#even the

A few people seemed to like my Movies of ‘85 post. So, in the spirit of helping out (and procrastinating from stuff I should be working on) I’ve assembled the following lists (shamelessly mined from Google and linked to YouTube) of things that I thought were interesting for any of ya’ll looking for inspiration to write a fic taking place in ‘85 (and for you old school cats who want to take a trip down memory lane). Enjoy!

EVENTS

• January - National Geographic published pictures and the story of Koko the gorilla and her kitten, 1st: VH-1 debut (fyi MTV came out in 1981), 20th-22nd: Eastern USA and Canada experiences some of the coldest temperatures ever recorded in the 20th century, 20th: Ronald Reagan sworn in for his second term as president

• February - 9th: Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” album goes #1 for 3 weeks, 14th: Whitney Houston debut album released, 19th: Mickey Mouse welcomed in China, Cherry Coke introduced, 

• March - 2nd: FDA approves ELISA screening for AIDS antibody for all blood banks, 3rd: “Moonlighting” with Bruce Willis premieres on television, 6th: Mike Tyson makes his professional debut by 1st round knockout, 7th: “We Are the World” single released, 10th: Mikhail Gorbachev replaces Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader, 25th: 57th Annual Academy Awards (Amadeus wins Best Picture), 31st: Wrestlemania debuts in Madison Square Garden

• April - 23rd: New Coke introduced (and pulled within 3 months due to public backlash), 

• May - 15th: An explosive device sent by the Unabomber injures John Hauser at UC Berkeley, 17th: Michael Jordan named NBA Rookie of the Year, 31st: MDMA became a schedule 1 drug in the US, 

• June - CD-ROM introduced by Sony/Philips as media for data storage (CD’s were already introduced in 1983 for music), 27th; US Route 66 (Chicago to Santa Monica) is officially decommissioned

• July - 13th Live Aid Concert held dually in Wembley Stadium London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, 

• August - 1st: 18th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at Hotel San Diego, 10th: Michael Jackson buys ATV Music (and as a result the entire Beatles music catalog) for $47 million

• September - 1st: RMS Titanic found off the coast of Newfoundland, 13th: 2nd MTV Video Music Awards, 17th: Steve Jobs resigns from Apple and leave to found NeXT, 

• October - 18th: Nintendo Entertainment System released in USA

• November - 18th: Calvin and Hobbes debuts in newspapers, Sesame Street cast finally meet Mr. Snuffleupagus and realize he’s not Big Bird’s imaginary friend, Elmo introduced on Sesame Street, 20th: Microsoft Windows 1.0 introduced, 24th: Burger King launched a viral ad campaign featuring 'Herb the Nerd', a mysterious man who had never eaten a Whopper in his life. People could get a 99 cent Whopper by saying "I'm Not Herb"

• December - 24th: Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith (the last descendant of Abraham Lincoln) dies

LIFE

• Average temperature for Summer of ‘85 was 85°Fahrenheit/29°Celsius

• World Population: 4,813,000,000

• US Population: 237,923,795

• Prices: Gas $1.19/gallon, Postage Stamp $0.22, Milk $1.98, Bread $0.74, Comic Book $0.75, McDonald’s Big Mac Meal $2.59

• Average US yearly income: $12,747.00

• Average US home price: $100,800.00

• Minimum wage: $3.35/hour

• Commercials

TOYS

Transformers, Cabbage Patch Kids, G.I.JOE, Teddy Ruxpin, Rainbow Brite, Care Bears, Barbie, DC Super Powers Action Figures, My Buddy, Construx, Voltron

CARTOONS & KID’S SHOWS

Thundercats, Robotech, Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears, G.I.Joe, Transformers, Jem, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra: Princess of Power, M.A.S.K., Alvin and the Chipmunks, Voltron, Captain Harlock, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, Reading Rainbow, The Super Powers Team, Small Wonder, Punky Brewster, The Care Bears, Star Wars: Droids, Star Wars: Ewoks, Spider-man and his Amazing Friends, Incredible Hulk, The Littles

TELEVISION

Family Ties, Cheers, Murder She Wrote, 227, Dallas, Dynasty, The Golden Girls, Miami Vice, Who’s the Boss?, Night Court, CBS Sunday Night Movie, Highway to Heaven, Kate and Allie, Monday Night Football, Newhart, Knots Landing, Growing Pains, Hill Street Blues, NBC Sunday Night Movie, Hotel, NBC Monday Night Movie, Moonlighting, Falcon Crest, Valerie, The Facts of Life, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Simon & Simon, The A-Team, The Equalizer, Spenser: For Hire, Amazing Stories, Macgyver, The Twilight Zone, Mr. Belvedere, Street Hawk, Knight Rider, Magnum P.I., The Dukes of Hazard, Diff’rent Strokes, Cagney and Lacey, The Love Boat, Bossom Buddies, CHiPs, The Jeffersons, St. Elsewhere, Three’s Company, Webster, WKRP in Cincinnati, Remington Steele, Mama’s Family, The Greatest American Hero, The Fall Guy, T.J. Hooker, Fame

Tagging the SFS writing crew: