Allan Dwan ( April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981 ) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer and screenwriter.

* 1892 – Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., American aviation industrialist ( d. 1981 )

* 1892 – Lowell Thomas, American writer ( d. 1981 )

* 1981 – Robert Earnshaw, Zambian-Welsh footballer

* 1981 – Jeff Faine, American football player and agent

* 1981 – Kari Jobe, American singer and songwriter ( Gateway Worship )

* 1981 – Alex Suarez, American bassist ( Cobra Starship and This Is Ivy League )

* 1981 – The first launch of a Space Shuttle ( Columbia ) takes place-the STS-1 mission.

* 1981 – Nicolás Burdisso, Argentine footballer

* 1981 – Grant Holt, English footballer

* 1981 – Brian Vandborg, Danish cyclist

* 1981 – John O ' Shea, Irish footballer

* 1981 – Emma Pierson, English actress

* 1981 – Kunal Nayyar, Indian-English actor

* 1895 – Andreas Alföldi, Hungarian historian and archaeologist ( d. 1981 )

* 1933 – Joke Smit, Dutch activist and politician ( d. 1981 )

* 1981 – Maxwell Cabelino Andrade, Spanish footballer

* 1981 – Alessandro Gamberini, Italian footballer

* 1981 – Demetria McKinney, American actress

* 1981 – Vitantonio Liuzzi, Italian race car driver

* 1981 – Travie McCoy, American rapper and songwriter ( Gym Class Heroes )

* 1981 – Diána Póth, Hungarian figure skater

* 1981 – Jarvis Hayes, American basketball player

* 1981 – Li Jiawei, Singaporean table tennis player

* 1981 – Claire Dames, American porn actress

* 1915 – James Elliott, American track and field coach ( d. 1981 )

* James Perkin, 1981 – 1993

" The Sign of the Southern Cross " is a song by Black Sabbath written in 1981 which was sung by Ronnie James Dio.

* 1981 – James Shields, American baseball player

The word " forest " comes from Middle English forest, from Old French forest ( also forès ) " forest, vast expanse covered by trees "; first introduced in English as the word for wild land set aside for hunting without the necessity in definition for the existence of trees ( James 1981 ; Muir 2000, 2008 ).

* 1981 – James Coppinger, English footballer

* 1981 – Jason James, Welsh bassist ( Bullet for My Valentine )

* 1981 – James Yun, American wrestler and actor

It must be presented by means of non-traditional characteristics, you see … one might say that the origin of this music is also found in the interest in ‘ plastifying ’ music, of rendering it plastic like sculpture … musique concrète, in my opinion … led to a manner of composing, indeed, a new mental framework of composing " ( James 1981, 79 ).

* James, Richard S. ( 1981 ).

* 1981 – James " Jumbo " Elliott, American track coach ( b. 1915 )

On December 17, 1981, four members of the Red Brigades, posing as plumbers, invaded the Verona apartment of US Army Brigadier General James L. Dozier, then NATO Deputy Chief of Staff at Southern European land forces.

Normalair provided the Deep-Dive 500 rebreather sets used by fictional secret agent James Bond 007 in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only.

" Author and university alumnus Clive James quipped in his 1981 autobiography that the motto loosely translates as " Sydney University is really Oxford or Cambridge laterally displaced approximately 12, 000 miles ".

* William Jardine and other Jardine tai-pans are fictionally portrayed in author James Clavell's popular fiction novels Tai-Pan ( 1966 ), Gai-Jin ( 1993 ), Noble House ( 1981 ) and Whirlwind ( 1987 ).

* October 15 – James H. Schmitz, German-born American science fiction writer ( d. 1981 )

* James Bond film series, from You Only Live Twice ( 1967 ) to Die Another Day ( 2002 ), with the exception of On Her Majesty's Secret Service ( 1969 ) and For Your Eyes Only ( 1981 ).

* 1981: The Morning of the Poem by James Schuyler

Gosling Emacs ( often shortened to " Gosmacs " or " gmacs ") was an Emacs implementation written in 1981 by James Gosling in C. Its extension language, Mocklisp, has a syntax that appears similar to Lisp, but Mocklisp does not have lists or any other structured datatypes.

James Squires served as the paper's editor from July 1981 until December 1989.

She continued acting for television, appearing in Family Reunion ( 1981 ) opposite her grandson J. Ashley Hyman, A Piano for Mrs. Cimino ( 1982 ) and Right of Way ( 1983 ) with James Stewart.

* James Singleton ( basketball ) ( born 1981 ), American professional basketball player

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Christian Right was influencing elections and policy with groups such as the Family Research Council ( founded 1981 by James Dobson ) and the Christian Coalition ( formed in 1989 by Pat Robertson ) helping conservative politicians, especially Republicans to win state and national elections.

In 1981 a bright yellow 2CV was driven by James Bond in the film For Your Eyes Only, including an elaborate set piece car chase through a Spanish olive farm, in which Bond uses the unique abilities of the modestly powered 2CV to escape his pursuers in Peugeot 504 sedans.