The World in 1981 the year music got a channel
$1,565IBM PC at launch (US)
$1.38Gallon of gas (US)
1stGame with Mario, from Japan
160 mphSpeed of France's new TGV train
10thCountry to join the EEC, Greece
750MTV viewers of the London wedding
683MPeople counted in India's census
1stVolleyball world title for China
36Age Jamaica's Bob Marley died
About 750 million people watched Charles and Diana marry on live television in July. That is close to one out of every six people on the planet at the time, all looking at the same church door.
Life back then

Cable homes woke up to MTV in August, and suddenly bands needed to look good, not just sound good. Everyone else taped songs off the radio and hoped the DJ would stop talking. Arcades were louder than ever thanks to a new game about a gorilla rolling barrels, and the first home computers, cheap ones like the VIC-20 and IBM's serious grey box, showed up in a few living rooms. News came at breakfast in a newspaper and again at dinner on TV.
The year in 8 events
- ๐๏ธJan 20 Ronald Reagan is sworn in as president. Minutes later, 52 American hostages leave Iran after 444 days.
- ๐จMar 30 A gunman shoots President Reagan outside a Washington hotel. Reagan survives.
- ๐Apr 12 The space shuttle Columbia lifts off from Florida on the first shuttle flight.
- โชMay 13 A gunman shoots Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Square in Rome. The pope survives.
- ๐ฌJun 5 US health officials report a rare illness in five young men, the first published record of AIDS.
- ๐บAug 1 MTV goes on the air on US cable and plays music videos all day long.
- ๐ฏ๏ธOct 6 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is assassinated at a military parade in Cairo.
- ๐ฉDec 13 Poland declares martial law. Troops fill the streets, Solidarity is banned and its leaders are locked up.