1981

history

Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar).

Events of 1981

January

January - The subterranean Sarawak chamber is discovered in Borneo.
January 1 - Greece enters the European Community, which later becomes the European Union.

January 1 - Palau becomes self-governing.
January 4 - Sheffield police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, a 34-year-old lorry driver, on suspicion of being the Yorkshire Ripper who has killed 13 women and attacked 7 others over the last 6 years.
January 5 - Margaret Thatcher carries out a Cabinet reshuffle, sacking Norman St. John-Stevas.
January 6 - The Brazilian double decker boat Novo Amapo capsizes in the Amazon River, Belem de Cajari, Macapa, Brazil; 230 are killed.
January 16 - Protestant gunmen shoot and wound Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and her husband.
January 17 - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos lifts martial law.
January 19 - United States and Iranian officials sign an agreement to release 52 American hostages after 14 months of captivity.
January 20 - Ronald Reagan succeeds Jimmy Carter, as the 40th President of the United States. Minutes later, Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days, ending the Iran hostage crisis.
January 21 - The first De Lorean DMC-12 automobile, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.
January 22 - Fowzi Nejad, sole survivor of the terrorists from the Iranian Embassy siege in London, pleads guilty to manslaughter of 2 hostages and gets jailed for life.
January 24 - The British Labour Party special conference at Wembley decides that leadership elections should be by electoral college.
January 25 - Four former Labour cabinet ministers (Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams, William Rodgers and David Owen) issue the Limehouse Declaration, leading to the formation of the Social Democratic Party.
January 25 - Chiang Ching ('Madame Mao') is sentenced to death in the People's Republic of China.
January 25 - Super Bowl XV: The Oakland Raiders defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
January 27 - The Indonesian passenger ship Tamponas 2 catches fire and capsizes in the Java Sea, killing 580.

February

: A powerful earthquake hits Athens.]] ,

February 4 - Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes Prime Minister of Norway.
February 8 - 19 fans of Olympiacos FC and 2 fans of AEK Athens die, and 54 are injured, after a stampede at the Karaiskaki Stadium in Pireus, possibly because Gate 7 does not open immediately after the end of the game.
February 9 - Polish Prime Minister Józef Pinkowski resigns and is replaced by General Wojciech Jaruzelski.
February 10 - A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills 8 and injures 198.
February 13 - Rupert Murdoch buys The Times and The Sunday Times for £12 million.
February 14 - Stardust fire: A fire at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, Ireland in the early hours kills 48 and injures 214.
February 14 - Australia withdraws recognition of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia.
February 23 - Antonio Tejero, with members of the Guardia Civil, enters the Spanish Congress of Deputies and stops the session where Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo is about to be named president of the government. The coup d'état fails thanks to King Juan Carlos.
February 24 - A powerful, magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Athens, killing 16 people, injuring thousands and destroying several buildings, mostly in Corinth and the nearby towns of Loutraki, Kiato and Xylokastro.

March

March 1 - Bobby Sands, a Provisional Irish Republican Army member, begins a hunger strike for political status in Long Kesh prison (he dies May 5, the first of 10 men).
March 6 - After 19 years hosting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time.
March 10 - Sir Geoffrey Howe announces the British budget, which raises taxes in the middle of a recession.
March 11 - Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet is sworn in as President of Chile for another 8-year term.
March 17 - In Italy the Propaganda Due Masonic Lodge is discovered.
March 19 - Three workers are killed and 5 injured during a test of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

March 26 - The British Social Democratic Party is launched at the Connaught Rooms in London.
March 29 - The first London Marathon starts with 7,500 runners.
March 30 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.. Two police officers and Press Secretary James Brady are also wounded.
March 31 - The 53rd Academy Awards, hosted by Johnny Carson, are held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. Robert Redford's directorial debut in Ordinary People wins Best Picture and Best Director.

April

: First STS launch: Columbia.]]

April 1 - Daylight saving time is introduced in the USSR.
April 2 - Tony Benn announces that he will challenge Denis Healey for the Deputy Leadership of the British Labour Party.
April 4 - The UK pop group Bucks Fizz wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song, Making Your Mind Up.
April 10 - IRA hunger-striker Bobby Sands wins the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election.
April 11 - Brixton riot (1981): Rioters in South London throw petrol bombs, attack police and loot shops.
April 12 - The Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Columbia (John Young, Robert Crippen) launches on the STS-1 mission, returning to Earth on April 14.
April 15 - The Australian Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock resigns from the cabinet, accusing Prime Minister Fraser of gross disloyalty.
April 18 - A Minor League Baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning is not played until June 23).
April 18 - The rock band Yes splits up (regrouping in 1983).
April 24 - French presidential election: A first-round runoff results between Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and François Mitterrand.

May

May - Daniel K. Ludwig abandons the Jari project in the Amazon Basin.
May 1 - The new Chilean pension system, based on private pension funds, begins.
May 5 - Bobby Sands, Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer and elected member of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, dies aged 27 while on hunger strike in HM Prison Maze.
May 6 - A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
May 7 - The Greater London Council election results in a small Labour majority. On May 8, Ken Livingstone becomes Leader of the Council.
May 10 - In the second round of the presidential elections in France, François Mitterrand beats Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.
May 10 - In Italy a popular referendum rejects the abrogation of the law allowing abortion.
May 13 - Pope John Paul II is shot and nearly killed by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a Turkish gunman, as he enters St. Peter's Square in Rome to address a general audience.
May 15 - Donna Payant is murdered by serial killer Lemuel Smith, the first time a female prison officer has been killed on-duty in the United States.
May 21 - In France, Socialist François Mitterrand becomes President.
May 22 - Peter Sutcliffe is found guilty of being the Yorkshire Ripper. He is sentenced to life imprisonment on 13 counts of murder and 7 of attempted murder.
May 25 - In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
May 26 - The Italian government resigns over its links to the fascist Masonic cell Propaganda Due.
May 30 - Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman is assassinated in Chittagong.

June

June 5 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 5 homosexual men in Los Angeles, California have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems (the first recognized cases of AIDS).
June 6 - Bihar train disaster: Seven coaches of an overcrowded passenger train fall off the tracks into the River Kosi in Bihar, India; about 800 die.
June 7 - The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor.
June 12 - Major League Baseball goes on strike, forcing the cancellation of 38 percent of the schedule.
June 13 - At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, Marcus Sarjeant fires 6 blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
June 21 - Wayne Williams, a 23-year-old African American, is arrested and charged with the murders of 2 other African Americans. He is later accused of 28 others, in the Atlanta child murders.
June 22 - Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr is deposed.
June 26 - Couples For Christ, a Christian charismatic organization, is established in the Philippines.
June 29 - Morris Edwin Robert, armed with a machine gun, holds hostages in the FBI section at the Atlanta, Georgia Federal Building. After 3 hours the hostages are rescued and Robert is shot (dead?).

July

July 2 - The Wonderland Gang is brutally murdered in a massacre involving Eddie Nash.
July 3 - The Toxteth riots in Liverpool, UK start after a mob saves a youth from being arrested. Shortly afterward, the Chapeltown riots in Leeds start after increased racial tension.
July 7 - President Ronald Reagan nominates the first woman, Sandra Day O'Connor, to the Supreme Court of the United States.
July 8 - California Governor Jerry Brown, faced with a Mediterranean fruit fly infestation, chooses to delay the aerial spraying of malathion, in favor of continuing ground-based eradication efforts.
July 8 - Irish Republican Joe McDonnell dies at the Long Kesh Internment Camp after a 61-day hunger strike.
July 10 - Mahathir bin Mohamad becomes the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
July 17 - Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: Two skywalks filled with people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri collapse into a crowded atrium lobby, killing 114.
July 17 - Israeli aircraft bomb Beirut, destroying multi-story apartment blocks containing the offices of PLO associated groups, killing approximately 300 civilians and resulting in worldwide condemnation and a U.S. embargo on the export of aircraft to Israel.
July 17 - In 1981 Gral. Luis Gracia Meza leads a bloody coup d'état in Bolivia against the democratic government of Lidia Gayler.
July 19 - The 1981 Springbok Tour commences in New Zealand, amid controversy over the support of apartheid.
July 21 - Tohui The Panda is born in Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico, DF. It is the first Panda to ever be born and survive in captivity outside of China.
July 27 - Six-year-old Adam Walsh is kidnapped from a Sears store in Hollywood, Florida.
July 29 - Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales.

August

August 1 - MTV (Music Television) is launched on cable television in the United States.
August 3 - The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) goes on strike.
August 5 - Ronald Reagan fires 11,359 striking air-traffic controllers who ignored his order for them to return to work.
August 7 - The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
August 9 - Major League Baseball resumes from the strike with the All-Star Game in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium.
August 10 - Exactly two weeks after his disappearance, the severed head of 6-year-old Hollywood, Florida native Adam Walsh is found in a canal in Vero Beach; to this day the rest of the boy's body has never been recovered.
August 12 - The original Model 5150 IBM PC (with a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor) is released in the United States at a base price of $1,565.
August 19 - Gulf of Sidra incident (1981): Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi sends 2 Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets to intercept 2 U.S. fighters over the Gulf of Sidra. The American jets destroy the Libyan fighters.
August 19 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan appoints the first female U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor.
August 24 - Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life imprisonment after being convicted of murdering John Lennon in Manhattan 8 months earlier.
August 28 - South African troops invade Angola.
August 31 - A bomb explodes at the U.S. Air Force base in Ramstein, West Germany, injuring 20 people.

September

September 4 - An explosion at a mine in Záluží, Czechoslovakia, kills 65 people.
September 10 - Picasso's painting "Guernica" is moved from New York to Madrid.
September 11 - A small plane crashes into the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California, damaging the venue beyond repair.
September 14 - Margaret Thatcher appoints Cecil Parkinson as Chairman of the Conservative Party.
September 15 - The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world, at 150 years old, when it operates under its own power outside Washington, DC.
September 16 - In Britain, the Liberal Party Assembly votes for an electoral pact with the new Social Democratic Party.
September 18 - France abolishes capital punishment.
September 19 - The second Wranslide occurs in New South Wales, with the Wran government re-elected for a third term with an increased majority, and reducing the Liberal Party of Australia to just 14 members in the Legislative Assembly.
September 19 - Simon and Garfunkel perform The Concert in Central Park, a free concert in New York in front of approximately half a million people.
September 20 - The Brazilian river boat Sobral Santos capsizes in the Amazon River, Óbidos, Brazil, killing at least 300.
September 21 - Belize becomes independent.
September 25 - Sandra Day O'Connor takes her seat as the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
September 25 - The Rolling Stones begin their Tattoo You tour at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.
September 26 - The Boeing 767 airliner makes its first flight.
September 27 - TGV high speed rail service between Paris and Lyon, France begins.
September 27 - Denis Healey retains the post of Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, beating Tony Benn by 50.426% to 49.574%.

October

October 6 - Egyptian president Anwar Sadat is assassinated during a parade by army members who belong to the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization; they opposed his negotiations with Israel.
October 10 - The Ministry for Education of Japan issues the jōyō kanji.
October 10 - A Provisional IRA bomb at Chelsea Barracks in London kills a woman pensioner.
October 13 - James Tobin wins the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
October 14 - Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected President of Egypt 1 week after Anwar Sadat's assassination.
October 15 - The heavy metal band Metallica forms.
October 16 - Gas explosions at a coal mine at Hokutan, Yūbari, Hokkaidō, Japan, kill 93.
October 21 - Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
October 22 - The founding congress of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Organization faction led by Hareram Sharma and D.P. Singh begins.
October 22 - Liberal candidate Bill Pitt wins the Croydon North West byelection, the first election win by the Liberal-S.D.P. Alliance.
October 26 - An IRA bomb in a Wimpy Bar in Oxford Street, London, kills a bomb disposal expert.
October 27 - A Soviet submarine runs aground outside the Karlskrona, Sweden military base.

November

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November 1 - Antigua and Barbuda gain independence from the United Kingdom.
November 9 - Edict No 81-234 abolishes slavery in Mauritania.
November 12 - STS-2: Space Shuttle Columbia, piloted by Joe Engle and Richard Truly, lifts off for its second mission.
November 12 - The Church of England General Synod votes to admit women to holy orders.
November 13 - The first Friday the 13th event is held by motorcyclists in Port Dover, Ontario, Canada.
November 16 - Luke and Laura marry on the U.S. soap opera General Hospital; it is the highest-rated hour in daytime television history.
November 18 - COMDEX Fall, IBM introduces the IBM PC. Scientific Solutions announces the first PC add-in cards.
November 23 - Iran-Contra scandal: Ronald Reagan signs the top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), giving the Central Intelligence Agency the authority to recruit and support Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
November 25–26 - A group of mercenaries led by Mike Hoare take over Mahe airport in the Seychelles in a coup attempt. Most of the mercenaries escape by a commandeered Air India passenger jet; 6 are later arrested.
November 26 - Former cabinet minister Shirley Williams wins the Crosby by-election, becoming the first elected S.D.P. MP.
November 30 - Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin negotiating intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings end inconclusively on Thursday, December 17).

December

December 1 - A Yugoslavian McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashes into a mountain while approaching Ajaccio Airport in Corsica, killing 178.
December 4 - South Africa grants "homeland" Ciskei independence (not recognized outside South Africa).
December 5 - American general James Lee Dozier is kidnapped in Verona by Italian Red Brigades.
December 8 - The No. 21 Mine explosion in Whitwell, Tennessee kills 13.
December 8 - Arthur Scargill becomes President-elect of the National Union of Mineworkers.
December 10 - During the Ministerial Session of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels, Spain signes the Protocol of Accession to NATO.

December 11 - El Mozote massacre: In El Salvador, army units kill 900 civilians.
December 13 - Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland, to prevent the dismantling of the communist system by Solidarity.
December 15 - A car bomb destroys the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 61 people; Syrian intelligence is blamed.
December 20 - The Penlee lifeboat disaster occurs off the coast of South-West Cornwall.
December 28 - The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.
December 31 - A coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann's PNP government and replaces it with the PNDC led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.

Undated

Heavy massive snow causes many houses and buildings to collapse in northwestern Japan; 152 are killed (from January to March).
The Millennium translation of Saint Edward the Martyr's relics from Wareham to Shaftesbury is observed in a reenactment.
Public funding of election campaigns is introduced in New South Wales, Australia.
The State Council of the People's Republic of China lists the 4 cities (Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Guilin) as those where the protection of historical and cultural heritage, as well as natural scenery, should be treated as a priority project.
Cuba suffers a major outbreak of Dengue fever, with 344,203 cases. »http://w3.whosea.org/en/Section10/Section332/Section521_2454.htm
Luxor AB Presents the ABC 800 computer.

Ongoing

Cold War.

Births

January–February

January 1 - Zsolt Baumgartner, Hungarian race car driver
January 1 - Rashod Moulton, National Football League player
January 1 - Mladen Petrić, Croatian football player
January 1 - Eden Riegel, American actress
January 2 - Maxi Rodriguez, Argentine Atletico Madrid footballer
January 3 - Eli Manning, American football player
January 6 - Mike Jones, American rapper
January 6 - Jérémie Renier, Belgian actor
January 7 - Alex Auld, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
January 8 - Xie Xingfang, Chinese badminton player
January 8 - Genevieve Cortese, American actress
January 8 - Jeff Francis, Canadian pitcher
January 9 - Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer
January 9 - Caroline Lufkin, American singer
January 11 - Jamelia, British singer
January 12 - Quentin Griffin, American football player
January 15 - El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
January 15 - Howie Day, American singer and songwriter
January 17 - Scott Mechlowicz, American actor
January 17 - Ray J, American rapper and singer
January 20 - Jason Richardson, American basketball player
January 20 - Owen Hargreaves, Canadian-born English footballer
January 21 - Dany Heatley, German-born hockey player
January 21 - Gillian Chung, Hong Kong singer (Twins)
January 22 - Chantelle Anderson, American basketball player
January 22 - Willa Ford, American singer, television hostess, and actress
January 22 - Beverley Mitchell, American actress
January 22 - Ben Moody, American guitarist (formerly of Evanescence)
January 24 - Brandon Henschel, American actor and dancer
January 25 - Tose Proeski, Macedonian singer (d. 2007)
January 27 - Greg Owens, Australian footballer (Central Coast Mariners)
January 27 - Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player
January 28 - Elijah Wood, American actor and music producer
January 29 - Jonny Lang, American musician
January 30 - Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian national football team captain and Manchester United player
January 31 - Justin Timberlake, American musician
February 3 - Alisa Reyes, American actress
February 5 - Lee Eon, South Korean actor and model (d. 2008)
February 10 - The Reverend Tholomew Plague, American drummer (Avenged Sevenfold)
February 10 - Natasha St-Pier, Canadian singer
February 11 - Kelly Rowland, American singer (Destiny's Child)
February 14 - Erin Torpey, American actress
February 15 - Jenna Morasca, American television personality
February 15 - Olivia, American R&B singer
February 16 - Lupe Fiasco, American hip-hop artist
February 17 - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor
February 17 - Paris Hilton, American model, heiress, and socialite
February 18 - Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
February 18 - Ivan Sproule, Irish footballer
February 19 - Vitas, Russian singer
February 20 - Chris Thile, American mandolinist
February 20 - Majandra Delfino, American actress
February 22 - Jeanette Biedermann, German singer and actress
February 24 - Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
February 26 - Maria Sansone, American journalist and Internet personality
February 27 - Josh Groban, American singer

March–April

March 1 - Ana Hickmann, Brazilian model
March 1 - Adam LaVorgna, American actor
March 1 - Brad Winchester, American ice hockey player
March 2 - Bryce Howard, American actress
March 3 - Lil' Flip, American rapper
March 4 - Carol Banawa, Filipina singer
March 6 - Ellen Muth, American actress
March 9 - Antonio Bryant, American football player
March 10 - Kristen Maloney, American gymnast
March 11 - David Anders, American actor
March 11 - Lee Evans, American football player
March 11 - LeToya Luckett, American singer
March 12 - Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenian tennis player
March 12 - Kenta Kobayashi, Japanese professional wrestler
March 15 - Young Buck, American rapper
March 16 - Andrew Bree, Irish swimmer
March 16 - Johannes Aigner, Austrian footballer
March 17 - Kyle Korver, American basketball player
March 19 - Kolo Touré, Ivorian football player
March 22 - MIMS, American rapper
March 27 - Lin Jun Jie, Chinese Singer
March 27 - Terry McFlynn, Irish footballer
March 28 - Lindsay Frimodt, American model
March 28 - Julia Stiles, American actress
March 28 - Gareth David-Lloyd, Welsh actor
March 31 - Gerard McCarthy, British actor
April 1 - Asli Bayram, Turkish German model and actress
April 1 - Hannah Spearritt, British singer and actress
April 2 - Bethany Joy Lenz, American actress and singer
April 3 - Arfius Arf, British artist
April 5 - Michael A. Monsoor, American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2006)
April 6 - Robert Earnshaw, Welsh footballer
April 7 - Suzann Pettersen, Norwegian golfer
April 8 - Taylor Kitsch, Canadian actor and model
April 9 - Milan Bartovič, Slovak hockey player
April 9 - Eric Harris, American murderer (d. 1999)
April 9 - Ireneusz Jeleń, Polish footballer
April 10 - Gretchen Bleiler, American snowboarder
April 10 - Liz McClarnon, British singer
April 10 - Michael Pitt, American actor
April 11 - Alessandra Ambrosio, Brazilian model
April 15 - Seth Wulsin, artist
April 17 - Hanna Pakarinen, Finnish singer
April 18 - Jang Nara, Korean actress and singer
April 18 - Audrey Tang, Taiwanese software programmer
April 19 - Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor
April 19 - Catalina Sandino Moreno, Colombian actress
April 19 - Troy Polamalu, American football player
April 20 - Matus Valent, fitness model
April 21 - Mike Christie, English musician
April 21 - Stephanie Larimore, American model
April 22 - Ken Dorsey, American football player
April 25 - John McFall, British Paralympic sprinter
April 25 - Anja Pärson, Swedish alpine skier
April 26 - Matthieu Delpierre, French football player
April 27 - Sandy Mölling, German pop singer
April 28 - Jessica Alba, American actress
April 29 - George McCartney, Irish footballer

May–June

May 1 - Alexander Hleb, Belarusian football player
May 3 - Farrah Franklin, American singer
May 3 - U;Nee, South Korean singer and actress (d. 2007)
May 4 - Jacques Rudolph, South African cricketer
May 5 - Danielle Fishel, American actress
May 11 - Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
May 11 - Daisuke Matsui, Japanese football player
May 12 - Kentaro Sato, Japanese composer
May 13 - Rebecka Liljeberg, Swedish actress
May 13 - Sunny Leone, Canadian pornstar
May 13 - Jimmy Wang Yang, Korean professional wrestler
May 15 - Patrice Evra, Senegalese-born French footballer
May 15 - Zara Phillips, British elite equestrienne
May 15 - Justin Morneau, Canadian baseball player
May 15 - Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress
May 17 - R. J. Helton, American singer
May 19 - Bong Tae-gyu, South Korean actor
May 19 - Nate Cole, American singer/songwriter
May 19 - Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
May 20 - Sean Conlon, English musician
May 20 - Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
May 20 - Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
May 21 - Josh Hamilton, American baseball player
May 22 - Melissa Gregory, American figure skater
May 26 - Isaac Slade, American singer/pianist of The Fray
May 27 - Alina Cojocaru, Romanian ballerina
May 27 - David Mauro, American painter
May 28 - Laura Bailey, American voice actress
May 29 - Andrei Arshavin, Russian football player
May 31 - Jake Peavy, American baseball player
June 1 - Carlos Zambrano, Venezuelan baseball player
June 2 - Jason Hohnbaum, American Educator
June 3 - Mike Adam, Canadian curler
June 5 - Jade Goody, British reality show star
June 6 - Johnny Pacar, American actor
June 7 - Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
June 7 - Larisa Oleynik, American actress
June 8 - Alex Band, American musician
June 8 - Sara Watkins, American violinist
June 8 - Ai Nonaka, Japanese voice actress
June 9 - Celina Jaitley, Indian actress
June 9 - Natalie Portman, Israeli-born actress
June 9 - Anoushka Shankar, British musician and daughter of Ravi Shankar
June 9 - Vic Zhou, Taiwanese actor, singer, and model
June 10 - Hoku Ho, Hawaiian singer and musician
June 10 - Burton O'Brien, Scottish footballer
June 12 - Adriana Lima, Brazilian model
June 13 - Chris Evans, American actor
June 14 - Lonneke Engel, Dutch model
June 15 - Haley Scarnato, American singer
June 16 - Ben Kweller, American musician
June 17 - Amrita Rao, Indian actress
June 18 - Teresa Cormack, New Zealand murder victim (d. 1987)
June 18 - Ella Chen, Taiwanese singer
June 20 - Alisan Porter, American actress and singer
June 21 - Brandon Flowers, American singer and keyboardist
June 22 - Chris Urbanowicz, British guitarist
June 25 - Simon Ammann, Swiss ski jumper
June 25 - Yūichi Komano, Japanese footballer
June 28 - Mara Santangelo, Italian tennis player
June 29 - Joe Johnson, American basketball player

July–August

July 2 - Alex Koroknay-Palicz, American activist
July 2 - Paul Anthony Finn, Irish singer and songwriter (The Flaws)
July 3 - Brandon Jay McLaren, Canadian actor
July 6 - Nnamdi Asomugha, American football player
July 7 - Synyster Gates, American guitarist (Avenged Sevenfold)
July 8 - Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
July 8 - Ashley Blue, American pornographic actress
July 13 - Agnes Kovacs, Hungarian swimmer
July 14 - Lee Mead, British actor
July 19 - Didz Hammond, bassist/backing vocalist (Dirty Pretty Things and The Cooper Temple Clause)
July 19 - Nikki Osborne, Australian actress
July 20 - Damien Delaney, Irish footballer
July 20 - Dayang Nurfaizah, Malaysian singer
July 21 - Stefan Schumacher, German cyclist
July 21 - Blake Lewis, American Idol finalist
July 23 - Steve Jocz, Canadian drummer (Sum 41)
July 23 - Jarkko Nieminen, Finnish tennis player
July 24 - Summer Glau, American actress (Firefly)
July 25 - Jani Rita, Finnish ice hockey player
July 29 - Fernando Alonso, Spanish Two Time Formula 1 World Champion
July 31 - M. Shadows, American singer (Avenged Sevenfold)
July 31 - Eric Lively, American actor
July 31 - Vernon Carey, American football player
August 4 - Marques Houston, American singer and actor
August 5 - Carl Crawford, Major League Baseball outfielder
August 5 - Rachel Scott, American murder victim (d. 1999)
August 5 - Kō Shibasaki, Japanese singer and actress
August 6 - Vitantonio Liuzzi, Italian race car driver
August 6 - Travis McCoy, American alternative hip-hop artist
August 8 - Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
August 8 - Harel Skaat, Israeli singer
August 8 - Meagan Good, American actress
August 8 - Kaori Iida, Japanese singer and actress
August 9 - Li Jiawei, Singaporean Olympic table tennis player
August 10 - Natsumi Abe, Japanese singer and actress
August 11 - Sandi Thom, Scottish singer & song writer
August 12 - Djibril Cissé, French footballer
August 12 - Steve Talley, American actor
August 15 - Song Ji-hyo, South Korean actress
August 16 - Taylor Rain, American actress
August 20 - Benjamin Barnes, English actor (Prince Caspian)
August 24 - Jiro Wang, Actor and Singer Fahrenheit (Taiwanese band)
August 24 - Chad Michael Murray, American actor
August 25 - Rachel Bilson, American actress
August 28 - Charlie Frye, Natiional Football League quarterback
August 29 - Lanny Barbie, American pornstar
August 30 - Brian J. Robinson, Canadian musician (A Wilhelm Scream)
August 30 - Tresor Kandol, Leeds United footballer

September–October

September 1 - Clinton Portis, American football player
September 1 - Michael Adamthwaite, Canadian voice actor
September 2 - Bracha van Doesburgh, Dutch actress
September 3 - Fearne Cotton, British television presenter
September 4 - Beyoncé Knowles, American actress and R&B singer (Destiny's Child)
September 4 - Lacey Mosley, American lead vocalist (Flyleaf)
September 6 - Yumiko Cheng, Hong Kong singer
September 8 - Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor
September 9 - Julie Gonzalo, Argentinian actress
September 11 - Dylan Klebold, American murderer (d. 1999)
September 12 - Jennifer Hudson, American singer and actress
September 12 - Hosea Chanchez, american actor
September 14 - Ashley Roberts, singer The Pussycat Dolls
September 16 - Alexis Bledel, American actress
September 16 - Fan Bingbing, Chinese actress
September 21 - Nicole Richie, American actress, singer and socialite
September 22 - Ashley Drane, American actress
September 22 - Alexei Ramirez, baseball player
September 23 - Misti Traya, American actress
September 23 - Natalie Horler, German singer Cascada
September 23 - Robert Doornbos, Dutch race car driver
September 25 - Rocco Baldelli, baseball player
September 26 - Christina Milian, American R&B singer and actress
September 26 - Serena Williams, American tennis player
September 29 - Suzanne Shaw, British singer Hear'Say
September 30 - Cecelia Ahern, Irish author and daughter of Bertie Ahern, former Taoiseach
September 30 - Dominique Moceanu, American gymnast
October 3 - Zlatan Ibrahimović, Swedish footballer
October 3 - Amanda Walsh, Canadian actress
October 5 - Enrico Fabris, Italian speed skater
October 8 - Raffi Torres, Canadian ice hockey player
October 8 - Ruby (Egyptian Singer), Egyptian singer
October 9 - Peter Hill, British photographer
October 9 - Zachery Ty Bryan, American actor
October 9 - Ryoichi Maeda, Japanese footballer
October 11 - Beau Brady, Australian actor
October 13 - Ryan Ashford, English footballer
October 15 - Elena Dementieva, Russian tennis player
October 15 - Guo Jingjing, Chinese diver
October 20 - Willis McGahee, American football player
October 21 - Nemanja Vidić, Serbian fotball player
October 22 - Michael Fishman, American actor
October 23 - Olivier Occean, Canadian footballer
October 24 - Tila Tequila, Vietnamese American model and singer
October 24 - Mallika Sherawat, Indian actress
October 25 - Shaun Wright-Phillips, English footballer
October 25 - Austin Winkler, American lead vocalist (Hinder)
October 26 - Guy Sebastian, original Australian Idol 2003 singer
October 28 - Milan Baroš, Czech footballer
October 28 - Dwayne Cameron, New Zealand actor
October 29 - Amanda Beard, American swimmer
October 30 - Ivanka Trump, American model
October 31 - Selina Ren, member of Taiwanese girl-group S.H.E
October 31 - Irina Denezhkina, Russian writer
October 31 - Frank Iero, American guitarist (My Chemical Romance)

November–December

November 1 - LaTavia Roberson, American singer (Destiny's Child)
November 2 - Tatiana Totmianina, Russian figure skater
November 3 - Blair Chenoweth, American beauty queen
November 3 - Jackie Gayda, American professional wrestler
November 4 - Vince Wilfork, American football player
November 4 - Paul Tucker Canadian comic-book artist.
November 6 - Cassie Bernall, American murder victim (d. 1999)
November 7 - George Pilkington, Port Vale footballer
November 8 - Joe Cole, English footballer
November 8 - Azura Skye, American actress
November 10 - Tony Blanco, Dominican baseball player
November 10 - Jason Dunham, American Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2004)
November 10 - Alison Waite, American model
November 11 - Natalie Glebova, Canadian beauty queen
November 11 - Jyothika, Indian actress
November 11 - Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
November 13 - Mark Cardona, Filipino basketball player
November 13 - Shawn Yue, Hong Kong actor and singer
November 14 - Russell Tovey, British actor
November 15 - Lorena Ochoa, Mexican golfer
November 17 - Sarah Harding, British singer (Girls Aloud, Amy Lee Lead composer for Evanescence
November 18 - Gian Magdangal, Filipino singer and actor
November 20 - Kimberley Walsh, British singer (Girls Aloud)
November 21 - Bryant McFadden, American football player
November 21 - Ainars Kovals, Latvian javelin thrower
November 22 - Ben Adams, British singer (a1)
November 22 - Seweryn Gancarczyk, Polish footballer
November 25 - Xabi Alonso, Spanish footballer
November 25 - Barbara Pierce Bush,Daughter of U.S. President George W. Bush
November 25 - Jenna Bush,Daughter of U.S. President George W. Bush
November 26 - Natasha Bedingfield, British singer
November 26 - Aurora Snow, American actress
November 29 - Tom Hurndall, British photographer (d. 2004)
December 2 - Britney Spears, American singer
December 3 - David Villa, Spanish footballer
December 3 - Brian Bonsall, American actor
December 3 - Tyjuan Hagler, American football player
December 4 - Lila McCann, American singer
December 9 - Dia Mirza, Bollywood actress
December 11 - Zacky Vengeance, American guitarist (Avenged Sevenfold)
December 11 - Javier Saviola, Argentine soccer player
December 12 - Spencer Johnson, NFL player
December 13 - Amy Lee, American pianist/singer/songwriter (Evanescence)
December 14 - Amber Chia, Malaysian model and actress
December 15 - Thomas Herrion, American football player (d. 2005)
December 15 - Donal Coonan, UK presenter for Channel 4's webshow thisisaknife
December 15 - Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russian Soccer player
December 16 - Anna Sedokova, Ukrainian singer
December 21 - Cristian Zaccardo, Italian footballer
December 24 - Dima Bilan, Russian pop-singer
December 27 - Emilie de Ravin, Australian actress
December 27 - Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer
December 28 - Elizabeth Jordan Carr, first American test-tube baby
December 28 - Sienna Miller, American-born actress
December 28 - Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer
December 29 - Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater
December 29 - Angela Via, American singer
December 30 - Kyle Eckel, National Football League player
December 30 - Haley Paige, American actress (d. 2007)

Deaths

January–March===

January 5 - Harold C. Urey, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
January 5 - Lanza del Vasto, Italian-born philosopher, poet, and activist (b. 1901)
January 6 - A. J. Cronin, Scottish novelist (b. 1896)
January 10 - Katherine Alexander, American actress (b. 1898)
January 13 - Robert Kellard, American actor (b. 1915)
January 23 - Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
January 31 - Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (b. 1909)
February 1 - Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)
February 9 - Bill Haley, American musician (b. 1925)
February 15 - Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
February 18 - John Knudsen Northrop, American airplane manufacturer (b. 1895)
February 20 - Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, French magazine editor and playboy (b. 1904)
February 26 - Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
February 27 - Jacob H. Gilbert, American politician (b. 1920)
March 6 - George Geary, English cricketer (b. 1893)
March 7 - Kiril Kondrashin, Russian conductor (b. 1914)
March 9 - Max Delbrück, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1906)
March 23 - Beatrice Tinsley, English astronomer (b. 1941)
March 30 - DeWitt Wallace, American magazine publisher (b. 1889)
March 31 - Frank Tieri, American gangster (b. 1904)

April–June===

April 3 - Juan Trippe, Airline entrepreneur (b. 1899)
April 5 - Maurice Zbriger, Canadian violinist, composer and conductor (b. 1896)
April 7 - Norman Taurog, American film director (b. 1899)
April 12 - Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
April 18 - James H. Schmitz, German-born writer (b. 1911)
April 27 - John Aspinwall Roosevelt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1916)
May 5 - Bobby Sands, Irish republican (hunger strike) (b. 1954)
May 9 - Nelson Algren, American author (b. 1909)
May 9 - Ralph Allen, English footballer (b. 1906)
May 11 - Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
May 11 - Bob Marley, Jamaican singer and musician (b. 1945)
May 18 - William Saroyan, American author (b. 1908)
May 30 - Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1955)
June 1 - Carl Vinson, U.S. Congressman (b. 1883)
June 2 - Rino Gaetano, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
June 9 - Allen Ludden, American television game show host (b. 1917)
June 10 - Jenny Maxwell, American actress (b. 1941)
June 17 - Sir Richard O'Connor, English general (b. 1889)
June 17 - Zerna Sharp, American writer and educator (b. 1889)
June 18 - Pamela Hansford Johnson, English poet, novelist, playwright, literary and social critic (b. 1912)
June 19 - Lotte Reiniger, German-born silhouette animator (b. 1899)
June 23 - Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1907)
June 28 - Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)

July–September===

July 8 - Joe McDonnell, Irish political prisoner (b. 1951)
July 16 - Harry Chapin, American singer and songwriter (b. 1942)
July 27 - Adam Walsh, American murder victim, inspired Code Adam (b. 1974)
July 27 - William Wyler, American movie director (b. 1902)
July 29 - Robert Moses, American urban planner (b. 1888)
August 14 - Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (b. 1894)
August 30 - Vera-Ellen, American actress and dancer (b. 1921)
September 1 - Albert Speer, Nazi official (b. 1905)
September 2 - Enid Lyons, Australia politician (b. 1897)
September 6 - Christy Brown, Irish author, poet, and artist (b. 1932)
September 8 - Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
September 9 - Sir Robert (Bob) Askin, Premier of New South Wales (b. 1907)
September 12 - Eugenio Montale, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
September 15 - Rafael Méndez, Mexican-born trumpet virtuoso (b. 1906)
September 15 - Harold Bennett, British actor (b. 1899)
September 28 - Sir Edward Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth, British Conservative cabinet minister (b. 1923)
September 29 - Bill Shankly, British football manager (b. 1914)

October–December===

October 2 - Harry Golden, American journalist (b. 1902)
October 6 - Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1918)
October 16 - Stanley Clements, American actor (b. 1926)
October 16 - Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (b. 1915)
October 29 - Georges Brassens, French singer and songwriter (b. 1921)
November 7 - Will Durant, American philosopher and writer (b. 1885)
November 14 - Robert Bradford, Northern Irish footballer and politician (b. 1941)
November 16 - William Holden, American actor (b. 1918)
November 22 - Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)
November 25 - Jack Albertson, American actor (b. 1907)
November 29 - Natalie Wood, American actress (b. 1938)
December 3 - Walter Knott, American farmer and theme park creator (b. 1889)
December 15 - Catherine T. MacArthur, American philanthropist (b. 1909)
December 23 - Reginald Miles Ansett, Australian businessman and aviator (b. 1909)
December 27 - Hoagy Carmichael, American jazz composer (b. 1899)
December 28 - Allan Dwan, Canadian-born film director (b. 1885)
December 30 - Alfie Anido, Filipino actor (b. 1959)

Nobel Prizes

Physics - Nicolaas Bloembergen, Arthur Leonard Schawlow, Kai Siegbahn
Chemistry - Kenichi Fukui, Roald Hoffmann
Medicine - Roger Wolcott Sperry, David H. Hubel, Torsten Wiesel
Literature - Elias Canetti
Peace - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Economics - James Tobin

Templeton Prize

Dame Cicely Saunders

Notes

External links

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