- April 10
- Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan. [1]
- April 11
- Dodge Morgan completes nonstop sail solo around the world in 150 days. [1]
- Halley's Comet makes closest approach to Earth this trip, 63 million km. [1]
- April 12
- 20,000 mine workers protest closing of Hasselt Belgium mines. [1]
- April 13
- Pope John Paul II meets Rome's Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff at Rome synagogue. [1] [84]
- April 14
- Desmond Tutu elected Anglican archbishop of Capetown, South Africa. [1]
- Double-decker ferry sinks in stormy weather in Bangladesh killing 200. [1]
- Hailstones weighing 2.2 pounds (880 grams) fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92. [84]
- April 15
- US aircraft attacks five terrorist locations in Libya; 15 deaths. [1] [84]
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- April 16
- To dispel rumors he's dead, Libya's Moammar Qadhafi appears on TV. [1]
- April 17
- IBM produces first megabit-chip. [1]
- Netherlands and the Scilly Islands sign peace treaty (war of 1651). [1] [84]
- Pulitzer prize awarded to Larry McMurtry for Lonesome Dove. [1]
- An Irishwoman is found unknowingly carrying explosives onto an El Al flight from London, England to Tel Aviv, Israel. [84]
- 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. [84]
- April 21
- Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's secret vault on live TV show The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault and finds nothing inside. [1] [84]
- April 25
- ETA bomb explodes in Madrid, Spain, killing 5. [1]
- April 26
- In Himachal Pradesh, India, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake occurs. Six people killed, about 30 injured and 85 percent of the houses damaged in the Dharmsala, India area. [53]
- France performs nuclear test. [1]
- In Ukraine, one of the reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear plant explodes, caused by pressurized steam in the cooling system during a maintenance test. 9 tons of radioactive material is released into the air. The nearby city of Pripyat is evacuated; the power plant is covered with 5000 tons of concrete. 41 are killed directly by the incident, about 4000 die prematurely 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. [1] [84] [255.62] [1247.48] [1381.9]
- April 29
- 800,000 books destroyed by fire in Los Angeles Central Library, California, USA. [1]
- April 30
- In Michoacan, Mexico, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurs. [53]
- May 1
- Soviet news agency Tass reports Chernobyl nuclear power plant mishap. [1]
- Will Stegers expedition reaches North Pole. [1]
- May 2
- Transportation Expo 86 opens in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. [1] [84]
- May 3
- Air Lanka crashes, killing 22. [1]
- May 4
- President Babrak Karmal resigns as party leader of Afghanistan. [1]
- May 5
- In Turkey, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake occurs. Fifteen people killed, 100 injured and approximately 4,000 houses damaged. [53]
- May 6
- Donald E Pelotte becomes first native American bishop. [1]
- France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island. [1]
- May 7
- In Andreanof Islands, Alaska, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake occurs. Tsunami generated with observed wave heights up to 175 cm. [53]
- May 13
- In the Georgia-Turkey border region, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake occurs. [53]
- May 14
- Institute for War documents publishes Anne Frank's complete diary. [1]
- May 15
- Argentine ex-President Galtieri sentenced to 12 years. [1]
- May 16
- Paramount releases the film Top Gun to theaters. (Total world gross ticket sales: $354 million (1st for 1986).) [949]
- Joaquín Balaguers PRSC wins Dominican Republic parliamentary election. [1]
- South African President P W Botha sends Coetsee to visit Mandela. [1]
- The Seville Statement on Violence is adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain. [84]
- May 18
- South African army occupies Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. [1]
- May 19
- Anti-apartheid activist Hélène Pastoors sentenced to ten years in South Africa. [1]
- May 23
- US and West Europeans veto heavier sanctions against South Africa. [1]
- May 24
- Margaret Thatcher becomes first British Prime Minister to visit Israel. [1]
- May 25
- Bangladeshi double decked ferry Shamia sinks on Maghna River, Bangladesh; 600 killed. [1] [84]
- Hands Across America - 7 million people hold hands from California to New York, to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness. [1] [5] [84]
- Virgilio Barco elected President of Colombia. [1]
- May 26
- The European Community adopts the European flag. [84]
- May 27
- France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island. [1]
- In Japan, Enix releases the Dragon Quest video game for the Famicom. The game was written by Yuji Horii. (1.5 million copies are sold.) [9]
- May 28
- Democratic Labor Party wins parliamentary election in Barbados. [1]
- May 30
- Ariane-2 (ESA) launched. [1]
- France performs nuclear test. [1]
- June 3
- E F Helin discovers asteroid #3767. [1]
- June 4
- Jonathan Pollard, spy for Israel, pleads guilty in US court to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence. [1] [84]
- June 8
- Former United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim is elected president of Austria. [37] [84]
- June 9
- The Rogers Commission report on space shuttle Challenger disaster blames Morton Thiokol. [1] [84]
- June 11
- Near the coast of Venezuela, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurs. [53]
- June 12
- P W Botha declares South African national emergency. [1]
- June 13
- US President Ronald Reagan criticizes South African state of emergency. [1]
- June 15
- Pravda announces high-level Chernobyl staff fired for stupidity. [1]
- June 18
- 52 die in plane/helicopter collision over Grand Canyon. [1]
- June 24
- In Papua New Guinea, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurs. [53]
- June 27
- In referendum, Irish uphold ban on divorce. [1]
- US informs New Zealand it will not defend it against attack. [1]
- World Court rules US aid to Nicaraguan contras illegal. [1]
- July 7
- Australian drug smugglers Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers are executed in Malaysia. [84]
- July 8
- In North Palm Springs, California, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurs. [53]
- July 13
- In the California - Mexico border region, a magnitude 5.3 earthquake occurs. [53]
- July 18
- Videotapes released showing Titanic's sunken remains. [1]
- July 21
- In the California - Nevada border region, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurs. [53]
- July 23
- In London, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey. [1] [84]
- July 26
- Lebanese kidnappers released Reverend Lawrence Martin Jenco. [1]
- July 28
- NASA releases transcript from doomed Challenger, pilot Michael Smith could be heard saying, "Uh-oh!" as spacecraft disintegrated. [1]
- July 29
- In Kokubunji, Japan, several buildings are hit by falling meteorites. [521]
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