At A Glance

16 October 1981 at a glance

Day of the week
16 October 1981 was a Friday.
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 16 October is Libra.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 16 October 1981 fell in the Year of the Rooster.
Birthstone
The birthstone for October is Opal.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 16 October 1981 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 16 October

  • 1973 Henry Kissinger and Lê Đức Thọ are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
  • 1975 Three-year-old Rahima Banu, from Bangladesh, is the last known case of naturally occurring smallpox.
  • 1975 The Australian Coalition sparks a constitutional crisis when they vote to defer funding for the government's annual budget.
  • 1978 Cardinal Karol Wojtyła is elected to the papacy as Pope John Paul II, he becomes the first non-Italian pontiff since 1523.
  • 1984 Desmond Tutu is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Famous people born on October 16

  • Tim Robbins, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1958)
  • Naomi Osaka, Japanese tennis player (born 1997)
  • Angela Lansbury, English-American actress, singer, and producer (1925–2022)
  • Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright, novelist, and poet (1854–1900)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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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

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.

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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