What Happened in December 1985

Historical Events

Anne of Green Gables

Dec 1 TV mini series "Anne of Green Gables" based on the novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery, starring Megan Follows is first shown on CBS in Canada

Dec 2 Chicago Bears' head coach Mike Ditka and defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan almost come to blows at halftime in a 38-24 loss to the Miami Dolphins at the Orange Bowl, Miami; Chicago's only loss of the NFL season

Marino vs. Elway

Dec 2 NFL quarterback legends Dan Marino and John Elway (Denver Broncos) face each other for the first time, a 30-26 win for Marino's Miami Dolphins (390 yards and 3 TDs)

Dec 2 Philipine Chief of Staff General Fabian speaks of Benigno Aquino's murder

Music Premiere

Dec 2 Rupert Holmes' musical "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", based on an unfinished work of Charles Dickens, opens at the Imperial Theater, NYC; runs for 608 performances, winning 5 Tony Awards

Dec 3 23rd Shuttle Mission (61-B)-Atlantis 2-lands at Edwards AFB

Faerie Tale Theatre

Dec 3 7th ACE Cable Awards: Shelley Duvall wins the Golden CableACE for "Faerie Tale Theatre"

Mitterrand Receives Jaruzelski

Dec 4 French President François Mitterrand receives Polish leader Wojciech Jaruzelski

21st President of France François Mitterrand

General and 1st President of Poland Wojciech Jaruzelski

John Poindexter

Dec 4 President Reagan appoints Vice Admiral John Poindexter as security adviser

Živojinović Upsets McEnroe

Dec 4 Slobodan Živojinović of Yugoslavia upsets No. 2 seed John McEnroe 2-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the Australian Open quarter finals; leaves McEnroe without a major singles title for the first time since 1978

Dec 5 Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 1,500 level for 1st time
Dec 5 Great Britain performs nuclear test
Dec 5 Sam Shepard's "Lie of the Mind" premieres in NYC

Trophy to Bo Jackson

Dec 7 51st Heisman Trophy Award: Bo Jackson, Auburn (RB)

NFL Running Back and Baseball Outfielder Bo Jackson

Dec 7 Atlantis (61-B) returns to Kennedy Space Center via Kelly AFB
Dec 7 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Martina Navratilova beats Chris Evert-Lloyd 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 for her 3rd and final Australian singles crown

Edberg Wins First Grand Slam

Dec 8 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Stefan Edberg wins 1st career Grand Slam singles title; beats defending champion & fellow Swede Mats Wilander 6-3, 6-3, 6-3

Tennis Player and Seven-Time Major Champion Mats Wilander

Dec 8 Ken O'Brien's 96 yard TD pass (NY Jet record) to Wesley Walker
Dec 8 NBC premiere of thriller "Final Jeopardy", starring Richard Thomas and Mary Crosby

Junta Leaders' Life Sentences

Dec 9 Argentinian Junta leaders Jorge Rafael Videla and Emilio Eduardo Massera sentenced to life imprisonment for human rights violations in Buenos Aires

Dictator and President of Argentina Jorge Rafael Videla

Dec 9 Phoenix, Arizona, gets 3" of snow

Jerry Rice's Streak

Dec 9 SF 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice begins NFL streak of 274 consecutive games with a reception in a 27-20 loss to LA Rams at Candlestick Park

Out of Africa

Dec 10 "Out of Africa", based on the book by Isak Dinesen, directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford premieres in Los Angeles (Best Picture 1986)

Film Director, Producer and Actor Sydney Pollack

Dec 10 Bill to balance the federal budget passed by US Congress
Dec 11 Computer store owner in Sacramento California killed by package bomb
Dec 11 Dow Jones closes above 1,500 for 1st time (1,511.70)
Dec 11 General Electric acquires RCA Corp & its subsidiary, NBC
Dec 11 NHL Record 62 points scored, Edmonton (36) beats Chicago (26) 12-9 & ties record of 21 goals
Dec 12 248 US soldiers & 8 crew members die in Arrow Air charter crash
Dec 12 DC-8 crashes near Gander, Newfoundland; 258 die
Dec 12 NASA launches space vehicle S-207

Boons' 1st Test Century

Dec 13 Australian cricketer David Boon's 1st Test century, 123 v India at Adelaide

Dec 13 Test debut of cricketers Merv Hughes, Geoff Marsh and Bruce Reid (v India)

Shultz Visits West Berlin

Dec 14 US Secretary of State George P. Shultz arrives in West Berlin

Dec 16 Challenger moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) for mating of STS 51-L mission

The Color Purple

Dec 16 Film "The Color Purple" based on novel by Alice Walker, directed by Steven Spielberg starring Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover premieres in New York

Gotti Heads Gambino Family

Dec 16 John Gotti assumes leadership of New York's Gambino crime family after ordering the executions of Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti

Dec 18 Jerry Herman's musical revue "Jerry's Girls" opens at St James Theater, NYC; runs for 139 performances
Dec 18 UN Security Council unanimously condemns "acts of hostage-taking"
Dec 19 "Wind in the Willows" opens at Nederlander Theater NYC for 4 performances
Dec 19 Mary Lund is 1st woman to receive a Jarvik VII artificial heart at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Minneapolis
Dec 19 STS 61-C scrubbed at T -13s because of SRB auxiliary power problem

Potvin Passes Orr

Dec 20 Denis Potvin passes Bobby Orr as NHL defenseman scorer (916 points)

Dec 20 Position of American Poet Laureate established (Robert Warren is 1st)
Dec 20 Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires from television sports after 20 years with ABC
Dec 21 ARCO Anchorage runs aground near Port Angeles, WA
Dec 21 Heart's "Heart" album goes #1
Dec 22 "Wind in the Willows" closes at Nederlander Theater NYC after 4 performances
Dec 22 74th Davis Cup: Sweden beats Germany in Munich (3-2)
Dec 22 STS 51-L vehicle moves to Launch Pad 39B

Ballon d'Or

Dec 24 Ballon d'Or: Juventus' French midfielder Michel Platini is named Europe's best football player for the 3rd consecutive time; beats Verona striker Preben Elkjær and Barcelona midfielder Bernd Schuster

Dec 26 Test Cricket debut of Steve Waugh, v India at the MCG

Terrortists Attack Two Airports

Dec 27 Arab terrorists attacks airports of Rome and Vienna, killing 20 and wounding 110. President Reagan blames Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Libyan Revolutionary and Dictator Muammar Gaddafi

Dec 28 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Dec 28 Warring Lebanese Muslim & Christian leaders sign peace agreement
Dec 30 IBM-PC DOS Version 3.2 released
Dec 30 Pakistan restores constitution

Events in 1985

Famous Birthdays

Janelle Monáe (38 years old)

Dec 1 American singer-songwriter (Dirty Computer) and actress (Hidden Figures), born in Kansas City, Kansas

Dec 2 Amaury Leveaux, French swimmer (Olympic gold 4x100m freestyle relay 2012; WR 100m freestyle short course – 44.94s), born in Belfort, France

Amanda Seyfried (38 years old)

Dec 3 American actress (Mamma Mia, The Dropout), born in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Dec 3 László Cseh, Hungarian swimmer (World C'ship gold 400m medley 2005, 200m butterfly 2015; 7 x Olympic medals), born in Budapest, Hungary
Dec 4 Carlos Gómez, Dominican baseball outfielder (MLB All Star 2013-14; Gold Glove Award 2013; hit for cycle 2008, 2017), born in Santiago, Dominican Republic
Dec 5 Frankie Muniz, American actor (Malcolm in the Middle), born in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey
Dec 5 Josh Smith, American basketball player (New Orleans Pelicans), born in College Park, Georgia
Dec 5 Nico Verdonck, Belgian racing driver, born in Brussels, Belgium
Dec 6 Dulce María, Mexican actress and singer, born in Mexico City
Dec 6 R. P. Singh, Indian cricketer, born in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, India
Dec 8 Dwight Howard, American basketball player (Charlotte Hornets), born in Atlanta, Georigia
Dec 10 Grace Chatto, British electronic-pop singer and cellist (Clean Bandit - "Rather Be"; "Symphony"), born in London

Raven-Symoné (38 years old)

Dec 10 American actress (The Cosby Show, 1989-92 -"Olivia"; That's So Raven, 2003-07), and singer, born in Atlanta, Georgia

Dec 10 T. J. Hensick, American ice hockey player
Dec 11 Karla Souza, Mexican actress (How to Get Away With Murder), born in Mexico City
Dec 11 Samantha Ponder, American sportscaster (ESPN), born in Phoenix, Arizona
Dec 12 Joel Karekezi, Rwandan film director (The Mercy of the Jungle), born in Rubavu, Rwanda
Dec 12 Sabine Devieilhe, French operatic coloratura soprano, born in Ifs, France
Dec 14 Jakub Błaszczykowski, Polish footballer, born in Truskolasy, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
Dec 14 Nonami Takizawa, Japanese gravure idol and actress, born in Saitama prefecture, Japan
Dec 14 Paul Rabil, Lebanese-American professional lacrosse player, born in Gaithersburg, Maryland
Dec 14 Ren Yagami, Japanese actor and singer, born in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Dec 14 Tom Smith, Welsh rugby union footballer, born in Bristol, Somerset
Dec 15 Sheba Mason [Reiter], American comedian and daughter of Jackie Mason, born in Miami, Florida
Dec 16 Keita Tachibana, member of Japanese boy band w-inds.
Dec 17 Ryuichi Ogata, member of Japanese boy band w-inds.
Dec 18 Hana Soukupová, Czech supermodel
Dec 18 Tara Conner, American model (Miss USA 2006), born in Dallas, Texas
Dec 19 Gary Cahill, English soccer defender (61 caps; Chelsea, Bolton), born in Dronfield, Derbyshire
Dec 19 Lady Sovereign [Louise Amanda Harman], British rapper (9 to 5; Love Me or Hate Me), born in London, England
Dec 19 Neil Kilkenny, Australian soccer midfielder (15 caps; Leeds United, Bristol City, Preston North End, Perth Glory), born in London, England
Dec 21 Bubba Stewart, American motocross racer (FIM World Supercross Champion 2009; FIM World Supercross GP Champion 2006, 07), born in Bartow, Florida
Dec 23 Harry Judd, British drummer (McFly), born in Chelmsford, United Kingdom
Dec 23 Luke O'Loughlin, Australian actor, born in Adelaide, Australia
Dec 24 David Ragan, American race car driver, born in Unadilla, Georgia
Dec 25 Perdita Weeks, British actress, born in Cardiff, United Kingdom
Dec 26 Steven Hartman, American actor (Rick Forrester in Bold & Beautiful), born in Westlake, California
Dec 26 Yuu Shirota, Japanese-Spanish actor and singer, born in Tokyo, Japan
Dec 27 Bjarke Mogensen, Danish classical accordionist (Martin Lohse - In Liquid), and educator (Royal Danish Academy, 2011-present), born in Rønne, Bornholm, Denmark
Dec 27 Logan Bailly, Belgian football goalkeeper
Dec 27 Paul Stastny, Canadian ice hockey center (NHL All-Rookie 2007; NHL All-Star 2011; Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets, LV Golden Knights), born in Quebec City, Quebec
Dec 27 Tivon Pennicott, Jamaican-American jazz saxophonist (Celery Juice), born in Marietta, Georgia
Dec 28 Kamani Hill, American footballer, born in Berkeley, California
Dec 29 Alexa Ray Joel, American singer-songwriter and daughter of Billy Joel & Christie Brinkley, born in Manhattan, New York
Dec 30 Lars Boom, Dutch cyclist
Dec 30 Samuel Adams, American double bassist, classical and electro-acoustic composer, born in San Francisco, California

Born in 1985

Famous Weddings

Dec 14 "The Cosby Show" actress Phylicia Rashad (37) weds former NFL wide receiver and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad (36)

Sylvester Stallone

Dec 15 American "Rocky" actor Sylvester Stallone (39) weds Danish "Rocky IV" actress Brigitte Nielsen (22) in Beverly Hills, California; divorce in 1987

Lee Hsien Loong

Dec 17 Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong (33) weds Temasek Holdings CEO Ho Ching

Famous Deaths

Dec 2 Alex Courtney, American actor (Sword of Justice), dies at 74
Dec 2 Aniello Dellacroce, American gangster, dies of cancer at 71
Dec 2 Philip Larkin, English poet and writer (North Ship, Jill), dies at 63
Dec 3 Sam Gillman, actor (Sam-Shane), dies at 70
Dec 4 Frederick Boland, Irish diplomat (President of the UN General Assembly), dies at 81
Dec 4 Marcel Boereboom, Belgian pianist, critic, educator, and musicologist (Handbook of Music History), dies at 83
Dec 6 Burleigh Grimes, American Baseball HOF pitcher (World Series 1931 St. Louis Cardinals; NL wins leader 1921, 28; NL strikeout leader 1921 Brooklyn Robins, Pittsburgh Pirates), dies at 92
Dec 6 Burr Tillstrom, American puppeteer (Kukla, Fran & Ollie), dies at 68
Dec 7 Potter Stewart, 94th Supreme Court Justice (1958-81), dies in NH at 70
Dec 7 Robert Graves, English writer and poet (King Jesus), dies at 90
Dec 12 Anne Baxter, American actress (The Razor's Edge; All About Eve), and singer, dies of a stroke at 62
Dec 12 Ian Stewart, Scottish keyboardist, road manager, and co-founder of the Rolling Stones, dies of a heart attack at 47
Dec 14 Catherine Doherty, Russian-born Canadian activist, dies at 89
Dec 14 Charlie Bachman, American College Football Hall of Fame guard and coach (Notre Dame, Florida, Michigan State), dies at 93

Roger Maris (1934-1985)

Dec 14 American baseball right fielder (7-time MLB All Star, 61 HRs 1961), dies of cancer at 51

Dec 15 Forrest C. Shaklee, American chiropractor and founder (Shaklee Products), dies at 91
Dec 16 Dick Pollard, cricketer (England fast-medium bowler 1946-48), dies
Dec 16 Paul Castellano, American organized-crime chief, shot dead at a NYC restaurant at 70
Dec 16 Thomas Bilotti, American mafioso (b. 1940)
Dec 17 Otto Gotsche, writer, dies
Dec 18 Xuân Diệu, Vietnamese poet (b. 1916)
Dec 21 Kamatari Fujiwara, Japanese film actor (Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo), dies of a heart attack at 80
Dec 22 (Dennes) D. Boon, American punk rock singer and guitarist (The Minutemen), dies in a van accident at 27
Dec 23 James Vance (20) and Raymond Belknap (18) attempt suicide (Belknap dies). Their families later sue rock group Judas Priest for subliminal messages in song "Better By You, Better Than Me".
Dec 24 Ferhat Abbas, Algerian politician and President of the National Constituent Assembly of Algeria (1962-63), dies at 86
Dec 25 George Rhodes, American pianist, composer, arranger, and music director (Sammy Davis, Jr. Show), dies of a heart attack at 66
Dec 26 Dian Fossey, American zoologist (Gorillas in the Mist), murdered in Rwanda at 53
Dec 26 Harold P. Warren, American film director (Manos: The Hands of Fate), dies at 62
Dec 26 Jackie Ormes, African-American cartoonist (Torchy Brown), dies at 74

Harry Hopman (1906-1985)

Dec 27 Australian tennis player, coach (Davis Cup captain 1939-67, won 16), dies of a heart attack at 79

Dec 28 Benny Morton, American jazz trombonist (Teddy Wilson Sextet), dies at 78

Ricky Nelson (1940-1985)

Dec 31 American pop-rock star ("Hello Mary Lou"; "It's Late"; "Garden Party") and actor (The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet), dies in a plane crash at 45

Dec 31 Mal Matheson, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (2 Tests) and rugby union Test referee (Australia v NZ 1946), dies at 79
Dec 31 Sam Spiegel, American film producer (On the Waterfront, The Bridge on the River Kwai), dies at 84

On This Day