Events Date 1986 December | History by KabAstro

Dec 1 Musée d'Orsay opens in Paris

Only Love Remains

Dec 1 Paul McCartney releases single "Only Love Remains"

Dec 2 Dow-Jones index hits record 1,955.57

Sri Lanka Dismissed for 55

Dec 3 Chasing the West Indies 248/5, Sri Lanka is sensationally dismissed for just 55 in cricket's Champions Trophy in Sharjah; Windies pace bowler Courtney Walsh takes 5 for 1 in 4.3 overs

Broadway Bound

Dec 4 Neil Simon's stage play "Broadway Bound", starring Linda Lavin, Jonathan Silverman, and Jason Alexander, opens at the Broadhurst Theatre, NYC; runs for 756 performances

Dec 4 US launches its Fleet Satellite Communications System (Fltsatcom-7)
Dec 6 52nd Heisman Trophy Award: Vinny Testaverde, Miami Fla (QB)
Dec 6 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
Dec 7 NBC premiere of miniseries "Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna" (Part 1)

Duvalier flees Haiti

Dec 7 President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees Haiti

Dictator and President of Haiti Jean-Claude Duvalier

Dec 8 NBC premiere of miniseries "Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna" (Part 2)
Dec 8 US House of Representative Democrats select majority leader Jim Wright as 48th speaker
Dec 10 Atlanta Hawk Dominique Wilkins scores 57 points vs Chicago Bulls
Dec 10 France performs nuclear test

Holocaust Spokesman Awarded Nobel

Dec 10 Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel accepts 1986 Nobel Peace Prize for being a leading spokesman on the Holocaust

Lendl's Back-to-Back ATP

Dec 10 Ivan Lendl repeats previous year's result with a 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 win over Boris Becker to claim back-to-back season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis titles at Madison Square Garden, NYC

Tennis Player and Eight-Time Major Champion Ivan Lendl

Dec 11 South Africa censors press

Boon's Fourth Century

Dec 12 Australian cricketer David Boon's fourth Test century, 103 v England at Adelaide

Dec 12 James "Bone Crusher" Smith TKO's WBA champ Tim Witherspoon in Madison Square Garden
Dec 12 Russian Tupolev-134 crashes in East Berlin, 70 killed
Dec 12 South African journalist and activist Zwelakhe Sisulu arrested at John Vorster Square
Dec 14 Experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan & Jeana Yeager, takes off from Edwards AFB, California on 1st non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world; lands 9 days later
Dec 15 150 killed during race riot in Karachi
Dec 15 Carnegie Hall reopens after a $50 million facelift

Casey Suffers Seizure

Dec 15 CIA director William J. Casey suffers a cerebral seizure

Kazakhstan Revolt

Dec 16 Revolt in Kazakhstan against Communist party, known as Zheltoksan, which becomes the first sign of ethnic strife during Gorbachev's tenure

Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev

Hitman Kuklinski Arrested

Dec 17 American mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski is arrested at a roadblock

Dec 17 Davina Thompson makes medical history by having the 1st heart, lung and liver transplant at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England

Gretzky's 41st Hat Trick

Dec 17 Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky scores 4 goals, including a natural hat trick in the 1st period and also records an assist as the Oilers win 5-3 over the visiting Quebec Nordiques; his 41st NHL career hat trick

Dec 17 US Congress forms "Irangate" committee

"Platoon"

Dec 19 "Platoon" directed by Oliver Stone, starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Willem Dafoe is released (Academy Awards Best Picture & Best Director)

Filmmaker, Director and Screenwriter Oliver Stone

Jack Morris - Tigers Dispute

Dec 19 Jack Morris agrees to salary arbitration with former team Tigers & accuses owners of collusion against free agency

Baseball Hall of Fame Pitcher Jack Morris

Dec 19 Michael Sergio, who parachuted into Shea Stadium during game 6 of the World Series, sentenced to 100 hrs of community service & fined $500
Dec 19 OPEC reaches an accord that would cut production by 7 percent for the first six months of 1987 and would raise prices immediately toward a target world oil price of $18 per barrel

USSR Frees Sakharov

Dec 19 USSR frees dissident Andrei Sakharov from internal exile

Nuclear Physicist and Soviet Dissident Andrei Sakharov

Dec 20 White teenagers beat blacks in New York City's Howard Beach
Dec 22 India score 7-676 v Sri Lanka at Kanpur in Cricket
Dec 23 Experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan & Jeana Yeager, complete 1st nonstop, round-the-world flight without refueling lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert, 9 days after taking off from the same location
Dec 24 French hostage Aurel Cornea, held in Lebanon for 9 months, released
Dec 24 Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab
Dec 26 Captured Iraqi Airways Boeing-737 in Saudi Arabia, about 60 killed
Dec 26 Hartford center Doug Jarvis sets NHL record of 916 consecutive games as the Whalers tie 1-1 after OT against his old club Montreal Canadiens

Messier Suspended

Dec 26 Mark Messier is suspended for 10 games for instigating a fight with Jamie Macoun and breaking his cheekbone

Dec 26 TV soap "Search for Tomorrow" ends 35 year run
Dec 27 2nd Soap Opera Digest Awards - Days of Our Lives wins
Dec 27 Musical "Les Misérables" opens in the US at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.
Dec 28 75th Davis Cup: Australia beats Sweden in Melbourne (3-2), helped by Pat Davis ranked 412th in the world
Dec 30 Ballon d'Or: Dynamo Kyiv's Ukrainian forward Igor Belanov is named best football player in Europe ahead of Barcelona striker Gary Lineker and Real Madrid forward Emilio Butragueño
Dec 31 Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico kills 97
Dec 31 Russian TU-144 flies for 1st time faster than sound
Dec 31 WIS-AM in Columbia SC changes call letters to WVOC (now WOMG)