1985 Fun Facts, Trivia and History

Quick Facts from 1985:

• World Changing Event: Mikhail Gorbachev became the Soviet Premier, beginning the era of “Glasnost” – openness and transparency.
• Microsoft Windows 1.0 was released.
• The Top Song was Say You, Say Me by Lionel Richie
• The Movies to Watch include Back to the Future, The Color Purple, Cocoon, Witness, The Breakfast Club, Desperately Seeking Susan and Prizzi’s Honor
• The Most Famous Person in America was probably Phil Collins
• Notable books include: A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice and The Ciderhouse Rules by John Irving
• “Don’t Mess with Texas” began as an anti-littering campaign in 1985.
• Price of a Swatch Watch: $29.99
  Price of a postage stamp in 1985: 22 cents
  Swiss Miss Cocoa: 99 cents/9 pack
• 1 ounce of gold value: $327.00
• The Funny Guy was: Steven Wright
  The Funny Late Night Host: Johnny Carson
  The Funny Later Night Host: David Letterman
• Pop Culture Censorship: The Chinese government banned Back to the Future because of its use of time travel and it was a “disrespectful portrayal of history.”

“The Quotes:”
“Courage”
– Dan Rather, a new ending for his daily news broadcast.

“Thank you for your support”
– Bartles & Jaymes

“You Look Mah Va Lous”
-Billy Crystal as Fernando Lamsa

Celebrity RIP:
Airplane Celebrity Death: Ricky Nelson

Yul Brynner died of lung cancer in 1985. After his death, he had a commercial aired: ‘Now that I’m gone, I tell you: ‘Don’t smoke, whatever you do, just don’t smoke.’

The Scandals:
“Project Kansas” secretly tested a new formula for Coca-Cola that became “New Coke.” Old coke was gone, and New Coke sold poorly for three months. ABC’s Peter Jennings interrupted General Hospital to announce the return of “Coke Classic.” New Coke was actually available until 1992.

American Jonathon Pollard was captured spying on the U.S. for the State of Israel.

In 1985, the mayors of Carthage and Rome met to formally end the 3rd Punic War after 2,131 years.

Space Shuttle Challenger on the mission STS-61-A in 1985 carried 8 people into space from launch to landing, making it the record for the largest crew flown on a single mission.

The US Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that Long Island is legally not an island. Despite the legal decision, the United States Board on Geographic Names still considers it an island, as it is surrounded by water.

1942-1985 quick fact: Dentists used uranium in dental porcelains, because it helped give a natural color.

World News:
In 1985, the mayors of Carthage and Rome met to formally end the 3rd Punic War after 2,131 years.

Space Shuttle Challenger on the mission STS-61-A in 1985 carried 8 people into space from launch to landing, making it the record for the largest crew flown on a single mission.

Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) was discovered in 1793 by the English scientist Joseph Priestley, who also discovered oxygen. For the first 40 years, it was used for recreational enjoyment and public shows. Until 1985, scientists had no idea how the gas actually worked.

Germany passed legislation in 1985 that made it illegal to deny the existence of the Holocaust.

The McRib is sold year-round at McDonald’s in Germany and has been a permanent menu item since 1985.

The US Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that Long Island is legally not an island. Despite the legal decision, the United States Board on Geographic Names still considers it an island, as it is surrounded by water.

Pop Culture News:
The plastic thingy that saves hot pizza from the top of the box was invented by Carmela Vitale (patent #4,498,586) It’s called a ”package saver.”  Some people call it a “pressure guard.”

Tommy Hilfiger started selling his own menswear clothing line.

The Titanic was found, 370 miles from Newfoundland.

The largest diamond in the world weighed 755.5 carats before it was cut down to 545.67 carats and it was found in South Africa in 1985.

Queen’s 1985 Live Aid performance (seen at the end of the Bohemian Rhapsody movie) was voted the greatest live performance in the history of rock. Jimi Hendrix’s appearance at Woodstock in August 1969 came second, followed by the Sex Pistols in 1976, according to the BBC’s World’s Greatest Gigs.

Ferris Bueller’s actual “day off” was June 5, 1985, pinpointed by the data from the Braves v Cubs game he attended.

The film Mask is actually based on the true story of Roy Lee “Rocky” Dennis, an American boy who had craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare sclerotic bone disorder.

The Abraham Lincoln family line has been extinct since December 24, 1985, when its last undisputed descendant, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died without any children.

In 1985, the most powerful supercomputer on Earth had 1.9 GFLOPS of processing power. Today, one Nintendo GameCube has 9.4. The world’s fastest supercomputer was a Cray-2. A modern iPad2 has as much computing power as the Cray-2 system.

Robert Downey Jr. was on Saturday Night Live as a full-time cast member for one season back in 1985.

Madison was not really a name for girls until 1985. Its rise in popularity (eventually peaking at #2 in 2001) is probably because of the 1984 movie Splash, a rom-com directed by Ron Howard.

The 12-year-old girl in the photo that appeared on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic is Sharbat Gula during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

Coke was the first soft drink to be consumed in Space when astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger tested the “Coca-Cola Space Can” on July 12, 1985.

1985’s We Built This City by Starship was named the worst song of all time by Blender, Gentlemen’s Quarterly, and Rolling Stone magazines, and VHS’s special episode “The 50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs… Ever.”

The movie Clue in 1985 had three different endings that were randomly distributed to theaters.

The 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes was the first feature film to have a completely CGI character: the knight emerging from the stained glass window. The effect was created by Pixar’s John Lasseter, who was working at Lucasfilm at the time.

Disney’s The Black Cauldron (1985) did so poorly at the box office that it was released on VHS until 13 years later and to this day it has yet to make back even half of its $44 million budget.

Katrina and the Waves,  best known for the 1985 hit Walking on Sunshine, won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997.

In 1985, Aretha Franklin’s voice was legally declared as one of Michigan’s natural resources.

Sour Patch Kids were originally called Mars Men, but the name changed in 1985 to capitalize on the popularity of Cabbage Patch Kids.

Super Mario Brothers was so wildly popular the best selling book in Japan in 1985 was a strategy guide for Super Mario Bros.

Phil Collins took a supersonic jet to perform for Live Aid 1985 at Wembly Stadium and JFK Stadium on the same day. On the Concorde flight, he ran into Cher, who had no idea about the concert. She attended the concert and can be seen performing as part of the concert’s We Are the World finale.

Dennis Farina was the only cast member of Law & Order who was actually a Cop. He served in the Burglary division of the Chicago Police Department from 1967 – 1985.

Cloudbusting” was a term coined by psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich to describe the manipulation of “orgone energy” to change the weather, through a specially designed machine. The term was later used as the subject and title of Katie Bush’s single 1985 single, Cloudbusting.

Hulk Hogan and Mr. T were guests on Richard Belzer’s talk show Hot Properties. Belzer asked Hogan to put him in a wrestling move. Pressured by the audience, Hogan put Belzer in a front chin lock and Belzer passed out and hit his head on the floor, resulting in 9 stitches.

The song 1985 by Bowling For Soup is actually a cover song, the original being released a year earlier by SR-71.

Heart’s 1985 hit What About Love is a cover song too, originally written and performed by the Canadian band, Toronto.

There is an official Goonies Day every year on June 7 in Astoria, Oregon. The majority of the film Goonies was filmed in Astoria and June 7th is the day the movie was released in 1985.

Cost of a Superbowl ad in 1985: $525,000

The Habit:
Wondering whether David (Bruce Willis) and Maddie (Cybill Shepard) would get together on TV’s Moonlighting. They did, in season 3.

Watching one of the most innovative music videos of all time – Take on Me by A-ha!

1985 Billboard Number One Songs:
December 22, 1984 – February 1, 1985:
Like a Virgin– Madonna

February 2 – February 15:
I Want to Know What Love Is – Foreigner

February 16 – March 8:
Careless Whisper – Wham! featuring George Michael

March 9 – March 29:
Can’t Fight This Feeling – REO Speedwagon

March 30 – April 12:
One More Night – Phil Collins

April 13 – May 10:
We Are The World – USA For Africa

May 11 – May 17:
Crazy for You – Madonna

May 18 – May 24:
Don’t You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds

May 25 – June 7:
Everything She Wants – Wham!

June 8 – June 21:
Everybody Wants To Rule The World – Tears For Fears

June 22 – July 5:
Heaven – Bryan Adams

July 6 – July 12:
Sussudio – Phil Collins

July 13 – July 26:
A View to a Kill – Duran Duran

July 27 – August 2:
Everytime You Go Away – Paul Young

August 3 – August 23:
Shout – Tears For Fears

August 24 – September 6:
The Power of Love – Huey Lewis & The News

September 7 – September 20:
St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion) – John Parr

September 21 – October 11:
Money For Nothing – Dire Straits

October 12 – October 18:
Oh Sheila – Ready For the World

October 19 – October 25:
Take On Me – A-ha

October 26 – November 1:
Saving All My Love For You – Whitney Houston

November 2 – November 8:
Part-Time Lover – Stevie Wonder

November 9 – November 15:
Miami Vice Theme – Jan Hammer

November 16 – November 29:
We Built This City – Starship

November 30 – December 6:
Separate Lives – Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin

December 7 – December 20:
Broken Wings – Mr. Mister

December 21, 1985 – January 17, 1986:
Say You, Say Me – Lionel Richie