1981 Facts: Historic Movement, Powerful People & Politics!

The incidents that happened around the world in history are too significant to be neglected.

Princess Diana and the Prince of Wales, Charles, got married in the year 1981. Lady Diana Spencer became the first wife of Prince Charles and was the legal heir to the throne.

The royal wedding was solemnized at the St. Paul's Cathedral in London on July 29, 1981. Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie solemnized the function. All royal families from other places, royal members of both families, and heads of states attended the wedding. After the function, the couple made the traditional appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. The United Kingdom had given a national holiday to the public to celebrate the royal wedding. The grand wedding has since been regarded as a 'fairytale wedding' and; the wedding of the century. Prince Charles was the heir to Britain's royal family, and Diana belonged to the Spencer family. Lady Diana Spencer and Prince Charles had two sons from their marriage.

As per trivia and fun facts in 1981, the popular movies were Raiders of the Lost Ark, On Golden Pond, and Superman II. Raiders of the Lost Ark pulled to the big screens by Steven Spielberg became an iconic movie released that year. The movie recounts a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. The Raiders of the Lost Arc starred Karen Allen, Ronald Lacey, Harrison Ford, and Paul Freeman. Golden Pond, directed by Mark Rydell, was an American family drama. The public was crazy over lost ark superman movies. Olivia Newton-John is a well-known British-Australian singer, entrepreneur, and artist. She received the Grammy awards four times. The solo song,' Physical' (1981) of Olivia Newton-John, attained wide popularity.

Kentucky Derby was a horse race held on the first Saturday in May in the United States. 107 race was conducted in 1981 with more than 10,000 people as audience. A bowl game is a post-season college football game in North America. 1981 Washington Sugar Bowl was the 47th Episode of the same game being plated on January 1, Thursday. Oakland Raiders are amateur football players basically from Las Vegas. The 1981 season came to be known as Oakland Raiders. The game was first played on January 30, 1960.

John McEnroe was a prominent Tennis player. He had done the worst outpouring of emotion in the Wimbledon tennis of 1981. The opponent was American Tom Gullikson. He had come up with the tag 'You can not be Serious,' which John McEnroe used to entitle his autobiography later.

America had seen the worst recession in its history in January 1980. All the major businesses collapsed. It was slightly recovered after six months in July. Still, the unemployment rate persisted. The second stage of the recession took place in July 1981 and regained normalcy after 16 months. The nation has flourished economically since then. The prime reason for the 1981 business downturn was the economic policies adopted by the Federal Reserve. The manufacturing industry and construction industry failed to cope up with the new strategies. The situation got better with the new monetary policies and tax reforms put forward by the Federal Reserve.

Everyday Fashion in 1981 was simple, and the punk statement was gaining momentum instead of the hippie style. Women in 1981 wore heavy make-up and colorful dresses. Prominent fashion icons include American models Christy Brinkley, Gia Carangi, Brooke Shields, Joan Severance, Yasmin Le Bon, and Kelly Emberg. The budding pop star Madonna and her styles influenced the youth in 1981. She first appeared in music shows by wearing short skirts over leggings. Wearing gloves was also a trend followed by Madonna in American pop culture.

We hope you liked the fun facts given above. You may also read more fun fact articles about 1998 facts and 1982 facts on our website.

Famous Book Launches

Ronald Reagan had been selected as the President of the United States in 1981. He was chosen as the 40th President. The first female justice was assigned to serve the US Supreme court. The name of the lady was Sandra Day O'Connor. She was the associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1981 - 2006. Iran came to an agreement with the US that it would let out 52 American Soldiers held in captivity. The success of the first test-tube baby was recorded in Norfolk, Virginia, in the same year. 1981 saw the birth of the internet, and MSWORD was at its nascent stage in 1981. NASA brought out its initial space shuttle mission this year. The space shuttle Columbia carried two astronauts successfully to space.

Some famous books were launched in the year 1981. 'A Light in the Attic' written by Shel Silverstein, is a miracle book of poems and drawings. 'Red Dragon' by Thomas Harris tells about a massacre and subsequent investigation. 'Midnight's Children' by Salman Rushdie depicts the fate of children who were born on the midnight of India's independence. 'One Minute Manager by Kenneth H Blanchard contains the techniques for a good manager. 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' by Gabriel Garcia Marquis deals with a murder and a marriage.

'Woman, Race and Class' by Angela Y Davis deals with the women's liberation movement. 'The Collected Poems' by Sylvia Plath brings all of Sylvia Plath's poems into one volume. 'The Hotel New Hampshire' by John Irving deals with the illusions of John Berry's father. 'Mornings on Horseback' by Theodore Roosevelt is the biography of Roosevelt which made him the winner of the Los Angels Times Book Prize for Biography.

Everyone is eager to know how much things cost in 1981? Electronic gadgets were costly and were not affordable to ordinary people. Older students began using scientific calculators. Color television was costlier. A 20" color TV costs $ 926 (₤ 700) as per 2021 money. Today, we can buy 24" for $ 198.49 (₤ 150). Cars and petrol were cheaper than today's price. Microwaves and freezers were also costlier. The price of a newspaper was nominal. Even though housing prices were not too low, it was not as high as today.

1981 UK witnessed several events. Australian newspaper owner Rupert Murdoch decided to own The Times, a British daily newspaper. The UK government welcomed Japan in their decision to build Datsun cars in the UK. Margaret Thatcher informed that the country would spend half of its shares on improving its Air Defense mechanism. In Glasgow, 30,000 people took a protest march against unemployment. UK recorded the first case of AIDS in history in 1981.

Historic Movement In 1981

An unknown composition by Mozart was reinvented from the Bavarian State Library in Germany in 1981. It was discovered that he had composed the notes while he was only nine. This was an important event in pop culture history. John Lennon, an English songwriter, musician, and singer, was known for his rebellious and witty nature. The hot-selling album 'Double Fantasy' made by John Lennon won the 1981 Grammy award for the Best Album category of 1981. This event also made news in pop culture history. Los Angeles Dodgers season in 1981 had a good start and the rookie pitcher, Fernando Valenzuela, made it a crazy event.

'Jessie's girl,' a song on love, was composed by the Australian singer Rick Springfield. This popular song was released in February 1981. 'Bette Davis eyes,' the popular song by Kim Carnes, had been nominated for Grammy award record of the year, 1981. George Lucas, on April 10, 1981, added, 'Episode! V' and 'A New Hope' to the original Star Wars, making it Star Wars two.

Greece was welcomed into the European Economic Community in 1981. It became the 10th nation to join the community. General Motors received Roger Smith as their new CEO. The musical performance 'Peter Pan' closed its performance at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after conducting 578 performances. India became all out with 63 runs in one day international with Australia. Portugal got its new President, Francisco Balsamo. US and Iran signed a treaty to set free 52 captives from America. Norway received its first female Prime Minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland. Japan sent a satellite, Hinotori, to conduct a study on solar flares. An earthquake having a magnitude of 6.7 shook Athens. The US conducted a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. France had conducted its maiden nuclear test.

Powerful People From 1981

William Holden (1918- 1981), the popular American actor, was a crowd puller. Almost all his movies became box office hits. William Holden was the recipient of the Academy Award for best actor for his movie 'Stalag.' He had acted in many Hollywood critically known films too. Kenny Rogers, born in 1938, is a world-renowned American singer, musician, actor, and entrepreneur. His songs were popular with all kinds of people. More than 100 million of his records were sold in his lifespan. He won the Grammy award in 1981. 

An assassination attempt was made on American President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, by John Hinckley Jr. Ronald Reagan was shot in the left underarm and had to undergo major surgery to get over the critical condition. The attack on Ronald Reagan was motivated by Hinkley's obsession with actress Jodie Foster. He was trying to impress the actress by attacking President Ronald Reagan.

Rami Said Malek, the American Actor, received the Primetime Emmy Award for doing the role of a computer hacker in an American series. The singer-songwriter Britney Spears was born on December second in Mississippi, United States. The football player Zlatan Ibrahimović was born in Sweden on October 3, 1981. Sarah Harding, a film personality, was born on November 17 in Ascot. The famous actor Chirs Evans was born on June 13 in Boston. American football player Will Smith was born on July 4; however, we lost this heroin in 2016. Paris Hilton, a media personality, was born on February 17. The pride of tennis, Serena Williams, was born in Michigan on September 26. The long list of smart personalities who took birth this year continues.

Matthew Knight Arena is a large hall having more than 12,300 seating capacity. This arena is the most expensive basketball arena attached to a campus in America where the team member's restroom was spacious and luxurious. Ray Parker Jr, born in 1954, was an American singer, composer, and musician. His group produced two albums in 1981:' Two Places At The Same Time' and 'A Woman Needs Love.' Donkey Kong depicts the adventures of a monkey, and it was a popular video game series in 1981. York Islanders are well-known ice hockey players from New York. They won the Stanley cup for three continuous years from 1980 onwards. 'West Side Story' was a popular movie directed by Stephen Spielberg. 

Neil Diamond was an American singer, composer, and songwriter. His famous album 'On The Way To The Sky' was released in 1981, becoming the hot-selling album of that period. Lionel Richie and Diana Ross released a duet on 'Endless Love'. Richie and Diana Ross did the song for Motown, an American record label, and the same ballad has been used in the movie adaption of 'Endless Love'. The famous actor Tom Cruise made his debut as a minor character in the same movie.

Martin Cruz Smith was a mystery novelist from America. His series of nine-novels on a Russian investigator introduced in 1981 became a huge hit among people. David Graham was a former golf player from Australia. He was the winner of a series of championships. He won the 1981 US open held in Pennsylvania and has been called open golf David Graham.

Politics In 1981

A series of internal conflicts were raging on in South America in 1981. A surge of democratization seeped through the continent when it was revolutionary movements and military authorities. Since then, the nation began to see democratic rule. Corruptions were rampant in many states, which forced their Presidents to resign from their position. The debt of developing countries, such as the 1980 debt crisis, was a significant problem to tackle.

Canada's constitution got approval from the British Parliament in 1982, and Canada became an independent nation. Charter of Rights and Freedom was a new part added to the Canada Act. The declining role played by the United States in the Soviet-Afghanistan military attack was the turning point in the political situation, and the Marital law by Poland worsened the situation. In the Middle East, though the talks related to the return of the Sinai Peninsula went smoothly between Egypt and Israel, the peaceful situation has not been established till the end of 1981. Several nations were trying to overcome the economic instability caused by the oil crisis in 1979. Still, they could not gain full achievement.

The Chinese relationship with other nations improved during this term through the visits of British and West German Foreign ministers, Lord Carrington and Genscher. The Republic of Korea was formed in 1981 with the leadership of the Korean President Chun Doo Hwan.

'Raging Bull' was an American sports drama with a hero having some bad attributes. Cathy Moriarty gained appreciation as the raging bull's best actress. 'An American Werewolf in London' is a movie on horror and comedy released in 1981. Heather Thomas was an American actress whose first movie 'Zappad' was released in 1982. Jane Fonda was also an American political activist, environmentalist, and actor whose box-office hit film nine to five was released in 1980. Joan Collins was a British actress, columnist, and writer. She received several appreciations. In 1983, she was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 1981 facts, then why not take a look at 1997 facts or 1975 facts?