1985 History

Due to poor ticket sales, this reunion has been cancelled.

1985 As the spread of AIDS increases, governments around the world start screening blood donations for AIDS. On the technology front the first .com is registered and the first version of Windows is released, Ver 1.0 . Terrorists continue to perform acts of terrorism including the hijack of TWA Flight 847 and the Italian Cruise Liner “Achille Lauro.” Famine in Ethiopia is shown more on TV News and Live Aid concerts around the world raise millions of dollars to help the starving in Africa. The pop industry in the U.S. joins together to sing “We Are The World.”

COST OF LIVING 1985

How Much Things Cost in 1985

Yearly Inflation Rate USA   3.55%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average   1546
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve   10.75%
Average Cost of new house   $89,330.00
Average Income per year   $22,100.00
Average Monthly Rent   $375.00
Average Price for new car   $9,005.00
1 gallon of gas   $1.09
Movie Ticket   $2.75
US Postage Stamp   22 cents
Bacon per pound   $1.65


WHAT EVENTS HAPPENED IN 1985

  • Volcanic Eruption in Columbia kills 25,000.
  • TWA Flight 847 is hijacked by Hezbollah.
  • 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.
  • Mikhail Gorbachev replaces Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader.
  • President Reagan and Soviet Leader Gorbachev meet for the first time in Switzerland.
  • The Greenpeace vessel, the Rainbow Warrior, is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents.
  • 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 London and Liverpool.
  • Terry Anderson kidnapped in Beirut, Lebanon.
  • Boris Becker becomes youngest winner at 17 to win the Men’s Wimbledon championships.
  • A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
  • Clive Sinclair launches the Sinclair C5 electric tricycle with a maximum speed of 15 mph.
  • 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 are banned From European Competition.
  • A massive car bomb in Beirut, Lebanon leaves 175 injured and 45 people dead.
  • Richard Ramirez, the serial killer known as the Night Stalker, is captured in Los Angeles.
  • NeXT is founded by Steve Jobs after he resigns from Apple Computer.
  • Norma Phillips Thornworth is elected president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
  • DNA is first used in a criminal case.
  • Leaded gas is officially banned in the U.S.
  • Karen Ann Quinlan, coma patient, dies of pneumonia. She was the first person to die in the “right-to-die” controversy debate.

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).
  • Out of Africa wins Oscar for Best Picture.
  • Mike Tyson makes his professional debut in Albany, NY, a match that he wins by a first round knockout.
  • John Hendricks launches The Discovery Channel in the United States
  • The comic strip Calvin and Hobbes debuts in 35 newspapers.
  • Tommy Hilfiger brand is established.
  • The computer game Tetris is established.
  • Keira Knightley was born.
  • Rock Hudson dies of AIDS.
  • Madonna launches her first road show, The Virgin Tour.

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
  • The Color Purple
  • Beverly Hills Cop
  • Fletch


POPULAR MUSICIANS 1985

  • 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
  • Tears for Fears
  • Bryan Adams

POPULAR TV SHOWS 1985

  • The Cosby Show
  • Family Ties
  • Murder, She Wrote
  • 60 Minutes
  • Cheers
  • Dallas
  • Dynasty
  • The Golden Girls
  • Miami Vice
  • Who’s the Boss?

TECHNOLOGY 1985

  • 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 that catalytic converters must be fitted to private cars.
  • Compact Discs are introduced to American Consumers.
  • UK Starts screening blood donations for AIDS.
  • British Scientists discover a hole in the Earth’s Ozone Layer.
  • The birth of the IBM PC signaled the start of Personal Computers, first in the offices and then into peoples homes becoming an integral part of our lives.
  • A new technology was evolving, starting as Bulletin Boards, later to become what we now know as the Internet invented by English physicist Tim Berners and the beginnings of the World Wide Web.
  • The 80’s were also the Decade that the Post-It, which came from a glue invented in 1968 accidentally while trying to discover a stronger glue at 3M by Spencer Silver, was introduced.
  • Video games emerged everywhere in arcades, game machines and PC’s. The most popular games were Space Invaders and Pac Man.
  • Mobile phones were slowly being introduced. They were big, clunky, heavy and hit and miss for signal strength.
  • Nintendo is introduced to the U.S.
  • Mitsubishi’s 35-inch color TV ranks as the world’s largest direct view screen.
  • Kaypro 2000 laptop is a big hit weighing in at only 13 pounds.
  • Apple LaserWriter breaks ground by brining cheap quality printing to the consumer for the first time at the low, low cost of $6,995.
  • Sony Discman was introduced to consumers.

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