At A Glance
19 October 1981 at a glance
- Day of the week
- 19 October 1981 was a Monday.
- Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
- The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)” by Christopher Cross.
- 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 19 October is Libra.
- Chinese zodiac
- In the Chinese zodiac, 19 October 1981 fell in the Year of the Rooster.
- Birthstone
- The birthstone for October is Opal.
- Moon phase
- The moon phase on 19 October 1981 was Last Quarter.
On this day: 19 October
- 1974 Niue becomes a self-governing colony of New Zealand.
- 1987 The United States Navy conducts Operation Nimble Archer, an attack on two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf.
- 1987 Black Monday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 22%, 508 points.
- 1988 The British government imposes a broadcasting ban on television and radio interviews with members of Sinn Féin and eleven Irish republican and Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups.
- 1989 The convictions of the Guildford Four are quashed by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, after they had spent 15 years in prison.
Famous people born on October 19
- Rebecca Ferguson, Swedish actress (born 1983)
- Lil Durk, American rapper (born 1992)
- Jon Favreau, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1966)
- John Lithgow, American actor (born 1945)
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.
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.
Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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