Forty years ago this week, Charles the Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer; “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “For Your Eyes Only” were tops at the box office; Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield was No. 1 on the radio and Rachel Meghan Markle was born in Los Angeles.
In Baltimore, the big news was the long-awaited opening of the National Aquarium, a five-level, $21.3 million aquatic museum that was conceived to help create jobs, revitalize the Inner Harbor and “inspire conservation of the world’s aquatic treasures,” as its mission statement puts it.
The grand opening had been delayed by a month — made famous by then-Mayor William Donald Schaefer’s famous dip in the seal pool several weeks before. But the crowds finally showed up when the doors opened on Aug. 8, 1981 and, except for the COVID-19 pandemic, they haven’t really let up since.
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