List of events
Events from the year 1985 in the United States .
Howard Baker (R -Tennessee ) (until January 3)
Bob Dole (R -Kansas ) (starting January 3)
January 20: Ronald Reagan , the President of the United States , begins his second term
January 20: George H. W. Bush , the Vice President of the United States , begins his second term
The National Archives and Records Administration is established as an independent federal agency.[ 4]
Cincinnati, Ohio –based Procter & Gamble ditches the moon & stars symbol from its packaging.
April 1 – Eighth-seeded Villanova defeats national powerhouse Georgetown , 66–64, to win the first 64-team field NCAA Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky .
April 7 – National Geographic Explorer debuts on Nickelodeon .
April 11 – The USS Coral Sea collides with the Ecuadorian tanker ship Napo off the coast of Cuba.
April 12 – 1985 El Descanso bombing : A terrorist bombing attributed to the Islamic Jihad Organization in the El Descanso restaurant near Madrid , Spain , mostly attended by U.S. personnel of the Torrejon Air Force Base , causes 18 dead (all Spaniards) and 82 injured.
April 19 – A four-day siege of white supremacist group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord begins in Arkansas.
April 23 – Coca-Cola changes its recipe and releases New Coke . The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.
June 9 – Los Angeles Lakers win the NBA championship, defeating the Boston Celtics.
June 13 – In Auburn, Washington , police defuse a Unabomber bomb sent to Boeing .[ 6]
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.[ 7]
June 17 – John Hendricks launches the Discovery Channel in the United States.[ 8]
June 20 – NeXT is founded by Steve Jobs after he resigns from Apple Computer .
June 24 – STS-51-G : Space Shuttle Discovery completes its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman Al Saud , the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a payload specialist .
June 26 – A Walt Disney World Monorail System train catches fire in Epcot around 9:00 p.m, due to friction caused by a flat tire.
June 27 – U.S. Route 66 is officially decommissioned.
July 13: Live Aid in Philadelphia
August 2 – Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashes near Dallas, Texas , killing 137 people.
August 4 – Major League Baseball player Rod Carew of the California Angels becomes the sixteenth player to achieve 3,000 hits in a career.
August 20 – Iran–Contra affair : The first arms, 96 BGM-71 TOWs , are sent to Iran in exchange for hostages in Lebanon and profits for the Nicaraguan Contras without public knowledge.
August 25 – Samantha Smith , "Goodwill Ambassador" between the Soviet Union and the United States for writing a letter to Yuri Andropov about nuclear war , and eventually visiting the Soviet Union at Andropov's request, dies in the Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 plane crash. She was 13 years old.
August 26 – Ryan White , who was expelled from Western High School in Indiana , is allowed to attend his first day of classes via telephone .
August 28 – The first smoking ban for restaurants in the United States is passed in Aspen, Colorado .[ 9]
August 31 – Richard Ramirez , the serial killer known as the Night Stalker, is captured in Los Angeles .
September 2 – Hurricane Elena makes landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast after reaching Category 3 status .
September 4 – Catcher Gary Carter of the New York Mets ties a record with five home runs in two games.
September 6 – Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 , a Douglas DC-9 , crashes just after takeoff from Milwaukee, Wisconsin , killing 31 people.
September 9 – Laborers of two food processing facilities in Watsonville, California , organize a strike against recent wage and benefits reductions.
September 11 – Pete Rose becomes the all-time hit leader in Major League Baseball , with his 4,192nd hit at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati .
September 13 – Steve Jobs resigns from Apple Computer in order to found NeXT .[ 10]
September 26 – Kalina , the first captive orca born at SeaWorld as well as the first to survive past infancy, is born at SeaWorld Orlando .
Juliana Harkavy
Alex Meraz
Michelle Wu
Brantley Gilbert
Hartley Sawyer
Michael Trevino
Russell Fry
January 1
January 2
January 3
January 4 – Al Jefferson , basketball player
January 5 – Luvvie Ajayi , Nigerian-born author, speaker, and digital strategist
January 6 – Ian M. Anderson , founder of Afternoon Records
January 8
January 9
January 10 – Alex Meraz , actor, dancer, and martial artist
January 11
January 12
January 14
January 15 – Brandon Mebane , football player
January 16
January 18 – Matt Hobby , actor and comedian
January 19
January 20
January 21
January 22
January 23 – Shola Adisa-Farrar , singer and actress
January 25
January 26
January 27 – Danial Ahmed , Pakistani-born cricketer
January 28 – J. Cole , Hip-Hop musician and record producer
January 29 – Mikey Hachey , bass player
January 30
January 31
Jake Luhrs
Crystal Reed
Deborah Ann Woll
David Gallagher
Haylie Duff
Zach Roerig
Priscilla Chan
Reggie Bush
Guy Benson
Emile Hirsch
Kellan Lutz
Sonequa Martin-Green
Jonathan Groff
March 1
March 2
March 3
March 5
March 6
March 7 – Guy Benson , columnist
March 9
March 10
March 13
March 15
March 17
March 18 – Kyle Alcorn , Olympic long distance runner
March 19 – Esther Agbaje , politician
March 20
March 21
March 22
March 24
March 25
March 26
March 27
March 28
March 30 – Russell Carter , basketball player
March 31
Todrick Hall
Rooney Mara
Billy Magnussen
Jay Lethal
April 1
April 2
April 3 – Gerald Coleman , ice hockey player
April 4 – Todrick Hall , singer-songwriter, actor, director, choreographer and YouTuber
April 5 – Lastings Milledge , baseball player
April 6 – Sinqua Walls , basketball player and actor
April 7 – Joe Cook , basketball coach
April 8 – Matt Antonelli , baseball player
April 9 – David Robertson , baseball player
April 10
April 12
April 13
April 15
April 16
April 17
April 19 – Zack Conroy , actor
April 20
April 21 – Rachel Lindsay , media personality
April 22
April 23
April 26
April 27 – Jamie Gray Hyder , actress and model
April 28 – Brandon Baker , actor
April 29
Kyle Busch
Clark Duke
Odette Annable
Michael Jagmin
Matt Cardona
Derek Hough
Roman Reigns
Nick Young
Dave Franco
Lana Del Rey
Annaleigh Ashford
Martin Sensmeier
Michael Phelps
Cody Rhodes
Ashley Tisdale
Megan Rapinoe
Chace Crawford
Shantel VanSanten
Young Dolph
July 1 – Spose , Hip-Hop artist
July 2 – Ashley Tisdale , actress, singer and producer
July 4 – Sean Cunningham , musician, singer/songwriter, and recording artist
July 5 – Megan Rapinoe , soccer player[ 11]
July 6
July 7 – Craig Capano , soccer player
July 8
July 9 – Cris Cyborg , Brazilian-born mixed martial artist
July 10 – B. J. Crombeen , American-born Canadian ice hockey player
July 11
July 12
July 14 – Darrelle Revis , football player
July 15 – David Carpenter , baseball player
July 16 – Rosa Salazar , actress
July 17 – Caitlin Van Zandt , actress
July 18
July 19 – LaMarcus Aldridge , basketball player
July 20 – John Francis Daley , actor
July 22
July 23 – Scott Chandler , football player
July 24 – Chad Cook , football player
July 25
July 26 – Matt Riddlehoover , filmmaker
July 27
July 28 – Monica Abbott , softball player
July 29
July 30
July 31 – Shannon Curfman , blues-rock singer and guitarist
Anna Kendrick
Vivek Ramaswamy
Emily Kinney
Nipsey Hussle
Cristin Milioti
Brian Kelley
Allison Miller
Alyssa Diaz
Martin Johnson
Chikezie
Chase Rice
Calvin Johnson
T-Pain
September 1
September 2 – Allison Miller , actress
September 3
September 4
September 5 – Tyler Colvin , baseball player
September 6
September 7
September 8
September 9
September 10
September 11
September 13 – Vella Lovell , actress
September 14
September 15 – Chris Clemons , football player
September 16
September 17
September 18
September 19
September 21
September 22
September 23
September 24
September 27
September 28 – Martin Courtney , singer and frontman for Real Estate
September 29
September 30
Ryan M. Pitts
Bruno Mars
Michelle Trachtenberg
Robert Costa
Ciara
Alexander Soros
Troian Bellisario
Matt Greiner
October 1
October 2
October 3
October 4
Brad Bell , television producer, screenwriter, actor, musician and comic book author
Clef nite , Nigerian-born guitarist
October 5 – Brooke Valentine , singer
October 6
October 7 – Evan Longoria , baseball player
October 8
October 9
October 10
October 11 – Michelle Trachtenberg , actress, producer and singer
October 12
October 14
October 15
October 16
October 18
October 19 – Ian Calderon , politician
October 20
October 21 – Quinton Culberson , football player
October 22
October 23
October 24 – Donald Cowart , steeplechase runner
October 25
October 27
October 28
October 29 – Adam Cappa , Christian rock singer/songwriter
October 31
Jack Osbourne
Lily Aldridge
Daniel Cameron
Haley Webb
Kaley Cuoco
Chrissy Teigen
November 2
November 3 – Tyler Hansbrough , basketball player
November 4
November 5
November 6 – Shayne Lamas , reality television personality and actress
November 7
November 8
November 10 – Pete Andrelczyk , baseball player
November 11
November 12 – Arianny Celeste , model and actress
November 13
November 14
November 15
November 18
November 19 – Eve Carson , murder victim (d. 2008)
November 20 – Dan Byrd , actor
November 21 – Mark Cochran , politician
November 22
November 23
November 25
November 26 – Matt Carpenter , baseball player
November 29 – Jamar Adams , football player
November 30
Amanda Seyfried
Frankie Muniz
Dwight Howard
Raven-Symoné
Jeremy McKinnon
Alexa Ray Joel
December 1
December 2 – Samuel Charles , football player
December 3 – Amanda Seyfried , actress and singer-songwriter
December 4 – Ronnie Ortiz-Magro , TV personality
December 5
December 7
December 8
December 10
December 11 – Samantha Steele , sportscaster
December 12
December 16 – Amanda Setton , actress
December 17 – Jeremy McKinnon , singer/songwriter, record producer and frontman for A Day to Remember
December 18
December 19
December 20 – Paul Wandtke , metalcore drummer
December 21
December 23 – Arcángel , reggaeton singer
December 24 – Edward Aschoff , sports reporter (d. 2019)
December 25 – Miro , Bulgarian-born wrestler
December 26
December 27
December 28
December 29 – Alexa Ray Joel , singer/songwriter and pianist
December 30
December 31
Khalik Allah , filmmaker and photographer
Catrina Allen , disc thrower
Jojo Anavim , contemporary visual artist
Timo Andres , composer and pianist
J. J. Anselmi , writer and musician
Jennifer Arcuri , technology entrepreneur
Alex Askew , politician
Adam Brown , politician
John Burris , politician
Dorielle Caimi , artist
Chris Campanioni , writer
Alana I. Capria , writer
Ana Caraiani , Romanian-born mathematician
Charlene Carruthers , LGBT activist and author
Greg Chevalier , soccer player
Stephen Christy , producer, entertainment executive, and editor
Alex Clark, comedian, animator, YouTuber, and juggler
Travis Clark , singer/songwriter, guitarist, and frontman for We the Kings
Telfar Clemens , fashion designer and founder of TELFAR
Zinzi Clemmons , writer
Stephanie Cmar , chef
Kevin Michael Connolly , photographer
Moogega Cooper , astronomer
Kimberly Corban , rape survivor and rape victim advocate
Jolene Creighton , journalist and media executive
Kristan Hawkins , activist
January 7 – Ruth Godfrey , actress (b. 1922 )
January 13 – Carol Wayne , actress (b. 1942 )
January 19 – Eric Voegelin , German-American philosopher (b. 1901 )[ 12]
January 20 – Gillis William Long , politician (b. 1923 )
January 21
January 28 – Wade Nichols , actor (b. 1946 )
February 8 – Marvin Miller , actor (b. 1913 )
February 12 – Nicholas Colasanto , actor and director (b. 1924 )
February 16 – Mathew Beard , supercentenarian, last surviving person born in 1870 (b. 1870 )[ 13]
February 20 – Clarence Nash , voice actor and impressionist (b. 1904 )
February 21 – John G. Trump , electrical engineer, inventor, and physicist (b. 1907 )
February 22
February 27
March 8 – Edward Andrews , actor (b. 1914 )
March 12 – Eugene Ormandy , Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist (b. 1899)
March 13 – Annette Hanshaw , singer (b. 1901)
April 1 – Douglass Wallop , author and playwright (b. 1920)
April 8 – John Frederick Coots , songwriter (b. 1897 )
April 22 – Paul H. Emmett , American chemical engineer (b. 1900 )
April 23
April 24 – Mildred W. Pelzer , American artist (b. 1889 )
April 30 – Jules White, film director and producer (b. 1900 )
May 9 – Edmond O'Brien , actor and film director (b. 1915 )
May 11 – Chester Gould , cartoonist (b. 1900 )
May 13 – Selma Diamond , Canadian-born American comedian, actress, and writer (b. 1920 )
May 16 – Margaret Hamilton , American actress (b. 1902 )
May 17 – Abe Burrows , humorist, author, and director (b. 1910 )
June 6 – Leonard Lake , American serial killer (b. 1945 )
June 11 – Vic Tanny , bodybuilder and physical culture advocate (b. 1912 )
June 21 – Ettore Boiardi (Hector Boyardee), Italian-American chef, founder of Chef Boyardee (b. 1897 )
June 25 – Pee Wee Crayton , guitarist and singer (b. 1914 )
July 8 – Phil Foster , actor and performer (b. 1913 )
July 23 – Kay Kyser , bandleader and radio personality (b. 1905 )
July 28 – Grant Williams , actor (b. 1931 )
August 8 – Louise Brooks , actress and dancer (b. 1906 )
August 13 – J. Willard Marriot , entrepreneur and businessman (b. 1900 )
August 20 – Ruth Gordon , actress and writer (b. 1896 )
September 2 – Jay Youngblood , wrestler (b. 1955)
September 11 – Andrew C. Thornton II , narcotics officer, lawyer, and the head member of a drug smuggling ring in Kentucky (b. 1944 )
September 14 – Julian Beck , actor, director, poet, and painter (b. 1925 )
September 27 – Lloyd Nolan , actor (b. 1902 )
October 1 – E. B. White , writer (b. 1899 )
October 2 – Rock Hudson , actor (b. 1925 )
October 3 – Charles Collingwood , journalist and war correspondent (b. 1917 )
October 6 – Nelson Riddle , arranger, composer, bandleader, and orchestrator (b. 1921 )
October 8 – John Wesley Snyder , businessman and Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1895 )
October 10
October 12
October 15 – Ted Steele , bandleader and host (b. 1917 )
October 25 – Blair Lee III , politician, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland (b. 1916 )[ 14]
November 1
November 4 – Cus D'Amato , legendary boxing trainer who was a mentor to Hall of Fame boxers Mike Tyson , Floyd Patterson and José Torres .
November 13 – George Robert Vincent , sound recording pioneer (b. 1898 )
November 16
November 19 – Stepin Fetchit , actor and comedian (b. 1902 )
November 25 – Ray Jablonski , American baseball player (b. 1926 )
December 7 – Potter Stewart , lawyer and U.S. Supreme Court associate judge (b. 1915 )
December 12 – Anne Baxter , actress (b. 1923 )
December 14 – Roger Maris , baseball player (b. 1934 )
December 22 – Richard P. Condie , conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (b. 1898 )
December 26 – Dian Fossey , primatologist and conservationist (b. 1932 )
December 31 – Ricky Nelson , musician and actor (b. 1940 )
^ Reston, James (1985-02-06). "Opinion | WASHINGTON; REAGAN AT 74" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-10-02 .
^ Kifner, John (1985-02-15). "U.S. TV Reporter Free In Lebanon" . The New York Times . Retrieved 2009-10-15 .
^ "WHITNEY - The Singer - WWW.WHITNEY-INFO.COM" . Archived from the original on 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2011-07-14 .
^ "Milestones of the U.S. Archival Profession and the National Archives, 1800-2011" . U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016 .
^ Stevens, William K. (May 14, 1983). "Police Drop Bomb on Radicals' Home in Philadelphia" . New York Times . Archived from the original on June 12, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2012 .
^ Miki Vohryzek-Bolden; Gayle Olson-Raymer; Jeffrey O. Whamond (2001). Domestic Terrorism and Incident Management: Issues and Tactics . Charles C Thomas. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-398-07225-4 .
^ Robert Gearty (September 21, 2019), "Greek police arrest suspect in 1985 TWA Flight 847 hijacking" , Fox News , retrieved September 21, 2019
^ Media Ownership: Diversity and Concentration : Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Communications of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred First Congress, First Session ... June 14, 21, and 22, 1989 . U.S. Government Printing Office. 1989. p. 218 – via United States Congress, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Subcommittee on Communications.
^ Urquhart, Janet (17 May 2005). "Smoky or smoke-free?" .
^ Spector, G (September 24, 1985). "Apple's Jobs Starts New Firm, Targets Education Market". PC Week . p. 109.
^ "Megan Rapinoe | Biography, Equal Pay, & Facts | Britannica" . www.britannica.com . Retrieved 17 December 2022 .
^ "Eric Voegelin, Philosopher, Author and Professor, Dies" . New York Times . January 23, 1985. Retrieved March 20, 2021 .
^ Mathew Beard
^ Blair Lee III
^ The New York Times Biographical Service . University Microfilms. July 1985. p. 1317.