1981 History, Facts, and Trivia

In 1981, MTV launched with Video Killed the Radio Star and immediately began transforming how music was sold, consumed, and experienced. Raiders of the Lost Ark arrived in theaters, and Harrison Ford became the dominant action hero of his generation. Prince Charles married Lady Diana before a television audience of 750 million. The CDC published its first report on a mysterious illness affecting gay men in Los Angeles. Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, survived an assassination attempt, and sent Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court. The Rubik’s Cube was everywhere, and nobody could solve it. It was, in the fullest sense, a year that moved fast.

Quick Facts from 1981

• World-Changing Event: The CDC published its first report on what would become known as AIDS on June 5, 1981, describing an unusual cluster of Pneumocystis pneumonia cases among gay men in Los Angeles; MTV launched on August 1 with Video Killed the Radio Star
• Top Song: Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes, the best-performing single of the year on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100, spending 9 weeks at number one
• Must-See Movies: Raiders of the Lost Ark, On Golden Pond, Superman II, Arthur, Stripes, The Cannonball Run, Time Bandits, and An American Werewolf in London
• Most Famous Person in America: Diana, Princess of Wales, who married Prince Charles on July 29, before an estimated 750 million television viewers worldwide
• Notable Books: The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving and When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner
• Price of a Rubik’s Cube: approximately $5.00
• Sharp VHS Videocassette Recorder: $599 to $950
• Federal Minimum Wage: $3.35 per hour
• The Funny Guy: Rodney Dangerfield
• The Funny Duo: Cheech and Chong
• Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Rooster, associated with confidence, punctuality, and a tendency to be more capable than people expect
• Doomsday Clock: 4 minutes to midnight
• The Habits: Working on the Rubik’s Cube, playing Donkey Kong and Frogger, and He-Man action figures
• The Conversation: Did you watch the Royal Wedding? And what do you think about this new disease?

Top Ten Baby Names of 1981

Girls: Jennifer, Jessica, Amanda, Sarah, Melissa Boys: Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Jason, David

Jennifer had been the most popular girls’ name in America for most of the 1970s and was still holding on. Jessica was climbing steadily. Michael remained at the top for boys, a position it had held for most of three decades. Jason had entered the top five, becoming one of the defining names of the generation that would spend the 1980s in high school.

Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols of 1981

Loni Anderson, Barbara Bach, Catherine Bach, Kim Basinger, Valerie Bertinelli, Jacqueline Bisset, Christie Brinkley, Charo, Joan Collins, Lydia Cornell, Bo Derek, Linda Evans, Morgan Fairchild, Farrah Fawcett, Jane Fonda, Erin Gray, Debbie Harry, Goldie Hawn, Marilu Henner, Lauren Hutton, Grace Jones, Nastassja Kinski, Jessica Lange, Olivia Newton-John, Stevie Nicks, Dolly Parton, Victoria Principal, Tanya Roberts, Diana Ross, Brooke Shields, Jaclyn Smith, Suzanne Somers, Donna Summer, Heather Thomas, Cheryl Tiegs, Charlene Tilton, Mary Woronov

The list reflects the breadth of early 1980s popular culture, in which prime-time soap operas, film, music, and the emerging music video format competed for visual attention. Linda Evans and Joan Collins were Dynasty. Farrah Fawcett was still Farrah Fawcett. Christie Brinkley was in the middle of a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue run. Olivia Newton-John had just released Physical and was about to become the best-selling artist of 1982.

Leading Men and Hollywood Heartthrobs of 1981

Harrison Ford, Mickey Rourke, Warren Beatty, Burt Reynolds, John Travolta

Harrison Ford had Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, and The Empire Strikes Back was still fresh from the previous year. Burt Reynolds was the biggest box-office star in America through the late 1970s and into the early 1980s, a reign that was beginning to decline. Mickey Rourke was appearing in Body Heat and Heaven’s Gate and was at the very beginning of what would become one of Hollywood’s more complicated careers.

The Quotes

“You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.” — President Ronald Reagan, whose fondness for jellybeans was well documented and whose Oval Office desk kept a jar of them throughout his presidency

“No wire hangers, ever!” — Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest, a line delivered with such unnerving intensity that it became the defining moment of a film that was simultaneously released as a serious biographical drama and received as camp

“Listen to me, mister. You’re my knight in shining armor. Don’t you forget it.” — Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond, from a performance that won her a fourth Academy Award and that she delivered at age 73

“Be all that you can be.” — United States Army recruiting, one of the most effective military advertising slogans in American history, launched in 1981 and ran for over two decades

“We bring good things to life.” — General Electric

Time Magazine’s Man of the Year

Lech Walesa, the Polish labor leader and founder of Solidarity, the independent trade union that had grown from a Gdańsk shipyard strike in 1980 into a broad-based movement challenging Soviet-backed Communist rule in Poland. Walesa had negotiated the Gdańsk Agreement — the first time a communist government had recognized an independent trade union — and had become a symbol of peaceful resistance to authoritarianism. He would be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and become Poland’s first democratically elected president in 1990.

Miss America and Miss USA

Miss America: Susan Powell, Elk City, Oklahoma
Miss USA: Kim Seelbrede, Ohio

We Lost in 1981

Natalie Wood, the actress who had appeared in Miracle on 34th Street as a child, starred in Rebel Without a Cause alongside James Dean, and received three Academy Award nominations over a career spanning four decades, was found drowned on November 29, 1981, at age 43, near Santa Catalina Island, California. She had been aboard a yacht with her husband, Robert Wagner, actor Christopher Walken, and the boat’s captain, Dennis Davern. The circumstances of her death were officially ruled accidental drowning. In 2011, the case was reopened, and her death certificate was amended to list the cause of death as undetermined. In 2018, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department named Robert Wagner a person of interest. No charges have been filed. The case remains open.

William Holden, the Oscar-winning actor whose career had spanned Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Bridge on the River Kwai, and Network, was found dead in his Santa Monica apartment on November 16, 1981, at age 63. He had been drinking, fell, and struck his head on a bedside table. The wound was survivable with prompt medical attention. He did not seek help and was found four days later. He had been alone.

Harry Chapin, the singer-songwriter whose storytelling songs, including Cat’s in the Cradle and Taxi had made him one of the most distinctive voices in American folk and pop music, and whose tireless advocacy for fighting world hunger had consumed much of his later career, died July 16, 1981, at age 38, in a car accident on the Long Island Expressway. He had been driving to a free concert. Chapin had donated a third of his concert revenues to anti-hunger causes and had been instrumental in establishing the Presidential Commission on World Hunger.

Bob Marley, the Jamaican reggae musician who had brought reggae to global audiences and whose recordings — No Woman No Cry, Redemption Song, One Love, Three Little Birds, and many others — had made him one of the best-selling musical artists in history, died May 11, 1981, at age 36, of melanoma that had spread to his brain, lungs, and stomach. He had been diagnosed in 1977 but had refused amputation of an affected toe on religious grounds. He was buried with his guitar, a soccer ball, and a Bible.

Bill Haley, one of the pioneers of rock and roll whose recording of “Rock Around the Clock” in 1954 was among the first rock songs to reach mainstream audiences, died on February 9, 1981, at age 55, of a heart attack.

America in 1981 — The Context

Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as the 40th President of the United States on January 20, 1981, the same day Iran released the 52 American hostages it had been holding for 444 days — a coincidence that Reagan’s supporters interpreted as a sign of international respect for the new administration and his critics described as a negotiated arrangement. Both interpretations have been debated ever since.

On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot outside the Washington Hilton by John Hinckley Jr., who had been attempting to impress actress Jodie Foster. The bullet entered Reagan’s left lung. He was taken to George Washington University Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. Press Secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent, and a police officer were also wounded. Brady suffered permanent brain damage. Reagan walked into the hospital under his own power and reportedly joked to the surgeons, “Please tell me you’re all Republicans.” He recovered fully and was back at work within weeks. His approval ratings rose significantly.

Reagan’s economic program — deep tax cuts, significant reductions in domestic spending, and a large increase in defense spending — generated both intense support and intense opposition. The economy entered a severe recession in 1981 that deepened through 1982. Reagan fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers in August 1981 when they refused to return to work, decertifying their union and hiring replacements. The action was seen as a significant demonstration of the new administration’s attitude toward organized labor.

The first cases of what would later be called Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome were reported by the CDC in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on June 5, 1981. The report described five cases of a rare lung infection among gay men in Los Angeles. By the end of 1981, 337 cases had been reported in the United States, and 130 people had died. The cause was unknown. The virus responsible — HIV — would not be identified until 1983-84. The Reagan administration’s response to the epidemic was criticized for years as inadequate; Reagan did not publicly address AIDS by name until 1987.

The Royal Wedding

On July 29, 1981, Charles, Prince of Wales, married Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London in a ceremony watched by an estimated 750 million people on television worldwide — the largest television audience in history to that point. Diana’s gown, designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, had a 25-foot train. Charles was 32; Diana was 20. The ceremony lasted one hour and twelve minutes. Souvenirs were manufactured in extraordinary quantities. The marriage produced two sons before the couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. Diana died in 1997.

MTV Launches

On August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m., MTV — Music Television — launched on cable systems across the United States. The first image broadcast was a montage of moonwalk footage, and the first video played was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles, a choice that was both ironic and entirely apt. The second video was Pat Benatar’s You Better Run. The channel initially had a small cable audience — fewer than 2 million households could receive it — and most major record labels declined to provide videos, viewing the channel as an unproven promotional vehicle. That changed quickly. MTV’s ability to create stars by giving their images as much prominence as their sound transformed the music industry’s understanding of what pop music required.

The VJs — video jockeys — who introduced videos on the original channel included Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, J.J. Jackson, and Nina Blackwood. They became celebrities in their own right in a way that nobody had anticipated.

Pop Culture Facts and History

Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford as archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones, was released June 12, 1981, and became the highest-grossing film of the year with $212 million domestically. The character had been conceived by George Lucas and developed in collaboration with Spielberg. Ford had been cast after Tom Selleck declined due to his commitment to Magnum P.I. The hat and leather jacket became two of the most recognizable costume elements in movie history. The film’s opening sequence, in which Indiana retrieves a golden idol from a booby-trapped temple only to lose it immediately to a rival, establishes the character’s essential nature — competent, resourceful, and perpetually outmaneuvered by circumstance — in under ten minutes.

Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed as the first female Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court on September 21, 1981, having been nominated by President Reagan in fulfillment of a campaign pledge. She had been a member of the Arizona Court of Appeals. Her confirmation vote in the Senate was 99-0. She served until her retirement in 2006.

The Rubik’s Cube, invented by Hungarian professor Ernő Rubik in 1974 and first sold internationally in 1980, reached peak cultural saturation in 1981. An estimated 100 million cubes were sold between 1980 and 1982. The puzzle has approximately 43 quintillion possible configurations and exactly one solution. Most people in 1981 had not found it. The speedcubing record at the time was approximately 22 seconds. The current world record is under 3.5 seconds.

The Reagan assassination attempt on March 30 had an unusual cultural footnote: John Hinckley Jr. had been obsessed with the film Taxi Driver and had sent letters to Jodie Foster, who had starred in it. His attempt to assassinate the president was explicitly intended to impress her, recreating what he saw as Travis Bickle’s heroic act. Foster, who was a student at Yale at the time, was horrified. The incident prompted significant discussion about the relationship between media violence and real-world behavior, a conversation that has not concluded.

On Golden Pond, starring Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, and Jane Fonda, was released on December 4, 1981, and became the second-highest-grossing film of the year. Henry Fonda won the Academy Award for Best Actor; Katharine Hepburn won Best Actress. The film required Jane Fonda and her father, who had a complicated real-life relationship, to perform scenes of reconciliation and tenderness. Henry Fonda died the following August, four months after the Oscar ceremony. He had been too ill to attend; Jane accepted the award on his behalf.

The Smurfs, created by Belgian cartoonist Peyo in 1958, premiered as an American animated series on NBC on September 12, 1981, produced by Hanna-Barbera. The show ran for nine seasons and 256 episodes. Smurfette, introduced in the original Belgian comics as a creation of the villain Gargamel intended to cause discord, was not the only female Smurf — Nanny Smurf and Sassette also appeared in the series, though Smurfette remained the most prominent.

Cats, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, opened at the New London Theatre in London’s West End on May 11, 1981, and ran for 21 years and 8,949 performances, closing May 11, 2002. It was the longest-running West End musical in history at the time of its closure and introduced the song Memory, which became one of the most performed songs in theatrical history.

Dreamgirls, the musical loosely based on the career of The Supremes, opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on December 20, 1981, directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett. Jennifer Holliday’s performance of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” became one of the most discussed theatrical moments of the season and immediately established her as a star. The show ran until August 1985.

The word “bulimia” entered mainstream American vocabulary in 1981 as public awareness of the eating disorder grew. Princess Diana later disclosed that she had struggled with bulimia throughout the 1980s. The disorder had been classified in the DSM-III the previous year.

Nobel Prize Winners in 1981

The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Nicolaas Bloembergen and Arthur Schawlow for their contributions to the development of laser spectroscopy, and to Kai Siegbahn for his contribution to the development of high-resolution electron spectroscopy. Laser spectroscopy techniques enabled scientists to study atomic and molecular structure with unprecedented precision.

Chemistry went to Kenichi Fukui of Japan and Roald Hoffmann for their independently developed theories concerning the course of chemical reactions — the Woodward-Hoffmann rules and Frontier Molecular Orbital theory — which explained why certain chemical reactions proceed, and others do not.

Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Roger Sperry for his discoveries concerning the functional specialization of the cerebral hemispheres and to David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel for their discoveries concerning information processing in the visual system. Sperry’s split-brain research established that the left and right hemispheres of the brain process information differently, generating a popular culture obsession with “left-brain” and “right-brain” thinking that significantly outran the science.

Literature went to Elias Canetti of Bulgaria and Britain, for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas, and artistic power. His 1935 novel Auto-da-Fé and his 1960 non-fiction work Crowds and Power are his most significant works.

Peace was awarded to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the second time the UNHCR had received the prize, for its work with refugees worldwide. The office had been dealing with major refugee crises from Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, and Africa throughout the late 1970s and into the 1980s.

Economics went to James Tobin for his analysis of financial markets and their relations to expenditure decisions, employment, production, and prices — work that included the Tobin Tax concept, a proposed small tax on financial transactions intended to reduce currency speculation.

1981 Toys and Christmas Gifts

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe action figures, introduced by Mattel, became one of the most successful toy lines of the early 1980s. The Rubik’s Cube was simultaneously the most-purchased and most-frustrating gift of the season. Arcade games — specifically Donkey Kong and Frogger — were at the peak of their cultural prominence, generating more revenue than the film industry in 1981.

Broadway in 1981

Dreamgirls opened December 20, 1981, and ran until August 11, 1985, completing 1,521 performances. Michael Bennett’s staging, which used moving light towers designed by Robin Wagner to create fluid scene transitions without a conventional proscenium staging, was considered revolutionary. Jennifer Holliday won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The show won six Tonys in total.

Best Film Oscar Winner

Ordinary People, directed by Robert Redford in his directorial debut and starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, and Timothy Hutton, won Best Picture at the 53rd Academy Awards on March 31, 1981, for the 1980 film year. Redford won Best Director. Timothy Hutton won Best Supporting Actor at age 20, the youngest recipient of that award at that time. The film, about a family dealing with the aftermath of one son’s death and another’s attempted suicide, defeated Raging Bull, a result that has been cited in discussions of Academy preferences ever since.

Top Movies of 1981

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. On Golden Pond
3. Superman II
4. Arthur
5. Stripes
6. The Cannonball Run
7. Chariots of Fire
8. For Your Eyes Only
9. The Four Seasons
10. Time Bandits

Raiders of the Lost Ark dominated the year so thoroughly that the second-highest-grossing film earned less than half its total. Superman II, completing the storyline begun in Superman (1978), was considered by many fans the superior of the two films. Arthur, starring Dudley Moore as a lovable alcoholic millionaire, was a massive commercial and critical success that has not aged quite as well as its box office suggested it might. Stripes launched Bill Murray’s film career and featured the phrase “That’s the fact, Jack,” which immediately entered the cultural lexicon.

Most Popular TV Shows of 1981

1. Dallas (CBS)
2. 60 Minutes (CBS)
3. The Jeffersons (CBS)
4. Three’s Company (ABC)
5. Alice (CBS)
6. The Dukes of Hazzard (CBS)
7. Too Close for Comfort (ABC)
8. ABC Monday Night Movie (ABC)
9. M*A*S*H (CBS)
10. One Day at a Time (CBS)

Dallas was the most-watched show on American television, having generated the previous season’s “Who Shot J.R.?” cliffhanger that drew 83 million viewers for its resolution — the most-watched episode of any series in American television history at that time. M*A*S*H was in its ninth season and approaching its finale. The premiere of Dynasty on ABC in January 1981 began a prime-time soap opera rivalry with Dallas that would define network drama for most of the decade.

1981 Billboard Number One Hits

December 27, 1980 – January 30, 1981: (Just Like) Starting Over — John Lennon (carryover, Lennon had been killed December 8, 1980)
January 31 – February 6: The Tide Is High — Blondie
February 7 – February 20: Celebration — Kool and the Gang
February 21 – March 6: 9 to 5 — Dolly Parton
March 7 – March 20: I Love a Rainy Night — Eddie Rabbitt
March 21 – March 27: Keep On Loving You — REO Speedwagon
March 28 – April 10: Rapture — Blondie
April 11 – May 1: Kiss on My List — Hall and Oates
May 2 – May 15: Morning Train (Nine to Five) — Sheena Easton
May 16 – July 17: Bette Davis Eyes — Kim Carnes (9 weeks)
July 18 – July 24: Medley — Stars on 45
July 25 – July 31: The One That You Love — Air Supply
August 1 – August 14: Jessie’s Girl — Rick Springfield
August 15 – October 16: Endless Love — Diana Ross and Lionel Richie (9 weeks)
October 17 – November 6: Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) — Christopher Cross
November 7 – November 20: Private Eyes — Hall and Oates
November 21, 1981 – January 29, 1982: Physical — Olivia Newton-John (carrying into 1982)

John Lennon’s (Just Like) Starting Over opened 1981 at number one — Lennon had been shot and killed on December 8, 1980, and his music surged back up the charts in the weeks that followed. Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes and Endless Love by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie each spent nine weeks at number one, making 1981 one of the more dominated years in chart history. Bette Davis Eyes was the best-performing single of the year on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100. Blondie had two separate number ones — The Tide Is High and Rapture, the latter being the first rap song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, even if most people at the time did not categorize it as rap. Hall and Oates had two number ones as well, beginning a commercial run that would make them the best-selling duo in American music history.

Sports Champions of 1981

World Series: The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees four games to two, with the Dodgers rallying from an 0-2 series deficit to win four consecutive games. Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero, and Steve Yeager shared the MVP award — the only time three players have shared the honor. The series was played in a strike-shortened season; the players had walked out in June, eliminating 713 games from the schedule.

Super Bowl XV: The Oakland Raiders defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 on January 25, 1981, in New Orleans. Jim Plunkett was named MVP, completing 13 of 21 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. The Raiders entered the playoffs as a wild-card team, becoming the first to win the Super Bowl.

NBA Champions: The Boston Celtics defeated the Houston Rockets four games to two, winning the franchise’s 14th championship. Larry Bird, Cedric Maxwell, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale formed one of the deepest frontcourts in basketball history. Maxwell was named Finals MVP.

Stanley Cup: The New York Islanders defeated the Minnesota North Stars four games to one, winning their second consecutive championship. Butch Goring won the Conn Smythe Trophy. The Islanders’ dynasty, built around Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, and Billy Smith, was in full swing and won four consecutive Cups from 1980 to 1983.

U.S. Open Golf: David Graham of Australia won at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania, playing one of the most precise final rounds in major championship history, hitting every green in regulation in the final round. He was the first Australian to win the U.S. Open.

U.S. Open Tennis: John McEnroe won the men’s title, and Tracy Austin won the women’s title, her second consecutive U.S. Open.

Wimbledon: John McEnroe won the men’s title in a five-set final over Björn Borg — Borg’s fifth consecutive Wimbledon final, which he lost for the first time. He retired from professional tennis shortly afterward. Chris Evert won the women’s title.

NCAA Football: Clemson won the national championship under coach Danny Ford, defeating Nebraska 22-15 in the Orange Bowl. It was Clemson’s only national title of the modern era until 2016.

NCAA Basketball: Indiana, under coach Bob Knight, defeated North Carolina 63-50 in the national championship game in Philadelphia. Isiah Thomas was named Most Outstanding Player. It was Indiana’s fourth national championship and Knight’s second.

Kentucky Derby: Pleasant Colony won and went on to win the Preakness, setting up a potential Triple Crown attempt at the Belmont. He finished third at the Belmont, ending the bid. It was the fourth consecutive year a potential Triple Crown winner had failed at Belmont.

Frequently Asked Questions About 1981

Q: What was the first video played on MTV?
A: Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles was the first video played when MTV launched on August 1, 1981, at 12:01 a.m. The second video was You Better Run by Pat Benatar. MTV initially reached fewer than 2 million households, but its influence on the music industry grew rapidly.

Q: What happened to Natalie Wood?
A: Natalie Wood was found drowned on November 29, 1981, near Santa Catalina Island, California. She had been aboard a yacht with her husband, Robert Wagner, actor Christopher Walken, and the boat’s captain. Her death was initially ruled accidental drowning. In 2011, the case was reopened, and the cause was reclassified as undetermined. Robert Wagner was named a person of interest in 2018. No charges have been filed.

Q: When was AIDS first identified?
A: The CDC published its first report on what would become known as AIDS on June 5, 1981, describing an unusual cluster of rare infections among gay men in Los Angeles. The virus responsible — HIV — was identified in 1983 by Luc Montagnier’s team in France and in 1984 by Robert Gallo’s team in the United States. By the end of 1981, 337 cases had been reported in the United States, and 130 people had died.

Q: What was the Reagan assassination attempt?
A: On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. shot President Reagan outside the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC. Reagan was struck by a bullet that entered his left lung. He was taken to George Washington University Hospital and recovered fully. Press Secretary James Brady suffered permanent brain damage. Hinckley was motivated by an obsession with the film Taxi Driver and its star Jodie Foster, whom he wished to impress.

Q: Why did Bjorn Borg retire after losing the 1981 Wimbledon final?
A: Borg had won five consecutive Wimbledon titles from 1976 to 1980. His 1981 final loss to John McEnroe — which went five sets — was followed by a sudden announcement that he was stepping back from the game. He was 25 years old. He had also lost the 1981 U.S. Open final to McEnroe. Borg later said the defeat felt like the end of something he could no longer sustain emotionally. He attempted a comeback in 1991 but retired permanently shortly after.

Q: What made Raiders of the Lost Ark significant beyond its box office?
A: Raiders established Indiana Jones as one of the most durable characters in cinema, launched a franchise that extended over four decades, and refined the adventure film template in ways that influenced virtually every action-adventure film that followed. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas drew on serials from the 1930s and 1940s as their primary reference, creating a film that felt both nostalgic and completely contemporary. Harrison Ford had been considered too old for the role at 38. He was not.

In a year when MTV launched, the Royal Wedding was watched by three-quarters of a billion people, Raiders of the Lost Ark arrived, and the first reports of a mysterious new illness appeared in a CDC bulletin that most Americans did not read, 1981 set the terms for the decade that followed in ways that were not fully apparent while they were happening. The Rubik’s Cube sat on millions of bookshelves, mostly unsolved. John Lennon’s voice was on the radio in January, singing about starting over. The Smurfs arrived. He-Man was on his way. The 1980s were fully underway.

More 1981 Facts and History Resources:

Most Popular Baby Names (BabyCenter.com)
Popular and Notable Books (popculture.us)
Broadway Shows that Opened in 1981X
1981 Calendar, courtesy of Time and Date.com
Everything 80s Podcast 1981
Fact Monster
Back In Time 1980s Timeline Thoughtco.com
1980s, Infoplease.com World History
Millennial Generation (1981-1996)
1981 in Movies (according to IMDB)
1981 Top Movies (according to BoxOfficeMojo)
Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ Wedding
Retrowaste Vintage Culture
President Ronald Reagan
The 80s(History.com)
1980s Slang
1980 US Census Fast Facts
Wikipedia 1981