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

## Deaths 
### January 
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* 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 
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* 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 
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* 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 
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* April 8 – Omar Bradley, American general (b. 1893)
* April 12 – Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)

### May 
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* 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 
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* 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 
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* 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 
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* 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 
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* 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 
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* 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 
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* 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 
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* 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