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

Krulak's staff assignments included: operations officer, 2nd Battalion 9th Marines ( 1977 – 1978 ); chief of the Combat Arms Monitor Section at Headquarters Marine Corps, Washington, D. C. ( 1978 – 1979 ); executive assistant to the Director of Personnel Management, Headquarters Marine Corps ( 1979 – 1981 ); Plans Office, Fleet Marine Forces Pacific, Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii ( 1982 – 1983 ); executive officer, 3rd Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade ; assistant chief of staff, maritime pre-positioning ships, 1st MEB ; assistant chief of staff for operations, 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade ; and the military assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for command, control, communications and intelligence, Office of the Secretary of Defense.

In 1981, after the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan, Washington removed its objection to the sale.

After performing for the short-lived Washington D. C .- based band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the California hardcore punk band Black Flag from August 1981 until mid-1986.

* 1981 – Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington.

In May 1981, the U. S. government closed the Libyan " people's bureau " ( embassy ) in Washington, D. C. and expelled the Libyan staff in response their conduct generally violating internationally accepted standards of diplomatic behavior.

* 1981 – President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D. C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.

On June 3, 1981, Thomas launched the longest running peace vigil in US history at Lafayette Square in Washington, D. C ..

From 1978 through 1983, the Chargers wore their white jerseys at home, coinciding with the hiring of coach Don Coryell – when Joe Gibbs, a Coryell assistant in 1979 – 80, became head coach of the Washington Redskins in 1981, he did the same, and white at home became a Redskins staple through 2007 – but Coryell switched the Chargers to their blue jerseys at home starting in 1984.

* 1981 – The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, D. C.

His managing career would go on to include Cleveland ( 1975 – 1977 ); the San Francisco Giants ( 1981 – 1984 ); the Orioles ( 1988 – 1991 ); and the Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals franchise ( 2002 – 2006 ).

He has taught at Indiana University ( 1954 – 1963 ), the University of Kentucky ( 1963 – 1967 ), Washington State University ( 1967 – 1976 ), the University of New Mexico ( 1976 – 1980 ), the University of Miami ( 1981 – 1985 ), Syracuse University ( 1987 – 1994 ) and the University of Washington before taking his current position as professor of communication at Boston University's Department of Mass Communication, Advertising and Public Relations.

A " Friday the 13th " storm in November 1981 brought winds up to, with other storms including the inauguration day storm of January 20, 1993, the Guadalupe Day storm of December 12, 1995 ( with winds up to at Washougal, Washington ) and small tornado on January 10, 2008, which destroyed a boathouse at Vancouver Lake and caused damage to buildings in Hazel Dell before dissolving near Hockinson.

* 1981: Jonathan Yardley, Washington Star, " for his book reviews.

The Oakland Raiders of the NFL won Super Bowl XI in 1977, Super Bowl XV in 1981, and after the 1983 season ( their second season since the temporary LA move ), they defeated the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII to capture a third championship, while also appearing in Super Bowl II in 1968 and Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003.

Austin Pendleton directed a production that ran at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale for three weeks and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. for six weeks before opening on Broadway, after eight previews, on May 7, 1981 at the Martin Beck Theatre.

They lost to the Rangers two years in a row in 1981 – 82 and 1982 – 83 and then were swept by the Washington Capitals in 1983 – 84.

The New York City hardcore scene emerged in 1981 when Bad Brains moved to the city from Washington, D. C.

* Shwetak Patel, ( 1981 -), from Alabama, was born in Selma and went on to become a professor of Computer Science and Engineering and Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington and invent a number of new sensing technologies.

* An EBS Test from WPGC in Washington D. C., c. 1981 Windows Media Player is required to hear this file.

" The 300 + member SDSU Marching Band, " The Pride of the Dakotas ", given the special name the Millennium Band in 2000 by the South Dakota State Legislature, has marched in the 1981 and 1997 Presidential Inaugural Parades in Washington, D. C .; A Capital Fourth in 2000 in Washington DC which was broadcast on PBS ; the 2003 and 2008 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California making them the second collegiate band in the history of the Rose Bowl to be invited to march twice when their team was not competing ; and the Korean War Monument Dedication at the state's capital Pierre in 2004, in the company of two other college bands and 60-some high school bands from across the state.

In 1981, following the March 30 assassination attempt on Reagan, Haig asserted before reporters " I am in control here " as a result of Reagan's hospitalization, indicating that, while President Reagan had not " transfer the helm ", Haig was in fact directing White House Crisis Management until Vice President Bush arrived in Washington to assume that role.

Shortly after graduating from Fordham, Washington made his professional acting debut in the 1977 made-for-television film Wilma with his first Hollywood appearance in the 1981 film Carbon Copy.