1981

1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1981st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 981st year of the 2nd millennium, the 81st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1980s decade.

From top left, clockwise: U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot and injured by John Hinckley Jr. ; the first recognized case of HIV/AIDS begins in United States; the Salvadoran Army kill 800–1,000 civilians in El Mozote village; NASA launches Space Shuttle Columbia ; Pope John Paul II is shot and injured by Mehmet Ali Ağca ; IBM launches its first microcomputer ; seven prisoners from the Provisional Irish Republican Army and three from the Irish National Liberation Army starve themselves to death in a hunger strike ; Prince Charles marries Lady Diana Spencer .

April 12 : First Space Shuttle launch: Columbia , April 12, 1981

November 1 : Antigua and Barbuda .