At A Glance

31 December 1985 at a glance

Day of the week
31 December 1985 was a Tuesday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin' Stevens.
Top Film of 1985
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1985 was Back to the Future.
Star sign
The star sign for 31 December is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 31 December 1985 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for December is Turquoise.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 31 December 1985 was Waning Gibbous.

On this day: 31 December

  • 1981 A coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann's PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.
  • 1983 The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
  • 1983 Benjamin Ward is appointed New York City Police Department's first ever African American police commissioner.
  • 1983 In Nigeria, a coup d'état led by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ends the Second Nigerian Republic.
  • 1991 All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date, five days after the Soviet Union is officially dissolved.

Famous people born on 31 December

  • Val Kilmer, American actor (1959–2025)
  • Sophia Laforteza, Filipino-American singer (born 2002)
  • Alex Ferguson, Scottish footballer and manager (born 1941)
  • Charles Edward Stuart, Scottish claimant to the throne of England (1720–1788)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1985 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1985 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 19 February – EastEnders, the BBC One soap opera set in the fictional London Borough of Walford, debuts.
  • 13 May – The Dire Straits album Brothers in Arms is released; it becomes the first compact disc to sell over 1,000,000 copies.
  • 1 June – Battle of the Beanfield, Britain's largest mass arrest and the effective end of Stonehenge Free Festivals.
More events of 1985 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in 1985

Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

67p

Loaf of Bread

46p

Average House

£31,103

Weekly Wage

£177.00

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1980s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Theo James16 December 1984Actor & musicianView their day →Pac22 August 1986WrestlerView their day →Robert Pattinson13 May 1986Actor & film producerView their day →Andrew Garfield20 August 1983ActorView their day →Charlie Hunnam10 April 1980ActorView their day →Juno Temple21 July 1989ActressView their day →Rebecca Hall3 May 1982Actress & filmmakerView their day →Lewis Hamilton7 January 1985Racing driverView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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