1981 was a year of breakout stars, iconic music, and political unrest. From the riots of Belfast to communist Poland to Raiders of the Lost Ark, it was definitely a year to remember.
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1981 Princess Di on cover of People mag
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“My mom got dressed up and had her cousin/roommate take this photo before her first date with my dad, 1981.”
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Harrison Ford in France, 1981.
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A teenager’s room in 1981.
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Christmas Day 1981. Kerri Rawson and her father Dennis Rader, better known to the world as serial killer BTK.
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The Rolling Stones playing through a rainstorm, 1981.
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Workplace gymnastics, Ulyanovsk, USSR, 1981.
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Pablo Escobar and family at Disney World, 1981.
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“Friday night around 1981, Mom playing pool at the local dive bar. Dad took the pic.”
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A woman sweeping the front yard of a Gulf gas station at Mineral Wells, Texas, 1981.
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A woman protests against the wearing of bikinis in Daytona Beach, Florida, 1981.
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Mosh pit, Berkley, 1981.
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Two neighbors, an Albanian and a Serb, near Kosovo Polje, 1981.
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Riots in Belfast after the death of Bobby Sands.
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The Assassination of Anwar Sadat, Cairo, October, 1981.
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Sept 19, 1981, Simon & Garfunkel reunited for a free concert in New York's Central Park.
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Poland under Marshall Law. Cinema 'Moscow' playing movie 'Time of Apocalypse'. 1981.
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Harrison Ford and Karen Allen on the set of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." 1981.
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A beach in Sopot, Poland, 1981.
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Robin Williams and Christopher Reeves. 1981.
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Shoe polisher, Piccadilly Circus, London, 1981.
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Boys in a catholic neighborhood during the riots sparked by the death of Bobby Sands, after a 66-day hunger strike. Belfast, May 7, 1981.
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President Reagan and members of his staff laughing and drinking champagne with CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, 1981.
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1981 Indy 500. Race driver Rick Mears escapes from a burning car.
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Ronald Reagan waves just before he is shot by John Hinckley Jr.
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26th Congress of the Communist Party, Moscow, 1981.
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A British soldier lets a young boy look through the sights of his rifle in Belfast, 1981.
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“My parents getting married in Yosemite, 1981.”
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“Mom and Dad in matching Rod Stewart tour shirts, 1981.”
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“My first company Christmas party 1981 with my then girlfriend, now wife.”
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Harrison Ford. 1981 People Magazine photoshoot at his home in Los Angeles.
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1981 homecoming week, Garnet Valley High in Glen Mills, PA.
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An elderly Polish woman sitting on the grass and crying by the gate of the former German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz.
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The Debut of Madonna, Uncle Sam’s Blues club, Long Island, NYC ‘1981.
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Only remaining image from Original ending of Stanley Kubrick's “The Shining.” 1981.
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1981 trip to Walt Disney World.
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Rick James and Charlie Murphy, 1981.
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Drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and his son stand in front of The White House.
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Police charging towards protestors during the 1981 Brixton riots, London.
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President Reagan with First Lady Nancy Reagan in the Blue Room. 1981.
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The funeral of hunger striker Bobby Sands, Belfast, May 1981 by Ian Berry.
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“Christmas 1981. I had been begging for an Atari for months but was sure my mum couldn’t afford it. Was I ever surprised!”
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Anti-Nuclear Demonstration in Bonn, Germany: "We don't want any Euroshima". 1981.
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Empty queues in stores in Polish People's Republic, Warsaw, 1981.
