1981

Events

January

* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of Morazán and Chalatenango departments.
* January 15 – Pope John Paul II receives a delegation led by Polish Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa at the Vatican.
* January 20 – Iran releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days, minutes after Ronald Reagan is sworn in as the 40th President of the United States, ending the Iran hostage crisis.
* January 21 – The first DeLorean automobile, a stainless steel sports car with gull-wing doors, rolls off the production line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.
* January 24 – An earthquake of magnitude in Sichuan, China, kills 150 people. Japan suffers a less serious earthquake on the same day.
* January 25 – In South Africa the largest part of the town Laingsburg is swept away within minutes by one of the strongest floods ever experienced in the Great Karoo.
* January 27 – The Indonesian passenger ship ''Tamponas 2'' catches fire and capsizes in the Java Sea, killing 580 people.

February

* February 4 – Gro Harlem Brundtland becomes Prime Minister of Norway.
* February 8 – In Greece, 20 fans of Olympiacos F.C. and 1 fan of AEK Athens die, while 54 are injured, after a stampede at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, possibly because Gate 7 does not open immediately after the end of the game.
* February 9 – Polish Prime Minister Józef Pińkowski resigns, and is replaced by General Wojciech Jaruzelski.
* February 14 – Stardust fire: A fire at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, Ireland in the early hours kills 48 people and injures 214.
* February 17– 22 – Pope John Paul II visits the Philippines.
* February 23 – 1981 Spanish coup d'état attempt ("23-F"): Antonio Tejero, with members of the Guardia Civil, enters the Spanish Congress of Deputies and stops the session where Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo is about to be named president of the government. The coup fails after being denounced by King Juan Carlos.
* February 24 – A powerful, magnitude earthquake hits Athens, killing 22 people, injuring 400 people and destroying several buildings and 4,000 houses, mostly in Corinth and the nearby towns of Loutraki, Kiato and Xylokastro.

March

* March 1 – 1981 Irish hunger strike: Bobby Sands, a Provisional Irish Republican Army member, begins a hunger strike for political status at HM Prison Maze (Long Kesh) in Northern Ireland, dying on May 5, the first of 7 IRA and 3 INLA hunger strikers to die.
* March 11 – Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet is sworn in as President of Chile for another 8-year term.
* March 17 – In Italy the Propaganda Due Masonic lodge is discovered.
* March 19 – Two or three workers are killed and 4 injured during a ground test of Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' at Kennedy Space Center in the United States.
* March 29 – The first London Marathon starts, with 7,500 runners.
* March 30 – Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan: U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.; 2 police officers and Press Secretary James Brady are also wounded.

April

* April 4 – UK pop group Bucks Fizz's song '' Making Your Mind Up'' wins the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
* April 11 – 1981 Brixton riot: Rioters in south London, UK, throw petrol bombs, attack police and loot shops.
* April 12 – The Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' with NASA astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen launches on the STS-1 mission, returning to Earth on April 14. It is the first time a crewed reusable spacecraft has returned from orbit.

* April 15 – The first Coca-Cola bottling plant in China is opened.
* April 18 – A Minor League Baseball game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, becomes the longest professional baseball game in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning is not played until June 23).
* April 26 – French presidential election: A first-round runoff results between Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and François Mitterrand.

May

* May – Daniel K. Ludwig abandons the Jari project in the Amazon basin.
* May 1 – Pensions in Chile: The new Chilean pension system, based on private pension funds, begins.
* May 4 – The European Law Students' Association (ELSA) was founded in Vienna by law students from Austria, West Germany, Poland and Hungary.
* May 6 – A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selects Maya Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. from 1,421 other entries.
* May 13 – Pope John Paul II assassination attempt: Pope John Paul II is shot by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a Turkish gunman, as he enters St. Peter's Square in Vatican City to address a general audience. The Pope recovers.
* May 15 – A prison officer, 31-year-old Donna Payant, disappears at Green Haven Correctional Facility in New York. She is later found to have been murdered by convicted serial killer Lemuel Smith. It is the first time a female prison officer has been killed while on duty in the United States.
* May 21 – François Mitterrand becomes the first socialist President of the French Fifth Republic.
* May 22 – Serial killer Peter Sutcliffe is found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on 13 counts of murder and 7 of attempted murder in England.
* May 25 – In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
* May 26 – The Italian government resigns over its links to the fascist Masonic cell Propaganda Due.
* May 30 – Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman is assassinated in Chittagong.
* May 31 – Burning of Jaffna library, one of the most violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the century.

June

* June 5 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States report that 5 homosexual men in Los Angeles have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems, the first recognized cases of AIDS.
* June 6 – Bihar train disaster: Seven coaches of an overcrowded passenger train fall off the tracks into the Bagmati River in Bihar, India, killing between 500 and 800.
* June 7 – The Israeli Air Force destroys Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor killing ten Iraqi troops and a French technician.
* June 10 – Alfredo Rampi, a 6-year-old boy, falls into an artesian well in Vermicino, near Rome. After nearly three days of failed rescue attempts followed with bated breath from all over Italy, Alfredino dies inside the well, at a depth of 60 meters.
* June 13 – At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, teenager Marcus Sarjeant fires 6 blank shots close to Queen Elizabeth II, startling her horse.
* June 18
** The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States is founded.
** The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighter makes its first flight at Groom Lake ( Area 51), Nevada.
* June 22 – Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr is deposed.
* June 27
** The first game of paintball is played, in Henniker, New Hampshire, United States.
** The E-mu Emulator sampler keyboard with floppy disk operation is unveiled at NAMM international Sound & Music Expo, Chicago. Production Model Serial Number 001 is issued to Stevie Wonder.

July

* July 1 – Wonderland murders: The Wonderland Gang of cocaine dealers is brutally murdered in Los Angeles. Eddie Nash is suspected of involvement, but will never be convicted.
* July 3 – The Toxteth riots in Liverpool, England, start after a mob saves a youth from being arrested. Shortly afterward, the Chapeltown riots in Leeds start after increased racial tension.
* July 7 – United States President Ronald Reagan nominates the first woman, Sandra Day O'Connor, to the Supreme Court of the United States.
* July 9 – '' Donkey Kong'' is released, marking the first '' Donkey Kong'' and Mario smash hit arcade game developed by Nintendo in Japan.
* July 10
** Mahathir bin Mohamad becomes the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia.
** 1981 Handsworth riots in Birmingham begin, followed by further 1981 England riots in several urban areas including Liverpool and Leeds.
* July 16– 21 – England become the first team this century to win a cricket Test match after the follow-on when they beat Australia by 18 runs at Headingley cricket ground, Leeds, England.
* July 17
** Hyatt Regency walkway collapse: Two skywalks filled with people at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, collapse into a crowded atrium lobby, killing 114.
** Israeli aircraft bomb Beirut, destroying multi-story apartment blocks containing the offices of PLO associated groups, killing approximately 300 civilians and resulting in worldwide condemnation and a U.S. embargo on the export of aircraft to Israel.
* July 19 – The 1981 Springbok Tour commences in New Zealand, amid controversy over the support of apartheid.
* July 21 – Panda Tohui is born in Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, the first panda to ever be born and survive in captivity outside of China.
* July 29 – A worldwide television audience of over 750 million people watch the Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London, UK.
* July 30 – 1981 Polish hunger demonstrations: As many as 50,000 demonstrators, mostly women and children, take to the streets in Łódź to protest about food ration shortages in Communist Poland.

August

* August 1 – The first 24-hour video music channel MTV (Music Television) is launched in the United States and airs its first video, '' Video Killed the Radio Star'' by The Buggles.
* August 9 – 1981 Major League Baseball strike ends in the United States, and Major League Baseball resumes with the All-Star Game in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium.
* August 12 – The original Model 5150 IBM PC (with a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor) is released in the United States at a base price of $1,565.
* August 19 – Gulf of Sidra incident: Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi sends two Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets to intercept two U.S. Navy fighters over the Gulf of Sidra. The U.S. jets destroy the Libyan fighters.
* August 23 – South African troops attack SWAPO bases in Xangongo and Ongiva, Angola, during Operation Protea.
* August 24 – Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to murdering John Lennon in Manhattan eight months earlier.
* August 27 – North Korea fires a surface-to-air missile at a U.S. SR-71 Blackbird spy plane flying in South Korean and international airspace. The missile misses and the airplane is unharmed.
* August 30 – 1981 Iranian Prime Minister's office bombing: Eight people, including the country's president and prime minister, are killed when a briefcase, planted by People's Mujahedin of Iran, explodes in the building.
* August 31 – A bomb explodes at the United States Ramstein Air Base in West Germany, injuring 20 people.

September

* September 1 – Gregorio Conrado Álvarez is inaugurated as a military de facto President of Uruguay.
* September 4 – An explosion at a mine in Záluží, Czechoslovakia, kills 65 people.
* September 7 – British plantation company, Guthrie was taken over by the Malaysian government after successfully purchasing shares to become the major shareholder. This is famously called the 'Dawn Raid attack'.
* September 10 – Picasso's painting '' Guernica'' is moved from New York to Madrid.
* September 15
** Our Lady of Akita in Japan cries for the last time, on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
** The '' John Bull'' becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world, at 150 years old, when it operates under its own power outside Washington, D.C.
* September 17 – Ric Flair defeats Dusty Rhodes to win his first World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City.
* September 18 – France's National Assembly votes to abolish Capital punishment in France.
* September 19 – Solidarity Day march, in support of organized labor, draws approximately 250,000 people in Washington, D.C.
* September 20 – The overcrowded ferry boat ''Sobral Santos II'' capsizes in the Amazon River, Óbidos, Brazil, killing at least 300 people.
* September 21 – Belize, formerly British Honduras, gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
* September 25 – Sandra Day O'Connor takes her seat as the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
* September 26
** The Boeing 767 airliner makes its first flight.
** The Sydney Tower opens to the public in Australia.
* September 27 – TGV high-speed rail service between Paris and Lyon, France, begins.
* September 27–September 29, 29 – Iran–Iraq War: Iranian forces break the Siege of Abadan in Operation Samen-ol-A'emeh.

October

* October 5 – Raoul Wallenberg becomes a posthumously honorary citizen of the United States.
* October 10 – The Ministry for Education of Japan issues the jōyō kanji.
* October 14 – Vice President Hosni Mubarak is elected President of Egypt, one week after the assassination of Anwar Sadat during a parade, by servicemen who belong to the Egyptian Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Islamic Jihad organization led by Khalid Islambouli and oppose his negotiations with Israel.
* October 16 – Gas explosions at a coal mine at Hokutan, Yūbari, Hokkaidō, Japan, kill 93 people.
* October 21 – Andreas Papandreou becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
* October 22 – The founding congress of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Organisation (Hareram Sharma), Nepal Workers and Peasants Organization faction led by Hareram Sharma and D. P. Singh begins.
* October 27 – Soviet submarine S-363 runs aground outside the Karlskrona, Sweden, military base, leading to a minor international incident.

November

* November 1 – Antigua and Barbuda gain independence from the United Kingdom.
* November 9 – Slavery in Mauritania is abolished by Edict No. 81-234.
* November 12 – The Church of England General Synod votes to admit women to holy orders.
* November 22 – The Edmonton Eskimos (14-1-1) barely stave off defeat and win a record 4th consecutive Grey Cup in the Canadian Football League, at the 69th Grey Cup at Montréal's Olympic Stadium defeating the Ottawa Rough Riders (5-11-0) 26–23 in the final three seconds; after being down 20–1 at halftime.
* November 23
** Iran–Contra affair: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Classified information, top secret National Security Decision Directive 17 (NSDD-17), authorizing the Central Intelligence Agency to recruit and support Contras, Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
** 1981 United Kingdom tornado outbreak, the largest recorded tornado outbreak in European history.
* November 25–November 26, 26 – 1981 Seychelles coup d'état attempt: A group of Mercenary, mercenaries led by Mike Hoare take over Mahé, Seychelles, Mahe airport. Most of them escape by a commandeered Air India passenger jet; six are later arrested.

December

* December 1 – An Adria Airways, Inex-Adria Aviopromet McDonnell Douglas MD-80 Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 1308, strikes a mountain peak and crashes while approaching Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport, Ajaccio Airport in Corsica, killing all 180 people on board.
* December 4 – South Africa grants Ciskei independence, not recognized outside South Africa.
* December 7 – Rotary International charters the Rotary Club of Grand Baie, Mauritius.
* December 8
** The No. 21 Mine explosion in Whitwell, Tennessee kills 13.
** Arthur Scargill becomes President-elect of the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain).
* December 10 – During the Ministerial Session of the North Atlantic Council in Brussels, Spain signs the Enlargement of NATO, Protocol of Accession to NATO.
* December 11
** Boxing: Muhammad Ali loses to Trevor Berbick; this proves to be Ali's last-ever fight.
** El Mozote massacre: In El Salvador, army units kill 900 civilians.
* December 13 – Wojciech Jaruzelski declares martial law in Poland, to prevent the dismantling of the communist system by Solidarity.
* December 15 – A car bomb destroys the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 61 people; Syrian intelligence is blamed.
* December 17 – American Brigadier General James L. Dozier is kidnapped in Verona by the Italian Red Brigades.
* December 20 – The Penlee lifeboat disaster: While attempting to rescue those on board the ''Union Star'' off the coast of South-West Cornwall, the lifeboat ''Solomon Browne'' is lost with all crew. Sixteen people in all are killed.
* December 28 – The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.
* December 31 – A coup d'état in Ghana removes President of Ghana, President Hilla Limann's People's National Party (Ghana), PNP Limann government, government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council, PNDC led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.

Date unknown

* January to March – :ja:五六豪雪, Heavy snow causes many houses and buildings to collapse in northwestern Japan; 152 are killed.
* Cuba suffers a major outbreak of dengue fever, with 344,203 cases.
* Use of crack cocaine, a smokeable form of the drug, first reported in the United States and Caribbean.
* Luxor AB presents the ABC 800 computer.
* Polybius (urban legend), Polybius, an urban legend game, is said to have been released in Portland, Oregon; there is no evidence for its existence.
* The State Council of the People's Republic of China lists the cities of Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Guilin as those where the protection of historical and cultural heritage, as well as natural scenery, should be treated as a priority project.
* Pepsi enters China.
* China becomes the first country to ever reach a population of 1 billion around the end of 1981.

Births

January

* January 1
** Mladen Petrić, Croatian football player
* January 2 – Maxi Rodríguez, Argentine footballer
* January 3 – Eli Manning, American football player
* January 4 – Joe Bishop-Henchman, American attorney and politician
* January 5 – Deadmau5 (Joel Zimmerman), Canadian DJ/producer
* January 6 – Rinko Kikuchi, Japanese actress
* January 8
** Xie Xingfang, Chinese badminton player
** Genevieve Cortese, American actress
* January 9 – Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer
* January 10 –
** Jared Kushner, American investor
** Chris Pozniak, Canadian footballer
* January 11 – Jamelia, British singer
* January 15
** Howie Day, American singer
** El Hadji Diouf, Senegalese footballer
** Pitbull (rapper), Pitbull, American hip-hop musician and record producer
* January 17 – Ray J, American rapper and singer
* January 19 – Lucho González, Argentine footballer
**Elizabeth Tulloch, American actress
* January 20
** Owen Hargreaves, Canadian-born English footballer
** Jason Richardson, American basketball player
* January 21 – Izabella Miko, Polish actress and dancer
* January 25
** Alicia Keys, American singer, pianist and actress
** Toše Proeski, Macedonian singer (d. 2007)
* January 26 – Gustavo Dudamel, Venezuelan conductor
* January 27
** Yaniv Katan, Israeli footballer
** Alicia Molik, Australian tennis player
* January 28 – Elijah Wood, American actor and producer
* January 29 – Tenoch Huerta, Mexican actor
* January 30 – Dimitar Berbatov, Bulgarian footballer
* January 31
** Gemma Collins, English media personality and businesswoman
**Justin Timberlake, American actor and musician

February

* February 2 – Emily Rose (actress), Emily Rose, American actress
* February 3 – Ben Sigmund, New Zealand footballer
* February 4
** Paulien van Deutekom, Dutch speed skater (d. 2019)
** Fahmi Fadzil, Malaysian politician
* February 5 – Nora Zehetner, American actress
* February 8
** Dawn Olivieri, American actress
** Jim Parrack, American actor
* February 9 – Tom Hiddleston, British actor
* February 10
** Uzo Aduba, American actress
** Holly Willoughby, English television presenter
* February 11
** Kelly Rowland, American singer and actress
** Edoardo Molinari, Italian golfer
* February 12 – Selena Li, Hong Kong actress
* February 17
** Joseph Gordon-Levitt, American actor and film director
** Paris Hilton, American model, heiress, and socialite
* February 18 – Andrei Kirilenko, Russian basketball player
* February 23 – Josh Gad, American actor, comedian, and singer
* February 24 – Lleyton Hewitt, Australian tennis player
* February 25
** Park Ji-sung, South Korean footballer
** Shahid Kapoor, Indian actor
**Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Mexican actor
* February 27
** Josh Groban, American singer
** Mat Yeung, Hong Kong actor

March

* March 1 – Will Power, Australian racing driver
* March 2 – Bryce Dallas Howard, American actress
* March 3
** Julius Malema, South African politician
** László Nagy (handballer), László Nagy, Hungarian handball player
* March 5 – Hanna Alström, Swedish actress
* March 10
** Samuel Eto'o, Cameroonian footballer* March 12
** Kenta Kobayashi, Japanese professional wrestler
** Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenian tennis player
* March 11 – Matthias Schweighöfer, German actor, director and producer
* March 13 – Olena Kot, Ukrainian journalists.
* March 15 – Young Buck, American rapper
* March 17 – Kyle Korver, American basketball player
* March 18
** Fabian Cancellara, Swiss road bicycle racer
* March 19 – Kolo Touré, Ivorian football player
* March 26 – Luke Ford, Canadian-Australian actor
* March 28
** Dan Petronijevic, Canadian actor
** Julia Stiles, American actress
* March 29 – Megan Hilty, American actress and singer
* March 31 – Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch Olympic swimmer

April

* April 1
** Aslı Bayram, Turkish German model and actress
** Aimee Chan, Chinese-Canadian actress
** Nolan Yonkman, Canadian hockey player
*
* April 2
** Kapil Sharma, Indian stand- up comedian and actor
* April 6
** Lucas Licht, Argentine footballer
* April 7
** Óscar Alberto Pérez, Venezuelan rebel leader and detective (d. 2018)
**Suzann Pettersen, Norwegian golfer
* April 8
** Frédérick Bousquet, French swimmer
** Taylor Kitsch, Canadian actor and model
** Ofer Shechter, Israeli actor
* April 9 – Milan Bartovič, Slovak hockey player
* April 11
**Alessandra Ambrosio, Brazilian model
**Luis Flores (basketball), Luis Flores, Dominican basketball player
* April 16 - Russell Harvard, deaf American actor
* April 18
** Jang Na-ra, Korean actress and singer
** Audrey Tang, Taiwanese software programmer
* April 19
** Hayden Christensen, Canadian-American actor
** Catalina Sandino Moreno, Colombian actress
* April 25
** Felipe Massa, Brazilian racing driver
** Anja Pärson, Swedish alpine skier
** Krzysztof Tuduj, Polish politician
* April 26 – Matthieu Delpierre, French football player
* April 28 – Jessica Alba, American actress and businesswoman
* April 29 – Kunal Nayyar, British-Indian actor

May

* May 1 – Alexander Hleb, Belarusian football player
* May 5 – Craig David, English singer
* May 8 – Stephen Amell, Canadian actor
* May 11
** Lauren Jackson, Australian basketball player
** Daisuke Matsui, Japanese football player
* May 12
** Rami Malek, American actor
** Kentaro Sato (composer), Kentaro Sato, Japanese composer
* May 13 – Rebecka Liljeberg, Swedish actress
* May 15
** Patrice Evra, Senegalese-born French footballer
** Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress
** Zara Tindall, British elite equestrienne
* May 16 – Joseph Morgan (actor), Joseph Morgan, English actor
* May 17 – Shiri Maimon, Israeli pop/R&B singer, TV show host and actress
* May 19
** Sani Bečirovič, Slovenian basketball player
** Bong Tae-gyu, South Korean actor
** Klaas-Erik Zwering, Dutch swimmer
** Georges St-Pierre, Canadian mixed martial arts fighter
* May 20
** Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
** Rachel Platten, American singer-songwriter
** Mark Winterbottom, Australian racing driver
* May 21 – Anna Rogowska, Polish pole vaulter
* May 22
** Bryan Danielson, American professional wrestler
** Melissa Gregory, American figure skater
* May 23 - Dessa, American Doomtree singer
* May 24 – Andy Lee (comedian), Andy Lee, Australian comedian and musician
* May 25 – Logan Tom, American volleyball player
* May 26 – Anthony Ervin, American swimmer
* May 27 – Alina Cojocaru, Romanian ballerina
* May 29
** Justin Chon, American actor
** Andrey Arshavin, Russian football player

June

* June 1
** Brandi Carlile, American singer and songwriter
** Amy Schumer, American comedian, actress, and screenwriter
* June 3 – Mike Adam, Canadian curler
* June 4
** T.J. Miller, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter
** Giourkas Seitaridis, Greek footballer
** Natalia Vodopyanova, Russian basketball player
* June 5 – Sébastien Lefebvre, Canadian musician (Simple Plan)
* June 7
** Larisa Oleynik, American actress
** Anna Kournikova, Russian tennis player
* June 9
** Celina Jaitly, Indian actress
** Natalie Portman, Israeli-American actress
** Anoushka Shankar, British musician and daughter of Ravi Shankar
* June 12 – Adriana Lima, Brazilian model
* June 13 – Chris Evans (actor), Chris Evans, American actor
* June 14 – Lonneke Engel, Dutch model
* June 15 – Veljo Reinik, Estonian actor
* June 17 – Amrita Rao, Indian actress
* June 18 – Ella Chen, Taiwanese singer
* June 21
** Simon Delestre, French equestrian
** Brandon Flowers, American singer and keyboardist
* June 23 – Joe Taslim, Indonesian actor and martial artist
* June 24 – Júnior Assunção, Brazilian mixed martial artist
* June 25
** Simon Ammann, Swiss ski jumper
** Carlo Prater, Brazilian mixed martial artist
** Sheridan Smith, English actress
* June 27 – Majida Issa, Colombian actress
* June 28 – Mara Santangelo, Italian tennis player
* June 29
** Joe Johnson (basketball), Joe Johnson, American basketball player
** Maria Maya, Brazilian actress

July

* July 1
** Orlando Cruz, Puerto Rican boxer
** Tim Reddy, International Man of Mystery
* July 3
** Evgeny Postny, Israeli chess grandmaster
** Tevita Leo-Latu, New Zealand rugby league footballer
* July 4 – Tahar Rahim, French actor
* July 5
** Gianne Albertoni, Brazilian model
** Ryan Hansen, American actor
* July 6
** Omar Naber, Slovenian singer, songwriter and guitar player
** Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Indian cricketer
** Synyster Gates, American guitarist
* July 8 – Anastasia Myskina, Russian tennis player
* July 11 – Susana Barreiros, Venezuelan judge
* July 12 – Bojana Novakovic, Serbian-Australian actress
* July 13
** Hassan Al Kontar, Refugees of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian refugee
** Ágnes Kovács, Hungarian swimmer
* July 15 – Norhafiz Zamani Misbah, Malaysian footballer
* July 17 – Mélanie Thierry, French actress
* July 18 – Michiel Huisman, Dutch actor, musician and singer-songwriter
* July 19 – Nikki Osborne, Australian actress
* July 21
** Paloma Faith, English singer, songwriter and actress
** Joaquín (footballer, born 1981), Joaquín, Spanish footballer
* July 22
** Clive Standen, Northern Irish actor
** Josh Lawson, Australian actor
* July 23 –
** Jarkko Nieminen, Finnish tennis player
** Steve Jocz, Sum 41 ex-drummer
* July 24
** Summer Glau, American actress
** Nayib Bukele, 46th President of El Salvador
* July 25 – Finn Bálor (aka Fergal Devitt), Irish professional wrestler
* July 26 – Maicon Douglas Sisenando, Brazilian footballer
* July 27 – Li Xiaopeng (gymnast), Li Xiaopeng, Chinese gymnast
* July 29 – Fernando Alonso, Spanish double Formula 1 world champion
* July 30 – Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer (d. 2017)

August

* August 3 – Fikirte Addis, Ethiopian fashion designer
* August 4
** Abigail Spencer, American actress
** Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, American actress and member of the British royal family
* August 5 – Anna Rawson, Australian professional golfer
* Jesse Williams (actor), Jesse Williams, American actor, director, producer and activist
* August 6 - Leslie Odom Jr., American actor
* August 8
** Roger Federer, Swiss tennis player
** Meagan Good, American actress
** Harel Skaat, Israeli singer
* August 9 – Li Jiawei, Singaporean Olympic table tennis player
* August 10
** Natsumi Abe, Japanese singer and actress
** Taufik Hidayat, Indonesian badminton player
* August 12
** Djibril Cissé, French footballer
** Steve Talley, American actor
* August 14
** Scott Lipsky, American tennis player
** Kofi Kingston, Ghanaian professional wrestler
* August 15
** Zaka Alao, French basketball player
** Tosyn Bucknor, Nigerian media personality (d. 2018)
** Song Ji-hyo, South Korean actress
** Oh Jin-hyek, South Korean archer
* August 17 – Hinde Boulbayem
* August 18 – Jan Frodeno, German triathlete
* August 19 - Nate Burleson, American football player, TV host
* August 20 – Ben Barnes (actor), Ben Barnes, English actor (Caspian X, Prince Caspian)
* August 21 – Jarrod Lyle, Australian golfer (d. 2018)
* August 24 – Chad Michael Murray, American actor
* August 25 – Rachel Bilson, American actress
* August 27 – Patrick J. Adams, Canadian actor and director
* August 29
** Jay Ryan (actor), Jay Ryan, New Zealand actor
** Karim Darwish (squash), Karim Darwish, Egyptian squash player

September

* September 1 – Park Hyo-shin, Korean singer
* September 4 – Beyoncé, American actress and R&B singer (Destiny's Child)
* September 8 – Jonathan Taylor Thomas, American actor
* September 9
** Julie Gonzalo, Argentine-American actress and producer
** Nancy Wu, Hong Kong actress
* September 10 – Marco Chiudinelli, Swiss tennis player
* September 12 – Jennifer Hudson, American singer and actress
* September 14
** Jordi Mestre, Spanish actor and model (d. 2020)
** Ashley Roberts, American singer (The Pussycat Dolls)
** Miyavi, Japanese musician
* September 15 – Ben Schwartz, American actor
* September 16
** Alexis Bledel, American actress and model
** Fan Bingbing, Chinese actress
* September 18 – Jennifer Tisdale, American actress
* September 23 – Natalie Horler, German singer (Cascada)
* September 26
** Asuka (wrestler), Asuka, Japanese professional wrestler
** Christina Milian, American R&B singer and actress
** Serena Williams, American tennis player
* September 30
** Cecelia Ahern, Irish author, daughter of Bertie Ahern
** Dominique Moceanu, Romanian-American gymnast

October

* October 1 – Roxane Mesquida, French actress
* October 3 – Zlatan Ibrahimović, Swedish international
* October 5 – Enrico Fabris, Italian speed skater
* October 8 – Chris Killen, New Zealand footballer
* October 9 – Rupert Friend, English actor
* October 12
** Engin Akyürek, Turkish actor
** Brian J. Smith, American actor
** Tom Guiry, American actor
* October 15
** Elena Dementieva, Russian tennis player
** Guo Jingjing, Chinese diver
* October 16 – Caterina Scorsone, Canadian actress
* October 19 – Dmitri Shlyakhtin, former Russian professional football player
* October 20 – Stefan Nystrand, Swedish swimmer
* October 21 – Nemanja Vidić, Serbian football player
* October 23 – Huo Siyan, Chinese actress
* October 24
** Tila Tequila, Vietnamese-American model
** Mallika Sherawat, Indian actress
* October 25 – Shaun Wright-Phillips, English footballer
* October 26 – Guy Sebastian, original Australian Idol 2003 singer
* October 28
** Milan Baroš, Czech footballer
* October 29
** Amanda Beard, American swimmer
** Kate Bedingfield, American White House official; Communications Director
* October 30
** Jun Ji-hyun, South Korean actress
** Ivanka Trump, American model and advisor
* October 31 – Frank Iero, American guitarist (My Chemical Romance)

November

* November 2
** Tatiana Totmianina, Russian figure skater
** Ai (singer), Ai, Japanese-American singer-songwriter
** Katharine Isabelle, Canadian actress
* November 4 – Lakshmi Menon (model), Lakshmi Menon, Indian model
* November 8 – Joe Cole, English footballer
* November 11
** Natalie Glebova, Russian-born Canadian beauty queen
** Raphael Gualazzi, Italian singer and pianist, Eurovision Song Contest, Eurovision Song Contest 2011 runner-up
** Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, The Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
* November 14 – Russell Tovey, British actor
* November 15 – Lorena Ochoa, Mexican golfer
* November 16 - Kate Miller-Heidke, Australian singer, songwriter and actress
* November 18
** Allison Tolman, American actress
** Nasim Pedrad, Iranian-American actress and comedian
* November 19 – Yfke Sturm, Dutch model
* November 20
** Andrea Riseborough, English actress
** Kimberley Walsh, British singer (Girls Aloud)
* November 22 – Song Hye-kyo, South Korean actress
* November 25 – Xabi Alonso, Spanish footballer
* November 26
** Natasha Bedingfield, British singer-songwriter
** Jon Ryan, Canadian National Football League football player from Regina, Saskatchewan
* November 27 – Bruno Alves, Portuguese footballer
* November 29 – Bakhyt Sarsekbayev, Kazakh Olympic boxer

December

* December 2 – Britney Spears, American singer-songwriter, choreographer
* December 3
**Brian Bonsall, American actor and musician
**David Villa, Spanish footballer
* December 6 – Lior Suchard, Israeli mentalist
* December 9 – Dia Mirza, Bollywood actress
* December 11
** Kevin Phillips (actor), Kevin Phillips, American film actor
** Javier Saviola, Argentine soccer player
* December 13 – Amy Lee, American pianist/singer-songwriter (Evanescence)
* December 14 – Amber Chia, Malaysian model and actress
* December 15
** Michelle Dockery, British actress
** Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russian football player
** Firman Utina, Indonesian football player
* December 16 – Krysten Ritter, American actress, musician, author, and model
* December 20 – Leo Bertos, New Zealand footballer
* December 24 – Dima Bilan, Russian pop-singer
* December 26 – Nikolai Nikolaeff, Australian actor
* December 27
** Yuvraj Singh, Indian cricketer
** Emilie de Ravin, Australian actress
* December 28
** Sienna Miller, American-born English actress
** Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer
* December 29 – Shizuka Arakawa, Japanese figure skater

Deaths

January

* January 1
** Kazimierz Michałowski, Polish archaeologist (b. 1901)
** Mauri Rose, American race car champion (b. 1906)
* January 3
** Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, the last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria (b. 1883)
** Marvin Opler, American anthropologist (b. 1914)
* January 5
** Harold Urey, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
** Lanza del Vasto, Italian-born philosopher, poet and activist (b. 1901)
* January 6 – A. J. Cronin, Scottish novelist (b. 1896)
* January 10
** Katharine Alexander, Katherine Alexander, American actress (b. 1898)
** Richard Boone, American actor (b. 1917)
* January 11 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (b. 1889)
* January 12 – John Fearns Nicoll, Sir John Nicoll, British colonial governor (b. 1899)
* January 13 – Robert Kellard, American actor (b. 1915)
* January 16 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
* January 19 – Francesca Woodman, American photographer (b. 1958)
* January 21 – Allyn Joslyn, American actor (b. 1901)
* January 23 – Samuel Barber, American composer (b. 1910)
* January 25 – Adele Astaire, American actress (b. 1896)
* January 27 – Leo Collard, Léo Collard, Belgian Socialist politician (b. 1902)
* January 29 – Lajos Korányi, Hungarian footballer (b. 1907)
* January 30 – John Gordon (archbishop), John Gordon, Irish Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1912)
* January 31 – Cozy Cole, American jazz drummer (b. 1909)

February

* February 1
** Wanda Hendrix, American actress (b. 1928)
** Ernst Pepping, German composer (b. 1901)
** Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer (b. 1908)
* February 2 – Hugh Joseph Addonizio, Italian-born American politician and Mayor of Newark (b. 1914)
* February 4 – Mario Camerini, Italian film director and screenwriter (b. 1895)
* February 6 – Frederica of Hanover, Queen Consort of the Hellenes and wife of King Paul of Greece (b. 1917)
* February 7 – Hermann Esser, German journalist and editor of the Nazi newspaper ''Völkischer Beobachter'' (b. 1900)
* February 9
** Bill Haley (musician), Bill Haley, American rock musician, member of Bill Haley & The Comets (b. 1925)
** Jack Z. Anderson, U.S. Representative from California (b. 1904)
* February 10 – Hubert Shirley-Smith, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
* February 12 – Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape, British admiral (b. 1888)
* February 15
** Karl Richter (conductor), Karl Richter, German conductor (b. 1926)
** Mike Bloomfield, American blues guitarist (b. 1943)
* February 18
** John Knudsen Northrop, American airplane manufacturer (b. 1895)
** Ibrahim Abdel Hady Pasha, Egyptian politician, 28th Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1896)
* February 20
** Bernard B. Brown, American sound engineer and composer (b. 1898)
** Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, French magazine editor and playboy (b. 1904)
* February 22
** Michael Maltese, American screenwriter (b. 1908)
** Curtis Bernhardt, German film director (b. 1899)
** Ilo Wallace, wife of Henry A. Wallace, Second Lady of the United States (b. 1888)
* February 25
** Leonard Howell, Founder of Rastafarianism (b. 1898)
** Gunichi Mikawa, Japanese admiral (b. 1888)
* February 26 – Howard Hanson, American composer (b. 1896)
* February 27 – Jacob H. Gilbert, American politician (b. 1920)

March

* March 1 – Roberto Francisco Chiari Remón, 14th President of Panama (b. 1903)
* March 4 – Torin Thatcher, American actor (b. 1905)
* March 5 – Yip Harburg, American lyricist (b. 1896)
* March 6 – George Geary, English cricketer (b. 1893)
* March 7
** Peter Birch (bishop), Peter Birch, Irish Roman Catholic bishop (b. 1911)
** Kirill Kondrashin, Russian conductor (b. 1914)
** Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling, German-Danish tennis player (b. 1908)
* March 9 – Max Delbrück, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1906)
* March 10 – Flavio Calzavara, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1900)
* March 11 – Kazimierz Kordylewski, Polish astronomer (b. 1903)
* March 14 – Paolo Grassi, Italian actor (b. 1919)
* March 15 – René Clair, French film director (b. 1898)
* March 20 – Gerry Bertier, American college football player (b. 1953)
* March 21 – Mark Donskoy, Russian Soviet film director (b. 1901)
* March 22
** John S. McCain Jr., American admiral (b. 1911)
** Gil Puyat, Filipino businessman and politician, Senator of the Philippines and Senate President (b. 1907)
* March 23
** Claude Auchinleck, Sir Claude Auchinleck, British field marshal (b. 1884)
** Mike Hailwood, English motorcycle racer (b. 1940)
** Beatrice Tinsley, English astronomer (b. 1941)
* March 26 – Cyril Dean Darlington, English biologist, geneticist and eugenicist, (b. 1903)
* March 29 – Eric Williams, 1st Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1911)
* March 30
** Sherman Edwards, American songwriter (b. 1919)
** Douglas Lowe (athlete), Douglas Lowe, British Olympic athlete (b. 1902)
** DeWitt Wallace, American magazine publisher (b. 1889)
* March 31 – Frank Tieri (mobster), Frank Tieri, American gangster (b. 1904)

April

* April 3 – Juan Trippe, airline entrepreneur (b. 1899)
* April 5
** Lucile Godbold, American Olympic athlete (b. 1900)
** Maurice Zbriger, Canadian violinist, composer and conductor (b. 1896)
**Bob Hite, American musician (Canned Heat) (b. 1943)
* April 6 – Alfredo Guarini, Italian director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1901)
* April 7 – Norman Taurog, American film director (b. 1899)
* April 8
** Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya, Indian entomologist (b. 1895)
** Omar Bradley, American army general (b. 1893)
* April 12
** Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
** Hendrik Andriessen, Dutch composer (b. 1892)
* April 13 – Prince Yasuhiko Asaka of Japan (b. 1887)
* April 15
** John Thach, American naval aviator and admiral (b. 1905)
** Lorenzo Guerrero, former President of Nicaragua (b. 1900)
* April 17 – Ludwik Sempoliński, Polish actor (b. 1899)
* April 18 – James H. Schmitz, German-born writer (b. 1911)
* April 22 – Murder of Marcia King, Marcia King, murder victim (b. 1959)
* April 23
** Nietta Zocchi, Italian actress (b. 1909)
** Josep Pla, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1897)
* April 26
** Jim Davis (actor), Jim Davis, American actor (b. 1909)
** Madge Evans, American actress (b. 1909)
** Muhammad Lafir, Sri Lankan snooker player (b. 1930)
* April 27 – John Aspinwall Roosevelt, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1916)
* April 28 – Cliff Battles, American football player (Boston Redskins) and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (b. 1910)

May

* May 1 – Barry Jones (actor), Barry Jones, American actor (b. 1893)
* May 3 – Nargis, Indian actress (b. 1929)
* May 5 – Bobby Sands, Irish republican hunger striker (b. 1954)
* May 6 – Frank O'Grady, Australian public servant (b. 1900)
* May 7 – Hiromichi Yahara, Imperial Japanese Army officer (b. 1902)
* May 8 – Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia (b. 1897)
* May 9
** Nelson Algren, American author (b. 1909)
** Margaret Lindsay, American actress (b. 1910)
* May 11
** Odd Hassel, Norwegian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
** Bob Marley, Jamaican singer, songwriter and musician (b. 1945)
* May 12 – Benjamin Sheares, Singaporean politician and professor, 2nd President of Singapore (b. 1907)
* May 13 – Ben Andrews (actor), Ben Andrews, American actor (b. 1942)
* May 14 – J. Posadas, Argentine politician (b. 1912)
* May 17 – Hugo Friedhofer, German-American film composer (b. 1901)
* May 18
** Eleonore Baur, German Nazi and only woman to participate in Munich Beer Hall Putsch (b. 1885)
** Arthur O'Connell, American actor (b. 1908)
** William Saroyan, American author (b. 1908)
* May 20 – Dositej, Metropolitan of Skopje (b. 1906)
* May 21 – Yuki Shimoda, American actor (b. 1921)
* May 22 – Boris Sagal, Ukrainian-American television and film director (b. 1923)
* May 23
** George Jessel (actor), George Jessel, American actor (b. 1898)
** Donald Macintyre (Royal Navy officer), Donald Macintyre, British naval officer and naval historian (b. 1904)
* May 24
** Jaime Roldós Aguilera, 33rd President of Ecuador (b. 1940)
** Jack Warner (actor), Jack Warner, British actor (b. 1895)
* May 25
** Rosa Ponselle, American soprano (b. 1897)
** Ruby Payne-Scott, Australian radio astronomer (b. 1912)
** A. Thiagarajah, Sri Lankan Tamil teacher and politician (b. 1916)
* May 28
** John Bryan Ward-Perkins, British archaeologist (b. 1912)
** Mary Lou Williams, American jazz pianist (b. 1910)
** Stefan Wyszyński, Polish Roman Catholic prelate, archbishop and Servant of God (b. 1901)
* May 29 – Soong Ching-ling, Acting head of State of the People's Republic of China (b. 1893)
* May 30
** Don Ashby, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1955)
** Peter Lindgren (actor), Peter Lindgren, Swedish actor (b. 1915)
** Ziaur Rahman, 7th President of Bangladesh (b. 1936)
* May 31
** Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, British economist (b. 1914)
** Gyula Lóránt, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1923)
** Giuseppe Pella, Italian politician, 31st Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1902)

June

* June 1 – Carl Vinson, American politician (b. 1883)
* June 2 – Rino Gaetano, Italian musician and singer-songwriter (b. 1950)
* June 5 – Miguel Contreras Torres, Mexican actor, director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1899)
* June 10
** Jenny Maxwell, American actress (b. 1941)
** Phelps Phelps, 38th Governor of American Samoa and United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic (b. 1897)
* June 12 – Mahmoud Fawzi, Egyptian diplomat and political figure, 35th Prime Minister of Egypt (b. 1900)
* June 13 – George Walsh, American actor (b. 1889)
* June 14 – Ronald Holmes, Sir Ronald Holmes, British government official in Hong Kong (b. 1913)
* June 16 – Thomas Playford IV, Sir Thomas Playford, Australian politician, Premier of South Australia (b. 1896)
* June 17 – Sir Richard O'Connor, British general (b. 1889)
* June 19
** Billy Cook (actor), Billy Cook, American actor (b. 1928)
** Anya Phillips, American co-founder of New York City's Mudd Club (b. 1955)
** Lotte Reiniger, German-born silhouette animator (b. 1899)
* June 22
** Henri Bouillard, French Jesuit theologian (b. 1908)
** Lane Sisters, Lola Lane, American actress and singer (b. 1906)
* June 23 – Zarah Leander, Swedish actress and singer (b. 1907)
* June 28
** Mohammad Beheshti, Chief Justice of Iran (b. 1928)
** Terry Fox, Canadian athlete and cancer activist (b. 1958)

July

* July 1
** Marcel Breuer, Hungarian-born American architect (b. 1902)
** George Voskovec, Czech-American actor, writer, dramatist and director (b. 1905)
* July 3 – Ross Martin, American actor (b. 1920)
* July 7 – Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi, South Yemenite socialist leader, 1st President of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) (b. 1920)
* July 8 – Joe McDonnell (hunger striker), Joe McDonnell, Irish republican hunger striker (b. 1951)
* July 10 – Giorgio De Lullo, Italian actor and director (b. 1921)
* July 16 – Harry Chapin, American singer and songwriter (b. 1942)
* July 27 – William Wyler, American movie director (b. 1902)
* July 28 – Stanley Rother, Stanley Francis Rother, American priest, martyr, and Blessed (b. 1935)
* July 29 – Robert Moses, American urban planner (b. 1888)
* July 31 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian leader (b. 1929)

August

* August 1
** Paddy Chayefsky, American screenwriter (b. 1923)
** Álvaro de Laiglesia, Spanish writer (b. 1922)
* August 2
** Delfo Cabrera, Argentine athlete (b. 1919)
** Stefanie Clausen, Danish diver (b. 1900)
* August 4 – Melvyn Douglas, American actor (b. 1901)
* August 14 – Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (b. 1894)
* August 15
** Carlo Buscaglia, Italian football player (b. 1909)
** Karl Gero, Duke of Urach, Lichtenstein noble (b. 1899)
* August 18
** Robert Russell Bennett, American composer and arranger (b. 1894)
** Anita Loos, American screenwriter (b. 1888)
* August 19 – Jessie Matthews, English dancer, singer and actress (b. 1907)
* August 22 – Glauber Rocha, Brazilian filmmaker (b. 1939)
* August 26 – Roger Nash Baldwin, American social activist (b. 1884)
* August 27 – Valeri Kharlamov, Soviet ice hockey player (b. 1948)
* August 28 – Béla Guttmann, Hungarian-born Association footballer and coach (b. 1899)
* August 29 – Lowell Thomas, American writer and broadcaster (b. 1892)
* August 30
** Mohammad-Ali Rajai, 47th Prime Minister of Iran and 2nd President of Iran (assassinated) (b. 1933)
** Mohammad-Javad Bahonar, Iranian theologian and politician, 48th Prime Minister of Iran (assassinated) (b. 1933)
** Vera-Ellen, American actress and dancer (b. 1921)

September

* September 1
** Ann Harding, American actress (b. 1902)
** Albert Speer, German Nazi architect and war minister (b. 1905)
* September 2 – Enid Lyons, Australia politician (b. 1897)
* September 7 – Christy Brown, Irish writer and painter (b. 1932)
* September 8
** Hideki Yukawa, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1907)
** Roy Wilkins, American civil rights activist (b. 1901)
* September 9
** Jacques Lacan, French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist (b. 1901)
** Ricardo Balbín, Argentine politician, leader of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) (b. 1904)
** Robert Askin, Sir Robert (Bob) Askin, Premier of New South Wales (b. 1907)
* September 11 – Frank McHugh, American actor (b. 1898)
* September 12 – Eugenio Montale, Italian writer, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
* September 14 – Charles L. Melson, American admiral (b. 1904)
* September 15
** Harold Bennett, British actor (b. 1899)
** Rafael Méndez, Mexican-born trumpet virtuoso (b. 1906)
* September 21 – Nigel Patrick, English actor (b. 1912)
* September 22 – Harry Warren, American songwriter (b. 1893)
* September 23 – Chief Dan George, Canadian actor and writer, tribal chief of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation (b. 1899)
* September 24 – Patsy Kelly, American actress (b. 1910)
* September 27 – Robert Montgomery (actor), Robert Montgomery, American actor and director (b. 1904)
* September 28
** Rómulo Betancourt, 2-time President of Venezuela (b. 1908)
** Sir Edward Boyle, Baron Boyle of Handsworth, British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative cabinet minister (b. 1923)
* September 29
** Javad Fakoori, Iranian military officer, former minister of Defence (b. 1913)
** Mousa Namjoo, Iranian military officer, minister of Defence (b. 1938)
** Bill Shankly, British football manager (b. 1913)

October

* October 2
** Harry Golden, American journalist (b. 1902)
** Hazel Scott, American jazz singer and pianist (b. 1920)
* October 3 – Chrysostom Blashkevich, Soviet Order of Saint Benedict, Benedict monk (b. 1915)
* October 4 – Freddie Lindstrom, American baseball player (New York Giants (MLB), New York Giants) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1905)
* October 5 – Gloria Grahame, American actress (b. 1923)
* October 6 – Anwar Sadat, 37th Prime Minister of Egypt and 3rd President of Egypt, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (assassinated) (b. 1918)
* October 13
** Antonio Berni, Argentine painter (b. 1905)
** Nils Asther, Danish-born actor (b. 1897)
* October 16
** Stanley Clements, American actor (b. 1926)
** Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (b. 1915)
* October 22 – Michael Granger (actor), Michael Granger, American actor (b. 1923)
* October 24 – Edith Head, American costume designer (b. 1897)
* October 25 – Barbara Bedford (actress), Barbara Bedford, American actress (b. 1903)
* October 27 – John Warburton (actor), John Warburton, British actor (b. 1899)
* October 29 – Georges Brassens, French singer and songwriter (b. 1921)

November

* November 2 – Wally Wood, American cartoonist (b. 1927)
* November 3 – Jean Eustache, French film director (b. 1938)
* November 7 – Will Durant, American philosopher and writer (b. 1885)
* November 10 – Abel Gance, French film director (b. 1889)
* November 12 – William Holden, American actor (b. 1918)
* November 13 – Gerhard Marcks, German sculptor (b. 1889)
* November 15
** Walter Heitler, German physicist (b. 1904)
Fellow of the Royal Society
** Enid Markey, American actress (b. 1894)
* November 22
** Jack Fingleton, Australian cricketer (b. 1908)
** Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)
* November 25
** Jack Albertson, American actor and comedian (b. 1907)
** Morris Kirksey, American athlete (b. 1895)
* November 26 – Max Euwe, Dutch chess grandmaster (b. 1901)
* November 27 – Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (b. 1898)
* November 29 – Natalie Wood, American actress (b. 1938)

December

* December 2 – Wallace Harrison, American architect (b. 1895)
* December 6 – Harry Harlow, American psychologist (b. 1905)
* December 7 – William Edmunds (actor), William Edmunds, Italian stage and screen character actor (b. 1886)
* December 8 – Ferruccio Parri, Italian partisan and politician, 29th Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1905)
* December 13 – Cornelius Cardew, English composer (b. 1936)
* December 15
** Catherine T. MacArthur, American philanthropist (b. 1909)
** Karl Struss, American cinematographer (b. 1886)
* December 17
** Franz Dahlem, German politician. (b. 1892)
** Mehmet Shehu, Albanian politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1913)
* December 18 – Enrique Hertzog, Bolivian politician, 42nd President of Bolivia (b. 1896)
* December 23
** Luther H. Evans, American political scientist and librarian, 3rd Director General of the UNESCO (b. 1902)
** Reginald Miles Ansett, Australian businessman and aviator (b. 1909)
* December 26 – Suat Hayri Urguplu, Turkish politician, 11th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1903)
* December 27 – Hoagy Carmichael, American jazz composer (b. 1899)
* December 28 – Allan Dwan, Canadian-born American film director (b. 1885)

Date unknown

* Ahmad Toukan, Prime Minister of Jordan (b. 1903)
* Teófilo Tabanera, Argentine engineer and air force officer (b. 1909)

Nobel Prizes

* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Nicolaas Bloembergen, Arthur Leonard Schawlow, Kai Siegbahn
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Kenichi Fukui, Roald Hoffmann
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Medicine – Roger Wolcott Sperry, David H. Hubel, Torsten Wiesel
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Elias Canetti
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
* Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences – James Tobin

References

External links

Protocol of Accession

{{DEFAULTSORT:1981
1981,