| |
|
1986 |
| January 1st |
 |
The
Iberian countries of Spain and Portugal entered the European
Economic Community. |
|
| January
12th |
|
NASA's
Space Shuttle 'Columbia' was launched from Kennedy Space Center.
Astronaut Dr. Franklin R. Chang-Diaz became the first Hispanic-American
in space. |
|
| January 20th |
|
Britain
and France announced plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.
A rail link under the English Channel which would link both
countries. |
|
| January 20th |
|
In
the United States, the first federal public holiday 'Martin
Luther King Day', honouring civil rights leader Martin Luther
King Jr. The bill was signed by President Ronald Reagan on November
2nd 1983. |
|
| January
24th |
|
NASA's
Voyager II space probe had its first encounter with the planet
Uranus. Voyager II sent back to Earth detailed pictures of the
planet Uranus, before it moved onto Neptune, due mid 1989. |
|
| January
28th |
|
NASA's
space shuttle 'Challenger' launched from Kennedy Space Center,
Florida, and exploded shortly after take off. The shuttle 'Challenger'
disintegrated 73 seconds after launch and killed the crew of
six astronauts and the schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. |
|
| January 29th |
|
In
Uganda, Africa, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni became the new President
of the Republic of Uganda. Museveni was successful after he
led a 5 year struggle for liberation. |
|
| January. |
|
Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev offered new bilateral proposals between
the United States and the Soviet Union. The elimination of all
nuclear weapons by the year 2000. |
|
| February
7th |
|
In
Haiti, in the Caribbean, Haitian President Jean-Claude 'Baby
Doc' Duvalier was overthrown. Duvalier fled the country and
ended 28 years of rule in Haiti. |
|
| February
9th |
|
Halley's
Comet reached its perihelion, the closest point the comet would
be to the Earth, during its second visit to the solar system
in the 20th century. Its last visit was first time the comet
was recorded on a photographic plate, September 9th 1909. |
|
| February
11th |
|
Human
Rights activist Anatoly Shcharansky was released by the Soviet
Union. Once released Shcharansky left the country. |
|
| February
19th |
|
The
Soviet Union launched the orbiting space station Mir. |
|
| February
19th |
|
In
the United States, after waiting 37 years, the United States
Senate approved a treaty outlawing genocide. |
|
| February
25th |
|
President
Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines went into exile. Marcos
fled to the United States after 20 years of rule. Corazon Aquino
became the first Filipino woman President, first as in interim
president. |
|
| February
27th |
|
In
the United States, the United States Senate allowed its debates
to be televised on a trial basis. |
|
| February
28th |
|
In
Sweden, the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot dead
on his way home from the cinema. |
|
| February. |
|
The
27th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party enthusiastically
supported and approved Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's 'Novoye
Myshlenniye' (New Thinking). |
|
| March 8th |
|
Japanese
spacecraft Suisei flew by Halley's Comet, studying its UV hydrogen
corona and solar wind. |
|
| March 9th |
|
United
States Navy divers found, mostly intact but heavily-damaged,
crew compartment of the Space Shuttle 'Challenger'. The bodies
of all seven astronauts were still inside. |
|
| April 5th |
|
In
West Berlin, a terrorist bomb was detonated at the La Belle
discotheque. The club was lnown to be used by American soldiers.
The blast killed 3 and injured 230 people. Libya was held responsible. |
|
| April 13th |
|
In
Italy, Pope John Paul II officially visited the Synagogue of
Rome. It was the first time a modern Pope had visited a synagogue. |
|
| April 14th |
|
In
Bangladesh, a hailstone storm killed 92 people in the Gopalganj
district. The hailstones weighed 2.2 lb (1 kg). |
|
| April 15th |
|
In
Britain, the British government allowed the US to use bases
in the England to mount an attack against Libya. The attack
was in response for Libyan terrorist activities. |
|
| April 15th |
|
In
Libya, in 'Operation El Dorado Canyon', US planes bombed targets
in the Libyan capital Tripoli and the Benghazi region. The attack
killed 100 people. |
|
| April 17th |
|
In
Lebanon, British journalist John McCarthy was kidnapped in Beirut.
McCarthy would be released on 8th August 1991. The group Islamic
Jihad (Shi'ite Muslims) claimed responsibility in retaliation
for the US bombing of Libya. |
|
| April 26th |
|
In
the Soviet Union, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukraine.
An expolsion ripped reactor no.4 apart and killed 31 people
in the world's worst nuclear disaster. Nearly 150,000 people
had to be permanently evacuated from the area. |
|
| May 9th |
|
Nepalese
Sherpa Tenzing Norgay died. Norgay and Edmund Hillary were the
first to climb and conquered Mount Everest, the world's highest
peak in 1953. |
|
| May 26th |
|
The
European Economic Community adopted the European flag. |
|
| June 4th |
|
In
the United States, Jonathan Pollard pleaded guilty to espionage
for selling top secret United States military intelligence of
Arab nations to Israel. |
|
| June 8th |
|
In
Austria, the former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim
was elected the new President of Austria. |
|
| June 9th |
|
In
the United States, the Rogers Commission released its report
on the Space Shuttle 'Challenger' disaster. |
|
| July 5th |
|
In
New York, the Statue of Liberty was reopened to the public after
an extensive refurbishment. |
|
| July 23rd |
|
In
Britain, Oueen Elizabeth II second son, Prince Andrew, Duke
of York, married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey in London. |
|
| July 30th |
|
In
Britain, estate agent Suzy Lamplugh vanished after a meeting
with a 'Mr. Kipper' in Fulham, London. |
|
| August 20th |
|
In
Edmond, Oklahoma, United States Postal Service employee Patrick
Sherrill gunned down 14 of his co-workers before shooting himself. |
|
| August 21st |
|
The
Lake Nyos tragedy occured, killed nearly 2000 people. |
|
| August 31st |
|
The
Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov collided with the bulk
carrier Pyotr Vasev in the Black Sea and sank. 398 people were
killed. |
|
| September
5th |
|
In
Pakistan, Pan Am Flight 73 was hijacked at Karachi International
Airport. Four gunmen of the Abu Nidal organisation held 358
passengers hostage. |
|
| September
6th |
|
In
Turkey, two Arab terrorists from Abu Nidal's terror organisation
attacked the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, during the Sabbath
services. The attack killed 22 and wounded 6 people. |
|
| September
7th |
|
In
South Africa, Desmond Tutu became the first black to lead the
Anglican Church in the history of South Africa. |
|
| October 1st |
|
In
the United States, President Ronald Reagan signed the Goldwater-Nichols
Act into law, making official the largest reorganisation of
the United States Department of Defense since the Air Force
was made a separate branch of service in 1947. |
|
| October 10th |
|
In
El Salvador, Central America, a 7.5 earthquake struck the capital
San Salvador and killed an estimated 1,500 people. |
|
| October 11th |
|
In
Iceland, the 'Reykjavik Summit' was held in the capital Reykjavik.
The United States President Ronald Reagan met the Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev. The summit was to continue discussions about
reducing the intermediate missile arsenals in Europe. |
|
| October 28th |
|
In
the United States, the centennial of the Statue of Liberty's
dedication was celebrated in New York Harbor. |
|
| October 28th |
|
In
Britain, Jeremy Bamber was found guilty of the murder of his
parents, sister and twin nephews. Bamber was given five life
sentences. |
|
| November
3rd |
|
In
Lebanon, the Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reported that the
United States has been selling weapons to Iran in secret. The
deal was to secure the release of seven American hostages held
by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon. |
|
| November
21st |
|
In
the United States, National Security Council member Oliver North
and his secretary started to shred documents that implicated
them in 'Iran-Contra' scandal. |
|
| November
25th |
|
In
the United States, the US Attorney General Edwin Meese announced
that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran, were in fact
illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua. |
|
| November
26th |
|
In
the United States, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced a
Special Review Board (Tower Commission) to look into the scandal.
The members of that board were ex-Senator John Tower, ex-Secretary
of State Edmund Muskie and ex-National Security Adviser Brent
Scowcroft. Reagan denied any involvement in the 'Iran-Contra'
scandal. |
|
| December
14th |
|
Voyager,
an experimental aircraft designed by Burt Rutan and piloted
by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, began its flight around the
world. |
|
| December
19th |
|
In
Russia, the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov was permitted to
return to Moscow after years of internal exile. |
|
| December
23rd |
|
Voyager
completed the first nonstop circumnavigation of the earth by
air without refueling in 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds. |
|
| December
31st |
|
In
Puerto Rico, a large fire killed 97 and injured 140 people at
the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan. |
|
| |
|
Soviet
leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced 'Glasnost' (Russian for
"Openness"). The aim was to introduce more freedom
across all aspects of Soviet life. |
|
| |
|
A
State of Emergency was called in South Africa. |
|
| |
|
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