1st January » Greece is admitted into the European Community.
1st January » Palau achieves self-government though it is not independent from the United States.
2nd January » One of the largest investigations by a British police force ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper", is arrested in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
8th January » A local farmer reports a Trans-en-Provence Case named UFO sighting in Trans-en-Provence called Trans-en-Provence, France, claimed to be "perhaps the most completely and carefully documented sighting of all time".
10th January » 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
15th January » John Paul II receives a delegation from Solidarity (Polish trade union) at the Vatican City e.g Vatican led by Lech Walesa.
17th January » President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos lifts Martial law in the Philippines called martial law eight years and five months after declaring it.
19th January » Iran Hostage Crisis: United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
20th January » Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated, at age 69 the oldest man ever to be inaugurated as U.S. President, Iran releases 52 Iran hostage crisis e.g American hostages.
21st January » Production of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.
25th January » Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Zedong, is sentenced to death.
28th January » Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.
6th February » The National Resistance Army of Uganda launches an attack on a Uganda National Liberation Army known as Ugandan Army installation in the central Mubende District to begin the Ugandan Bush War.
8th February » Twenty-one association football spectators are Karaiskakis Stadium disaster called trampled to death at Karaiskakis Stadium in Neo Faliro, Greece, after a football match between Olympiacos F.C. and AEK Athens FC.
10th February » A Las Vegas Hilton Fire called fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198.
11th February » convert 100000 USgal m3 of radioactive coolant leak into the containment building of Tennessee Valley Authority TVA Sequoyah Nuclear Generating Station Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating 8 workers.
13th February » A series of Louisville sewer explosions called sewer explosions destroys more than two miles of streets in Louisville, Kentucky.
14th February » Stardust Disaster: A fire in a Dublin nightclub kills 48 people
24th February » An earthquake registering 6.7 on the Richter magnitude scale or Richter scale hits Athens, killing 16 people and destroying buildings in several towns west of the city.
1st March » Provisional Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands begins his 1981 Irish hunger strike called hunger strike in Maze (HM Prison) e.g HM Prison Maze.
5th March » The ZX81, a pioneering United Kingdom called British home computer, is launched by Sinclair Research and would go on to sell over 1.5 million units around the world.
6th March » After 19 years of presenting the 'CBS Evening News', Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
27th March » The Solidarity (Polish trade union) e.g Solidarity movement in Poland stages a 1981 warning strike in Poland called warning strike, in which at least 12 million Poles walk off their jobs for four hours.
30th March » President of the United States called U.S. President Ronald Reagan is Reagan assassination attempt e.g shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr. Another two people are wounded at the same time.
3rd April » The Osborne 1, the first successful portable computer, is unveiled at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco.
4th April » The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force mounts an Attack on H3 e.g attack on H-3 Airbase and destroys about 50 Iraqi aircraft.
9th April » The United States Navy U.S. Navy nuclear submarine USS George Washington SSBN-598 6 accidentally collides with the 'Nissho Maru', a Japanese cargo ship, sinking it.
11th April » A massive Brixton riot (1981) named riot in Brixton, South London, results in almost 300 police injuries and 65 serious civilian injuries.
12th April » The first launch of a Space Shuttle ('Space Shuttle Columbia called Columbia') takes place - the STS-1 mission.
14th April » STS-1 The first operational space shuttle, Space Shuttle Columbia e.g Columbia (OV-102) completes its first test flight.
18th April » The longest professional baseball game is begun in Pawtucket, Rhode Island named Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The game is suspended at 4:00 the next morning and finally completed on June 23.
25th April » More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Fukui or Tsuruga, Japan.
27th April » Xerox PARC introduces the computer mouse.
5th May » Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger strike or hunger-striking, aged 27.
10th May » François Mitterrand wins the presidential election and becomes the first Socialist Party (France) e.g Socialist President of France in the France or French Fifth Republic.
12th May » Francis Hughes Hunger strike starves to death in the Maze Prison in a Irish republicanism Republican campaign for political prisoner political prisoner status to be granted to Provisional Irish Republican Army Provisional IRA prisoners.
21st May » The Italian government releases the membership list of Propaganda Due, an illegal pseudo-Freemasonry known as Masonic lodge that was implicated in numerous Italian crimes and mysteries.
24th May » Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera, his wife, and his presidential committee die in an aircraft accident while travelling from Quito to Zapotillo minutes after the president gave a famous speech regarding the 24 de mayo anniversary of the Battle o
25th May » In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
26th May » Prime Minister of Italy Italian Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani and his coalition cabinet resign following a scandal over membership of the Freemasonry pseudo-masonic lodge Propaganda Due P2 '(Propaganda Due)'.
26th May » An Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler known as EA-6B Prowler crashes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) e.g USS 'Nimitz' (CVN-68), killing 14 crewmen and injuring 45 others.
31st May » The burning of Jaffna library in Sri Lanka. It is one of the violent examples of ethnic Book burning e.g biblioclasm of the twentieth century.
5th June » The "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that five people in Los Angeles, California, have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems, in what turns out to be th
6th June » Bihar train disaster: a passenger train travelling between Mansi and Saharsa, India, jumps the tracks at a bridge crossing the Bagmati named Bagmati river. The government places the official death toll at 268 plus another 300 missing; however, it is gener
11th June » A Richter scale 6.9 magnitude earthquake at Golbaf, Iran, kills at least 2,000.
13th June » At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager, Marcus Sarjeant, fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom or Elizabeth II.
18th June » The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology, makes its first flight.
25th June » Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington (state) known as Washington.
28th June » A powerful Hafte tir bombing or bomb explodes in Tehran, killing 73 officials of Islamic Republic Party.
1st July » The Wonderland murders occur in the early morning hours in Los Angeles, allegedly masterminded by businessman and drug dealer Eddie Nash.
17th July » The opening of the Humber Bridge by Queen Elizabeth II in England named England, United Kingdom.
17th July » A structural failure leads to the collapse of Hyatt Regency walkway collapse known as a walkway at the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri killing 114 people and injuring more than 200.
19th July » In a private meeting with U.S. President Ronald Reagan, French Prime Minister François Mitterrand reveals the existence of the Farewell Dossier, a collection of documents showing that the Soviets had been stealing American technological research and devel
27th July » United Kingdom called British television: On 'Coronation Street', Ken Barlow marries Deirdre Barlow called Deirdre Langton, which proves to be a national event scoring massive viewer numbers for the show.
27th July » Murder of Adam Walsh called Adam Walsh, 6-year-old son of John Walsh (television host) known as John Walsh, is kidnapped in Hollywood, Florida and is found murdered two weeks later.
1st August » MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.
3rd August » Senegalese opposition parties, under the leadership of Mamadou Dia, launch the Antiimperialist Action Front – Suxxali Reew Mi.
5th August » President Ronald Reagan Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968) called fires 11,359 Strike action e.g striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
7th August » 'The Washington Star' ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
12th August » The IBM Personal Computer is released.
19th August » Gulf of Sidra incident (1981) Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Air Force (1951–2011) Libyan Sukhoi Su-17 Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra.
24th August » Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.
25th August » Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Saturn
15th September » The John Bull (locomotive) named John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, D.C.
15th September » Vanuatu becomes a member of the United Nations.
18th September » Assemblée Nationale votes to abolish capital punishment in France.
21st September » Belize is granted full independence from the United Kingdom.
26th September » Baseball: Nolan Ryan sets a Major League Baseball named Major League record by throwing his fifth no-hitter.
3rd October » The 1981 Irish hunger strike known as hunger strike by Provisional Irish Republican Army and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland ends after seven months and ten deaths.
6th October » Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat is Assassination of Anwar Sadat called murdered by Islamic extremists.
9th October » Abolition of capital punishment in France.
14th October » Citing official misconduct in the investigation and trial, Amnesty International charges the U.S. Federal Government with holding Richard Marshalldisambiguation needed known as date=May 2012 of the American Indian Movement as a political prisoner.
14th October » Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected as the President of Egypt one week after the assassination of the President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat.
21st October » Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece, ending an almost 50-year long system of power dominated by conservative forces.
22nd October » The United States Federal Labor Relations Authority votes to decertify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968) known as Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization for its Strike action known as strike the previous August.
27th October » The Soviet Union known as Soviet submarine Soviet submarine S-363 or 'U 137' runs aground on the east coast of Sweden.
1st November » Antigua and Barbuda gains independence from the United Kingdom.
11th November » Antigua and Barbuda joins the United Nations.
12th November » Space Shuttle program: Mission STS-2, utilizing the Space Shuttle 'Space Shuttle Columbia named Columbia', marks the first time a manned spacecraft is launched into space twice.
23rd November » Iran-Contra Affair: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contras known as Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
25th November » Pope John Paul II appoints Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
28th November » Our Lady of Kibeho: Schoolchildren in Kibeho, Rwanda, experience the first of a series of Marian apparitions.
30th November » 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 December 17.)
1st December » Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, crashes in Corsica, killing all 180 people on board.
4th December » South Africa grants independence to the Ciskei "homeland" (not recognized by any government outside South Africa).
11th December » El Mozote massacre: Armed forces in El Salvador kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War.
13th December » General Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland to prevent dismantling of the communist system by 'Solidarity (Polish trade union) named Solidarity'.
17th December » American Brigadier General James L. Dozier is abducted by the Red Brigades in Verona, Italy.
19th December » Sixteen lives are lost when the Penlee lifeboat disaster e.g Penlee lifeboat goes to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas.
30th December » In the 39th game of his third National Hockey League e.g NHL season, Wayne Gretzky scores five goals, giving him 50 on the year and setting a new NHL record previously held by Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy, who earlier had each scored 50 goals in 50 game