May 11, 1981 (Monday)
- Andrew Lloyd Weber's hit musical Cats was performed for the first time, beginning an 8,949 show run at the New London Theatre, closing on May 11, 2002. The Broadway production would open at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 23, 1982.
- Born: Lauren Jackson, Australian-born pro basketball player, MVP winner of WNBA in 2003, 2007 and 2010, and of Australia's WNBL in 1999, 2000, and 2004; in Albury, NSW; Nello Russo an Italian footballer; Mark Kruk, Guitarist for The Confederacy; and Daisuke Matsui, Japanese soccer football player, in Kyoto
- Died: Bob Marley, 36, Jamaican singer and musician
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