1985

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1985 was the 114th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.

1 Events
- 1.1 Sports
- 1.2 Awards
2 Works
- 2.1 Books
- 2.2 Buildings
3 People
4 See Also
5 Context

[edit] Events

The Redmont Hotel celebrated its grand re-opening after extensive renovations,
The Birmingham Museum of Art opened its first crowd-drawing exhibit, Armand Hammer Collection
The Magic City Art Connection's festival jurors were Harvey K. Littleton and Elaine Horwitch.
Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q was founded by Jim Pihakas and his son Nick.
The first Function in the Junction is held in Ensley.
Hugo Black Park was dedicated.
The annual Southside reunion began.
Birmingham AIDS Outreach was founded
First Commercial Bank was founded by Birmingham businessmen Richard E. Anthony and John T. Oliver, Jr.
The Linn-Henley Research Library opened.
Morefu, a giraffe brought to the Birmingham Zoo in 1987, was born.
May: Birmingham AIDS Outreach was founded.
May: The original banks that made up First Alabama Bank formally merged. They had been under the same holding company as separate banks since 1971.
June 6: President Ronald Reagan appeared at the BJCC for a fundraising luncheon for Senator Jeremiah Denton.
August 11: The Heaviest Corner on Earth was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

[edit] Sports

Bo Jackson won the Hiesman trophy for the Auburn Tigers.
The final Hall of Fame Classic college football bowl game was played at Legion Field; Georgia Tech defeated Michigan State 17-14, finishing at #19 in the AP Poll.
The Birmingham Stallions played their final season at Legion Field.
The Birmingham Barons changed affiliations to the Chicago White Sox.
July: Davey Allison started his first NASCAR Cup race.

[edit] Awards

Robert R. McCammon won the Alabama Library Association Author Award.
Arthur Stewart was inducted into the Portrait Painters' Hall of Fame.
Tobias Wolff's 1984 novella The Barracks Thief won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.
Bo Berry, Edward A. Brown, Henry Caffey, Andrew Fair, Howard Funderburg, W. C. Handy, Jerome Hopkins, Everett Lawler, James Lowe, Willie Richardson, Lee Stanfield, Jonny Williams were inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Honorary inductees were Richard Arrington, Jr, Gloria Curry, J. Garrick Hardy, C. W. Hayes, David Vann and Lewis White.
Blanche Dean was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame

[edit] Works

A monument of Bear Bryant was erected outside Legion Field
Blonde Heat, film produced by David F. Friedman
I-459 was completed.
The final segment of I-65 in northern Jefferson County, near Morris and Kimberly, was completed.
April 15: A bare-bones revival of the Cousin Cliff Show debuted on the Alabama Cable Network.

[edit] Books

Back in the World, a collection of short stories by Tobias Wolff
Violence Against Women and the Ongoing Challenge to Racism by Angela Davis ISBN 0913175110

[edit] Buildings

[edit] People

Long-time City Councilor Nina Miglionico retired from electoral politics.
Robert F. Bumpus replaced Michael Gross as Homewood Schools Superintendent. Gross became the principal at Vestavia Hills High School.
Mary Smith joined the Birmingham Police Department.

[edit] Births

April 9: David Robertson, baseball pitcher
September 19: Gio Gonzalez, Birmingham Barons pitcher
Dan Puckett, bodybuilder (found dead in 2007)
Jessica Tinney, 2006 Miss Alabama USA

[edit] Graduations

Kamau Afrika, Birmingham-Southern College
Eli Capilouto (current UAB Provost), Masters in Public Health from Harvard University
Murry Bartow, UAB
Chris Dupont, Birmingham-Southern College
John Hallum, Auburn University
Steven Hoyt, Miles College

[edit] Deaths

Rucker Agee, investment banker and map collector
Neal Hemphill, record producer and plumber
Willie Perry (Birmingham's Batman)
August 8: Myron Massey, Fairfield Police officer shot in the line of duty
September 3: Jazz drummer Jo Jones

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 1985

[edit] See Also

[edit] Context

World events included Mikhail Gorbachev becoming head of the Soviet Union after Konstantin Chernenko's death, the discovery of a whole in the ozone layer, an earthquake near Mexico City which killed tens of thousands, the hijacking of the Italian liner, Achille Lauro, and the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in Columbia. Popular culture saw Howard Cosell retire, the recording of "We Are the World," the debut of New Coke followed by the return of the original Coca-Cola formula, and the debut of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.

1980s