1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar.
Events
January
February
- February 4 - Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes the Prime Minister of Norway
- February 8 - 21 fans of the Greek Olympiacos FC lose their lives and 54 more get injured after a stampede at the Karaiskaki Stadium in Pireus. The deadly incident was most probably caused due to the fact that Gate 7 of the stadium did 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 10 - A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198
- February 14 - Australia withdraws recognition of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia
- February 23 - Antonio Tejero, with members of the Guardia Civil enters the Spanish Congress of Deputies, and stops the session, where Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo was going to be named president of the government. The coup d'état would fail thanks to King Juan Carlos.
- February 24 - Shortly before 11 p.m. local time, a powerful 6.7 magnitude earthquake hits Athens, killing 16 people, most of whom die because of related heart attacks. The quake's epicentre is located in the eastern Corinthian Gulf, near the tiny Alkyonides Islands, approximately 60 Km west of the city. Dozens of buildings collapse in the nearby towns of Loutraki, Kiato and Xylocastro. A 6.4 magnitude aftershock that strikes the area a few hours later, at 4:30 a.m local time, results in the damage or collapse of an additional number of buildings in the previously mentioned towns.
March
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April
May
- May - Daniel K. Ludwig abandons the Jari project in the Amazon Basin
- May 5 - Bobby Sands MP, IRA member, dies on Hunger Strike after 66 days.
- May 6 - A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
- May 10 - In the second round of the presidential elections in France (French presidential election, 1981), François Mitterrand beats Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
- May 13 - Pope John Paul II is shot at and nearly killed by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a Turkish gunman, as he entered St. Peter's Square in Rome to address a general audience. (Two days after Christmas in 1983, Pope John Paul went to the prison to meet and forgive his would-be assassin)
- 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 of the Republic.
- May 22 - Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, imprisoned for life for 13 counts of murder
- May 24 - Indianapolis 500-Mile Race: Bobby Unser wins for a third time for both he as a driver and Roger Penske as a car owner, but race sanctioning-body USAC temporarily strips him of victory over accusation of illegally passing other cars under a caution period (see racing flags). After team appeal, Unser's win is reinstated on October 8.
- 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 P-2
- May 30 - Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman is assassinated in Chittagong.
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
unknown dates
Births
January
- January 1 - Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian race car driver
- January 1 - Eden Riegel, American actress
- January 3 - Eli Manning, American football player
- January 6 - Mike Jones, American rapper
- January 9 - Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer
- January 12 - Quentin Griffin, American football player
- January 15 - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
- January 15 - Howie Day, American singer and songwriter
- January 17 - Scott Mechlowicz, American actor
- January 20 - Jason Richardson, American basketball player
- January 20 - Owen Hargreaves, Canadian-born footballer
- January 21 - Dany Heatley, German-born hockey player
- January 22 - Chantelle Anderson, American basketball player
- January 22 - Willa Ford, American singer, television hostess, and actress
- January 22 - Beverley Mitchell, American actress
- January 28 - Elijah Wood, American actor and music producer
- January 31 - Justin Timberlake, American musician
February
- February 3 - Alisa Reyes, American actress
- February 10 - The Reverend Tholomew Plague, American drummer (Avenged Sevenfold)
- February 10 - Natasha St-Pier, Canadian singer
- February 11 - Kelly Rowland, American singer (Destiny's Child)
- February 14 - Erin Torpey, American actress
- February 15 - Jenna Morasca, American television personality
- February 17 - Paris Hilton, American model, heiress, and socialite
- February 18 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
- February 18 - Ivan Sproule, Irish footballer
- February 20 - Majandra Delfino, American actress
- February 22 - Jeanette Biedermann, German singer and actress
- February 24 - Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
- February 27 - Josh Groban, American singer
March
- March 1 - Ana Hickmann, Brazilian model
- March 2 - Bryce Howard, American actress
- March 3 - Lil' Flip, American rapper
- March 9 - Antonio Bryant, American football player
- March 10 - Kristen Maloney, American gymnast
- March 11 - David Anders, American actor
- March 11 - Lee Evans, American football player
- March 11 - LeToya Luckett, American singer (Destiny's Child)
- March 15 - Young Buck, American rapper
- March 16 - Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
- March 19 - Kolo Toure, Ivorian football player
- March 26 - Matthieu Delpierre, French football player
- March 27 - Terry McFlynn, Irish footballer
- March 28 - Lindsay Frimodt, American model
- March 28 - Julia Stiles, American actress
April
- April 1 - Hannah Spearritt, British singer (S Club 7)
- April 2 - Bethany Joy Lenz, American actress and singer
- April 9 - Milan Bartovič, Slovak hockey player
- April 9 - Ireneusz Jeleń, Polish footballer
- April 10 - Gretchen Bleiler, American snowboarder
- April 10 - Liz McClarnon, British singer (Atomic Kitten)
- April 10 - Michael Pitt, American actor
- April 14 - Mary Castro, American model and actress
- April 17 - Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer
- April 18 - Jang Nara, Korean actress and singer
- April 18 - Audrey Tang, Taiwanese software programmer
- April 19 - Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor
- April 19 - Catalina Sandino Moreno, Colombian actress
- April 19 - Troy Polamalu, American football player
- April 21 - Mike Christie, English musician (G4)
- April 22 - Ken Dorsey, American football player
- April 28 - Jessica Alba, American actress
- April 29 - George McCartney, Irish footballer
May
- May 1 - Alexander Hleb, Belarusian football player
- May 3 - Farrah Franklin, American singer (formerly of Destiny's Child)
- May 4 - Jacques Rudolph, South African cricketer
- May 5 - Craig David, British singer
- May 5 - Danielle Fishel, American actress
- May 11 - Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
- May 12 - Kentaro Sato, Japanese composer
- May 13 - Rebecka Liljeberg, Swedish actress
- May 13 - Sunny Leone, Canadian entertainer
- May 15 - Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress
- May 19 - Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
- May 20 - Sean Conlon, English musician (5ive)
- May 20 - Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
- May 22 - Melissa Gregory, American figure skater
- May 27 - Alina Cojocaru, Romanian ballerina
June
- June 1 - Carlos Zambrano, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- June 6 - Johnny Pacar, American actor
- June 7 - Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
- June 7 - Larisa Oleynik, American actress
- June 8 - Ai Nonaka, Japanese voice actress
- June 9 - Natalie Portman, Israeli-born actress
- June 9 - Celina Jaitley, Indian actress
- June 9 - Vic Zhou, Taiwanese actor, singer, and model
- June 10 - Hoku Ho, Hawaiian singer and musician
- June 12 - Adriana Lima, Brazilian model
- June 13 - Christopher Robert Evans, American actor
- June 14 - Lonneke Engel, Dutch model
- June 16 - Ben Kweller, American musician
- June 20 - Alisan Porter, American actress and singer
- June 21 - Brandon Flowers, American singer and keyboardist (The Killers)
July-August
- July 2 - Alex Koroknay-Palicz, American activist
- July 2 - Paul Anthony Finn, Irish singer and songwriter (The Flaws)
- July 7 - Synyster Gates, American guitarist (Avenged Sevenfold)
- July 8 - Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
- July 20 - Dayang Nurfaizah, Malaysian singer
- July 21 - Stefan Schumacher, German cyclist
- July 23 - Steve Jocz, Canadian drummer (Sum 41)
- July 24 - Summer Glau, American actress (Firefly)
- July 29 - Fernando Alonso, Spanish race car driver
- July 31 - M. Shadows, American singer (Avenged Sevenfold)
- August 4 - Marques Houston, American singer and actor
- August 5 - Carl Crawford, baseball player
- August 5 - Kō Shibasaki, Japanese singer and actress
- August 8 - Vanessa Amorosi, Australian singer and songwriter
- August 8 - Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
- August 8 - Meagan Good, American actress
- August 12 - Djibril Cissé, French footballer
- August 16 - Taylor Rain, American actress
- August 24 - Chad Michael Murray, American actor
- August 25 - Rachel Bilson, American actress
- August 29 - Lanny Barbie, American actress
- August 30 - Brian J. Robinson, Canadian musician (A Wilhelm Scream)
September
- September 1 - Clinton Portis, American football player
- September 2 - Bracha van Doesburgh, Dutch actress
- September 4 - Beyoncé Knowles, American actress and singer (Destiny's Child
- September 8 - Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor
- September 12 - Jennifer Hudson, American singer and actress
- September 16 - Alexis Bledel, American actress
- September 21 - Nicole Richie, American actress
- September 22 - Rocco Baldelli, baseball player
- September 26 - Serena Williams, American tennis player
- September 30 - Cecelia Ahern, Irish author
- September 30 - Dominique Moceanu, American gymnast
October
- October 1 - Jamelia, British singer
- October 3 - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Swedish footballer
- October 5 - Enrico Fabris, Italian speed skater
- October 11 - Beau Brady, Australian actor
- October 13 - Vernon Carey, American football player
- October 13 - Ryan Ashford, English footballer
- October 14 - Akon, Senegalese singer
- October 15 - Elena Dementieva, Russian tennis player
- October 20 - Willis McGahee, American football player
- October 22 - Michael Fishman, American actor
- October 28 - Milan Baros, Czech footballer
- October 29 - Amanda Beard, American swimmer
- October 30 - Ivanka Trump, American model
- October 31 - Irina Denezhkina, Russian writer
- October 31 - Frank Iero, American guitarist (My Chemical Romance)
November
- November 1 - LaTavia Roberson, American singer (Destiny's Child)
- November 2 - Tatiana Totmianina, Russian figure skater
- November 3 - Jackie Gayda, American professional wrestler
- November 4 - Vince Wilfork, American football player
- November 4 - Mihai Cucerzan, Romanian politician
- November 8 - Azura Skye, American actress
- November 11 - Natalie Glebova, Canadian beauty queen
- November 11 - Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
- November 13 - Mark Cardona, Filipino basketball player
- November 17 - Sarah Harding, British singer
- November 21 - Bryant McFadden, American football player
- November 22 - Seweryn Gancarczyk, Polish footballer
- November 26 - Natasha Bedingfield, British singer
- November 26 - Aurora Snow, American actress
- November 29 - Tom Hurndall, British photographer (d. 2004)
December
- December 2 - Britney Spears, American singer
- December 3 - Brian Bonsall, American actor
- December 4 - Lila McCann, American singer
- December 7 - Ben Adams, British singer (a1)
- December 9 - Dia Mirza, Bollywood Actress
- December 11 - Zacky Vengeance, American guitarist (Avenged Sevenfold)
- December 13 - Amy Lee, American singer (Evanescence)
- December 15 - Thomas Herrion, American football player (d. 2005)
- December 16 - Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer
- December 21 - Cristian Zaccardo, Italian footballer
- December 27 - Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer
- December 28 - Elizabeth Jordan Carr, first American test-tube baby
- December 28 - Sienna Miller, American-born actress
- December 29 - Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater
- December 29 - Angela Via, American singer
- December 30 - Haley Paige, American actress
Deaths
January-April
- January 5 - Harold C. Urey, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
- January 5 - Lanza del Vasto, Italian-born philosopher, poet, and activist (b. 1901)
- January 6 - A.J. Cronin, Scottish novelist (b. 1896)
- January 10 - Katherine Alexander, American actress (b. 1898)
- January 23 - Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
- January 31 - Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (b. 1909)
- February 1 - Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)
- February 9 - Bill Haley, American musician (b. 1925)
- February 15 - Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
- February 18 - John Knudsen Northrop, American airplane manufacturer (b. 1895)
- February 20 - Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, French magazine editor and playboy (b. 1904)
- February 26 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
- March 6 - George Geary, English cricketer (b. 1893)
- March 7 - Kiril Kondrashin, Russian conductor (b. 1914)
- March 9 - Max Delbrück, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1906)
- March 23 - Beatrice Tinsley, English astronomer (b. 1941)
- April 7 - Norman Taurog, American film director (b. 1899)
- April 12 - Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
- April 18 - James H. Schmitz, German-born writer (b. 1911)
- April 27 - John Aspinwall Roosevelt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1916)
May-August
- May 5 - Bobby Sands, Irish republican (hunger strike) (b. 1954)
- May 9 - Nelson Algren, American author (b. 1909)
- May 9 - Ralph Allen, English footballer (b. 1906)
- May 11 - Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
- May 11 - Bob Marley, Jamaican singer and musician (b. 1945)
- May 18 - William Saroyan, American author (b. 1908)
- June 1 - Carl Vinson, U.S. Congressman (b. 1883)
- June 9 - Allen Ludden, American television game show host (b. 1917)
- June 17 - Sir Richard O'Connor, English general (b. 1889)
- June 19 - Lotte Reiniger, German-born silhouette animator (b. 1899)
- June 28 - Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)
- July 16 - Harry Chapin, American singer and songwriter (b. 1942)
- July 29 - Robert Moses, American urban planner (b. 1888)
- August 14 - Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (b. 1894)
September-October
- September 1 - Albert Speer, Nazi official (b. 1905)
- September 2 - Enid Lyons, Australia politician (b. 1897)
- September 8 - Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (b. 1913)
- 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 12 - Eugenio Montale, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
- October 2 - Harry Golden, American journalist (b. 1902)
- October 6 - Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (assassinated) (b. 1918)
- October 16 - Stanley Clements, American actor (b. 1926)
- October 16 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (b. 1915)
- October 29 - Georges Brassens, French singer and songwriter (b. 1921)
November-December
Nobel prizes
See also
1981
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