News stories from Tuesday January 20, 1981
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- The hostages flew to freedom 444 days after they were seized in Teheran. Jimmy Carter, a few hours after ending his presidency, said that all 52 Americans were "alive, well and free." The Algerian airliner carrying them stopped in Athens to refuel and went on to Algiers, where they were transferred to United States Air Force hospital planes for a journey to Wiesbaden, West Germany, for a week or less to "decompress," as an official said. [New York Times]
- As the Algerian airliner left Teheran with the 52 Americans aboard, the Moslem militants who kept custody of them to the last minute of captivity hustled them to the stairs of the plane and shouted, "God is great! Death to America!" The Americans appeared dazed as they stumbled aboard.
Joy swept the nation over the release of the hostages. Everywhere, people ran American flags up, rang church bells, honked car horns, sounded fire alarms and exchanged greetings. The homes of the 52 Americans exploded with happiness. Relatives cried and cheered, praised God and hugged one another, and champagne flowed.
[New York Times] - Ronald Reagan became President as the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran flew out of Teheran. Mr. Reagan, in a solemn and briskly delivered inaugural address, stressed the need to combat unemployment and inflation and to curb the powers of the federal government. "In this present crisis," he said, "government is not the solution" but "the problem." The first new White House aides in the Reagan administration slipped into the West Wing. Some wept, others grinned and several were awed. [New York Times]
- A Government hiring freeze on civil-ians was ordered by President Reagan minutes after he completed his inaugural address. The President and his wife, Nancy, met Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter on the North Portico of the White House and the tense formality of the meeting reflected the bitterness of the charges that the two men exchanged in the campaign. [New York Times]
- President Reagan led a joyous parade on Washington's Pennsylvania Avenue, blowing kisses, singing the Marine Hymn and waving greetings to throngs of people up to 10 deep. Jimmy Carter went home to a rollicking welcome from about 3,000 friends and backers in Plains, Ga. He was visibly exhausted from two nights without sleep but exultant over the release of the hostages. [New York Times]
- Mr. Reagan must make key decisions soon on domestic and foreign policy and some will test campaign oratory on whether it is possible to reduce both taxes and the federal budget deficit. The decisions will create first impressions of the Reagan presidency. Some Presidents have lamented that these first impressions sometimes persisted long after they wished they were forgotten. [New York Times]
- Caspar Weinberger was confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of Defense. The vote, the first one taken on the Reagan Cabinet, was 97 to 2. All the nominees are expected to win approval with relative ease. [New York Times]
- Walter Mondale's vice-presidency reflected the strong confidence of President Carter. Vice President Bush hopes to emulate Mr. Mondale. In an interview, Mr. Bush, speaking of Mr. Mondale, said that "from the beginning to the end he enjoyed the confidence of the President," adding "he had access to him and when he had a difference, he presented it face to face but without a lot of people around." [New York Times]
- Compliance with the Clean Air Act on schedule will not be completely possible for many parts of the country, and some will never be able to achieve the health and environmental standards without economic disruption, according to a draft report by a bipartisan commission. But the report said that the implementation of the law had prevented much more serious air pollution from occurring. [New York Times]
- A possible sale of The Times of London to Rupert Murdoch, publisher of The New York Post, has aroused deep controversy in Britain. He is one of several potential buyers of the leading, but financially troubled newspaper. Journalists, politicians and others concerned about the future quality of the paper fear that it would change editorially if it became part of Mr. Murdoch's international press empire. [New York Times]
- A five-day work week in Poland was pressed by the independent national union. It called for urgent negotiations with the government over the issue and declared that all Saturdays would continue to be non-working days pending an accord. [New York Times]
|
Stock Market Report
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 950.68 (-20.31, -2.09%)
Arms Index is the ratio of volume per declining issue to volume per advancing issue; a figure below 1.0 is bullish. | |||||||||||||||
| Market Index Trends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DJIA | S&P | Volume* |
| January 19, 1981 | 970.99 | 134.37 | 36.64 |
| January 16, 1981 | 973.29 | 134.77 | 43.26 |
| January 15, 1981 | 969.97 | 134.22 | 39.63 |
| January 14, 1981 | 966.47 | 133.47 | 41.39 |
| January 13, 1981 | 965.10 | 133.29 | 40.89 |
| January 12, 1981 | 968.77 | 133.52 | 48.75 |
| January 9, 1981 | 968.69 | 133.48 | 50.18 |
| January 8, 1981 | 965.70 | 133.06 | 55.35 |
| January 7, 1981 | 980.89 | 135.08 | 92.88 |
| January 6, 1981 | 1004.69 | 138.12 | 67.40 |