Timeline Thursday 31 December 1981

Events on Thursday 31 December 1981 11

• 1971 – 1981 Basel Institute for Immunology Joined the Basel Institute for Immunology in Switzerland. Despite knowing almost nothing about immunology, he applied molecular biology techniques to one of the field's greatest mysteries: how do vertebrates produce millions of different antibodies from a small number of genes?
• 1974 – 1981 Peter Cat Jazz Bar Opened Peter Cat, a jazz bar in the basement of a building in Kokubunji on the western outskirts of Tokyo, named after his pet cat. He and Yoko ran the bar together — she met the public while he washed dishes, mixed drinks and spun records from a collection of 3,000 jazz albums. They were so deep in debt they could not afford heating, warming themselves by sleeping with their cat. In 1977 they relocated the bar to Sendagaya in central Tokyo.
• 1975 – 1981 The Washington Star Joined The Washington Star, where he drew from the heart of American political power. Created his trademark character Punk, a small penguin who appeared in the corner of his cartoons offering ironic commentary.
• 1980 – 1981 Amadeus on Broadway Originated the role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the Broadway production of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, earning his first Tony Award nomination for Best Actor. He lost to his co-star Ian McKellen, who played the jealous Salieri.
• 1981 1981: Nelson Piquet Brabham Brazilian Piquet won the first of his three titles in a tight battle with Carlos Reutemann and Jacques Laffite.
• 1981 Austrian Kammersangerin Named Austrian Kammersangerin, one of the highest honours for opera singers in Austria, by the Vienna State Opera.
• 1981 French Citizenship Became a French citizen, eventually choosing to write exclusively in French.
• 1981 Independent Syndication When the Washington Star folded, chose to work independently through Universal Press Syndicate rather than join another newspaper — the first major political cartoonist of the twentieth century to work without editorial oversight from a home publication.
• 1981 Intrusions — First Novel Published her first novel, Intrusions, an experimental metafictional work in the style of John Barth. It differed markedly from the naturalistic fiction she would later become known for.
• 1981 Joined MIT Recruited to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he joined the Center for Cancer Research and would spend the rest of his career.
• 1981 South Shore Cultural Center Jazzfest Founded the Jazzfest at the South Shore Cultural Center, creating another vital platform for jazz performance on Chicago's South Side.