1981
1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar).
Events
January
- January – The subterranean Sarawak Chamber is discovered in Borneo.
- January 1
- January 6 – The Brazilian double decker boat Novo Amapo capsizes in the Amazon River, Belem de Cajari, Macapa, Brazil; 230 are killed.
- January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of Morazán and Chalatenango departments.
- January 16 – Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and her husband.
- January 17 – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law.
- January 19 – United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
- January 20 – Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days within minutes of Ronald Reagan succeeding Jimmy Carter as the President of the United States, ending the Iran hostage crisis.
- January 21 – The first DeLorean DMC-12 automobile, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.
- January 23 – An earthquake of 6.8 magnitude in Sichuan, China kills 150.
- January 25
- January 27 – The Indonesian passenger ship Tamponas 2 catches fire and capsizes in the Java Sea, killing 580.
February
- February 4 – Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes Prime Minister of Norway.
- February 8 – 20 fans of Olympiacos and 1 fan of AEK Athens die, while 54 are injured, after a stampede at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, possibly because gate 7 does not open immediately after the end of the game.
- February 9 – Polish Prime Minister Józef Pinkowski resigns and is replaced by General Wojciech Jaruzelski.
- February 14
- February 23 – Antonio Tejero, with members of the Guardia Civil, enters the Spanish Congress of Deputies and stops the session where Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo is about to be named president of the government. The coup d'état fails thanks to King Juan Carlos.
- February 24 – A powerful, magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Athens, killing 16 people, injuring thousands and destroying several buildings, mostly in Corinth and the nearby towns of Loutraki, Kiato and Xylokastro.
March
April
May
- May – Daniel K. Ludwig abandons the Jari project in the Amazon Basin.
- May 1 – The new Chilean pension system, based on private pension funds, begins.
- May 5 – Bobby Sands, Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer and elected member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, dies aged 27 while on hunger strike in HM Prison Maze.
- May 6 – A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
- May 13 – Pope John Paul II is shot and nearly killed by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a Turkish gunman, as he enters St. Peter's Square in Vatican City to address a general audience.
- May 15 – Donna Payant is murdered by serial killer Lemuel Smith, the first time a female prison officer has been killed on-duty in the United States.
- May 21 – In France, Socialist François Mitterrand becomes President.
- May 22 – Peter Sutcliffe is found guilty of being the Yorkshire Ripper. He is sentenced to life imprisonment on 13 counts of murder and 7 of attempted murder.
- May 25 – In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- May 26 – The Italian government resigns over its links to the fascist Masonic cell Propaganda Due.
- May 30 – Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman is assassinated in Chittagong.
June
July
- July 2 – The Wonderland Gang is brutally murdered in a massacre involving Eddie Nash.
- July 3 – The Toxteth riots in Liverpool, UK start after a mob saves a youth from being arrested. Shortly afterward, the Chapeltown riots in Leeds start after increased racial tension.
- July 7 – President Ronald Reagan nominates the first woman, Sandra Day O'Connor, to the Supreme Court of the United States.
- July 8 – Irish Republican Joe McDonnell dies at the Long Kesh Internment Camp after a 61-day hunger strike.
- July 10 – Mahathir bin Mohamad becomes the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
- July 16-July 21 – England become the first team this century to win a test match after following on when they beat Australia by 18 runs at Headingley cricket ground, Leeds, England.
- July 17
- July 19 – The 1981 Springbok Tour commences in New Zealand, amid controversy over the support of apartheid.
- July 21 – Tohui The Panda is born in Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, the first panda to ever be born and survive in captivity outside of China.
- July 29 – A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watched the Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London.
August
September
October
November
December
Date unknown
Births
January
- January 1
- January 2 – Maxi Rodriguez, Argentine footballer
- January 3 – Eli Manning, American football player
- January 4 – Silvy De Bie, Belgian singer
- January 5 – Deadmau5 (Joel Zimmerman), Canadian DJ/Producer
- January 6
- January 7 – Alex Auld, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
- January 8
- January 9
- January 11
- January 12 – Quentin Griffin, American football
- January 15
- January 17
- January 19
- January 20
- January 21
- January 22
- January 25
- January 27
- January 28 – Elijah Wood, American actor and music producer
- January 29 – Jonny Lang, American musician
- January 30 – Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer
- January 31 – Justin Timberlake, American musician
February
- February 2 – Emily Rose, American actress
- February 3 – Alisa Reyes, American actress
- February 4 – Matchstik, American rapper, singer and song writer
- February 5
- February 8 – Ralf Little, English Actor
- February 9
- February 10
- February 11
- February 14 – Erin Torpey, American actress
- February 15
- February 17
- February 18
- February 19 – Vitas, Russian singer
- February 20
- February 22 – Jeanette Biedermann, German singer and actress
- February 23
- February 24 – Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
- February 25 – Ji-Sung Park, South Korean footballer
- February 26 – Maria Sansone, American journalist and Internet personality
- February 27 – Josh Groban, American singer
March
- March 1
- March 2
- March 3
- March 4 – Carol Banawa, Filipina singer
- March 6 – Ellen Muth, American actress
- March 9 – Antonio Bryant, American football player
- March 10
- March 11
- March 12
- March 13 – April Matson, American actress and singer
- March 15 – Young Buck, American rapper
- March 16
- March 17 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
- March 18 – Fabian Cancellara, Swiss road bicycle racer
- March 19 – Kolo Touré, Ivorian football player
- March 22
- March 26 – Jay Sean, British-Indian singer
- March 27
- March 28
- March 29 – Megan Hilty, American actress, singer, and broadway star
- March 31 – Gerard McCarthy, British actor
April
- April 1
- April 2 – Bethany Joy Lenz, American actress and singer
- April 3 – Arfius Arf, British artist
- April 5 – Michael A. Monsoor, American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2006)
- April 6 – Robert Earnshaw, Welsh footballer
- April 7 – Suzann Pettersen, Norwegian golfer
- April 8
- April 9
- April 10
- April 11 – Alessandra Ambrosio, Brazilian model
- April 15 – Seth Wulsin, American artist
- April 17 – Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer
- April 18
- April 19
- April 21
- April 22 – Ken Dorsey, American football player
- April 25
- April 26 – Matthieu Delpierre, French football player
- April 27 – Sandy Mölling, German pop singer
- April 28 – Jessica Alba, American actress
- April 29 – George McCartney, British footballer
May
June
- June 1
- June 3 – Mike Adam, Canadian curler
- June 5 – Jade Goody, British reality show star (d. 2009)
- June 6 – Johnny Pacar, American actor
- June 7
- June 8
- June 9
- June 10
- June 12 – Adriana Lima, Brazilian model
- June 13 – Chris Evans, American actor
- June 14 – Lonneke Engel, Dutch model
- June 15 – Haley Scarnato, American singer
- June 16
- June 17 – Amrita Rao, Indian actress
- June 18
- June 20 – Alisan Porter, American actress and singer
- June 21 – Brandon Flowers, American singer and keyboardist
- June 22 – Chris Urbanowicz, British guitarist
- June 25
- June 28 – Mara Santangelo, Italian tennis player
- June 29 – Joe Johnson, American basketball player
July
- July 1 – Amanda Diva, American actress and rapper
- July 2
- July 3 – Brandon Jay McLaren, Canadian actor
- July 5
- July 6 – Nnamdi Asomugha, American football player
- July 7 – Synyster Gates, American guitarist (Avenged Sevenfold)
- July 8
- July 13
- July 14 – Lee Mead, British actor
- July 19
- July 20
- July 21 – Stefan Schumacher, German cyclist
- July 23
- July 24 – Summer Glau, American actress (Firefly)
- July 25 – Jani Rita, Finnish ice hockey player
- July 26 – Maicon Douglas Sisenando, Brazilian footballer
- July 27 – Li Xiaopeng, Chinese gymnast
- July 29 – Fernando Alonso, Spanish Two Time Formula 1 World Champion
- July 31
August
- August 4 – Marques Houston, American singer and actor
- August 5
- August 6 – Vitantonio Liuzzi, Italian race car driver
- August 8
- August 9 – Li Jiawei, Singaporean Olympic table tennis player
- August 10
- August 11 – Sandi Thom, Scottish singer & song writer
- August 12
- August 14 – Kofi Kingston, Ghanaian professional wrestler
- August 15 – Song Ji-hyo, South Korean actress
- August 16 – Taylor Rain, American actress
- August 20 – Benjamin Barnes, English actor (Prince Caspian)
- August 21 – Ross Thomas, American actor
- August 23 – Carmen Luvana, Puerto Rican adult actress
- August 24
- August 25
- August 28 – Charlie Frye, National Football League quarterback
- August 29 – Lanny Barbie, American pornstar
September
- September 1
- September 2 – Bracha van Doesburgh, Dutch actress
- September 3 – Fearne Cotton, British television presenter
- September 4
- September 6 – Yumiko Cheng, Hong Kong singer
- September 8 – Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor
- September 9 – Julie Gonzalo, Argentinian actress
- September 10 – Marco Chiudinelli, Swiss tennis player
- September 11 – Dylan Klebold, American murderer (d. 1999)
- September 12
- September 13
- September 14
- September 16
- September 21 – Nicole Richie, American actress, singer and socialite
- September 22
- September 23
- September 25
- September 26
- September 29 – Suzanne Shaw, British singer Hear'Say
- September 30
October
- October 3
- October 5 – Enrico Fabris, Italian speed skater
- October 8
- October 9
- October 11 – Beau Brady, Australian actor
- October 12 – Brian J. Smith, American actor
- October 13
- October 15
- October 19 – Christian Bautista, Filipino singer, actor, host, and model
- October 20
- October 21 – Nemanja Vidić, Serbian fotball player
- October 22 – Michael Fishman, American actor
- October 23 – Olivier Occean, Canadian footballer
- October 24
- October 25
- October 26 – Guy Sebastian, original Australian Idol 2003 singer
- October 28
- October 29
- October 30
- October 31
November
December
- December 1 – Kathryn Drysdale, English Actress
- December 2 – Britney Spears, American singer and entertainer
- December 3
- December 4 – Lila McCann, American singer
- December 9 – Dia Mirza, Bollywood actress
- December 11
- December 12 – Spencer Johnson, NFL player
- December 13 – Amy Lee, American pianist/singer/songwriter (Evanescence)
- December 14 – Amber Chia, Malaysian model and actress
- December 15
- December 16 – Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer
- December 18 – Joshua Dallas, American actor
- December 19 – Monica Leigh, American model
- December 21 – Cristian Zaccardo, Italian footballer
- December 24 – Dima Bilan, Russian pop-singer
- December 27
- December 28
- December 29
- December 30
Deaths
January–March
- January 1 – Mauri Rose, American race car champion (b. 1906)
- January 5
- January 6 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish novelist (b. 1896)
- January 8 – Matthew Beard, American actor (b. 1925)
- January 10
- January 11 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1888)
- January 13 – Robert Kellard, American actor (b. 1915)
- January 16 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
- January 19 – Francesca Woodman, American photographer (b. 1958)
- January 21 – Allyn Joslyn, American actor (b. 1901)
- January 23 – Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
- January 25 – Adele Astaire, American actress (b. 1896)
- January 31 – Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (b. 1909)
- February 1
- February 9
- February 15 – Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
- February 17 – David Garnett, British writer (b. 1892)
- February 18 – John Knudsen Northrop, American airplane manufacturer (b. 1895)
- February 20 – Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, French magazine editor and playboy (b. 1904)
- February 22 – Michael Maltese, American screenwriter (b. 1908)
- February 26
- February 27 – Jacob H. Gilbert, American politician (b. 1920)
- March 5 – Yip Harburg, American lyricist (b. 1896)
- March 6 – George Geary, English cricketer (b. 1893)
- March 7
- March 8 – Joseph Henry Woodger, British theoretical biologist (b. 1894)
- March 9 – Max Delbrück, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1906)
- March 15 – René Clair, French film director (b. 1898)
- March 20– Gerry Bertier, College Football Player (b. 1953)
- March 23 – Beatrice Tinsley, English astronomer (b. 1941)
- March 30
- March 31 – Frank Tieri, American gangster (b. 1904)
April–June
- April 3 – Juan Trippe, Airline entrepreneur (b. 1899)
- April 5 – Maurice Zbriger, Canadian violinist, composer and conductor (b. 1896)
- April 7 – Norman Taurog, American film director (b. 1899)
- April 8 – Omar N. Bradley, 5 Star General US Army (b. 1893)
- April 12 – Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
- April 18 – James H. Schmitz, German-born writer (b. 1911)
- April 26
- April 27 – John Aspinwall Roosevelt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1916)
- May 5 – Bobby Sands, Irish republican (hunger strike) (b. 1954)
- May 8 – Uri Zvi Grinberg, Israeli poet and journalist (b. 1896)
- May 9
- May 11
- May 17 – Hugo Friedhofer, German-American film composer (b. 1901)
- May 18
- May 23 – George Jessel, American actor (b. 1898)
- May 24 – Jaime Roldós Aguilera, Ecuadorian President (since 1979) (b. 1940)
- May 25 – Rosa Ponselle, American soprano (b. 1897)
- May 28 – Mary Lou Williams, American jazz pianist (b. 1910)
- May 30 – Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1955)
- June 1 – Carl Vinson, U.S. Congressman (b. 1883)
- June 2 – Rino Gaetano, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
- June 9 – Allen Ludden, American television game show host (b. 1917)
- June 10
- June 13 – George Walsh, American actor (b. 1889)
- June 17
- June 18 – Pamela Hansford Johnson, English poet, novelist, playwright, literary and social critic (b. 1912)
- June 19
- June 22 – Lola Lane, American actress and singer (b. 1906)
- June 23 – Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1907)
- June 28 – Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)
July–September
- July 3 – Ross Martin, American actor (b. 1920)
- July 8 – Joe McDonnell, Irish political prisoner (b. 1951)
- July 10 – Ken Rex McElroy, American murder victim (b. 1934)
- July 16 – Harry Chapin, American singer and songwriter (b. 1942)
- July 27
- July 29 – Robert Moses, American urban planner (b. 1888)
- July 31 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian leader (b. 1829)
- August 1 – Paddy Chayefsky, American screenwriter (b. 1923)
- August 2 – Delfo Cabrera, Argentine athlete (b. 1919)
- August 4 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (b. 1901)
- August 14 – Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (b. 1894)
- August 15 – Carol Ryrie Brink, American author (b. 1895)
- August 18 – Anita Loos, American screenwriter (b. 1888)
- August 19 – Jessie Matthews, English actress (b. 1907)
- August 27 – Valeri Kharlamov, Soviet ice hockey player (b. 1948)
- August 29 – Lowell Thomas, American writer (b. 1892)
- August 30 – Vera-Ellen, American actress and dancer (b. 1921)
- September 1
- September 2 – Enid Lyons, Australia politician (b. 1897)
- September 3 – Alec Waugh, British novelist (b. 1898)
- September 6 – Christy Brown, Irish author, poet, and artist (b. 1932)
- September 8 – Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
- September 9 – Sir Robert (Bob) Askin, Premier of New South Wales (b. 1907)
- September 11 – Frank McHugh, American actor (b. 1898)
- September 12 – Eugenio Montale, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
- September 15
- September 21 – Nigel Patrick, English actor (b. 1913)
- September 22 – Harry Warren, American songwriter (b. 1893)
- September 23 – Dan George, First Nations actor (b. 1899)
- September 24 – Patsy Kelly, American actress (b. 1910)
- September 27 – Robert Montgomery, American actor (b. 1904)
- September 28
- September 29 – Bill Shankly, British football manager (b. 1914)
October–December
- October 2
- October 5 – Gloria Grahame, American actress (b. 1923)
- October 6 – Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1918)
- October 13 – Nils Asther, Danish-born actor (b. 1897)
- October 16
- October 20 – Mary Coyle Chase, American playwright (b. 1906)
- October 23 – Reg Butler, English sculptor (b. 1913)
- October 24 – Edith Head, American costume designer (b. 1897)
- October 29 – Georges Brassens, French singer and songwriter (b. 1921)
- November 3 – Jean Eustache, French film director (b. 1938)
- November 7 – Will Durant, American philosopher and writer (b. 1885)
- November 10 – Abel Gance, French film director (b. 1889)
- November 14 – Robert Bradford, Northern Irish footballer and politician (b. 1941)
- November 15
- November 16 – William Holden, American actor (b. 1918)
- November 21 – Harry von Zell, American actor (b. 1906)
- November 22 – Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)
- November 25 – Jack Albertson, American actor (b. 1907)
- November 27 – Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (b. 1898)
- November 29 – Natalie Wood, American actress (b. 1938)
- December 3 – Walter Knott, American farmer and theme park creator (b. 1889)
- December 7 – William Edmunds, Italian stage and screen character actor (b. 1886)
- December 15
- December 23 – Reginald Miles Ansett, Australian businessman and aviator (b. 1909)
- December 27 – Hoagy Carmichael, American jazz composer (b. 1899)
- December 28 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-born film director (b. 1885)
- December 30 – Alfie Anido, Filipino actor (b. 1959)
Nobel Prizes
Templeton Prize
References