What happened onMarch 16, 1986Sunday Week 11

Today is September12, 2026 Saturday.

March 16 is a Sunday again in 1997.

About March 16

March 16 Events On this day through the years

Born ?

March 16FamousBirthdays

In loving memoryFamous DeathsMarch 16

The World in 1986 the year Halley's Comet swung past

Halley's Comet comes back about every 76 years. A child who watched it in 1986 would have to wait until 2061 to see it again, by then a grandparent.

Life back then

Most families had one television and one phone line, and the phone had a cord. News about Chernobyl came from the evening broadcast and the morning paper, because there was nowhere else to look. The alarm was raised in Sweden, where detectors at a power plant picked up the radiation two days later. The Nintendo Entertainment System was spreading across American stores, so Super Mario Bros became the sound of a lot of living rooms. Music came on cassette, and making a mixtape took as long as the songs did.

The year in 8 events

• 🕯️Jan 28 The space shuttle Challenger breaks apart shortly after launch. All seven crew members die, including teacher Christa McAuliffe.
• ✊Feb 25 Ferdinand Marcos flees the Philippines after the People Power protests. Corazon Aquino becomes president.
• 🕯️Feb 28 Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme is shot dead on a Stockholm street, walking home from the cinema.
• ☢️Apr 26 A reactor at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine explodes and sends radiation across Europe.
• 🎬May 16 Top Gun opens in US theaters and goes on to be the biggest movie of the year.
• ⚽Jun 22 Diego Maradona scores twice against England at the World Cup in Mexico, once with his hand and once after running past half the team.
• 🤝Oct 11 Reagan and Gorbachev meet in Reykjavik, Iceland. They come close to a huge nuclear weapons deal, then leave without one.
• 🗽Oct 28 The Statue of Liberty turns 100. It was dedicated in New York Harbor on the same date in 1886.

Who Was in Charge?

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