About the day » Sunday August 16, 1981Calender converter

• Romano Stephanus Esser, Heerlen

• Francisca Navarrete (91), El Paso, Texas
• Antonius Joannes Baptist Verheijen (80), Tilburg
• Anna Meijer (91)
• Aloysius Arnoldus Louis VAN ROSMALEN (53)
• Calvin J Sytsma (48), Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan
• Cornelia Wilhelmina Bossenbroek (83), Apeldoorn
• Freerk (Mients) de Poel (68)
• Elizabeth Fenter (90)
• Anna Maria de Klerk (70), Amersfoort
• Elizabeth Bryce (90)

• 1979 » Eduardo Maiorino, Brazilian mixed martial artist and kick-boxer († 2012)
• 1979 » Ian Moran, Australian cricketer
• 1979 » Paul Gallacher, Scottish footballer
• 1980 » Bob Hardy, English bass player
• 1980 » Emerson Ramos Borges, Brazilian footballer
• 1980 » Piet Rooijakkers, Dutch cyclist
• 1980 » Vanessa Carlton, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1981 » Roque Santa Cruz, Paraguayan footballer
• 1982 » Joleon Lescott, English footballer
• 1983 » Nikolaos Zisis, Greek basketball player

• 1972 » Pierre Brasseur, French actor and screenwriter (b. 1905)
• 1973 » Selman Waksman, Ukrainian-American biochemist and microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
• 1977 » Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor (b. 1935)
• 1978 » Alidius Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer, Dutch soldier and politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (b. 1888)
• 1979 » John Diefenbaker, Canadian lawyer and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1895)
• 1983 » Earl Averill, American baseball player (b. 1902)
• 1984 » Duško Radović, Serbian children's writer, poet, journalist, aphorist and TV editor (b. 1922)
• 1986 » Jaime Sáenz, Bolivian author and poet (b. 1921)
• 1986 » Ronnie Aird, English cricketer and administrator (b. 1902)
• 1989 » Amanda Blake, American actress (b. 1929)

• Koningin Beatrix (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from April 30, 1980 till April 30, 2013 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from Monday, December 19, 1977 to Friday, September 11, 1981 the cabinet Van Agt I, with Mr. A.A.M. van Agt (CDA/KVP) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from Friday, September 11, 1981 to Saturday, May 29, 1982 the cabinet Van Agt II, with Mr. A.A.M. van Agt (CDA) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 14.2 million citizens.
• February 8 » Twenty-one association football spectators are trampled to death at Karaiskakis Stadium in Neo Faliro, Greece, after a football match between Olympiacos F.C. and AEK Athens F.C.
• April 4 » Iran–Iraq War: The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force mounts an attack on H-3 Airbase and destroys about 50 Iraqi aircraft.
• June 13 » At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager, Marcus Sarjeant, fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II.
• August 7 » The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
• September 3 » The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, an international bill of rights for women, is instituted by the United Nations.
• December 14 » Arab–Israeli conflict: Israel's Knesset ratifies the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law to the occupied Golan Heights.

The temperature on August 16, 1981 was between 10.8 °C and 20.3 °C and averaged 15.6 °C. There was 8.6 hours of sunshine (59%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 2 Bft (weak wind) and was prevailing from the northwest.