1985 in the United States - wikipedia 1985 in the United States This list is incomplete ; you can help by expanding it. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( July 2014 ) 1985 in the United States Years 1984 1985 1986 Flag 50 stars ( 1960 -- present ) Timeline of United States history History of the United States ( 1980 -- 91 ) Events from the year 1985 in the United States. Contents 1 Incumbents 1.1 Federal Government 1.2 Governors 1.3 Lieutenant Governors 2 Events 2.1 January 2.2 February 2.3 March 2.4 April 2.5 May 2.6 June 2.7 July 2.8 August 2.9 September 2.10 October 2.11 November 2.12 December 2.13 Undated 2.14 Ongoing 3 Births 4 Deaths 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Incumbents Federal Government President : Ronald Reagan ( R - California ) Vice President : George H.W. Bush ( R - Texas ) Chief Justice : Warren E. Burger ( Minnesota ) Speaker of the House of Representatives : Tip O'Neill ( D - Massachusetts ) Senate Majority Leader : Howard Baker ( R - Tennessee ) ( until January 3 ), Bob Dole ( R - Kansas ) ( starting January 3 ) Congress : 98th ( until January 3 ), 99th ( starting January 3 ) Governors and Lieutenant Governors Governors Governor of Alabama : George Wallace ( Democratic ) Governor of Alaska : Bill Sheffield ( Democratic ) Governor of Arizona : Bruce Babbitt ( Democratic ) Governor of Arkansas : Bill Clinton ( Democratic ) Governor of California : George Deukmejian ( Republican ) Governor of Colorado : Richard Lamm ( Democratic ) Governor of Connecticut : William A. O'Neill ( Democratic ) Governor of Delaware : Pierre S. du Pont, IV ( Republican ) ( until January 15 ), Michael Castle ( Republican ) ( starting January 15 ) Governor of Florida : Bob Graham ( Democratic ) Governor of Georgia : Joe Frank Harris ( Democratic ) Governor of Hawaii : George Ariyoshi ( Democratic ) Governor of Idaho : John V. Evans ( Democratic ) Governor of Illinois : James R. Thompson ( Republican ) Governor of Indiana : Robert D. Orr ( Republican ) Governor of Iowa : Terry E. Branstad ( Republican ) Governor of Kansas : John W. Carlin ( Democratic ) Governor of Kentucky : Martha Layne Collins ( Democratic ) Governor of Louisiana : Edwin W. Edwards ( Democratic ) Governor of Maine : Joseph E. Brennan ( Democratic ) Governor of Maryland : Harry R. Hughes ( Democratic ) Governor of Massachusetts : Michael Dukakis ( Democratic ) Governor of Michigan : James Blanchard ( Democratic ) Governor of Minnesota : Rudy Perpich ( Democratic ) Governor of Mississippi : William Allain ( Democratic ) Governor of Missouri : Kit Bond ( Republican ) ( until January 14 ), John Ashcroft ( Republican ) ( starting January 14 ) Governor of Montana : Ted Schwinden ( Democratic ) Governor of Nebraska : Bob Kerrey ( Democratic ) Governor of Nevada : Richard Bryan ( Democratic ) Governor of New Hampshire : John H. Sununu ( Republican ) Governor of New Jersey : Thomas Kean ( Republican ) Governor of New Mexico : Toney Anaya ( Democratic ) Governor of New York : Mario Cuomo ( Democratic ) Governor of North Carolina : Jim Hunt ( Democratic ) ( until January 5 ), James G. Martin ( Republican ) ( starting January 5 ) Governor of North Dakota : Allen I. Olson ( Republican ) ( until January 1 ), George A. Sinner ( Democratic ) ( starting January 1 ) Governor of Ohio : Dick Celeste ( Democratic ) Governor of Oklahoma : George Nigh ( Democratic ) Governor of Oregon : Victor G. Atiyeh ( Republican ) Governor of Pennsylvania : Dick Thornburgh ( Republican ) Governor of Rhode Island : J. Joseph Garrahy ( Democratic ) ( until January 1 ), Edward D. DiPrete ( Republican ) ( starting January 1 ) Governor of South Carolina : Richard Riley ( Democratic ) Governor of South Dakota : William J. Janklow ( Republican ) Governor of Tennessee : Lamar Alexander ( Republican ) Governor of Texas : Mark White ( Democratic ) Governor of Utah : Scott M. Matheson ( Democratic ) ( until January 7 ), Norman H. Bangerter ( Republican ) ( starting January 7 ) Governor of Vermont : Richard A. Snelling ( Republican ) ( until January 10 ), Madeleine M. Kunin ( Democratic ) ( starting January 10 ) Governor of Virginia : Chuck Robb ( Democratic ) Governor of Washington : John Spellman ( Republican ) ( until January 16 ), Booth Gardner ( Democratic ) ( starting January 16 ) Governor of West Virginia : Jay Rockefeller ( Democratic ) ( until January 14 ), Arch A. Moore, Jr. ( Republican ) ( starting January 14 ) Governor of Wisconsin : Tony Earl ( Democratic ) Governor of Wyoming : Edgar J. Herschler ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governors Lieutenant Governor of Alabama : Bill Baxley ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Alaska : Stephen McAlpine ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas : Winston Bryant ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of California : Leo T. McCarthy ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Colorado : Nancy E. Dick ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut : Joseph J. Fauliso ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Delaware : Michael N. Castle ( Republican ) ( until January 15 ), Shien Biau Woo ( Democratic ) ( starting January 15 ) Lieutenant Governor of Florida : Wayne Mixson ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Georgia : Zell Miller ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii : John D. Waihee III ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Idaho : David H. Leroy ( Republican ) Lieutenant Governor of Illinois : George H. Ryan ( Republican ) Lieutenant Governor of Indiana : John Mutz ( Republican ) Lieutenant Governor of Iowa : Robert T. Anderson ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Kansas : Thomas R. Docking ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky : Steve Beshear ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana : Robert `` Bobby '' Freeman ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Maryland : J. Joseph Curran ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts : John Kerry ( Democratic ) ( until January 2 ), vacant ( starting January 2 ) Lieutenant Governor of Michigan : Martha W. Griffiths ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota : Marlene Johnson ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi : Brad Dye ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Missouri : Kenneth Rothman ( Democratic ) ( until January 14 ), Harriett Woods ( Democratic ) ( starting January 14 ) Lieutenant Governor of Montana : George Turman ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska : Donald F. McGinley ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Nevada : Bob Cashell ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico : Mike Runnels ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of New York : Alfred DelBello ( Democratic ) ( until February 1 ), vacant ( starting February 1 ) Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina : James C. Green ( Democratic ) ( until month and day unknown ), Robert B. Jordan, III ( Democratic ) ( starting month and day unknown ) Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota : Ernest Sands ( Republican ) ( until month and day unknown ), Ruth Meiers ( Democratic ) ( starting month and day unknown ) Lieutenant Governor of Ohio : Myrl H. Shoemaker ( Democratic ) ( until July 30 ), vacant ( starting July 30 ) Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma : Spencer Bernard ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania : William Scranton, III ( Republican ) Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island : Thomas R. DiLuglio ( Democratic ) ( until January 1 ), Richard A. Licht ( Democratic ) ( starting January 1 ) Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina : Michael R. Daniel ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota : Lowell C. Hansen II ( Republican ) Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee : John S. Wilder ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Texas : William P. Hobby, Jr. ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Utah : David Smith Monson ( Republican ) ( until January 7 ), W. Val Oveson ( Republican ) ( starting January 7 ) Lieutenant Governor of Vermont : Peter Plympton Smith ( Republican ) Lieutenant Governor of Virginia : Richard Joseph Davis ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Washington : John Cherberg ( Democratic ) Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin : James T. Flynn ( Democratic ) Events January Ronald Reagan, the President of the United States, began his second term on January 20 January 20 U.S. President Ronald Reagan is privately sworn in for a second term in office ( publicly sworn in, January 21 ). Super Bowl XIX : The San Francisco 49ers defeat the Miami Dolphins 38 -- 16 at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. January 28 -- In Hollywood, California, the charity single `` We Are the World '' is recorded by USA for Africa. Like the enormously successful `` Do They Know It 's Christmas ? '' that was recorded by Band Aid in the UK two months prior, the single raises money to combat the ongoing famine in Ethiopia. The American act consists of high - profile performers, including Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper and Diana Ross. February February 5 -- Australia cancels its involvement in United States - led MX missile tests. February 9 -- U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena is kidnapped and murdered in Mexico ( his body is discovered on March 5 ). February 14 CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is freed from captivity in Lebanon. 21 - year - old female singer Whitney Houston releases her debut album -- Whitney Houston. March March 1 -- The GNU Manifesto by Richard Stallman is published for the first time. March 4 -- The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS, used since then to screen all blood donations in the United States. March 6 -- Mike Tyson makes his professional debut in Albany, New York, a match which he wins by a first - round knockout. March 8 -- A car bomb planted in Beirut by CIA mercenaries attempts to kill Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah and kills more than eighty people, injuring 200. March 16 -- Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut ( he is eventually released on December 4, 1991 ). March 25 -- The 57th Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles, California with Amadeus winning Best Picture. March 31 -- WrestleMania debuts at Madison Square Garden. April National Archives and Records Administration established as an independent federal agency. April 1 -- Eighth seeded Villanova defeats national powerhouse Georgetown 66 -- 64 to win the first 64 team field NCAA Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky. 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 eighteen dead ( all Spaniards ) and 82 injured. April 23 -- Coca - Cola changes it 's recipe and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market within less than three months. May May 5 -- U.S. President Ronald Reagan joins West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl for a controversial funeral service at a cemetery in Bitburg, Germany, which includes the graves of 59 elite S.S. troops from World War II. May 11 -- The FBI brings charges against the suspected heads of the five Mafia families in New York City. May 13 -- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mayor Wilson Goode orders police to storm the radical group MOVE 's headquarters to end a stand - off. The police drop an explosive device into the headquarters, killing eleven members of MOVE and destroying the homes of 61 city residents in the resulting fire. May 15 -- An explosive device sent by the Unabomber injures John Hauser at UC Berkeley. May 19 -- John Anthony Walker Jr., is arrested by the FBI for passing classified Naval communications onto the Soviets. May 31 -- Forty - one tornadoes hit in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, killing 76 people. June June 9 -- Los Angeles Lakers win the NBA championship. June 13 -- In Auburn, Washington, police defuse a Unabomber bomb sent to Boeing. 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. June 17 -- John Hendricks launches the Discovery Channel in the United States. June 24 -- STS - 51 - G : Space Shuttle Discovery completes it 's mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist. June 26 -- The Walt Disney World Resort Monorail Gold catches fire on the EPCOT beam around 9 : 00p. m, due to friction caused by a flat tyre. June 27 -- U.S. Route 66 is officially decommissioned. July July 13 : Live Aid in Philadelphia July 3 -- Back to the Future opens in American theatres and ends up being the highest - grossing film of 1985 in the United States, and the first film in the successful franchise. July 13 Live Aid pop concerts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and London raise over £ 50,000,000 for famine relief in Ethiopia. U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush serves as Acting President for eight hours, while President Ronald W. Reagan undergoes colon cancer surgery. July 19 -- U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush announces that New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe will become the first school teacher to ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. July 20 -- The main ship wreck site of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha ( which sank in 1622 ) is found forty miles off the coast of Key West, Florida by treasure hunters who begin to excavate $400,000,000 in coins and silver. July 24 -- Commodore launches the Amiga personal computer at the Lincoln Center in New York City. August 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 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 thirteen years old. August 31 -- Richard Ramirez, the serial killer known as the Night Stalker, is captured in Los Angeles. September September 6 -- Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105, a Douglas DC - 9, crashes just after takeoff from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing 31 people. October October 4 -- The Free Software Foundation is founded in Massachusetts, USA. October 7 The cruise ship Achille Lauro is hijacked in the Mediterranean Sea by four heavily armed Palestinian terrorists. One passenger, American Leon Klinghoffer, is killed. The Mameyes landslide kills close to three hundred people in the worst ever landslide in North American history. October 18 -- The Nintendo Entertainment System is released in U.S. stores. November November 15 -- In separate events, mail bombs kill two people in Salt Lake City, Utah ; a third bomb explodes the next day, injuring career counterfeiter Mark Hofmann. The ensuing police investigation leads to the arrest of Hofmann for the two murders. November 18 -- The comic strip Calvin and Hobbes debuts in 35 newspapers. November 19 -- Cold War : In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time. November 20 -- Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0. November 26 -- U.S. President Ronald Reagan sells the rights to his autobiography to Random House for a record US $3,000,000. December December 1 -- The Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable are released for sale to the public. December 12 -- Arrow Air Flight 1285, a Douglas DC - 8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning to Fort Campbell, Kentucky from overseeing a peacekeeping force in Sinai. December 16 -- In New York City, Mafia bosses Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead in front of Spark 's Steak House, making hit organizer John Gotti the leader of the powerful Gambino crime family. December 24 -- Right wing extremist David Lewis Rice murders civil rights attorney Charles Goldmark as well as Goldmark 's wife and two children in Seattle. Rice suspected the family of being both Jewish and Communist, and claimed his dedication to the Christian Identity movement drove him to the crime. December 27 -- American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda. December 31 -- The last issue of The Columbus Citizen - Journal is circulated. Undated `` The Year of the Spy '', name given by media to 1985 because of large number of foreign spies arrested in the United St. 1985 Recordings which raised funds for famine relief USA for Africa ( `` We Are the World '' ) and Live Aid NeXT is founded by Steve Jobs after he resigns from Apple Computer. The Tommy Hilfiger brand is established. The Asian tiger mosquito, an invasive species, is first found in Houston, Texas. Ongoing Cold War ( 1945 -- 1991 ) Iran -- Contra affair ( 1985 -- 1987 ) Births January 11 -- Aja Naomi King, actress January 29 -- Mikey Hachey, bass player February 6 -- Crystal Reed, actress February 7 -- Deborah Ann Woll, actress February 19 Haylie Duff, actress, singer, and songwriter Arielle Kebbel, actress February 22 -- Sean Garballey, politician March 15 -- Eva Amurri, actress and daughter of Susan Sarandon and Franco Amurri March 21 -- Sonequa Martin - Green, actress and producer March 26 -- Jonathan Groff, actor and singer March 31 -- Jessica Szohr, actress April 15 Chris Cates, baseball player John Danks, baseball player Aaron Laffey, baseball player April 17 -- Rooney Mara, actress May 8 -- Usama Young, American football player May 12 -- Tally Hall, soccer player June 6 -- Chris Henry, American football player June 25 -- Annaleigh Ashford, actress and singer June 30 Michael Phelps, swimmer Cody Rhodes, wrestler June 24 -- Jandy Nelson, writer June 28 -- Cory Blair, rugby player July 2 -- Ashley Tisdale, actress, singer, and producer August 9 -- Anna Kendrick, actress and singer August 15 -- Emily Kinney, actress, singer, and songwriter August 16 -- Cristin Milioti, actress and singer August 27 -- Kayla Ewell, actress August 29 -- Marc Rzepczynski, baseball player October 8 -- Bruno Mars, singer - songwriter, producer, and actor October 11 -- Michelle Trachtenberg, actress, producer, and singer October 28 -- Troian Bellisario, actress and daughter of Donald P. Bellisario November 12 -- Arianny Celeste, model and actress November 15 -- Charron Fisher, basketball player November 25 -- Dan Carpenter, American football player November 30 Kaley Cuoco, actress Chrissy Teigen, model December 1 -- Janelle Monáe, singer, songwriter, actress, and model December 3 -- Amanda Seyfried, actress, singer, and songwriter December 5 -- Frankie Muniz, actor, musician, writer, producer and racecar driver December 21 -- James Stewart, Jr., motorcycle racer December 26 -- Beth Behrs, actress Deaths See also : Deaths in 1985 February 21 -- John G. Trump, American electrical engineer, inventor, and physicist ( b. 1907 ) February 22 -- Alexander Scourby, actor ( born 1913 ) March 13 -- Annette Hanshaw, singer ( b. 1901 ) April 1 -- Douglass Wallop, author and playwright ( b. 1920 ) October 2 -- Rock Hudson, actor ( b. 1925 ) October 10 Yul Brynner, Russian - born American actor ( b. 1920 ) Orson Welles, actor and director ( born 1915 ) November 16 -- John Sparkman, United States Senator from Alabama from 1946 till 1979. ( b. 1899 ) November 25 -- Ray Jablonski, American baseball player ( b. 1926 ) See also 1985 in American television List of American films of 1985 References Jump up ^ Kifner, John ( 1985 - 02 - 15 ). `` U.S. TV Reporter Free In Lebanon ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 2009 - 10 - 15. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ `` Milestones of the U.S. Archival Profession and the National Archives, 1800 - 2011 ''. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 25 August 2016. External links Media related to 1985 in the United States at Wikimedia Commons Years in the United States ( 1776 -- present ) 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 1985 in North America Sovereign states Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States Dependencies and other territories Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1985_in_the_United_States&oldid=797212623 '' Categories : 1985 in the United States 1985 by country Hidden categories : Incomplete lists from July 2014 Articles needing additional references from July 2014 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Bân - lâm - gú Français עברית Edit links This page was last edited on 25 August 2017, at 16 : 43. 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Question: who was the president of the united states back in 1985
Answer: Ronald Reagan