Timeline October 1981

Events in October 1981 9

• 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.
• 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 Gloria Grahame (1923-1981) American actress, the film noir femme fatale who won an Oscar for The Bad and the Beautiful.
• 1981 David Bowie and Queen release Under Pressure UK number one A collaboration recorded in Montreux.
• 1981 The Police release Ghost in the Machine Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic A denser sound with horns and keyboards.
• 1981 Gloria Grahame dies in New York Gloria Grahame dies aged 57.
• 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 Metallica formed in Los Angeles Ulrich and Hetfield Lars Ulrich answers a newspaper ad and meets James Hetfield.