1985

In 1985, MDMA/Ecstasy received massive media attention when a group of people sued the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to try to prevent them from outlawing the drug by placing it on Schedule 1. The US Congress had passed a new law allowing the DEA to put an emergency ban on any drug that it thought might be a danger to the public. On July 1st 1985, this right was used for the first time to ban MDMA.
A hearing was held to decide what permanent measures should be taken against the drug. One side argued that MDMA caused brain damage in rats, the other side claimed this might not be true for humans and that there was proof of the beneficial use of MDMA as a drug treatment in psychotherapy. The residing judge after weighing the evidence, recommended that MDMA be placed on Schedule 3, which would have allowed it to be manufactured, used on prescription, and subject to further research. However, the DEA decided to place MDMA permanently on Schedule 1.

1985 discovery of the titanic

Discovery of the Titanic

An underwater exploration research began on September 1, 1985 with the discovery of the sunken ship the Titanic by investigators and crew aboard the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The Titanic was found in more than 12,400 feet of water. It was first photographed by the new deep-towed sonar and video camera system Argo, under development in the Institution's Deep Submergence Laboratory (DSL). Additional 35-mm photographs were taken by ANGUS (Acoustically Navigated Geological Underwater Survey), another towed vehicle developed at the Institution and used on a number of major science programs since the mid-1970s. The discovery of Titanic was a joint French-American effort begun earlier in the summer of 1985 with a cruise aboard the French research vessel Le Suroit to test France's new sonar system, SAR (System Acoustique Remorquè).

Year of the Sinking

On the morning of April 15, 1912, the sinking of the Titanic the previous night shocked the world. The year had dawned bright with promise and the maiden voyage of the Titanic was a symbol of the advances mankind had made in the last few years.

The ship was considered to have been so well constructed it was believed she could sustain any amount of damage and still remain afloat. Late on the night of April 14, 1912, the sinking of the Titanic proved this idea wrong in a horribly tragic way.
The causes of Titanic to sink have been the subject of much study and debate. Obviously, the instigating factor was the collision with the iceberg; however the question of 'how did it sink' is frequently the center of most questions regarding the Titanic.

In 1912 the sinking of the Titanic began late on the night of April 14th. Information on the sinking Titanic indicates that the ship approached a massive iceberg, and although efforts were made to steer clear of the large frozen mass, all efforts were to no avail. Sadly, further records of the Titanic accident history indicate that the Titanic disaster may very well have been able to have been completely avoided had officers on ship paid heed to reports received earlier regarding the frozen waters they were approaching.

SOS Aboard the Titanic

Even though crew members were desperately trying to turn the ship in the other direction, when the ship collided with the berg a massive rip was torn parallel across the ship's bulk. The Titanic sinking began almost immediately, as the ship began to take on water.

Surprisingly, many of the passengers remained unaware of this fact. Some passengers reported hearing and feeling a strange quivering in the ship; however, they did not attribute this to any potential problem and went on about their business.

Others had seen the iceberg has it passed their window and hurriedly donned dressing gowns and robes, anxious to discover whether or not they had truly hit the berg. At first, passengers were assured that there would only be a slight delay and were given no indication of the true severity of the situation.

Passengers located at strategic points in the ship already knew the devastating truth however: the Titanic was sinking and sinking fast. An SOS was sent out to neighboring ships. The Carpathia picked up the ship's distress call and radioed back to let the ship's crew know they were on their way. It would be too late, however. By the time the Carpathia arrived, all that remained of the Titanic was a handful of lifeboats filled with shocked survivors.

Since the ship sank to her watery grave, almost one hundred years ago, a number of theories have been put forth to explain how in the year of 1912 the sinking of the Titanic could have occurred. Some theories suggest that had the ship's crew not attempted to turn the ship in the opposite direction of the iceberg and instead took the blow head-on, the collision would not have resulted in such catastrophic disaster.