Chronology year 1986

January 1986

• Spain and Portugal become official members of the European Economic Community (EEC).
• Brazil launches the Cruzado Plan: new currency (Cruzado), freezing prices and wages, in an attempt to contain hyperinflation.
• Halley's Comet reaches its perihelion, being visible from Earth for the last time before 2061.
• The Space Shuttle Columbia launches on mission STS-61-C, with Representative Bill Nelson on board.
• The United Kingdom and France announce plans to build the Eurotunnel, connecting the two countries under the English Channel.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated for the first time as a national holiday in the USA.
• The Voyager 2 probe passes by Uranus, sending the first detailed images of the planet and its moons.
• The Chicago Bears beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX 46-10, with Richard Dent as MVP.
• The space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after launch on January 28, killing all seven crew members, including civilian teacher Christa McAuliffe.

February 1986

• Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier flees Haiti for France, ending nearly 30 years of dictatorship by the Duvalier family.
• The Soviet Mir space station is launched, becoming the first modular station in permanent orbit.
• Portuguese Mário Soares takes office as president of Portugal — the first civilian in decades.
• The People Power Revolution in the Philippines overthrows dictator Ferdinand Marcos; Corazon Aquino assumes the presidency.
• The album Master of Puppets by the band Metallica is released, becoming a landmark in heavy metal.
• Microsoft holds its initial public offering (IPO), with shares priced at US$21.
• Assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, by shooting in Stockholm, on February 28.

March 1986

• The Soviet probe Vega 1 sends data from Halley's Comet.
• The Vega 2 probe flies over Halley's comet, capturing images of its nucleus.
• The Giotto probe, from the European Space Agency, passes 596 km from the nucleus of Halley's comet.
• Jacques Chirac becomes Prime Minister of France, beginning a period of cohabitation with President Mitterrand.
• The Oscar for Best Film goes to Platoon — note: the 1986 Oscar ceremony (referring to films from 1985) awarded Out of Africa as Best Film.
• Launch of the game The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Famicom in Japan.

April 1986

• A bomb attack at a nightclub in West Berlin kills three people and injures 229; the US blames the attack on Libya.
• The US bombs Tripoli and Benghazi, in Libya, in retaliation for the attack.
• The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurs in Ukraine (USSR), on April 26 — the worst nuclear accident in history, causing the evacuation of 350,000 people and radioactive contamination in much of Europe.
• Fire at the Los Angeles Central Library destroys 400,000 books and historical documents.
• King Mswati III is crowned in Swaziland.

May 1986

• The 1986 World Cup starts in Mexico, with 24 teams.
• Brazil beats Algeria 1-0 in the debut, with a goal from Careca.
• The Soyuz T-15 probe docks with the Mir station, marking the beginning of manned operations.
• Brazil defeats Northern Ireland 3-0, with goals from Careca (2) and Josimar.
• The band Queen releases the album A Kind of Magic.

June 1986

• Diego Maradona scores the famous "hand of God" goal and the "goal of the century" against England, in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
• Argentina eliminates Belgium in the semi-final and West Germany in the final, winning the 1986 World Cup 3-2.
• Madonna releases the album True Blue, with hits such as La Isla Bonita and Papa Don't Preach.
• Brazil is eliminated from the World Cup by France on penalties, in the quarter-finals.

July 1986

• The Statue of Liberty is reopened after restoration for its centenary, with a ceremony in New York.
• Greg LeMond becomes the first American to win the Tour de France.
• The wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in the United Kingdom attracts worldwide attention.
• The film Aliens, the Rescue, by James Cameron, premieres in the USA with great success.
• New Zealand passes legislation that decriminalizes homosexual relationships.

August 1986

• Lake Nyos in Cameroon releases a cloud of carbon dioxide, killing more than 1,700 people in nearby villages.
• The film The Castle in the Sky, by Hayao Miyazaki, premieres in Japan — one of Studio Ghibli's first.
• The film The Fly, by David Cronenberg, premieres in the USA.
• The game Metroid is released for the Nintendo Famicom, featuring the heroine Samus Aran.
• The Soviet ship Admiral Nakhimov sinks in the Black Sea, killing 423 people.
• Slayer's album Reign in Blood is released, influencing thrash metal.

September 1986

• South Africa imposes a national state of emergency in response to growing protests against apartheid.
• Hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan: terrorists open fire on passengers, killing 20 people.
• Desmond Tutu becomes Archbishop of Cape Town.
• The United Kingdom privatizes British Gas, part of Thatcher's economic agenda.
• Metallica bassist Cliff Burton dies in a bus accident in Sweden on September 27.
• Elie Wiesel receives the Nobel Peace Prize.

October 1986

• The Iran-Contra scandal begins to be revealed: the Reagan administration secretly sold weapons to Iran and used the profits to finance guerrillas in Nicaragua.
• Reagan and Gorbachev meet in Reykjavik, Iceland, to discuss reducing nuclear weapons — negotiations fail, but pave the way for future agreements.
• Earthquake in El Salvador kills more than 1,500 people.
• The New York Mets win the World Series against the Boston Red Sox.
• The London Stock Exchange goes through the "Big Bang" — historic deregulation of the British financial market.
• The game Castlevania is released for the Nintendo Famicom.

November 1986

• Mike Tyson becomes the youngest world heavyweight boxing champion in history, at age 20, defeating Trevor Berbick.
• The Iran-Contra scandal gains international prominence with new revelations.
• Brazil holds direct elections for governors — the first since 1965 — with Orestes Quércia winning in São Paulo.
• The Tancredo Neves Bridge, connecting Brazil to Argentina in Foz do Iguaçu, is inaugurated.
• Release of the album Licensed to Ill by the Beastie Boys.
• The film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home premieres in the USA.

December 1986

• The Louvre Museum, in Paris, begins construction of the Glass Pyramid, designed by I. M. Pei.
• The USSR releases dissident Andrei Sakharov from internal exile in Gorky, signaling political openness.
• Chile faces growing protests against Pinochet's dictatorship.
• Wole Soyinka receives the Nobel Prize for Literature — the first African to win the prize.
• A fire at the Hotel Dupont Plaza, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 people.
• The film The Golden Child, with Eddie Murphy, premieres in the USA.