What happened in 1985

“Like A Virgin”

Madonna · 4 weeks at #1 in 1985

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1. Jan 5Like A VirginMadonna4 wks
2. Feb 2I Want To Know What Love IsForeigner2 wks
3. Feb 16Careless WhisperWham! Featuring George Michael3 wks
4. Mar 9Can't Fight This FeelingREO Speedwagon3 wks
5. Mar 30One More NightPhil Collins2 wks
6. Apr 13We Are The WorldUSA For Africa4 wks
7. May 11Crazy For YouMadonna1 wk
8. May 18Don't You (Forget About Me)Simple Minds1 wk
9. May 25Everything She WantsWham!2 wks
10. Jun 8Everybody Wants To Rule The WorldTears For Fears2 wks
11. Jun 22HeavenBryan Adams2 wks
12. Jul 6SussudioPhil Collins1 wk
13. Jul 13A View To A KillDuran Duran2 wks
14. Jul 27Everytime You Go AwayPaul Young1 wk
15. Aug 3ShoutTears For Fears3 wks
16. Aug 24The Power Of LoveHuey Lewis & The News2 wks
17. Sep 7St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)John Parr2 wks
18. Sep 21Money For NothingDire Straits3 wks
19. Oct 12Oh SheilaReady For The World1 wk
20. Oct 19Take On Mea-ha1 wk
21. Oct 26Saving All My Love For YouWhitney Houston1 wk
22. Nov 2Part-Time LoverStevie Wonder1 wk
23. Nov 9Miami Vice ThemeJan Hammer1 wk
24. Nov 16We Built This CityStarship2 wks
25. Nov 30Separate LivesPhil Collins and Marilyn Martin1 wk
26. Dec 7Broken WingsMr. Mister2 wks
27. Dec 21Say You, Say MeLionel Richie2 wks

Dates are the first chart week at #1 in 1985; weeks count only those in 1985.Find the #1 song on your birthday →

1. Jan 28Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.
2. Mar 11Mikhail Gorbachev is elected to the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, making Gorbachev the USSR's de facto, and last, head of state.
3. Mar 17Serial killer Richard Ramirez, aka the "Night Stalker", commits the first two murders in his Los Angeles murder spree.
4. Mar 18The first episode of the soap opera Neighbours was broadcast on the Seven Network, later becoming the longest-running drama in Australian television history.
5. Apr 23Coca-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 three months.
6. Jun 6The remains of Josef Mengele, a Nazi physician notorious for performing human experiments on Auschwitz inmates, were exhumed in Embu das Artes, Brazil.
7. Jun 30Ryan White, an HIV/AIDS patient in the US, was denied re-admission to his school after he had contracted the disease from hemophilia treatments.
8. Jun 30Thirty-nine American hostages from the hijacked TWA Flight 847 are freed in Beirut after being held for 17 days.
9. Jul 13The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Moscow and Sydney.
10. Sep 1The wreck of the Titanic is discovered by an American-French expedition led by Robert Ballard and Jean-Louis Michel.
11. Sep 2Hurricane Elena, an unpredictable and damaging tropical cyclone that affected eastern and central portions of the United States Gulf Coast, made landfall near Biloxi, Mississippi, as a Category 3 major hurricane.
12. Sep 13Super Mario Bros., one of the most influential and best-selling video games in history, was first released in Japan for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
13. Dec 12Arrow Air Flight 1285R, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing all 256 people on board, including 236 members of the United States Army's 101st Airborne Division.
14. Dec 27The body of murdered American primatologist Dian Fossey was discovered inside her cabin in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda.

Event summaries from Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Each links to its article.

• U.S. President

  Ronald Reagan

• UK Prime Minister

  Margaret Thatcher

• Prime Minister of Canada

  Brian Mulroney

• President of France

  François Mitterrand

• German Chancellor

  Helmut Kohl

• Prime Minister of Japan

  Yasuhiro Nakasone

• Soviet leader

  Konstantin Chernenko → Mikhail Gorbachev

Everyone who held the office at some point in 1985, from Wikidata.

A selection of the best-documented titles on Wikidata, by first release year; not a box-office ranking.

• Issa RaeAmerican actress, writer, director, producer and web series creator · Jan 12
• Cynthia Addai-RobinsonEnglish-American actress · Jan 12
• Joe FlaccoAmerican football player · Jan 16
• J. ColeAmerican rapper · Jan 28
• Kris HumphriesAmerican basketball player · Feb 6
• Deborah Ann WollAmerican actress · Feb 7
• Natalie MoralesAmerican actress and director · Feb 15
• Arielle KebbelAmerican actress and model · Feb 19
• Reggie BushAmerican football player · Mar 2
• Emile HirschAmerican actor · Mar 13

From Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0.