On the one hand, this day was like most other August days. Congress held a 17 hour session and finally passed Tax legislation which included a huge tax reduction in oil profits helped with the participation of defecting Southern Democrats (we call them Blue Dogs now). And on the other hand, we were about to witness the first grand scale Union Busting in the form of PATCO and the now-famous Air-Traffic Controllers Strike. On this particular August 1st it was a Saturday, and all members were slated to hit the picket lines come Monday morning, unless some 11th hour negotiation proved successful.
In other news, the ongoing Hunger Strike of IRA members in Belfast's Maze Prison was taking an ominous toll, with one death reported and several other hunger strikers perilously close. Pope John Paul II, still recovering from wounds associated with his assassination attempt, had cleared another hurdle by successfully beating back a viral infection as the result of surgery.
Just another August 1st in history. Remarkably the same while strangely different.
August 1, 1981 as told by the CBS World News Roundup with Neil Strawser.
