What happened in 1981
148 entries recorded for 1981, listed by date. That was 45 years ago.
1981 at a glance
- Years ago
- 45 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1980s
- Generation born
- Millennials (Generation Y)
- Entries here
- 148
- Breakdown
- 125 historical events · 22 births · 1 deaths
January
- January 2
United Kingdom
One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
- January 8
Trans-en-Provence
In Trans-en-Provence, France, a local farmer reported a UFO sighting claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".
- January 8
Trans-en-Provence case
A local farmer reports a UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".
- January 9
Raymond Lederer
U.S. representative Raymond Lederer was convicted of bribery and conspiracy for his role in the Abscam scandal, but continued to serve his term for three more months.
- January 10
Salvadoran Civil War
Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of Morazán and Chalatenango departments.
- January 15
Police procedural
The American serial police-procedural television show Hill Street Blues aired its pilot episode, "Hill Street Station".
- January 15
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II receives a delegation from the Polish trade union Solidarity at the Vatican led by Lech Wałęsa.
- January 17
President of the Philippines
President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law eight years and five months after declaring it.
- January 18
BASE jumping
Phil Smith and Phil Mayfield parachute off a Houston skyscraper, becoming the first two people to BASE jump from objects in all four categories: buildings, antennae, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs).
- January 19
Iran hostage crisis
Iran hostage crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
- January 20
Ronald Reagan
Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States of America, Iran releases 52 American hostages.
- January 21
DMC DeLorean
Production of the DeLorean sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
- January 21
DeLorean Motor Company
The DeLorean Motor Company completed the first production car of the DMC DeLorean at its factory in Northern Ireland.
- January 28
Ronald Reagan
U.S. president Ronald Reagan lifted price controls from petroleum products, contributing to the 1980s oil glut.
February
- February 1
Underarm bowling incident of 1981
The Underarm bowling incident of 1981 occurred when Trevor Chappell bowls underarm on the final delivery of a game between Australia and New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
- February 4
Jason Kapono
Jason Kapono, American basketball player
- February 5
Operation Soap
Operation Soap: The Metropolitan Toronto Police Force raids four gay bathhouses in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, arresting just under 300, triggering mass protest and rallies.
- February 6
National Resistance Army
The National Resistance Army of Uganda launches an attack on a Ugandan Army installation in the central Mubende District to begin the Ugandan Bush War.
- February 7
1981 Pushkin Tu-104 crash
A plane crash at Pushkin Airport kills 50 people, including 16 members of the Pacific Fleet.
- February 8
Rhodesian Bush War
Rhodesian Bush War: Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army cadres in Gwelo attacked Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army troops, killing over 60 of them and starting the 1981 Entumbane uprising.
- February 13
Louisville sewer explosions
Explosions caused by the ignition of hexane vapors destroyed more than 13 miles (21 km) of sewer lines in Louisville, Kentucky, United States.
- February 18
Jack Northrop
Jack Northrop, American engineer and businessman, founded the Northrop Corporation (born 1895)
- February 23
Antonio Tejero
In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
- February 24
Seismic magnitude scales
The 6.7 Ms Gulf of Corinth earthquake affects Central Greece with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). Twenty-two people are killed, 400 are injured, and damage totals $812 million.
March
- March 1
Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands begins his hunger strike in HM Prison Maze.
- March 5
ZX81
The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer, was launched by Sinclair Research, and went on to sell more than 1.5 million units around the world.
- March 11
Kosovo
Hundreds of students protest in the University of Pristina in Kosovo, then part of Yugoslavia, to give their province more political rights. The protests then became a nationwide movement.
- March 26
Social Democratic Party (UK)
Social Democratic Party (UK) is founded as a party.
- March 27
Solidarity (Polish trade union)
The Solidarity movement in Poland staged a warning strike, the largest in the history of the Eastern Bloc, in which at least 12 million Poles walked off their jobs for four hours.
- March 29
Dick Beardsley
Dick Beardsley and Inge Simonsen jointly won the Men's Elite Race and Joyce Smith won the Women's Elite Race in the inaugural London Marathon.
- March 29
Megan Hilty
Megan Hilty, American actress and singer
- March 29
Jlloyd Samuel
Jlloyd Samuel, Trinidadian footballer (died 2018)
- March 29
PJ Morton
PJ Morton, American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer
- March 29
Jasmine Crockett
Jasmine Crockett, American attorney and politician
- March 30
Ronald Reagan
U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley Jr.; three others are wounded in the same incident.
April
- April 3
Osborne 1
The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco.
- April 9
USS George Washington (SSBN-598)
The U.S. Navy nuclear submarine USS George Washington accidentally collides with the Nissho Maru, a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it and killing two Japanese sailors.
- April 10
Provisional Irish Republican Army
Imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands is elected to Westminster as the MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, Northern Ireland. He died twenty-six days later.
- April 11
1981 Brixton riot
A massive riot in Brixton, south London, results in almost 300 police injuries and 65 serious civilian injuries.
- April 12
Space Shuttle
The first launch of a Space Shuttle (Columbia) takes place: The STS-1 mission.
- April 18
Audrey Tang
Audrey Tang, Taiwanese Minister of Digital Affairs and programmer
- April 19
Hayden Christensen
Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor
- April 19
Troy Polamalu
Troy Polamalu, American football player
- April 19
Lise Klaveness
Lise Klaveness, Norwegian footballer and lawyer, president of the Norwegian Football Federation
- April 25
Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant
More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
- April 26
Michael R. Harrison
Dr. Michael R. Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center performs the world's first human open fetal surgery.
May
- May 5
Bobby Sands
Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital (Northern Ireland) after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27.
- May 5
1981 Irish hunger strike
After a 66-day hunger strike, Irish republican Bobby Sands died of starvation in HM Prison Maze.
- May 8
Stephen Amell
Stephen Amell, Canadian actor
- May 10
Humberto Suazo
Humberto Suazo, Chilean footballer
- May 11
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats (performers pictured), opened at the New London Theatre.
- May 13
Mehmet Ali Ağca
Mehmet Ali Ağca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The Pope is rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery and survives.
- May 24
Jaime Roldós Aguilera
Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera, his wife, and his presidential committee die in an aircraft accident while travelling from Quito to Zapotillo minutes after the president gave a famous speech regarding the 24 de mayo anniversary of the Battle of Pichincha.
- May 25
Riyadh
In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- May 26
Grumman EA-6B Prowler
An EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.
- May 26
Prime Minister of Italy
Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the pseudo-masonic lodge P2 (Propaganda Due).
- May 31
Sinhalese people
An organized mob of police and government-sponsored Sinhalese paramilitary forces began three days of attacks that led to the burning of the Jaffna Public Library (renovated building pictured) in Sri Lanka, destroying more than 97,000 items in one of the most violent 20th-century
June
- June 5
HIV/AIDS
The first clinical cases of AIDS were published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- June 7
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force attacked a nuclear reactor under the assumption that it was about to start producing plutonium to further an Iraqi nuclear-weapons program.
- June 7
Larisa Oleynik
Larisa Oleynik, American actress
- June 8
Sara Watkins
Sara Watkins, American fiddle, ukulele, and guitar player
- June 8
Rachel Held Evans
Rachel Held Evans, American Christian author (died 2019)
- June 11
Golbaf
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake at Golbaf, Iran, kills at least 2,000.
- June 12
Indiana Jones
The first of the Indiana Jones film franchise, Raiders of the Lost Ark, is released in theaters.
- June 12
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise, was released.
- June 13
Marcus Sarjeant
English teenager Marcus Sarjeant fired six blanks at Queen Elizabeth II as she rode down The Mall to the Trooping the Colour ceremony.
- June 16
Ronald Reagan
US President Ronald Reagan awards the Congressional Gold Medal to Ken Taylor, Canada's former ambassador to Iran, for helping six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979–81; he is the first foreign citizen bestowed the honor.
- June 18
Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft to be designed around stealth technology, made its maiden flight.
- June 24
Humber Bridge
The Humber Bridge opens to traffic, connecting Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. It remained the world's longest bridge span for 17 years.
- June 25
Microsoft
Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington.
- June 25
Simon Ammann
Simon Ammann, Swiss ski jumper
- June 26
Dan-Air Flight 240
Dan-Air Flight 240, flying to East Midlands Airport, crashes in Nailstone, Leicestershire. All three crew members perish.
- June 27
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issues its "Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic of China", laying the blame for the Cultural Revolution on Mao Zedong.
- June 28
Haft-e Tir bombing
A powerful bomb explodes in Tehran, killing 73 officials of the Islamic Republican Party.
July
- July 7
President of the United States
US President Ronald Reagan nominates Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States.
- July 9
Nintendo
Nintendo released the arcade game Donkey Kong, which featured the debut of Mario, one of the most famous characters in video-game history.
- July 17
Hyatt Regency walkway collapse
A structural failure leads to the collapse of a walkway at the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri, killing 114 people and injuring more than 200.
- July 18
Canadair CL-44
A Canadair CL-44 and Sukhoi Su-15 collide in mid-air near Yerevan, Armenia, killing four.
- July 19
Ronald Reagan
In a private meeting with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, French President François Mitterrand reveals the existence of the Farewell Dossier, a collection of documents showing the Soviet Union had been stealing American technological research and development.
- July 20
Somali Airlines Flight 40
Somali Airlines Flight 40 crashes in Balad, Somalia, killing 50 people.
- July 22
1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand and the United States
The first game of the 1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand and the United States is held in Gisborne, New Zealand.
- July 27
Chihuahua International Airport
While landing at Chihuahua International Airport, Aeromexico Flight 230 overshoots the runway. Thirty-two of the 66 passengers and crew on board the DC-9 are killed.
- July 29
Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
An estimated worldwide television audience of 750 million watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (combined coat of arms pictured) at St Paul's Cathedral in London.
- July 29
Abolhassan Banisadr
After impeachment on June 21, Abolhassan Banisadr flees with Massoud Rajavi to Paris, in an Iranian Air Force Boeing 707, piloted by Colonel Behzad Moezzi, to form the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
- July 30
Łódź
As many as 50,000 demonstrators, mostly women and children, take to the streets in Łódź to protest food ration shortages in Communist Poland.
- July 30
1981 Polish hunger demonstrations
Amid a widespread economic crisis and food shortages in Poland, up to 50,000 people, mostly women and children, took part in the largest of nationwide hunger demonstrations in Łódź.
August
- August 1
MTV
MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.
- August 1
Video Killed the Radio Star
"Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles became the first music video broadcast on the American cable television network MTV.
- August 3
Senegal
Senegalese opposition parties, under the leadership of Mamadou Dia, launch the Antiimperialist Action Front – Suxxali Reew Mi.
- August 5
Ronald Reagan
U.S. president Ronald Reagan fired the 11,345 striking members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization en masse.
- August 6
Diána Póth
Diána Póth, Hungarian figure skater
- August 6
Leslie Odom Jr.
Leslie Odom Jr., American actor and singer
- August 7
The Washington Star
The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
- August 10
Murder of Adam Walsh
Murder of Adam Walsh: The head of John Walsh's son is found. This inspires the creation of the television series America's Most Wanted and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
- August 12
IBM Personal Computer
The IBM Personal Computer is released.
- August 19
Silvio Santos
Silvio Santos launches a new Brazilian television channel in São Paulo, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão.
- August 19
Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)
Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States F-14A Tomcat fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra.
- August 22
Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103
Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 103 disintegrates in mid-air and crashes in Sanyi Township, Miaoli County, Taiwan. All 110 people on board are killed.
- August 25
Voyager 2
Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn.
- August 26
Aeropesca Flight 221
Aeropesca Flight 221 crashes in Colombia's Huila Department, killing all 50 people on board.
- August 30
Mohammad-Ali Rajai
Iranian president Mohammad-Ali Rajai and prime minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar were assassinated in a bombing committed by the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran.
September
- September 1
David Dacko
Central African President David Dacko is ousted from power in a bloodless military coup led by General André Kolingba.
- September 3
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, an international bill of rights for women, is instituted by the United Nations.
- September 5
Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp
The first women arrive at what becomes Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp in the UK.
- September 15
John Bull (locomotive)
The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, D.C.
- September 15
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
- September 18
Nestor Pirotte
While posing as an aristocrat, Belgian serial killer Nestor Pirotte murdered an antiques dealer in Brussels, for which crime he was sentenced to death.
- September 21
Belize
Belize is granted full independence from the United Kingdom.
- September 21
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor is unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice.
- September 22
Military exercise
During a military exercise, a Turkish Air Force Northrop F-5 crashes in Babaeski as a result of pilot error, killing one crew member and also 65 soldiers on the ground.
- September 25
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor (pictured) became the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
- September 25
Belize
Belize joins the United Nations.
- September 27
Iran–Iraq War
Iran–Iraq War: Iran broke the Iraqi siege of Abadan by Operation Samen-ol-A'emeh.
- September 29
Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force
An Iranian Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft crashes into a firing range near Kahrizak, Iran, killing 80 people.
- September 29
Kelly McCreary
Kelly McCreary, American actress
- September 29
Suzanne Shaw
Suzanne Shaw, English actress and singer
October
- October 3
1981 Irish hunger strike
A hunger strike by Irish republican prisoners at HM Prison Maze outside Belfast, Northern Ireland, ended after seven months and ten deaths.
- October 6
Anwar Sadat
Egyptian president Anwar Sadat (pictured) was assassinated while attending a parade in Cairo to mark the eighth anniversary of the Crossing of the Bar Lev Line at the start of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.
- October 6
NLM CityHopper Flight 431
NLM CityHopper Flight 431 crashes in Moerdijk after taking off from Rotterdam The Hague Airport in the Netherlands, killing all 17 people on board.
- October 9
François Mitterrand
President François Mitterrand abolishes capital punishment in France.
- October 14
Hosni Mubarak
Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected as the President of Egypt, one week after the assassination of Anwar Sadat.
- October 20
Brink's
Two police officers and a Brink's armored car guard are killed during an armed robbery carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground in Nanuet, New York.
- October 21
Andreas Papandreou
Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece, ending an almost 50-year-long system of power dominated by conservative forces.
- October 22
Federal Labor Relations Authority
The US Federal Labor Relations Authority votes to decertify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) for its strike the previous August.
- October 27
Cold War
Cold War: The Soviet submarine S-363 runs aground on the east coast of Sweden.
November
- November 1
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- November 8
Aeroméxico Flight 110
Aeroméxico Flight 110 crashes near Zihuatanejo, Mexico, killing all 18 people on board.
- November 11
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda joins the United Nations.
- November 16
Aeroflot Flight 3603
Aeroflot Flight 3603 crashes during landing at Norilsk Airport, killing 99.
- November 16
Luke and Laura
About 30 million people watched the fictional couple Luke Spencer and Laura Webber wed on the television show General Hospital in the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history.
- November 23
Iran–Contra affair
Iran–Contra affair: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
- November 25
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II appoints Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
- November 25
Gang of 25
A group of Conservative members of Parliament wrote a letter outlining their opposition to the economic policy of Margaret Thatcher, leading to speculation over a split from the party.
- November 25
Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso, Spanish footballer
- November 25
Barbara Bush (born 1981)
Barbara Pierce Bush, American activist
- November 25
Lee Bum-ho
Lee Bum-ho, South Korean baseball player
- November 30
Cold War
Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe. (The meetings end inconclusively on December 17.)
December
- December 1
Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308
Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, crashes in Corsica, killing all 180 people on board.
- December 4
Ciskei
South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).
- December 9
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal was arrested for the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner; his subsequent conviction and death sentence generated controversy in the United States.
- December 13
Wojciech Jaruzelski
Polish prime minister Wojciech Jaruzelski (pictured) declared martial law.
- December 14
Arab–Israeli conflict
Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset ratifies the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the Golan Heights.
- December 14
Knesset
The Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli "laws, jurisdiction and administration" to the Golan Heights, effectively annexing the territory internationally recognized as part of Syria.
- December 15
Shia Islam
The Iraqi Shia Islamist group al-Dawa carried out one of the first modern suicide bombings, targeting the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, resulting in 61 deaths and at least 100 injuries.
- December 15
1981 Iraqi embassy bombing in Beirut
A suicide car bombing targeting the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, levels the embassy and kills 61 people, including Iraq's ambassador to Lebanon. The attack is considered the first modern suicide bombing.
- December 17
James L. Dozier
American Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy.
- December 18
Heavy bomber
First flight of the Russian heavy strategic bomber Tu-160, the world's largest combat aircraft, largest supersonic aircraft and largest variable-sweep wing aircraft built.
- December 19
Penlee lifeboat disaster
Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
Questions about 1981
What happened in 1981?
This site records 148 entries for 1981, including United Kingdom on January 2. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1981?
45 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1981 turns 45 this year.
Which century is 1981 in?
1981 falls in the 20th century, in the 1980s.
Which generation was born in 1981?
Millennials (Generation Y) (1981–1996). Came of age around the year 2000 and the rise of the internet.
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