This Day In 1970's History: Saturday January 24, 1981
- The freed hostages' families gathered in the Washington area from where they will depart tomorrow for Stewart Airport near Newburgh, N.Y. for their long-awaited reunion with the former captives, who will arrive there from West Germany. The group will stay at Thayer Hotel at the United States Military Academy at West Point for the rest of the weekend. On Tuesday the reunited families will be honored at a full-scale White House reception, similar to those given to visiting heads of state.
The former hostages will depart at 10 A.M. Sunday from West Germany on the final leg of their journey home. Their mood in their last full day of testing and rehabilitation at the Air Force Hospital in Wiesbaden was described as mostly relaxed and light-hearted. [New York Times]
- Economic meetings continued at the White House. President Reagan gave budget-cutting assignments to his cabinet members and scheduled a series of meetings this week between the cabinet and a high-level "budget-working group" that will consider major reductions in spending. [New York Times]
- Basic changes in the housing industry are coming when home builders get over the worst slump in a decade, specialists said at the annual meeting of the National Association of Home Builders. Inflation is forcing two fundamental changes, they said. The traditional 30-year mortgage at a fixed interest is probably on its way out, as is the four-bedroom, two-bath home with family room, typical of most home developments. The house of the future is likely to be the house of the past, the kind of no-frills homes mass produced in the years after World War II. [New York Times]
- The proportion of sewage effluent running through the Passaic River, a source of drinking supplies for about 2.2 million people in North Jersey, has greatly increased as result of the declining flow of water in the river, which has receded sharply during the drought. The effluent now makes up 55 percent to 70 percent of the river's content. It is being treated with a 300 percent increase in chlorine at a purification plant in Little Falls. [New York Times]
- The resignation of RCA's chairman and chief executive officer, Edgar Griffiths, was announced by the company. He will be succeeded by Thornton Bradshaw, president of the Atlantic Richfield Company and an RCA director. Mr. Griffiths, the company said, will resign July 1. This was the latest of a recent series of executive shakeups within the company. [New York Times]
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