1981

15 January 1974 - 12 July 1984	USA [television]	The situation comedy Happy Days, about family life in the 1950s, premiers on US television and runs for 11 seasons.
11 September 1974 - 21 March 1983	USA [television]	Little House on the Prairie, a popular television drama based on the classic series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, starts on US television. It chronicles the Ingalls family's struggles in the American West in the 1870s.
1976–1981	UK, USA [television]	The Muppet Show, featuring sketches and songs by Jim Henson's puppets – including Kermit and Miss Piggy – is shown on British and US television.
1981	UK [television]	The Broadcasting Complaints Commission is set up in Britain to deal with viewers' criticisms.
1981	China, India, USSR, USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Japan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, Mexico, West Germany, Italy, UK, France [statistics and demography]	Populations (in millions): China, 991.3; India, 690.2; USSR, 268.0; USA, 229.8; Indonesia, 149.5; Brazil, 120.5; Japan, 117.6; Bangladesh, 90.7; Nigeria, 87.6; Pakistan, 84.5; Mexico, 71.2; West Germany, 61.7; Italy, 56.2; Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 56.0; France, 54.0.
1981	world [statistics and demography]	The world population stands at 4.5 billion, up 2 billion since 1950.
1981	India [statistics and demography]	It is estimated that the average woman in India has eight pregnancies in her lifetime; 3.5 million Indian women are sterilized each year.
1981	USA [statistics and demography]	Divorces in the USA reach their highest to date at 1,210,000 this year.
1981	USA [technology]	The first working high-definition television (HDTV) is demonstrated in Japan.
1981	USA [sculpture]	The US artist Richard Serra completes his sculpture Tilted Arc, which is set up in Foley Square, New York City.
1981	Germany [social theory]	German social scientist Jürgen Habermas publishes Theorie des kommunikatives Handelns/The Theory of Communicative Action.
1981	USA [biology]	US geneticists J W Gordon and F H Ruddle of the University of Ohio inject genes from one animal into the fertilized egg of a mouse that develop into mice with the foreign gene in many of the cells; the gene is then passed on to their offspring creating permanently altered (transgenic) animals; it is the first transfer of a gene from one animal species to another.
1981	UK [cinema and film]	The film Chariots of Fire, directed by Hugh Hudson, is released in the UK. It stars Ian Charleson and Ben Cross.
1981	world [computing]	The IBM personal computer is introduced.
1981	USA [computing]	The electronics company Commodore launch the VIC-20, which will become the first microcomputer to sell over 1 million units.
1981	USA [aircraft]	US pilot Stephen Ptacek crosses the English Channel from Paris, France, to Manston, Kent, England (368 km /180 mi), at a height of 3,353 m/11,000 ft, in 5.5 hrs in Solar Challenger, the first solar-powered aircraft; it uses 16,000 solar cells.
1981	USA [astronomy]	The Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope at Socorro, New Mexico, enters service. Its 27 25-m/82-ft diameter dishes can be steered and moved on railway tracks, and are equivalent to one dish 27 km/17 mi in diameter; together they provide high-resolution radio images.
1981	England [fiction]	The Indian-born English writer Salman Rushdie publishes his novel Midnight's Children, which wins the Booker Prize.
1981	Indonesia, Iran [gay rights]	Two Indonesian women are jailed for lesbian acts; one is subjected to surgical and medical treatment designed to ‘cure’ her. In Iran, lesbians are subject to execution after three warnings.
1981	China [law and government]	Strict population controls in China that limit families to one child lead to an increase in female infanticide.
1981	Spain [everyday life]	Divorce becomes legal in Spain.
1981	UK [newspapers]	Australian publisher Rupert Murdoch buys The Times group of newspapers in Britain.
1981	Russia [orchestral music]	The Russian composer Alfred Schnittke completes his Symphony No. 3.
1981	England [painting]	The German-born English artist Lucian Freud paints Naked Girl with Dog.
1981	UK [musicals]	The musical Cats is first performed, in London, England. Written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, it is based on T S Eliot's book of poems for children Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats . One of its best-known songs is ‘Memories’.
1981	England [philosophy]	English philosopher R M Hare publishes Moral Thinking.
1981	USA [public health]	The US Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, first conclusively identifies AIDS; doctors realize that they have previously seen similar cases among drug users and homosexuals.
1 January 1981	Greece [political events]	Greece becomes the 10th member of the European Community.
5 January - 9 February 1981	UK [television]	The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, based on Douglas Adams's book and starring Simon Jones, is shown on British television.
20 January 1981	Iran [diplomacy]	Iran releases all 52 US hostages, held since November 4, 1979, after an agreement is signed in Algiers releasing Iranian financial assets in the USA.
25 January 1981	China [political events]	A show trial in Beijing, China convicts the ‘Gang of Four’ prominent former political leaders of treason. Jiang Qing, widow of Chairman Mao Zedong, receives a suspended death sentence.
3 February 1981	Norway [law and government]	Labour politician Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes the first woman prime minister of Norway.
23 February 1981	Spain [law and government]	Two hundred Civil Guards storm the Spanish parliament and hold members at gunpoint in an attempted coup. The Guards surrender after King Juan Carlos denounces the coup on February 24.
26 March 1981	UK [political parties]	The British Social Democratic Party (SDP) is officially launched, with a programme including an incomes policy, the adoption of a proportional representation voting system, and support for the European Community and NATO.
30 March 1981	USA [political events]	John Hinckley attempts to assassinate US president Ronald Reagan; he wounds the president and press secretary James Brady.
April 1981	Netherlands, Austria [music]	The Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan demonstrates the first compact discs, developed by the Dutch company Philips, at the Salzburg Festival, in Austria.
4 April 1981	UK [sports]	Susan Brown becomes the first woman cox in the Oxford and Cambridge university boat race in England, steering the Oxford crew to victory.
7 April 1981	Philippines [law and government]	A referendum in the Philippines grants sweeping new powers to President Ferdinand Marcos.
12 April - 14 April 1981	USA [aircraft]	The US reusable space shuttle, using the orbiter Columbia, makes its first flight (second shuttle flight 12–14 November). It is also the first landing of a US spacecraft on land.
12 April 1981	USA [births and deaths]	Joe Louis, US world heavyweight champion boxer 1937–49, dies in Las Vegas, Nevada (66).
30 April 1981	Poland [law and government]	The Central Committee of the Polish Communist Party approves a programme of moderate economic and political reforms.
5 May 1981	Northern Ireland [political events]	Riots break out in Northern Ireland following the death of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) hunger striker and successful parliamentary candidate Bobby Sands in the Maze prison.
10 May 1981	France [elections]	François Mitterrand becomes the first Socialist president of France, winning 51.7% of the vote to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's 48.3%.
13 May 1981	Vatican [political events]	A Turkish gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca, seriously wounds Pope John Paul II in an assassination attempt in St Peter's Square, Rome. He is jailed for life on 22 July.
5 June 1981	UK [television]	Moira Stewart becomes the first black woman newsreader on British television.
17 July 1981	Middle East [political events]	Israeli military aircraft attack Palestinian areas of Beirut. Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization agree a ceasefire on 29 July after two weeks of fighting in southern Lebanon.
29 July 1981	UK [media and communication]	Charles, Prince of Wales, marries Lady Diana Spencer in St Paul's Cathedral in London, England. Television coverage attracts 39 million people, the largest British audience to date.
1 August 1981	USA [popular music]	With a target audience aged 12–34, and an estimated 2.5 million subscribers, the MTV (music television) channel is launched, with the video of the Buggles' single ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’.
3 August - 5 August 1981	Poland [unions and associations]	The Solidarity trade union movement blockades Warsaw city centre in Poland in protest at food shortages.
12 August 1981	USA [computing]	IBM launches its personal computer, using the Microsoft disk-operating system (MS-DOS).
19 August - 28 August 1981	UK [athletics]	In nine days the English runners Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe establish three new world records for the mile; the record is cut by over 1 second to 3 min 47.53 sec. Coe runs 3 min 48.53 sec in Zürich, Switzerland. Ovett then runs 3 min 48.40 sec in Koblenz, West Germany, before Coe regains the record with a run of 3 min 47.33 sec in Brussels, Belgium.
21 September 1981	Belize [decolonization]	Belize becomes an independent state within the Commonwealth.
22 September 1981	France [railways]	French railways introduce the TGV (train à grande vitesse, ‘high-speed train’); electrically powered and capable of cruising at 290 kph/180 mph, it is Europe's first super high speed passenger train. Later in the year achieves a record speed of 380 kph/236 mph.
3 October 1981	Northern Ireland [political events]	The Irish Republican Army (IRA) hunger strike at the Maze prison in Northern Ireland ends after seven months and 10 deaths.
18 October 1981	Greece [elections]	Andreas Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) wins the Greek general election and, on October 21, he forms Greece's first Socialist government.
1 November 1981	West Indies [decolonization]	The Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda become independent states within the Commonwealth.
6 November 1981	UK [diplomacy]	The British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Garret FitzGerald agree to establish an Anglo-Irish intergovernmental Council. Protest strikes break out in Northern Ireland on November 23.
12 November 1981	UK [women's rights]	The General Synod of the Church of England votes to recognize the sacraments of the Free Churches and their women ministers and to allow women to be ordained as deacons.
13 December 1981	Poland [political events]	Martial law is imposed in Poland, leading to mass detentions and imposing curbs on civil liberties and trade union activities.
14 December 1981	Middle East [political events]	Israel formally annexes the Golan Heights, taken from Syria in the 1967 Yom Kippur War.
29 December 1981	USA [political events]	Responding to perceived Soviet political pressure on Poland to adopt martial law, President Ronald Reagan introduces US economic sanctions against the USSR.