opens.

 Top tunes include Kiss on My List by Hall and Oates, Rapture by Blondie, The Best of Times by Styx, Woman by John Lennon, and Just the Two of Us by Grover Washington, Jr.

 ABC airs the eight-hour mini-series Masada (starring Peter O'Toole and Peter Strauss) over four consecutive nights.
 ABC cancels Charlie's Angels, Soap, Vega$ and Eight Is Enough.

 Cover stories in this month's Time magazine include abortion: The Battle of Life vs Choice; the assassination attempt of President Reagan: Moment of Madness; Lady Diana Spencer: The Prince's Charmer - Lady Diana is Wowing Britain; and the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle: Right On! Winging into a New Era.

 And the price of gas in Owego is $1.43 a gallon.

 Happy Easter!