At A Glance

23 August 1981 at a glance

Day of the week
23 August 1981 was a Sunday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Japanese Boy” by Aneka.
Top Film of 1981
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1981 was Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Star sign
The star sign for 23 August is Virgo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 23 August 1981 fell in the Year of the Rooster.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 23 August 1981 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 23 August

  • 1975 The start of the Wave Hill walk-off by Gurindji people in Australia, lasting eight years, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 Paul Kelly song and an annual celebration.
  • 1975 The Pontiac Silverdome opens in Pontiac, Michigan, 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Detroit, Michigan.
  • 1977 Waylon Jennings arrested in a drug raid.
  • 1985 Hans Tiedge, top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany.
  • 1989 Singing Revolution: Two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stand on the Vilnius–Tallinn road, holding hands.

Famous people born on 23 August

  • River Phoenix, American actor (1970–1993)
  • Kobe Bryant, American basketball player and businessman (1978–2020)
  • Scott Caan, American actor (born 1976)
  • Louis XVI (1754–1793)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1981 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1981 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 30 March – Academy Award-winning film Chariots of Fire released.
  • 4 April – Bucks Fizz representing the United Kingdom win the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Making Your Mind Up.
  • 10 April – Bobby Sands, an IRA member on hunger strike in the Maze prison, Northern Ireland, is elected MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone in a by election.

Life in 1981

Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

50p

Loaf of Bread

37p

Average House

£24,188

Weekly Wage

£135.00

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1980s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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