At A Glance

2 April 1981 at a glance

Day of the week
2 April 1981 was a Thursday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Rapture” by Blondie.
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 2 April is Aries.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 2 April 1981 fell in the Year of the Rooster.
Birthstone
The birthstone for April is Diamond.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 2 April 1981 was Waning Crescent.

On this day: 2 April

  • 1975 Vietnam War: Thousands of civilian refugees flee from Quảng Ngãi Province in front of advancing North Vietnamese troops.
  • 1976 Prince Norodom Sihanouk resigns as leader of Cambodia and is placed under house arrest.
  • 1980 United States President Jimmy Carter signs the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act.
  • 1982 Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.
  • 1986 Alabama governor George Wallace, a former segregationist, best known for the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door", announces that he will not seek a fifth four-year term and will retire from public life upon the end of his term in January 1987.

Famous people born on April 2

  • Jesse Plemons, American actor (born 1988)
  • Pedro Pascal, Chilean and American actor (born 1975)
  • Michael Fassbender, German-Irish actor and producer (born 1977)
  • Marvin Gaye, American singer-songwriter (1939–1984)

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.

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.

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

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