On March 16, 1981, Joseph Recchi becomes superintendent of Seattle City Light when the City Council confirms his nomination by Mayor Charles Royer. Recchi is a 31-year City Light Employee and deputy s...
In late April 1981, a cast and crew of more than 100 arrive in Port Townsend to begin filming the Paramount Pictures feature An Officer and a Gentleman. Directed by Taylor Hackford, the romantic drama...
On May 20, 1981, Duane Berentson (1928-2013) takes office as Secretary of Transportation, heading the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). He arrives to find that Washington State Fe...
On June 1, 1981, Seattle-based Filipino American labor activists Gene Viernes (1951-1981) and Silme Domingo (1952-1981) of Local 37 of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union are mur...
On June 6, 1981, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that the Seattle Aquarium, facing a drop in attendance and revenue, is searching for a new director. Doug Kemper, Aquarium director since the mu...
On June 7, 1981, Dr. Jose Rizal Park and Bridge, named for the Philippine national hero, are dedicated by Mayor Charles Royer (b. 1939) and Philippine Consul General Ernesto A. Querubin. The park and ...
On Sunday morning, June 21, 1981, 10 novice mountain climbers and one guide are killed by an immense avalanche of ice and snow on Ingraham Glacier while ascending to the summit of Mount Rainier (14,41...
On August 21, 1981, Elizabeth Shackleford (1895-1989) closes her law practice for the final time, 59 years after passing the bar. She is 86. Shackleford has spent her entire career in Tacoma, as a law...
On September 9-11, 1981, close to 160 people testify in front of the federally appointed, nine-member Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) about the impact of Japanese ...
On October 13, 1981, the Port of Tacoma opens the North Intermodal Yard , the first dockside intermodal rail yard on the West Coast. Situated on the main port peninsula between Terminal 7 on the Sitcu...
On October 31, 1981, "The Wave" -- a staple of fan participation at U.S. sporting events since the early 1980s -- makes its unofficial debut at a University of Washington football game in Seattle.&nbs...
On November 2, 1981, the Seattle district of the Army Corps of Engineers announces that it is abandoning plans for the proposed Ben Franklin Dam near Pasco, citing overwhelming public opposition to a ...