Editing 1981

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Events by month|1981}}
{{About year|1981}}
[[File:1981 Events Collage.jpg|300x300px|thumb|From top left, clockwise: [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] is [[Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan|shot]] and injured by [[John Hinckley Jr.]]; the first recognized case of [[HIV/AIDS]] begins in United States; the [[Salvadoran Army]] [[El Mozote massacre|kills]] 800–1,000 civilians in [[El Mozote]] village; NASA [[STS-1|launches]] [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']]; [[Pope John Paul II]] is [[Attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II|shot]] and injured by [[Mehmet Ali Ağca]]; [[IBM]] launches its [[IBM Personal Computer|first microcomputer]]; seven prisoners from the Provisional [[Irish Republican Army]] and three from the [[Irish National Liberation Army]] starve themselves to death in a [[1981 Irish hunger strike|hunger strike]]; [[Charles III|Prince Charles]] [[Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer|marries]] [[Lady Diana Spencer]].]]
{{Year nav|1981}}
{{C20 year in topic}}
{{Year article header|1981}}
{{horizontal TOC|nonum=yes|align=center|limit=3}}

==Events==
===January===
{{Main|January 1981}}
* [[January 1]]
** [[Greece]] enters the [[European Economic Community]], predecessor of the [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Federal Trust for Education and Research|title=Guide to the EU Institutions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pv6IAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=I. B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-903403-09-9|page=17}}</ref>
** [[Palau]] becomes a self-governing territory.<ref>{{cite book|author=Economist Publications|title=The World in Figures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6rA6AAAAMAAJ|year=1988|publisher=G.K. Hall|isbn=978-0-8161-8954-0|page=282}}</ref>
* [[January 6]] – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral [[Karl Dönitz|Karl Doenitz]] following his death on December 24.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Vinocur |first1=John |date=1981-01-07 |title=WAR VETERANS COME TO BURY, AND TO PRAISE, DOENITZ |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/07/world/war-veterans-come-to-bury-and-to-praise-doenitz.html |access-date=2023-09-16 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Thousands at funeral for Hitler's successor – UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/01/06/Thousands-at-funeral-for-Hitlers-successor/4486347605200/ |access-date=2023-09-16 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref>
* [[January 10]] – [[Salvadoran Civil War]]: The [[Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front|FMLN]] launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of [[Morazán Department|Morazán]] and [[Chalatenango Department|Chalatenango]] departments.<ref>{{cite book|author=Angelika Schlunck|title=Amnesty Versus Accountability: Third Party Intervention Dealing with Gross Human Rights Violations in Internal and International Conflicts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bx9NAQAAIAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Berlin Verlag Arno Spitz GmbH|isbn=978-3-87061-894-0|page=91}}</ref>
* [[January 15]] – [[Pope John Paul II]] receives a [[delegation]] led by Polish [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] leader [[Lech Wałęsa]] at the [[Vatican City|Vatican]].<ref name="Twierdochlebow1985">{{cite book|author=W. J. Twierdochlebow|title=Solidarność: A Biblio-historiography of the Gdansk Strike and Birth of Solidarity Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDTSAAAAIAAJ|year=1985|publisher=Center for the Study of Opposition in Poland|page=61}}</ref>
* [[January 20]] – [[Iran]] releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days, minutes after [[Ronald Reagan]] is [[First inauguration of Ronald Reagan|sworn in]] as the 40th President of the United States, ending the [[Iran hostage crisis]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=ʻAlī Rāhnamā|author2=Farhād Nuʻmānī|title=The Secular Miracle: Religion, Politics, and Economic Policy in Iran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H8ptAAAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=978-0-86232-938-9|page=311}}</ref>
* [[January 21]] – The first [[DMC DeLorean|DeLorean]] automobile, a [[stainless steel]] [[sports car]] with [[gull-wing doors]], rolls off the [[production line]] in [[Dunmurry]], [[Northern Ireland]].
* [[January 24]] – An [[1981 Dawu earthquake|earthquake]] of {{M|s|6.8|link=yes}} magnitude in [[Sichuan]], China, kills 150 people. Japan suffers a less serious earthquake on the same day.<ref>{{cite book|author=Scientific Event Alert Network (National Museum of Natural History (U.S.))|title=SEAN Bulletin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EvYgAQAAIAAJ|year=1981|publisher=Scientific Event Alert Network|page=14}}</ref>
* [[January 25]] – In South Africa the largest part of the town [[Laingsburg, Western Cape|Laingsburg]] is swept away within minutes by one of the strongest floods ever experienced in the [[Karoo|Great Karoo]].
* [[January 27]] – The [[Indonesia]]n passenger ship ''[[Tampomas II]]'' catches fire and capsizes in the [[Java Sea]], killing 580 people.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mark S. Hoffman|title=The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EAmYwUPy6l8C|year=1990|publisher=World Almanac|isbn=978-0-88687-559-6|page=541}}</ref>

===February===
{{Main|February 1981}}
* [[February 4]] – [[Gro Harlem Brundtland]] becomes [[Prime Minister of Norway]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Christine Ingebritsen|title=Scandinavia in World Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i64UAQAAIAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-7425-0965-8|page=59}}</ref>
* [[February 8]] – In Greece, 20 fans of [[Olympiacos F.C.]] and 1 fan of [[AEK Athens F.C.|AEK Athens]] die, while 54 are injured, after a stampede at the [[Karaiskakis Stadium]] in [[Piraeus]], possibly because Gate 7 does not open immediately after the end of the game.
* [[February 9]] – Polish Prime Minister [[Józef Pińkowski]] resigns and is replaced by General [[Wojciech Jaruzelski]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Neal Ascherson|title=The Book of Lech Wałęsa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sSooAQAAIAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-671-45684-9|page=14}}</ref>
* [[February 14]] – [[Stardust fire]]: A fire at the Stardust nightclub in [[Artane, Dublin]], Ireland, in the early hours kills 48 young people and injures 214.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Neil|last1=Fetherstonhaugh|first2=Tony|last2=McCullagh|title=They Never Came Home: The Stardust Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c3IiAQAAIAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Merlin|isbn=978-1-903582-09-1|page=8}}</ref> In 2024 these will be declared as [[unlawful killing]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0rvgg7dlzo|title=Jury delivers unlawful killing verdict in Stardust inquest|last=Moore|first=Aoife|date=2024-04-18|publisher=[[BBC News]]|access-date=2024-04-18}}</ref>
* [[February 17]]–[[February 22|22]] – [[Pope John Paul II]] visits the [[Philippines]].
* [[February 23]] – [[1981 Spanish coup d'état attempt]] ("23-F"): [[Antonio Tejero]], with members of the [[Civil Guard (Spain)|Guardia Civil]], enters the [[Congress of Deputies (Spain)|Spanish Congress of Deputies]] and stops the session where [[Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo]] is about to be named president of the government. The coup fails after being denounced by King [[Juan Carlos I of Spain|Juan Carlos]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Daily Report. West Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y__gbCETNEQC|year=1990|publisher=The Service|page=30}}</ref>
* [[February 24]] – A powerful {{M|s|6.7|link=yes}} magnitude earthquake hits [[Athens]], killing 22 people, injuring 400 people and destroying several buildings and 4,000 houses, mostly in [[Corinth]] and the nearby towns of [[Loutraki]], [[Kiato]] and [[Xylokastro]].

===March===
{{Main|March 1981}}
* [[March 1]] – [[1981 Irish hunger strike]]: [[Bobby Sands]], a [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] member, begins a [[hunger strike]] for [[political status]] at [[HM Prison Maze]] (Long Kesh) in [[Northern Ireland]], dying on [[May 5]], the first of 7 IRA and 3 INLA hunger strikers to die.
* [[March 11]] – [[Chile]]an military dictator [[Augusto Pinochet]] is sworn in as [[President of Chile]] for another 8-year term.
* [[March 17]] – In Italy, the [[Propaganda Due]] [[Masonic lodge]] is discovered.
* [[March 19]] – Two or three workers are killed and four are injured during a ground test of [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']] at [[Kennedy Space Center]] in the United States.
* [[March 29]] – The first [[London Marathon]] starts, with 7,500 runners.
* [[March 30]] – [[Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan]]: U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by [[John Hinckley Jr.]]; two police officers and Press Secretary [[James Brady]] are also wounded.

===April===
{{Main|April 1981}}
* [[April 4]] – UK pop group [[Bucks Fizz (band)|Bucks Fizz]]'s song "[[Making Your Mind Up]]" wins the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1981|1981 Eurovision Song Contest]] in [[Dublin]], Ireland.
* [[April 11]] – [[1981 Brixton riot]]: Rioters in south London, UK, throw petrol bombs, attack police and loot shops.<ref>{{cite book | last = Childs | first = David | title = Britain since 1939 : progress and decline | publisher = Macmillan | location = Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire | year = 1995 | isbn = 9781349239672 | page=201}}</ref>
* [[April 12]] – The [[Space Shuttle]] program: [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']], with [[NASA]] astronauts [[John Young (astronaut)|John Young]] and [[Robert Crippen]], launches on the [[STS-1]] mission, returning to Earth on [[April 14]]. It is the first time a crewed reusable spacecraft has returned from orbit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/041381sci-nasa-columbia-3.html|title='Yeeeow!' and 'Doggone!' Are Shouted on Beaches as Crowds Watch Liftoff|website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref>
[[File:Space Shuttle Columbia launching.jpg|thumb|150px|[[April 12]]: First [[Space Shuttle program|Space Shuttle]] launch: [[Space Shuttle Columbia|''Columbia'']], April 12, 1981]] 
* [[April 15]] – The first [[Coca-Cola]] bottling plant in China is opened.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21595001-life-getting-tougher-foreign-companies-those-want-stay-will-have-adjust-china|title=China loses its allure|newspaper=The Economist|date=January 23, 2014}}</ref>
* [[April 18]] – A [[Minor League Baseball]] game between the [[Rochester Red Wings]] and the [[Pawtucket Red Sox]] at [[McCoy Stadium]] in [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island]], becomes the [[longest professional baseball game]] in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning is not played until [[June 23]]).
* [[April 26]] – [[1981 French presidential election|French presidential election]]: A first-round runoff results between [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]] and [[François Mitterrand]].

===May===
{{Main|May 1981}}
* May – [[Daniel K. Ludwig]] abandons the [[Jari project]] in the [[Amazon basin]].
* [[May 1]] – [[Pensions in Chile]]: The new [[Chile]]an pension system, based on private [[pension fund]]s, begins.
* [[May 4]] – The [[European Law Students' Association]] (ELSA) was founded in Vienna by law students from Austria, West Germany, Poland and Hungary.
* [[May 6]] – A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects [[Maya Lin]]'s design for the [[Vietnam Veterans Memorial]] in Washington, D.C., from among 1,421 other entries.
* [[May 11]] – The Jamaican [[reggae]] singer [[Bob Marley]] dies at age 36 from [[cancer]].
* [[May 13]] – [[Pope John Paul II assassination attempt]]: [[Pope John Paul II]] is shot by [[Mehmet Ali Ağca]], a [[Turkey|Turkish]] gunman, as he enters [[St. Peter's Square]] in [[Vatican City]] to address a general audience. The Pope recovers.<ref>{{cite book|title=First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1mgKAQAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Institute on Religion and Public Life|page=37}}</ref> 
* [[May 15]] – A prison officer, 31-year-old [[Donna Payant]], disappears at Green Haven Correctional Facility in New York. She is later found to have been murdered by convicted serial killer [[Lemuel Smith]]. It is the first time a female prison officer has been killed while on duty in the United States.<ref>{{cite book|author1=William Moses Kunstler|author2=Sheila Isenberg|title=My Life as a Radical Lawyer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jcePAAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=Carol Pub.|isbn=978-1-55972-265-0|page=288}}</ref>
* [[May 21]] – [[François Mitterrand]] becomes the first socialist President of the [[French Fifth Republic]].
* [[May 22]] – Serial killer [[Peter Sutcliffe]] is found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on 13 counts of murder and 7 of attempted murder in England.
* [[May 25]] – In [[Riyadh]], the [[Gulf Cooperation Council]] is created among [[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 [[Propaganda Due]].
* [[May 30]] – [[Bangladesh]]i President [[Ziaur Rahman]] is assassinated in [[Chittagong]].
* [[May 31]] – [[Burning of Jaffna library]], one of the most violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the century.

===June===
{{Main|June 1981}}
* [[June 5]] – The [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] in the United States report that five [[Homosexuality|homosexual]] men in Los Angeles have a rare form of [[pneumonia]] seen only in patients with weakened [[immune system]]s, the first recognized cases of [[AIDS]].
* [[June 6]] – [[Bihar train disaster]]: Seven coaches of an overcrowded passenger train fall off the tracks into the [[Bagmati River]] in [[Bihar]], India, killing between 500 and 800.
* [[June 7]] – The [[Israeli Air Force]] destroys [[Iraq]]'s [[Osirak]] nuclear reactor, killing ten Iraqi troops and a French technician.
* [[June 10]] – Alfredo Rampi, a 6-year-old boy, falls into an artesian well in Vermicino, near Rome. After nearly three days of failed rescue attempts followed with bated breath from all over Italy, Alfredo dies inside the well, at a depth of {{Convert|60|m|ft|sp=us}}.
* [[June 13]] – At the [[Trooping the Colour]] ceremony in London, teenager [[Marcus Sarjeant]] fires 6 blank shots close to Queen [[Elizabeth II]], startling her horse.<ref>{{cite news|title=13 June 1981: Queen shot at by youth|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/13/newsid_2512000/2512333.stm|accessdate=18 August 2010|publisher=BBC|date=13 June 1981}}</ref><ref>[http://news.sky.com/story/guard-i-saw-shots-being-fired-at-queen-10310327 Guard: I Saw Shots Being Fired At Queen], Sky News on-line, by Alastair Bruce, 11 June 2016, accessed 9 October 2016.</ref>
* [[June 18]] 
** The [[Organization of Eastern Caribbean States]] is founded.<ref>{{cite book|author=M. Leann Brown|title=Developing Countries and Regional Economic Cooperation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AeeyAAAAIAAJ|year=1994|publisher=Praeger|isbn=978-0-275-94960-0|page=152}}</ref>
** The [[Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk]] Stealth Fighter makes its first flight at [[Groom Lake]] ([[Area 51]]), Nevada.
* [[June 22]] – Iranian president [[Abolhassan Banisadr]] is deposed.
* [[June 27]] 
** The first game of paintball is played, in [[Henniker, New Hampshire]], United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.paintballaward.com/history-paintball/|title=Complete History of Paintball|website=Paintball Award|date=May 2021|access-date=May 15, 2021}}</ref>
** The [[E-mu Emulator]] sampler keyboard with floppy disk operation is unveiled at NAMM international Sound & Music Expo, Chicago. Production Model Serial Number 001 is issued to [[Stevie Wonder]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.namm.org/node/6370|title=NAMM Exhibitor Manual-Summer 1981|publisher=namm.org|access-date=June 16, 2018}}</ref>

===July===
{{Main|July 1981}}
* [[July 1]] – [[Wonderland murders]]: The [[Wonderland Gang]] of cocaine dealers is brutally murdered in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news|author=Lemons, Stephen|title=Return to Wonderland|url=http://www.salon.com/2000/06/09/wonderland/|work=Salon|date=June 9, 2000}}</ref> [[Eddie Nash]] is suspected of involvement, but will never be convicted.<ref>{{cite news|author=Timnick, Lois |date=March 21, 1990|title=Trial Begins for 2 in Grisly Laurel Canyon Murders of Mid-1981|work= [[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-21-me-687-story.html}}</ref>
* [[July 3]] – The [[Toxteth riots]] in [[Liverpool]], England, start after a mob prevents a youth from being arrested. Shortly afterward, the [[Chapeltown riots (1981)|Chapeltown riots]] in [[Leeds]] start amid increased racial tension.
* [[July 7]] – United States President [[Ronald Reagan]] nominates the first woman, [[Sandra Day O'Connor]], to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Graya: A Magazine for Members of Gray's Inn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5UVHAQAAIAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Gray's Inn|page=51}}</ref>
* [[July 9]] – ''[[Donkey Kong (arcade game)|Donkey Kong]]'' is released, marking the first ''[[Donkey Kong]]'' and [[Mario]] smash hit arcade game developed by [[Nintendo]] in Japan.
* [[July 10]]
** [[Mahathir Mohamad]] becomes the 4th [[Prime Minister of Malaysia]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Shukor Omar|title=The Malay Lost World: With Emphasis on Entrepreneurship|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jPLrAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Anzagain|isbn=978-983-037-120-7|page=36}}</ref>
** [[1981 Handsworth riots]] in [[Birmingham]] begin, followed by further [[1981 England riots]] in several urban areas including [[Liverpool]] and [[Leeds]].
* [[July 16]]–[[July 21|21]] – England become the first team this century to win a cricket Test match after the [[follow-on]] when they beat Australia by 18 runs at [[Headingley]] cricket ground, Leeds, England.
* [[July 17]]
** [[Hyatt Regency walkway collapse]]: Two skywalks filled with people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], collapse into a crowded atrium lobby, killing 114.
** [[Israel]]i aircraft bomb [[Beirut]], [[Lebanese Civil War#Israeli bombing of Beirut|destroying multi-story apartment blocks]] containing the offices of [[PLO]]-associated groups, killing approximately 300 civilians and resulting in worldwide condemnation and a U.S. embargo on the export of aircraft to Israel.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Bombing of Beirut|journal=[[Journal of Palestine Studies]]|volume=11|issue=1|year=1981|pages=218–225|doi=10.1525/jps.1981.11.1.00p0366x}}</ref>
* [[July 19]] – The [[1981 Springbok Tour]] commences in New Zealand, amid controversy over the support of [[apartheid]].
* [[July 21]] – [[Panda]] [[Tohui]] is born in [[Chapultepec Zoo]] in Mexico City, the first panda to ever be born and survive in captivity outside of China.
* [[July 29]] – A worldwide television audience of over 750&nbsp;million people watch the [[Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer]] at [[St Paul's Cathedral]] in London, UK.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Royal Wedding of HRH The Prince of Wales and the Lady Diana Spencer|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00fj1gx|publisher=BBC One|date=29 July 1981|access-date=25 December 2019|archive-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803143639/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00fj1gx|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[July 30]] – [[1981 Polish hunger demonstrations]]: As many as 50,000 demonstrators, mostly women and children, take to the streets in [[Łódź]] to protest about food ration shortages in [[Polish People's Republic|Communist Poland]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Quarterly Economic Review of Poland, East Germany|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ycWAQAAMAAJ|year=1980|publisher=Economist Intelligence Unit Limited|page=14}}</ref>

===August===
{{Main|August 1981}}
[[File:MTV Logo.svg|250px|thumb|right|August 1, 1981: MTV cable network begins]]
* [[August 1]] – The first 24-hour video music channel [[MTV]] (Music Television) is launched in the United States and airs its first video, "[[Video Killed the Radio Star]]" by [[The Buggles]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Jan-Patrick Stolpmann|title=MTV: The (r)evolution & Impact Between 1981 - 1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_OK3Gn6bLwAC&pg=PA3|date=May 2011|publisher=GRIN Verlag|isbn=978-3-640-91967-3|pages=3}}</ref>
* [[August 9]] – [[1981 Major League Baseball strike]] ends in the United States, and [[Major League Baseball]] resumes with the [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] in [[Cleveland]]'s [[Cleveland Stadium|Municipal Stadium]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Texas Business Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQBSAQAAMAAJ|year=1981|publisher=Bureau of Business Research|page=268}}</ref>
* [[August 12]] – The original Model 5150 [[IBM PC]] (with a 4.77&nbsp;MHz [[Intel 8088]] processor) is released in the United States at a base price of $1,565.<ref>{{cite book|vauthors=Tompkins V, Bruccoli M, Baughman J, Layman R, Bondi V, Bargeron E, McConnell T, Tidd, J |title=American Decades: 1980-1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSkOAQAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Gale Research|isbn=978-0-8103-8881-9|page=583}}</ref>
* [[August 19]] – [[Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)|Gulf of Sidra incident]]: [[Libya]]n president [[Muammar Gaddafi]] sends two [[Sukhoi Su-22]] fighter jets to intercept two U.S. Navy fighters over the [[Gulf of Sidra]]. The U.S. jets destroy the Libyan fighters.<ref>{{cite book|author1=John Norton Moore|author2=Robert F. Turner|title=Readings on International Law from the Naval War College Review, 1978-1994|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUzLAU-hkbMC&pg=PA489|year=1995|publisher=Naval War College|pages=489}}</ref>
* [[August 23]] – South African troops attack [[SWAPO]] bases in [[Xangongo]] and [[Ongiva]], [[Angola]], during [[Operation Protea]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jacqueline Audrey Kalley|author2=Elna Schoeman|author3=Lydia Eve Andor|title=Southern African Political History: A Chronology of Key Political Events from Independence to Mid-1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVrVK2ElINMC&pg=PA17|year=1999|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-30247-3|pages=17}}</ref>
* [[August 24]] – [[Mark David Chapman]] is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to murdering [[John Lennon]] in [[Manhattan]] eight months earlier.
* [[August 27]] – North Korea fires a surface-to-air missile at a U.S. SR-71 Blackbird spy plane flying in South Korean and international airspace. The missile misses and the airplane is unharmed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/27/world/missile-is-fired-by-north-koreans-at-us-spy-plane-near-the-dmz.html|title=Missile is Fired by North Koreans at U.S. Spy Plane Near the DMZ|date=August 27, 1981|website=The New York Times}}</ref>
* [[August 30]] – [[1981 Iranian Prime Minister's office bombing]]: Eight people, including the country's president and prime minister, are killed when a briefcase, planted by [[People's Mujahedin of Iran]], explodes in the building.<ref>{{cite news|author1=United Press International|author-link=United Press International|title=Iranian Says Secretary to Premier Hid Fatal Bomb in Teheran Office|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/14/world/iranian-says-secretary-to-premier-hid-fatal-bomb-in-teheran-office.html|access-date=14 March 2017|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=14 September 1981}}</ref>
* [[August 31]] – A bomb explodes at the United States [[Ramstein Air Base]] in West Germany, injuring 20 people.

===September===
{{Main|September 1981}}
* September – ''[[Little Miss Bossy]]'', the first book in the ''[[List of Little Miss characters|Little Miss]]'' series (the female counterpart to the ''[[Mr. Men]]'' series) is first published, in the U.K.
* [[September 1]] – [[Gregorio Conrado Álvarez]] is inaugurated as a military [[List of Presidents of Uruguay|de facto President of Uruguay]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Arthur S Banks|author2=William Overstreet|author3=Thomas Muller|title=Political Handbook of the World 2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vXU_CplFBLYC|date=15 April 2008|publisher=CQ Press|isbn=978-0-87289-528-7|page=1446}}</ref>
* [[September 4]] – An [[List of accidents and disasters by death toll#Coal mine disasters|explosion at a mine]] in [[Záluží (Beroun District)|Záluží]], [[Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovakia]], kills 65 people.
* [[September 7]] – British plantation company [[Guthrie (company)|Guthrie]] is taken over by the [[Government of Malaysia|Malaysian government]] after successfully purchasing shares to become the major shareholder. This is famously called the 'Dawn Raid attack'.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The 'Unfinished Business' of Malaysia's Decolonisation: The Origins of the Guthrie 'Dawn Raid'|author1=Shakila Yacob|author2=Nicholas White|date=May 2011|journal=Modern Asian Studies|volume=44|issue=5}}</ref>
* [[September 10]] – [[Picasso]]'s painting ''[[Guernica (Picasso)|Guernica]]'' is moved from New York to [[Madrid]].
* [[September 15]]
** [[Our Lady of Akita]] in Japan cries for the last time, on the Feast of [[Our Lady of Sorrows]].
** The ''[[John Bull (locomotive)|John Bull]]'' becomes the oldest operable [[steam locomotive]] in the world, at 150 years old, when it operates under its own power outside Washington, D.C.
* [[September 17]] – [[Ric Flair]] defeats Dusty Rhodes to win his first World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]].
* [[September 18]] – France's National Assembly votes to abolish [[Capital punishment in France]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Council of Europe|title=The Death Penalty: Beyond Abolition|publisher=Council of Europe Pub.|year=2004|page=196|isbn=9789287153333}}</ref>
* [[September 19]] – [[Solidarity Day march]], in support of organized labor, draws approximately 250,000 people in Washington, D.C.
* [[September 20]] – The overcrowded ferry boat ''[[Sobral Santos II]]'' capsizes in the [[Amazon River]], [[Óbidos, Brazil|Ób]], [[Óbidos, Brazil|idos, Brazil]], killing at least 300 people.<ref name="NYT1981">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/20/world/300-die-as-amazon-boat-sinks.html |title=300 Die as Amazon Boat Sinks |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=20 September 1981 |accessdate=5 January 2019}}</ref>
* [[September 21]] – [[Belize]], formerly [[British Honduras]], gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
* [[September 22]], a [[Northrop F-5]] [[Pancarköy air disaster|crashes]] during a [[military exercise]], in [[Babaeski]], Turkey, killing 1 crew and 65 soldiers on ground.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 June 2014 |title=Accident Northrop F-5A 64 13340 |url=https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/167195 |access-date=9 November 2023 |website=[[Aviation Safety Network]]}}</ref>
* [[September 25]] – [[Sandra Day O'Connor]] takes her seat as the first female justice of the [[U.S. Supreme Court]].
* [[September 26]]
** The [[Boeing 767]] airliner makes its first flight.<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael John Haddrick Taylor|title=Boeing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dwYKAQAAMAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Jane's|isbn=978-0-7106-0420-0|page=205}}</ref>
** The [[Sydney Tower]] opens to the public in Australia.
* [[September 27]] – [[TGV]] high-speed rail service between Paris and [[Lyon]], France, begins.
* [[September 27]]–[[September 29|29]] – [[Iran–Iraq War]]: Iranian forces break the [[Siege of Abadan]] in [[Operation Samen-ol-A'emeh]].<ref>{{cite book|author=William F. Hickman|title=Ravaged and Reborn: The Iranian Army, 1982 : a Staff Paper|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hi-5AAAAIAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Brookings Institution|isbn=978-0-8157-3611-0|page=27}}</ref>

===October===
{{Main|October 1981}}
* [[October 5]] – [[Raoul Wallenberg]] posthumously becomes an honorary citizen of the United States.
* [[October 6]] – Egyptian President [[Anwar Sadat]] is assassinated during a military parade.
* [[October 10]] – The Ministry for Education of Japan issues the [[jōyō kanji]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts: LLBA.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJAWAQAAMAAJ|year=1985|publisher=Sociological Abstracts, Incorporated|page=893}}</ref>
* [[October 14]] – Vice President [[Hosni Mubarak]] is elected President of [[Egypt]], one week after the assassination of [[Anwar Sadat]] during a parade, by servicemen who belong to the [[Egypt]]ian [[Egyptian Islamic Jihad|Islamic Jihad]] organization led by [[Khalid Islambouli]] and oppose his negotiations with [[Israel]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Amnesty International Report|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1PcvAQAAIAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Amnesty International Publications|page=320|isbn = 9780939994021}}</ref>
* [[October 16]] – Gas explosions at a coal mine at Hokutan, [[Yūbari, Hokkaidō]], Japan, kill 93 people.
* [[October 21]] – [[Andreas Papandreou]] becomes [[Prime Minister of Greece]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Intelligence Digest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUbvAAAAMAAJ|date=April 1984|publisher=Intelligence International Limited|page=20}}</ref>
* [[October 22]] – The founding congress of the [[Nepal Workers and Peasants Organisation (Hareram Sharma)|Nepal Workers and Peasants Organization]] faction led by Hareram Sharma and D. P. Singh begins.
* [[October 27]] – [[Soviet submarine S-363]] runs aground outside the [[Karlskrona]], Sweden, military base, leading to a minor international incident.<ref>{{cite book|author=Nigel West|title=Historical Dictionary of Naval Intelligence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mtvdxS_nzTYC&pg=PA269|year=2010|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8108-6760-4|pages=269}}</ref>

===November===
{{Main|November 1981}}
[[File:Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg|thumb|150px|right| [[November 1]]: [[Antigua and Barbuda]].]]
* [[November 1]] – [[Antigua and Barbuda]] gain [[independence]] from the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite book|author=United States. Visa Office|title=Report of the Visa Office|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EYeOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA43|year=1984|publisher=U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs|pages=43}}</ref>
* [[November 9]] – [[Slavery in Mauritania]] is abolished by Edict No. 81-234.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Edward H. Lawson|author2=Mary Lou Bertucci|title=Encyclopedia of Human Rights|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J-SrdFtSuDUC&pg=PA990|year=1996|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-56032-362-4|pages=990}}</ref>
* [[November 12]] – The [[Church of England]] [[General Synod]] votes to admit women to holy orders.
* [[November 22]] – The [[Edmonton Eskimos]] (14–1–1) barely stave off defeat and win a record 4th consecutive [[Grey Cup]] in the [[Canadian Football League]], at the [[69th Grey Cup]] at [[Montreal]]'s [[Olympic Stadium]], defeating the [[Ottawa Rough Riders]] (5–11–0) with a score of 26–23 in the final three seconds, after being down 20–1 at halftime.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1981|title=HISTORY >> Grey Cup >> 1981 {{pipe}} CFL.ca {{pipe}} Official Site of the Canadian Football League|access-date=August 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819184624/http://cfl.ca/page/his_greycup_recap1981|archive-date=August 19, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[November 23]]
** [[Iran–Contra affair]]: U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] signs the [[Classified information|top secret]] National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), authorizing the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] to recruit and support [[Contras|Contra]] rebels in [[Nicaragua]].
** [[1981 United Kingdom tornado outbreak]], the largest recorded [[tornado outbreak]] in European history.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eswd.eu/cgi-bin/eswd.cgi|title=European Severe Weather Database|website=www.eswd.eu}}</ref>
* [[November 25]]–[[November 26|26]] – [[1981 Seychelles coup d'état attempt]]: A group of [[Mercenary|mercenaries]] led by [[Mike Hoare]] take over [[Mahé, Seychelles|Mahe]] airport. Most of them escape by a commandeered [[Air India]] passenger jet; six are later arrested.<ref>{{cite book | last = Tickler | first = Peter | title = The modern mercenary : dog of war, or soldier of honour | publisher = P. Stephens Distributed by Sterling Pub. Co | location = Wellingborough, Northamptonshire New York, N.Y | year = 1987 | isbn = 9780850598124 | page=100}}</ref>

===December===
{{Main|December 1981}}
* [[December 1]] – An [[Adria Airways|Inex-Adria Aviopromet]] [[McDonnell Douglas MD-80]] [[Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308|strikes a mountain peak and crashes]] while approaching [[Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport|Ajaccio Airport]] in [[Corsica]], killing all 180 people on board.
* [[December 4]] – South Africa grants [[Ciskei]] independence, not recognized outside South Africa.
* [[December 7]] – [[Rotary International]] charters the Rotary Club of Grand Baie, [[Mauritius]].
* [[December 8]]
** The [[No. 21 Mine explosion]] in [[Whitwell, Tennessee]], kills 13.
** [[Arthur Scargill]] becomes President-elect of the [[National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)]].
* [[December 10]] – During the Ministerial Session of the [[North Atlantic Council]] in [[Brussels]], Spain signs the [[Enlargement of NATO|Protocol of Accession]] to [[NATO]].
* [[December 11]]
** [[Boxing]]: [[Muhammad Ali]] loses to [[Trevor Berbick]]; this proves to be Ali's last-ever fight.
** [[El Mozote massacre]]: In [[El Salvador]], army units kill 900 civilians.
* [[December 13]] – [[Wojciech Jaruzelski]] declares [[martial law in Poland]], to prevent the dismantling of the communist system by [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]].
* [[December 15]] – [[1981 Iraqi embassy bombing in Beirut]]: An [[Islamic Dawa Party]] [[car bomb]] destroys the Iraqi Embassy in [[Lebanon]], killing 61 people in one of the earliest significant postwar [[suicide attack]]s.
* [[December 17]] – American Brigadier General [[James L. Dozier]] is kidnapped in [[Verona]] by the Italian [[Red Brigades]].
* [[December 20]] – The [[Penlee lifeboat disaster]]: While attempting to rescue those on board the ''Union Star'' off the coast of South-West [[Cornwall]] (England), the lifeboat ''Solomon Browne'' is lost with all crew. Sixteen people in all are killed.<ref>{{cite book|title=Disasters: A Bibliographic Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WirgAAAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=University of Bradford Disaster Planning and Limitation Unit|isbn=978-1-85143-049-9|page=122}}</ref>
* [[December 28]] – The first American [[test-tube baby]], [[Elizabeth Jordan Carr]], is born in [[Norfolk, Virginia]].
* [[December 31]] – A [[coup d'état]] in [[Ghana]] removes [[President of Ghana|President]] [[Hilla Limann]]'s [[People's National Party (Ghana)|PNP]] [[Limann government|government]] and replaces it with the [[Provisional National Defence Council|PNDC]] led by [[Flight Lieutenant]] [[Jerry Rawlings]].

===Date unknown===
* January to March – Heavy snow [[:ja:五六豪雪|causes several houses and buildings to collapse]] in northwestern Japan; 152 are killed.
* [[Cuba]] suffers a major outbreak of [[dengue fever]], with 344,203 cases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://w3.whosea.org/en/Section10/Section332/Section521_2454.htm|title=Dengue Bulletin 23 - DHF Epidemics in Cuba, 1981 & 1997: Some Interesting Observations|access-date=2005-05-26|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050104014119/http://w3.whosea.org/EN/Section10/Section332/Section521_2454.htm|archive-date=January 4, 2005}}</ref>
* Use of [[crack cocaine]], a smokeable form of the drug, first reported in the United States and Caribbean.<ref>"[[Drug Enforcement Administration|DEA]] History Book, 1876–1990" (drug usage & enforcement), [[US Department of Justice]], 1991, USDoJ.gov webpage: [https://web.archive.org/web/20060823024931/http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/history/1985-1990.html DoJ-DEA-History-1985-1990].</ref>
* [[Luxor AB]] presents the [[ABC 800]] computer.
* ''[[Polybius (urban legend)|Polybius]]'', an urban legend game, is said to have been released in [[Portland, Oregon]]; there is no evidence for its existence.
* The [[State Council of the People's Republic of China]] lists the cities of Beijing, [[Hangzhou]], [[Suzhou, Jiangsu|Suzhou]] and [[Guilin]] as those where the protection of historical and cultural heritage, as well as natural scenery, should be treated as a priority project.
* [[Pepsi]] enters China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pepsico.com/Download/GCR_Sustainability_Report_EN_Final.pdf|title=Archived copy|access-date=2013-07-12|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130611174211/https://www.pepsico.com/Download/GCR_Sustainability_Report_EN_Final.pdf|archive-date=June 11, 2013}}</ref>
* Around the end of 1981, China becomes the first country ever to reach a population of 1&nbsp;billion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chinese Population Hits 1 Billion |url=https://www.historychannel.com.au/this-day-in-history/chinese-population-hits-1-billion/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422120137/https://www.historychannel.com.au/this-day-in-history/chinese-population-hits-1-billion/ |archive-date=22 April 2019 |website=History Channel Australia}}</ref>

== Births and deaths ==
{{Main|Category:1981 births|Deaths in 1981}}

==Nobel Prizes==
[[File:Nobel medal.png|right|100px]]
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[Nicolaas Bloembergen]], [[Arthur Leonard Schawlow]], [[Kai Siegbahn]]
* [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] – [[Kenichi Fukui]], [[Roald Hoffmann]]
* [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Medicine]] – [[Roger Wolcott Sperry]], [[David H. Hubel]], [[Torsten Wiesel]]
* [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Literature]] – [[Elias Canetti]]
* [[Nobel Peace Prize|Peace]] – [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]]
* [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] – [[James Tobin]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|1980s}}

* [http://www.nato.int/docu/comm/49-95/c811210a.htm Protocol of Accession]

{{Events by month links}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1981}}
[[Category:1981| ]]