Stories from 1985
Browse a timeline of top world events from 1985. Or, use Proust to tell your life story and share personal
moments from any year in history.
Share your own story from 1985
August 21, 1985
Chenguang Liu
4
weeks ago
January 28, 1985
Shyama Esselborn
1
month ago
June 25, 1985
Julie Rehder
2
months ago
1985
Gary Goggans
2
months ago
1985
My first house was a model house in a neighborhood called Long Indian Creek in Alpharetta, GA. A friend of my parents that was a real estate agent said there was bond money (a better deal than otherwise available at like 10.8%!!!) to get a new home. I remember the development company trying to screw me out of the deal because prices were going up so quickly and there was a backlog getting houses started (including mine), and they could re-sell my lot/house for more than I was contracted at. I eventually got in, and I think the price was $77,500. I sold a year or so later for $89,500, but I need to check those figures. The house was at 11100 Indian Village Dr., Alpharetta, GA.
January 28, 1985
Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones, Lionel Ritchie, and Michael Jackson masterminded the recording of 'We Are the World' by 45 major recording artists in order to raise money for African famine relief.
February 20, 1985
Minolta released their SLR Maxxum-7000 camera with the first ever autofocus function.
April 23, 1985
Coca-Cola introduced New Coke, the first soda with a different formula in almost a century, as a means to recreate their image. Consumers became enraged and Coca-Cola would bring back the original taste, renaming it 'Coca-Cola Classic.'
June 17, 1985
With financial backing from BBC, John Hendricks launched the Discovery Channel on cable television, reaching an audience of 156,000 and within five years 50 million. One of the channel's most popular programs, Shark Week, would air for the first time three years later.
June 27, 1985
Route 66, the 2,200 mile-long highway stretching from Chicago to Santa Monica, was decertified because drivers were using interstate highways more and more.
July 3, 1985
With the help of a flux capacitor and a DeLorean DMC-12 sports car, Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd traveled through time in the film Back to the Future.
July 13, 1985
•
Philadelphia, PA
Some of the biggest names in the recording industry performed for free at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia and London to raise money for Africans suffering from starvation.
July 20, 1985
•
FL
Mel Fischer and his team found the Nuestra Senora de Atocha on the ocean floor near the Florida Keys. The Spanish ship, built in 1620, was carrying an absolutely incredible wealth of goods when it was sunk by a hurricane while en route back to Spain.
July 31, 1985
Robert Ballard located the wreckage of the 'unsinkable' Titanic three quarters of a century after it went down.
October 19, 1985
•
Dallas, TX
The first Blockbuster opened in Dallas, TX. The video-rental store would become so successful in the next three years that it would be the top movie rental company in the country until the arrival of Netflix.
October 19, 1985
MTV aired a-Ha's music video for 'Take on Me' and shot the Norwegian band to the top of the charts overnight.
November 2, 1985
Police drama Miami Vice greatly influenced fashion trends of the time with its pastel suit-wearing cops and the music industry with its movie-like soundtrack album, unusual for TV shows at the time. On November 2, 1985, the Miami Vice soundtrack snagged the #1 spot on the pop charts and stayed there for eleven weeks.
December 1, 1985
Mario and Luigi became household names (to over 60 million!) when the Nintendo Entertainment System was first released, revolutionizing the gaming industry.
