Editing 1981 (section)

===January===
{{Main|January 1981}}
* [[January 1]]
** [[Greece]] enters the [[European Economic Community]], predecessor of the [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Federal Trust for Education and Research|title=Guide to the EU Institutions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pv6IAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=I. B. Tauris|isbn=978-1-903403-09-9|page=17}}</ref>
** [[Palau]] becomes a self-governing territory.<ref>{{cite book|author=Economist Publications|title=The World in Figures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6rA6AAAAMAAJ|year=1988|publisher=G.K. Hall|isbn=978-0-8161-8954-0|page=282}}</ref>
* [[January 6]] – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral [[Karl Dönitz|Karl Doenitz]] following his death on December 24.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Vinocur |first1=John |date=1981-01-07 |title=WAR VETERANS COME TO BURY, AND TO PRAISE, DOENITZ |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/07/world/war-veterans-come-to-bury-and-to-praise-doenitz.html |access-date=2023-09-16 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Thousands at funeral for Hitler's successor – UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/01/06/Thousands-at-funeral-for-Hitlers-successor/4486347605200/ |access-date=2023-09-16 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref>
* [[January 10]] – [[Salvadoran Civil War]]: The [[Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front|FMLN]] launches its first major offensive, gaining control of most of [[Morazán Department|Morazán]] and [[Chalatenango Department|Chalatenango]] departments.<ref>{{cite book|author=Angelika Schlunck|title=Amnesty Versus Accountability: Third Party Intervention Dealing with Gross Human Rights Violations in Internal and International Conflicts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bx9NAQAAIAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Berlin Verlag Arno Spitz GmbH|isbn=978-3-87061-894-0|page=91}}</ref>
* [[January 15]] – [[Pope John Paul II]] receives a [[delegation]] led by Polish [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] leader [[Lech Wałęsa]] at the [[Vatican City|Vatican]].<ref name="Twierdochlebow1985">{{cite book|author=W. J. Twierdochlebow|title=Solidarność: A Biblio-historiography of the Gdansk Strike and Birth of Solidarity Movement|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDTSAAAAIAAJ|year=1985|publisher=Center for the Study of Opposition in Poland|page=61}}</ref>
* [[January 20]] – [[Iran]] releases the 52 Americans held for 444 days, minutes after [[Ronald Reagan]] is [[First inauguration of Ronald Reagan|sworn in]] as the 40th President of the United States, ending the [[Iran hostage crisis]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=ʻAlī Rāhnamā|author2=Farhād Nuʻmānī|title=The Secular Miracle: Religion, Politics, and Economic Policy in Iran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H8ptAAAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=978-0-86232-938-9|page=311}}</ref>
* [[January 21]] – The first [[DMC DeLorean|DeLorean]] automobile, a [[stainless steel]] [[sports car]] with [[gull-wing doors]], rolls off the [[production line]] in [[Dunmurry]], [[Northern Ireland]].
* [[January 24]] – An [[1981 Dawu earthquake|earthquake]] of {{M|s|6.8|link=yes}} magnitude in [[Sichuan]], China, kills 150 people. Japan suffers a less serious earthquake on the same day.<ref>{{cite book|author=Scientific Event Alert Network (National Museum of Natural History (U.S.))|title=SEAN Bulletin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EvYgAQAAIAAJ|year=1981|publisher=Scientific Event Alert Network|page=14}}</ref>
* [[January 25]] – In South Africa the largest part of the town [[Laingsburg, Western Cape|Laingsburg]] is swept away within minutes by one of the strongest floods ever experienced in the [[Karoo|Great Karoo]].
* [[January 27]] – The [[Indonesia]]n passenger ship ''[[Tampomas II]]'' catches fire and capsizes in the [[Java Sea]], killing 580 people.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mark S. Hoffman|title=The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EAmYwUPy6l8C|year=1990|publisher=World Almanac|isbn=978-0-88687-559-6|page=541}}</ref>