1986
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s - 1980s - 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s
Years: 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 - 1986 - 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991
Events
- January 1 - Spain and Portugal enter the European Community
- January 1 - Aruba becomes independent of Curacao
- January 9 - After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak leaves the instant camera business.
- January 12 - Space shuttle Columbia takes-off with the first Hispanic-American astronaut, Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz.
- January 20 - The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.
- January 20 - The first federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
- January 24 - Voyager 2 space probe makes first encounter with Uranus
- January 28 - Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
- February 7 - 28 years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.
- February 11 - Human Rights activist Anatoly Scharansky is released by USSR, leaves the country.
- February 19 - The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station
- February 19 - After waiting 37 years, the United States Senate approves a treaty outlawing genocide.
- February 25 - President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines flees the nation after 20 years of rule.
- February 26 - After exiled President Ferdinand Marcos leaves the Philippines, Corazon Aquino is inaugurated president.
- February 27 - The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis.
- February 28 - Swedish prime minister Olof Palme is shot dead on his way home from the cinema, his wife the only witness.
- March 2 - Corazon Aquino is inaugurated as President of the Philippines.
- April 26 - Chernobyl explosion
- May 25 - "Hands Across America"
- August - Apple Lisa discontinued by Apple.
- December 31 - A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.
- The Iran-Contra affair is publicly exposed in October and November
- Commonly considered the start date of the golden age of old school rap
Art, Culture & Fashion
- 1986 in film
- 1986 in literature
- 1986 in music
- January 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)
- 1986 in sports
- January 26 - Super Bowl XX Chicago Bears (46) def. New England Patriots (10)
- Argentina wins Football World Cup in Mexico
- British Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- 1986 in television
- May 22 - Cher calls David Letterman an "A**hole" on the air during a taping of Late Night with David Letterman.
- October ? The FOX Broadcasting Company becomes the United States' fourth television network.
Births
- February 21 - Charlotte Church, singer
- June 13 - The Olsen twins
Deaths
- January 14 - Donna Reed, actress
- January 24 - L. Ron Hubbard, science fiction writer, founder of Scientology
- January 24 - Gordon MacRae, actor, singer
- January 24 - Vincente Minnelli, director
- January 27 - Lilli Palmer, actress
- January 28 - Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger: Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judy Resnick, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Greg Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe.
- February 11 - Frank Herbert, science fiction author.
- February 26 - Robert Penn Warren, poet, author
- February 27 - Jacques Plante, ice hockey star
- February 28 - Olof Palme, Swedish prime minister
- March 10 - Ray Milland, British actor
- April 14 - Simone de Beauvoir, feminist philosopher
- June 14 - Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer
- August 20 - Milton Acorn, Canadian poet, writer, and playwright
- August 31 - Henry Moore, sculptor
- December 28 - Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian movie director