At A Glance

8 March 1981 at a glance

Day of the week
8 March 1981 was a Sunday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “I Love a Rainy Night” by Eddie Rabbitt.
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 8 March is Pisces.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 8 March 1981 fell in the Year of the Rooster.
Birthstone
The birthstone for March is Aquamarine.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 8 March 1981 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 8 March

  • 1963 The Ba'ath Party comes to power in Syria in a coup d'état.
  • 1965 Vietnam War: US Marines arrive at Da Nang.
  • 1979 Philips demonstrates the compact disc publicly for the first time.
  • 1979 Images taken by Voyager 1 prove the existence of volcanoes on Io, a moon of Jupiter.
  • 1983 Cold War: While addressing a convention of Evangelicals, U.S. President Ronald Reagan labels the Soviet Union an "evil empire".

Famous people born on March 8

  • Benny Blanco, American record producer (born 1988)
  • James Van Der Beek, American actor (1977–2026)
  • Aidan Quinn, American actor (born 1959)
  • Kit Connor, English actor (born 2004)

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.
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

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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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