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treaty
February 19 – After waiting 37 years, the United States Senate approves a treaty outlawing genocide. -
peoples power
February 25 – People Power 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. Salvador Laurel becomes her Vice President. -
debates
February 27 – The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis. -
Space Shuttle
March 9 – United States Navy divers find the largely intact but heavily damaged crew compartment of the Space Shuttle Challenger; the bodies of all seven astronauts are still inside. -
University Lowa
April 4 – Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. is founded at University of Iowa. -
University
April 4 – Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. is founded at University of Iowa. -
Bombing
April 5 – 1986 West Berlin discotheque bombing: The West Berlin discothèque, a known hangout for United States soldiers, is bombed, killing 3 and injuring 230; Libya is held responsible. -
El Dorado
April 15 – Operation El Dorado Canyon: At least 15 people die after United States planes bomb targets in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the Benghazi region -
Kidnapped
April 17 – British journalist John McCarthy is kidnapped in Beirut (released in August 1991) – three others are found dead; Revolutionary Cells (RZ) claims responsibility in retaliation for the U.S. bombing of Libya. -
Academy
March 25 – The 58th Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles, California, with Out of Africa winning Best Picture. -
World War 11
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. -
20 batters
April 29 – Roger Clemens sets the record for the most strikeouts in a 9-inning MLB game, striking out 20 batters. -
Top gun
May 16 – Top Gun, an action film featuring naval aviation and starring Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer and Kelly McGillis, debuts in cinemas. It goes on to become the highest-grossing film of the year, netting nearly $177 million in America alone.[1] -
Fight hunger
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. -
military
June 4 – Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel. -
NBA
June 8 – The Boston Celtics defeat the Houston Rockets in six games to win the NBA Championship. -
The Rogers
June 9 – The Rogers Commission Report is released on the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. -
basketball
June 19 – American college basketball player Len Bias suffers a fatal cardiac arrhythmia from a cocaine overdose less than 48 hours after being selected 2nd overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft. -
The Statue
July 5 – The Statue of Liberty is reopened to the public after an extensive refurbishing. -
Palm Springs
July 8 – The Mw 6.0 North Palm Springs earthquake shook Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong), causing 29–40 injuries and $4.5–6 million in losses. -
South coast
July 13 – The Mw 5.8 Oceanside earthquake shook the south coast of California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong), causing $700,000 in losses and one death. -
California
July 21 – The Mw 6.2 Chalfant Valley earthquake shook eastern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong), causing $2.7 million in losses and two injuries. -
Heart
August 6 – In Louisville, Kentucky, William J. Schroeder, the second artificial heart recipient, dies after 620 days. -
Committing Soucide
August 20 – In Edmond, Oklahoma, United States Postal Service employee Patrick Sherrill guns down 14 of his co-workers before committing suicide. -
Air Force
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. -
Fitfth Federal
October 9 – United States District Court Judge Harry E. Claiborne becomes the fifth federal official to be removed from office through impeachment. -
Cold War
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). -
Hit the water
October 22 – In New York City, WNBC Radio's traffic helicopter crashes into the Hudson River, killing traffic reporter Jane Dornacker. The last words heard on-the-air were Dornacker's screams of terror, "Hit the water! Hit the water! Hit the water!" -
Games
October 27 – World Series: The New York Mets defeat the Boston Red Sox in 7 games. This is the second world series title in the Mets franchise. It is also remembered for Game 6, when Bill Buckner lets an easy ground ball hit by Mookie Wilson roll through his legs, letting the Mets win and pull even with the Red Sox in the series. -
Statue of liberty
October 28 – The centennial of the Statue of Liberty's dedication is celebrated in New York Harbor. -
Selling Weapons
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. -
voters
November 4 – Democrats regain control of the United States Senate for the first time in six years. In California, Chief Justice Rose Bird and two colleagues are removed by voters from the Supreme Court of California for opposing capital punishment. -
documents
November 21 – Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary, Fawn Hall, start shredding documents implicating them in selling weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. -
boxing
November 22 – Mike Tyson wins his first world boxing title by defeating Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas. -
illegally
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. -
Secretary of State
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. -
unemployment
December- The unemployment rate drops to 6.6%, the lowest since March 1980. -
Three African
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. -
NBC
December 26 – After 35 years on the airwaves and holding the title of longest-running non-news program on network television, NBC airs the final episode of daytime drama Search for Tomorrow. -
Killing
December 31 – A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.