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Back to 1985: Big year for Royals, pop culture, history [The Wichita Eagle]
[October 20, 2014]

Back to 1985: Big year for Royals, pop culture, history [The Wichita Eagle]


(Wichita Eagle (KS) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 20--It was Oct. 27, 1985, and the big headline was the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Royals and their fans, of course, didn't know how significant that win was and that it would be 29 years before they'd have that feeling again.

And the world didn't know how significant the year they were living in was, either. As it turns out, 1985 was a pretty big year for pop culture, politics and technological advancements that foreshadowed the computer-based society we would become.



Here's a look at the major events of 1985, the last time the Royals were on top of the baseball world.

Pop culture The big movie of 1985 was "Back to the Future," which went on to become the most financially successful film of the year.


But it wasn't the only still-treasured movie released that year. Teen favorites "The Breakfast Club," "Weird Science," "The Goonies," "Better Off Dead" and "Teen Wolf" all were released in 1985. So was "Rocky IV" (the one with the big Russian boxer). It was a big year for dramas -- "The Color Purple," "Witness," "Out of Africa," "Mask" and "Cocoon" -- and for comedies -- "Fletch," "European Vacation," "Pee Wee's Big Adventure." At the Oscars, "Amadeus" won best picture, and after taking the the best actress award for her role in "Places in the Heart," Sally Field delivered her famous acceptance speech: "You like me!" Television viewers were hooked on "Dallas," "Dynasty," "Hill Street Blues" and "St. Elsewhere" and tuned in to laugh at "The Cosby Show," "Family Ties," "Night Court," "Who's the Boss?" "Benson," "Cheers" and "Kate and Allie." Pop star Madonna launched her "Like a Virgin" tour and starred in her first major movie role in "Desperately Seeking Susan." She made headlines that August when she married actor Sean Penn. (They divorced four years later.) The big album releases of 1985 included Phil Collins' "No Jacket Required," Prince's "Around the World in a Day" and LL Cool J's debut, "Radio." When the Royals won, the No. 1 song in the country was Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You," but Stevie Wonder's "Part Time Lover," A-ha's "Take on Me" and Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me" also were big hits.

It was the year the country's biggest stars teamed up under the name USA for Africa to record "We Are the World." VH-1 took to the airwaves. And David Lee Roth finally decided he'd had enough of Van Halen and left the band to start a solo career.

World headlines Ronald Reagan had just started his second term as president at age 73. It was also the year that Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union.

A gallon of gas cost about $1.20, a gallon of milk $1.28. Stamps were still 22 cents, and everyone still used them.

It was also the year that the wreckage of the Titanic was found in the North Atlantic. Associated Press journalist Terry Anderson was taken hostage in Beirut and would remain in captivity until 1991.

The first restaurant smoking ban went into effect in Aspen, Colo. And the world nearly rioted when Coca-Cola introduced New Coke. (Three months later, old Coke was reinstated, and Coca-Cola learned not to mess with its classic.) AIDS was also in the headlines in 1985, when actor Rock Hudson died from the disease at age 59. The Food and Drug Administration approved a blood test for AIDS that year, which is used to screen all blood donations.

Technology Back in 1985, no one had e-mail and no one had cellphones. People listened to music on cassette tapes and watched movies on VCRs.

A big night of video gaming involved an Atari and some "Donkey Kong." But that was all starting to change. In 1985, Nintendo sold its first home video game console in the United States. It's also the year "Super Mario Brothers" was introduced.

Also in 1985, Microsoft introduced Windows 1.0.

___ (c)2014 The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.) Visit The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.) at www.kansas.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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