🧠 Inventions of 1981
Verified invention milestones and practical breakthroughs associated with the year.
1 
Personal Computer (IBM PC)
2 
Graphical User Interface Concept
3 
Word Processing Software (Microsoft Word)
4 
Digital Camera Prototype Commercialization
5 
Medical Infusion Pump
6 
Local Area Network Expansion
7 
Portable Video Game Console
8 
Computer-Aided Manufacturing Software
9 
Speech Recognition System Improvement
10 
Reusable Space Shuttle Program
The Sounds of
Popular recordings and roots/country selections associated with the year
HEADLINES ON April 24, 1981
Full News Archive
- Headline: Red Smith on Fan Violence in Sports. Impact: The chaos of fans throwing objects at sports events led to the eventual rise of the protective netting seen in stadiums today. Imagine a future where safety goggles are mandatory at baseball games—thank you, hoodlums!. Fact: Did you know that if fans threw as many creative insults as they do objects, we might have an entirely different genre of performance art? 'Hurling Shakespeare' could be a hit!.
- Headline: The Hand: A Unique Horror Experience. Impact: The absurdity of 'The Hand' inspired countless horror films where inanimate objects come to life, leading to a timeline filled with killer furniture and possessed appliances. Thanks, 'The Hand'—now we have to worry about our toasters at breakfast.. Fact: Fun fact: If only the hand had been a foot, we might have had an entirely different genre: 'Foot Horror.' But then again, who wants to see a foot chase down a victim? Witty, but not scary..
Wall Street Time Machine
The Right Call: If you'd invested $1,000 in any one of these companies in 1981, here's what the stored 2025 dataset estimates.
Rank #2
INTC
Intel
Price in 1981
$0.23
2025 dataset value
$155,194
Intel - If you invested $1,000 in 1981, it would be worth $155,194 today (155.2x return)
🦸 Top 5 Comics
Daredevil #181
$2,600
Uncanny X-Men #141
$1,000
Marvel Graphic Novel #1
$42,000
Moon Knight #1
$250
Saga of the Swamp Thing #1
$300
🧸 Top 5 Toys
Rubik's Cube
$150.00
LEGO Space Sets
$400.00
My Little Pony
$150.00
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
$150.00
Smurfs Figurines
$150.00
🎮 Top 5 Video Games
Donkey Kong
$300.00
Pac-Man
$1,500.00
Frogger
$50.00
Galaga
$262.70
Ms. Pac-Man
$33,400.00
⚾ Top 5 Trading Cards
1981 Topps Joe Montana Rookie Card
$76,250
1981 Fleer Fernando Valenzuela Rookie Card
$400
1981 Donruss Tim Raines Rookie Card
$1,200.00
1981 Topps Magic Johnson and Larry Bird Card
$427,000
1981 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky
$2,000