1985
Gorbachev takes Soviet helm
At fifty-four, Mikhail Gorbachev became the youngest Politburo member to lead the Soviet Union since Stalin, succeeding a string of ailing old men who had died in office. He believed the system needed openness (glasnost) and restructuring (perestroika) to survive. It did not survive, and that turned out to be his greatest, if unintended, achievement. Within six years the USSR was gone.
Discovery of the hole in the ozone layer
British scientists in Antarctica reported a massive seasonal hole in the ozone layer above the South Pole, caused by chlorofluorocarbons. The world reacted with unusual speed: the Montreal Protocol was signed two years later, phasing out CFCs. Decades later the ozone layer began to heal, the only major global environmental problem the world largely solved.
Mexico City earthquake
An 8.0 quake struck just after dawn, collapsing buildings across Mexico City. Ten thousand died; the government response was so inept that ordinary citizens took over rescue efforts, finding survivors in the rubble with their hands. The disaster shook confidence in the PRI's seventy-year grip on power and helped seed later democratic reform.
British miners' strike ends
After a year on picket lines against Margaret Thatcher, the National Union of Mineworkers voted to return to work without a settlement. Pits were closed across northern England, Scotland, and Wales; communities that had mined coal for generations hollowed out. Thatcherism had broken the most powerful union in Britain. It would not be rebuilt.
Live Aid
Bob Geldof staged simultaneous concerts at Wembley and Philadelphia to raise money for Ethiopian famine relief. Queen's twenty-minute set would become legend. Broadcast to a billion and a half people in over a hundred countries, Live Aid raised more than a hundred million dollars and made celebrity humanitarianism a permanent feature of the world.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1985?
Saeculum lists 5 curated events from 1985. The most significant is Gorbachev takes Soviet helm: At fifty-four, Mikhail Gorbachev became the youngest Politburo member to lead the Soviet Union since Stalin, succeeding a string of ailing old men…
What era was 1985 part of?
1985 falls within the Modern Era (1901-2000). World wars, cold war, and the splitting of the atom.
Which regions saw notable events in 1985?
The curated events from 1985 span Europe, Oceania and North America.