Events from the year 1985 in the United States .
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April
The National Archives and Records Administration is established as an independent federal agency.[4]
Cincinnati, Ohio –based Procter & Gamble ditches the moon & stars symbol from its packaging.
April 1 – Eighth-seeded Villanova defeats national powerhouse Georgetown , 66–64, to win the first 64-team field NCAA Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky .
April 7 – National Geographic Explorer debuts on Nickelodeon .
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 18 dead (all Spaniards) and 82 injured.
April 19 – A four-day siege of white supremacist group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord begins in Arkansas.
April 23 – Coca-Cola changes its recipe and releases New Coke . The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.
June
June 9 – Los Angeles Lakers win the NBA championship, defeating the Boston Celtics.
June 13 – In Auburn, Washington , police defuse a Unabomber bomb sent to Boeing .[6]
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.[7]
June 17 – John Hendricks launches the Discovery Channel in the United States.[8]
June 20 – NeXT is founded by Steve Jobs after he resigns from Apple Computer .
June 24 – STS-51-G : Space Shuttle Discovery completes its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman Al Saud , the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a payload specialist .
June 26 – A Walt Disney World Monorail System train catches fire in Epcot around 9:00 p.m, due to friction caused by a flat tire.
June 27 – U.S. Route 66 is officially decommissioned.
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 20 – Iran–Contra affair : The first arms, 96 BGM-71 TOWs , are sent to Iran in exchange for hostages in Lebanon and profits for the Nicaraguan Contras without public knowledge.
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 13 years old.
August 26 – Ryan White , who was expelled from Western High School in Indiana , is allowed to attend his first day of classes via telephone .
August 28 – The first smoking ban for restaurants in the United States is passed in Aspen, Colorado .[9]
August 31 – Richard Ramirez , the serial killer known as the Night Stalker, is captured in Los Angeles .
January
Juliana Harkavy
Alex Meraz
Michelle Wu
Brantley Gilbert
Hartley Sawyer
Michael Trevino
Russell Fry
January 1
January 2
January 3
January 4 – Al Jefferson , basketball player
January 5 – Luvvie Ajayi , Nigerian-born author, speaker, and digital strategist
January 6 – Ian M. Anderson , founder of Afternoon Records
January 8
January 9
January 10 – Alex Meraz , actor, dancer, and martial artist
January 11
January 12
January 14
January 15 – Brandon Mebane , football player
January 16
January 18 – Matt Hobby , actor and comedian
January 19
January 20
January 21
January 22
January 23 – Shola Adisa-Farrar , singer and actress
January 25
January 26
January 27 – Danial Ahmed , Pakistani-born cricketer
January 28 – J. Cole , Hip-Hop musician and record producer
January 29 – Mikey Hachey , bass player
January 30
January 31
April
Todrick Hall
Rooney Mara
Billy Magnussen
Jay Lethal
April 1
April 2
April 3 – Gerald Coleman , ice hockey player
April 4 – Todrick Hall , singer-songwriter, actor, director, choreographer and YouTuber
April 5 – Lastings Milledge , baseball player
April 6 – Sinqua Walls , basketball player and actor
April 7 – Joe Cook , basketball coach
April 8 – Matt Antonelli , baseball player
April 9 – David Robertson , baseball player
April 10
April 12
April 13
April 15
April 16
April 17
April 19 – Zack Conroy , actor
April 20
April 21 – Rachel Lindsay , media personality
April 22
April 23
April 26
April 27 – Jamie Gray Hyder , actress and model
April 28 – Brandon Baker , actor
April 29
July
Ashley Tisdale
Megan Rapinoe
Chace Crawford
Shantel VanSanten
Young Dolph
July 1 – Spose , Hip-Hop artist
July 2 – Ashley Tisdale , actress, singer and producer
July 4 – Sean Cunningham , musician, singer/songwriter, and recording artist
July 5 – Megan Rapinoe , soccer player[11]
July 6
July 7 – Craig Capano , soccer player
July 8
July 9 – Cris Cyborg , Brazilian-born mixed martial artist
July 10 – B. J. Crombeen , American-born Canadian ice hockey player
July 11
July 12
July 14 – Darrelle Revis , football player
July 15 – David Carpenter , baseball player
July 16 – Rosa Salazar , actress
July 17 – Caitlin Van Zandt , actress
July 18
July 19
July 20 – John Francis Daley , actor
July 22
July 23 – Scott Chandler , football player
July 24 – Chad Cook , football player
July 25
July 26 – Matt Riddlehoover , filmmaker
July 27
July 28 – Monica Abbott , softball player
July 29
July 30
July 31 – Shannon Curfman , blues-rock singer and guitarist
October
Ryan M. Pitts
Bruno Mars
Michelle Trachtenberg
Robert Costa
Ciara
Alexander Soros
Troian Bellisario
Matt Greiner
October 1
October 2
October 3
October 4
Brad Bell , television producer, screenwriter, actor, musician and comic book author
Clef nite , Nigerian-born guitarist
October 5 – Brooke Valentine , singer
October 6
October 7 – Evan Longoria , baseball player
October 8
October 9
October 10
October 11 – Michelle Trachtenberg , actress, producer and singer
October 12
October 14
October 15
October 16
October 18
October 19 – Ian Calderon , politician
October 20
October 21 – Quinton Culberson , football player
October 22
October 23
October 24 – Donald Cowart , steeplechase runner
October 25
October 27
October 28
October 29 – Adam Cappa , Christian rock singer/songwriter
October 31
December
Amanda Seyfried
Frankie Muniz
Dwight Howard
Raven-Symoné
Jeremy McKinnon
Alexa Ray Joel
December 1
December 2 – Samuel Charles , football player
December 3 – Amanda Seyfried , actress and singer-songwriter
December 4 – Ronnie Ortiz-Magro , TV personality
December 5
December 7
December 8
December 10
December 11 – Samantha Steele , sportscaster
December 12
December 16 – Amanda Setton , actress
December 17 – Jeremy McKinnon , singer/songwriter, record producer and frontman for A Day to Remember
December 18
December 19
December 20 – Paul Wandtke , metalcore drummer
December 21
December 23 – Arcángel , reggaeton singer
December 24 – Edward Aschoff , sports reporter (d. 2019)
December 25 – Miro , Bulgarian-born wrestler
December 26
December 27
December 28
December 29 – Alexa Ray Joel , singer/songwriter and pianist
December 30
December 31
Full Date Unknown
Khalik Allah , filmmaker and photographer
Catrina Allen , disc thrower
Jojo Anavim , contemporary visual artist
Timo Andres , composer and pianist
J. J. Anselmi , writer and musician
Jennifer Arcuri , technology entrepreneur
Alex Askew , politician
Adam Brown , politician
John Burris , politician
Dorielle Caimi , artist
Chris Campanioni , writer
Alana I. Capria , writer
Ana Caraiani , Romanian-born mathematician
Charlene Carruthers , LGBT activist and author
Greg Chevalier , soccer player
Stephen Christy , producer, entertainment executive, and editor
Alex Clark, comedian, animator, YouTuber, and juggler
Travis Clark , singer/songwriter, guitarist, and frontman for We the Kings
Telfar Clemens , fashion designer and founder of TELFAR
Zinzi Clemmons , writer
Stephanie Cmar , chef
Kevin Michael Connolly , photographer
Moogega Cooper , astronomer
Kimberly Corban , rape survivor and rape victim advocate
Jolene Creighton , journalist and media executive
Kristan Hawkins , activist
January 7 – Ruth Godfrey , actress (b. 1922 )
January 13 – Carol Wayne , actress (b. 1942 )
January 19 – Eric Voegelin , German-American philosopher (b. 1901 )[12]
January 20 – Gillis William Long , politician (b. 1923 )
January 21
January 28 – Wade Nichols , actor (b. 1946 )
February 8 – Marvin Miller , actor (b. 1913 )
February 12 – Nicholas Colasanto , actor and director (b. 1924 )
February 16 – Mathew Beard , supercentenarian, last surviving person born in 1870 (b. 1870 )[13]
February 20 – Clarence Nash , voice actor and impressionist (b. 1904 )
February 21 – John G. Trump , electrical engineer, inventor, and physicist (b. 1907 )
February 22
February 27
March 8 – Edward Andrews , actor (b. 1914 )
March 12 – Eugene Ormandy , Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist (b. 1899)
March 13 – Annette Hanshaw , singer (b. 1901)
April 1 – Douglass Wallop , author and playwright (b. 1920)
April 8 – John Frederick Coots , songwriter (b. 1897 )
April 22 – Paul H. Emmett , American chemical engineer (b. 1900 )
April 23
April 24 – Mildred W. Pelzer , American artist (b. 1889 )
April 30 – Jules White, film director and producer (b. 1900 )
May 9 – Edmond O'Brien , actor and film director (b. 1915 )
May 11 – Chester Gould , cartoonist (b. 1900 )
May 13 – Selma Diamond , Canadian-born American comedian, actress, and writer (b. 1920 )
May 16 – Margaret Hamilton , American actress (b. 1902 )
May 17 – Abe Burrows , humorist, author, and director (b. 1910 )
June 6 – Leonard Lake , American serial killer (b. 1945 )
June 11 – Vic Tanny , bodybuilder and physical culture advocate (b. 1912 )
June 21 – Ettore Boiardi (Hector Boyardee), Italian-American chef, founder of Chef Boyardee (b. 1897 )
June 25 – Pee Wee Crayton , guitarist and singer (b. 1914 )
July 8 – Phil Foster , actor and performer (b. 1913 )
July 23 – Kay Kyser , bandleader and radio personality (b. 1905 )
July 28 – Grant Williams , actor (b. 1931 )
August 8 – Louise Brooks , actress and dancer (b. 1906 )
August 13 – J. Willard Marriot , entrepreneur and businessman (b. 1900 )
August 20 – Ruth Gordon , actress and writer (b. 1896 )
September 2 – Jay Youngblood , wrestler (b. 1955)
September 11 – Andrew C. Thornton II , narcotics officer, lawyer, and the head member of a drug smuggling ring in Kentucky (b. 1944 )
September 14 – Julian Beck , actor, director, poet, and painter (b. 1925 )
September 27 – Lloyd Nolan , actor (b. 1902 )
October 1 – E. B. White , writer (b. 1899 )
October 2 – Rock Hudson , actor (b. 1925 )
October 3 – Charles Collingwood , journalist and war correspondent (b. 1917 )
October 6 – Nelson Riddle , arranger, composer, bandleader, and orchestrator (b. 1921 )
October 8 – John Wesley Snyder , businessman and Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1895 )
October 10
October 12
October 15 – Ted Steele , bandleader and host (b. 1917 )
October 25 – Blair Lee III , politician, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland (b. 1916 )[14]
November 1
November 4 – Cus D'Amato , legendary boxing trainer who was a mentor to Hall of Fame boxers Mike Tyson , Floyd Patterson and José Torres .
November 13 – George Robert Vincent , sound recording pioneer (b. 1898 )
November 16
November 19 – Stepin Fetchit , actor and comedian (b. 1902 )
November 25 – Ray Jablonski , American baseball player (b. 1926 )
December 7 – Potter Stewart , lawyer and U.S. Supreme Court associate judge (b. 1915 )
December 12 – Anne Baxter , actress (b. 1923 )
December 14 – Roger Maris , baseball player (b. 1934 )
December 22 – Richard P. Condie , conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (b. 1898 )
December 26 – Dian Fossey , primatologist and conservationist (b. 1932 )
December 31 – Ricky Nelson , musician and actor (b. 1940 )
Media Ownership: Diversity and Concentration : Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Communications of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred First Congress, First Session ... June 14, 21, and 22, 1989 . U.S. Government Printing Office. 1989. p. 218 – via United States Congress, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Subcommittee on Communications.Spector, G (September 24, 1985). "Apple's Jobs Starts New Firm, Targets Education Market". PC Week . p. 109.