At A Glance

2 November 1981 at a glance

Day of the week
2 November 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 2 November is Scorpio.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 2 November 1981 fell in the Year of the Rooster.
Birthstone
The birthstone for November is Topaz.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 2 November 1981 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 2 November

  • 1967 Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and "The Wise Men" conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.
  • 1982 Channel 4, the British free-to-air public broadcast television channel funded by its commercial activities, starts broadcasting.
  • 1983 U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
  • 1988 The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT.
  • 1990 British Satellite Broadcasting and Sky Television plc merge to form BSkyB as a result of massive losses.

Famous people born on November 2

  • Marie Antoinette, Austrian-French queen consort of Louis XVI of France (1755–1793)
  • Shah Rukh Khan, Indian film actor, producer and television host (born 1965)
  • David Schwimmer, American actor (born 1966)
  • Warren G. Harding, American journalist and politician, 29th President of the United States (1865–1923)

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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