Editing 1981 (section)

===April===
{{Main|April 1981}}
* [[April 4]] – UK pop group [[Bucks Fizz (band)|Bucks Fizz]]'s song "[[Making Your Mind Up]]" wins the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1981|1981 Eurovision Song Contest]] in [[Dublin]], Ireland.
* [[April 11]] – [[1981 Brixton riot]]: Rioters in south London, UK, throw petrol bombs, attack police and loot shops.<ref>{{cite book | last = Childs | first = David | title = Britain since 1939 : progress and decline | publisher = Macmillan | location = Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire | year = 1995 | isbn = 9781349239672 | page=201}}</ref>
* [[April 12]] – The [[Space Shuttle]] program: [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']], with [[NASA]] astronauts [[John Young (astronaut)|John Young]] and [[Robert Crippen]], launches on the [[STS-1]] mission, returning to Earth on [[April 14]]. It is the first time a crewed reusable spacecraft has returned from orbit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/041381sci-nasa-columbia-3.html|title='Yeeeow!' and 'Doggone!' Are Shouted on Beaches as Crowds Watch Liftoff|website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref>
[[File:Space Shuttle Columbia launching.jpg|thumb|150px|[[April 12]]: First [[Space Shuttle program|Space Shuttle]] launch: [[Space Shuttle Columbia|''Columbia'']], April 12, 1981]] 
* [[April 15]] – The first [[Coca-Cola]] bottling plant in China is opened.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21595001-life-getting-tougher-foreign-companies-those-want-stay-will-have-adjust-china|title=China loses its allure|newspaper=The Economist|date=January 23, 2014}}</ref>
* [[April 18]] – A [[Minor League Baseball]] game between the [[Rochester Red Wings]] and the [[Pawtucket Red Sox]] at [[McCoy Stadium]] in [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island]], becomes the [[longest professional baseball game]] in history: 8 hours and 25 minutes/33 innings (the 33rd inning is not played until [[June 23]]).
* [[April 26]] – [[1981 French presidential election|French presidential election]]: A first-round runoff results between [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]] and [[François Mitterrand]].