1985

1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year that started on a Tuesday, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The year 1985 was declared International Youth Year by the United Nations.

January

 * January 10 – Kenya recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
 * January 15 – Tancredo Neves is elected president of Brazil by the Congress, ending the 21-year military rule.
 * January 17 – British Telecom announces it is going to phase out its famous red telephone boxes.
 * January 20 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan is privately sworn in for a second term in office (publicly sworn in, January 21).
 * January 27 – Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) formed.
 * January 28 – In Hollywood, California, the charity single "We Are the World" is recorded by USA for Africa.

February

 * February 5 – Australia cancels its involvement in U.S.-led MX missile tests.
 * February 9 – U.S. drug agent Enrique Camarena is kidnapped and murdered in Mexico (his body is discovered March 5).
 * February 10 – Nelson Mandela rejects an offer of freedom from the South African government.
 * February 14 – CNN reporter Jeremy Levin is freed from captivity in Lebanon.
 * February 16 – Israel begins withdrawing troops from Lebanon.
 * February 19
 * William J. Schroeder becomes the first artificial heart patient to leave the hospital.
 * China Airlines Flight 006 is involved in a mid-air incident; while there are two injuries, no one is killed.
 * February 20 – Minolta releases world's first autofocus single-lens reflex camera.
 * February 27 – Colombia recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
 * February 28 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army carries out a mortar attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary police station at Newry, killing 9 officers in the highest loss of life for the RUC on a single day.

March

 * March 3 – An 8.0 on the Richter magnitude scale earthquake hits Santiago and Valparaíso leaving 177 dead, 2,575 hurt, 142,489 destroyed houses and about a million people houseless
 * March 4 – The Food and Drug Administration approves a blood test for AIDS, used since then to screen all blood donations in the United States.
 * March 8 – A car bomb planted in Beirut attempted to kill Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah and kills more than 80 people, injuring 200.
 * March 11
 * Mikhail Gorbachev becomes General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and de facto leader of the Soviet Union.
 * Mohammed Al Fayed buys the London-based department store company Harrods.
 * March 14 – Five lionesses at the Singapore Zoo are put on birth control after the lion population increases from 2 to 16.
 * March 15 – Vice-President Jose Sarney takes the oath as the first civilian president of Brazil in 21 years, as the elected president Tancredo Neves had become severely ill on the day before.
 * March 16 – Associated Press newsman Terry Anderson is taken hostage in Beirut (he is eventually released on December 4, 1991).
 * March 17 – Expo '85, a World's Fair, is held in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, until September 16.
 * March 21 – Canadian paraplegic athlete and activist Rick Hansen sets out on his 40,000 km, 26 month Man in Motion tour which raises $26M for spinal cord research and quality of life initiatives.
 * March 23 – OCAM dissolved.
 * March 25 – The 57th Academy Awards are held at in Los Angeles, California with Amadeus winning Best Picture.
 * March 31 – WrestleMania debuts at Madison Square Garden.

April

 * April 1
 * Two Japanese government-owned corporations, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, and Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation, are privatized and change their names to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, and Japan Tobacco.
 * Eighth seeded Villanova defeats national powerhouse Georgetown 66–64 to win the first 64 team field NCAA Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky.
 * April 11 – The USS Coral Sea collides with the Ecuadorian tanker ship Napo off the coast of Cuba.
 * April 12 – 1985 El Descanso bombing: A terrorist bombing attributed to the Islamic Jihad Organization in the El Descanso restaurant near Madrid, Spain, mostly attended by U.S. personnel of the Torrejon Air Force Base, causes 18 dead (all Spaniards) and 82 injured.
 * April 15 – South Africa ends its ban on interracial marriages.
 * April 18 – The United Kingdom has its first ever national Glow-worm day.
 * April 19 – The U.S.S.R performs a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan.
 * April 21 – Brazilian President Tancredo Neves dies, he is succeeded by Jose Sarney.
 * April 23 – Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. (The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than 3 months.)
 * April 28 – The Australian Nuclear Disarmament Party (NDP) splits.

May

 * May 4 – The 30th Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden.
 * May 5 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan joins German Chancellor Helmut Kohl for a controversial funeral service at a cemetery in Bitburg, Germany, which includes the graves of 59 elite S.S. troops from World War II.
 * May 11
 * The FBI brings charges against the suspected heads of the 5 Mafia families in New York City.
 * Fire engulfs a wooden stand in the Valley Parade stadium in Bradford, England during a football match, killing 56.
 * May 13 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mayor Wilson Goode orders police to storm the radical group MOVE's headquarters to end a stand-off. The police drop an explosive device into the headquarters, killing 11 MOVE members and destroying the homes of 61 city residents in the resulting fire.
 * May 15 – An explosive device sent by the Unabomber injures John Hauser at UC Berkeley.
 * May 19 – John Anthony Walker Jr., is arrested by the FBI for passing classified Naval communications on to the Soviets.
 * May 23 – Thomas Patrick Cavanaugh is sentenced to life in prison for attempting to sell stealth bomber secrets to the Soviet Union.
 * May 25 – Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
 * May 29 – Heysel Disaster: 38 spectators are killed in rioting on the terraces during the European Cup final between Liverpool F.C. and Juventus at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium.
 * May 31 – Forty-one tornadoes hit in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, killing 76.

June

 * June 13 – In Auburn, Washington, police defuse a Unabomber bomb sent to Boeing.
 * June 14
 * TWA Flight 847, carrying 153 passengers from Athens to Rome, is hijacked by a Hezbollah fringe group. One passenger, U.S. Navy Petty Officer Robert Stethem, is killed.
 * Schengen Agreement signed between certain member states of the European Economic Community, creating the Schengen Area, a bloc of (at this time) five states with no internal border controls.
 * June 17 – John Hendricks launches the Discovery Channel in the United States.
 * June 23 – Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747, blows up 31,000 feet (9,500 m) above the Atlantic Ocean, south of Ireland, killing all 329 aboard.
 * June 24 – STS-51-G: Space Shuttle Discovery completes its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist.
 * June 25 – Irish police foil a Provisional Irish Republican Army-sponsored 'mainland bombing campaign' which targeted luxury vacationing resorts.
 * June 27 – U.S. Route 66 is officially decommissioned.

July

 * July 3 – Back to the Future opens in American theatres and ends up being the highest grossing film of 1985 in the United States and the first film in the successful franchise.
 * July 4 – Ruth Lawrence, 13, achieves a first in mathematics at Oxford University, becoming the youngest British person ever to earn a first-class degree and the youngest known graduate of Oxford University.
 * July 10 – The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior is bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents.
 * July 13
 * Live Aid pop concerts in London and Philadelphia raise over £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
 * U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush serves as Acting President for 8 hours, while President Ronald W. Reagan undergoes colon cancer surgery.
 * July 19
 * U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush announces that New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe will become the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
 * The Val di Stava Dam in Italy collapses.
 * July 20 – State President of South Africa, P. W. Botha, declares a state of emergency in 36 magisterial districts of South Africa amid growing civil unrest in black townships.
 * July 23 – Commodore launches the Amiga personal computer at the Lincoln Center in New York.
 * July 31 – Liberia recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

August

 * August 2 – Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashes near Dallas, Texas, killing 137 people.
 * August 6 – In Hiroshima, tens of thousands mark the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.
 * August 7 – Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
 * August 12 – Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashes in Japan, killing 520 people (the worst single-aircraft disaster in history).
 * August 22 – British Airtours Flight 28M The 737's left engine caught fire while on its take off roll, 55 people are killed while trying to evacuate the aircraft.
 * August 25 – Samantha Smith, "Goodwill Ambassador" between the Soviet Union and the United States for writing a letter to Yuri Andropov about nuclear war, and eventually visiting the Soviet Union at Andropov's request, dies in the Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 plane crash. She was 13.
 * August 31
 * Knorr, Robert Ballard, Jean-Louis Michel, and crew, find the wreck of R.M.S. Titanic.
 * Richard Ramirez, the serial killer known as the Night Stalker, is captured in Los Angeles.

September

 * September 1 – India recognizes the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).
 * September 6 – Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105, a Douglas DC-9, crashes just after takeoff from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing 31.
 * September 19 – An 8.1 Richter scale earthquake strikes Mexico City. Around 10,000 people are killed, 30,000 injured, and 95,000 left homeless.
 * September 22 – The Plaza Accord is signed by 5 nations.
 * September 23 – Italian crime reporter Giancarlo Siani is killed by Camorra.
 * September 28 – The 1985 Brixton race riots are sparked with the shooting of Dorothy 'Cherry' Groce by the Metropolitan Police in Brixton, an area of South London, England.

October

 * October 1 – The Israeli air force bombs PLO Headquarters near Tunis.
 * October 4 – The Free Software Foundation is founded in Massachusetts, USA.
 * October 7 – The cruise ship Achille Lauro is hijacked in the Mediterranean Sea by 4 heavily armed Palestinian terrorists. One passenger, American Leon Klinghoffer, is killed.
 * October 18 – The Nintendo Entertainment System, including the Super Mario Bros. pack-in game is released.

November

 * November 5 – Mark Kaylor defeats Errol Christie to become the middleweight boxing champion, after the two brawl in front of the cameras at the weigh-in.
 * November 12 – A total solar eclipse occurs over Antarctica at 14:11:22 UTC.
 * November 13 – Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupts, killing an estimated 23,000 people, including 21,000 killed by lahars in the town of Armero, Colombia.
 * November 18 – The comic strip Calvin and Hobbes debuts in 35 newspapers.
 * November 19 – Cold War: In Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
 * November 20 – Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.
 * November 23 – EgyptAir Flight 648 is hijacked by the Abu Nidal group and flown to Malta, where Egyptian commandos storm the plane; 60 are killed by gunfire and explosions.
 * November 25 – “Aeroflot” Antonov AN-12 cargo airplane in route from Cuito Cuanavale to Luanda was shot down by South African Special Forces and crashed approximately 43 km of Menongue, the provincial center of the Cuando Cubango province, Angola, killing 8 crew members and 13 passengers on board.
 * November 26 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan sells the rights to his autobiography to Random House for a record US$3 million.
 * November 29
 * Gerard Hoarau, exiled political leader from the Seychelles, is assassinated in London.
 * The SM City North EDSA shopping mall is the country's first SM Supermall owned by Henry Sy.

December

 * December 1
 * Ibero-American States Organization for Education, Science and Culture (Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos para la Educación la Ciencia y la Cultura) (OEI) created.
 * The Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable are released for sale to the public.
 * December 8 – South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) established.
 * December 12 – Arrow Air Flight 1285, a Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning to Fort Campbell, Kentucky from overseeing a peacekeeping force in Sinai.
 * December 16 – In New York City, Mafia bosses Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti are shot dead in front of Spark's Steak House, making hit organizer John Gotti the leader of the powerful Gambino organized crime family.
 * December 24 – Right wing extremist David Lewis Rice murders civil rights attorney Charles Goldmark as well as Goldmark's wife and 2 children in Seattle. Rice suspected the family of being Jewish and Communist and claimed his dedication to the Christian Identity movement drove him to the crime.
 * December 27
 * Rome and Vienna airport attacks: Abu Nidal terrorists open fire in the airports of Rome and Vienna, leaving 18 dead and 120 injured.
 * American naturalist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda.

Date unknown

 * The Australian state of Victoria celebrates its 150th anniversary.
 * The capital gains tax is introduced to Australia.
 * Harold Kroto, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley discover C60, soon followed by their discovery of fullerenes.
 * The GNU Manifesto is first written by Richard Stallman.
 * Western Sahara is admitted to the Organization of African Unity; Morocco, which claims Western Sahara, leaves in protest.
 * Solarquest, the space age real estate game, is first published by Golden.
 * Norma Phillips Thornworth is elected president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
 * ATI Technologies is founded.
 * NeXT is founded by Steve Jobs after he resigns from Apple Computer.
 * The Tommy Hilfiger brand is established.
 * The computer game Tetris is released.
 * DNA is first used in a criminal case.
 * Greenland leaves the European Union.
 * Multiple cases of espionage in the United States prompt the media to label this "The Year of the Spy".
 * Africa has a population growth – 3.2% per year.
 * The Asian tiger mosquito, an invasive species, is first found in Houston, Texas.
 * The Famine in Ethiopia continues; USA for Africa ("We Are the World") and Live Aid raise funds for famine relief.

January

 * January 1
 * Steven Davis, Northern Irish footballer
 * Lopez Lomong, American Olympic runner, born in Sudan
 * Deivson Rogerio da Silva, Brazilian footballer
 * January 2
 * Heather O'Reilly, US Women's national soccer player
 * Teng Haibin, Chinese gymnast
 * January 3
 * John David Booty, American football quarterback, USC
 * Linas Kleiza, Lithuanian basketball player
 * January 4
 * Al Jefferson, American Basketball player
 * Fernando Rees, Brazilian racecar driver
 * Lenora Crichlow, British actress
 * January 5 – Diego Vera, Uruguayan footballer
 * January 7 – Lewis Hamilton, British Formula 1 driver
 * January 8 – Rachael Lampa, American singer
 * January 11 – Rie fu, Japanese singer and songwriter
 * January 16
 * Joe Flacco, American football player
 * Gintaras Janusevicius, Lithuanian pianist
 * Amy Manson, Scottish actress
 * January 17
 * Simone Simons, Dutch singer
 * Kang-In, Korean singer (Super Junior)
 * January 19 – Rika Ishikawa, Japanese singer and host of television and radio programs
 * January 21 – Sasha Pivovarova, Russian model
 * January 22 – Orianthi Panagaris, Australian guitarist and singer
 * January 23 – Doutzen Kroes, Dutch supermodel
 * January 25 – Michael Trevino, American actor
 * January 26
 * Rusko, British musician
 * Edwin Hodge, American actor
 * January 29
 * Bosh Berlin, American drummer (Living Things)
 * Liu Chunhong, Chinese weightlifter
 * Isabel Lucas, American actor
 * Jessica Marais, Australian actress

February

 * February 1 – Dean Shiels, Northern Irish footballer
 * February 2 – Fontel Mines, American Football player
 * February 4
 * Bug Hall, American actor
 * Bashy, English recording artist and actor
 * February 5
 * Cristiano Ronaldo, Portuguese footballer
 * Laurence Maroney, American football player
 * February 6 – Joji Kato, Japanese speedskater
 * February 7
 * Tina Majorino, American actress
 * Deborah Ann Woll, American actress
 * Tegan Moss, Canadian actress
 * February 8 – Jeremy Davis, American bassist (Paramore)
 * February 9
 * David Gallagher, American actor
 * Rachel Melvin, American actress
 * February 10 – Anette Sagen, Norwegian ski jumper
 * February 11 – William Beckett, American singer and songwriter
 * February 14
 * Karima Adebibe, English actress and model
 * Miki Yeung, actress and singer from Hong Kong
 * February 18
 * Lee Boyd Malvo, American serial killer
 * Todd Lasance, Australian actor
 * Chelsea Hobbs, Canadian actress and singer
 * February 19
 * Haylie Duff, American actress and singer
 * Arielle Kebbel, American model and actress
 * February 20 – Yulia Volkova, Russian singer
 * February 22
 * Hameur Bouazza, Algerian footballer
 * Zach Roerig, American actor
 * February 25
 * Benji Marshall, Australian rugby league player
 * Joakim Noah, American basketball player
 * February 26
 * Miki Fujimoto, Japanese singer
 * Shiloh Fernandez, American actor
 * February 28
 * FeFe Dobson, Canadian singer
 * Jelena Janković, Serbian tennis player
 * Diego Ribas da Cunha, Brazilian soccer player

March

 * March 2 – Reggie Bush, American football player
 * March 3
 * Sam Morrow, Northern Irish footballer
 * Nathalie Kelley, Peruvian-born Australian actress
 * March 4
 * Scott Michael Foster, American actor
 * Whitney Port, American television personality, clothing designer, and author
 * March 8 – Ewa Sonnet, Polish model
 * March 9 – Brent Burns, Canadian hockey player
 * March 10
 * Lassana Diarra, French footballer
 * Nathalie Kelley, Australian actress
 * March 11
 * Paul Bissonnette, Canadian ice hockey player
 * Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lankan cricketer
 * March 12
 * Lolene, British recording artist and songwriter
 * Nikolai Topor-Stanley, Australian soccer player
 * March 13 – Emile Hirsch, American actor
 * March 14 – Eva Angelina, American pornographic actress
 * March 15
 * Curtis Davies, English Football Player
 * Antti Autti, Finnish snowboarder
 * Eva Amurri, American actress
 * Kellan Lutz, American fashion model
 * March 18 – Bianca King, Filipina-Canadian actress & model
 * March 19 – E. J. Viso, Venezuelan race car driver
 * March 21
 * Ryan Callahan, American hockey player
 * Adrian Peterson, American football player
 * March 22 – Luke Dormehl, British writer and filmmaker
 * March 24 – Haruka Ayase, Japanese actress and model
 * March 25 – Carmen Rasmusen, American singer
 * March 26
 * Keira Knightley, English actress
 * Jonathan Groff, American actor, singer, and dancer
 * March 27
 * Danny Vukovic, Australian soccer player
 * Alison Carroll, English actress and model
 * March 31 – Jessica Szohr, American actress

April

 * April 1 – Josh Zuckerman, American actor
 * April 3 – Leona Lewis, English singer
 * April 9 – Tomohisa Yamashita, Japanese singer and actor
 * April 10
 * Dion Phaneuf, NHL hockey player
 * Wang Meng, Chinese short track skater
 * April 12 – Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer and actor
 * April 15 – Amy Reid, German pornographic actress
 * April 16 – Benjamin Rojas, Argentine singer
 * April 17
 * Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, French tennis player
 * Luke Mitchell, American actor and model
 * Rooney Mara, American film and television actress
 * Tristan Wilds, Australian actor and model
 * April 18
 * Łukasz Fabiański, Polish footballer
 * Mary Elise Hayden, American actress
 * April 22 – Camille Lacourt, French swimmer
 * April 23 – Angel Locsin, Filipina actress
 * April 26 – Nam Gyu-Ri, Korean singer, former member of See Ya
 * April 30 – Ashley Alexandra Dupree, American prostitute, R & B singer-songwriter

May

 * May 2
 * Sarah Hughes, American figure skater
 * Kyle Busch, American race car driver
 * Lily Allen, British singer
 * May 3 – Meagan Tandy, American actress and model
 * May 5 – Clark Duke, American actor
 * May 6 – Chris Paul, American basketball player
 * May 9
 * Neha Bamb, Indian actress
 * Chris Zylka, American actor and model
 * Audrina Patridge, American television personality, actress and model
 * May 12 – Dániel Tőzsér, Hungarian footballer
 * May 14
 * Sally Martin, New Zealand actress
 * Matthew Cardona, American professional wrestler
 * Lina Esco, American actress, producer and activist
 * May 15
 * Derek Hough, American dancer and choreographer
 * Cristiane, Brazilian footballer
 * Tyrone Savage, Canadian theatre, film and television actor
 * May 17 – Christine Nesbitt, Canadian speed skater
 * May 21 – Mutya Buena, British singer and songwriter (formerly of Sugababes)
 * May 22 – Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Canadian ice hockey player
 * May 25 – Luciana Abreu, Portuguese singer and actress
 * May 27 – Chien-Ming Chiang, Taiwanese baseball player
 * May 28
 * Carey Mulligan, English actress
 * Colbie Caillat, American acoustic-folk singer-songwriter
 * May 30 – Turk McBride, National Football League player

June

 * June 4
 * Evan Lysacek, American figure skater
 * Lukas Podolski, German footballer
 * Ana Carolina Reston, Brazilian fashion model (d. 2006)
 * Bar Refaeli, Israeli model and occasional actress
 * June 7 – Charlie Simpson, English musician
 * June 9
 * Sebastian Telfair, American basketball player
 * Sonam Kapoor, Indian Actress and Model
 * June 10
 * Andy Schleck, Luxembuergian road cyclist
 * Rok Perko, Slovenian professional skier
 * June 12
 * Tasha-Ray Evin, Canadian singer/guitarist (Lillix)
 * Blake Ross, American software developer
 * Kendra Wilkinson, American model
 * Dave Franco, American television and film actor
 * June 13 – Danny Syvret, Canadian ice hockey player
 * June 15 – Nadine Coyle, Irish singer (Girls Aloud)
 * June 17 – Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot tennis player
 * June 19 – Ai Miyazato, Japanese golfer
 * June 20
 * Darko Milicic, Serbian basketball player
 * Collins Pennie, American actor
 * June 21 – Kris Allen, 8th American Idol winner, singer-songwriter
 * June 25
 * Annaleigh Ashford, American actress and singer
 * Ehra Madrigal, Filipina actress
 * June 26 – Urgyen Trinley Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader
 * June 27
 * Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russian tennis player
 * Nico Rosberg, German Formula One driver
 * June 28 – Phil Bardsley, English footballer
 * June 30
 * Michael Phelps, American swimmer
 * Cody Rhodes, American professional wrestler

July

 * July 2 – Ashley Tisdale, American actress and singer
 * July 3 – Minami Keisuke, Japanese singer and actor
 * July 5
 * Stephanie McIntosh, Australian actress (Neighbours)
 * Nick O'Malley, British musician (Arctic Monkeys)
 * François Arnaud (actor), French-Canadian stage and film actor
 * July 7 – Seo Woo, Korean actress
 * July 9
 * Paweł Korzeniowski, Polish swimmer
 * Cathy Leung, Hong Kong singer
 * July 10
 * Mario Gomez, German footballer
 * Park Chu-Young South Korean footballer
 * July 11
 * Robert Adamson, American actor
 * Adam Gregory, Canadian country music singer and actor
 * July 12 – Emil Hegle Svendsen, Norwegian biathlete
 * July 13 – Guillermo Ochoa, Mexican footballer
 * July 15 – Chris Tiu, Filipino professional basketball player, TV host, commercial model, and politician
 * July 17 – Tom Fletcher, British musician (McFly)
 * July 18 – Chace Crawford, American actor
 * July 20
 * John Francis Daley, American television and film actor
 * Michelle Madrigal, Filipino actress
 * July 21 – Vanessa Lengies, Canadian actress
 * July 22 – Takudzwa Ngwenya, American rugby union player
 * July 23
 * Scott Chandler, American football player
 * Ólafur Hannesson, Icelandic television personality
 * July 24 – Teagan Presley, American porn star
 * July 25
 * James Lafferty, American actor and athlete
 * Nelson Piquet, Jr., Brazilian Formula One driver
 * Jonathan Bennett, American actor and model
 * July 27 – Lou Taylor Pucci, American actor
 * July 28 – Dustin Milligan, Canadian actor

August

 * August 2 – Britt Nicole (Brittany Nicole Waddell), Christian rock artist.
 * August 3 – Sonny Bill Williams, Rugby League player
 * August 5 – Salomon Kalou, Ivory Coast footballer
 * August 9
 * Anna Kendrick, American actress
 * Hayley Peirsol, American swimmer
 * August 14 – Ashlynn Brooke, American pornographic actress
 * August 16 – Agnes Bruckner, American actress
 * August 21 – Melissa M, French singer
 * August 27
 * Alexandra Nechita, American artist
 * Kayla Ewell, American actress
 * August 29 – Jeffrey Licon, American actor
 * August 30
 * Eamon Sullivan, Australian swimmer
 * Leisel Jones, Australian swimmer

September

 * September 2
 * Allison Miller, American actress
 * Yani Gellman, Canadian/Australian film and television actor
 * September 3 – Dominick Cruz, WEC Bantamweight Champion
 * September 5
 * Dilshad Vadsaria, American television actress
 * Robert Perry-Walker, Hoopy Frood
 * September 7 – Alyssa Diaz, American actress
 * September 8 – Denny Morrison, Canadian speed skater
 * September 10 – Elyse Levesque, Canadian film and television actress
 * September 11 – Jake Cole, English footballer
 * September 13 – Emi Suzuki, Chinese-born Japanese female model
 * September 14 – Aya Ueto, Japanese actress
 * September 16
 * Madeline Zima, American actress
 * Max Minghella, English actor
 * September 17
 * Alexander Ovechkin, Russian hockey player
 * Jon Walker, American Musician, (Panic at the Disco)
 * September 21 – Maryam Hassouni, Dutch actress
 * September 23 – Maki Goto, Japanese singer and actress
 * September 24
 * Eric Adjetey Anang, Ghanaian sculptor
 * Kimberley Nixon, Welsh actress
 * Jessica Lucas, Canadian actress
 * September 25 – Calvin Johnson, American football player
 * September 28 – Shindong, Korean singer (Super Junior)
 * September 29 – Dani Pedrosa, Spanish motorcycle racer
 * September 30 – T-Pain, American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor

October

 * October 1 – Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopian long distance runner
 * October 3 – Courtney Lee, American basketball player
 * October 5
 * Brooke Valentine, American singer
 * Nicola Roberts, British singer (Girls Aloud)
 * October 7 – Evan Longoria, American professional baseball player
 * October 8
 * Kimberly Kevon Williams, American actress
 * Bruno Mars, American singer-songwriter and music producer
 * Daniel Clark, American-Canadian actor and singer
 * Magda Apanowicz, Canadian actress
 * October 10
 * Dominique Cornu, Belgian professional cyclist
 * Aaron Himelstein, American actor
 * Heather Hogan, American voice actress
 * October 11 – Michelle Trachtenberg, American actress
 * October 14
 * Sherlyn, Mexican actress
 * Daniel Clark, Canadian actor
 * October 16 – Casey Stoner, Australian motorcycle racer
 * October 17 – Stephanie McIntosh, Irish-Anglo film actor and model
 * October 18 – Lindsey Kildow, American alpine skier
 * October 20 – Jennifer Freeman, American actress
 * October 22 – Zac Hanson, American musician
 * October 23 – Masiela Lusha, American author, actress
 * October 24 – Wayne Rooney, English footballer
 * October 25
 * Ciara, American singer
 * John Robinson, American actor
 * October 26
 * Andrea Bargnani, Italian professional basketball player
 * Asin Thottumkal, Indian actress
 * October 27 – Troian Bellisario, American actress

November

 * November 3 – Tyler Hansbrough, American basketball player
 * November 4 – Gillian Zinser, American actress
 * November 5
 * Kate DeAraugo, Australian Idol 2005
 * Elizabeth Rice, American actress
 * November 8 – Jack Osbourne, English television personality
 * November 10
 * Giovonnie Samuels, American actress
 * Ricki-Lee Coulter, former Australian Idol contestant and singer
 * November 11
 * Kalan Porter, Canadian singer
 * Raquel Guerra, Portuguese singer and actress
 * Robin Uthappa, Indian cricketer
 * November 13 – Simo-Pekka Olli, Finnish volleyball player
 * November 20 – Dan Byrd, American actor
 * November 22 – Asamoah Gyan, Ghanaian football player
 * November 23 – Ahn Hyun-Soo, South Korean short track skater
 * November 25 – Marcus Hellner, Swedish cross-country skier
 * November 27 – Alison Pill, Canadian actress
 * November 28
 * Magdolna Rúzsa, Hungarian singer
 * Ryan Sampson, British actor
 * November 30 – Kaley Cuoco, American actress

December

 * December 2 – Amaury Leveaux, French swimmer
 * December 3
 * Amanda Seyfried, American actress
 * László Cseh, Hungarian swimmer
 * December 5 – Frankie Muniz, American actor
 * December 6 – Dulce María, Mexican actress
 * December 8 – Dwight Howard, American basketball player
 * December 10
 * Raven-Symoné, American actress and singer
 * Edmund Entin, American actor
 * Gary Entin, American actor
 * December 14 – Nonami Takizawa, Japanese actress
 * December 19
 * Christina Loukas, American diver
 * Lady Sovereign, British rapper
 * December 21
 * James Stewart Jr., American motorcycle racer
 * Tom Sturridge, English actor
 * December 23
 * Harry Judd, English drummer (McFly)
 * Luke O'Loughlin, Australian actor
 * December 26 – Yuu Shirota, Japanese actor and singer
 * December 31 – Jonathan Horton, American gymnast

January

 * January 4 – Sir Brian Horrocks, British general (b. 1895)
 * January 5 – Robert L. Surtees, American cinematographer (b. 1906)
 * January 13 – Carol Wayne, American actress (b. 1942)
 * January 14 – Jetta Goudal, Dutch-born actress (b. 1891)
 * January 22 – Sir Arthur Bryant, British historian (b. 1899)
 * January 29 – Chic Murray, Scottish comedian (b. 1919)
 * January 31 – Tatsuzō Ishikawa, Japanese novelist (b. 1905)

February

 * February 4 – Jesse Hibbs, American film director (b. 1906)
 * February 6 – Neil McCarthy, British actor (b. 1932)
 * February 8 – Marvin Miller, American actor (b. 1913)
 * February 11 – Henry Hathaway, American film director (b. 1898)
 * February 12 – Nicholas Colasanto, American actor (b. 1924)
 * February 18 – Randolph E. Haugan, American author, editor and publisher (b. 1902)
 * February 20 – Clarence Nash, American actor (b. 1905)
 * February 21
 * Ina Claire, American actress (b. 1893)
 * Louis Hayward, British actor (b. 1909)
 * February 22 – Efrem Zimbalist, Russia-born Jewish American violinist (b. 1890)
 * February 26 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch economist, Nobel Prize laureates (b. 1910)
 * February 27
 * Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., American politician (b. 1902)
 * J. Pat O'Malley, English actor (b. 1904)

March

 * March 3 – Iosif Shklovsky, Soviet astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1916)
 * March 8 – Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
 * March 10
 * Konstantin Chernenko, Soviet politician (b. 1911)
 * Bob Nieman, American baseball player (b. 1927)
 * March 12 – Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian conductor (b. 1899)
 * March 16 – Eddie Shore, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
 * March 21 – Sir Michael Redgrave, English actor (b. 1908)
 * March 23
 * Doctor Richard Beeching, Chairman of British Rail (b. 1913)
 * Zoot Sims, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1925)
 * March 28 – Marc Chagall, Russian-born painter (b. 1887)
 * March 29 – Jeanine Deckers, Belgian nun and singer (b. 1933)
 * March 30 – Shizuko Kasagi, Japanese singer (b. 1914)

April

 * April 7 – Carl Schmitt, German jurist, political theorist, and professor of law (b. 1888)
 * April 8 – J. Fred Coots, American songwriter (b. 1897)
 * April 10 – Vladimir Jankélévitch, French philosopher (b. 1903)
 * April 11 – Enver Hoxha, Albanian dictator (b. 1908)
 * April 14 – Noele Gordon, British actress (b. 1919)
 * April 15 – Jack Medica, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1914)
 * April 16 – Scott Brady, American actor (b. 1924)
 * April 21 – Tancredo Neves, Brazilian elected president (b. 1910)
 * April 22 – Paul H. Emmett, American chemical engineer (b. 1900)
 * April 23 – Kent Smith, American actor (b. 1907)
 * April 25 – Richard Haydn, English actor (b. 1905)
 * April 26 – Albert Maltz, American screenwriter, one of the Hollywood Ten (b. 1908)

May

 * May 1 – Denise Robins, (aka Francesca Wright, Ashley French, Harriet Gray, Julia Kane) British romance novelist (b. 1897)
 * May 4 – Clarence Wiseman, the 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
 * May 5 – Sir Donald Bailey, British civil engineer (b. 1901)
 * May 6
 * Pete Desjardins, American Olympic diver (b. 1907)
 * Julie Vega, Filipino child actress and singer (b. 1968)
 * May 7 – Dawn Addams, British actress (b. 1930)
 * May 8
 * Theodore Sturgeon, American writer (b. 1918)
 * Dolph Sweet, American actor (b. 1920)
 * May 9 – Edmond O'Brien, American actor (b. 1915)
 * May 10 – Chester Gould, American cartoonist (b. 1900)
 * May 12 – Jean Dubuffet, French artist (b. 1901)
 * May 13
 * Selma Diamond, American actress (b. 1920)
 * Leatrice Joy, American actress (b. 1893)
 * May 15 – Emerson Spencer, American athlete (b. 1906)
 * May 16 – Margaret Hamilton, American actress (b. 1902)
 * May 17 – Abe Burrows, American songwriter, composer, and writer (b. 1910)
 * May 18 – Hedley Bull, Australian professor (b. 1932)
 * May 19 – Tapio Wirkkala, Finnish designer (b. 1915)
 * May 22 – Wolfgang Reitherman, American animator (b. 1909)
 * May 30 – George K. Arthur, English actor and producer (b. 1899)

June

 * June 1 – Richard Greene, English actor (b. 1918)
 * June 7
 * Georgia Hale, American actress (b. 1905)
 * Gordon Rollings, British actor (b. 1926)
 * June 9 – Matsutarō Kawaguchi, Japanese novelist (b. 1899)
 * June 10 – George Chandler, American actor (b. 1898)
 * June 11 – Karen Ann Quinlan, American right-to-die cause célèbre (b. 1954)
 * June 12 – Hua Luogeng, Chinese mathematician (b. 1910)
 * June 15 – Andy Stanfield, American athlete (b. 1927)
 * June 17 – Tai Kato, Japanese film director (b. 1916)
 * June 28 – James Craig, American actor (b. 1912)

July

 * July 2 – David Purley, British race car driver (b. 1945)
 * July 8
 * Phil Foster, American actor (b. 1913)
 * Simon Kuznets, American economist (b. 1901)
 * July 9 – Jimmy Kinnon, Scottish founder of Narcotics Anonymous (b. 1911)
 * July 16 – Heinrich Böll, German writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
 * July 17 – Margo, Mexican-American actress (b. 1917)
 * July 19 – Janusz A. Zajdel, Polish writer (b. 1938)
 * July 19 – Louisa Ghijs, Belgian stage actress and wife of Johannes Heesters (b. 1902)
 * July 21 – Alvah Cecil Bessie, American screenwriter, one of the Hollywood Ten (b. 1904)
 * July 22 – Matti Järvinen, Finnish athlete (b. 1909)
 * July 23
 * Kay Kyser, American bandleader (b. 1905)
 * Mickey Shaughnessy, American actor (b. 1920)
 * July 25 – Grant Williams, American actor (b. 1931)
 * July 27 – John Scarne, American magician and card expert (b. 1903)

August

 * August 1 – Helene Engelmann, Austrian figure skater (b. 1898)
 * August 2 – Frank Faylen, American actor (b. 1905)
 * August 6 – Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (b. 1923)
 * August 8 – Louise Brooks, American actress (b. 1906)
 * August 10 – Kenny Baker, American actor and singer (b. 1912)
 * August 12
 * Manfred Winkelhock, German race car driver (b. 1951)
 * Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer, well known by his most famous song, "Sukiyaki", killed in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 (b. 1941)
 * August 14 – Gale Sondergaard, American actor (b. 1899)
 * August 15 – Lester Cole, American screenwriter, one of the Hollywood Ten (b. 1904)
 * August 22 – Paul Peter Ewald, German-born American crystallographer and physicist (b. 1888)
 * August 24 – Morrie Ryskind, American dramatist (b. 1895)
 * August 25 – Samantha Smith, American schoolgirl activist (b. 1972)
 * August 28 – Ruth Gordon, American actress (b. 1896)
 * August 29 – Evelyn Ankers, British actress (b. 1918)
 * August 30 – Taylor Caldwell, Anglo-American writer (b. 1900)
 * August 31 – Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Australian biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)

September

 * September 1 – Stefan Bellof, race car driver and 1984 World SportsCars (Group C) Champion (b. 1957)
 * September 4
 * Isabel Jeans, British actress (b. 1891)
 * George O'Brien, American actor (b. 1899)
 * September 6
 * Isabel Cox-Meighen, wife of Canadian prime minister Arthur Meighen (b. 1882)
 * Little Brother Montgomery, American musician (b. 1906)
 * September 7 – Rodney Robert Porter, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1917)
 * September 8 – John Franklin Enders, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1887)
 * September 9 – Paul Flory, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
 * September 10
 * Ernst Öpik, Estonian astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1893)
 * Jock Stein, Scottish football player and manager (b. 1922)
 * September 11
 * William Alwyn, English composer (b. 1905)
 * Masako Natsume, Japanese actress (b. 1957)
 * September 14 – Julian Beck, American actor (b. 1925)
 * September 17 – Laura Ashley, Welsh designer (b. 1925)
 * September 19 – Italo Calvino, Italian writer (b. 1923)
 * September 27 – Lloyd Nolan, American actor (b. 1902)
 * September 30
 * Floyd Crosby, American cinematographer (b. 1899)
 * Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist and physicist, creator of the Richter magnitude scale (b. 1900)
 * Simone Signoret, French actress (b. 1923)

October

 * October 1 – E.B. White, American writer (b. 1899)
 * October 2
 * Rock Hudson, American actor (b. 1925)
 * George Savalas, American actor, brother of Telly Savalas (b. 1924)
 * October 6 – John W. Snyder, American businessman and Cabinet Secretary (b. 1895)
 * October 8 – Nelson Riddle, American bandleader (b. 1921)
 * October 10
 * Yul Brynner, American actor (b. 1920)
 * Orson Welles, American film director (b. 1915)
 * October 12
 * Johnny Olson, American game show announcer (b. 1910)
 * Ricky Wilson, American guitarist (b. 1953)
 * October 14 – Emil Gilels, Soviet pianist (b. 1916)
 * October 21 – Masuiyama Daishiro I, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1919)
 * October 22 – Thomas Townsend Brown, American scientist (b. 1905)
 * October 24 – Laszlo Biro, Hungarian inventor of the ballpoint pen (b. 1899)
 * October 25 – Morton Downey, American singer (b. 1901)
 * October 29 – John Davis Lodge, American actor and politician (b. 1903)
 * October 31 – Poul Reichhardt, Danish actor (b. 1913)

November

 * November 1
 * Quick Draw Rick McGraw, American professional wrestler (b. 1955)
 * Ouchiyama Heikichi, Japanese sumo wrestler (b. 1926)
 * Phil Silvers, American entertainer (b. 1911)
 * November 5
 * Spencer W. Kimball, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1895)
 * Arnold Chikobava, Georgian linguist (b. 1898)
 * November 8 – Nicolas Frantz, Luxembourgian cyclist (b. 1899)
 * November 11 – Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish Professional Hockey goaltender (b. 1959)
 * November 13
 * William Pereira, American architect (b. 1909)
 * George Robert Vincent, American sound recording pioneer (b. 1898)
 * November 17
 * Lon Nol, Prime Minister of Cambodia, President of Khmer Republic (b. 1913)
 * Jimmy Ritz American actor (b. 1904)
 * November 19 – Stepin Fetchit, American actor (b. 1902)
 * November 24 – Big Joe Turner, American blues singer (b. 1911)
 * November 27 – Fernand Braudel, French historian (b. 1902)

December

 * December 6 – Burr Tillstrom, American puppeteer (b. 1917)
 * December 7
 * Robert Graves, English writer (b. 1895)
 * Potter Stewart, American Supreme Court Justice (b. 1915)
 * December 8 – Ma Jir Bo, Chinese Realism oil painter (b. 1927)
 * December 12
 * Anne Baxter, American actress (b. 1923)
 * Ian Stewart, Scottish rock musician (b. 1938)
 * December 13 – Paul Caraway, American general and High Commissioner (b. 1905)
 * December 14 – Roger Maris, American baseball player (b. 1934)
 * December 15 – Carlos Romulo, Filipino diplomat (b. 1899)
 * December 16 – Paul Castellano, Italian-American Mafia boss (b. 1915)
 * December 21 – Kamatari Fujiwara, Japanese actor (b. 1905)
 * December 22 – D. Boon, American singer and guitarist (b. 1958)
 * December 23
 * Ferhat Abbas, Algerian nationalist (b. 1899)
 * Prince Bira, Prince of Siam and Formula one driver (b. 1914)
 * December 24
 * Kouzou Sasaki, Japanese politician (b. 1900)
 * Erich Schaedler, Scottish footballer (b. 1949)
 * December 26 – Dian Fossey, American biologist (b. 1932)
 * December 27 – Harry Hopman, Australian tennis player and coach (b. 1906)
 * December 31
 * Ricky Nelson, American singer and actor (b. 1940)
 * Sam Spiegel, Polish-born film producer (b. 1903)

Date unknown

 * Andrej Bicenko – Russian fresco painter and muralist (b. 1886)

Nobel Prizes

 * Physics – Klaus von Klitzing
 * Chemistry – Herbert A. Hauptman, Jerome Karle
 * Literature – Claude Simon
 * Peace – International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
 * Economics – Franco Modigliani
 * Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Michael S. Brown, Joseph L. Goldstein

Templeton Prize

 * Sir Alister Hardy

Right Livelihood Award

 * Theo van Boven and Cary Fowler, Pat Mooney, Rajni Kothari, Duna Kör, and Rural Advancement Fund International, Lokayan