1981

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

Events

January

January - The subterranean Sarawak chamber is discovered in Borneo.
January 1 - Greece enters the European Community, which later becomes the European Union.
January 1 - Palau becomes self-governing.
January 4 - Sheffield police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper.
January 13 - Donna Griffiths, a schoolgirl in Pershore, Worcestershire, UK, begins an uncontrollable series of sneezes that end September 16 1983 - after 978 days.
January 16 - Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and her husband.
January 18 - The historic Ottawa Wine Tasting of 1981 confirms that superior wines can be made outside of France.
January 19 - United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
January 20 - Ronald Reagan succeeds Jimmy Carter, becoming the 40th President of the United States. Minutes after Reagan becomes president, Iran releases 52 American hostages that had been held captive for 444 days and the Iran hostage crisis ends.
January 21 - The first De Lorean DMC-12 automobile rolls off the production line.

February

February 4 - Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes the Prime Minister of Norway.
February 8 - Twenty fans of the Greek Olympiacos FC are killed and 54 injured after a stampede at the Karaiskaki Stadium in Pireus. The deadly incident most likely occurred because 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 8 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 is about to be named president of the government. The coup d'état fails 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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March 1 - Bobby Sands, an IRA member, begins a hunger strike for political status in Long Kesh prison - he dies May 5, the first of 10 men.
March 6 - After 19 years hosting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
March 6 - Pole Henryk Zieliński dies under suspicious circumstances.
March 7 - Colombian guerillas execute U.S. Bible translator Chester Allen Bitterman for being a CIA agent.
March 11 - Chilean President Augusto Pinochet is sworn in for another 8-year term.
March 19 - Three workers are killed and 5 injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia.
March 30 - 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

April 1 - Daylight saving time is introduced in the USSR.
April 4 - Bucks Fizz wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song, Making Your Mind Up.
April 11 - Riot in Brixton, South London - rioters throw petrol bombs, attack police and loot shops.
April 12 - The Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia (John Young, Robert Crippen) launches on the STS-1 mission, returning to Earth on April 14.
April 15 - The Australian Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock resigns from the cabinet, accusing Prime Minister Fraser of gross disloyalty.
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 18 - The rock band Yes splits up (regrouping in 1983).
April 24 - French presidential election, 1981: A first-round runoff results between Valery Giscard d'Estaing and François Mitterrand.

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 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, François Mitterrand beats Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
May 11 - Reggae legend Bob Marley dies.
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 goes 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.
May 22 - Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, is 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 the race sanctioning-body USAC temporarily strips him of victory over an accusation of illegally passing other cars under a caution period (see racing flags). After the team's 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

June 5 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that five homosexual men in Los Angeles, California have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems (these were the first recognized cases of AIDS).
June 6 - Seven coaches of an overcrowded passenger train fall off the tracks into the River Kosi in Bihar, India - about 800 die.
June 7 - Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor.
June 12 - Major League Baseball goes on strike, forcing the cancellation of 38 percent of the schedule.
June 13 - At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, Marcus Sargeant fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II.
June 21 - Wayne Williams, a 28-year-old African American, is arrested and charged with the murders of two other African Americans. He will later be suspected of 28 others, in the Atlanta child killings.
June 22 - Hamas attacks a travel agency in Greece, killing 2.
June 22 - Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr is deposed.
June 29 - Morris Edwin Robert, armed with a machine gun, holds hostages in the FBI section at the Atlanta, Georgia Federal Building. After 3 hours the hostages are rescued and Robert is shot (dead?).

July

July 8 - California Governor Jerry Brown, faced with a Mediterranean fruit fly infestation, chooses to delay the aerial spraying of malathion, in favor of continuing ground-based eradication efforts.
July 10 - Mahathir bin Mohamad became the 4th prime minister of Malaysia.
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.
July 17 - Israeli bombers destroy the PLO headquarters in Beirut.
July 19 - The 1981 Springbok Tour commences in New Zealand, amid controversy over the support of Apartheid.
July 27 - Wheel of Fortune premiers in Australia on the Seven Network.
July 29 - Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales.

August

August 1 - MTV (Music Television) is launched.
August 3 - The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization goes on strike.
August 5 - Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
August 7 - The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
August 9 - Major League Baseball resumes from strike with the All-Star Game in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium.
August 11 - The original Model 5150 IBM PC with a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor was released in the United States at a base price of $1,565.
August 19 - Gulf of Sidra incident (1981). Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi sends two Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets to intercept two US fighters over the Gulf of Sidra. The American jets destroy the Libyan fighters.
August 19 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan appoints the first female US Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor.
August 19 - Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, aka the pop duo Pet Shop Boys, meet for the first time by chance in an electronics shop in Chelsea, London.
August 28 - South African troops invade Angola.
August 31 - A bomb explodes at the U.S. Army base in Ramstein, West Germany, injuring 20 people.

September

September 4 - An explosion at a mine in Zalizin, Czechoslovakia, kills 65.
September 10 - Picasso's painting "Guernica" is moved from New York to Madrid.
September 15 - The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world, at 150 years old, when it operates under its own power outside Washington, DC.
September 18 - France abolishes capital punishment.
September 19 - The second Wranslide occurs in New South Wales, with the Wran government re-elected for a third term with an increased majority, and reducing the Liberal Party to just 14 members in the Legislative Assembly. Simon and Garfunkel perform The Concert in Central Park, a free concert in New York in front of approximately a half a million people.
September 21 - Sandra Day O'Connor takes her seat as the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
September 27 - TGV high speed rail service between Paris and Lyon, France begins.

October

October 6 - Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is assassinated during a parade by army members who were part of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization; they opposed his negotiations with Israel.
October 13 - James Tobin wins the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
October 10 - The Ministry for Education of Japan issues the jōyō kanji.
October 14 - Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected President of Egypt one week after Anwar Sadat's assassination.
October 15 - Heavy metal band Metallica forms.
October 21 - Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
October 27 - A Soviet submarine run aground oustide military base of Karlskrona, Sweden.

November

November 1 - Antigua and Barbuda gain independence from the United Kingdom
November 9 - Edict No 81-234 abolishes the institution of slavery in Mauritania.
November 12 - STS-2: Space Shuttle Columbia, piloted by Joe Engle and Richard Truly, lifts off for its second mission.
November 13 - The first Friday the 13th event is held by motorcyclists in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada.
November 23 - Iran-Contra scandal: 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-November 26 - A group of mercenaries led by Mike Hoare take over Mahe airport in the Seychelles in a coup attempt. Most of the mercenaries escape by a commandeered Air India passenger jet; six are later arrested
November 30 - 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 Thursday, December 17).

December

December 1 - A Yugoslavian DC-9 crashes into a mountain while approaching Ajaccio Airport in Corsica, killing 178.
December 4 - South Africa grants "homeland" Ciskei independence (not recognized outside South Africa).
December 8 - The No. 21 Mine explosion in Whitwell, Tennessee kills 13.
December 9 - Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner is shot and killed during a routine traffic stop of a vehicle driven by William Cook, Mumia Abu-Jamal's younger brother.
December 11 - 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.
December 15 - A car bomb destroys the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 61 people. This is the first modern suicide bombing.

Syrian intelligence is blamed.

December 20 - The Penlee lifeboat disaster occurs off the coast of South-West Cornwall.
December 28 - The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.

Unknown Dates

Millennium Renactment of the translation of Saint Edward the Martyr's relics from Wareham to Shaftesbury
Public funding of election Campaigns introduced in New South Wales, Australia
The State Council of the People's Republic of China listed the four cities (Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Guilin) as where the protection of historical and cultural heritage as well as natural scenery should be treated as a priority project.
Cuba suffers a major outbreak of Dengue fever, with 344 203 cases. [1]

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 6 - Jérémie Renier, Belgian actor
January 8 - Jeff Francis, Canadian pitcher
January 9 - Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer
January 11 - Jamelia, British singer
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 22 - Ben Moody, American guitarist (formerly of Evanescence)
January 24 - Brandon Henschel, American actor and dancer
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 - Chris Thile, American mandolinist
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 1 - Adam LaVorgna, American actor
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 Touré, 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 15 - Seth Wulsin, Artist
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 - Justin Morneau, Canadian baseball player
May 15 - Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress
May 17 - R.J. Helton, American homosexual singer
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 3 - Mike Adam, Canadian curler
June 5 - Jade Goody, British reality show star
June 6 - Johnny Pacar, American actor
June 7 - Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
June 7 - Larisa Oleynik, American actress
June 8 - Sara Watkins, American violinist
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

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 19 - Didz Hammond, bassist/backing vocalist (Dirty Pretty Things and The Cooper Temple Clause)
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

August 4 - Marques Houston, American singer and actor
August 5 - Carl Crawford, baseball player
August 5 - Rachel Scott, American murder victim
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 8 - Kaori Iida, Japanese singer and actress
August 10 - Natsumi Abe, Japanese singer and actress
August 11 - Sandi Thom, Scottish singer, song writer
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 3 - Fearne Cotton, British television presenter
September 4 - Beyoncé Knowles, American actress and singer (Destiny's Child)
September 4 - Lacey Mosley, American lead vocalist (Flyleaf)
September 8 - Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor
September 12 - Jennifer Hudson, American singer and actress
September 14 - Miyavi, Japanese singer and musician
September 16 - Alexis Bledel, American actress
September 23 - Robert Doornbos, Dutch race car driver
September 25 - 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 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 23 - Olivier Occean, Canadian footballer
October 28 - Milan Baroš, 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 6 - Cassie Bernall, American murder victim
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 (Girls Aloud)
November 20 - Kimberley Walsh, British singer (Girls Aloud)
November 21 - Bryant McFadden, American football player
November 22 - Seweryn Gancarczyk, Polish footballer
November 25 - Xabi Alonso, Spanish 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/songwriter (Evanescence)
December 15 - Thomas Herrion, American football player (d. 2005)
December 15 - Donal Coonan, UK presenter for Channel 4's webshow thisisaknife
December 16 - Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer
December 21 - Cristian Zaccardo, Italian footballer
December 27 - Emilie de Ravin, Australian actress
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)
March 31 - Frank Tieri, American Gangster (b. 1904)
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 17 - Zerna Sharp, American writer and educator (Dick and Jane) (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 27 - Adam Walsh, Murder victim, inspired Code Adam (b. 1974)
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)
September 15 - Rafael Méndez, Mexican-born trumpet virtuoso (b. 1906)
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

November 7 - Will Durant, American philosopher and writer (b. 1885)
November 14 - Robert Bradford, Northern Irish footballer and politician (assassinated) (b. 1941)
November 16 - William Holden, American actor (b. 1918)
November 22 - Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)
November 25 - Jack Albertson, American actor (b. 1907)
November 29 - Natalie Wood, American actress (drowned) (b. 1938)
December 3 - Walter Knott, American farmer and theme park creator (b. 1889)
December 15 - Catherine T. MacArthur, American philanthropist (b. 1909)
December 23 - Reginald Miles Ansett, Australian businessman and aviator (b. 1909)
December 28 - Allan Dwan, Canadian-born film director (b. 1885)

Nobel prizes

Templeton Prize

Dame Cicely Saunders

1981

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Unknown Dates

Births

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

January-April

May-August

September-October

November-December

Nobel prizes

Templeton Prize

See also