Date in year · 1981 · The 1980s

November 25, 1981

On November 25, 1981, pope John Paul II appoints Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The year's #1 song was "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes. Antonis Fotsis, Bjørn Einar Romøren, Laura Bell Bundy would arrive in the same year.

Events

1

Births

5

Deaths

0

Year

1981

1980s

Around 1981

The year in brief

1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1981st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 981st year of the 2nd millennium, the 81st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1980s decade.

Read the full year of 1981 →

What happened

On November 25, 1981

  1. 1981 Pope John Paul II appoints Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

    Head of the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005

    Pope John Paul II was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian VI in the 16th century, as well as the third-longest-serving pope in history, after St. Peter and Pius IX.

Arrivals

Born on November 25, 1981

Xabi Alonso 1981– Spanish football manager and player (born 1981)
Lee Bum-ho 1981– South Korean baseball player (born 1981)
Barbara Pierce Bush 1981– American activist
Jenna Bush Hager 1981– American journalist, author, and television personality (born 1981)
Jared Jeffries 1981– American basketball player (born 1981)

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1981

The class of 1981

Others born in 1981

Antonis Fotsis 1981– Greek basketball player
Bjørn Einar Romøren 1981– Norwegian ski jumper
Laura Bell Bundy 1981– American actress and singer
Liz McClarnon 1981– English singer and dancer
Michael Pitt 1981– American actor, model and musician
Alexei Semenov 1981– Russian ice hockey player

Step through

Nearby

Keep going

More to explore