Attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II — May 1981 shooting by Mehmet Ali Ağca in St. Peter's Square

1981 Summer Universiade — multi-sport event in Bucharest, Romania

World Chess Championship 1981 — chess competition

1981 FIFA World Youth Championship — International football competition

1981 FIFA Intercontinental Cup — 1981 edition of the Intercontinental Cup, association football match between Liverpool FC and CR Flamengo in Tokyo, Japan

1981 Formula One World Championship — sports season

1981–82 UEFA Cup — 11th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA

Eurovision Song Contest 1981 — 26th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest

EuroBasket 1981 — basketball championship

1981 CONCACAF Championship — 1981 edition of the CONCACAF Championship association football competition

17 macaques kept (1981–1991) in the Institute for Behavioral Research, Silver Spring, Md., US, whose afferent ganglia were cut and whose arms were restrained to study neuroplasticity; caused a criminal prosecution for animal cruelty with a $3000 fine