The Year 1985 From The People History

What Events Happened in 1985

• Volcanic Eruption in Columbia kills 25,000

• TWA Flight 847 is hijacked by Hezbollah. on June 14th

• EgyptAir Flight 648 is hijacked and ends in the loss of 56 passengers during the commando raid to rescue them

• The Italian Cruise Liner "Achille Lauro " is hijacked by Palestinian Terrorists

• Terrorist gunman shoot passengers at Rome and Vienna airports .

• The British Coal Miners Strike ends and coal mines continue to be closed

• The first Mobile Phone Call Is Made in the UK by Ernie Wise

• Mikhail Gorbachev replaces Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader

• President Reagan and Soviet Leader Gorbachev meet for the first time in Switzerland

• Live Aid pop concerts in Philadelphia and London raise over 50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.

• 8.1 Richter scale earthquake strikes Mexico City. More than 9,000 people are killed,

• Rioting breaks out at housing estates in Brixton, London and Liverpool

• Terry Anderson kidnapped in Beirut, Lebanon

• Boris Becker becomes youngest winner at 17 to win the men's Wimbledon championships

• 500 Hippy travellers clash with police on June 1st on their way to the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge

• A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic.

• President Reagan announces Strategic Defense Weapons ( SDI ) will not impact arms talks

• The Unabomber kills his first victim

• New York Stock Exchange Closes For The day For Hurricane Gloria

• Philadelphia Police drop a bomb containing C-4 and Tovex from a helicopter onto MOVE's residence on May 13th which causes an uncontrolled fire and as a result, 53 houses destroyed

• Insurance companies begin screening for Aids for life insurance causing outcry by civil liberties groups.

• Clive Sinclair launches the Sinclair C5 electric tricycle with a maximum speed of 15mph

• Boeing 747 Flight 123 crashes into Mount Osutaka, Japan

• Mafia Boss Paul Castellano is shot on orders of John J. Gotti

• Crowd Violence Erupts during the European Cup Final at Heysel Stadium in Brussels causing a wall to collapse killing 39 football fans.

• Following Heysel Stadium Disaster English Soccer Clubs banned From European Competition

• A massive car bomb in Beirut, Lebanon leaves 175 injured and 45 people dead

• South Africa Invades Angola

• Riots and protests continue in Townships In South Africa against apartheid policies

Technology

• The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS,
• The first .Com domain name, symbolics.com, is registered by the Symbolics corporation. However, .edu domains, for educational institutions, still predominate over the commercial .com ones
• Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.
• Switzerland is the first country to bring into law catalytic converters must be fitted to private cars
• Compact Discs are introduced to American Consumers
• The space shuttle Atlantis is launched
• UK Starts screening Blood donations for AIDS
• British Scientists discover a hole in the earths Ozone Layer

Popular Culture 1985

• Various artists, including Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Willie Nelson, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and Stevie Wonder, record the song "We Are The World" as USA for Africa. to raise money for famine relief

• Michael Jackson Buys ATV Music and every Beatles Song for $47 million dollars
• Coca-Cola Company introduces New Coke ( 6 months later they returned to the original formula )

Popular Films

• Back to the Future
• Rambo: First Blood Part II
• Rocky IV
• The Color Purple
• Out of Africa
• Cocoon
• Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment
• A View to a Kill
• Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Check out our Television Programmes From The 80s whenever possible we have included a trailer to jog your memory. Series trailers and more information are found on the decade they started.

Popular Musicians

• Duran Duran
• Simple Minds
• Madonna with " Crazy for You "
• Bruce Springsteen
• Dire Straits with " Money for Nothing "
• The Cure
• David Bowie
• Phil Collins
• " We Are The World " By USA For Africa featuring many artists for Aid For Africa
• Simple Minds