This Day In 1970's History: Monday December 8, 1980
- John Lennon was shot and killed while entering the apartment building where he lived, the Dakota, on Manhattan's Upper West Side. A suspect, identified as Mark David Chapman, 25, of Hawaii was seized at the scene. The 40-year-old Mr. Lennon was shot in the back twice after getting out of a limousine and walking into an entrance way of the Dakota. The suspect had lived in New York for about a week, according to James Sullivan, chief of detectives of the 20th Precinct. With Mr. Lennon when he was shot was his wife, Yoko Ono. Officer Anthony Palma, who drove Miss Ono to the hospital said she sobbed: "Tell me it isn't true." She was apparently not hurt. [New York Times]
- A callup of Soviet-bloc reservists was reported by United States officials. They said that the Soviet Union, East Germany and Czechoslovakia had summoned some military reservists in the last few days, increasing the possibility of joint intervention in Poland under the guise of Warsaw Pact maneuvers.
Moscow issued the strongest comment to date on the turmoil in Poland. The official Soviet press agency Tass asserted explicitly for the first time that some independent union groups in Poland were conducting a counter-revolutionary struggle against Warsaw's Communist government. [New York Times]
- Moderation was reflected in Warsaw as both the government and the independent unions sought to counter the report from Moscow that counter-revolutionaries were threatening the authorities. Many Poles appeared to doubt that Soviet-bloc intervention was imminent and they interpreted reports of troop buildups near Poland's frontiers as a sign that the Warsaw authorities must show they are in control. [New York Times]
- Optimism about the hostage dispute was expressed by the Speaker of Iran's Parliament as Iranian officials spent a fifth day considering the latest American reply to Teheran's conditions for releasing the 52 captives. The Speaker said on state television that the 13-month-old dispute "is now much closer
to being solved" and that if Washington "truly wants to solve the matter, it will be solved." [New York Times]
- The costliest transition operation in history has been begun by President-elect Reagan. The $2 million government appropriation provided by law will not be enough to pay the salaries and expenses of the Reagan team, according to transition planners, and at least $1 million more must be raised in private donations. [New York Times]
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