Today in History for Year 1981

Months in Year 1981: January February March April May June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 100 of 759

Jan 1st - Georgia beats Notre Dame in Sugar Bowl for college football title
Jan 1st - Greece is 10th country to join European Economic Community
Jan 1st - International Year for the Disabled begins
Jan 1st - Palau (Trust Territory of Pacific Is) becomes self-governing
Jan 1st - Roger Smith becomes CEO of General Motors
Jan 2nd - Mary Terstegge Meagher swims female record 200 m butterfly (2:05.65)
Jan 2nd - Sylvester Clarke knocks out spectator with brick, WI v Pakistan
Jan 3rd - 55th Australian Womens Tennis: H Mandlikova beats W Turnbull (60 75)
Jan 3rd - Cleveland Cavaliers retire jersey # 34, Austin Carr
Jan 3rd - Greg Chappell scores 204 v India at the SCG
Jan 3rd - Mary Terstegge Meagher swims female record 100 m butterfly (58.91)
Jan 4th - "Frankenstein" opens & closes on Broadway
Jan 4th - "Peter Pan" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 578 performances
Jan 4th - 69th Australian Mens Tennis: B Teacher beats Kim Warwick (75 76 63)
Jan 4th - British police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper"
Jan 5th - "Nightline" with Ted Koppel extended from 20 mins to 30 mins
Jan 5th - British police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, a truck driver later convicted of "Yorkshire Ripper" murders of 13 women
Jan 6th - 50th hat trick in Islander history-John Tonelli scored 5 goals
Jan 8th - "Pirates of Penzance" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 772 performances
Jan 8th - India all out 63 in one-day international v Australia
Jan 8th - Reds become last team to sign a free agent (Larry Biitner)
Jan 9th - Francisco Balsamao elected pres of Portugal
Jan 10th - El Salvador guerrilla group FMLN opens "general offensive"
Jan 10th - John Severin sets 100-mi unicycle speed record, 9 h 21 m
Jan 11th - "Tintypes" closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 93 performances
Jan 11th - Palau adopts constitution
Jan 11th - Brit team led by Ranulph Fiennes completes longest & fastest crossing of Antarctica, reaching Scott base after 75 days (2,500 miles)
Jan 12th - "Dynasty" with Joan Collins premieres on ABC-TV
Jan 12th - -35°F (-37°C), Chester, Massachusetts (state record)
Jan 12th - Dynasty, a prime time soap opera inspired by Dallas, premieres on ABC
Jan 13th - Barbara Sonntag, Colo, crochets record 147 stitches/min for 1/2 hour
Jan 13th - Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to May Swenson & Howard Nemerov
Jan 13th - Islander's Mike Bossy's 15th career hat trick-4 goals
Jan 14th - FCC frees stations to air as many commercials an hour as they wish
Jan 15th - "Hill Street Blues" premieres on NBC-TV
Jan 15th - Bob Gibson elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
Jan 16th - Boxer Leon Spinks is mugged, his assailants even took his gold teeth
Jan 16th - John Lennon releases "Woman" in UK
Jan 16th - Protestant gunmen shoot & wound Bernadette Devlin McAliskey & husband
Jan 16th - Ivan Lendl intentionally loses a match in Volvo Masters in order to avoid having to play Bjorn Borg
Jan 17th - Philippino president Marcos ends state of siege
Jan 18th - Iran accepts US offer of $7.9 billion in frozen assets
Jan 18th - Wendy O Williams arrested in Milwaukee for on-stage obscenity
Heavyweight Boxing Champ Muhammad Ali Jan 19th - Muhammad Ali talks a despondent 21 year old out of committing suicide
Jan 19th - US & Iran sign agreement to release 52 American hostages
Jan 20th - 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days freed
Jan 20th - Adm Stansfield Turner, USN (Ret), ends term as 12th director of CIA
Jan 20th - Frank C Carlucci, ends term as deputy director of CIA
Jan 20th - Islander Glenn Resch's 25th & last shut-out opponent-Flames 5-0
Jan 20th - Ronald Reagan inaugurated as president
Jan 21st - "Shakespeare's Cabaret" opens at Bijou Theater NYC for 54 performances
Jan 21st - Bernhard Goetz is assault for 1st time on a NY subway train
Jan 22nd - 40th Islander shut-out opponent-3-0 vs Red Wings-Billy Smith 15th
Jan 22nd - O A "Bum" Phillips becomes head coach of New Orleans Saints
Jan 23rd - 1st Richard Nixon museum opens (San Clemente California)
Jan 23rd - Jochem Bird elected mayor of West Berlin
Jan 23rd - Mike Bossy becomes 1st in NHL to score 50 goals in 50 games
Jan 23rd - Red Sox trade Fred Lynn to Angels for Frank Tanana & Joe Rudi
US President & Actor Ronald Reagan Jan 24th - Islanders scored 5 power play goals against Nordiques
Jan 24th - Kim Hughes scores 213 v India at Adelaide
Jan 25th - 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444 days arrived back in US
Jan 25th - Mao's widow Jiang Qing sentenced to death
Jan 25th - Superbowl XV: Oakland Raiders beat Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10 in New Orleans Superbowl MVP: Jim Plunkett, Oakland, QB
Jan 26th - Sandeep Patil scores memorable 174 v Australia at Adelaide Oval
Jan 28th - "5 O'Clock Girl" opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 12 performances
Jan 28th - William J Casey becomes 13th director of CIA (until 1987)
Jan 28th - Olympic Glory tanker at Galveston Bay, Texas, spills 1 million gallons of oil in a ship collision
Jan 29th - AL approves sale of White Sox to Jerry Reinsdorf & Eddie Einhorn for $20 million, & 80% of Mariners to George Argyros for $104 million
Jan 30th - 8th American Music Award: Kenny Rogers wins
Jan 31st - "The Tide Is High" by Blondie hits #1
Jan 31st - 38th Golden Globes: Ordinary People, Coal Miner's Daughter
Jan 31st - Gaetan Boucher skates world record 1000m (1:13.39)
Feb 1st - 11th AFC-NFC pro bowl, NFC wins 21-7
Country Singer Kenny Rogers Feb 1st - 31st NBA All-Star Game: East beats West 123-120 at Cleveland
Feb 1st - Duke Ellington-musical "Sophisticated Ladies," premieres in NYC
Feb 1st - Dutch Antilles census is 231,932
Feb 1st - French government accord sends 60 Mirage fighter jets to Iraq
Feb 1st - NFL Pro Bowl: NFC beats AFC 21-7
Feb 1st - Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Whirlpool Golf Championship of Deer Creek
Feb 1st - Trevor Chappell bowls underarm to Brian McKechnie, WSC Final MCG
Feb 3rd - Australia beats NZ 3-1 to win World Series Cup
Feb 3rd - Gro Harlem Brundtland elected premier of Norway
Feb 5th - "Piaf" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 165 performances
Feb 5th - Largest Jell-O made (9,246 gallons of watermelon-flavor) in Brisbane
Feb 5th - Milt jury in NC convicts Robert Garwood of collaborating with enemy
Feb 6th - "Brady Brides," debuts on NBC TV
Feb 6th - Beatles McCartney, Starr & Harrison record a tribute to John Lennon
Feb 6th - Suleiman Nyambui runs world record 5k indoor (13:20.4)
Feb 8th - "5 O'Clock Girl" closes at Helen Hayes Theater NYC after 12 perfs
Feb 8th - "Brigadoon" closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 133 performances
Feb 8th - Sally Little wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
Feb 8th - US female Figure Skating championship won by Elaine Zayak
Feb 8th - US male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Hamilton
Feb 10th - 33rd NHL All-Star Game: Campbell beat Wales 4-1 at LA
Feb 10th - 8 killed & 198 injured by fire at Las Vegas Hilton
Feb 10th - Dennis Lillee becomes Australian Cricket's top wicket-taker with 249
Feb 11th - Australia all out 83 v India at MCG chasing 143 to win
Feb 11th - Polish premier Jozef Pinkowski replaced by Wojciech Jaruzelski
Feb 12th - Admiral Bobby R Inman, USN, becomes deputy director of CIA
Feb 12th - Arbitrator Goetz declares Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk a free agent

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Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 796

Jan 1st - Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian race car driver
Jan 1st - Abdülkadir Koçak, Turkish boxer
Jan 1st - Jonas Armstrong, Irish actor
Jan 1st - Eden Riegel, American actress
Jan 2nd - Hanno Balitsch, German footballer
Jan 2nd - Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
Jan 2nd - Ryan Garko, American baseball player
Jan 2nd - Kirk Hinrich, American basketball player
Jan 3rd - Eli Manning, American football player
Jan 3rd - Chris Blais, California racecar driver
Jan 5th - Corey Flynn, New Zealand rugby union footballer
Jan 5th - Brooklyn Sudano, American actress
Jan 6th - Mike Jones, American rapper
Jan 6th - Rinko Kikuchi, Japanese actress
Jan 6th - Jérémie Renier, Belgian actor
Jan 6th - Asante Samuel, National Football League Defensive Back
Jan 7th - Alex Auld, Canadian ice hockey player
Jan 7th - Marquis Daniels, American basketball player
Jan 8th - Jeff Francis, Canadian baseball player
Jan 8th - Xie Xingfang, Chinese badminton player
Jan 9th - Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer
Jan 10th - Brian Joo, Korean-American singer
Jan 11th - Jamelia Niela Davis, Birmingham, English singer
Jan 11th - Tom Meighan, British singer (Kasabian)
Jan 12th - Dan Klecko, American football player
Jan 13th - Reggie Brown, American football player
Jan 13th - Shad Gaspard, American professional wrestler, bodyguard, and actor
Jan 13th - Jason James, Welsh musician (Bullet for My Valentine)
Jan 13th - Darrell Rasner, American baseball player
Jan 14th - Abdelmalek Cherrad, Algerian football
Jan 14th - Rosa López, Spanish singer
Jan 14th - Pitbull, American rapper
Jan 15th - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
Jan 15th - Sean Lamont, Scottish rugby union footballer
Jan 15th - Howie Day, American singer
Jan 16th - Nick Valensi, American guitarist (The Strokes)
Jan 16th - Bobby Zamora, English footballer
Jan 17th - Ray J, singer
Jan 17th - Warren Feeney, Northern Irish footballer
Jan 17th - Scott Mechlowicz, American actor
Jan 17th - Ray J, American R&B singer
Jan 18th - Kimberly Gloudemans, Miss California Teen USA (1997)
Jan 18th - Latoya Farley, Miss Oklahoma Teen USA (1996)
Jan 18th - Khari Stephenson, Jamaican footballer
Jan 18th - Kang Dong-won, South Korean model and actor
Jan 18th - Olivier Rochus, Belgian tennis player
Jan 19th - Asier Del Horno, Spanish footballer
Jan 19th - Lucho González, Argentine footballer
Jan 20th - Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
Jan 20th - Christine Bleakley, BBC Television Host
Jan 20th - Owen Hargreaves, English international footballer
Jan 20th - Crystal Lowe, Canadian actress
Jan 21st - Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
Jan 21st - Gillian Chung Yan-tung, Hong Kong singer (Twins)
Jan 21st - Jamie Dalrymple, English cricketer
Jan 21st - Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player
Jan 21st - Andy Lee, Korean singer (Shinhwa)
Jan 21st - Izabella Miko, Polish-born actress and model
Jan 21st - Alex Ubago, Spanish-Basque singer-songwriter
Jan 22nd - Ibrahima Sonko, French footballer
Jan 22nd - Willa Ford, American singer
Jan 22nd - Beverley Mitchell, American actress
Jan 23rd - Rob Friend, Canadian footballer
Jan 23rd - Greg Smith, American UFC fighter
Jan 24th - Travis Hanson, American baseball player
Jan 25th - Tose Proeski, Macedonian Singer (d. 2007)
Jan 25th - Francis Jeffers, English footballer
Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys (Jan 25th) Jan 25th - Alicia Keys [Cook], New York NY, singer-songwriter (Fallin, Where Do We Go From Here)
Jan 26th - Juan Jose Haedo, Argentinian Cyclist
Jan 27th - Jonny Lang, blues musician
Jan 27th - Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player
Jan 28th - Elijah Wood, Cedar Rapids Iowa, actor (Radio Flyer, Good Son)
Jan 28th - Rick Razzano, American football player
Jan 29th - Álex Ubago, Spanish musician
Jan 29th - Darío Lopilato, Argentine actor
Jan 30th - Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer
Jan 30th - Mathias Lauda, Austrian racing driver
Jan 30th - Peter Crouch, English footballer
Jan 30th - Josh Kelley, American musician
Jan 31st - Sergio D. Acosta, Chicano Filmmaker
Jan 31st - Julio Arca, Argentinian football player
Jan 31st - Justin Timberlake, Memphis, Tennessee, singer-songwriter (Sexyback, My Love)
Singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake (Jan 31st) Feb 1st - Luis Lamá, Angolan footballer
Feb 1st - Graeme Smith, South African cricketer
Feb 1st - Rob Austin, British racing driver
Feb 2nd - Jason Kapono, American basketball player
Feb 3rd - Maurice Ross, Scottish footballer
Feb 3rd - Alisa Reyes, American actress and singer
Feb 4th - Tom Mastny, Indonesian baseball player
Feb 4th - Johan Van Summeren, Belgian cyclist
Feb 4th - Ben Hendrickson, American baseball player
Feb 4th - Jason Kapono, America professional basketball player
Feb 5th - Loukas Vyntra, Greek football player
Feb 5th - Nora Zehetner, American actress
Feb 6th - Calum Best, American model
Feb 6th - Jens Lekman, Swedish musician
Feb 6th - Ty Warren, National Football League defensive lineman
Feb 8th - Tommy Michaels, Staten Island NY, actor (Timmy Hutton-All My Children)
Feb 8th - Myriam Montemayor Cruz, Mexican singer
Feb 9th - Joël Camathias, Swiss racing driver

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Famous Weddings

Weddings 1 - 12 of 11

Apr 11th - Valerie Bertinelli marries Eddie Van Halen
Apr 25th - Maureen Reagan (40) marries 3rd husband, Dennis Revell (28)
Apr 27th - Beatle Ringo Starr marries actress Barbara Bach [Goldbach]
Apr 27th - Beatle Ringo Starr marries actress Barbara Bach [Goldbach]
May 8th - Author John Grisham (26) weds Renee Jones
May 16th - Pretenders' Martin Chambers weds Tracy Atkinson
Jul 27th - British television: On Coronation Street, Ken Barlow marries Deirdre Langton, proving to be a national event with massive viewer numbers
Jul 29th - Prince Charles of England weds Lady Diane Spencer at St Pauls' Cathedral, London
Oct 5th - "The Hollywood Knights" actress Michelle Pfeiffer (23) weds actor Peter Horton (28) in Santa Monica
Nov 16th - Luke marries Laura on TV soap "General Hospital" (16 million watch)
Nov 26th - Legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (55) weds "Sounder" actress Cicely Tyson (47) at the home of actor Bill Cosby
Dec 24th - Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa & Lisa Evers marry

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 100 of 305

Jan 1st - Hephzibah Menuhin, American-Jewish concert pianist (b. 1920)
Jan 2nd - David Lynch, singer (Platters-My Prayer), dies at 51
Jan 3rd - Princess Alice of Albany (b. 1883)
Jan 5th - Harold C Urey, US chemist (Deuterium, Nobel 1934), dies at 87
Jan 5th - Paul Félix, Flemish architect (Song of the Sun), dies at 67
Jan 5th - Lanza del Vasto, Italian philosopher (b. 1901)
Jan 6th - A[rchibald] J[oseph] Cronin, physician/author (Citadel), dies at 84
Jan 6th - A. J. Cronin, Scottish writer (b. 1896)
Jan 7th - Jose Ardevol, composer, dies at 69
Jan 7th - Alvar Lidell, UK radio broadcaster (b. 1908)
Jan 7th - Eric Robinson, Australian politician (b. 1926)
Jan 8th - Matthew Beard, entertainer, dies
Jan 8th - Woody Chamblis, actor (Mr Lathrop-Gunsmoke), dies at 66
Jan 9th - Kazimierz Serocki, composer, dies at 58
Jan 10th - Richard Boone, actor (Paladin-Have Gun Will Travel), dies at 63
Jan 10th - Fawn M. Brodie, American historian (b. 1915)
Jan 11th - Beulah Bondi, actress (It's a Wonderful Life), dies at 88
Jan 12th - Beulah Bondi, actress (It's a Wonderful Life), dies at 89
Jan 12th - Isobel Elsom, actress (Unseen, Jane Eyre, Illegal), dies at 87
Jan 13th - Emiel van Hemeldonck, Belgian writer (Mary, My Child), dies at 83
Jan 14th - John O'Grady, Australian writer (Nino Culotta) (b. 1907)
Jan 15th - Emanuel Celler, (Rep-D-NY, 1923-73), dies at 92
Jan 16th - Bernard Lee, English actor (Fallen Idol, Dr No), dies at 73
Jan 17th - Loukas Panourgias, Greek footballer (b. 1899)
Jan 21st - Allyn Joslyn, actor (They Won't Forget, Cafe Society), dies at 79
Jan 22nd - Fannie Thomas, US, dies at 113
Jan 22nd - Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi, Pakistani historian and educationist (b. 1903)
Jan 23rd - Bobby Sherwood, orchestra leader (Milton Berle Show), dies at 66
Jan 23rd - Samuel Barber, US composer (School for Scandal), dies at 70
Jan 25th - Adele Marie Astaire, sister of Fred Astaire, dies at 82
Jan 25th - Richard Talmadge, actor (Speed Reporter), dies
Jan 25th - [Adele] Marie Astaire, actress (Last Man on Earth, Millie), dies at 82
Jan 27th - Leo Collard, Belgian minister of Education (1946/54-58), dies at 78
Jan 29th - Cozy Cole, rocker (Topsy Part II), dies
Feb 1st - Donald W Douglas, US aviation pionieer/builder, dies at 88
Feb 1st - Ernst Pepping, composer, dies at 79
Feb 1st - Nils Geirr Tveitt, composer, dies at 72
Feb 1st - Wanda Hendrix, actress (Sierra, Ride the Pink Horse), dies
Feb 2nd - Donald W Douglas, US aircraft pioneer/builder, dies at 88
Feb 2nd - Jan Donner, Dutch chairman of High Council, dies at 89
Feb 2nd - Louise Lorraine, actress (Adventures of Tarzan), dies
Feb 5th - Barend Barendse, Dutch sportscaster, dies at 73
Feb 5th - Kuda Bux, Indian mystic (I'd Like to See), dies at 75
Feb 5th - Ella Grasso, Governor of Connecticut (b. 1919)
Feb 6th - Hugo Montenegro, American film music composer (b. 1925)
Feb 6th - Frederika of Hanover, Queen Consort of Greece (b. 1917)
Feb 7th - Frederika of Hanover, Queen of Greece (b. 1917)
Feb 9th - Bill Haley, vocalist (Rock Around Clock), dies of heart attack at 55
Feb 12th - Jean Dixon, actress (Joy of Livng, You Only Live Once), dies
Feb 15th - Jack Crapp, cricketer (7 Tests for England 1948-49, 319 runs), dies
Feb 15th - Mike Bloomfield, rocker (Electric Flag), dies of drug overdose at 36
Feb 15th - Thomas Beversdorf, composer, dies at 56
Feb 15th - Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
Feb 16th - Howard Hanson, composer, dies at 84
Feb 18th - John Knudsen Northrop, American aircraft manufacturer (b. 1895)
Feb 19th - Frank Merrik, composer, dies at 94
Feb 26th - FC Terborgh, [Reijnier Flaes], lawyer/writer (Turkish War), dies at 79
Feb 26th - Howard Hanson, US composer/conductor (Nordic), dies at 84
Feb 26th - Munabi, assistant to Uganda president Obote, murdered
Feb 26th - Robert Aickman, English writer and conservationist (b. 1914)
Feb 27th - Jacob H. Gilbert, American politician (b. 1920)
Mar 2nd - Janear Hines, actress (Roberta-Julia), dies at 30
Mar 4th - Torin Thatcher, actor (Houdini, Isranbul, Lady Godiva), dies
Mar 4th - Yip Harburg, American lyricist (b. 1896)
Mar 5th - Brenda De Banzie, actress (39 Steps, Hobson's Choice), dies at 64
Mar 5th - Paul Horbiger, actor (3rd Man), dies at 86
Mar 6th - George Geary, cricketer (14 Tests for England, 46 wickets), dies
Mar 6th - Klaus Grabowski, child molester, shot by parent
Mar 7th - John Gnagy, artist (Learn to Draw), dies at 73
Mar 7th - Kirill Petrovich Kondrashin, Russian conductor/composer, dies at 67
Mar 14th - Ken Barrington, cricketer (82 Tests for England, 6806 runs), dies
Mar 15th - René Clair, French film director (b. 1898)
Mar 17th - Paul Dean, American baseball player (b. 1913)
Mar 22nd - James "Jumbo" Elliott, American track coach (b. 1915)
Mar 26th - Cyril Dean Darlington, biologist (hereditary mechanisms), dies at 77
Mar 26th - Tim Wall, cricketer (SA v NSW 1933 is Sheffield Shield record), dies
Mar 27th - Mao Dun, Chinese writer (b. 1895)
Mar 29th - Eric Williams, Prime Minister (Trinidad & Tobago), dies at 79
Mar 30th - Dewitt Wallace, US founder (Reader's Digest), dies at 91
Mar 30th - Noel Harford, cricketer (8 Tests for NZ 1955-58), dies
Mar 31st - Enid Bagnold, British playwright (b. 1889)
Apr 1st - D[ennis] F[eltham] Jones, sci-fi author (Colossus), dies at 65
Apr 1st - Eua Sunthornsanan, Thai composer and bandleader (b. 1910)
Apr 3rd - Juan Trippe, Airline entrepreneur and pioneer, Pan Am founder (b. 1899)
Apr 4th - Brad Johnson, actor (Annie Oakley), dies at 56
Apr 5th - Bob "Bear" Hite, rocker (Canned Heat), dies of a heart attack at 36
Apr 5th - Cornelis Verolme, Dutch ship builder, dies at 80
Apr 7th - Kit Lambert, British record producer and manager (The Who) (b. 1935)
Apr 8th - Norman Taurog, dies
Apr 8th - Omar Bradley, last US 5-star general, (Normandy) dies in NY at 88
Apr 11th - Marie Ney, dies at 85
Apr 12th - Hans Chemin-Petit, composer, dies at 78
Apr 12th - Hendrik F Andriessen, Dutch organist/composer (Te Deum), dies at 88
Apr 12th - Joe Louis, [Brown bomber], US heavyweight boxing champion (1937-49), dies at 66
Apr 13th - Prince Asaka Yasuhiko of Japan (b. 1887)
Apr 15th - French Duynstee, Dutch states rights leader, dies at 67
Apr 16th - Eric Hollies, cricketer (13 Tests for England, 44 wickets), dies
Apr 19th - Ernst Levy, composer, dies at 85
Apr 21st - Harry Lee, cricketer (scored 18 & 1 in only Test for England), dies
Apr 22nd - Brailsford Reese Brazeal, dean (Morehouse College), dies at 76