1981

• January 20 – Hostages from the Iran hostage crisis are released at the same time when Ronald Reagan is inaugurated for the first time as President of the United States.
• January 21 – The first DeLorean automotive is released in Northern Ireland.
• January 27 – The Indonesian passenger ship Tamponas 2 catches fire and capsizes in the Java Sea, killing 580.
• January 29 – Adolfo Suárez resigns as Prime Minister of Spain.
• February 4 – Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes Prime Minister of Norway.
• February 8 – Polish Prime Minister Józef Pinkowski resigns and is replaced by General Wojciech Jaruzelski.
• February 25 – Adolfo Suárez leaves his office as Prime Minister of Spain.
• March 30 – Shortly after being inaugurated, John Hinckley, Jr. tries to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. He survives the attack.
• May 11 – Jamaican singer Bob Marley dies from cancer at the age of 36.
• July 9 - Donkey Kong, a Nintendo arcade game, was released in Japan
• July 29 – Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales.
• September – Little Miss Bossy, the first book in the Little Miss series (the female counterpart to the Mr. Men series) is first published.
• November 9 – Céline Dion's first album is released in Canada.

• January 4 – Alicia Keys, American singer
• January 28 – Elijah Wood, American actor
• January 31 – Justin Timberlake, American singer and actor
• February 11 – Kelly Rowland, American singer
• February 24 – Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
• March 3 – Justin Gabriel, South African professional wrestler
• April 28 – Jessica Alba, actress
• June 5 – Sebastien Lefebvre, Canadian Musician-Simple Plan
• June 7 – Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
• June 9 – Natalie Portman, Israeli actress
• July 30 – Hope Solo, American goal keeper
• August 8 – Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
• September 4 – Beyoncé Knowles, American singer and actress
• September 8 – Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor
• September 26 – Serena Williams, American tennis player
• October 31 – Frank Iero MCR
• December 2 – Britney Spears, American singer and actress
• December 27 – Patrick Sharp, Canadian professional ice hockey player

January

• January 5 – Harold Urey, American physical chemist (b. 1893)
• January 10 – Richard Boone, American actor (b. 1917)
• January 11 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1888)
• January 16 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
• January 23 – Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
• January 25 – Adele Astaire, American dancer and entertainer (b. 1896)

February

• February 9 – Bill Haley, American rock and roll music pioneer (b. 1925)
• February 18 – Ibrahim Abdel Hady Pasha, Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1896)
• February 26 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)

March

• March 1 – Roberto Francisco Chiari Remon, 31st President of Panama (b. 1905)
• March 4 – Torin Thatcher, British actor (b. 1905)
• March 9 – Max Delbrück, German-American biophysicist (b. 1906)
• March 22 – John S. McCain Jr., United States Navy admiral (b. 1911)

April

• April 8 – Omar Bradley, American general (b. 1893)
• April 12 – Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)

May

• May 3 – Nargis, Indian actress (b. 1929)
• May 11 – Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae musician (b. 1945)
• May 18 – Arthur O'Connell, American actor, acting on stage, film and television (b. 1908)
• May 28 – Stefan Wyszyński, Polish Roman Catholic cardinal (b. 1901)
• May 29 – Soong Ching-ling, Chinese political figure and spouse of Sun Yat-sen (d. 1893)
• May 30 – Sven Andersson, Swedish footballer (b. 1907)
• May 30 – Ziaur Rahman, President of Bangladesh (b. 1936)
• May 31 – Gyula Lóránt, Hungarian footballer (b. 1923)
• May 31 – Giuseppe Pella, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1902)

June

• June 9 – Allen Ludden, American game show host (b. 1917)
• June 23 – Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1907)
• June 28 – Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)

July

• July 3 – Ross Martin, Polish-born American radio, stage, film and television actor (b. 1920)
• July 7 – Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi, President of South Yemen (b. 1920)
• July 27 – William Wyler, French-American director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1902)
• July 29 – Robert Moses, American urban planner (b. 1888)

August

• August 1 – Paddy Chayefsky, American playwright, screenwriter and novelist (b. 1923)
• August 4 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (b. 1901)
• August 28 – Béla Guttmann, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1899)
• August 30 – Mohammad-Ali Rajai, President of Iran (b. 1933)
• August 30 – Mohammad Javad Bahonar, Prime Minister of Iran (b. 1933)
• August 30 – Vera-Ellen, American actress (b. 1921)

September

• September 1 – Albert Speer, German architect (b. 1905)
• September 8 – Nisargadatta Maharaj, Indian guru (b. 1897)
• September 23 – Chief Dan George, Chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (b. 1899)
• September 27 – Robert Montgomery, American actor (b. 1904)
• September 28 – Rómulo Betancourt, 47th & 54th President of Venezuela (b. 1908)
• September 29 – Bill Shankly, Scottish football manager (b. 1913)

October

• October 5 - Gloria Grahame, American actress (b. 1923)
• October 6 – Anwar Sadat, 3rd President of Egypt (b. 1918)
• October 16 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (b. 1915)
• October 19 – Dan Coe, Romanian footballer (b. 1941)
• October 24 - Edith Head, American costume designer (b. 1897)

November

• November 5 – Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa (b. 1924)
• November 7 – Will Durant, American historian, philosopher and writer (b. 1885)
• November 12 – William Holden, American actor (b. 1918)
• November 25 - Jack Albertson, American actor, singer, comedian, musician, and dancer (b. 1907)
• November 29 – Natalie Wood, American actress (b. 1938)

December

• December 8 – Ferruccio Parri, Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1890)

• Absence of Malice
• An American Werewolf in London
• Any Which Way You Can
• Arthur
• The Boat Is Full
• Bustin' Loose
• Chariots of Fire
• Escape to Victory
• Excalibur
• For Your Eyes Only
• The Four Seasons
• The Fox and the Hound
• The French Lieutenant's Woman
• Friday the 13th, Part 2
• The Great Muppet Caper
• Halloween II
• Heaven's Gate
• Mommie Dearest
• Omen III: The Final Conflict
• On Golden Pond
• Only When I Laugh
• Pennies From Heaven
• Pixote
• Quest For Fire
• Ragtime
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Reds
• Sogni d'oro
• Stevie
• Stripes
• Superman II
• Tarzan, the Ape Man
• They Don't Wear Black Tie

• "The Tide Is High" – Blondie
• "Celebration" – Kool & The Gang (2)
• "9 To 5" – Dolly Parton (2)
• "I Love A Rainy Night" – Eddie Rabbitt (2)
• "Keep On Loving You" REO Speedwagon (1)
• "Rapture" – Blondie (2)
• "Kiss On My List" – Daryl Hall & John Oates (3)
• "Morning Train (9 To 5)" – Sheena Easton
• "Bette Davis Eyes" – Kim Carnes
• "Stars On 45 Medley" – Stars On 45 (1)
• "The One That You Love" – Air Supply (1)
• "Jessie's Girl" – Rick Springfield
• "Endless Love" – Diana Ross & Lionel Richie (9)
• "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" – Christopher Cross (3)
• "Private Eyes" – Daryl Hall & John Oates
• "Physical" – Olivia Newton-John

• Ill Seen Ill Said – Samuel Beckett
• Arabian Nights and Days – Naguib Mahfouz
• La Bicyclette Bleue (The Blue Bicycle) – Régine Deforges
• Bliss – Peter Carey
• Creation – Gore Vidal
• Cujo – Stephen King
• Distant Star – Samuel R. Delany
• Famous Last Words – Timothy Findley
• Flames Across the Border – Pierre Berton
• Giants of the Ottawa Valley – Joan Finnegan
• The Glitter Dome – Joseph Wambaugh
• The Golden Age of Science Fiction – Kingsley Amis
• Goodbye, Janette – Harold Robbins
• Gorky Park – Martin Cruz Smith
• Hotel New Hampshire – John Irving
• An Indecent Obsession – Colleen McCullough
• Licence Renewed – John Gardner
• Little Miss – Roger Hargreaves
• Masquerade – Kit Williams
• Midnight's Children – Salman Rushdie
• No Time for Tears – Cynthia Freeman
• Noble House – James Clavell
• Other People: A Mystery Story – Martin Amis
• Red Dragon – Thomas Harris
• Strata – Terry Pratchett
• Tar Baby – Toni Morrison
• The Third Deadly Sin – Lawrence Sanders

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