Prior to 1985, or even as late as 1988-89, the following statement appeared in one form or another in every introductory chemistry text:

"Carbon exists in two allotropic forms, graphite and diamond"

Carbon clusters prior to 1985:

There had long been suspicion that carbon formed discrete clusters. Theoretical work in 1966, 1970, 1971, 1973 and 1980 discussed stability of clusters and suggested some possible structures.

Experimental work in 1959-63 showed evidence for such clusters and experiments in 1981 showed that only clusters with even numbers of carbon atoms were seen.

Some questions leading to the Kroto and Smalley work:

Are carbon clusters responsible for some features found in interstellar spectroscopy?

What happens in the nucleation of carbon plasma in conditions similar to those in red giant stars?

What is the origin of HC_nN (n= 5 - 11) in the interstellar medium?