981

Millennium:	1st millennium
Centuries:	9th century 10th century 11th century
Decades:	960s 970s 980s 990s 1000s
Years:	978 979 980 981 982 983 984

981 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	981 CMLXXXI
Ab urbe condita	1734
Armenian calendar	430 ԹՎ ՆԼ
Assyrian calendar	5731
Balinese saka calendar	902–903
Bengali calendar	388
Berber calendar	1931
Buddhist calendar	1525
Burmese calendar	343
Byzantine calendar	6489–6490
Chinese calendar	庚辰年 (Metal Dragon) 3678 or 3471     — to — 辛巳年 (Metal Snake) 3679 or 3472
Coptic calendar	697–698
Discordian calendar	2147
Ethiopian calendar	973–974
Hebrew calendar	4741–4742
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1037–1038
- Shaka Samvat	902–903
- Kali Yuga	4081–4082
Holocene calendar	10981
Iranian calendar	359–360
Islamic calendar	370–371
Japanese calendar	Tengen 4 (天元４年)
Javanese calendar	882–883
Julian calendar	981 CMLXXXI
Korean calendar	3314
Minguo calendar	931 before ROC 民前931年
Nanakshahi calendar	−487
Seleucid era	1292/1293 AG
Thai solar calendar	1523–1524
Tibetan calendar	阳金龙年 (male Iron-Dragon) 1107 or 726 or −46     — to — 阴金蛇年 (female Iron-Snake) 1108 or 727 or −45

Al-Mansur's campaigns in Al-Andalus.

Year 981 (CMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events

By place

Europe

• Spring – Emperor Otto II (the Red) leads the imperial court to Rome, making the city his imperial capital, and receives nobles from all parts of Western Europe. Otto makes plans to conquer Byzantine Italy.
• Fall – Otto II departs with an expeditionary force from Rome, and invades Apulia (Southern Italy) to punish the Saracens. He demands a fleet from Pisa, and imposes a trade embargo against Venice.
• Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus, conquers and razes the city of Zamora, as part of his effort to seize the Christian-dominated north of the Iberian Peninsula.

Asia

• Summer – Seongjong ascends the throne of Goryeo (Korea) after the death of his brother-in-law (and cousin), king Gyeongjong.
• The first recorded Mahamastakabhisheka ceremony, of the sacred 57 foot (17 m) high monolithic statue of Bahubali, is performed.
• The Gommateshwara statue is built by Chavundaraya, minister and commander of the Ganga dynasty, in India (approximate date).

By topic

Exploration

• Erik the Red leaves Norway, to survey west of Iceland in Viking longships, that carry nearly 700 people with cattle, horses, and other necessities for starting a colony on the island. Erik finds land and calls it Greenland.

Religion

• Spring – Pope Benedict VII dissolves the Slavic bishopric of Merseburg, after conferring with Otto II. He issues an encyclical, forbidding the exaction of money for the conferral of any Holy Order (known as simony).

Commerce

• The first commercially made shaving soap sells for 3 dirhams (0.3 dinars).

Births

• Abu'l-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Maghribi, Arab statesman (d. 1027)
• Giovanni Orseolo, Venetian nobleman (d. 1006)
• Li Deming, Chinese general and rebel leader (d. 1032)
• Theodora, Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire (d. 1056)
• Torstein Knarresmed, Norse Viking warrior (approximate date)
• Vladivoj, duke of Bohemia (approximate date)

Deaths

• February 12 – Ælfstan, bishop of Ramsbury
• June 20 – Adalbert, archbishop of Magdeburg
• July 9 – Ramiro Garcés, king of Viguera (Spain)
• July 12 – Xue Juzheng, Chinese scholar-official and historian
• August 13 – Gyeongjong, king of Goryeo (Korea) (b. 955)
• Abu'l-Faraj Muhammad, Buyid nobleman and statesman
• Amlaíb Cuarán, Viking king of Scandinavian York
• Ibn Khalawayh, Persian scholar and grammar (or 980)
• Pandulf Ironhead, prince of Benevento and Capua
• Slavník, founder of the Slavník dynasty (Bohemia)
• Wigger I, German nobleman (approximate date)
• Zhao Defang, prince of the Song dynasty (b. 959)