Top News Stories from 1985

World Events

• Soviet leader Chernenko dies at 73 and is replaced by Mikhail Gorbachev, 54 (March 11). Under the slogans of glasnost and Perestroika, Gorbachev initiates a broad program of reform and liberalization. Background: Rulers of Russia since 1533
• Two Shi'ite Muslim gunmen capture TWA airliner with 133 aboard, 104 of them Americans (June 14); 39 remaining hostages freed in Beirut (June 30).
• PLO terrorists hijack Achille Lauro, Italian cruise ship, with 80 passengers, plus crew (Oct. 7); American, Leon Klinghoffer, killed (Oct. 8); Italian government toppled by political crisis over hijacking (Oct. 16).
• Reagan and Gorbachev meet at summit (Nov. 19); agree to step up arms control talks and renew cultural contacts (Nov. 21). Background: nuclear disarmament
• Terrorists seize Egyptian Boeing 737 airliner after takeoff from Athens (Nov. 23); 59 dead as Egyptian forces storm plane on Malta (Nov. 24).

U.S. Events

• Ronald Reagan, 73, takes oath for second term as 40th President (Jan. 20).
• General Westmoreland settles libel action against CBS (Feb. 18).
• US Supreme Court, 5–4, bars public school teachers from parochial schools (July 1).
• Arthur James Walker, 50, retired naval officer, convicted by federal judge of participating in Soviet spy ring operated by his brother, John Walker (Aug. 9).
• US budget-balancing bill enacted (Dec. 12).

Economics

Sports

Super Bowl

World Series

NBA Championship

Stanley Cup

Wimbledon

Kentucky Derby Champion

NCAA Basketball Championship

NCAA Football Champions

Entertainment

Events

• Rock Hudson dies of AIDS at age 59. He's the first major star to fall victim to the disease.
• Madonna launches her first road show, the Virgin Tour.
• Dozens of top-name musicians and bands perform at the Live Aid concerts in Philadelphia and London. The shows benefit African famine victims.
• With the availability of relatively inexpensive laser printers and computers, tools for desktop publishing begin to be commonly used.

Movies

• Kiss of the Spider Woman, Out of Africa, Prizzi's Honor, The Color Purple

Books

• Robert Bly, Loving a Woman in Two Worlds
• Keri Hulme, The Bone People
• Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove

Science

• British scientists report the opening of an enormous hole in the earth's ozone layer over Antarctica. Background: Environment & Nature
• Researchers at IBM develop the scanning tunneling microscope, which can visualize images on an atomic scale.
• Coca-Cola attempts to change its 99-year-old formula in an effort to attract younger drinkers. "New" Coke is poorly received, and the company soon reintroduces the original, "Classic" beverage. Background: carbonated beverages

Death

• Louise Brooks
• Marc Chagall
• Rock Hudson
• Frank Oppenheimer

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