1981

January 14
President Jimmy Carter gives his Farewell Address. He states, "In an all-out nuclear war, more destructive power than in all of World War II would be unleashed every second during the long afternoon it would take for all the missiles and bombs to fall. A World War II every second-more people killed in the first few hours than all the wars of history put together. The survivors, if any, would live in despair amid the poisoned ruins of a civilization that had committed suicide."

April 9
The USS George Washington , a submarine carrying 160 nuclear warheads, collides with a Japanese freighter in the East China Sea.

June 7
An Israeli F-16 fighter destroys Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor to prevent Iraq from developing nuclear weapons.

November 2
An American Poseidon nuclear missile being winched from the submarine support ship USS Holland falls seventeen feet when the winch runs free. The automatic brakes on the winch bring it to rest just above the submarine's hull.

November 23
The United States ratifies additional Protocol I of the Treaty of Tlateloclo , thereby submitting U.S. territories in Latin America to the nuclear-weapons-free zone. [see February 14, 1967 ]