At A Glance

1 October 1981 at a glance

Day of the week
1 October 1981 was a Thursday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie.
Top Film of 1981
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1981 was Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Bestselling Novel of 1981
“Noble House” by James Clavell was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1981.
Top-Rated TV Show
“Dallas” (CBS) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1981–82 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 1 October is Libra.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 1 October 1981 fell in the Year of the Rooster.
Birthstone
The birthstone for October is Opal.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 1 October 1981 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 1 October

  • 1979 Pope John Paul II begins his first pastoral visit to the United States.
  • 1979 The MTR, Hong Kong's rapid transit railway system, opens.
  • 1982 Helmut Kohl replaces Helmut Schmidt as Chancellor of Germany through a constructive vote of no confidence.
  • 1982 EPCOT Center (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) opens at Walt Disney World in Florida.
  • 1982 Sony and Phillips launch the compact disc in Japan; on the same day, Sony releases the model CDP-101 compact disc player, the first player of its kind.

Famous people born on October 1

  • Julie Andrews, English actress and singer (born 1935)
  • Jimmy Carter, American naval lieutenant, politician, 39th President of the United States, and Nobel Prize laureate (1924–2024)
  • Fernando Mendoza, American football player (born 2003)
  • Brie Larson, American actress (born 1989)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1981 in the United States

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

  • 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, Ordinary People, wins four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
  • 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.
  • June 12 – Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by Steven Spielberg is released as the first film of the Indiana Jones film series.
More events of 1981 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in the US in 1981

President

Ronald Reagan

Gas (per gallon)

$1.31

Loaf of Bread

$0.54

Average House

$68,900

Weekly Wage

$285

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Famous Faces Born in the 1980s

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

Hayden Panettiere21 August 1989Actress & singerView their day →Alan Ritchson28 November 1982ActorView their day →Anne Hathaway12 November 1982ActressView their day →Dakota Johnson4 October 1989Actress & modelView their day →Macklemore19 June 1983RapperView their day →Andrew Garfield20 August 1983ActorView their day →Julia Stiles28 March 1981ActressView their day →Taylor Swift13 December 1989Singer-songwriterView their day →

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

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