UK, 
US, 
Australia & 
IrelandAt A Glance
21 October 1981 at a glance
- Day of the week
- 21 October 1981 was a Wednesday.
- 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 21 October is Libra.
- Chinese zodiac
- In the Chinese zodiac, 21 October 1981 fell in the Year of the Rooster.
- Birthstone
- The birthstone for October is Opal.
- Moon phase
- The moon phase on 21 October 1981 was Waning Crescent.
On this day: 21 October
- 1978 Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
- 1979 Moshe Dayan resigns from the Israeli government because of strong disagreements with Prime Minister Menachem Begin over policy towards the Arabs.
- 1981 Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece, ending an almost 50-year-long system of power dominated by conservative forces.
- 1983 The metre is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
- 1984 Niki Lauda claims his third and final Formula One Drivers' Championship Title by half a point ahead of McLaren team-mate Alain Prost at the Portuguese Grand Prix.
Famous people born on October 21
- Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli captain and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Israel (born 1949)
- Kim Kardashian, American reality television personality, actress, model, businesswoman and socialite (born 1980)
- Glen Powell, American actor (born 1988)
- Carrie Fisher, American actress and screenwriter (1956–2016)
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.
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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