1985

January 20 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan is privately sworn in for a second term in office (publicly sworn in, January 21).
January 28 - In Hollywood, California, the charity single "We Are the World" is recorded by USA for Africa.
February 10 - Nelson Mandela rejects an offer of freedom from the South African government.
February 20 - Minolta releases world's first autofocus single-lens reflex camera.
March 6 - Mike Tyson makes his professional debut in Albany, New York, a match which he wins by a first round knockout.
March 11 - Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and de facto leader of the Soviet Union.
April 15 - South Africa ends its ban on interracial marriages.
April 23 - Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. (The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than 3 months.)
May 5 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan joins German Chancellor Helmut Kohl for a controversial funeral service at a cemetery in Bitburg, Germany, which includes the graves of 59 elite S.S. troops from World War II.
May 25 - Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
June 27 - U.S. Route 66 is officially decommissioned.
June 30 - Michael Phelps, American Swimmer, born
July 13 - Live Aid pop concerts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and London raise over £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
July 13 - U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush serves as Acting President for 8 hours, while President Ronald W. Reagan undergoes colon cancer surgery.
August 4 - Major League Baseball player Rod Carew of the Anaheim Angels becomes the 16th player to achieve 3,000 hits in a career.
August 6 - In Hiroshima, tens of thousands mark the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.
September 1 - A joint American-French expedition locates the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
September 19 - An 8.1 Richter scale earthquake strikes Mexico City. More than 9,000 people are killed, 30,000 injured, and 95,000 left homeless.
October 2 - Rock Hudson, American Actor, dies
October 18 - The Nintendo Entertainment System is released in U.S. stores.
November 18 - The comic strip Calvin and Hobbes debuts in 35 newspapers.
November 20 - Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.
December 16 - In New York City, Mafia bosses Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead in front of Spark's Steak House, making hit organizer John Gotti the leader of the powerful Gambino organized crime family. During the shootout Andrew Bearse is born in the middle of the street, when his mother is hit by a stray bullet which forces her into early labor. He survives and currently resides in Detroit, Michigan.
December 22 - D. Boon, American Singer and Guitarist, dies