1986
| Millennium: | 2nd millennium |
|---|---|
| Centuries: | |
| Decades: | |
| Years: |
| 1986 by topic |
|---|
| Subject |
| By country |
|
| Lists of leaders |
| Birth and death categories |
| Establishments and disestablishments categories |
| Works category |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1986.
1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.
Events
January
- January 1 - Spain and Portugal enter the European Community, which later becomes the European Union.
- January 1 - Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands and is separated from the Netherlands Antilles.
- January 9 - After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak leaves the instant camera business.
- January 12 - STS-61-C: Space Shuttle Columbia is launched with the first Hispanic-American astronaut, Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz.
- January 19 - The first PC virus, Brain, starts to spread.
- January 20 - The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.
- January 20 - The first federal Martin Luther King Day, honoring Martin Luther King Jr., is observed.
- January 21 - National Hugging Day is first observed.
- January 24 - The Voyager 2 space probe makes its first encounter with Uranus.
- January 26 - The Chicago Bears win Super Bowl XX.
- January 28 - STS-51-L: Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates 73 seconds after launch, killing the crew of 6 astronauts and schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe.
- January 29 - Yoweri Museveni becomes President of Uganda after leading a successful 5-year liberation struggle.
February
- February 7 - President Jean-Claude Duvalier ("Baby Doc") flees Haiti, ending 28 years of family rule.
- February 9 - Mohinder Amarnath becomes the first batsman dismissed for handling the ball in one-day international cricket.
- February 9 - Comet Halley reaches its perihelion, the closest point to the Sun, during its second visit to the solar system in the 20th Century.
- February 11 - Human Rights activist Anatoly Shcharansky is released by the Soviet Union and leaves the country.
- February 16 - The Soviet liner Mikhail Lermontov runs aground in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.
- February 16 - Opération coup de poing: the French Air Force badly damages the Libyan airbase of Ouadi Doum in northern Chad.
- 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 - EDSA Revolution: President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines goes into exile in Hawaii after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president, first as an interim president.
- February 25 - Egyptian military police, protesting bad salaries, enter 4 luxury hotels near the pyramids, set fire to them and loot them.
- 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.
March
- March 3 - The first paper is published describing the Atomic force microscope, invented the previous year by Gerd Binnig, Calvin Quate and Christophe Berger. [1]
- March 4 - The Today national tabloid newspaper is launched in the United Kingdom, pioneering the use of computer photosetting and full-colour offset printing at a time when British national newspapers still use Linotype machines and letterpress.
- March 8 - Japanese spacecraft Suisei flies by Halley's Comet, studying its UV hydrogen corona and solar wind.
- March 9 - United States Navy divers find the largely intact but heavily-damaged crew compartment of the Space Shuttle Challenger; the bodies of all 7 astronauts are still inside.
- March 26 - An article in the New York Times charges that Kurt Waldheim, former United Nations Secretary General and candidate for president of Austria, may have been involved in Nazi war crimes during World War II.
- March 27 - A car bomb explodes at Russell Street Police HQ in Melbourne, killing a police officer.
- March 31 - A fire devastates Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, England.
April
Template:Combi |Template:MonthR 30 Tu |}
- April 2 - A bomb explodes on a Trans World Airlines flight from Rome to Athens; 4 people are killed.
- April 5 - 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing: The West Berlin discotheque, a known hangout for United States soldiers, is bombed, killing 3 and injuring 230; Libya is held responsible.
- April 13 -- Pope John Paul II officially visits the Synagogue of Rome, the first time a modern Pope had visited a synagogue.
- April 14 - Hailstones weighing 2.2 lb (880 g) fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92.
- April 15 - At least 15 people die after United States planes bomb targets in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the Benghazi region as part of Operation El Dorado Canyon.
- April 17 - British journalist John McCarthy is kidnapped in Beirut (released in August 1991) - 3 others are found dead; Revolutionary Cells claims responsibility in retaliation for the U.S. bombing of Libya.
- April 17 - A treaty ends the Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly.
- April 17 - The Hindawi Affair begins when an Irishwoman is found unknowingly carrying explosives onto an El Al flight from London to Tel Aviv.
- April 21 - Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's secret vault on The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault, discovering only a bottle of moonshine.
- April 26 - In Ukraine, one of the reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear plant explodes, creating the world's worst nuclear disaster. 31 are killed directly by the incident, many more die from cancer in later years, many thousands more are exposed to significant amounts of radioactive material, and vast territories in Ukraine and Belarus are rendered uninhabitable.
- April 27 - "Captain Midnight" interrupts HBO satellite feed.
May
- May 2 - The 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada opens.
- May 25 - Hands Across America: At least 5,000,000 people form a human chain from New York City to Long Beach, California, to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness.
- May 26 - The European Community adopts the European flag.
- May 31 - The 1986 FIFA World Cup begins in Mexico.
June
- June 4 - Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.
- June 8 - Former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim is elected president of Austria.
- June 9 - The Rogers Commission releases its report on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
- June 29 - Argentina defeats West Germany 3-2 to win the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
July
- July 5 - The Statue of Liberty is reopened to the public after an extensive refurbishing.
- July 23 - In London, Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.
- July 27 - Greg LeMond wins the Tour de France.
- July 28 - Estate agent Suzy Lamplugh vanishes after a meeting in London.
August
- August 6 - A low pressure system moving from South Australia and redeveloping off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimetres of rain in a day on Sydney.
- August 6 - In Louisville, Kentucky, William Schroeder, the second person to receive an artificial heart, dies after 620 days.
- August 6 - Australian Democrats leader Don Chipp retires from federal parliament and is succeeded by Janine Haines, becoming the first woman to lead a political party in Australia.
- August 19 - Two weeks after it was stolen, the Picasso painting Weeping Woman is found in a locker at the Spencer Street Station in Melbourne, Australia.
- August 20 - In Edmond, Oklahoma, United States Postal Service employee Patrick Sherrill guns down 14 of his co-workers before committing suicide.
- August 21 - The Lake Nyos tragedy occurs, killing nearly 2,000 people.
- August 31 - The Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov collides with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev in the Black Sea and sinks almost immediately, killing 398.
- August 31 - An Aeroméxico Douglas DC-9 collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 on both aircraft and 15 on the ground.
- August 31 - The cargo ship Khian Sea departs from the docks of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, carrying 14,000 tons of toxic waste. It will wander the seas for the next 16 months trying to find a place to dump its cargo.
September
- September 5 - Pan Am Flight 73, with 358 people on board, is hijacked at Karachi International Airport by 4 armed men of the Abu Nidal organization, which operates much in the same manner as Al Qaeda.
- September 6 - In Istanbul, 2 Abu Nidal terrorists kill 22 and wound 6 inside the Neve Shalom synagogue during Sabbath services.
- September 7 - Desmond Tutu becomes the first black Anglican Church bishop in South Africa.
- September 7 - Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet survives an assassination attempt by the FPMR; 5 of his bodyguards are killed.
- September 21- Cheryl Keeton is found dead in her van on the Sunset Highway, inspiring the novel Dead By Sunset.
- September 27 - A tour bus carrying heavy metal band Metallica crashes in Sweden, killing their bassist, Cliff Burton.
October
- October 1 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Goldwater-Nichols Act into law, making official the largest reorganization of the United States Department of Defense since the Air Force was made a separate branch of service in 1947.
- October 9 - United States District Court Judge Harry E. Claiborne becomes the fifth federal official to be removed from office through impeachment.
- October 9 - British actor/singer Michael Crawford is made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen, as well as receiving his second Olivier Award (Best Actor in a Musical) for The Phantom of the Opera.
- October 10 - An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people.
- October 10 - The bodies of 2 girls are found in Wild Park on the Mouselcoomb estate in Brighton, Sussex, England. They are confirmed as those of 9-year-olds Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway, who were reported missing yesterday.
- October 11 - Cold War: Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe (the talks break down in failure).
- October 12 - Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China
- October 26 - Bus deregulation goes into effect in the United Kingdom, except Greater London and Northern Ireland.
- October 27 - The New York Mets win the Major League Baseball World Series, beating the Boston Red Sox in 7 games.
- October 27 - Big Bang in the London Stock Exchange abolishes fixed commission charges, paving the way for electronic trading.
- October 28 - The centennial of the Statue of Liberty's dedication is celebrated in New York Harbor.
- October 28 - In London, Jeremy Bamber is found guilty of the murder of his parents, sister and twin nephews and sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation by the trial judge that he should serve at least 25 years before being considered for parole.
November
- November 1 - Queensland, Australia: Joh Bjelke-Petersen wins his final election as Premier of Queensland with 38.6% of the vote. He resigns on December 1, 1987 following revelations of his involvement with corruption released in the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
- November 3 - 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 7 American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.
- November 4 - Democrats regain control of the United States Senate for the first time in 6 years. In California, Chief Justice Rose Bird and two colleagues are removed by voters from the Supreme Court of California for opposing capital punishment.
- November 11 - Sperry Rand and Burroughs merge to form Unisys, becoming the second largest computer company.
- November 12 - Australian singer John Farnham releases the album Whispering Jack, which becomes the highest selling album in Australia's history.
- November 18 - Greater Manchester Police announce that they are to search for the bodies of 2 missing children (who both vanished more than 20 years ago) after the Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley confessed to 2 more murders.
- November 21 - Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start shredding documents implicating them in selling weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
- November 22 - Mike Tyson wins his first world boxing title by defeating Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas.
- November 25 - Iran-Contra Affair: U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
- November 26 - Iran-Contra Affair: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces that as of December 1 former Senator John Tower, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft will serve as members of the Special Review Board looking into the scandal (they became known as the Tower Commission). Reagan denies involvement in the scandal.
December
- December 14 - Scaled Composites Voyager, an experimental aircraft designed by Burt Rutan and piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, begins its flight around the world.
- December 19 - Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov is permitted to return to Moscow after years of internal exile.
- December 20 - Three African Americans are assaulted by a group of white teens in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York. One of the victims, Michael Griffith, is run over and killed by a motorist while attempting to flee the attackers.
- December 22 - British Liberal Party Member of Parliament David Penhaligon, 42, is killed in a car crash near Truro in Cornwall, England.
- December 23 - Voyager completes the first nonstop circumnavigation of the earth by air without refueling in 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
- December 29 - Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harold Macmillan dies at the age of 92.
- December 31 - A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.
Unknown dates
- The National park passport stamps program begins.
Births
January
- January 6 - Petter Northug, Norwegian cross-country skier
- January 10 - Alex Turner, British musician
- January 17 - Chloe Rose Lattanzi, Australian actress and singer
- January 24 - Mischa Barton, British-born American actress
- January 24 - Ricky Ullman, Israeli-born actor
- January 26 - Matt Heafy, American lead vocalist (Trivium)
- January 29 - Drew Tyler Bell, American actor
February
- February 1 - Lauren Conrad, Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and The Hills
- February 5 - Claudia Cruz, Dominican model and beauty queen
- February 8 - Charles Andrew Williams, American murderer
- February 15 - Valeri Bojinov, Bulgarian footballer
- February 19 - Maria Mena, Norwegian singer
- February 21 - Charlotte Church, Welsh soprano
- February 25 - Justin Berfield, American actor
March
- March 1 - Jensen Ackles , American actor
- March 6 - Eli Marienthal , American actor
- March 9 - Brittany Snow, American actress
- March 12 - Danny Jones, British musician (McFly)
- March 14 - Jamie Bell, British actor
- March 16 - Ken Doane, American professional wrestler
- March 27 - Valerie "So Cal Val" Wyndham, American professional wrestling valet
April
- April 3 - Amanda Bynes, American actress and variety show host
- April 8 - Erika Sawajiri, Japanese actress and model
- April 10 - Vincent Kompany, Belgian Football player
- April 18 - Denice Klarskov, Danish pornographic actress(currently doing American films)
- April 19 - Candace Parker, American basketball player
- April 28 - Keri Sable, American pornographic actress
- April 28 - George Nozuka, a Canadian R&B singer
May
- May 12 - Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress
- May 17 - Tahj Mowry, American actor
- May 20 - Craig Alexander Glennie, Canadian politician
June
- June 3 - Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player
- June 11 - Shia LaBeouf, American actor
- June 13 - Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, American actresses and entrepreneurs
- June 19 - Marvin Williams, American basketball player
- June 25 - Aya Matsuura, Japanese singer
- June 27 - Drake Bell, American actor and singer
- June 29 - Austin Drage, British actor and singer
July
- July 2 - Lindsay Lohan, American actress and singer
- July 2 - Choi Dae Hyun, Korean model
- July 3 - Tyler Lewis, Canadian singer and reality show finalist
- July 6 - Caroline Welz, Tallest woman in Germany and model
- July 9 - Kiely Williams, American actress and singer
- July 28 - Alexandra Chando, American actress (As The World Turns)
- July 31- Evgeni Malkin, Russian Hockey Player
August
- August 3 - Charlotte Casiraghi, heir to the Monaco throne
- August 16 - Shawn Pyfrom, American actor
- August 17 - Tobias Schönenberg, German actor and photomodel
- August 19 - Daniel Benjamin, American Entrepreneur
- August 20 - Robert Clark, Canadian actor
- August 23 - Neil Cicierega, American musician and animator, internet celebrity
- August 27 - Mario (singer), R&B singer
- August 28 - Gilad Shalit, Israeli soldier/hostage
- August 30 - Ryan Ross, guitarist - Panic! at the Disco
September
- September 3 - Shaun White, American professional snowboarder
- September 6 - Raven Riley, American porn star
- September 12 - Emmy Rossum, American actress and singer
- September 14 - Ai Takahashi, Japanese singer
- September 18 - Keeley Hazell, British model
- September 23 - Kaylee DeFer, American actress
- September 26 - Ashley Leggat, Canadian actress
- September 28 - Andrés Guardado, Mexican footballer.
- September 29 - Lisa Foiles, American actress and singer
October
- October 1 - Jurnee Smollett, Actress
- October 2 - Camilla Belle, American actress
- October 9 - Laure Manaudou, French swimmer
- October 30 - Thomas Morgenstern, Austrian ski jumper
November
- November 3 - Jasmine Trias, Filipino - American singer
- November 4 - Alexz Johnson, Canadian Actress and Singer
- November 5 - BoA, Korean singer
- November 10 - Josh Peck, Actor
- November 15 - Sania Mirza, Indian tennis player
- November 22 - David Pasqualini, French pianist
December
- December 8 - Amir Khan, British boxer.
- December 18 - Jery Sandoval, Colombian actress, model and singer.
- December 26 - Myu Azama, Japanese actress
Deaths
January
- January 1 - Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)
- January 4 - Phil Lynott, Lead singer and Bassist of Thin Lizzy (b. 1949)
- January 7 - Juan Rulfo, Mexican writer (b. 1917)
- January 8 - Pierre Fournier, French cellist (b. 1906)
- January 10 - Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- January 14 - Donna Reed, American actress (b. 1921)
- January 24 - L. Ron Hubbard, American writer and founder of Scientology (b. 1911)
- January 24 - Gordon MacRae, American actor, singer (b. 1921)
- January 27 - Lilli Palmer, actress (b. 1914)
- January 28 - Crew of Space Shuttle Challenger:
- Greg Jarvis (b. 1944)
- Christa McAuliffe (b. 1948)
- Ronald McNair (b. 1950)
- Ellison Onizuka (b. 1946)
- Judith Resnik (b. 1949)
- Francis R. Scobee (b. 1939)
- Michael J. Smith (b. 1945)
February
- February 1 - Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, diplomat, and writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1902)
- February 6 - Frederick Coutts, the 8th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1899)
- February 11 - Frank Herbert, American author (b. 1920)
- February 21 - Helen Hooven Santmyer, American writer (b. 1895)
- February 24 - Tommy Douglas, Canadian politician and "Father of Medicare" in Canada (b. 1904)
- February 27 - Jacques Plante, Canadian hockey player (b. 1929)
- February 28 - Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1927)
March
- March 4 - Richard Manuel, Canadian musician (The Band) (b. 1943)
- March 4 - Howard Greenfield, American songwriter (b. 1936)
- March 6 - Georgia O'Keeffe, American artist (b. 1887)
- March 10 - Ray Milland, Welsh actor (b. 1905)
- March 23 - Moshe Feinstein, Orthodox Rabbi (b. 1895)
- March 30 - James Cagney, American actor (b. 1899)
April
- April 3 - Peter Pears, English tenor (b. 1910)
- April 7 - Leonid Kantorovich, Russian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
- April 8 - Yukiko Okada, Japanese idol singer (b. 1967)
- April 14 - Simone de Beauvoir, French feminist writer (b. 1908)
- April 15 - Jean Genet, French writer (b. 1910)
- April 19 - Aileen Britton, Australian actress (b. 1916)
- April 22 - Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian of religions and writer (b. 1907)
- April 23 - Otto Preminger, Austrian-born film director (b. 1906)
- April 24 - Wallis Simpson, wife of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, later titled "Duke of Windsor" due to his abdication (b. 1896)
- April 26 - Broderick Crawford, American actor (b. 1911)
- April 26 - Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1899)
May
- May 2 - Henri Toivonen, Finnish rally car driver (b. 1956)
- May 3 - Robert Alda, American-born actor (b. 1914)
- May 9 - Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese sherpa (b. 1914)
- May 11 - Henry P. McIlhenny, American art collector, socialite, philanthropist and the chairman of the Philadelphia Art Museum (b. 1910)
- May 12 - Elisabeth Bergner, Austrian actress (b. 1897)
- May 15 - Elio de Angelis, Italian race car driver (b. 1958)
- May 15 - Theodore White, American writer (b. 1915)
- May 23 - Sterling Hayden, American actor (b. 1916)
- May 25 - Chester Bowles, American politician (b. 1901)
- May 26 - Gian-Carlo Coppola, American film producer (b. 1963)
- May 31 - Jane Frank (Jane Schenthal Frank), American artist
- May 31 - James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
June
- June 13 - Benny Goodman, American jazz musician (b. 1909)
- June 14 - Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer (b. 1899)
- June 16 - Maurice Duruflé, French composer (b. 1902)
- June 17 - Kate Smith, American singer (b. 1907)
- June 19 - Coluche, stage name of Michel Colucci, French comedian and humorist (b. 1944)
- June 20 - Len Bias, American basketball player (b. 1963)
- June 21 - Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer, musician, conductor and author
July
- July 4 - Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (b. 1899)
- July 6 - Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician (b. 1908)
- July 8 - Hyman Rickover, American admiral (b. 1900)
- July 8 - Skeeter Webb, baseball player (b. 1909)
- July 14 - Raymond Loewy, French-born industrial designer (b. 1893)
- July 15 - Billy Haughton, American harness driver and trainer (b. 1923)
- July 21 - Ernest Maas, American screenwriter (b. 1892)
- July 24 - Fritz Albert Lipmann, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
- July 25 - Vincente Minnelli, American film director (b. 1903)
August
- August 2 - Roy Cohn, American lawyer and anti-Communist (b. 1927)
- August 20 - Milton Acorn, Canadian poet, writer, and playwright (b. 1923)
- August 31 - Urho Kekkonen, President of Finland (b. 1900)
- August 31 - Henry Moore, British sculptor (b. 1898)
September
- September 4 - Hank Greenberg, baseball player (b. 1911)
- September 25 - Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov, Russian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
- September 27 - Cliff Burton, American bassist (Metallica) (b. 1962)
October
- October 5 - James H. Wilkinson, English mathematician (b. 1919)
- October 14 - Keenan Wynn, American actor (b. 1916)
- October 16 - Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian violinist (b. 1921)
- October 22 - Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungarian physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
- October 23 - Edward Adelbert Doisy, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1893)
- October 25 - Forrest Tucker, American actor (b. 1919)
- October 26 - Jackson Scholz, American runner (b. 1897)
- October 28 - Ian Marter, British actor and writer (b. 1944)
- October 31 - Robert S. Mulliken, American physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1896)
November
- November 6 - Elisabeth Grümmer, Alsatian soprano (b. 1911)
- November 8 - Artur London, Czech statesman(b. 1915)
- November 8 - Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet politician (b. 1890)
- November 18 - Gia Carangi, Supermodel (b. 1960)
- November 21 - Dar Robinson, American film stuntman (b. 1947)
- November 22 - Scatman Crothers, American actor, musician (b. 1910)
- November 22 - William Bradford Huie, American journalist, editor, publisher and author (b. 1910)
- November 29 - Cary Grant, British actor (b. 1904)
December
- December 2 - Desi Arnaz, Cuban-born actor (b. 1917)
- December 3 - Austin Hayes, Irish footballer (b. 1958)
- December 21 - Willy Coppens, Belgian pilot (b. 1892)
- December 28 - Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian film director (b. 1932)
- December 29 - Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
Nobel prizes
- Physics - Ernst Ruska, Gerd Binnig, Heinrich Rohrer
- Chemistry - Dudley R Herschbach, Yuan T Lee, John C Polanyi
- Physiology or Medicine - Stanley Cohen, Rita Levi-Montalcini
- Literature - Wole Soyinka
- Peace - Elie Wiesel
- Economics - James Buchanan Jr
Ship events
- List of ship launches in 1986
- List of ship commissionings in 1986
- List of ship decommissionings in 1986
- List of shipwrecks in 1986
1986 in fiction
Computer and video games
- Set in 1986:
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
- Shenmue (1999)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1986.