1986

1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday.

Years: 1983 1984 1985 - 1986 - 1987 1988 1989
Decades: 1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1986 in aviation 1986 in film 1986 in literature 1986 in music 1986 in sports 1986 in television

Events

Saturday, March 8, 1986 - Japanese spacecraft Suisei flies by Halley's Comet, studying its UV hydrogen corona and solar wind.
Sunday, March 9, 1986 - 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.
Monday, March 31, 1986 - A fire devestates Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, England.

Thursday, April 3, 1986 - IBM unveils the PC Convertible, IBM's first laptop computer
Sunday, April 5, 1986 - In the terroristic La Belle discotheque bombing the West-Berlin discotheque, a known hangout for U.S. soldiers, was bombed, killing 3 and injuring 230 people. Libya is held responsible.
April 17 - British journalist John McCarthy kidnapped in Beirut (released in August 1991) - three others are found dead, Revolutionary Cells claims responsibility in retaliation for the US bombing of Libya
Saturday, April 26, 1986 - In the Ukraine, one of the reactors at the Chornobyl (Chernobyl) nuclear plant explodes creating the worlds worst nuclear disaster. 31 are killed directly by the incident, many thousands more were exposed to significant amounts of radioactive material, vast territories in Ukraine and Belarus rendered uninhabitable.
Sunday, April 27, 1986 - Captain Midnight (John R. MacDougall) hijacks HBO's satellite and transmits his own message to HBO viewers.

Monday, September 1, 1986 - The Soviet sea-liner Admiral Nakhimov collides with the bulk carrier Petr Vasev and sinks almost immediately, killing 448.
Friday, September 5, 1986 - Pan Am Flight 73 with 358 people on board is hijacked at Karachi International Airport
Saturday, September 6, 1986 - In Istanbul, two Arab terrorists from Abu Nidal's terror organization kill 22 and wound six inside the Neve Shalom synagogue during Sabbath services
Sunday, September 7, 1986 - Desmond Tutu becomes the first black to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa.

Thursday, October 9, 1986 - United States District Court Judge Harry E. Claiborne becomes the fifth federal official to be removed from office through impeachment
Friday, October 10, 1986 - An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people
Saturday, October 11, 1986 - Cold War: US President Ronald Wilson Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, in an effort to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe (the talks break down in failure).
Sunday, October 26, 1986 - Bus deregulation in the United Kingdom, except Greater London and Northern Ireland.
Tuesday, October 28, 1986 - The centennial of the Statue of Liberty's dedication is celebrated in New York Harbor.
Tuesday, October 28, 1986 - Jeremy Bamber is found guilty of the murder of his parents, sister and twin nephews and is given five life sentences.

Monday, November 3, 1986 - 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, November 11, 1986 - Sperry Rand and Burroughs merge to form Unisys, becoming the second largest computer company
Friday, November 21, 1986 - 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.
Tuesday, November 25, 1986 - Iran Contra Affair: US Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
Wednesday, November 26, 1986 - Iran-Contra scandal: US President Ronald Wilson Reagan announces that as of Monday, December 1 former Senator John Tower, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft will be serving as members of the Special Review Board looking into the scandal (they became known as the Tower Commission).

December 14-23 - Voyager plane with Richard G. Rutan and Jeana Yeager flies around the world in 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds
December 19 - Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov is permitted to return to Moscow after years of internal exile