1981

**1981** (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday in the Gregorian calendar.

## Events

- January 20 – Hostages from the Iran hostage crisis are released at the same time when Ronald Reagan is inaugurated for the first time as President of the United States.
- January 21 – The first DeLorean automotive is released in Northern Ireland.
- January 27 – The Indonesian passenger ship _Tamponas 2_ catches fire and capsizes in the Java Sea, killing 580.
- January 29 – Adolfo Suárez resigns as Prime Minister of Spain.
- February 4 – Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes Prime Minister of Norway.
- February 8 – Polish Prime Minister Józef Pinkowski resigns and is replaced by General Wojciech Jaruzelski.
- February 14 – The Stardust Nightclub Fire in Dublin, Ireland kills 48 people in the deadliest fire in the country's history.
- February 25 – Adolfo Suárez leaves his office as Prime Minister of Spain.
- March 30 – Shortly after being inaugurated, John Hinckley, Jr. tries to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. He survives the attack.
- May 11 – Jamaican singer Bob Marley dies from cancer at the age of 36.
- July 9 - Donkey Kong, a Nintendo arcade game, was released in Japan
- July 16 - Mahathir Mohamad becomes Prime Minister of Malaysia, serving until October 31, 2003.
- July 29 – Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales.
- September – _Little Miss Bossy_, the first book in the _Little Miss_ series (the female counterpart to the _Mr. Men_ series) is first published.
- November 9 – Céline Dion's first album is released in Canada.

## Births

- January 25 – Alicia Keys, American singer
- January 28 – Elijah Wood, American actor
- January 31 – Justin Timberlake, American singer and actor
- February 11 – Kelly Rowland, American singer
- February 24 – Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
- March 3 – Justin Gabriel, South African professional wrestler
- April 28 – Jessica Alba, actress
- June 5 – Sebastien Lefebvre, Canadian Musician-Simple Plan
- June 7 – Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
- June 9 – Natalie Portman, Israeli actress
- July 30 – Hope Solo, American goal keeper
- August 8 – Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
- September 4 – Beyoncé Knowles,  American singer and actress
- September 8 – Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor
- September 26 – Serena Williams, American tennis player
- October 31 – Frank Iero MCR
- December 2 – Britney Spears, American singer and actress
- December 27 – Patrick Sharp, Canadian professional ice hockey player

### January

- January 5 – Harold Urey, American physical chemist (b. 1893)
- January 10 – Richard Boone, American actor (b. 1917)
- January 11 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1888)
- January 16 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
- January 23 – Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
- January 25 – Adele Astaire, American dancer and entertainer (b. 1896)

### February

- February 9 – Bill Haley, American rock and roll music pioneer (b. 1925)
- February 18 – Ibrahim Abdel Hady Pasha, Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1896)
- February 26 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)

### March

- March 1 – Roberto Francisco Chiari Remon, 31st President of Panama (b. 1905)
- March 4 – Torin Thatcher, British actor (b. 1905)
- March 9 – Max Delbrück, German-American biophysicist (b. 1906)
- March 22 – John S. McCain Jr., United States Navy admiral (b. 1911)

### April

- April 8 – Omar Bradley, American general (b. 1893)
- April 12 – Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)

### May

- May 3 – Nargis, Indian actress (b. 1929)
- May 11 – Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae musician (b. 1945)
- May 18 – Arthur O'Connell, American actor, acting on stage, film and television (b. 1908)
- May 28 – Stefan Wyszyński, Polish Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1901)
- May 29 – Soong Ching-ling, Chinese political figure and spouse of Sun Yat-sen (d. 1893)
- May 30 – Sven Andersson, Swedish footballer (b. 1907)
- May 30 – Ziaur Rahman, President of Bangladesh (b. 1936)
- May 31 – Gyula Lóránt, Hungarian footballer (b. 1923)
- May 31 – Giuseppe Pella, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1902)

### June

- June 9 – Allen Ludden, American game show host (b. 1917)
- June 23 – Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1907)
- June 28 – Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)

### July

- July 3 – Ross Martin, Polish-born American radio, stage, film and television actor (b. 1920)
- July 7 – Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi, President of South Yemen (b. 1920)
- July 27 – William Wyler, French-American director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1902)
- July 29 – Robert Moses, American urban planner (b. 1888)

### August

- August 1 – Paddy Chayefsky, American playwright, screenwriter and novelist (b. 1923)
- August 4 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (b. 1901)
- August 28 – Béla Guttmann, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1899)
- August 30 – Mohammad-Ali Rajai, President of Iran (b. 1933)
- August 30 – Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1933)
- August 30 – Vera-Ellen, American actress (b. 1921)

### September

- September 1 – Albert Speer, German architect (b. 1905)
- September 8 – Nisargadatta Maharaj, Indian guru (b. 1897)
- September 23 – Chief Dan George, Chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (b. 1899)
- September 27 – Robert Montgomery, American actor (b. 1904)
- September 28 – Rómulo Betancourt, 47th & 54th President of Venezuela (b. 1908)
- September 29 – Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (b. 1913)

### October

- October 5 - Gloria Grahame, American actress (b. 1923)
- October 6 – Anwar Sadat, 3rd President of Egypt (b. 1918)
- October 16 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (b. 1915)
- October 19 – Dan Coe, Romanian footballer (b. 1941)
- October 24 - Edith Head, American costume designer (b. 1897)

### November

- November 5 – Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa (b. 1924)
- November 7 – Will Durant, American historian, philosopher and writer (b. 1885)
- November 12 – William Holden, American actor (b. 1918)
- November 25 - Jack Albertson, American actor, singer, comedian, musician, and dancer (b. 1907)
- November 29 – Natalie Wood, American actress (b. 1938)

### December

- December 8 – Ferruccio Parri, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1890)

## Movies released

- _Absence of Malice_
- _An American Werewolf in London_
- _Any Which Way You Can_
- _Arthur_
- _The Boat Is Full_
- _Bustin' Loose_
- _Chariots of Fire_
- _Escape to Victory_
- _Excalibur_
- _For Your Eyes Only_
- _The Four Seasons_
- _The Fox and the Hound_
- _The French Lieutenant's Woman_
- _Friday the 13th, Part 2_
- _The Great Muppet Caper_
- _Halloween II_
- _Heaven's Gate_
- _Mommie Dearest_
- _Omen III: The Final Conflict_
- _On Golden Pond_
- _Only When I Laugh_
- _Pennies From Heaven_
- _Pixote_
- _Quest For Fire_
- _Ragtime_
- _Raiders of the Lost Ark_
- _Reds_
- _Sogni d'oro_
- _Stevie_
- _Stripes_
- _Superman II_
- _Tarzan, the Ape Man_
- _They Don't Wear Black Tie_

## Hit songs

- "The Tide Is High" – Blondie
- "Celebration" – Kool & The Gang (2)
- "9 To 5" – Dolly Parton (2)
- "I Love A Rainy Night" – Eddie Rabbitt (2)
- "Keep On Loving You" REO Speedwagon (1)
- "Rapture" – Blondie (2)
- "Kiss On My List" – Daryl Hall & John Oates (3)
- "Morning Train (9 To 5)" – Sheena Easton
- "Bette Davis Eyes" – Kim Carnes
- "Stars On 45 Medley" – Stars On 45 (1)
- "The One That You Love" – Air Supply (1)
- "Jessie's Girl" – Rick Springfield
- "Endless Love" – Diana Ross & Lionel Richie (9)
- "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" – Christopher Cross (3)
- "Private Eyes" – Daryl Hall & John Oates
- "Physical" – Olivia Newton-John

## New books

- _Ill Seen Ill Said_ – Samuel Beckett
- _Arabian Nights and Days_ – Naguib Mahfouz
- _La Bicyclette Bleue_ (_The Blue Bicycle_) – Régine Deforges
- _Bliss_ – Peter Carey
- _Creation_ – Gore Vidal
- _Cujo_  –  Stephen King
- _Distant Star_ – Samuel R. Delany
- _Famous Last Words_ – Timothy Findley
- _Flames Across the Border_ – Pierre Berton
- _Giants of the Ottawa Valley_ – Joan Finnegan
- _The Glitter Dome_  –  Joseph Wambaugh
- _The Golden Age of Science Fiction_ – Kingsley Amis
- _Goodbye, Janette_  –  Harold Robbins
- _Gorky Park_  –  Martin Cruz Smith
- _Hotel New Hampshire_  –  John Irving
- _An Indecent Obsession_  –  Colleen McCullough
- _Licence Renewed_ – John Gardner
- _Little Miss_ – Roger Hargreaves
- _Masquerade_  –  Kit Williams
- _Midnight's Children_ – Salman Rushdie
- _No Time for Tears_  –  Cynthia Freeman
- _Noble House_  –  James Clavell
- _Other People: A Mystery Story_ – Martin Amis
- _Red Dragon_ – Thomas Harris
- _Strata_ – Terry Pratchett
- _Tar Baby_ – Toni Morrison
- _The Third Deadly Sin_  –  Lawrence Sanders