Michael T. Mondak speaks: 40 til 40 day 40 (finale)

This is it… the last entry in the 40 til 40 series as tomorrow is my 40th birthday.

In the 40 til 40 series, I spoke about anything and everything relevant to the number 40.  The finale of this series is about the events that occurred 40 years ago, in 1985, the year I was born.

1985 was the year of the creation of the Internet’s Domain Name System, USA for Africa released the song “We are the World”, Ronald Reagan was reinaugurated as president, the border between Gibraltar and Spain reopened for the first time since 1969, Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union, Expo ’85 was held in Japan, Coca-Cola released the infamous New Coke, 44 tornadoes struck Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario killing 90 people, U.S. Route 66 was decommissioned, Live AID concerts at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK Stadium in Philadelphia jointly raised more than £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia, Delta Airlines Flight 191 crashed in Dallas killing 137 people, Australia introduced the capital gains tax, the infamous Pittsburgh drug trials took place, the Nintendo Entertainment System was launched in North America, Microsoft released Windows in the United States for the first time, DNA was used in a criminal case for the first time, and Pope John Paul II instituted World Youth Day for young Catholics.

1985 was the year that we lost the following people of note: Gabriel Elorde, Shelah Richards, Nicholas Colasanto, Efrem Zimbalist, Roger Sessions, Marc Chagall, Scott Brady, Paul Hugh Emmett, Karl Marx, Margaret Hamilton, Bob Prince, Dr. Reason A. Goodwin, Jimmy Kinnon, Kay Kyser, Louise Brooks, Arthur E. Baird, George O’Brien, Axel Springer, E.B. White, Johnny Olson, Pelle Lindbergh, Jimmy Ritz, Anne Baxter and Ricky Nelson.

1985 was the year the San Francisco 49ers won Super Bowl XIX over the Miami Dolphins, the North American Soccer League ceased operations, Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s all time hits record, the Kansas City Royals won the World Series, the Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup, Villanova won the NCAA men’s basketball national championship, Old Dominion won the NCAA women’s basketball national championship, the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship, Bernhard Langer won the Masters, Andy North won the U.S. Open, Sandy Lyle won the British Open, and Hubert Green won the PGA Championship.

And finally, 1985 was the year that the world gave birth to Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Mars, Kaley Cuoco, Chris Paul, Roman Reigns, Jey and Jimmy Uso, Ashley Tisdale, Raven-Symone, Carly Rae Jepsen, Nipsey Hussle, Troian Bellisario, Michael Phelps, Derek Hough, BJ Crombeen, Lily Allen, Jonathan Groff… and someone by the name of Michael T. Mondak.