1985
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2 January 1985 Peter Maxwell Davies (50) delivers the Presidential Address at the North of England Education Conference. He blasts recent cuts in school music.
3 January 1985 Czechoslovak government agents detain Vaclav Havel for 48 hours.
Israel reveals that it has secretly airlifted more than 10,000 Jews from Ethiopia to Israel.
The Ninety-ninth Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. The ruling Republican Party controls the Senate while the Democratic Party controls the House of Representatives.
Leontyne Price gives her farewell appearance at the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
Concerto for piano and orchestra no.1 by Samuel Adler (56) is performed for the first time.
4 January 1985 An American Oratorio for tenor, chorus and orchestra by Ned Rorem (61) to words of various authors is performed for the first time, in Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh.
8 January 1985 Vietnamese forces capture the Ampil camp, headquarters of the main non-Communist Cambodian resistance group. Survivors flee into Thailand.
A Roman Catholic priest and head of a relief agency, Lawrence Martin Jenco, is abducted in Beirut. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.
Meeting in Geneva, the foreign ministers of the US and the USSR agree to resume nuclear arms reduction negotiations.
General Motors announces plans for a wholly owned subsidiary to be called Saturn Corp. to produce subcompact cars to compete with Japanese imports.
The three Grandes études op.76 of Valentin Alkan (†96) are performed completely for probably the first time, at the Guildhall School of Music, London, 147 years after they were composed.
9 January 1985 A newly elected National Assembly is installed in Managua.
10 January 1985 Daniel Ortega Saavedra is inaugurated as President of Nicaragua.
Malven for voice and piano by Richard Strauss (†35) is performed for the first time, in New York 37 years after it was composed.
Riverrun for piano and orchestra by Toru Takemitsu (54) is performed for the first time, in Los Angeles.
13 January 1985 For the first time, Soviet schools institute mandatory sex education classes.
14 January 1985 Hun Sen replaces Chan Si as Prime Minister of Cambodia.
The Israeli government announces a plan to withdraw its forces from Lebanon over the next nine months.
Piano Sonata no.4 by Michael Tippett (80) is performed for the first time, in the Japan-America Theatre, Los Angeles.
15 January 1985 A four month sit-in by East Germans in the West German embassy in Prague ends when the final remaining six return home.
An electoral college chooses opposition leader Tancredo de Almeida Neves of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party as President of Brazil.
16 January 1985 Sketches, a ballet by Alfred Schnittke (50) to a story by Petrov after Gogol, is performed for the first time, in the Bolshoy Theatre, Moscow.
Quasi hoquetus for viola, bassoon, and piano by Sofia Gubaidulina (53) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
Rhapsody for violin and orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (46) is performed for the first time, in Davis Symphony Hall, San Francisco.
17 January 1985 The first nuclear power plant in Brazil begins operations in São Paulo State.
Episode cinquième for cello by Betsy Jolas (58) is performed for the first time, in Salle Gaveau, Paris.
18 January 1985 Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, leader of nonviolent opposition to the establishment of Sharia law in Sudan, is hanged in Khartoum for the crime of heresy. Four others are saved from execution by recanting.
The Reagan administration announces it will not participate in hearings before the International Court of Justice in the suit of Nicaragua against the US.
Partita for violin and piano by Witold Lutoslawski (71) is performed for the first time, in St. Paul, Minnesota. See 10 January 1990.
19 January 1985 Te Deum for three choirs, piano, strings, and tape by Arvo Pärt (49) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.
Horizon for orchestra by Samuel Barber (†3) is performed for the first time, in Merrick, New York, approximately 40 years after it was composed.
21 January 1985 A 14-year-old student opens fire with a rifle at his Junior High School in suburban Wichita, Kansas. He kills the principal, and injures two teachers and a student.
23 January 1985 Filipino chief of staff Fabian Ver and 25 others are charged in the murder of opposition leader Benigno Aquino.
Debate in the British House of Commons is televised for the first time.
The US Environmental Protection Agency reveals that methyl isocyanate was discharged 28 times from Union Carbide plants over the last five years.
Moving Into Aquarius for orchestra by Thea Musgrave (56) and Richard Rodney Bennett is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, London to celebrate the 80th birthday of Michael Tippett.
24 January 1985 Walter Reder, convicted of the murder of 600 people in 1944, is freed by Italy and flown to Austria. He was the last Nazi war criminal held by Italy.
US President Reagan warns of a new danger to Central America from Iran, Libya, and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Requiem for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Andrew Imbrie (63) to words of the Latin requiem, Blake, Herbert, and Donne, is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.
25 January 1985 A French Ministry of Defense official is shot to death near his home in suburban Paris by the leftist guerrillas Direct Action.
26 January 1985 US President Reagan charges that African-American leaders misrepresent him in an attempt to keep blacks “stirred up.”
27 January 1985 Toccata for cello by Ben Johnston (58) is performed for the first time, at the University of Illinois.
28 January 1985 Symphony no.59 by Alan Hovhaness (73) is performed for the first time, in Bellevue, Washington.
29 January 1985 Charles Wuorinen (46) is appointed composer-in-residence with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
31 January 1985 Statistics released by the British government show an unemployment rate of 13.9%, the highest since the Great Depression.
Dérive I for flute, clarinet, piano, vibraphone, violin, and cello by Pierre Boulez (59) is performed for the first time, in London.
1 February 1985 Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community. It was included as a dependency of Denmark, but was never a separate member.
A high-ranking official of a West German arms manufacturer is shot to death in his suburban Munich home by the Red Army Faction.
The British Arts Council announces the increase in its grants to arts organization will be only two percent, below the inflation rate of 4.5%. Some organizations will not receive grants.
2 February 1985 Monolog for bassoon by Isang Yun (67) is performed for the first time, in Nizza.
4 February 1985 The United States State Department announces that New Zealand refused a request that a United States Navy destroyer be allowed to pay a port call in New Zealand because the US refused to reveal whether the ship carried nuclear weapons.
5 February 1985 The border between Gibraltar and Spain reopens for the first time in 15 years.
Terry Waite, special envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury, wins the release of four British citizens in Libya. They were arrested last April when the two countries broke relations.
US Budget Director David Stockman opposes federal help to family farmers to refinance bad debt “willingly incurred by consenting adults who went out and bought farm land when prices were going up and thought they could get rich.”
Concertino for winds and strings by Charles Wuorinen (46) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
7 February 1985 Four members of the Polish state security police are convicted in Torun of the 1984 murder of Jerzy Popieluszko. They are sentenced to terms of 14-25 years.
The US State Department announces that it no longer considers New Zealand “a loyal and faithful ally.”
8 February 1985 Korean opposition leader Kim Dae Jung returns to Korea after a two-year exile in the United States. Immediately on his arrival in Seoul, police begin beating Kim and his supporters and place him under house arrest.
US Secretary of Education William Bennett defends Reagan Administration cuts in student loans by saying the students will have to forgo their stereos, cars, and vacations.
Tracer for flute, oboe, bassoon, violin, double bass, and four-track tape by Earle Brown (58), is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
10 February 1985 Nelson Mandela rejects an offer of release from South African President PW Botha. Mandela refuses to renounce violence.
Schwartzer und roter Tanz for orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (32) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
Transfigured Wind IV for flute and electronic sound generators by Roger Reynolds (50) is performed for the first time, in Lincoln Center, New York.
11 February 1985 US President Reagan announces that the 8 February incident hides the fact that Korea “has made great strides in democracy.” He blames “bad judgement on both sides.”
12 February 1985 A bipartisan congressional group charges that the Reagan administration has produced “insufficient, misleading and…false” information on aid to El Salvador.
Mistral for brass, strings and harpsichord by Roger Reynolds (50) is performed for the first time, in Symphony Space, New York.
13 February 1985 The Dresden Opera House, faithfully restored, opens for its first postwar season with Weber’s (†158) Der Freischütz, exactly forty years after it (and the rest of Dresden) was destroyed. It is broadcast live on both East and West German television. See 13 February 1945.
14 February 1985 American television journalist Jeremy Levin, kidnapped in Lebanon eleven months ago, escapes from his Moslem militant captors and presents himself to the Syrian army near Baalbek. The Syrians turn him over to the US ambassador in Beirut. He will return to the US.
Turkey recalls its ambassador from Bulgaria over reports that Bulgarian officials have killed hundreds of ethnic Turks as part of an effort to get them to adopt Bulgarian names.
The Worldwide Conservative Rabbinical Assembly approves women in the clergy.
Filtres II for flute and piano by Jean-Claude Risset (46) is performed for the first time, in Nice.
Winds of Nagual--Musical Fable for Wind Ensemble on the Writings of Carlos Castaneda by Michael Colgrass (52) is performed for the first time, at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston.
15 February 1985 Vietnamese forces capture and destroy Khmer Rouge administrative headquarters at Phum Thmei.
16 February 1985 Israeli forces complete their withdrawal from the Sidon (Saida) area.
Preludes for piano by Leslie Bassett (62) is performed for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Gending Vincent for Javanese gamelan by Lou Harrison (67) is performed for the first time, at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
17 February 1985 Music for Twelve for chamber ensemble by Leon Kirchner (66) is performed for the first time, at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston the composer conducting.
18 February 1985 Lho Shin Yong replaces Chin Lee Chong as prime minister of the Republic of Korea.
South African Blacks protest their forced removal at Crossroads, near Cape Town. In violence continuing to 20 February, 18 people will be killed, 200 injured.
General William Westmorland drops his libel suit against CBS television just before it goes to the jury. He has been seeking $120,000,000 for a CBS report which showed Westmoreland had deceived the political leadership and the public about enemy strength while he was commander in Vietnam.
19 February 1985 Prime Minister David Lange of New Zealand announces the cancellation of joint military exercises with the United States.
South African police arrest the top leadership of the United Democratic Front, a non-violent anti-government umbrella organization.
Symphony no.3 by Peter Maxwell Davies (50) is performed for the first time, in Free Trade Hall, Manchester.
21 February 1985 US President Reagan admits that he wants to “remove” the government of Nicaragua.
22 February 1985 Secretary of State Shulz tells Congress that unless they bankroll the conservative rebels in Nicaragua, the country will fall into “the endless darkness of Communist tyranny.”
Efrem Zimbalist Sr. dies of cancer in Reno, Nevada at the age of 95.
23 February 1985 Sonata for viola and piano by Samuel Adler (56) is performed for the first time, in New York.
24 February 1985 Three canons for two flutes by Otto Luening (84) is performed for the first time, in New York.
Gazebo Dances for piano four-hands by John Corigliano (47) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
25 February 1985 The US dollar reaches record highs against the British pound, Canadian dollar and the French franc.
26 February 1985 The Physician Task Force on hunger in America reports that 20,000,000 Americans are hungry because of economics and “conscious” government policy.
27 February 1985 Central banks of the US and six European countries intervene to counter the record-setting rise of the dollar against other currencies.
28 February 1985 The Provisional IRA attacks the Newry station of the Royal Ulster Constabulary with mortars. Nine police are killed.
1 March 1985 President Hossein Mohammed Ershad reimposes martial law on Bangladesh. He also cancels upcoming elections and announces a referendum on his policies instead.
Julio María Sanguinetti replaces Gregorio Álvarez Armelino as president of Uruguay, thus ending twelve years of military rule.
President Reagan calls the right-wing rebels in Nicaragua the “moral equivalents of our Founding Fathers.”
Harriet, the Woman Called Moses, an opera by Thea Musgrave (56) to her own words, is performed for the first time, in Norfolk, Virginia.
Colors and Contours for band by Leslie Bassett (62) is performed for the first time, in Boulder, Colorado.
3 March 1985 Almost one year after it began, the National Union of Mineworkers in Britain votes to end its strike. Their demands are unmet.
4 March 1985 A bomb destroys a Shia mosque in Marakah, Lebanon killing 15 people.
Prospection for three pianos by Henri Pousseur (55) is performed for the first time, in the Great Hall of the Conservatoire, Liège 33 years after it was composed.
5 March 1985 US President Reagan vetoes any aid to family farmers.
The United States human rights group Americas Watch states that the conservative rebels in Nicaragua regularly rape, kidnap, and murder civilians. They repeatedly execute prisoners and use terrorism.
6 March 1985 The South Korean government ends its ban on 14 opposition political politicians.
A car bomb explodes in the Shia suburbs of Beirut killing 62 people and injuring 200 others.
7 March 1985 Alec Jeffreys of the University of Leicester, and others, publish an article in Nature which outlines their discovery that the core sequence of DNA is almost unique to each individual. This allows for “genetic fingerprinting.”
9 March 1985 Haikai for flute and zoomoozophone by John Cage (72) is performed for the first time, at the Theatre of the Open Eye, New York.
10 March 1985 A suicide truck bomb kills twelve Israeli soldiers and injures 14 others in Southern Lebanon.
General-Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko dies of heart failure in Moscow. Vasily Vasiliyevich Kuznetsov is named acting Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Ioannis Nikolaou Alevras replaces Konstantinos Georgiou Karamanlis as President of Greece ad interim.
A Carlo Scarpa architetto, ai suoi infinti possibili for orchestra by Luigi Nono (61) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
Few for two-track tape by Kenneth Gaburo (58) in collaboration with the poet Henri Chopin, is performed for the first time, in Coroboree Gallery of the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Solstice for string quartet by Robert Erickson (68) is performed for the first time, at the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia.
11 March 1985 Vietnamese forces capture the headquarters of Prince Sihanouk at Tatum.
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is named General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
45 dissidents are arrested in a house in Prague including Jiri Dienstbier, spokesman for Charter 77.
Nature’s Breath for chamber orchestra by Tod Machover (31) is performed for the first time, in Théâtre du Rond Point, Paris.
12 March 1985 A massive Iranian offensive against Iraq begins north of Basra. They advance as much as 29 km.
Three Armenian gunmen shoot their way into the Turkish embassy in Ottawa, killing a Canadian guard and taking ten people hostage. They surrender to authorities after four hours.
Eugene Ormandy dies of pneumonia in Philadelphia at the age of 85.
Lost whale calf for piano by Ross Lee Finney (78) is performed for the first time, at the Hartt School of Music, Hartford, Connecticut.
13 March 1985 Iraq launches a counteroffensive against the Iranians.
14 March 1985 Dutch priest Nicolas Kluiters is kidnapped in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
Brazilian President-elect Tancredo Neves undergoes emergency surgery for diverticulitis.
15 March 1985 A suicide bomber detonates a device on his waist at Teheran University in an attempt to kill President Mohammed Ali Khamenei. He kills himself and five others but the President is uninjured.
British oil company executive Brian Levick is abducted in Beirut.
José Sarney Costa replaces João Baptista Figueredo as President of Brazil ending 21 years of military rule. The elected president, Tancredo de Almeida Neves is incapacitated due to surgery. Sarney, the vice-president, takes power as acting President.
The first internet domain name is registered by Symbolics, a computer company based in Massachusetts.
Ritual for orchestra by Alfred Schnittke (50) is performed for the first time, in Novosibirsk.
16 March 1985 American journalist Terry Anderson is kidnapped in Beirut.
Roger Sessions dies of a cerebral hemorrhage in Princeton, New Jersey aged 88 years, two months, and 16 days.
17 March 1985 Expo ‘85 for multiple synthesizers by Lejaren Hiller (61), Charles Ames and John Myhill is performed for the first time, in Tsukuba, Japan.
18 March 1985 In the largest merger in United States history outside the oil industry, Capital Cities Communication, Inc. buys the American Broadcasting Company for $3,500,000,000.
19 March 1985 The United States reports that a week-long offensive by Iran against Iraq has failed and that most of the 30,000-50,000 Iranians in the battle were casualties.
IBM announces it will cease production of the PCjr because “the home [computer] market didn’t expand to the degree that IBM and others thought it would.”
Ned Rorem’s (61) Organ Concerto is performed for the first time, in Portland, Maine.
20 March 1985 Union Carbide admits its guilt in the Bhopal deaths, stating that their actions were due to “operating errors and procedural violations.”
Concerto for violin, English horn and computer by John Melby (43) is performed for the first time, at the University of Illinois.
21 March 1985 On the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre, South African police open fire on thousands of blacks in a funeral procession in the town of Uitenhage, killing at least 19. US President Reagan states that the “rioting” Blacks share the blame with the police. He says it is incorrect to say “that the violence was coming totally from the law-and-order side.”
Israeli troops stage an anti-terrorist sweep through southern Lebanon, killing 21 people.
40,000 people demonstrate in Istanbul protesting Bulgaria’s treatment of ethnic Turks.
Harmonielehre for orchestra by John Adams (38) is performed for the first time, in Davies Hall, San Francisco.
22 March 1985 In separate incidents, French vice consul Marcel Fontaine, French diplomat Marcel Carton, and his daughter Danielle Perez are abducted in Beirut.
Twighlight Music for horn, violin and piano by John Harbison (46) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
24 March 1985 Mohammed Khan Junejo becomes Prime Minister of Pakistan.
A US Army officer is killed by Soviet guards as he observes Soviet tanks at a military installation in Ludwigslust, East Germany.
George London dies in Armonk, New York at the age of 64.
25 March 1985 British journalist Alec Collett is abducted south of Beirut. French cultural attaché Gilles Peyrolles is kidnapped in Tripoli, Lebanon.
Brazilian President-elect Tancredo Neves undergoes a third operation in São Paulo, this time to stop bleeding in the small intestine.
The US government concludes that Iraq has used chemical weapons in its war against Iran.
The Milos Foreman film Amadeus wins eight Academy Awards®.
26 March 1985 The music of popular music entertainer Stevie Wonder is banned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation. Wonder accepted and Academy Award® last night in the name of Nelson Mandela.
The Reagan administration formally requests 18 nations to take part in research for the Strategic Defense Initiative (known colloquially as Star Wars). The Danish Folketing votes against the offer.
27 March 1985 Australia rejects the US invitation of 26 March.
28 March 1985 Marc Chagall dies in St. Paul de Vence, France at the age of 97.
29 March 1985 Spain and Portugal agree to requirements for joining the European Community.
The Greek parliament elects Socialist Christos Sartzetakis President on the third ballot.
30 March 1985 British citizen Brian Levick is released after his Lebanese captors find out he is not an American.
Christos Antoniou Sartzetakis, the magistrate who sentenced the murderers of Grigoris Lambrakis and uncovered the official plot and cover-up, replaces Ioannis Nikolaou Alevras as President of Greece. Conservative members of Parliament refuse to attend the ceremony.
The bodies of three opponents of US backed Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet are found near Santiago, their throats cut.
Ned Rorem’s (61) Violin Concerto is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Springfield, Massachusetts.
31 March 1985 French embassy employee Danielle Perez is released by her Lebanese captors.
The Christian Democratic Party of President José Napoleón Duarte wins a majority of seats in parliamentary elections in El Salvador.
Esprit rude l’esprit doux for flute and clarinet by Elliott Carter (76) and dedicated to Pierre Boulez (60), is performed for the first time, in the Weinbrenner-Saal, Baden-Baden. On the same program is the premiere of A Pierre. Dell’azzurro silenzio, inquietum for contrabass flute, contrabass clarinet and electronic sound generators by Luigi Nono (61), and Fusées for orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (33).
Klavierstück XIV no.57 1/2, a version for keyboard of Evas Zweitgeburt by Karlheinz Stockhausen (56) is performed for the first time. See 7 April 1988.
O Domina Nostra op.55 for soprano and organ by Henryk Górecki (51) is performed for the first time, in Poznan.
Sonnekus2 for voice by John Cage (72) is performed for the first time, in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn.
The Fox Trots Again for chamber Ensemble by Lejaren Hiller (61) is performed for the first time, in Buffalo.
1 April 1985 French Cultural Attache Gilles Peyrolles is freed when his Lebanese captors are captured by Shia militia.
2 April 1985 Brazilian President-elect Tancredo Neves undergoes a fourth operation, this one to remove a hernia.
3 April 1985 The Chilean government blames the USSR for the murders discovered 30 March.
4 April 1985 Brazilian President-elect Tancredo Neves undergoes a fifth operation in São Paulo after abscesses are discovered in his abdomen. Doctors say he suffers from a bacterial infection.
5 April 1985 On Taoism for voice, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, and orchestra by Tan Dun (27) is performed for the first time.
6 April 1985 Gaafar Muhammad Nimeiry, dictator of Sudan for 16 years, is overthrown by army officers while abroad. Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab becomes President and al-Jazuli Dafalla is named Prime Minister.
Hugh Desmond Hoyte replaces Forbes Burnham as President of Guyana. He names Hamilton Green to succeed him as Prime Minister.
7 April 1985 Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev announces a freeze in deployment of Soviet intermediate-range nuclear missiles and calls on the US to do the same. The Reagan administration rejects the freeze.
8 April 1985 The British and German governments reject the Gorbachev freeze, as does NATO.
9 April 1985 It is reported that a cholera epidemic in a Somali camp for Ethiopian refugees has taken 1,500 lives.
10 April 1985 Prime Minister Bettino Craxi of Italy calls on the Reagan administration to at least make a counter-offer to the Soviet deployment freeze, instead of just saying no.
11 April 1985 Enver Hoxha, dictator of Albania for 40 years, dies of complications from diabetes.
12 April 1985 Chiffre VI for eight players by Wolfgang Rihm (33) is performed for the first time, in Karlsruhe.
Casanova’s Homecoming, an opera buffa by Dominick Argento (57) to words of the composer after Casanova, is performed for the first time, in the Ordway Music Theatre, St. Paul, Minnesota. It is very successful and goes on to be produced in New York.
13 April 1985 Ramiz Alia replaces Enver Hoxha as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Albania.
Sonata for cello and piano by George Perle (69) is performed for the first time, in New York.
Orphee-Serenade for eight players by William Bolcom (46) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
The Sibyl, an opera by Vincent Persichetti (69) to his own words, is performed for the first time at the Pennsylvania Opera Theatre, Philadelphia.
14 April 1985 Curriculum Vitae Tango for piano by Lukas Foss (62) is performed for the first time, in Hallwalls Art Gallery, Buffalo.
15 April 1985 US President Reagan asserts that Pope John Paul II and Colombian President Belisario Betancur support US military aid to the Nicaraguan Contras. The claim is denied by both men.
Nachtanz über ein thema aus dem 16. Jahrhunderts for orchestra by Werner Egk (†1) is performed for the first time, in Augsburg.
16 April 1985 Acrostics for flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, cello, and harpsichord by Samuel Adler (57) is performed for the first time, in Buffalo.
Works for piano by Vladimir Ussachevsky (73) are performed for the first time, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison: Left Hand Rehabilitation Piano Pieces, Mini Preludes, Right Hand Study no.1, Right Hand Study no.2 and Three Voice Fugue for Right Hand Alone.
17 April 1985 The New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Union decides to tour South Africa. Prime Minister David Lange says it is to their “eternal shame.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Rashid Karami and his national unity government resign after Shia militia units seize control of West Beirut.
The government of Norway rejects the US invitation of 26 March.
The last South African troops depart from Angola.
18 April 1985 Ted Turner announces that he plans to buy a controlling interest in CBS Inc.
19 April 1985 Behold the Sun, an opera by Alexander Goehr (52) to words of McGrath and the composer, is performed for the first time, in Duisburg.
A Collection of Rocks for chorus and orchestra by John Cage (72) is performed for the first time, in Zagreb.
20 April 1985 Concerto grosso no.3 for two violins, harpsichord, and 14 strings by Alfred Schnittke (50) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
21 April 1985 President-elect Tancredo Neves of Brazil dies after seven operations. Acting President José Sarney becomes President.
Pan for piccolo and string quartet by Mauricio Kagel (53) is performed for the first time, in Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
For Philip Guston for flute/alto flute, piano/celesta, and percussion by Morton Feldman (59) is performed for the first time, at SUNY Buffalo.
22 April 1985 The Nicaraguan government and the Indian contra group Misurasata pledge mutual non-aggression in an agreement signed in Mexico City.
The trial of nine former members of the military junta opens in Buenos Aires.
23 April 1985 As Christian militia withdraw from Sidon (Saida), Christian civilians flee to the east. Over 100 people have been killed in sectarian fighting in Sidon.
As Canadian author Farley Mowatt is about to board a plane in Toronto for Los Angeles, he is informed by US officials that he will not be allowed to enter the US. In 1968 an Ottawa newspaper quoted him as saying he had fired a rifle at US planes he thought carried nuclear weapons. Mowatt says the paper misquoted him, and that he had only threatened to do so.
The Coca-Cola Company introduces a new formula for its carbonated beverage it calls New Coke. It will flop.
Seven works by Benjamin Britten (†8) are performed for the first time, over the airwaves of BBC Radio3: Not Even Summer Yet (1936) to words of Burra, To lie flat on the back (1937) for voice and piano to words of Auden, The Children and Sir Nameless (1953) for treble voices and piano to words of Hardy, If It’s Ever Spring Again (1953) for high voice and piano to words of Hardy, and Dawties Devotion (1969), The Gully (1969), and Tradition (1969) for tenor and piano to words of Soutar.
24 April 1985 Israeli forces begin to withdraw from the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.
The US House of Representatives votes down any form of aid to the conservative rebels in Nicaragua.
A federal jury in Pensacola, Florida convicts four people in the bombings last December of clinics where abortions were performed.
26 April 1985 Representatives of the Warsaw Pact agree to a 20 year extension of their treaty, in Warsaw.
Moslem militia sack and burn Christian villages near Sidon (Saida) abandoned by their inhabitants.
28 April 1985 Gottlieb Duo for piano and percussion by Ralph Shapey (64) is performed for the first time, in Quad City, Mississippi.
29 April 1985 Israeli forces complete their withdrawal from Tyre and the Bekaa Valley. Shia Moslem militia take control of Tyre.
Theme (for variations) for cello solo by William Walton (†2) is performed for the first time, in Villa Wolkonsy, Rome. The work is part of Music for a Prince, a collection of pieces by 14 composers for Prince Charles in 1970. Also premiered is Walton’s 1970 composition All This Time for chorus to anonymous words.
1 May 1985 In five Polish cities police battle protesters demonstrating against high food prices and demanding the release of dissidents.
Claiming that Nicaragua poses a threat to United States security, President Reagan declares a state of national emergency and ends all trade with Nicaragua.
2 May 1985 Warring Christian and Moslem militiamen rebuild barricades along the green line separating their communities in Beirut.
4 May 1985 American Thomas Brigham is convicted of murder in a Montreal court for exploding a bomb in a Montreal railroad station last 3 September.
5 May 1985 The original uncut version of König Hirsch, an opera by Hans Werner Henze (58) to words of von Cramer, is staged for the first time, in Stuttgart 30 years after it was composed. See 4 October 1957 and 23 September 1956.
6 May 1985 Rupert Murdoch buys all but one of Metromedia’s television stations in the US, as well as Metromedia Producers Corp. These will become Fox Broadcasting Company.
Kathinkas Gesang als Luzifer Requiem no.52 1/2, an excerpt from Karlheinz Stockhausen’s (56) opera Samstag aus Licht, in a version for flute and electronics, is performed for the first time, in Paris. See 15 October 1983.
Concerto for trumpet and five players by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (46) is performed for the first time, in Pittsburgh.
7 May 1985 Disgusted by atrocities carried out by the US backed conservative Contra rebels, Contra leader José Efrén Martínez Mondragón goes to Managua.
8 May 1985 Thai air and ground forces push Vietnamese troops out of their country. The Vietnamese had entered Thailand to pursue Cambodian rebels.
Concerto for Orchestra no.3 “Farbenspiel” by Gunther Schuller (59) is performed for the first time, in Berlin conducted by the composer.
9 May 1985 Crossfire for orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (46) is performed for the first time, in Meyerhoff Hall, Baltimore.
Faust for soprano, tenor, bass, chorus, chamber orchestra, and Sundanese gamelan degung by Lou Harrison (67) to words of Foley after Goethe, is performed for the first time, at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
10 May 1985 Sikh extremists explode bombs and organize attacks killing 80 people and injuring 150 in New Delhi and three northern Indian states.
A suite from the film score The Battle of Britain by William Walton (†2) arranged by Carl Davis is performed for the first time, in Colston Hall, Bristol.
An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise for bagpipes and orchestra by Peter Maxwell Davies (50) is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Boston.
12 May 1985 Jean Dubuffet dies in Paris of emphysema at the age of 83.
13 May 1985 The trial of three Sikhs accused of killing Prime Minister Indira Gandhi opens in New Delhi.
14 May 1985 Tamil guerrillas carry out attacks in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka killing 150 civilians.
Sketchbook (for the Unbearable Lightness of Being) for low female voice accompanying herself on piano and electronic sound generators by Roger Reynolds (50) to words of Kundera is performed for the first time, in Symphony Space, New York. Also premiered is Eight Whiskus for voice by John Cage (72) to his own words after Mann.
15 May 1985 Radovan Vlajkovic replaces Veselin Djuranovic as President of Yugoslavia.
After repeated attacks by Nicaraguan government troops, Honduras orders three Contra rebel bases removed from border.
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, a film with music by Philip Glass (48), is released in France.
16 May 1985 Concerto for bassoon and orchestra by Gunther Schuller (59) is performed for the first time, at the Kennedy Center, Washington.
The journal Nature publishes an article by the British Antarctic Survey describing a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica.
17 May 1985 Orthodox Vigil Service for chorus and handbells by John Tavener (41) is performed for the first time, in Christ Church, Oxford.
19 May 1985 Fighting breaks out between Shias and Palestinians in Beirut.
20 May 1985 Arab guerrillas release three Israeli prisoners at Geneva airport. In return, Israel releases 394 Arabs in Geneva, 150 on the Golan Heights, and 606 in the occupied territories. Among those Arabs released are convicted murderers.
US government funded Radio Marti begins anti-Castro broadcasts from the US to Cuba. Cuba jams the broadcasts almost immediately.
21 May 1985 Duo Concertante for alto saxophone and piano by Leslie Bassett (62) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.
22 May 1985 A car bomb in East Beirut kills 60 people.
A report by the federal government shows that child poverty rose in the US by 54% from 1973-1983.
Stradella, an opera by César Franck (†94) to words of Deschamps, is performed for the first time, accompanied by two pianos, at the Opéra-Comique, Paris 144 years after it was composed. Two scenes were performed in 1843.
24 May 1985 Spur for orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (33) is performed for the first time, in Saarbrücken.
Fantasia on an Ostinato for piano by John Corigliano (47) is performed for the first time, at Texas Christian University, Ft. Worth as part of the Van Cliburn Competition.
25 May 1985 A cyclone hits Bangladesh killing as many as 10,000 people. An estimated 250,000 people are left homeless. Some 190,000 hectares of farm land are destroyed.
Emir Sheik Jabir al-Ahmad Al Sabah of Kuwait escapes serious injury when a man drives a car filled with explosives into his motorcade. Four people, including the bomber, an Iranian backed Islamic terrorist, are killed.
29 May 1985 Two anti-tank missiles hit the Presidential Palace in Baabda, near Beirut. President Amin Gemayel narrowly escapes injury.
British football hoodlums attack Italian fans in Heysel Stadium in Brussels where the European Cup championship is being held. 38 people are killed when a brick wall collapses from the crush of the Italian fans trying to flee.
30 May 1985 After twelve days of fighting between Shia militias and Palestinians in Beirut, 425 people are killed, 1,000 wounded. Numerous charges of atrocities by Shias against Palestinians are alleged.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher authorizes an “immediate initial contribution” of £250,000 for the victims of yesterday’s violence and their families. The Belgian government bans all British football clubs from playing in the country.
Opera Fantasia for violin and piano by Otto Luening (84) is performed for the first time, in Charleston, South Carolina.
31 May 1985 Shia militia capture the Sabra refugee camp from Palestinian guerrillas.
Salute for five trumpets by Leslie Bassett (62) is performed for the first time, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
2 June 1985 In Greek national elections, the Pan Hellenic Socialist Movement of Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou is returned to power, winning 161 of the 300 seats.
UEFA declares a ban on British clubs in the three main European competitions.
A String Trio by Alfred Schnittke (50) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
Flammen, an opera by Franz Schreker (†51), to words of Leen, is staged for the first time, in Vienna.
RJ Reynolds Industries announces that it will buy Nabisco Brands, Inc. for $4,900,000,000 in cash and stock. The new entity is the largest consumer products company in the United States.
3 June 1985 Hail Mary!, the third of the Marian Songs op.54 for chorus by Henryk Górecki (51), is performed for the first time, in Warsaw.
5 June 1985 General Motors announces that it will buy Hughes Aircraft for cash and stock worth $5,000,000,000.
The US House of Representatives votes to impose economic sanctions on South Africa.
7 June 1985 Eleven members of the largely Christian South Lebanon Army are taken hostage by Shia militia. In retaliation, the SLA takes 21 Finnish UN soldiers captive.
8 June 1985 Three Finns are released by the SLA in a gesture of good will.
In parliamentary and local council elections in Hungary, 25 independent candidates win seats.
Trio for clarinet, bassoon, and piano by Conlon Nancarrow (72) is performed for the first time, in London 43 years after it was composed.
9 June 1985 Gunman in Beirut kidnap Thomas Sutherland, Dean of Agriculture at the American University in Beirut.
An untitled sound work by Max Neuhaus (45) is inaugurated in the Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva. It will exist until 8 September.
10 June 1985 The last major Israeli combat unit withdraws from Lebanon.
In a second trial, Claus von Bulow is acquitted by a jury in Providence, Rhode Island of attempting to kill his wife.
Episode sixième for viola by Betsy Jolas (58) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
Mishima, String Quartet no.3 by Philip Glass (48) is performed for the first time, in London.
11 June 1985 Shia gunmen hijack a Jordanian plane in Beirut and demand that all Palestinian guerrillas leave Lebanon.
General Secretary Gorbachev criticizes economic planners and managers, calling for sweeping changes to the Soviet economy.
St. Pierre and Miquelon is made a collectivité territoriale of France.
12 June 1985 After flying around the Mediterranean for a day, Shia gunmen release their hostages in Beirut, blow up the plane and escape.
Spain and Portugal sign the European Economic Community Treaty in Madrid.
The US House of Representatives follows the Senate in approving aid to the right-wing rebels in Nicaragua.
13 June 1985 March to Tonality for orchestra by David Del Tredici (48) is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Chicago.
14 June 1985 A TWA flight from Athens to Rome with 153 passengers and crew is diverted to Beirut by Shia Moslem terrorists. The terrorists release 19 hostages. The plane then flies to Algiers where 21 more hostages are released.
Three Solidarity activists are sentenced in Gdansk to jail terms of from two to three-and-a-half years for planning a strike in Poland.
South African soldiers cross into Botswana and attack targets they say are “the nerve center” of the African National Congress. 16 people are killed.
President Raúl Alfonsín of Argentina announces a wage and price freeze, as well as a new currency.
Concerto for oboe, clarinet, and strings by John Harbison (46) is performed for the first time, in Sarasota, Florida.
15 June 1985 The hijacked TWA plane returns to Beirut. One body is thrown from the plane. Four passengers are removed. It then flies to Algiers where 60 passengers and crew are released.
A Soviet spacecraft begins drilling into the soil of Venus.
16 June 1985 The hijacked TWA plane returns to Beirut.
17 June 1985 Er, a Fernsehspiel by Mauricio Kagel (53), is shown for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR, Cologne.
18 June 1985 Moslem terrorists release three hostages from the hijacked TWA plane in Beirut.
Quartet for piano, violin, viola, and cello by George Rochberg (66) is performed for the first time, in Washington.
19 June 1985 A car bomb explodes in Tripoli, Lebanon killing 75 people.
Gunmen kill 13 people sitting at sidewalk tables in San Salvador. Among the dead are four US Marines and two US civilians who were apparently targeted, five Salvadorans, a Chilean, and a Guatemalan.
Little Suite of Four Dances for E flat clarinet and piano by William Bolcom (47) is performed for the first time.
20 June 1985 The Metropolitan Opera announces that it will no longer tour.
21 June 1985 Scientists announce that a body exhumed in Brazil is that of Dr. Joseph Mengele, the notorious “doctor of death” at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
23 June 1985 A bomb explodes on an Air India flight from Toronto to Bombay. The plane crashes into the sea 250 km southwest of Cork, Ireland.
Piano Trio by Mauricio Kagel (53) is performed for the first time, in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.
25 June 1985 Vidoje Zarkovic replaces Ali Sukrija as President of the Presidium of the League of Yugoslav Communists.
28 June 1985 After negotiations between Syria, Israel, the US, and the Lebanese terrorists, the Syrian government announces that the TWA hostages will be released tomorrow.
Love Bade Me Welcome for chorus by John Tavener (41) to words of Herbert is performed for the first time, in Winchester Cathedral.
29 June 1985 After a saber-rattling speech by President Reagan, Hezbollah announces they will not release their TWA hostages until they receive US assurances that there will be no retribution against them.
Francesco Cossiga replaces Alessandro Pertini as President of Italy.
For Bunita Marcus for piano by Morton Feldman (59) is performed for the first time, in Middelburg.
Island Rhythms for orchestra by Joan Tower (46) is performed for the first time, in Tampa, Florida.
30 June 1985 The remaining 39 passengers from the TWA flight hijacked June 14 are released in Damascus.
Nyûyô for shakuhachi, sangen, and two kotos by Iannis Xenakis (63) is performed for the first time, in Tokyo.
2 July 1985 The Supreme Soviet of the USSR elects Andrey Andreyevich Gromyko as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and appoints Edvard Shevardnadze to replace him as Foreign Minister.
3 July 1985 Reverend Ignatius Kung, recognized by the Vatican as Bishop of Shanghai, is released by the Chinese government after 30 years in jail.
5 July 1985 Five Winds for woodwind quintet by Ulysses Kay (68) is performed for the first time, in St. Mary’s, Maryland.
7 July 1985 The Institutional Revolutionary Party wins 291 of 300 contested seats in Mexican congressional elections.
8 July 1985 The Canadian government announces economic sanctions against South Africa.
9 July 1985 Stabat mater for soprano, alto, tenor, violin, viola, and cello by Arvo Pärt (49) is performed for the first time, in Lockenhaus.
10 July 1985 Two bombs sink the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior in the harbor of Auckland, New Zealand, killing one man. New Zealand officials arrest two men and issue warrants for four others, all of whom are agents for the French Secret Service.
An Israeli court convicts 15 Jews of carrying out terrorist acts against Arabs on the West Bank.
13 July 1985 The High Court in Wellington issues a temporary injunction against the New Zealand national rugby team, preventing them from leaving on a tour of South Africa.
An estimated 1,900,000,000 people in 152 countries witness some part of “Live Aid”, the first worldwide rock concert, originating in London and Philadelphia.
14 July 1985 ASLSP for piano by John Cage (72) is performed for the first time, by contestants in the International Piano Festival and Competition at the University of Maryland.
15 July 1985 The New Zealand national rugby team cancels its tour of South Africa.
18 July 1985 Meeting in Paris, representatives of 17 European nations formally begin a joint high technology research program known as the European Research Agency (Eureka).
19 July 1985 Alfred Schnittke (50) suffers his first stroke at Pitsunda on the Black Sea. He will be pronounced clinically dead three times, but survives.
20 July 1985 South African President Botha declares an indefinite state of emergency around Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg, granting police powers of arbitrary arrest.
Meeting in Basel, the European Monetary Committee votes to devalue the Italian lira after its precipitous fall on the Milan exchange.
24 July 1985 Two people, widely identified as agents of the French Secret Service, are formally charged in an Auckland, New Zealand court with arson, conspiracy, and murder in the sinking of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior.
Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and moderate Sikh leader Harchand Singh Longowal sign an agreement designed to bring peace to Punjab.
The French government recalls its ambassador from South Africa and suspends all new investment in the country, to protest the state of emergency.
Israel frees 100 more Arabs as part of the agreement which led to the release of the TWA hostages.
Idmen A/Idmen B for chorus and percussion by Iannis Xenakis (63) is performed for the first time, in Strasbourg.
25 July 1985 The South African government identifies 792 people arrested under the state of emergency.
A spokeswoman for Rock Hudson announces in Paris that the actor is hospitalized suffering from AIDS.
26 July 1985 Two Australians, convicted in Penang, Malaysia of possession of 400 grams of heroin, are sentenced to be hanged.
The UN Security Council votes to condemn the state of emergency in South Africa and to call for voluntary sanctions against the country. The Reagan and Thatcher governments abstain.
Penthode for five instrumental quartets by Elliott Carter (76) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London conducted by Pierre Boulez (60).
27 July 1985 President Milton Obote of Uganda is overthrown by the military.
The Tempest, an opera by John C. Eaton (50) to words of Porter after Shakespeare, is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
29 July 1985 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announces a unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing, to last from 5 August to next 1 January. He calls on the US to reciprocate.
31 July 1985 Call for five brass instruments by Luciano Berio (49) is performed for the first time, in St. Louis.
String Quartet no.1 by Shulamit Ran (35) is performed for the first time, in San Luis Obispo, California.
1 August 1985 The Canadian Red Cross announces it will establish a program to screen blood donors for AIDS.
2 August 1985 US President Reagan approves shipment of 100 TOW missiles by Israel to Iran as ransom for American hostages held in Lebanon.
Montgomery Ward & Company announces it will cease its 113-year-old catalogue business.
3 August 1985 Clocks for guitar by Joan Tower (46) is performed for the first time, in Ordway Music Theatre, St. Paul, Minnesota.
4 August 1985 A group called Accuracy in Academia announces plans to place auditors in college classrooms in the US and challenge professors with what they consider to be leftist bias. The group claims there are 10,000 known Marxists in US universities.
5 August 1985 The Recording Industry Association of America announces that 19 recording companies will begin labeling their products which contain “blatant explicit lyric content.”
6 August 1985 On the 40th anniversary of the attack on Hiroshima, eight nations sign a treaty in Roratonga, the Cook Islands, making the South Pacific a nuclear-free zone. The eight signatories are Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, New Zealand, Niue, Tuvalu, and Western Samoa.
Violence by Zulus begins around Durban between black groups, and between blacks and Indians.
7 August 1985 Broadcast journalists of the British Broadcasting Corporation stage a 24-hour strike, blacking out news on domestic airwaves and the World Service. They are protesting an order of the BBC Board of Governors not to show a documentary on Northern Ireland, after urging by the Thatcher government.
Ted Turner formally ends his attempt to take over CBS, Inc.
8 August 1985 The Reagan administration admits that it has been giving military advice to conservative rebels in Nicaragua.
9 August 1985 Czechoslovak government agents detain Vaclav Havel for 48 hours in Prague.
Fighting begins anew between Christian and Moslem militias in Beirut.
10 August 1985 Reverend Alan Boesak is arrested with 18 others for attending a funeral in South Africa. 65 people have been killed in five days of fighting around Durban.
11 August 1985 Praise We Great Men for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Benjamin Britten (†8) to words of Edith Sitwell, is performed for the first time, at Snape Maltings. The unfinished work was edited and orchestrated by Colin Matthews.
Septet: Scenes from Childhood for string quartet, oboe, horn, and piano by Ned Rorem (61) is performed for the first time, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the composer at the keyboard.
13 August 1985 Requies for chamber orchestra by Luciano Berio (59) is performed completely for the first time, in Lausanne. See 26 March 1984.
14 August 1985 Amidst renewed fighting between Christians and Moslems, a car bomb explodes in a Christian neighborhood of Beirut killing 15 people and injuring 120.
15 August 1985 In a speech in Durban, South African President PW Botha rejects all attacks on apartheid and blames violence on “barbaric communist agitators.”
Iraqi forces carry out a massive air strike on the Iranian oil facility at Kharg Island. In spite of great damage, the facility continues to operate.
16 August 1985 Czechoslovak government agents detain Vaclav Havel for 48 hours in Bratislava.
17 August 1985 A car bomb kills 50 people in Christian East Beirut.
18 August 1985 The cantata The Peat Cutters for children’s choir, youth choir, and brass band by Peter Maxwell Davies (50) to his own words is performed for the first time, in Usher Hall, Edinburgh.
19 August 1985 A car bomb kills 29 people in Moslem West Beirut.
American Christian fundamentalist Jerry Fallwell meets with South African President PW Botha and announces his support for the apartheid regime. He calls Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu a “phony.”
...a musical offering (J.S.B. 1985) op.46 for 14 players by Alexander Goehr (52) is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.
Segmente 92-98 for violin and cello by Gottfried Michael Koenig (58) is performed for the first time, in Vancouver.
20 August 1985 Moderate Sikh leader Harchand Singh Longowal, who signed the agreement with Rajiv Gandhi on 24 July, is killed by Sikh extremists as he speaks to his supporters in Amritsar.
22 August 1985 Gong-Hu for harp and strings by Isang Yun (67) is performed for the first time, in Lucerne.
23 August 1985 The East German press agency announces that Hans-Joachim Tiedge, the highest ranking West German counterintelligence officer, has defected to East Germany.
24 August 1985 Agents of the South African government arrest 27 opposition leaders.
25 August 1985 The White House confirms that while he was President of the Screen Actors’ Guild in the late 1940s, Ronald Reagan was an informant for the FBI against his fellow actors.
Leaping Dance and Kneeling Dance, both for two pianos by Kevin Volans (36), are performed for the first time, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.
26 August 1985 A report into the Rainbow Warrior affair by a special investigator appointed by the French government finds no wrongdoing by the government or the intelligence service.
27 August 1985 Major General Mohammed Buhari, President of Nigeria, is overthrown by Major General Ibrahim Babangida who replaces him.
As the value of the rand drops, South Africa suspends trading on its currency.
28 August 1985 Police attack protesters in Cape Town with whips, rubber bullets, tear gas, and shotguns. At least 16 protesters are shot to death.
29 August 1985 Pakistani authorities place Benazir Bhutto under house arrest in Karachi.
The trial of two former West German Economics Ministers on charges of corruption and tax evasion in the Flick affair begins in Bonn.
30 August 1985 The secret shipment of 100 TOW anti-tank missiles from Israel to Iran as ransom for hostages held in Lebanon, takes place.
Piano Trio in d minor by Ethel Smyth (†41) is performed publicly for the first time, at Grinnell College, Iowa, 105 years after it was composed.
1 September 1985 The South African government declares a moratorium on all foreign debt principal repayments. This is due to normal lines of credit no longer being available.
Titanic is found by American and French researchers in more than 3,600 meters of water, 800 km south of Newfoundland.
4 September 1985 After it is disclosed that police were involved of the March killing of three opponents to the regime, thousands of Chileans take to the streets. Six people are killed in Santiago.
Rupert Murdoch becomes a United States citizen so he can own television stations in the country.
6 September 1985 Andere Schatten, a musical scene after Jean Paul, for soprano, mezzo-soprano, baritone, speaker, chorus, and orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (33) is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt.
7 September 1985 The Five Senses for flute and guitar by Jonathan Lloyd (36) is performed for the first time, at Brisbane University, Queensland.
Io and Prometheus, a dance for chamber ensemble by Lou Harrison (68), is performed for the first time, in Athens. See 9 July 1951.
Concerto for viola and orchestra op.56 by Robin Holloway (41) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall.
9 September 1985 In the face of congressional pressure, US President Reagan reverses his previous policy and orders limited sanctions against South Africa.
Two days of rioting begin in Birmingham, England motivated partly by high unemployment and partly by racial tension.
Voters in Norway narrowly return the three-party Conservative-led coalition of Prime Minister Kaare Willoch.
Dream/Window for orchestra by Toru Takemitsu (54) is performed for the first time, in Kyoto.
Sankt-Bach-Passion, an oratorio for speaker, solo voices, boys choir, two choruses, and orchestra by Mauricio Kagel (53), is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
10 September 1985 Eleven European nations impose trade, cultural, and military sanctions on South Africa. The Thatcher government of Great Britain refuses.
As British Home Secretary Douglas Hurd visits areas of Birmingham destroyed by rioting, he is attacked by youths wielding stones and bottles.
Inés Guadalupe Duarte Durán, daughter of President José Napoleón Duarte of El Salvador, is kidnapped by gunmen in San Salvador.
Orpheus Behind the Wire for chorus by Hans Werner Henze (59) to words of Bond is performed for the first time, in Southampton.
11 September 1985 The International Cometary Explorer, a US space probe, passes through the tail of comet Giacobini-Zinner 70,000,000 km from Earth. It is the first time a space ship from Earth encounters a comet.
13 September 1985 Dane Rudhyar (Daniel Chennevière) dies in San Francisco, aged 90 years, five months, and 21 days.
14 September 1985 Israel sends 408 more TOW anti-tank missiles to Iran.
Lebanese Shia terrorists release Christian missionary Benjamin Weir.
Songs to Words by J. Slowacki for voice and piano op.48 by Henryk Górecki (51) is performed for the first time, in Zakopane.
15 September 1985 Swedish voters return the Social Democratic Party of Prime Minister Olof Palme to power, but with decreased numbers. The Liberal Peoples Party increases its standing by 30 seats.
Alax for three instrumental groups by Iannis Xenakis (63) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR in Cologne.
Chiffre VII for orchestra by Wolfgang Rihm (33) is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt-am-Main as part of the first performance of Chiffre-Zyklus.
16 September 1985 The US Commerce Department announces that for the first time since World War I, the United States owes foreigners more than they owe it.
President Alan García Perez of Peru sacks the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after reports surface of a massacre of peasants by the military in August.
17 September 1985 Le Monde reports that intelligence and military officials lied to French investigators in the Rainbow Warrior affair. The paper asserts that those who planted the bombs were French agents operating with the knowledge of the Defense Minister.
A secretary in the office of West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl defects to East Germany.
Arab terrorists throw two grenades into a café in Rome. 38 people are injured.
US President Reagan announces that he will not trade his Strategic Defense Initiative for concessions by the Soviets on nuclear arms.
18 September 1985 French Defense Minister Charles Hernu denies ordering the attack on the Rainbow Warrior.
19 September 1985 The South African government admits it has violated the 1984 non-aggression pact with Mozambique by supporting conservative guerrillas in Mozambique.
A magnitude 8.1 earthquake hits Michoacan state, Mexico. About 10,000 people are killed, at least 30,000 are injured, and 100,000 are left homeless. Damage is estimated at up to US$4,000,000,000.
Serenade and Dialogue for flute and piano by Otto Luening (85) is performed for the first time, at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York.
20 September 1985 Police fire into a crowd in Escalante, the Philippines, who are protesting the US backed dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos. 20 people are killed.
French Defense Minister Charles Hernu resigns due to the Rainbow Warrior affair. Admiral Pierre Lacoste, head of the Secret Service, is dismissed.
A second earthquake, measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale, hits central Mexico.
22 September 1985 French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius announces that French agents did sink the Rainbow Warrior but does not say who ordered the bombing.
Swiss voters approve a measure granting women equal rights with men in marriage.
Saxophone Quartet by Lukas Foss (63) is performed for the first time, in Christ the King Chapel, Canisius College, Buffalo.
23 September 1985 Serenade no.15 op.159 for harpsichord by Vincent Persichetti (70) is performed for the first time, in Dallas.
24 September 1985 The Italian superintendant of the Paris Opera, Massimo Bogianckino, is elected mayor of Florence.
Etudes 2, 3, and 6 from György Ligeti’s (62) Etudes pour piano Book I are performed for the first time, in Warsaw.
25 September 1985 Two Arabs and a Briton board a yacht in Larnaca, Cyprus and take three Israelis hostage, demanding the release of Arab terrorists held by Israel. After a ten-hour siege, they kill their hostages and surrender to police.
Arab terrorists explode a bomb in the Rome ticket office of British Airways. One person is killed and 13 injured.
French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius blames the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior on former Defense Minister Charle Hernu. He also promises compensation for the family of the photographer killed in the bombing.
Kidnappers of the daughter of President José Napoleón Duarte of El Salvador demand the release of 34 anti-government prisoners.
Recitatives and Ariosos--Lerchenmusik op.53 for clarinet, cello, and piano by Henryk Górecki (51) is performed completely for the first time, in Warsaw. See 28 July 1984.
The second and “definitive” version of Prometeo: Tragedia dell’ascolto, an opera by Luigi Nono (61) to words of Cacciari, is performed for the first time, in Milan. See 29 September 1984.
26 September 1985 Symphony no.3 by Isang Yun (68) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
27 September 1985 Nikolay Ivanovich Ryzhkov replaces Nikolay Alyeksandrovich Tikhonov as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
Witold Lutoslawski (72) wins the first Grawemeyer Award of the University of Louisville. The award, for his Symphony no.3, brings $150,000.
28 September 1985 The New Ear, a sonata for winds by Jonathan Lloyd (36), is performed for the first time, in Colchester, Great Britain.
Three Songs for male chorus and chamber ensemble by Lou Harrison (68) to words of Whitman and the Bible is performed for the first time, in Portland, Oregon.
29 September 1985 Selbst- und Zweigespräche for viola, guitar, and chamber organ by Hans Werner Henze (59) is performed for the first time, in Bruhl.
Two works by Wolfgang Rihm (33) are performed for the first time, in Venice: Dämmerung for orchestra, and Zeichen for bass flute, piccolo, contrabass clarinet, E flat clarinet, and two orchestras.
30 September 1985 At disarmament talks in Geneva, the USSR proposes a 50% cut in strategic nuclear weapons, along with an end to the US Strategic Defense Initiative.
Four Soviet citizens, three diplomats and a doctor, are kidnapped in Beirut.
1 October 1985 Israeli planes bomb the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organzation, 30 km south of Tunis. 72 people are killed. Israel says it is in retaliation for the events of 25 September.
Four Soviet diplomats are kidnapped in Beirut. One is subsequently killed.
Dances, a divertimento for wind quintet and percussion by William Schuman (75), is performed for the first time, in Lincoln Center, New York.
2 October 1985 One of the Soviet citizens kidnapped on 30 September is found shot to death. The kidnappers promise more will be killed unless the USSR pressures Syria into halting their offensive against the Moslem militia in Tripoli.
Humoreske in C for orchestra by Benjamin Britten (†8) is performed for the first time, 57 years after it was composed.
Wind Quintet IV by George Perle (70) is performed for the first time, in Merkin Concert Hall, New York. It will win the Pulitzer Prize. See 17 April 1986.
3 October 1985 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are separated from the Falkland Islands and made a separate territory.
4 October 1985 The USSR evacuates about 100 staff and dependents from its embassy in Beirut.
Islamic Jihad announces that it has killed US hostage William Buckley in Lebanon.
Lullaby for band by Leslie Bassett (62) is performed for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
5 October 1985 An Egyptian policeman in Ras Burka kills his commander and seven Israeli tourists, four of them children, and injures several others before being apprehended.
6 October 1985 Syrian troops enter Tripoli, Lebanon to enforce a cease-fire between battling Moslem militias.
In Portuguese national elections, the Social Democratic Party gains 13 seats and a plurality of seats and will lead the next coalition. The Socialists lose 44 seats.
7 October 1985 Arab terrorists hijack the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean off Egypt. They hold 400 passengers and crew hostage and demand that Israel free 50 prisoners.
The Reagan Administration announces that, contrary to its treaty obligations, it will no longer automatically comply with decisions of the International Court of Justice.
8 October 1985 Cyprus, Syria, and Lebanon refuse to accept the hijacked cruise ship Achille Lauro. Off Tartus, Syria, the terrorists kill a 69-year-old American hostage, Leon Klinghoffer, who is bound to a wheelchair. The Arabs throw Klinghoffer and the wheelchair overboard.
A Tunisian security guard opens fire at a synagogue he is supposed to be guarding on the island of Djerba, killing one worshipper and injuring several Moslems.
9 October 1985 The Achille Lauro returns to Port Said, Egypt and the Arab terrorists surrender to Egyptian authorities after they are promised safe passage out of the country.
X: the Life and Times of Malcolm X, an opera by Anthony Davis (34) to words of Davis, Davis, and Levine, is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia. See 28 September 1986.
10 October 1985 United States Air Force planes intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Achille Lauro and force it to land in Italy.
Orson Welles dies in Los Angeles at the age of 70.
11 October 1985 String Quartet no.1 by John Harbison (46) is performed for the first time, in Corcoran Gallery, Washington.
13 October 1985 In parliamentary elections in Belgium, the ruling center-right coalition of Prime Minister Wilfried Martens increases its majority by two seats.
Antiphony IX (---a Dot is no mere thing---) for orchestra, children, and tape by Kenneth Gaburo (59) is performed for the first time, at the Kansas City Conservatory of Music.
14 October 1985 The Palestine Liberation Front admits carrying out the Achille Lauro hijacking but denies killing any of the passengers.
Emil Gilels dies in Moscow at the age of 68.
15 October 1985 The Nicaraguan government declares a state of emergency, suspending free speech and assembly.
Soliloquy III for guitar and nine players by Thea Musgrave (57) is performed for the first time, in Los Angeles.
16 October 1985 The body of Leon Klinghoffer washes up on the coast of Syria. He was clearly shot in the head and the back.
17 October 1985 Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi resigns after the Republican Party withdrew from the governing coalition yesterday in a dispute over Craxi’s actions in the Achille Lauro affair.
A state of emergency is declared in Romania over electricity. The army takes control of all fossil fuel plants.
14 chants pour flûte et piano op.157 by Charles Koechlin (†34) is performed completely for the first time, over the airwaves of radio station WGBH in Boston, 49 years after they were composed. See 16 July 1941.
Prelude, Aria, and Waltz for orchestra by Arthur Berger (73) is performed for the first time, in Cambridge, Massachusetts directed by John Harbison (46). It is a reworking of his Three Pieces for String orchestra of 1946. See 26 January 1946.
18 October 1985 South African Black activist Benjamin Moloise is hanged for killing a security policeman. Hundreds of people riot in Johannesburg.
Oberlippentanz, a version of Luzifers Tanz for piccolo trumpet or trombone or euphonium, two percussionists, and horns by Karlheinz Stockhausen (57) is performed for the first time, in Donaueschingen. See 9 March 1984, 16 May 1984, and 27 September 1986.
20 October 1985 Piano Concerto with Selected Orchestra by Lou Harrison (68) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Hall, New York.
21 October 1985 Testimony is completed in the trial of nine former junta members accused of the murder, torture, and kidnapping of thousands of Argentines in the 1970s.
True Refuge for clarinet and piano by Jonathan Lloyd (37) is performed for the first time, in Huddersfield, Great Britain.
Quintet for flute, clarinet, trumpet, viola, and cello by Robert Erickson (68) is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.
22 October 1985 Argentine President Raúl Alfonsín orders the arrest of twelve people in connection with a wave of bombings possibly related to the trial of the junta members.
Meeting in Nassau, the Bahamas, representatives of almost 50 Commonwealth countries agree on limited sanctions on South Africa.
She Who Sleeps with a Small Blanket for percussion by Kevin Volans (36) is performed for the first time, in the Museum Corlino Augusteum, Salzburg.
Krosnick Soli for cello by Ralph Shapey (64) is performed for the first time, in Carnegie Recital Hall, New York.
24 October 1985 An Argentine judge rules President Alfonsín’s order of 22 October unconstitutional.
Leftist rebels in El Salvador release the daughter of President José Napoleón Duarte and her friend along with 23 mayors and other officials. In return, the government frees 22 prisoners and allows 96 others to go to Cuba for medical treatment.
25 October 1985 Argentine President Raúl Alfonsín declares a state of siege, allowing him to carry out his orders of 22 October.
26 October 1985 The government of Australia returns Ayers Rock to local Aborigines.
The French telephone system eliminates area codes and makes all numbers eight digits.
String Quartet no.6 “Blaubuch” by Wolfgang Rihm (33) is performed for the first time, in Kassel.
Aaron Copland’s (84) Sonnet II for piano is performed for the first time, in New York approximately 66 years after it was composed.
27 October 1985 Nine impressionist paintings are stolen from the Marmottan Museum in Paris. Among the missing is Monet’s Impressions: Sunrise and Renoir’s Bathers.
Polyphonic etude for piano four hands by György Ligeti (62) is performed for the first time, in the Stockholm Konserthuset, 42 years after it was composed.
28 October 1985 Dialogue de l’ombre double for clarinet and electronic sound generators by Pierre Boulez (60) is performed for the first time, in Florence. See 3 November 1995.
30 October 1985 Three Soviet diplomats are freed in Beirut by the Sunni Moslem captors.
31 October 1985 String Symphony by Ned Rorem (62) is performed for the first time, in Atlanta.
Wayang VI for piano duet by Anthony Davis (34) is performed for the first time, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
1 November 1985 Burke and Wills, a film with music by Peter Sculthorpe (56), is shown for the first time, in Hoyts Cinema Center, Melbourne.
Etudes 4 and 5 from Györgi Ligeti’s (62) Etudes pour piano Book I are performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
Amichai Songs for mezzo-soprano, oboe/english horn, bass viola da gamba, and harpsichord by Shulamit Ran (36) to words of Yehudi Amichai, is performed for the first time, in Rochester, New York.
2 November 1985 South Africa imposes sweeping restrictions on news organizations, especially on any reports of unrest.
Piano and String Quartet for the forces inherent in the title by Morton Feldman (59) is performed for the first time, in Los Angeles County Museum.
3 November 1985 The Washington Post reveals a secret Reagan administration plan to overthrow the government of Libya.
Angels for chorus and organ by John Tavener (41) to words of Walker is performed for the first time, in All Saints’ Church, Basingstoke.
Sonata for guitar solo by Samuel Adler (57) is performed for the first time, in New York.
4 November 1985 Two French government agents plead guilty in a New Zealand court to ordering the bombing of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior and the killing of a human being. They will each receive ten-year sentences.
5 November 1985 Symphony in Two Movements (Symphony no.2) by Tan Dun (28) is performed for the first time, in Beijing.
Ali Hassan Mwinyi replaces Julius Nyerere as President of Tanzania.
Four people are killed in two days of protests against the US-backed dictator of Chile, Augusto Pinochet.
Adonai Malach for cantor, horn, piccolo, oboe, and clarinet by Shulamit Ran (36) to words of the Psalms is performed for the first time.
6 November 1985 Zbigniew Messner replaces Wojciech Jaruzelski as Prime Minister of Poland. Jaruzelski replaces Henryk Jablonski as Chairman of the Council of State.
Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi survives a vote of confidence. He has reconstituted the government which resigned over the Achille Lauro affair.
Aníbal Cavaco Silva of the Social Democratic Party replaces Socialist Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares as Prime Minister of Portugal.
60 members of the M-19 movement seize the Palace of Justice in Bogota taking over 300 people hostage.
Rhapsody for string quartet by Benjamin Britten (†8) is performed for the first time, at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, 56 years after it was composed.
7 November 1985 Police storm the Palace of Justice in Bogotá using dynamite to destroy walls and setting the building on fire. 95 people are killed including eleven Supreme Court justices.
Music to an Imagined Play for instrumental ensemble by Alfred Schnittke (50) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
9 November 1985 The Rocks on the Mountain Begin to Shout by Lukas Foss (63) after Ives (†31) is performed for the first time, in St. Peter’s Church, New York.
10 November 1985 Coconino...a shattered landscape for string quartet by Roger Reynolds (51) is performed for the first time, in London.
Symphony no.58 “Symphony Sacra” by Alan Hovhaness (74) is performed for the first time, in Valparaiso, Indiana.
12 November 1985 First Ferry to Hoy for children’s chorus, children’s band, and ensemble by Peter Maxwell Davies (51) is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.
13 November 1985 Nevado del Ruiz, a long dormant volcano in Colombia, erupts killing about 25,000 people and destroying 14 towns. 22,000 people are left homeless.
Symphony no.2 by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (46) is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.
14 November 1985 Proclamation (1982) by Aaron Copland, orchestrated by Ramey, is performed for the first time, in New York on the composer’s 85th birthday.
15 November 1985 An agreement is signed by the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland stating that Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom, but granting Ireland a consultative role in the province.
The Reagan administration sends its third secret ransom shipment to Iran, consisting of 18 Hawk missiles.
Harpsichord Sonata no.8 by Vincent Persichetti (70) is performed for the first time, in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York.
16 November 1985 Perspectives II for chamber ensemble by Arthur Berger (73) is performed for the first time, in Pickman Hall, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
17 November 1985 100,000 demonstrators march to the US embassy in Athens demanding that Greece withdraw from NATO and close all US bases in the country. A clash with police results in the killing of a 15-year-old boy.
Words Overheard for soprano, flute, oboe, bassoon, and strings by Harrison Birtwistle (51) to his own words is performed for the first time, in City Halls, Glasgow the composer conducting.
Symphony no.9 by David Diamond (70) is performed for the first time, in New York, Leonard Bernstein (67) conducting.
18 November 1985 About 1,000 leftists occupy Athens Polytechnic University in protest to the events of yesterday.
The four Arab terrorists who hijacked the Achille Lauro, and an accomplice, are convicted in a Genoa court of weapons charges and sentenced to prison terms of four to nine years.
The Washington Post prints an interview with Reagan Chief of Staff Donald Regan in which he says that issues discussed at the Geneva summit like arms control are too complicated for women to understand.
19 November 1985 The leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union meet for the first time in six years, in Geneva.
The occupation of Athens Polytechnic University ends peacefully.
21 November 1985 US President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev sign agreements on scientific and cultural exchanges at the conclusion of their summit in Geneva. No breakthroughs on substantive issues take place.
Police fire into a crowd of 50,000 protesters in Mamelodi, near Pretoria. 15 people are killed by the gunfire and the stampede which follows.
Prelude to Kullervo for tuba and orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (47) is performed for the first time, in St. Peter’s Church, New York.
22 November 1985 A judge in New Zealand sentences two French secret service agents to ten years in jail for manslaughter in the destruction of the Rainbow Warrior last July.
Night covers up the rigid land for voice and piano by Benjamin Britten (†8) to words of Auden, is performed for the first time, in London 48 years after it was composed, on the 72nd anniversary of the composer’s birth.
23 November 1985 Arab gunmen seize an Egyptian airliner en route from Athens to Cairo. A shootout with a security guard leaves one hijacker dead. A bullet piercing the fuselage depressurizes the cabin necessitating an emergency landing in Malta. Eleven women are freed but two Israelis and three Americans are shot and thrown from the plane (two of them will later die of their wounds).
24 November 1985 Egyptian troops assault the hijacked plane in Malta. 57 people die in the ensuing battle. One of the hijackers survives. Egypt claims that Libya is behind the hijacking and puts its border with Libya on a state of emergency.
25 November 1985 Trisagion for brass quintet by John Tavener (41) is performed for the first time, in St. Paul’s Church, Huddersfield.
In Memoriam: Graham Wooton for organ by TJ Anderson (57) is performed for the first time, in Goddard Chapel, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts.
29 November 1985 Mémoriale for flute and eight instruments by Pierre Boulez (60) is performed for the first time, in Paris directed by the composer.
1 December 1985 El amor en los tiempos del cólera by Gabriel García Márquez is published in Colombia.
2 December 1985 A civilian court in the Philippines acquits 26 people in the death of opposition leader Benigno Aquino, including armed forces Chief of Staff Fabian Ver. President Ferdinand Marcos reinstates Ver to his position.
A report by the Church of England describes rising poverty in the inner cities of Britain and blames the policies of the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.
3 December 1985 The Philippine National Assembly sets 7 February 1986 for presidential elections. Corazon Aquino, the widow of Benigno Aquino, announces her candidacy.
30,000 people, including diplomats from eleven western countries, attend a funeral in Mamelodi, near Pretoria for twelve blacks killed in peaceful protest against apartheid.
4 December 1985 Alone, a song for voice and piano by Aaron Copland (85) to words of Mathers, is performed for the first time, in New York 63 years after it was composed.
5 December 1985 US President Reagan signs a finding retroactively approving the illegal arms-for-hostages shipments to Iran. This is not disclosed to Congress.
6 December 1985 The Thatcher government in Britain agrees to take part in President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative.
8 December 1985 Guitarra for solo guitar by Ulysses Kay (68) is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London.
9 December 1985 Five former members of the military junta which ruled Argentina are found guilty of various crimes during their repression of leftist opposition in the 1970s. Four others are acquitted. Jorge Videla and Emilio Massera are sentenced to life in prison. Three others are given terms in prison from four-and-a-half years to 17 years. Most independent observers express shock and disappointment at the leniency of the sentences.
10 December 1985 The New York Times reports that the Reagan administration has decided to send $30,000,000 in covert aid to the UNITA rebels in Angola.
Anniversary Variations for brass quintet by Vladimir Ussachevsky (74) is performed for the first time, in New York.
11 December 1985 The two most important Philippine opposition leaders, Corazon Aquino and Salvador Laurel, agree to join together on the same ticket in the upcoming presidential elections.
General Electric announces that it will buy RCA for $6,280,000,000, the largest corporate merger outside the oil industry.
The Juniper Tree, a chamber opera by Philip Glass (48) and Robert Moran to words of Yorinks after Grimm, is performed for the first time, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
12 December 1985 US President Reagan signs into law the Gramm-Rudman Bill, requiring a balanced federal budget.
14 December 1985 Wilma P. Mankiller becomes Principal Chief of the Cherokee, the first woman to lead a North American Indian tribe.
Two Hymns to the Mother of God for chorus by John Tavener (41) to words of the Orthodox liturgy are performed for the first time, in Winchester Cathedral.
15 December 1985 17 of the 20 Polish Carols for soprano, female chorus, and orchestra by Witold Lutoslawski (72) are performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London conducted by the composer. See 14 December 1990.
Fast and Slow for saxophone quartet by Lejaren Hiller (61) is performed for the first time, in Buffalo.
17 December 1985 All 15 Ulster unionist members of Parliament resign their seats to protest the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
Cäcilia: Ausgeplündert, Ein Besuch bei der Heiligen a Hörspiel by Mauricio Kagel (53), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR 3.
18 December 1985 The French government signs an agreement with Walt Disney Productions to construct a theme park at Marne-la-Valée east of Paris.
20 December 1985 The position of Poet Laureate of the United States is created.
22 December 1985 The French Parliament approves placing private television transmitters on the Eiffel Tower. This clears the way for the country’s first private television network.
25 December 1985 Thousands of members of the Zulu and Pondo tribes battle each other at Umbumbulu, south of Durban, South Africa. 53 people are killed.
27 December 1985 Using assault rifles and hand grenades, Arab terrorists attack unarmed civilians at airports in Rome and Vienna. 19 people die in Rome, including three terrorists, 81 are injured, including one terrorist. Italian security forces have to rescue the surviving terrorist from an angry crowd. In Vienna, five people are killed, including one terrorist and 41 are injured, including two terrorists.
28 December 1985 Zoologist Diane Fossey is found murdered in a camp in Rwanda.
30 December 1985 General Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, President of Pakistan, lifts martial law in the country. It has been in effect for over eight years.
Voyager scientist Stephen P. Synnott discovers a new moon of Uranus: Puck.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
24 January 2012
Last Updated (Tuesday, 24 January 2012 07:46)