- Sep 1 Dutch embassy in Israel moves from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv
Event of Interest
Sep 1 Jerry Lewis' 15th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $31,103,787
Jerry Lewis
- Sep 1 Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope ends in Thunder Bay, Ontario with Fox unable to continue because of illness
- Sep 2 Australian cricket batsman Kim Hughes becomes 3rd player to bat on all 5 days of a Test match as the rain affected Centenary Test peters out to a draw at Lord's; BBC's John Arlott calls his final match
- Sep 4 Yes performs its last concert (Madison Square Garden)
- Sep 5 Poland party leader Edward Gierek resigns
- Sep 5 World's longest road tunnel, St Gotthard in Swiss Alps, opens
- Sep 6 French runner Chantal Langlacé sets women's 100k world record (7h 27m 22s) in Amiens, France
- Sep 6 US College football longest losing streak of 50 games ends for Macalester College (St. Paul)
- Sep 6 Susan Powell (Okla), 21, crowned 53rd Miss America 1981
- Sep 6 Macalaster U of St Paul, Minn beating Mount Senario 17-14
Tennis Open
Sep 6 US Open Women's Tennis: In the centenary women's singles final, Chris Evert-Lloyd wins her 5th US title; beats Hana Mandlíková 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
Chris Evert
Hana Mandlikova
- Sep 7 32nd Emmy Awards: Taxi, Lou Grant, Ed Asner & Barbara Bel Geddes win. Notable for going ahead despite 51 of the 52 nominated performers boycotting the event due to a strike by members of the Screen Actors Guild.
- Sep 7 Beth Daniel wins LPGA World Series of Women's Golf
- Sep 7 Cape Verde adopts its constitution
- Sep 7 Earnest Gray becomes 2nd NY Giant to score 4 TDs (vs St Louis)
- Sep 7 Oakland A's pitch record 78th complete game of season
- Sep 7 Sandra Spuzich wins LPGA Barth Golf Classic
- Sep 7 US Open Men's Tennis: In centenary men's singles final John McEnroe retains title; beats Björn Borg 7-6, 6-1, 6-7, 5-7, 6-4
- Sep 8 Bowie Kuhn suspends Ferguson Jenkins indefinitely due to drug arrest
- Sep 10 Expos Bill Gullickson, sets rookie record of striking out 18
- Sep 10 Peter Comita replaces Tom Peterson of Cheap Trick
- Sep 11 Chile adopts its constitution
- Sep 11 Ron LeFlore (91st) & Rodney Scott (58th), set teammate steal record
- Sep 12 Military coup under General Kenan Evren in Turkey
- Sep 13 1st United Negro College Fund
- Sep 13 5th Toronto International Film Festival: "Bad Timing" directed by Nicolas Roeg wins the People's Choice Award
- Sep 14 "Charlie & Algernon" opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 17 performances
- Sep 14 Dwight Clark begins NFL streak of 105 consecutive game receptions
Event of Interest
Sep 15 Paul McCartney releases "Temporary Secretary"
Paul McCartney
Film Premier
Sep 17 "Divine Madness" starring Bette Midler, premieres
Bette Midler
- Sep 17 Iraq under Saddam Hussein signs accord with Algeria
- Sep 17 South Korea opposition leader Kim Dae Jung sentenced to death
- Sep 17 Oak A's Rick Langford is removed with 2 outs in 9th inning ending his consecutive complete-game streak at 22
- Sep 17 Iraq breaks 1975 treaty with Iran and proclaims sovereignty over Shatt al-Arab waterway
Event of Interest
Sep 17 Polish workers under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa found the Solidarity movement at the Gdańsk Shipyard
Lech Wałęsa
Film Release
Sep 19 "Ordinary People" directed by Robert Redford and starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore and Judd Hirsch is released (Best Picture 1981)
Mary Tyler Moore
Robert Redford
- Sep 20 Bronze plaque dedicated to memory of Thurman Munson at Yankee Stadium
Event of Interest
Sep 20 George Brett goes 0-for-4 dropping his avg below .400 for good
George Brett
- Sep 20 Spectacular Bid runs in Belmont alone as 3 horses drop out
- Sep 21 LA Ram Johnnie Johnson scores a 99 yard interception
- Sep 21 Richard Todd of NY Jets completes 42 passes in a game (NFL record)
- Sep 21 Kerry GAA beat Roscommon GAA in Croke Park during the All-Ireland Football Final by 1-9 to 1-6 thus winning the championship and a three-in-a-row.
- Sep 22 Iraq invades Iran in an attempt to control the Shatt al-Arab waterway
Contract of Interest
Sep 22 John Lennon and Yoko Ono sign a recording contract with Geffen Records
John Lennon
Yoko Ono
- Sep 23 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opens
Music Concert
Sep 23 Bob Marley's last concert at Stanley Theatre Pittsburgh
Bob Marley
- Sep 24 Braves join every NL team with 1,000,000+ attendance for this season
- Sep 24 Iraqi troops cross Iran's border, encircling Abadan
- Sep 25 Chevy Chase calls Cary Grant a homo on Tomorrow show, a law suit follows
- Sep 25 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Sep 25 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Sep 25 Jerry Mumphrey joins Ozzie Smith, & Gene Richards to steal 50 bases this year for Padres
- Sep 25 The first congress of the Democratic Youth Organization of Afghanistan held in Kabul.
- Sep 26 Bomb attack on Octoberfest in Munich, 12 killed
- Sep 26 Cuban government closes Mariel Harbor ending "freedom flotilla"
- Sep 26 Soyuz 38 returns to Earth
- Sep 27 WHOT (Brooklyn New York pirate radio station) begins on 1620 AM & 92.5 FM
- Sep 27 Marvin Hagler defeats Alan Minter to claim boxing's world Middleweight championship in London. They have to be escorted away by police after a riot forms.
- Sep 28 "Charlie & Algernon" closes at Helen Hayes Theater NYC after 17 performances
- Sep 28 Carl Sagan's 13 part "Cosmos" premieres on PBS
- Sep 28 Jaromir Wagner is 1st to fly Atlantic standing on wing
- Sep 28 Jerilyn Britz wins LPGA Mary Kay Golf Classic
- Sep 28 Australian Williams driver Alan Jones clinches his first World Formula 1 Drivers title by winning the Canadian Grand Prix at Île Notre-Dame Circuit
- Sep 29 Malcolm McDowell wed Mary Steenburgen
- Sep 30 1,754 turn out to see Phillies play NY Mets at Shea Stadium
Baseball Record
Sep 30 A's Rickey Henderson sets AL stolen base record at 98 en route to 100
Rickey Henderson
Event of Interest
Sep 30 Iran rejects a truce call from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein