1985
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1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar.
It was declared International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Contents |
Events
January
- January 1 - The first British mobile phone call is made (by Ernie Wise to Vodafone).
- January 17 - British Telecom announces it is going to phase out its famous red telephone boxes.
- January 20 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan is sworn in for a second term in office.
- January 28 - In Hollywood, California, the charity single "We Are the World" is recorded by USA for Africa.
February
- February 1 - AM stereo broadcasting starts in Australia.
- February 5 - Australia cancels its involvement in U.S.-led MX missile tests.
- February 7 - "New York, New York" becomes the official city anthem of New York City.
- February 9 - U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena is kidnapped and murdered in Mexico (his body is discovered March 5).
- February 10 - Nelson Mandela rejects an offer of freedom from the South African government.
- February 11 - Pakistani bowler Wasim Akram takes 10 wickets in his second Test cricket match, but New Zealand still wins.
- February 14 - CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is freed from captivity in Lebanon.
- February 16 - Israel begins withdrawing troops from Lebanon.
- February 19 - William J. Schroeder becomes the first artificial heart patient to leave the hospital.
March
- March 4 - The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS, used since then to screen all blood donations in the United States.
- March 6 - Mike Tyson makes his professional debut in Albany, New York, a match which he wins by a first round knockout.
- March 11 - Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and de facto leader of the Soviet Union.
- March 11 - Mohammed Al Fayed buys the London-based department store company Harrods.
- March 14 - Five lionesses at the Singapore Zoo are put on birth control after the lion population increases from 2 to 16.
- March 16 - Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut. He will be released on December 4, 1991.
- March 24 - Norwich City FC wins the English League Cup at Wembley Stadium, beating Sunderland 1-0 in the final.
- March 31 - Wrestlemania debuts at Madison Square Garden
April
- April 15 - South Africa ends its ban on interracial marriages.
- April 19 - The U.S.S.R performs a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan.
- April 23 - Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. (The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than 3 months.)
- April 28 - The Australian Nuclear Disarmament Party (NDP) splits.
May
Image:TWA 847 Hijackers with captain.jpg
The hijackers of TWA Flight 847 in the cockpit of the plane.
- May 4 - The 30th Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden.
- May 5 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan joins German Chancellor Helmut Kohl for a controversial funeral service at a cemetery in Bitburg, Germany, which includes the graves of 59 elite S.S. troops from World War II.
- May 11 - The FBI brings charges against the suspected heads of the 5 Mafia families in New York City.
- May 11 - Fire engulfs a wooden stand in the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, England during a football match, killing 56.
- May 13 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mayor Wilson Goode orders police to storm the radical group MOVE's headquarters to end a stand-off. The police drop an explosive device into the headquarters, killing 11 MOVE members and destroying the homes of 61 city residents in the resulting fire.
- May 15 - An explosive device sent by the Unabomber injures John Hauser at UC Berkeley.
- May 23 - Thomas Patrick Cavanagh is sentenced to life in prison for attempting to sell stealth bomber secrets to the Soviet Union.
- May 25 - Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
- May 29 - Heysel Disaster: 38 spectators are killed in rioting on the terraces during the European Cup final between Liverpool F.C. and Juventus at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium.
- May 31 - Forty-one tornadoes hit in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.
June
- June 13 - In Auburn, Washington, police defuse a Unabomber bomb sent to Boeing.
- June 14 - TWA Flight 847, carrying 153 passengers from Athens to Rome, is hijacked by a Hezbollah fringe group. One passenger, U.S. Navy Petty Officer Robert Stethem, is killed.
- June 23 - Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747, blows up 31,000 feet (9,500 m) above the Atlantic Ocean, south of Ireland, killing all 329 aboard.
- June 25 - Irish police foil an Irish Republican Army-sponsored 'mainland bombing campaign' which targeted luxury vacationing resorts, arresting 13 suspects.
July
- July 4 - Ruth Lawrence, 13, achieves a first in mathematics at Oxford University, becoming the youngest British person ever to earn a first-class degree and the youngest known graduate of Oxford University.
- July 10 - The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents.
- July 13 - Live Aid pop concerts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and London raise over £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
- July 15 - Pat Wilson was born in Monterey, California.
- July 19 - U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush announces that New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe will become the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
- July 20 - The main ship wreck site of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha (which sank in 1622) is found 40 miles off the coast of Key West, Florida by treasure hunters who begin to excavate $400 million in coins and silver.
- July 24 - Commodore launches the Amiga personal computer at the Lincoln Center in New York.
August
- August 2 - Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashes in Dallas, Texas, killing 137 people.
- August 6 - In Hiroshima, tens of thousands mark the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.
- August 7 - Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
- August 12 - Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashes in Japan, killing 520 people: the worst single-aircraft disaster in history.
September
- September 1 - A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
- September 5 - John Howard replaces Andrew Peacock as Australian Federal Opposition Leader.
- September 6 - Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105, a Douglas DC-9, crashes just after takeoff from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing 31.
- September 19 - An 8.1 Richter scale earthquake strikes Mexico City. More than 9,000 people are killed, 30,000 injured, and 95,000 left homeless.
October
- October 1 - The Israeli air force bombs PLO Headquarters in Tunis.
- October 7 - The cruise ship Achille Lauro is hijacked in the Mediterranean Sea by 4 heavily armed Palestinian terrorists. One passenger, American Leon Klinghoffer, is killed.
- October 18 - The Nintendo Entertainment System is released on US shores.
November
- November 13 - Nevado del Ruiz erupts, killing an estimated 23,000 people, including 21,000 killed by lahars in the town of Armero, Colombia.
- November 15 - In separate events, mail bombs kill two people in Salt Lake City, Utah; a third bomb explodes the next day, injuring career counterfeiter Mark Hoffman. The ensuing police investigation leads to the arrest of Hoffman for the two murders.
- November 19 - Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
- November 20 - Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.
- November 26 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan sells the rights to his autobiography to Random House for a record US$3 million.
- November 28 - Gerard Hoarau, exiled political leader from the Seychelles, is assassinated in London.
December
- December 1 - The Ford Taurus is revealed to the public. It would become one of Ford's biggest successes ever.
- December 12 - Arrow Air Flight 1285, a Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning to Fort Campbell, Kentucky from overseeing a peacekeeping force in Sinai.
- December 16 - In New York City, Mafia bosses Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead in front of Spark's Steak House, making hit organizer John Gotti the leader of the powerful Gambino organized crime family.
- December 24 - Right wing extremist David Lewis Rice murders civil rights attorney Charles Goldmark as well as Goldmark's wife and 2 children in Seattle. Rice suspected the family of being Jewish and Communist and claimed his dedication to the Christian Identity movement drove him to the crime.
- December 27 - Rome and Vienna airport attacks: Abu Nidal terrorists open fire in the airports of Rome and Vienna, leaving 18 dead and 120 injured.
- December 27 - American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda.
- December 31 - The last issue of The Columbus Citizen-Journal is circulated.
Environmental and weather change
- Asian tiger mosquito, an invasive species is first found in Houston, Texas
- November 13 - The volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupts in Colombia, killing an estimated 23,000 people.
- Famine in Ethiopia continues - Live Aid attempts to raise funds for famine relief.
Unknown date
- The Australian state of Victoria celebrates its 150th anniversary.
- Capital gains tax introduced to Australia.
- Buckyballs discovered by Harold Kroto, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley.
- GNU Manifesto first written by Richard Stallman.
- Western Sahara is admitted to the Organization of African Unity; Morocco, which claims Western Sahara, leaves in protest.
- Solarquest, space age real estate game, first published by Golden.
- Free Software Foundation founded.
- Norma Phillips Thornworth elected president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
- ATI Technologies is founded.
- NeXT is founded by Steve Jobs after resigning from Apple Computer.
World population
Births
January
- January 1 - Steven Davis, Northern Irish footballer
- January 2 - Heather O'Reilly, US Women's national soccer player
- January 3 - John David Booty, American football quarterback, USC
- January 17 - Simone Simons, Dutch singer
- January 19 - Rika Ishikawa, Japanese singer and host of television and radio programs
- January 28 - Michelle Gardner-Quinn, American murder victim (d. 2006)
February
- February 1 - Dean Shiels, Northern Irish footballer
- February 2 - Laurence Maroney, American football player
- February 5 - Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
- February 7 - Clara Bryant, American actress
- February 7 - Tina Majorino, American actress
- February 9 - Rachel Melvin, American actress
- February 10 - Anette Sagen, Norwegian ski jumper
- February 11 - William Beckett, American singer
- February 14 - Natsume Sano, Japanese gravure idol
- February 18 - Lee Boyd Malvo, American serial killer
- February 19 - Haylie Duff, American actress and singer
- February 19 - Arielle Kebbel, American actress
- February 20 - Yulia Volkova, Russian singer
- February 25 - Moorea Wolfe, Canadian fitness model
- February 26 - Miki Fujimoto, Japanese singer
- February 27 - Abe Asami, Japanese singer and actress
- February 28 - FeFe Dobson, Canadian singer
- February 28 - Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player
March
- March 2 - Reggie Bush, American football player
- March 2 - Robert Iler, American actor
- March 3 - Sam Morrow, Northern Irish footballer
- March 6 - Joe Flaherty, Future Superpimp
- March 10 - Nathalie Kelley, Australian actress
- March 11 - Paul Bissonnette, Canadian hockey player
- March 13 - Emile Hirsch, American actor
- March 15 - Antti Autti, Finnish snowboarder
- March 24 - Haruka Ayase, Japanese actress and model
- March 26 - Keira Knightley, English actress
April
- April 3 - Leona Lewis, British singer
- April 12 - Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer
- April 18 - Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
- April 24 - Courtnee Draper, American actress
- April 24 - Kaori Nazuka, Japanese seiyu (voice actress)
May
- May 1 - Drew Sidora, American actress
- May 2 - Sarah Hughes, American figure skater
- May 2 - Lily Allen, British singer
- May 6 - Chris Paul, American basketball player
- May 14 - Sally Martin, Australian actress
- May 22 - Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Canadian ice hockey player
- May 25 - Luciana Abreu, Portuguese singer and actress
- May 27 - Chien-Ming Chiang, Taiwanese baseball player
- May 27 - Andrew Francis, American actor
June
- June 9 - Sebastian Telfair, Boston Celtics
- June 12 - Tasha-Ray Evin, Canadian singer/guitarist (Lillix)
- June 12 - Blake Ross, American software developer
- June 12 - Kendra Wilkinson, American model
- June 13 - Dan Syvret, Canadian ice hockey player
- June 15 - Nadine Coyle , British Singer
- June 17 - Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot tennis player
- June 19 - Ben Andrews, Porn Actor
- June 20 - April Matson, American actress
- June 22 - Lindsay Ridgeway, American actress
- June 26 - Urgyen Trinley Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader
- June 27 - Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russian tennis player
- June 27 - Nico Rosberg, German Formula One driver
- June 28 - Phillip Bardsley, English footballer
- June 30 - Michael Phelps, American swimmer
July
- July 2 - Ashley Tisdale, American actress
- July 5 - Stephanie McIntosh, Australian actress (Neighbours)
- July 5 - Nick O'Malley, British musician (Arctic Monkeys)
- July 8 - Jamie Cook, British musician (Arctic Monkeys)
- July 8 - Charly Sianipar, American actor
- July 12 - Emil Hegle Svendsen, Norwegian biathlete
- July 17 - Tom Fletcher, British musician (McFly)
- July 19 - Chace Crawford, American actor
- July 24 - Teagan Presley, American porn star
- July 25 - James Lafferty, American actor and athlete
- July 28 - Dustin Milligan, Canadian actor
August
- August 9 - Hayley Peirsol, American swimmer
- August 17 - Stephanie James, Welsh actress
- August 29 - Jeffrey Licon, American actor
September
- September 14 - Aya Ueto, Japanese actress
- September 17 - Alexander Ovechkin, Russian hockey player
- September 17 - Jon Walker, American musician
- September 21 - Maryam Hassouni, Dutch actress
- September 23 - Maki Goto, Japanese singer and actress
- September 23 - Jared High, victim of suicide caused by bullying
October
- October 5 - Nicola Roberts, British singer (Girls Aloud)
- October 5 - Evan Longoria, professional baseball player
- October 8 - Kimberly Kevon Williams, American actress
- October 10 - Dominique Cornu, Belgian professional cyclist
- October 11 - Michelle Trachtenberg, American actress
- October 14 - Sherlyn, Mexican actress
- October 14 - Daniel Clark, Canadian actor
- October 22 - Zachary Hanson, American musician
- October 24 - Wayne Rooney, English footballer
- October 25 - Ciara, American singer
November
- November 5 - Kate DeAraugo, Australian Idol 2005
- November 8 - Jack Osbourne, English actor
- November 10 - Giovonnie Samuels, American actress
- November 11 - Kalan Porter, Canadian singer
- November 11 - Raquel Guerra, Portuguese singer and actress
- November 11 - Robin Uthappa, Indian cricketer
- November 27 - Alison Pill, Canadian actress
- November 30 - Kaley Cuoco, American actress
December
- December 3 - Amanda Seyfried, American actress
- December 3 - László Cseh, Hungarian swimmer
- December 5 - Frankie Muniz, American actor
- December 6 - Dulce María, Mexican actress
- December 10 - Raven-Symoné, American actress
- December 14 - Nonami Takizawa, Japanese actress
- December 20 - Jillian Grace, American Playmate
- December 21 - James Stewart Jr., American motorcycle racer
- December 23 - Harry Judd, English drummer (McFly)
Deaths
January
- January 4 - Sir Brian Horrocks, British general (b. 1895)
March
- March 10 - Konstantin Chernenko, Soviet politician (b. 1911)
- March 12 - Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian conductor (b. 1899)
- March 21 - Sir Michael Redgrave, English actor (b. 1908)
- March 28 - Marc Chagall, Russian-born painter (b. 1887)
- March 29 - Jeanine Deckers, Belgian nun and singer (b. 1933)
April
- April 8 - J. Fred Coots, American Songwriter (b. 1897)
- April 11 - Enver Hoxha, Albanian dictator (b. 1908)
- April 22 - Paul H. Emmett, American chemical engineer (b. 1900)
- April 30 - George Pravda, Czechoslovakian actor (b. 1918)
May
- May 4 - Clarence Wiseman, the 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
- May 5 - Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
- May 8 - Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (b. 1918)
- May 9 - Edmond O'Brien, American actor (b. 1915)
- May 10 - Chester Gould, American cartoonist (b. 1900)
- May 12 - Jean Dubuffet, French artist (b. 1901)
- May 16 - Margaret Hamilton, American actress (b. 1902)
- May 17 - Abe Burrows, American songwriter, composer, and writer (b. 1910)
June
- June 11 - Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (b. 1954)
- June 12 - Hua Luogeng, Chinese mathematician (b. 1910)
- June 15 - Andy Stanfield, American athlete (b. 1927)
July
- July 2 - David Purley, British race car driver (b. 1945)
- July 9 - Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish founder of Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
- July 16 - Heinrich Böll, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- July 19 - Janusz A. Zajdel, Polish writer (b. 1938)
- July 27 - John Scarne, American magician and card expert (b. 1903)
August
- August 6 - Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (b. 1923)
- August 12 - Manfred Winkelhock, German race car driver (b. 1951)
- August 12 - Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer, well known by his most famous song, "Sukiyaki", killed in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 (b. 1941)
- August 25 - Samantha Smith, American schoolgirl activist (b. 1972)
- August 31 - Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Australian biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
September
- September 6 - Isabel Cox-Meighen, wife of Canadian prime minister Arthur Meighen (b. 1882)
- September 6 - Little Brother Montgomery, American musician
- September 7 - Rodney Robert Porter, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1917)
- September 8 - John Franklin Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1887)
- September 9 - Paul Flory, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
- September 11 - William Alwyn, English composer (b. 1905)
- September 19 - Italo Calvino, Italian writer (b. 1923)
October
- October 1 - E.B. White, American writer (b. 1899)
- October 2 - Rock Hudson, American actor (b. 1925)
- October 2 - George Savalas, American actor, brother of Telly Savalas (b. 1924)
- October 6 - Nelson Riddle, American bandleader (b. 1921)
- October 10 - Yul Brynner, American actor (b. 1915)
- October 10 - Orson Welles, American film director (b. 1915)
- October 12 - Johnny Olson, American game show announcer (b. 1910)
- October 22 - Thomas Townsend Brown, American scientist (b. 1905)
- October 31 - Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor (b. 1913)
November
- November 1 - Quick Draw Rick McGraw, American proffesional Wrestler (b. 1955)
- November 5 - Spencer W. Kimball, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1895)
- November 5 - Arnold Chikobava, Georgian linguist (b. 1898)
- November 13 - William Pereira, American architect (b. 1909)
- November 24 - Big Joe Turner, American blues singer (b. 1911)
December
- December 7 - Robert Graves, English writer (b. 1895)
- December 12 - Anne Baxter, American actress (b. 1923)
- December 12 - Ian Stewart, Scottish rock musician (b. 1938)
- December 22 - D. Boon, American singer and guitarist (b. 1958)
- December 23 - Ferhat Abbas, Algerian nationalist (b. 1899)
- December 26 - Dian Fossey, American biologist (b. 1932)
- December 31 - Ricky Nelson, American singer and actor (b. 1940)
Nobel prizes
- Physics - Klaus von Klitzing
- Chemistry - Herbert A. Hauptman, Jerome Karle
- Literature - Claude Simon
- Peace - International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
- Economics - Franco Modigliani
- Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine - Michael S. Brown, Joseph L. Goldstein
Templeton Prize
Right Livelihood Award
- Theo van Boven, Cary Fowler / Pat Mooney / Rural Advancement Fund International, Lokayan / Rajni Kothari and Duna Kör
1985 in fiction
Film
- Set in 1985:
- The Back to the Future trilogy (1985, 1989, 1990) is principally set in 1985; it is the time from which the main character Marty McFly first travels and to which he subsequently and ultimately returns.
- The Wedding Singer (1998)
Literature
- The Third World War, August 1985 (1978) and The Third World War: The Untold Story (1982) by Sir John Hackett: The Soviet Union invades Western Europe over three weeks in August.
Computer games
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