IROC-Z.com - What was happening in 1985

I am always looking for 1985 - 1990 Facts and Memorabilia. If you have something from 1985 that should be in this section, please email to Jeff. 

Do you remember where you were in 1985? Who you were with? What you were wearing? What you were watching on TV? 

For me, I was in the 10th grade, wearing Jams shorts, riding my skateboard to high school in Northern New Jersey and watching MTV (when they used to play videos). I owned my first car, a 1967 Mercury Cougar, shhhh, dont tell anyone I owned a Ford. I bought it for $50 and sold it for $50 and never drove it once. haha.

This section is to let you all reminisce back to those great years of the IROC-Z and relive a little of what went on back then. The 80's were a fantastic time for me. The best decade I ever lived through. I am still lost in the 80's.

1985 TIDBITS...

~ Chevrolet introduced the IROC-Z Camaro

~ Ronald Reagan,  73 -  takes oath for second term as 40th President (Jan. 20).

~ Coca Cola introduced us to a new Coke, which subsequently flopped

~  PLO Terrorists hijack Achille Lauro, Italian cruise ship, with 80 passengers, plus crew (Oct. 7); American, Leon Klinghoffer, killed (Oct. 8); Italian Government toppled by political crisis over hijacking (Oct. 16).

~ Rock Hudson dies of AIDS at age 59. He's the first major star to fall victim to the disease

~ Madonna launches her first road show, the Virgin Tour.

~ Dozens of top-name musicians and bands perform at the Live Aid concerts in Philadelphia and London. The shows benefit African famine victims.

~ With the availability of relatively inexpensive laser printers and computers, tools for desktop publishing begin to be commonly used.

1985 US Statistics

President: Ronald Reagan
Vice President: George Bush
Population: 237,923,795
Life expectancy: 74.7 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 52.1
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 46.5

1985 Economic Information

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $4,180.70 billion
Federal spending:   $946.39 billion
Federal debt:   $1817.5 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $23,618
Consumer Price Index:   107.6
Unemployment:   7.5%

Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.20

1985 SPORTS HISTORY

In 1985...

MLB Baseball - The Kansas City Royals won the Major League Baseball World Series beating the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3.

NBA Basketball - The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics for the NBA Basketball Championship 4 games to 2.

College Basketball - Villanova beat Georgetown 66-64 for the NCAA Basketball title.

Boxing - Michael Spinks beat Larry Holmes in a 15 round decision.

In Football, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Miami Dolphins 38-16 for the Super Bowl title.

PGA Golf - Bernhard Langer won the Masters Golf Tournament.

NHL Hockey - The Edmonton Oilers won the NHL's Stanley Cup.

Tennis - Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova won Wimbledon.

Kentucky Derby Champion - Spend A Buck

1985 Entertainment Awards

Record of the Year: USA for Africa, "We Are the World"
Album of the Year: Phil Collins, No Jacket Required

1985 Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: Foreign Affairs, Alison Lurie
Music: Symphony RiverRun, Stephen Albert
Drama: Sunday in the Park with George, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine