On This Day

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What Happened in 1981

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Major Events

  • Jan 20 Ronald Reagan inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States of America
  • Apr 14 The first Space Shuttle, Columbia 1, returns to Earth after 2 days and 6 hours in space
  • May 5 After 66 days on hunger strike, 26-year-old Provisional IRA member and British MP Bobby Sands dies in the Maze Prision. Nine more hunger strikers die in the next 3 months.
  • May 13 Pope John Paul II is shot and critically wounded by Turkish gunman Mehemet Ali Agca in St Peter's Square, Vatican City
  • Jun 5 AIDS Epidemic officially begins when US Centers for Disease Control reports on pneumonia affecting five homosexual men in Los Angeles
  • Aug 12 IBM introduces its first Personal Computer (PC & PC-DOS version 1.0)
  • Sep 25 Sandra Day O'Connor sworn in as the 1st female US Supreme Court Justice
  • Oct 23 US national debt hits $1 trillion
  • More 1981 Events

1981 in Film & TV

  • Jan 15 Police drama "Hill Street Blues" premieres on NBC-TV
  • Mar 6 Walter Cronkite signs off as anchorman of "CBS Evening News"
  • Mar 9 Dan Rather becomes primary anchorman of CBS-TV News
  • Mar 30 "Chariots of Fire" directed by Hugh Hudson and starring Ben Cross and Ian Charleson premieres at a Royal Command Film Performance (Best Picture 1982)
  • Mar 31 1st Golden Raspberry Awards: "Can't Stop the Music" wins
  • Jun 12 "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (the first Indiana Jones film) directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Harrison Ford, with story by George Lucas premieres
  • Aug 1 Music video cable channel MTV debuts in US at 12:01 AM with The Buggles song "Video Killed The Radio Star"
  • The Smurfs title card from the 1981 TV series
    The Smurfs TV Debut
    Sep 12 "The Smurfs" animated cartoon series by Hanna-Barbera first broadcasts in North America

1981 in Music

  • Feb 19 George Harrison is ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000 for "subconscious plagiarism" of his song "My Sweet Lord" from Ronnie Mack's song "He's So Fine"
  • May 11 Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Cats" (based on poetry by T. S. Eliot) directed by Trevor Nunn, opens at the New London Theatre in the West End, London; runs for 8,949 performances
  • May 21 Reggae musician Bob Marley receives a Jamaican state funeral

1981 in Sport

  • Feb 18 20-year-old Edmonton center Wayne Gretzky becomes first player in NHL history to score 5 career hat-tricks before age 21; scores 5 goals and 2 assists in 9-2 Oilers' home win against St. Louis
  • Apr 24 Bill Shoemaker wins his 8,000th race, 2000 more than any other jockey
  • Dec 27 Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky becomes fastest NHLer to get 100 point in a season (his 38th game), with 4 goals and an assist in 10-3 win over visiting Los Angeles Kings

Did You Know?

Nintendo release arcade game "Donkey Kong" created by Shigeru Miyamoto in Japan (July 31 in the US)

July 9, 1981

Born in 1981

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Fun Fact About 1981

Discovery of minor planet 5020 Asimov, named after sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov

March 2, 1981

Who Died in 1981

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Famous Weddings in 1981

  • Jan 24 British Monkees singer Davy Jones (35) weds (his second time) British singer Anita Pollinger; divorce in 1996
  • Jan 25 Actor Bill Murray (30) weds Margaret Kelly on Super Bowl Sunday in Las Vegas; divorce in 1994
  • Mar 10 14th Prince of Ligne Michel Charles Eugène Marie Lamoral (29) weds Princess of Ligne Eleanora (27) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Famous Divorces in 1981


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