Events in the year 1985 in Brazil.
Incumbents
Federal government
President: General João Figueiredo (until 14 March) José Sarney (starting 15 March) Vice President: Aureliano Chaves (until 14 March) Vacant (from 15 March)
Governors
Acre: Nabor Júnior
Alagoas: Divaldo Suruagy
Amazonas: Gilberto Mestrinho
Bahia: João Durval Carneiro
Ceará: Gonzaga Mota
Espírito Santo: Gerson Camata
Goiás: Iris Rezende
Maranhão: Luís Rocha
Mato Grosso: Julio Campos
Mato Grosso do Sul: Wilson Barbosa Martins
Minas Gerais: Hélio Garcia
Pará: Jader Barbalho
Paraíba: Wilson Braga
Paraná: José Richa
Pernambuco: Roberto Magalhães
Piauí: Hugo Napoleão
Rio de Janeiro: Leonel Brizola
Rio Grande do Norte: José Agripino Maia
Rio Grande do Sul: Jair de Oliveira Soares
Rondônia: Jorge Teixeira de Oliveira (until 13 May) Ângelo Angelin (from 13 May) Santa Catarina: Esperidião Amin São Paulo: André Franco Montoro Sergipe: João Alves Filho
Vice governors
Acre: Iolanda Ferreira Lima Fleming
Alagoas: José de Medeiros Tavares
Amazonas: Manoel Henriques Ribeiro
Bahia: Edvaldo de Oliveira Flores
Ceará: José Adauto Bezerra
Espírito Santo: José Moraes
Goiás: Onofre Quinan
Maranhão: João Rodolfo Ribeiro Gonçalves
Mato Grosso: Wilmar Peres de Faria
Mato Grosso do Sul: Ramez Tebet
Minas Gerais: vacant
Pará: Laércio Dias Franco
Paraíba: José Carlos da Silva Júnior
Paraná: João Elísio Ferraz de Campos
Pernambuco: Gustavo Krause Gonçalves Sobrinho
Piauí: José Raimundo Bona Medeiros
Rio de Janeiro: Darcy Ribeiro
Rio Grande do Norte: Radir Pereira
Rio Grande do Sul: Cláudio Ênio Strassburger
Santa Catarina: Victor Fontana
São Paulo: Orestes Quércia
Sergipe: Antônio Carlos Valadares
Events
January
January 11: The first edition of the Rock In Rio festival takes place in Cidade do Rock at Barra da Tijuca featuring performances from Queen and Iron Maiden. January 15: Tancredo Neves is elected President of Brazil by 480 votes against 180 for Paulo Maluf in the indirect presidential election, which brings an end to the military regime. January 20: Inauguration of the São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport.
February
February 8: The first Brazilian artificial satellite, Brasilsat A1, is launched from the Kourou launch base in French Guiana.
March
14 March: President-elect Tancredo Neves is admitted to the Emergency Room of the Hospital de Base in the Federal District. 15 March: Vice President José Sarney, upon becoming vice president, assumes the duties of President of Brazil, as the new President Tancredo Neves had become severely ill, the day before. The Ministry of Culture is established.
April
21 April: Brazilian President Tancredo Neves dies and is succeeded by Vice President José Sarney. The vice president post is left vacant until 1990.
May
8 May: The National Congress of Brazil approves the constitutional amendment, which establishes direct elections for President of the Republic with two rounds and fixed date, as well as for mayors of the capitals.
June
6 June: The remains of Josef Mengele, the physician notorious for Nazi human experimentation on inmates of Auschwitz concentration camp, buried in 1979 under the name of Wolfgang Gerhard, are exhumed in Embu das Artes, Brazil.
September
30 September: Severe hail storm, with ice stones weighing up to 1 kg, hits the municipality of Itabirinha, in the Rio Doce Valley, inland Minas Gerais. Around 50% of the homes in the urban core were affected, including 900 homes damaged and 50 completely destroyed, leaving more than 20 people dead and 600 injured. Of the approximately 10,000 inhabitants, 4,000 were left homeless.
Births
January
January 1 – Tiago Splitter, coach and former basketball player
January 4: Fernando Rees, racing driver Réver, footballer January 5 – Wellington Saci, footballer
April
April 1 – Danilo Caçador, footballer (d. 2018) April 7 – Ariela Massotti, actress
May
May 4 – Fernandinho, footballer
May 10 – David Miranda, journalist and politician (d. 2023) May 29 – Hernanes, footballer
June
June 4 – Ana Carolina Reston, fashion model (d. 2006)