World Events
Population: 4.850 billion
Nobel Peace Prize: International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
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
President: Ronald W. Reagan
Vice President: George Bush
Population: 237,923,795
Life expectancy: 74.7 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 52.1
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 46.5
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $4,180.70 billion
Federal spending: $946.39 billion
Federal debt: $1817.5 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars): $23,618
Consumer Price Index: 107.6
Unemployment: 7.2%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.20 ($0.22 as of 2/17/1985)
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).
Sports
Super Bowl
San Francisco d. Miami (38-16)
World Series
Kansas City d. St. Louis Cardinals (4-3)
NBA Championship
LA Lakers d. Boston (4-2)
Stanley Cup
Edmonton d. Philadelphia (4-1)
Wimbledon
Women: Martina Navratilova d. C. Evert Lloyd (4-6 6-3 6-2)
Men: Boris Becker d. K. Curren (6-3 6-7 7-6 6-4)
Kentucky Derby Champion
Spend A Buck
NCAA Basketball Championship
Villanova d. Georgetown (66-64)
NCAA Football Champions
Oklahoma (11-1-0)
Entertainment
Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: Foreign Affairs, Alison Lurie
Music: Symphony RiverRun, Stephen Albert
Drama: Sunday in the Park with George, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
Oscars awarded in 1985
Academy Award, Best Picture: Amadeus, Saul Zaentz, producer (Orion)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Claude Simon (France)
Grammy Awards
Record of the Year: What's Love Got to Do With It - Tina Turner
Album of the Year: Can't Slow Down - Lionel Richie (Motown)
Song of the Year: What's Love Got to Do With It - Tina Turner
Miss America: Sharlene Wells (UT)
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
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Herbert A. Hauptman and Jerome Karle (both US), for their outstanding achievements in the development of direct methods for the determination of crystal structures.
Physics: Klaus von Klitzing (Germany), for developing an exact way of measuring electrical conductivity.
Physiology or Medicine: Michael S. Brown and Joseph L. Goldstein (both US), for their work, which has drastically widened our understanding of the cholesterol metabolism and increased our possibilities to prevent and treat atherosclerosis and heart attacks.
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.
Deaths
Louise Brooks
Marc Chagall
Rock Hudson
Frank Oppenheimer