1986 was a year of tragedy, with the explosion of the U.S. space shuttle Challenger, killing all seven crew members, and the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, killing two instantly and many thousands over time. But it also had brighter moments: Hands Across America united 5 million people from coast to coast, Oprah Winfrey debuted her iconic talk show, Halley’s Comet made a triumphant return after 76 years and the Voyager completed the first around-the-world flight without refueling.
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Jan
28
At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space. McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire, won a competition that earned her a place among the seven-member crew of the Challenger. She underwent months of shuttle training but then, beginning January 23, was forced to wait six long days as the Challenger‘s launch countdown was repeatedly delayed because of weather and technical problems. Finally, on January 28, the shuttle lifted off.
The space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after lift off.
Bruce Weaver/AP Photo
Feb
08
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06
Apr
26
On April 26, 1986, the world’s worst nuclear power plant accident occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union. Thirty-two people died and dozens more suffered radiation burns in the opening days of the crisis, but only after Swedish authorities reported the fallout did Soviet authorities reluctantly admit that an accident had occurred.
CHERNOBYL, UKRAINE- APRIL 29: View of the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant three days after the explosion on April 29, 1986 in Chernobyl:,Ukraine. (Photo by SHONE/GAMMA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
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26
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Nov
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On November 2, 1986, Norwegian distance runner Grete Waitz wins her eighth New York City marathon. She finished the 26-mile, 385-yard course in 2:28.6, more than a mile ahead of the second- and third-place women in the race. Waitz had won her first marathon in New York in 1978 and she won the NYC marathon again in 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985. In 1988, she won it for the ninth time—something no runner had ever done in any marathon.
Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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25
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20
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