At A Glance

19 August 1985 at a glance

Day of the week
19 August 1985 was a Monday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Shout” by Tears for Fears.
Top Film of 1985
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1985 was Back to the Future.
Bestselling Novel of 1985
“The Mammoth Hunters” by Jean M. Auel was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1985.
Top-Rated TV Show
“The Cosby Show” (NBC) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1985–86 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 19 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 19 August 1985 fell in the Year of the Ox.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 19 August 1985 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 19 August

  • 1981 Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States F-14A Tomcat fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra.
  • 1981 Silvio Santos launches a new Brazilian television channel in São Paulo, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão.
  • 1989 Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years.
  • 1989 Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
  • 1991 Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The August Coup begins when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine.

Famous people born on August 19

  • Bill Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas, 42nd President of the United States (born 1946)
  • Kirk Cousins, American football player (born 1988)
  • Matthew Perry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (1969–2023)
  • Kyra Sedgwick, American actress and producer (born 1965)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1985 in the United States

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

  • January 28 – In Hollywood, California, the charity single "We Are the World" is recorded by USA for Africa.
  • February 15 – John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club is released in theaters
  • June 17 – John Hendricks launches the Discovery Channel in the United States.

Life in the US in 1985

President

Ronald Reagan

Gas (per gallon)

$1.12

Loaf of Bread

$0.65

Average House

$84,300

Weekly Wage

$334

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.

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

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