United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
.
Events
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
** The Internet's
Domain Name System
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned to ...
is created.
**
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
withdraws from the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
as a result of a new agreement on fishing rights.
*
January 7
Events Pre-1600
*49 BC – The Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army. This prompts the tribunes who support him to flee to Ravenna, where Caesar is waiting.
* 1325 – Alfonso IV ...
–
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...
launches '' Sakigake'', Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
or the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
*
January 15
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months.
* 1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of ...
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
by the
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
–
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
.
*
January 27
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
* 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to becom ...
January 28
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany.
* 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession o ...
USA for Africa
United Support of Artists for Africa (USA for Africa) was the name under which 47 predominantly U.S. artists, led by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, recorded the hit single "We Are the World" in 1985. The song was a U.S. and UK number one for ...
.
February
*
February 4
Events Pre–1600
* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...
– The
border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
between
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
reopens for the first time since
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
closed it in 1969.
*
February 5
Events Pre-1600
* 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
* 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.
* 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians ar ...
–
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
cancels its involvement in U.S.-led MX missile tests.
*
February 9
Events Pre-1600
* 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
* 1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
* 1539 – The first recorded race is hel ...
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
March 5
Events Pre-1600
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
* 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...
.
*
February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
.
*
February 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
* 1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Kar ...
**
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
begins withdrawing troops from
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
.
** The
ideology of Hezbollah
The ideology of Hezbollah has been summarized as Shiite radicalism. Hezbollah was largely formed with the aid of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's followers in the early 1980s in order to spread the Islamic Revolution and follows a distinct vers ...
is declared in a program issued in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
.
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pagan ...
**
William J. Schroeder
William J. Schroeder (February 14, 1932– August 7, 1986), was one of the first recipients of an artificial heart. Schroeder was born in Jasper, Indiana, and was a Sergeant in the United States Air Force from 1952 to 1966. On November 25, 1984, a ...
becomes the first
artificial heart
An artificial heart is a device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in the case that a heart transplant (from a deceased human or, experi ...
patient to leave the hospital.
**
Iberia Airlines Flight 610
Iberia Flight 610 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Madrid to Bilbao, Spain. On 19 February 1985, a Boeing 727-200 operating the flight crashed into a ravine after one of its wings sliced a television antenna on the summit of Mount Oi ...
crashes killing all 148 on board.
**
China Airlines Flight 006
China Airlines Flight 006 (callsign "Dynasty 006") was a daily non-stop flight from Taipei to Los Angeles International Airport. On 19 February 1985, the Boeing 747SP operating the flight was involved in an aircraft upset accident, following th ...
is involved in a mid-air incident; while there are 22 minor injuries and 2 serious injuries, no one is killed.
*
February 20
Events Pre-1600
*1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
*1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
Maxxum 7000
The Minolta MAXXUM 7000 (7000 AF in Europe and α-7000 in Japan) 35 mm SLR camera was introduced in February 1985. It was the first camera to feature both integrated autofocus (AF) and motorised film advance, the standard configuration for later ...
single-lens reflex camera
A single-lens reflex camera (SLR) is a camera that typically uses a mirror and prism system (hence "reflex" from the mirror's reflection) that permits the photographer to view through the lens and see exactly what will be captured. With twin le ...
.
*
February 28
Events Pre-1600
*202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
*1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on ...
– The
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. With nine officers dead, it is the highest loss of life for the RUC on a single day.
Richard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman (; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to ...
, is first published.
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor ...
President of Uruguay
The president of Uruguay ( es, Presidente del Uruguay), officially known as the president of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (), is the head of state and head of government of Uruguay. Their rights are determined in the Constitution of Urugua ...
.
*
March 3
Events Pre-1600
* 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
* 1575 &nd ...
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
and
Valparaíso
Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, leaving 177 dead, 2,575 injured, 142,489 houses destroyed, and approximately a million people homeless.
* March 8 – A Beirut car bomb, planted in an attempt to assassinate Islamic cleric
Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah
Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah (also Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadl-Allāh; ar, محمد حسين فضل الله; 16 November 1935 – 4 July 2010) was a prominent twelver Shia cleric from a Lebanese family. Born in Najaf, Iraq, ...
, kills more than 80 people and injures 200 more.
* March 11
**
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
becomes
General Secretary
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' leader of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
**
Mohamed Al-Fayed
Mohamed Al-Fayed (; arz, محمد الفايد ; born 27 January 1929) is an Egyptian-born businessman whose residence and chief business interests have been in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s. His business interests include ownership of ...
buys the London-based department store company
Harrods
Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...
.
*
March 15
Events Pre-1600
* 474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years' truce.
*44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place.
* 493 – Odoa ...
– Vice-president
José Sarney
José Sarney de Araújo Costa (; born José Ribamar Ferreira de Araújo Costa; 24 April 1930) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and writer who served as 31st president of Brazil from 1985 to 1990. He briefly served as the 20th vice president of ...
, upon becoming vice president, assumes the duties of president of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, as the new president Tancredo Neves had become severely ill the day before. Sarney would later become Brazil's first civilian president in 21 years, upon Neves' death on
April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
; he remains a prisoner until December 4, 1991.
* March 17 –
Expo '85
Expo '85, officially called the , was a world's fair held in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan (Tsukuba Science City, a planned city focused on technology north of Tokyo) between Sunday, March 17 and Monday, September 16, 1985. The theme of the fair was " ...
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
's longest-running soap opera, ''
Neighbours
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...
'', debuts on
Seven Network
The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...
.
*
March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
– Canadian
paraplegic
Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek ()
"half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...
athlete and activist
Rick Hansen
Richard Marvin Hansen (born August 26, 1957) is a Canadian track and field athlete (Paralympic Games), activist, and philanthropist for people with disabilities. Following a pickup truck crash at the age of 15, Hansen sustained a spinal cord ...
sets out on his , 26-month Man in Motion tour which raises US$26 million for spinal cord research and
quality of life
Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...
initiatives.
*
March 25
Events Pre-1600
* 421 – Italian city Venice is founded with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo di Rialto on the islet of Rialto.
* 708 – Pope Constantine becomes the 88th pope. He would be the last pope to vi ...
** The
57th Academy Awards
The 57th Academy Awards were presented March 25, 1985, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. Jack Lemmon presided over the ceremonies. This ceremony marked the first time that multiple black nominees would win an Oscar, when Prince and ...
are held in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, with ''
Amadeus
Amadeus may refer to:
*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music
*Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name
* ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer
* ''Amadeus'' (film), ...
Organization Commune Africaine et Malgache
, native_name_lang=fr
, image = File:Flag_of_African_and_Malagasy_Union.svg
, image_border =
, size =
, caption = Flag
, map = AfricanMalagasyUnionMembers.png
, msize =
, mcaption =
, abbreviation =
, m ...
is officially dissolved.
April
*
Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...
: The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
begins to transfer the burden of fighting the
mujahideen
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...
to the armed forces of the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992.
The PDPA came to power ...
, a cause of the
Revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
.
*
April 1
Events Pre-1600
* 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held.
* 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne.
*1081 – Alexios I Kom ...
– Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, and Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation, are
privatized
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
El Descanso bombing
On 12 April 1985, the El Descanso restaurant in Madrid, Spain was bombed in a terrorist attack. The explosion caused the three-story building to collapse, crashing down on about 200 diners and employees, killing 18 people, all Spanish citizens, an ...
: A terrorist bombing attributed to the Islamic Jihad Organization in the ''El Descanso'' restaurant near
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, mostly attended by U.S. personnel from the
Torrejón Air Base
Torrejón Air Base (Base Aérea de Torrejón de Ardoz) is both a major Spanish Air and Space Force base and the co-located Madrid–Torrejón Airport, a secondary civilian airport for the city and metropolitan area of Madrid, east-northeast of th ...
, causes 18 deaths (all Spaniards) and 82 injuries.
* April 15 –
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
April 19
Events Pre-1600
*AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested.
* 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at ...
– The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
performs a
nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...
test in eastern
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
.
*
April 23
Events Pre-1600
* 215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene.
* 599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southe ...
–
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
changes its formula and releases
New Coke
New Coke was the unofficial name of a reformulation of the soft drink Coca-Cola, introduced by The Coca-Cola Company in April 1985. It was renamed Coke II in 1990 and discontinued in July 2002.
By 1985, Coca-Cola had been losing market share to ...
. The response is overwhelmingly negative and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.
* April 28 – The Australian Nuclear Disarmament Party (NDP) splits.
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and is won by the
Bobbysocks!
Bobbysocks is a Norwegian pop duo consisting of Norwegian Hanne Krogh and Swedish-Norwegian Elisabeth Andreassen. They won the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song "La det swinge" ("Let it swing"). Elisabeth went by the surname Andreasson ...
song ''
La det swinge
"La det swinge" (; "Let it swing") is a Norwegian-language song by the pop duo Bobbysocks!. It was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 and 's first victory in the contest. The song is a tribute to dancing to old rock 'n' roll heard on ...
'' for
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
joins West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl for a controversial funeral service at a cemetery in
Bitburg
Bitburg (; french: Bitbourg; lb, Béibreg) is a city in Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate approximately 25 km (16 mi.) northwest of Trier and 50 km (31 mi.) northeast of Luxembourg city. The American Spangdahlem ...
, West Germany, which includes the graves of 59 elite
S.S.
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe duri ...
troops from World War II.
*
May 9
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
*1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
*1386 – England and Portugal formally rati ...
– The 3rd total Victory Day Parade (the first being in 1945 and the next in 1965) is held on Red Square in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
in the Soviet Union. It features T-34-85 tanks, veterans of World War II from Poland, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, and is the first parade to be held during the reign of Mikhail Gorbachev.
*
May 11
Events 1601–1900
*1812 – Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is Assassination of Spencer Perceval, assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
*1813 – William Lawson (explorer), William Lawson, Grego ...
** The
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
brings charges against the suspected heads of the five Mafia families in New York City.
**
Bradford City stadium fire
The Bradford City stadium fire occurred during a Football League Third Division match on Saturday, 11 May 1985 at the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, killing 56 spectators and injuring at least 265. The stadium was k ...
: A fire engulfs a wooden stand at the Valley Parade stadium in
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
, England, during an
Association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
match, killing 56 people.
*
May 15
Events Pre-1600
* 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
* 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbog ...
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín (12 March 1927 – 31 March 2009) was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. He was the first democratically elected president after more than ...
terminates Argentinian administration of the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...
May 16
Events Pre-1600
* 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
*1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
* 1364 ...
– Scientists of the
British Antarctic Survey
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...
announce the discovery of the ozone hole.
* May 25 – Approximately 10,000 people are killed when
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
is affected by the
storm surge
A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...
May 26
Events Pre-1600
* 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
* 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire take ...
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
final between
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
and
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
(0–1) at
Heysel Stadium
The King Baudouin Stadium (french: Stade Roi Baudouin , nl, Koning Boudewijnstadion ) is a sports ground in north-west Brussels, Belgium. Located in the Heysel district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel Plateau in v ...
in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, including a rare powerful F5. In total, the event killed 90 people.
June
*
June 6
Events Pre-1600
* 913 – Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed b ...
Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
, buried in
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
under the name of Wolfgang Gerhard, are exhumed in
Embu das Artes
Embu das Artes, previously and commonly known simply as Embu, is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the State of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 276,535 (2 ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
TWA Flight 847
Trans World Airlines Flight 847 was a flight from Cairo to San Diego with en route stops in Athens, Rome, Boston, and Los Angeles. On the morning of June 14, 1985, Flight 847 was hijacked shortly after take off from Athens. The hijackers demande ...
, carrying 153 passengers from
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, is hijacked by a
Hezbollah
Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...
fringe group. One passenger, U.S. Navy Petty Officer
Robert Stethem
Robert Dean Stethem (November 17, 1961 – June 15, 1985) was a United States Navy Seabee diver who was murdered by Hezbollah terrorists during the hijacking of the commercial airliner he was aboard, TWA Flight 847.Lebanese suspect on
September 21
Events Pre-1600
* 455 – Emperor Avitus enters Rome with a Gallic army and consolidates his power.
* 1170 – The Kingdom of Dublin falls to Norman invaders.
* 1217 – Livonian Crusade: The Estonian leader Lembitu and Livonian ...
,
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
.
** The Schengen Agreement is signed between certain member states of the
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
, creating the
Schengen Area
The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and j ...
, a bloc of (at this time) 5 states with no internal border controls.
* June 15 – Studio Ghibli, an animation studio, is founded in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
.
*
June 20
Events Pre-1600
* 451 – Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius' battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory.
* 1180 – First Battle of Uji, starting ...
–
1985 Nepal bombings
A series of coordinated bomb blasts occurred on 20 June 1985 in Kathmandu and other cities in Nepal.Bowman, John Stewart. Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture'. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. p. 398webindia123. 'Asia Watc ...
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
.
* June 22 – British and Irish police foil a "mainland bombing campaign" sponsored by the
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...
which targets luxury vacation resorts.
*
June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022.
After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
, is blown up by a terrorist bomb 31,000 feet (9,500 m) above the Atlantic Ocean, south of Ireland, on a Montreal–London–Delhi flight, killing all 329 aboard.
* June 24 – STS-51-G:
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
''
Discovery
Discovery may refer to:
* Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown
* Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown
* Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence
Discovery, The Discovery ...
'' completes its mission, best remembered for having
Sultan bin Salman Al Saud
Sultan bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, سلطان بن سلمان آل سعود; ''Sulṭān bin Salmān Āl Suʿūd''; born 27 June 1956) is a Saudi prince and former Royal Saudi Air Force pilot who flew aboard the American STS-51-G Space Shuttle missi ...
, the first
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
and first
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
U.S. Route 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...
is officially decommissioned.
July
*
July 1
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.
* 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the ...
– The
Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons
The Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons is an international treaty regulating the extradition and social rehabilitation of imprisoned persons. The Convention was concluded in Strasbourg on 21 March 1983 and entered into force on 1 Jul ...
enters into force.
*
July 10
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Emperor Hadrian of Rome dies of heart failure at his residence on the bay of Naples, Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina.
* 645 – Isshi Incident: Prin ...
– The
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
Live Aid
Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...
'' benefit concerts in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
raise over £50 million for
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...
relief in
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
.
* July 19
**New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe is selected as the first person to go into space under the Teacher in Space Project, and designated to ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, Space Shuttle ''Challenger''.
** The Val di Stava dam collapses in Italy, killing 268 people, destroying 63 buildings, and demolishing eight bridges.
* July 20 – State President of South Africa, P. W. Botha, declares a state of emergency in 36 magisterial districts of South Africa amid growing civil unrest in Bantustan, black townships.
* July 27 – The 63 Building officially opens as the tallest skyscraper outside North America in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea.
August
* August 2 – Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashes near Dallas, Texas, killing 137 people.
* August 7 – Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
* August 12 – Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashes in Japan, killing 520 people (the worst single-aircraft disaster in history).
* August 14 – The Accomarca massacre takes place in Ayacucho, Peru.
* August 22 – British Airtours Flight 28M: The 737's left engine catches fire while on its takeoff roll at Manchester Airport in the UK and 55 people are killed while trying to evacuate the aircraft.
* August 25 – Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 crashes in the United States killing all 8 on board including thirteen-year-old American celebrity schoolgirl Samantha Smith.
September
* September 1 – The Wreck of the RMS Titanic, wreck of the RMS ''Titanic'' is located by a joint American-French expedition led by Dr. Robert Ballard (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, WHOI) and Jean-Louis Michel (oceanographer), Jean-Louis Michel (IFREMER) using side-scan sonar from RV Knorr, RV ''Knorr''.
* September 6 – Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105, a Douglas DC-9, crashes just after takeoff from Milwaukee, killing all 31 on board.
* September 13 – ''Super Mario Bros.'' is released for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
* September 19 – An 8.0 1985 Mexico City earthquake, earthquake strikes Mexico City, killing between 5,000 and 45,000 people and injuring 30,000 more.
* September 20 – The capital gains tax is introduced to Australia.
* September 22 – The Plaza Accord is signed by five nations.
* September 23 – Italian crime reporter Giancarlo Siani is killed by the Camorra.
October
* October 1 – Operation Wooden Leg: The
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i air force bombs Palestine Liberation Organization Headquarters near Tunis.
* October 3 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis, Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' makes its maiden flight.
* October 7 – The cruise ship ''MS Achille Lauro, Achille Lauro'' is hijacked in the Mediterranean Sea by four heavily armed Palestinian terrorists. One passenger, American Leon Klinghoffer, is killed.
* October 16 – The Finnish dry cargo ship MS ''Hanna-Marjut'', on its way from Mariehamn to Naantali, sank in hard sea on the open water of Kihti between the Kökar and Sottunga islands of Åland, leading to the drowning of four people.
* October 25 – Emirates Airlines is established in Dubai and makes its first flight, to Karachi.
November
* November 6
** Palace of Justice siege: Members of the 19th of April Movement (M-19) Marxist guerrilla group take over the Palace of Justice of Colombia in Bogotá and hold the Supreme Court of Colombia, Supreme Court hostage. Hours later, after a military raid, the incident leaves almost half of the 25 Supreme Court Justices dead.
** The Argentine tourist village of Villa Epecuén is permanently flooded through the collapse of a dam and dyke.
* November 9 – In an all-Soviet match, 22-year-old Garry Kasparov defeats Anatoly Karpov to become the youngest-ever undisputed winner of the World Chess Championship.
* November 12 – A Solar eclipse of November 12, 1985, total solar eclipse occurs over Antarctica at 14:11:22 UTC.
* November 13 – Armero tragedy: The Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupts, killing an estimated 23,000 people, including 21,000 killed by lahars, in the town of Armero, Colombia.
* November 19 – Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
and
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
leader
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
meet for the first time.
* November 20 – Microsoft Corporation releases the first international release of Windows 1.0.
* November 23 – EgyptAir Flight 648 is hijacked by the Abu Nidal group and flown to Malta, where Egyptian commandos storm the plane; 60 are killed by gunfire and explosions.
* November 25 – 1985 Aeroflot Antonov An-12 shoot-down: A Soviet Aeroflot Antonov An-12 cargo airplane, en route from Cuito Cuanavale to Luanda, is shot down by South African Special Forces and crashes approximately 43 km east of Menongue, the provincial center of the Cuando Cubango Province, Angola, killing 8 crew members and 13 passengers on board.
* November 29 – Gérard Hoarau, exiled political leader from the Seychelles, is assassinated in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
December
* December 1
** The Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (Spanish: Organización e Estados Iberoamericanos para la Educación la Ciencia y la Cultura; OEI) is created.
** The Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable are released for sale to the public in the US.
* December 8 – The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is established.
* December 11 – Hugh Scrutton is killed outside his Sacramento, California computer rental store by a Unabomber explosive, becoming the first fatality of the bombing campaign.
* December 12 – Arrow Air Flight 1285, a Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff from Gander International Airport, Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256 people – 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, after overseeing a peacekeeping force in the Sinai Peninsula.
* December 20 – Pope John Paul II announces the instituting of World Youth Day for Catholic youths.
* December 27
**Rome and Vienna airport attacks: Abu Nidal terrorists open fire in the airports of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Rome and Vienna International Airport, Vienna, leaving 18 dead and 120 injured.
** American naturalist Dian Fossey is found brutally murdered in Rwanda.
Date unknown
* The fullerene Buckminsterfullerene (C60) is first intentionally prepared by Harold Kroto, James R. Heath, Sean O'Brien, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley at Rice University in the US.
* DNA is first used in a criminal case.
* The 1983–85 famine in Ethiopia continues;
USA for Africa
United Support of Artists for Africa (USA for Africa) was the name under which 47 predominantly U.S. artists, led by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, recorded the hit single "We Are the World" in 1985. The song was a U.S. and UK number one for ...
Live Aid
Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...
raise funds for famine relief.
* The Union for Aromanian Language and Culture, an Aromanians, Aromanian cultural organization, is founded in Freiburg im Breisgau by the Aromanian professor .
* Africa has a population growth of 3.2 percent per year.
World population
Births
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
** Jeff Carter, Canadian hockey player
** Steven Davis, Northern Irish footballer
* January 2
** Teng Haibin, Chinese gymnast
** Carla Juri, Swiss actress
** Heather O'Reilly, U.S. women's national soccer player
*
January 7
Events Pre-1600
*49 BC – The Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army. This prompts the tribunes who support him to flee to Ravenna, where Caesar is waiting.
* 1325 – Alfonso IV ...
– Lewis Hamilton, British 7-Time Formula One world champion
* January 11 – Aja Naomi King, American actress
* January 16 – Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor
* January 17
** Kangin, Korean singer (Super Junior)
** Simone Simons, Dutch metal singer (Epica (band), Epica)
* January 19
** Damien Chazelle, American film director and screenwriter
** Benny Feilhaber, Brazilian-born footballer
* January 21 – Aura Dione, Danish pop musician
* January 23 – Doutzen Kroes, Dutch supermodel
* January 25 – Tina Karol, Ukrainian singer
*
January 27
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
* 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to becom ...
– Eric Radford, Canadian pair skater
*
January 28
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany.
* 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession o ...
** J. Cole, American hip-hop musician and record producer
** Libby Trickett, Australian swimmer
* January 29
** Liu Chunhong, Chinese weightlifter
** Marc Gasol, Spanish basketball player
** Isabel Lucas, Australian actress
* January 31 – Kalomira, Greek-American singer and model
February
*
February 5
Events Pre-1600
* 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy.
* 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion.
* 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians ar ...
– Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
* February 6
** Joji Kato, Japanese speed skater
** Crystal Reed, American actress
* February 7
** Donald (singer), Donald Moatshe, South African musician
** Deborah Ann Woll, American actress
*
February 9
Events Pre-1600
* 474 – Zeno is crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
* 1003 – Boleslaus III is restored to authority with armed support from Bolesław I the Brave of Poland.
* 1539 – The first recorded race is hel ...
– David Gallagher, American actor
* February 15
** Luis Carlos Díaz, Venezuelan journalist
** Natalie Morales (actress), Natalie Morales, American actress
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pagan ...
** Haylie Duff, American actress and singer
** Arielle Kebbel, American model and actress
* February 22 – Hameur Bouazza, Algerian footballer
* February 25
** Benji Marshall, New Zealand rugby league player
** Joakim Noah, American basketball player
*
February 28
Events Pre-1600
*202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
*1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on ...
** Fefe Dobson, Canadian pop and rock singer
** Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player
** Diego Ribas da Cunha, Brazilian soccer player
March
* March 2 – Patrick Makau Musyoki, Kenyan long-distance runner
*
March 3
Events Pre-1600
* 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
* 1575 &nd ...
– Alena and Ninel Karpovich, Belarusian twin sister musical duo, members of 3+2 (band), 3+2
* March 10 – Lassana Diarra, French footballer
* March 11
** Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lankan cricketer
** Hakuhō Shō, Mongolian wrestler, 69th Yokozuna
* March 13 – Emile Hirsch, American actor
*
March 15
Events Pre-1600
* 474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years' truce.
*44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place.
* 493 – Odoa ...
** Antti Autti, Finnish snowboarder
** Andriy Honchar, retired Ukrainian professional footballer
** Kellan Lutz, American fashion model and actor
* March 18 – Bianca King, Filipina actress and model
*
March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
– Sonequa Martin-Green, American actress
* March 22 – Jakob Fuglsang, Danish cyclist
* March 24 – Sayaka Hirano, Japanese table tennis player
* March 26
** Matt Grevers, American Olympic swimmer
** Stéphane Séjourné, French lawyer and politician
** Jonathan Groff, American actor, singer and dancer
** Keira Knightley, English actress
* March 27 – Ram Charan, Indian film actor
* March 31 – Jessica Szohr, American actress
April
* April 2 – Stéphane Lambiel, Swiss figure skater
* April 3
** Leona Lewis, British pop musician
** Jari-Matti Latvala, Finnish racing driver
* April 4
** Rudy Fernández (basketball), Rudy Fernández, Spanish professional basketball player
** Ricardo Vilar, Brazilian footballer
* April 6 – Frank Ongfiang, Cameroonian footballer
* April 7 – Ariela Massotti, Brazilian actress
* April 8 – Yemane Tsegay, Ethiopian marathon runner
* April 9 – Tomohisa Yamashita, Japanese singer and actor
* April 10 – Wang Meng (speed skater), Wang Meng, Chinese short track skater
* April 12
** Olga Seryabkina, Russian pop musician
** Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer and actress
* April 13 – Carmen Carrera, American model
* April 16 – Benjamín Rojas, Argentine singer and actor
* April 17
** Rooney Mara, American film and television actress
** Luke Mitchell, Australian actor and model
** Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, French tennis player
* April 18
** Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
** Elena Temnikova, Russian pop singer
*
April 19
Events Pre-1600
*AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested.
* 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at ...
– Zhang Xi (beach volleyball), Zhang Xi, Chinese beach volleyball player
* April 22
** Kristin Fairlie, Canadian actress
** Camille Lacourt, French swimmer
* April 30 – Gal Gadot, Israeli actress and model
May
* May 2
** Lily Allen, British pop musician
** Kyle Busch, American race car driver
** Alexander Galimov, Russian hockey player (d. 2011)
** Sarah Hughes, American figure skater
* May 4 – Fernandinho (footballer, born May 1985), Fernandinho, Brazilian footballer
* May 5 – P. J. Tucker, American basketball player
* May 6 – Chris Paul, American basketball player
* May 7 – J Balvin, Colombian reggaeton singer, in Medellín
* May 8 – Silvia Stroescu, Romanian artistic gymnast
*
May 11
Events 1601–1900
*1812 – Prime Minister Spencer Perceval is Assassination of Spencer Perceval, assassinated by John Bellingham in the lobby of the British House of Commons.
*1813 – William Lawson (explorer), William Lawson, Grego ...
– Jadyn Wong, Canadian actress
* May 12 – Dániel Tőzsér, Hungarian footballer
* May 14
** Lina Esco, American actress, producer and activist
** Sally Martin, New Zealand actress
** Zack Ryder, American professional wrestler
*
May 15
Events Pre-1600
* 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
* 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbog ...
** Cristiane (footballer), Cristiane, Brazilian footballer
** Tathagata Mukherjee, Indian actor
*
May 16
Events Pre-1600
* 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
*1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
* 1364 ...
– Andrew Keenan-Bolger, American actor, writer and director
* May 17
** Derek Hough, American dancer, choreographer and musician, six-time winner of ''Dancing with the Stars (U.S. TV series), Dancing with the Stars''
** Christine Nesbitt, Canadian speed skater
* May 18 – Oliver Sin, Hungarian painter
* May 20 – Chris Froome, Kenyan-born British road racing cyclist
* May 21
** Mutya Buena, British urban singer (Sugababes)
** Mark Cavendish, Manx-born road racing cyclist
** Kano (British musician), Kano, British rapper, songwriter and actor
* May 22 – Chrissie Chau, Hong Kong model
* May 23 – Kanyeria, Kenyan music producer
* May 25
** Luciana Abreu, Portuguese pop singer and actress
** Lauren Frost, American actress and singer
** Roman Reigns, American professional wrestler
*
May 26
Events Pre-1600
* 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
* 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire take ...
– Ashley Vincent, English footballer
* May 27 – Chien-Ming Chiang, Taiwanese baseball player
* May 28
** Colbie Caillat, American musician
** Carey Mulligan, British actress
* May 31 – Zoraida Gómez, Mexican actress
June
* June 1 – Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopian athlete
* June 3 – Nikolai Bondarenko, Russian politician and blogger
*June 4
** Evan Lysacek, American figure skater
** Lukas Podolski, German footballer
** Bar Refaeli, Israeli model and occasional actress
* June 7 – Richard Thompson (athlete), Richard Thompson, Trinidadian sprinter
* June 8 – Joel Dommett, English comedian and television presenter
* June 9 – Sonam Kapoor, Indian actress and model
* June 10 – Andy Schleck, Luxembourgish road cyclist
* June 11 – Dmitry Koldun, Belarusian singer
* June 12 – Dave Franco, American actor, voice actor, and filmmaker
* June 15 – Nadine Coyle, Irish singer
* June 17
** Kateryna Handziuk, Ukrainian politician (d. 2018)
** Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot tennis player
* June 18 – Alex Hirsch, American animator and voice actor
*
June 20
Events Pre-1600
* 451 – Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius' battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory.
* 1180 – First Battle of Uji, starting ...
– Darko Miličić, Serbian basketball player
* June 21 – Lana Del Rey, American pop musician
* June 24 – Krunoslav Simon, Croatian basketball player
* June 25 – Scott Brown (footballer, born June 1985), Scott Brown, Scottish footballer
* June 26
** Arjun Kapoor, Indian actor
** Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader
* June 27
** James Hook (rugby union), James Hook, Welsh rugby union player
** Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russian tennis player
** Nico Rosberg, German 2016 Formula 1 world champion
* June 28 – Ahmed Kantari, Moroccan footballer
* June 30
** Michael Phelps, American swimmer
** Cody Rhodes, American professional wrestler
July
*
July 1
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.
* 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the ...
** Sebalter, Swiss pop musician and fiddle player
** Léa Seydoux, French actress
* July 2
** Gábor Máthé (tennis), Gábor Máthé, Hungarian Deaflympic Champion in tennis
** Pak Nam-chol (footballer, born 1985), Pak Nam-chol, North Korean footballer
** Ashley Tisdale, American actress, singer and producer
** Vlatko Ilievski, Macedonian singer and actor (d. 2018)
* July 5 – François Arnaud (actor), François Arnaud, French-Canadian actor
* July 6 – Ranveer Singh, Bollywood actor
* July 7
** Pong Escobal, Filipino basketball player
** Langton Rusere, Zimbabwean cricket umpire
** Seo Woo, Korean actress
* July 9
** Cathy Leung, Hong Kong singer
** Ashley Young, English footballer
*
July 10
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Emperor Hadrian of Rome dies of heart failure at his residence on the bay of Naples, Baiae; he is buried at Rome in the Tomb of Hadrian beside his late wife, Vibia Sabina.
* 645 – Isshi Incident: Prin ...
** Mario Gómez, German footballer
** Park Chu-young South Korean footballer
* July 11 – Lilian Marijnissen, Dutch politician
* July 12
** Emil Hegle Svendsen, Norwegian biathlete
** Natasha Poly, Russian model
* July 13
** Charlotte Dujardin, English dressage rider
** Guillermo Ochoa, Mexican footballer
** Andrew Wolff, Filipino-British rugby player
* July 14
** Oleksandr Pyatnytsya, Ukrainian javelin thrower
** Lee Kwang-soo, South Korean actor, entertainer and model
* July 15
** Pedro Carvalho (actor), Pedro Carvalho, Portuguese actor
** Igor Jurković, Croatian heavyweight kickboxer
**Tomer Kapon, Israeli actor
**Agniya Kuznetsova, Russian actress
**Crowd Lu, Taiwanese singer-songwriter and actor
**Chris Tiu, Filipino professional basketball player, TV host, commercial model, and politician
* July 16
** Cha Ye-ryun, South Korean actress
** Yōko Hikasa, Japanese actress
** Rosa Salazar, American actress
* July 17
** Tom Fletcher, British musician
** Caitlin Van Zandt, American actress
* July 18
** Hopsin, American rapper and record producer
** James Norton (actor), James Norton, British actor
** Chace Crawford, American actor
* July 19 – LaMarcus Aldridge, American basketball player
* July 20 – John Francis Daley, American television and film actor
* July 21 – Guillaume Bastille, Canadian short track speed skater
* July 22
** Jessica Abbott, Australian swimmer
** Ryan Dolan, Irish singer
** Takudzwa Ngwenya, Zimbabwean-American rugby player
** Akira Tozawa, Japanese wrestler
* July 25
** James Lafferty, American actor
** Shantel VanSanten, American actress and model
** Nelson Piquet Jr., Brazilian Formula One and NASCAR driver
* July 27 – Lou Taylor Pucci, American actor
* July 30 – Elena Gheorghe, Romanian singer
* July 31 – Allie X, Canadian singer, songwriter and visual artist
August
* August 2 – Davey Boy Smith Jr., Canadian professional wrestler
* August 3
** Sonny Bill Williams, New Zealand rugby league and rugby union player and boxer
** Georgina Haig, Australian actress
* August 4 – Crystal Bowersox, American singer-songwriter
* August 5 – Salomon Kalou, Ivorian footballer
* August 8 – Toby Flood, English rugby union player
* August 9
** Anna Kendrick, American actress
** Filipe Luís, Brazilian footballer
* August 11
** Asher Roth, American rapper
** Jacqueline Fernandez, Bahraini–Sri Lankan actress
* August 12 – África Zavala, Mexican actress
* August 14 – Shea Weber, Canadian ice hockey player
* August 15
** Emily Kinney, American actress, singer, and songwriter
** Nipsey Hussle, American rapper (d. 2019)
* August 16
** Arden Cho, American actress, singer and model
** Cristin Milioti, American actress and singer
* August 17 – Evgeny Konobry, Russian professional ice hockey player
* August 21
** Melissa M, French singer
** Laura Haddock, English actress
* August 27 – Kayla Ewell, American actress
* August 30
** Eamon Sullivan, Australian swimmer
** Leisel Jones, Australian swimmer
** Éva Risztov, Hungarian Olympic Champion swimmer
* August 31 – Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.
September
* September 1 – Camile Velasco, Filipina-American actress
* September 2 – Allison Miller, American actress
* September 4
** Raúl Albiol, Spanish footballer
** Ri Kwang-chon, North Korean footballer
** Walid Mesloub, Algerian footballer
* September 7
** Radhika Apte, Indian film and theatre actress
** Alyona Lanskaya, Belarusian singer
** Rafinha (footballer, born 1985), Rafinha, Brazilian football player
* September 8
** Vanessa Baden, American actress, writer, director, and producer
** Denny Morrison, Canadian speed skater
* September 9
** Lior Eliyahu, Israeli basketball player
** Amy Manson, British actress
** Luka Modrić, Croatian football player
** J. R. Smith, American basketball player
* September 10 – Monica Lopera, Colombian-American actress
* September 12 – Headhunterz, Dutch DJ and music producer
* September 14 – Aya Ueto, Japanese actress
* September 15 – Iselin Steiro, Norwegian model
* September 16
** Madeline Zima, American actress
** Max Minghella, English actor
** Danny Fernandes, Canadian singer
* September 17 – Alexander Ovechkin, Russian hockey player
* September 19
** Alun Wyn Jones, Welsh rugby union player
* September 20 – Tessanne Chin, Jamaican singer, winner of The Voice (U.S. TV series), The Voice The Voice (U.S. season 5), season 5
* September 22 – Tatiana Maslany, Canadian actress
* September 23 – Maki Goto, Japanese singer and actress
* September 24 – Jessica Lucas, Canadian actress
* September 26 – Marcin Mroziński, Polish actor, singer and television presenter
* September 28 – Shindong, Korean singer
* September 29
** Calvin Johnson, retired American football player and contestant on Dancing with the Stars (U.S. TV series), Dancing with the Stars season 23
** Dani Pedrosa, Spanish motorcycle racer
* September 30 – T-Pain, American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor
October
* October 2 – Mzwandile Ndzimandze, Eswatini international footballer
* October 5 – Nicola Roberts, British singer
* October 7 – Evan Longoria, American professional baseball player
* October 8 – Bruno Mars, American singer-songwriter and music producer
* October 9 – Sam Oji, English footballer (d. 2021)
* October 10
** Marina Diamandis, Welsh singer-songwriter
** Kyle Switzer, Canadian actor
* October 11
** Lee Min-hye, South Korean racing cyclist (d. 2018)
** Margaret Berger, Norwegian electropop singer-songwriter
** Michelle Trachtenberg, American actress
* October 14 – Sherlyn, Mexican actress
* October 16 – Casey Stoner, Australian motorcycle racer
* October 20 – Jennifer Freeman, American actress
* October 23
** Chris Neal, English footballer
** Masiela Lusha, Albanian-American actress, poet, and humanitarian
* October 24 – Wayne Rooney, English footballer
* October 25 – Ciara, African-American singer
* October 26 – Andrea Bargnani, Italian professional basketball player
* October 27 – Briana Lane, American actress and musician
* October 28 – Troian Bellisario, American actress
* October 29 – Ximena Sariñana, Mexican singer and actress
* October 31 – Kerron Clement, American hurdler and sprinter
November
* November 2 – Diana Penty, Indian model and actress
* November 3 – Philipp Tschauner, German footballer
* November 8 – Jack Osbourne, English television personality
* November 10
** Johana Clavel, Venezuelan cook and entrepreneur
* November 11
** Raquel Guerra, Portuguese singer and actress
** Robin Uthappa, Indian cricketer
* November 13
** Rahul Kohli, English actor
** Asdrúbal Cabrera, Venezuelan baseball player
** Simo-Pekka Olli, Finnish volleyball player
* November 14 – Thomas Vermaelen, Belgian footballer
* November 15 – Lily Aldridge, American model
* November 16 – Sanna Marin, Finnish politician, 46th Prime Minister of Finland
* November 18 – Allyson Felix, American sprinter
* November 20
** Aaron Yan, Taiwanese actor and singer
** Dan Byrd, American actor
* November 21 – Carly Rae Jepsen, Canadian singer-songwriter
* November 22 – Asamoah Gyan, Ghanaian football player
* November 23
** Katie Crown, Canadian voice actress and writer
** Ahn Hyun-Soo, South Korean short track skater
* November 25 – Marcus Hellner, Swedish cross-country skier
* November 27 – Alison Pill, Canadian actress
* November 28 – Magdolna Rúzsa, Hungarian singer
* November 30
** Gia Crovatin, American actress and producer
** Kaley Cuoco, American actress and producer
** Chrissy Teigen, American model
December
* December 1 – Janelle Monáe, African-American R&B/soul musician
* December 2 – Amaury Leveaux, French swimmer
* December 3 – Amanda Seyfried, American actress, model and singer-songwriter
* December 4 – Krista Siegfrids, Finnish singer
* December 5 – Frankie Muniz, American actor, musician, writer, producer, and race car driver
* December 6 – Dulce María, Mexican singer and actress
* December 7 – Jon Moxley, American professional wrestler
* December 8 – Dwight Howard, American basketball player
* December 9 – Wil Besseling, Dutch golfer
* December 10 – Raven-Symoné, African-American actress, singer, songwriter, executive producer, and director
* December 12 – Juan Camilo Zúñiga, Colombian footballer
* December 16 – Amanda Setton, American actress
* December 19 – Gary Cahill, English footballer
* December 22 – Edurne, Spanish singer, actress, and TV presenter
* December 23 – Harry Judd, English drummer
* December 26
** Yu Shirota, Japanese actor and singer
** Beth Behrs, American actress
* December 27
** Jérôme d'Ambrosio, Belgian racing driver
** Jessica Harmon, Canadian actress
** Paul Stastny, Canadian-American professional ice hockey player
Deaths
January
* January 2 – Gabriel Elorde, Filipino professional boxer (b. 1935)
* January 4 – Sir Brian Horrocks, British general (b. 1895)
* January 5 – Robert Surtees (cinematographer), Robert L. Surtees, American cinematographer (b. 1906)
* January 11 – William McKell, Sir William McKell, 12th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1891)
* January 14
** Jetta Goudal, Dutch actress (b. 1891)
** Anagarika Govinda, German buddhist lama (b. 1898)
* January 18 – Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, Sudanese religious thinker (b. 1909)
* January 19 – Eric Voegelin, German-American philosopher (b. 1901)
* January 22 – Mikhail Gromov (aviator), Mikhail Gromov, Soviet aviator (b. 1899)
* January 26 – Kenny Clarke, American jazz drummer and bandleader (b. 1914)
February
*
February 4
Events Pre–1600
* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...
– Jesse Hibbs, American film director (b. 1906)
* February 6 – Neil McCarthy (actor), Neil McCarthy, English actor (b. 1932)
* February 8
** William Lyons, British automobile engineer and designer (b. 1901)
** Marvin Miller (actor), Marvin Miller, American actor (b. 1913)
* February 11 – Henry Hathaway, American film director (b. 1898)
* February 12 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor (b. 1924)
*
February 20
Events Pre-1600
*1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
*1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
– Clarence Nash, American actor (b. 1904)
* February 21
** Ina Claire, American actress (b. 1893)
** Louis Hayward, British actor (b. 1909)
** John G. Trump, American electrical engineer, inventor, and physicist (b. 1907)
* February 22
** Efrem Zimbalist, Russian-American violinist (b. 1889)
** Alexander Scourby, American film, television, and voice actor (b. 1913)
* February 26 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
* February 27
** Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., American politician (b. 1902)
** J. Pat O'Malley, English actor (b. 1904)
March
*
March 3
Events Pre-1600
* 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
* 1575 &nd ...
– Iosif Shklovsky, Soviet astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1916)
* March 7 – George Schick, Czechoslovakian conductor and music educator (b. 1908)
* March 8 – Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
* March 10
** Konstantin Chernenko, Soviet politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (b. 1911)
** Bob Nieman, American baseball player (b. 1927)
* March 11
** Tom Adams (politician), Tom Adams, Barbadosian politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Barbados (b. 1931)
** Nazem Akkari, Lebanese politician, 19th Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1902)
* March 12 – Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian-American conductor (b. 1899)
* March 13 – Mabel Alvarez, American painter (b. 1891)
*
March 15
Events Pre-1600
* 474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years' truce.
*44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place.
* 493 – Odoa ...
– Radha Krishna Choudhary, Indian historian (b. 1921)
* March 16 – Roger Sessions, American composer (b. 1896)
*
March 21
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: King Vitiges attempts to assault the northern and eastern city walls, but is repulsed at the Praenestine Gate, known as the ''Vivarium'', by the defenders under the Byzantine generals Bessas an ...
– Sir Michael Redgrave, British actor (b. 1908)
* March 23
** Doctor Richard Beeching, Chairman of British Rail (b. 1913)
** Zoot Sims, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1925)
* March 28 – Marc Chagall, Russian-born painter (b. 1887)
* March 29
** The Singing Nun (Jeannine Deckers), Belgian nun and singer (b. 1933)
** Gerhard Stock, German Olympic athlete (b. 1911)
* March 30 – Shizuko Kasagi, Japanese singer (b. 1914)
* March 31
** Michel Georges-Michel, French painter, journalist, novelist (b. 1883)
** Richard McKeon, American philosopher (b. 1900)
April
* April 4 – Kate Roberts (author), Kate Roberts, Welsh-language author (b. 1891)
* April 5 – Paul Hugh Emmett, American chemical engineer (b. 1900)
* April 6 – Terence Sanders, British Olympic rower – coxless fours (b. 1901)
* April 7 – Carl Schmitt, German jurist, political theorist and professor of law (b. 1888)
* April 10 – Alfredo Duhalde, Chilean statesman (b. 1898)
* April 11 – Enver Hoxha, Albanian Communist politician, leader of the Party of Labour of Albania, Party of Labour 22nd Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1908)
* April 14 – Noele Gordon, British actress (b. 1919)
* April 15 – Jack Medica, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1914)
* April 16 – Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
* April 17 – Evadne Price, Australian-British writer, actress and astrologer (b. 1888)
* April 18 – Gertrude Caton–Thompson, English archaeologist (b. 1888)
*
April 19
Events Pre-1600
*AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested.
* 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at ...
– Sergei Aleksandrovich Tokarev, Russian ethnologist (b. 1899)
*
April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
** John Welsh (actor), John Welsh, Irish actor (b. 1914)
** Tancredo Neves, Brazilian elected president and former Prime Minister of Brazil, Prime Minister (b. 1910)
* April 26 – Albert Maltz, American screenwriter, one of the Hollywood Ten (b. 1908)
May
* May 1 – Denise Robins, (akas: Francesca Wright, Ashley French, Harriet Gray, Julia Kane) British romance novelist (b. 1897)
* May 4 – Clarence Wiseman, the 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
* May 5 – Sir Donald Bailey (civil engineer), Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
* May 6
** Pete Desjardins, American Olympic diver (b. 1907)
** Julie Vega, Filipino child actress and singer (b. 1968)
* May 7 – Dawn Addams, British actress (b. 1930)
* May 8
** Karl Marx (composer), Karl Marx, German composer and music teacher (b. 1897)
** Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (b. 1918)
** Dolph Sweet, American actor (b. 1920)
*
May 9
Events Pre-1600
* 328 – Athanasius is elected Patriarch of Alexandria.
*1009 – Lombard Revolt: Lombard forces led by Melus revolt in Bari against the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy.
*1386 – England and Portugal formally rati ...
– Edmond O'Brien, American actor (b. 1915)
* May 10
** Tahar Ben Ammar, Tunisian politician, 8th Prime Minister of Tunisia (b. 1889)
** Florizel von Reuter, American violinist and composer (b. 1890)
* May 12 – Jean Dubuffet, French artist (b. 1901)
* May 13 – Leatrice Joy, American actress (b. 1893)
* May 14 – Barbara Yung, Hong Kong actress (b. 1959)
*
May 15
Events Pre-1600
* 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
* 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbog ...
May 16
Events Pre-1600
* 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
*1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
* 1364 ...
– Margaret Hamilton (actress), Margaret Hamilton, American actress (b. 1902)
* May 18 – Penn Nouth, Cambodian politician, 7-time Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1906)
* May 19 – Maqbular Rahman Sarkar, Bangladeshi academic (b. 1928)
* May 22
** Charles Murphy (architect), Charles Murphy, American architect. (b. 1890)
** Wolfgang Reitherman, German animator, director and producer (b. 1909)
June
* June 5 – George Brown, Baron George-Brown, Lord George-Brown, British politician (b. 1914)
*
June 6
Events Pre-1600
* 913 – Constantine VII, the eight-year-old illegitimate son of Leo VI the Wise, becomes nominal ruler of the Byzantine Empire under the regency of a seven-man council headed by Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos, appointed b ...
** Norman W. Walker, British businessman (b. 1886)
** Vladimir Jankélévitch, French philosopher and musicologist (b. 1903)
* June 7
** Georgia Hale, American actress (b. 1905)
* June 9 – Clifford Evans (actor), Clifford Evans, British actor (b. 1912)
** Matsutarō Kawaguchi, Japanese novelist (b. 1899)
* June 10 – George Chandler, American actor (b. 1898)
* June 11 – Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (b. 1954)
* June 12 – Helmuth Plessner, German philosopher and sociologist (b. 1892)
* June 15
** Percy Fender, English cricketer (b. 1892)
** Andy Stanfield, American Olympic athlete (b. 1927)
* June 17
**George Jackson (footballer, born 1893), George Jackson, English footballer (b. 1893)
** Boulting brothers, John Boulting, English filmmaker (b. 1913)
**Kirill Moskalenko, Soviet military commander (b. 1902)
* Either June 18 or June 19 - Bonnie Nettles, American religious leader (b. 1927)
* June 21 – Tage Erlander, Swedish politician, 25th Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1901)
* June 27 – Elias Sarkis, Lebanese lawyer, 27th President of Lebanon (b. 1924)
* June 28 – James Craig (actor), James Craig, American actor (b. 1912)
* June 30 – Haruo Remeliik, Palauan politician, 1st President of Palau (b. 1933)
July
*
July 1
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.
* 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the ...
– Pauli Murray, American civil rights activist, lawyer, author and priest (b. 1910)
* July 3 – Erik Ågren (boxer), Erik Ågren, Swedish boxer (b. 1916)
* July 4 – Jan de Quay, Dutch politician and psychologist, 31st Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1901)
* July 8
** Phil Foster, American actor (b. 1913)
** Simon Kuznets, American economist (b. 1901)
* July 9
** Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish founder of Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
** Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1896)
* July 14 – Lluís Solé, Spanish geographer and academic (b. 1908)
* July 16 – Heinrich Böll, German writer, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
* July 17 – Margo (actress), Margo, Mexican-born American actress (b. 1917)
* July 19
** Janusz Zajdel, Polish writer (b. 1938)
** Louisa Ghijs, Belgian stage actress and wife of Johannes Heesters (b. 1902)
* July 21 – Alvah Cecil Bessie, American screenwriter, one of the Hollywood Ten (b. 1904)
* July 22 – Matti Järvinen, Finnish Olympic athlete (b. 1909)
* July 23
** Kay Kyser, American bandleader (b. 1905)
** Mickey Shaughnessy, American actor (b. 1920)
* July 25 – Grant Williams (actor), Grant Williams, American actor (b. 1931)
* July 26 – Grace Albee, American printmaker and wood engraver. (b. 1890)
* July 27 – John Scarne, American magician and card expert (b. 1903)
August
* August 1 – D. H. Turner, British art historian and museum curator (b. 1931)
* August 2 – Frank Faylen, American actor (b. 1905)
* August 5 – Arnold Horween, Harvard Crimson and NFL football player (b. 1898)
* August 6
** Forbes Burnham, Guyanese political leader, 1st Prime Minister of Guyana and 2nd President of Guyana (b. 1923)
** John Harmon (actor), John Harmon, American actor (b. 1905)
* August 8 – Louise Brooks, American actress (b. 1906)
* August 9 – Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league player and coach (b. 1927)
* August 10 – Kenny Baker (American performer), Kenny Baker, American actor and singer (b. 1912)
*August 11 – Hector Grey, Scottish street trader and company director (b. 1904)
* August 12
** Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer (b. 1941)
** Manfred Winkelhock, German racing driver (b. 1951)
* August 14 – Gale Sondergaard, American actress (b. 1899)
* August 15 – Lester Cole, American screenwriter, one of the Hollywood Ten (b. 1904)
* August 20 – Donald O. Hebb, Canadian neuropsychologist (b. 1904)
* August 22 – Paul Peter Ewald, German-born American crystallographer and physicist (b. 1888)
* August 24 – Morrie Ryskind, American dramatist (b. 1895)
* August 25
** Paul Harris (actor), Paul Harris, American actor (b. 1917)
** Samantha Smith, American schoolgirl activist (b. 1972)
* August 28
** Ruth Gordon, American actress, screenwriter, and playwright (b. 1896)
** Miguel Otero Silva, Venezuelan writer (b. 1908)
* August 29
** Evelyn Ankers, British actress (b. 1918)
** Patrick Barr, British actor (b. 1908)
* August 30 – Taylor Caldwell, Anglo-American writer (b. 1900)
* August 31 – Macfarlane Burnet, Australian biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
September
* September 1
** Stefan Bellof, German racing driver and 1984 World SportsCars (Group C) Champion (b. 1957).
** Saunders Lewis, Welsh writer and founder of the Welsh National Party (Plaid Cymru) (born 1893)
* September 4
** Isabel Jeans, British actress (b. 1891)
** George O'Brien (actor), George O'Brien, American actor (b. 1899)
* September 6 – Rodney Robert Porter, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1917)
* September 7
** Bruiser Kinard, American football player (Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL), Brooklyn Dodgers) and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (b. 1914)
** José Zabala-Santos, Filipino cartoonist (b. 1911)
** George Pólya, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1887)
* September 8 – John Franklin Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1897)
* September 9 – Paul Flory, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
* September 10
** Ernst Öpik, Estonian astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1893)
** Jock Stein, Scottish football player and manager (b. 1922)
* September 11
** William Alwyn, English composer (b. 1905)
** Henrietta Barnett (WRAF officer), Henrietta Barnett, British Women's Royal Air Force (World War II), Women's Royal Air Force officer (b. 1905)
** Masako Natsume, Japanese actress (b. 1957)
* September 13 – Augusto Hamann Rademaker Grünewald, Augusto Rademaker, Brazilian admiral and former military junta member (b. 1905)
* September 14
** Julian Beck, American actor (b. 1925)
** John Holt (educator), John Holt, American writer and educator (b. 1923)
* September 17 – Laura Ashley, Welsh designer (b. 1925)
* September 19 – Italo Calvino, Italian writer (b. 1923)
* September 22 – Axel Springer, German journalist and the founder and owner of the Axel Springer AG (b. 1912)
* September 27 – Lloyd Nolan, American actor (b. 1902)
* September 30
** Floyd Crosby, American cinematographer (b. 1899)
** Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist, creator of the Richter magnitude scale (b. 1900)
** Simone Signoret, French actress (b. 1921)
October
* October 1 – E. B. White, American writer (b. 1899)
* October 2
** Rock Hudson, American actor (b. 1925)
** George Savalas, American actor (b. 1924)
* October 5 – Abdus Sattar (president), Abdus Sattar, Bangladeshi statesman, 8th President of Bangladesh (b. 1906)
* October 6 – Nelson Riddle, American bandleader (b. 1921)
* October 9 – Emílio Garrastazu Médici, Brazilian general and statesman, 28th President of Brazil (b. 1905)
* October 10
** Yul Brynner, Russian actor (b. 1920)
** Orson Welles, American actor and director (b. 1915)
* October 12 – Ricky Wilson (American musician), Ricky Wilson, American guitarist (b. 1953)
* October 13 – Francesca Bertini, Italian actress (b. 1892)
* October 14 – Emil Gilels, Soviet pianist (b. 1916)
* October 17 – Abdelmunim Al-Rifai, Prime Minister of Jordan (b. 1917)
* October 21 – Dan White, American politician and murderer (Moscone–Milk assassinations) (b. 1946)
* October 22 – Thomas Townsend Brown, American inventor (b. 1905)
* October 24 – László Bíró, Hungarian inventor of the ballpoint pen (b. 1899)
* October 29 – John Davis Lodge, American actor and politician (b. 1903)
November
* November 1
** Ōuchiyama Heikichi, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1926)
** Phil Silvers, American entertainer (b. 1911)
* November 5
** Spencer W. Kimball, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1895)
** Arnold Chikobava, Georgian linguist (b. 1898)
* November 6 – Sanjeev Kumar, Indian actor (b. 1937)
* November 8 – Nicolas Frantz, Luxembourgian cyclist (b. 1899)
* November 9 – Marie-Georges Pascal, French actress (b. 1946)
* November 11
** James Hanley (novelist), James Hanley, British novelist, playwright and writer (b. 1897)
** Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish Professional Hockey goaltender (b. 1959)
** Arthur Rothstein, American photographer (b. 1915)
* November 13
** William Pereira, American architect (b. 1909)
** George Robert Vincent, American sound recording pioneer (b. 1898)
* November 14 – Wellington Koo, Chinese statesman (b. 1888)
* November 16 – John Sparkman, American politician (b. 1899)
* November 17
** Lon Nol, Cambodian general and statesman, 32nd Prime Minister of Cambodia and 7th President of Cambodia, President of Khmer Republic (b. 1913)
** Ritz Brothers, Jimmy Ritz, American actor (b. 1904)
* November 19
** Juan Arvizu, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (b. 1900)
** Stepin Fetchit, American actor (b. 1902)
* November 24 – Big Joe Turner, American blues singer (b. 1911)
* November 25 – Geoffrey Grigson, British poet, writer, critic (b. 1905)
* November 27 – Fernand Braudel, French historian (b. 1902)
* November 28 – Johnny McNally, American football player, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (b. 1903)
December
* December 2 – Philip Larkin, English poet and novelist (b. 1922)
* December 7
** Robert Graves, English writer (b. 1895)
** Potter Stewart, American Supreme Court Justice (b. 1915)
* December 12
** Anne Baxter, American actress (b. 1923)
** Ian Stewart (musician), Ian Stewart, Scottish rock musician (b. 1938)
** Phil Karlson, American film director (b. 1908)
* December 14 – Roger Maris, American baseball player (New York Yankees) (b. 1934)
* December 15
** Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, 1st Prime Minister of Mauritius (b. 1900)
** Carlos Romulo, Filipino diplomat (b. 1899)
* December 16 – Paul Castellano, American Mafia boss (b. 1915)
* December 20 – Coral Buttsworth, Australian tennis champion (b. 1900)
* December 22 – D. Boon, American singer, songwriter and guitarist (b. 1958)
* December 23
** Ferhat Abbas, Algerian nationalist, 1st president of the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (b. 1899)
** Prince Bira, Prince of Siam and Formula One driver (b. 1914)
* December 24 – Erich Schaedler, Scottish footballer (b. 1949)
* December 26 – Dian Fossey, American biologist (b. 1932)
* December 27
** Harry Hopman, Australian tennis player and coach (b. 1906)
** Harold Whitlock, British Olympic athlete (b. 1903)
* December 28 – Renato Castellani, Italian director (b. 1913)
* December 31
** Ricky Nelson, American actor and musician (b. 1940)
** Sam Spiegel, Polish-born film producer (b. 1903)
Date unknown
* Andrej Bicenko, Russian fresco painter and muralist (b. 1886)
* Kaare Bratung, Norwegian cartoonist (b. 1906)
* Hamlet Gonashvili, Georgian singer (b. 1928)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Klaus von Klitzing
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Herbert A. Hauptman, Jerome Karle
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Claude Simon
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
* Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Economics – Franco Modigliani
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Michael Stuart Brown, Joseph L. Goldstein