1981

Events in 1981 66

• 1889 – 1981 Beulah Bondi (1889-1981) American actress who played James Stewart's mother four times, including in It's a Wonderful Life.
• 1893 – 1981 Omar Bradley (1893-1981) Died 8 April 1981, aged 88 American general Omar Bradley, who commanded US ground forces in the invasion of Normandy and later served as the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, died in New York on 8 April 1981. He was the last surviving five-star general of the US Army. He was widely known as "the soldier's general" for his reputation among enlisted troops.
• 1893 – 1981 Harold Urey (1893-1981) Died 5 January 1981, aged 87 American chemist Harold Urey, who won the 1934 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering deuterium, died in La Jolla, California, on 5 January 1981. He also contributed to the Manhattan Project and later pioneered research into the chemical origins of life. His work with student Stanley Miller produced the influential Miller-Urey experiment.
• 1896 – 1981 A. J. Cronin (1896-1981) Died 6 January 1981, aged 84 Scottish novelist A. J. Cronin, author of The Citadel and Dr. Finlay's Casebook, died in Montreux, Switzerland, on 6 January 1981. His novels, often drawing on his early career as a physician, were international bestsellers and several were adapted for film and television. The Citadel influenced debate over the founding of Britain's National Health Service.
• 1896 – 1981 Eugenio Montale (1896-1981) Died 12 September 1981, aged 84 Italian poet Eugenio Montale, who won the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature, died in Milan on 12 September 1981. He was one of the leading figures of twentieth-century Italian poetry, known for collections including Ossi di seppia. He had also worked as a journalist and translator.
• 1901 – 1981 Melvyn Douglas (1901-1981) Died 4 August 1981, aged 80 American actor Melvyn Douglas, a two-time Academy Award winner for Hud and Being There, died in New York City on 4 August 1981. His career spanned five decades, from romantic leading roles opposite Greta Garbo in the 1930s to character parts in his later years. He was also active in Democratic politics.
• 1904 – 1981 Robert Montgomery (1904-1981) American actor and director, an MGM star, war veteran and television pioneer.
• 1914 – 1981 Joe Louis (1914-1981) Died 12 April 1981, aged 66 American boxer Joe Louis, world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949, died in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 12 April 1981. He defended his title a record twenty-five times and his 1938 rematch victory over Max Schmeling became a landmark moment in American sports history. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
• 1915 – 1981 Moshe Dayan (1915-1981) Died 16 October 1981, aged 66 Israeli military leader and statesman Moshe Dayan, who commanded Israeli forces during the Six-Day War and later served as defense and foreign minister, died in Tel Aviv on 16 October 1981. He was a signatory of the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty as foreign minister. His eyepatch made him one of the most recognizable Israeli figures internationally.
• 1918 – 1981 Jack Albertson (1918-1981) Died 25 November 1981, aged 63 American actor Jack Albertson, who won an Academy Award for The Subject Was Roses and starred as Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, died in Los Angeles on 25 November 1981. He was one of a small number of performers to win an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Tony award. He also starred in the television sitcom Chico and the Man.
• 1918 – 1981 William Holden (1918-1981) Died 16 November 1981, aged 63 American actor William Holden, star of films including Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17 and The Bridge on the River Kwai, died in Santa Monica, California, on 16 November 1981. He had won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Stalag 17. He was found dead in his apartment several days after suffering a fall.
• 1921 – 1981 Vera-Ellen (1921-1981) American dancer and actress, partner of Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Danny Kaye.
• 1921 – 1981 Georges Brassens (1921-1981) Died 29 October 1981, aged 60 French singer-songwriter and poet Georges Brassens died in Saint-Gély-du-Fesc, France, on 29 October 1981. He was one of the most influential figures in French chanson, celebrated for witty, literate lyrics set to simple guitar accompaniment. He remains widely studied in French schools.
• 1923 – 1981 Paddy Chayefsky (1923-1981) Died 1 August 1981, aged 58 American screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, the only person to win three solo Academy Awards for screenwriting, died in New York City on 1 August 1981. He wrote Marty, The Hospital, and Network, the last a scathing satire of television news that proved prophetic. His 1976 Network screenplay is widely regarded as one of the finest in film history.
• 1923 – 1981 Gloria Grahame (1923-1981) American actress, the film noir femme fatale who won an Oscar for The Bad and the Beautiful.
• 1925 – 1981 Bill Haley (1925-1981) Died 9 February 1981, aged 55 American musician Bill Haley, whose recording of "Rock Around the Clock" is widely regarded as one of the songs that brought rock and roll to mainstream popularity, died in Harlingen, Texas, on 9 February 1981. His band Bill Haley & His Comets had been among the first stars of the genre in the mid-1950s.
• 1934 – 1981 Marty Feldman (1934-1981) Died 2 December 1981, aged 47 British comedian and actor Marty Feldman, known for his bulging eyes and for films including Young Frankenstein, died of a heart attack in Mexico City on 2 December 1981 while filming Yellowbeard. He had earlier made his name as a writer and performer on British television comedy. He co-wrote for shows including The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show.
• 1938 – 1981 Natalie Wood (1938-1981) Died 29 November 1981, aged 43 American actress Natalie Wood, known for films including Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story, drowned off Santa Catalina Island, California, on 29 November 1981. She had been a leading Hollywood star since childhood. The circumstances of her death remain the subject of continuing investigation.
• 1942 – 1981 Harry Chapin (1942-1981) Died 16 July 1981, aged 38 American singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, best known for the 1974 hit "Cat's in the Cradle," died in a car accident on the Long Island Expressway on 16 July 1981. He was also widely known for his activism against world hunger. Congress posthumously awarded him the Congressional Gold Medal for his humanitarian work.
• 1945 – 1981 Bob Marley (1945-1981) Died 11 May 1981, aged 36 Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley, the most influential figure in reggae music, died of cancer in Miami on 11 May 1981. He had brought reggae to a worldwide audience with albums such as Exodus and songs including "No Woman, No Cry" and "One Love". He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• 1958 – 1981 Terry Fox (1958-1981) Died 28 June 1981, aged 22 Canadian athlete and cancer research campaigner Terry Fox died in New Westminster, British Columbia, on 28 June 1981. He had run 5,373 kilometers across Canada on a prosthetic leg in his Marathon of Hope before cancer forced him to stop in 1980. The annual Terry Fox Run held in his memory has since raised hundreds of millions of dollars for cancer research.
• 1981 AIDS epidemic First cases reported The AIDS epidemic was first recognised in 1981. By the end of the century, 25 million had died and 36 million were living with HIV worldwide.
• 1981 Bernard King traded to New York The Knicks acquire forward Bernard King, who becomes one of the most electrifying scorers of the early 1980s.
• 1981 First Space Shuttle launch First Space Shuttle launch Columbia lifted off on 12 April 1981, the first flight of a reusable winged spacecraft and the first crewed launch to fly without an uncrewed test. John Young and Robert Crippen orbited for two days. The shuttle flew 135 missions over thirty years, with two lost crews.
• 1981 Poland: Solidarity Walesa leads trade union uprising Lech Walesa's Solidarity became the first independent trade union in the Soviet bloc, challenging Communist rule across Eastern Europe.
• 1981 – present Tears for Fears English pop rock / synth-pop duo, Bath 1981 Tears for Fears are an English band formed in Bath in 1981 by childhood friends Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. From the stark synth-pop of "The Hurting" to the global smashes "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" on "Songs from the Big Chair", through a 1990s split and a 21st-century reunion culminating in "The Tipping Point" (2022), they have sold over 30 million albums worldwide.
• 1981 The Guatemalan genocide Guatemala The army's counter-insurgency campaign destroyed more than 600 villages, most of them Maya. A UN-backed commission later found around 200,000 people killed or disappeared, 83 per cent of them Maya, and concluded that acts of genocide had been committed.
• 1981 Greece joins the European Economic Community Tenth member state accedes on 1 January 1981 Greece formally became the tenth member state of the European Economic Community on 1 January 1981. Its accession followed years of association agreements and political negotiation after the restoration of Greek democracy in 1974. It was the first Mediterranean and Balkan country to join the bloc.
• 1981 Iran hostage crisis ends American hostages released after 444 days The 52 American hostages held at the US embassy in Tehran were released on 20 January 1981, minutes after Ronald Reagan's presidential inauguration. Their release followed the Algiers Accords negotiated between the United States and Iran. The crisis had lasted 444 days since November 1979.
• 1981 – 1989 Reagan presidency 40th President — 1981 to 1989 Ronald Reagan served as the 40th President from January 20, 1981 to January 20, 1989. Reaganomics cut taxes and deregulated the economy. His arms build-up and "peace through strength" strategy contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
• 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 production begins Stainless-steel sports car enters production in Northern Ireland The DeLorean Motor Company began production of the DMC-12 sports car at its factory in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, in January 1981. The gull-winged, stainless-steel car was the sole model produced by John DeLorean's company. Production ended the following year amid the company's financial collapse.
• 1981 Gang of Four sentenced in China Verdicts delivered in trial of Mao-era radicals A Chinese special court delivered verdicts against the Gang of Four, including Mao Zedong's widow Jiang Qing, on 25 January 1981, for crimes committed during the Cultural Revolution. Jiang Qing received a suspended death sentence, later commuted to life imprisonment. The trial was presented as a formal repudiation of the Cultural Revolution's excesses.
• 1981 Attempted coup in Spain Civil Guard officers storm parliament Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero led armed Civil Guard officers into the Spanish parliament on 23 February 1981, holding lawmakers hostage in an attempted coup. King Juan Carlos I intervened on television to denounce the coup and affirm his support for democracy. The plotters surrendered the following day.
• 1981 – present Lleyton Hewitt Rusty Two-time major winner and the youngest-ever male World No. 1 at the time.
• 1981 – present Samuel Eto'o The Indomitable Lion Only player to win back-to-back trebles with different clubs (Barcelona and Inter Milan).
• 1981 – present Fabian Cancellara Spartacus A powerhouse in time trials and cobbled classics; double Olympic Gold medalist.
• 1981 Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan US president shot outside a Washington hotel John Hinckley Jr. shot US President Ronald Reagan and three others outside the Washington Hilton on 30 March 1981. Reagan was hit in the chest but recovered after emergency surgery. Hinckley was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.
• 1981 1981 World Snooker Championship First for Steve Davis Winner: Steve Davis; Runner-up: Doug Mountjoy. Score: 18–12.
• 1981 Brixton riots Rioting erupts in south London over policing and unemployment Rioting broke out in Brixton, south London, from 10 to 12 April 1981, following tensions over aggressive policing and high unemployment in the area's Black community. Hundreds of people were injured and dozens of buildings were damaged or destroyed. The unrest prompted the Scarman inquiry into policing and race relations.
• 1981 – present Felipe Massa The Local Hero Famously missed out on the 2008 title by a single point on the final corner of the final race.
• 1981 François Mitterrand elected President of France First Socialist to win the French presidency under the Fifth Republic François Mitterrand defeated incumbent Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in the French presidential runoff on 10 May 1981. He was the first Socialist elected president under the Fifth Republic and went on to serve fourteen years in office. His government nationalized major banks and industries soon after taking power.
• 1981 Bob Marley dies in Miami Aged 36 Dies of cancer, aged 36. He is given a state funeral in Jamaica.
• 1981 Assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II Pope shot in St Peter's Square Mehmet Ali Agca shot and seriously wounded Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Square on 13 May 1981. The Pope underwent emergency surgery and survived after months of recovery. He later visited Agca in prison to forgive him.
• 1981 Peter Sutcliffe convicted as the Yorkshire Ripper Serial killer sentenced for thirteen murders Peter Sutcliffe was convicted on 22 May 1981 of murdering thirteen women across northern England between 1975 and 1980. The five-year police hunt for the killer, dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper, had been one of the largest manhunts in British history. He was sentenced to twenty concurrent life terms.
• 1981 Assassination of Ziaur Rahman Bangladeshi president killed in an army coup attempt Bangladeshi President Ziaur Rahman was assassinated by rebel army officers in Chittagong on 30 May 1981. The coup attempt that followed his killing was suppressed within days. His death triggered a period of political instability that eventually brought General Hussain Muhammad Ershad to power.
• 1981 – 2009 Jade Goody (1981-2009) Died 22 March 2009, aged 27 Goody rose to fame as a contestant on the British reality show Big Brother and became one of the country's best-known reality television personalities. She continued to document her life publicly after being diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer, raising awareness of the disease. Her death drew major national media coverage in Britain.
• 1981 Israeli airstrike destroys Iraq's Osirak reactor Operation Opera targets Iraqi nuclear facility Israeli fighter jets destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad on 7 June 1981, in a raid codenamed Operation Opera. Israel said the strike prevented Iraq from developing nuclear weapons. The attack was condemned by the UN Security Council but is widely cited in later debates over preemptive strikes on nuclear facilities.
• 1981 Operation Opera Israeli strike on Osirak Eight Israeli F-16s, escorted by F-15s, destroy Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad.
• 1981 For Your Eyes Only — Roger Moore A deliberate return to gritty realism after the excess of Moonraker. Bond investigates the theft of a British military encryption device, racing against the KGB. The film opens with Bond scattering the remains of his murdered wife Tracy — a rare moment of genuine emotional continuity in the series. Budget: $28 million. Box office: $195.3 million.
• 1981 Wimbledon 1981 Men: John McEnroe · Women: Chris Evert Lloyd McEnroe ended Borg's five-year reign. Borg retired from tennis shortly after, aged 25.
• 1981 Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer Royal wedding watched by a global television audience Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London on 29 July 1981. An estimated global television audience of over 750 million watched the ceremony. The couple became the Prince and Princess of Wales.
• 1981 MTV launches Music Television begins broadcasting in the United States MTV began broadcasting on American cable television on 1 August 1981, opening with the words "Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll" and the video for The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star". The channel built a 24-hour format around music videos and reshaped the marketing of pop music.
• 1981 US air traffic controllers strike Reagan fires thousands of striking PATCO controllers Members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization walked out on 3 August 1981 demanding better pay and working conditions. President Reagan declared the strike illegal and fired roughly 11,000 controllers who refused to return to work. The union was decertified and the action weakened the American labor movement for years afterward.
• 1981 – present Roger Federer Tennis Legend One of the greatest tennis players of all time and a global ambassador for Switzerland.
• 1981 IBM launches the IBM Personal Computer Model 5150 establishes the PC industry standard IBM released the IBM Personal Computer (model 5150) on 12 August 1981, running Microsoft's newly written MS-DOS operating system. Its open architecture made it the basis for the "IBM-compatible" PC industry that followed. The machine reshaped business and home computing over the following decade.
• 1981 Microsoft releases MS-DOS Operating system ships with the first IBM PC Microsoft released version 1.0 of MS-DOS on 12 August 1981 as the operating system for the newly launched IBM Personal Computer. Microsoft had acquired the underlying code, originally known as QDOS, and adapted it for IBM. MS-DOS became the dominant operating system for personal computers through the 1980s.
• 1981 Tattoo You Sixteenth album — August 24, 1981 Tattoo You, released on August 24, 1981, spent nine weeks at number 1 in the US and reached number 2 in the UK. Largely assembled from outtakes from previous sessions, it included "Start Me Up" — one of their most enduring anthems.
• 1981 Voyager 2 flies by Saturn Second spacecraft to survey Saturn and its moons NASA's Voyager 2 probe made its closest approach to Saturn on 25 August 1981, returning detailed images of the planet's rings and moons. It confirmed and extended discoveries made by Voyager 1 the previous year. The spacecraft continued on toward Uranus and Neptune.
• 1981 Simon & Garfunkel's Concert in Central Park 500,000 people A free reunion concert for half a million people.
• 1981 Sandra Day O'Connor sworn in as US Supreme Court justice First woman to serve on the Court Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court on 25 September 1981, becoming the first woman to serve on the Court. She had been nominated by President Reagan and unanimously confirmed by the Senate. She served on the Court until her retirement in 2006.
• 1981 – present Serena Williams Queen of the Court Winner of 23 Open Era Grand Slam singles titles; dominated the women's game for two decades.
• 1981 Assassination of Anwar Sadat Egyptian president shot during a military parade Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in Cairo on 6 October 1981 by army officers linked to Islamic Jihad, during a parade marking the anniversary of the 1973 war. The attack was in part retaliation for Sadat's 1979 peace treaty with Israel. Vice President Hosni Mubarak succeeded him as president.
• 1981 – present Metallica American heavy metal band James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich's band — the founding thrash metal act that became the best-selling metal band of all time.
• 1981 Martial law declared in Poland Government crackdown suspends Solidarity activities General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law across Poland on 13 December 1981, suspending civil liberties and interning thousands of opposition activists. The move was aimed at crushing the independent trade union movement and averting Soviet intervention. Martial law remained in force until 1983.
• 1981 Israel annexes the Golan Heights Golan Heights Law extends Israeli jurisdiction over occupied territory The Israeli Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law on 14 December 1981, extending Israeli civil law and administration over the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967. The move was not recognized internationally and the UN Security Council declared it null and void. The status of the territory has remained disputed since.
• 1981 First American test-tube baby is born Elizabeth Carr born via IVF in Virginia Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first child conceived through in vitro fertilization in the United States, was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on 28 December 1981. She was the world's fifteenth IVF baby, following the technique's introduction in Britain in 1978. Her birth marked the establishment of IVF as a viable fertility treatment in the US.