1986 - What happened in 1986 ?

January 1986

Monday 13:

A month-long violent struggle began in Aden, South Yemen between supporters of Ali Nasir Muhammad and Abdul Fattah Ismail, resulting in thousands of casualties.

Wednesday 15:

The HBO and Cinemax pay cable television services initiate scrambling of their national satellite feeds on Galaxy 1 with the Videocipher II system.

Thursday 23:

The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley)

Friday 24:

Voyager 2 passes within 50,679 miles of Uranus.

Tuesday 28:

Space Shuttle Challenger explodes just after takeoff killing all seven astronauts onboard.

February 1986

Sunday 09:

Comet Halley reaches its perihelion, the closest point to the Earth, during it's second visit to the solar system in the 20th century.

Sunday 16:

The Soviet liner Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.

Tuesday 25:

EDSA Revolution: President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines flees the nation after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president.

Thursday 27:

The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis.

Friday 28:

Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, is assassinated in Stockholm.

March 1986

Sunday 09:

United States Navy divers find the largely intact but heavily-damaged crew compartment of the Space Shuttle Challenger. The bodies of all seven astronauts were still inside.

Thursday 20:

1986 – Jacques Chirac becomes Prime Minister of France

Thursday 27:

Car bomb explodes at Russell Street Police HQ in Melbourne, killing 1 police officer, Angela Taylor and injuring 21 people.

Monday 31:

Six metropolitan county councils are abolished in England

April 1986

Wednesday 09:

The government of France rules against the privatization of French automaker Renault.

Sunday 13:

Jack Nicklaus wins his sixth Masters Tournament

Thursday 17:

Treaty signed, ending Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly.

Saturday 26:

In Ukraine, a nuclear reactor at the Chornobyl (Chernobyl) nuclear plant explodes, creating the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Sunday 27:

Captain Midnight (John R. MacDougall) hijacks HBO's satellite and transmits his own message to HBO viewers.

May 1986

Friday 02:

The 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, opens.

Saturday 03:

In Bergen, Norway, Sandra Kim wins the thirty-first Eurovision Song Contest for Belgium singing "J'aime la vie" (I love life).

Monday 26:

The European Community adopts the European flag.

June 1986

Wednesday 04:

Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.

Thursday 05:

A 52-year old man in Auburn, Washington, United States, dies after taking an Excedrin capsule laced with cyanide; this is the first of two Excedrin deaths.

Sunday 08:

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim is elected president of Austria.

Monday 09:

The Rogers Commission releases its report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Friday 27:

International Court of Justice finds against the United States in its judgement in the Nicaragua v. United States.

July 1986

Tuesday 01:

In an interview with Playboy magazine, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke comes out as a bisexual.

Friday 18:

1986 - The motion picture Aliens opens in theaters.

Wednesday 23:

In London, Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.

August 1986

Wednesday 06:

A low pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimetres of rain in a day on Sydney.

Saturday 09:

1987 - Five people shot dead + Eleven injured as 19-year old Julian Knight opens fire @ random in Hoddle Street, Clifton Hill, Melbourne, VIC

Thursday 21:

Toxic gas erupts from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing over 1700 people.

Tuesday 26:

Toxic gas kills 1700 in Cameroon.

Thursday 28:

US Navy officer Jerry A. Whitworth is sentenced to 365 years imprisonment for espionage for the Soviet Union.

September 1986

Friday 05:

Pan Am Flight 73 with 358 people on board is hijacked at Karachi International Airport.

Saturday 06:

In Istanbul, two Arab terrorists from Abu Nidal's terror organization kill 22 and wound six inside the Neve Shalom synagogue during Shabbat services.

Sunday 07:

1986 - Gen. Augusto Pinochet, president of Chile, escapes attempted assassination.

Monday 15:

First broadcast of the TV show LA Law on NBC.

Saturday 27:

Cliff Burton, bassist for Metallica, dies after being crushed by the band's tour bus during their European tour.

October 1986

Thursday 09:

United States District Court Judge Harry E. Claiborne becomes the fifth federal official to be removed from office through impeachment.

Friday 10:

An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people.

Monday 20:

1989 - Brisbane bound coach collides with Semi - Traler North of Grafton NSW (Grafton Bus Crash)

Saturday 25:

The New York Mets defeat the Boston Red Sox due to Bill Buckner's famous error in Game 6 of the World Series and go on to win the championship two days later

Tuesday 28:

Jeremy Bamber is found guilty of the murder of his parents, sister and twin nephews and is given five life sentences.

November 1986

Monday 03:

Iran-Contra Affair: The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been selling weapons to Iran in secret in order to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.

Tuesday 11:

Sperry Rand and Burroughs merge to form Unisys, becoming the second largest computer company.

Friday 21:

Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contras rebels in Nicaragua.

Saturday 22:

Mike Tyson knocks-out Trevor Berbick in a round 2 fight, becoming the youngest world heavyweight-boxing champion (20 years, 4 months old).

Wednesday 26:

The New Yorker publishes Susan Sontag's AIDS short story, "The Way We Live Now"

December 1986

Wednesday 10:

Elie Wiesel wins the Nobel Peace Prize

Tuesday 23:

The Scaled Composites Voyager aircraft completes the first non-stop flight around the world without refueling.

Friday 26:

The first long-running American television soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, airs its final episode after thirty-five years on the air

Wednesday 31:

A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.