Flashback to 1986 - A Timeline of Life in America

[Music] the year 1986 was full of memorable events in sports and entertainment but the year would come to be best remembered for a tragedy that the whole country watched live on television the year had a little bit of everything going on from a spectacle tv event to a political scandal that would lead to investigations hearings and indictments on january 9th after losing a patent battle with polaroid kodak gave up on its instant camera business the decision left millions of kodak camera owners without a source for new film making their kodak instant cameras completely useless on january 20th the first federal holiday honoring martin luther king jr was held the holiday was designated to be held on the third monday of january making it fall close to his birthday on january 15th on that first mlk day people across the country held marches and church services to celebrate king's legacy on january 23rd the rock and roll hall of fame inducted its first group of artists the inaugural class included elvis presley james brown little richard fats domino ray charles chuck berry sam cook the everly brothers buddy holly and jerry lee lewis [Music] on january 26th super bowl 20 took place between the chicago bears and the new england patriots the game had plenty of hype when the chicago bears released their popular super bowl shuffle but the most memorable moment of the game came when defensive lineman william the refrigerator perry lined up at fullback and scored a one-yard touchdown during the third quarter the bears would go on to win the game 46-10 on january 28th the space shuttle challenger took off from kennedy space center carrying seven crew members including christa mcauliffe who was to be the first teacher in space 73 seconds after liftoff the shuttle exploded and hundreds watched from the ground including christa's family and millions more watched the tragedy unfold on live television the cause of the disaster would be determined as a failure of an o-ring on a solid rocket booster caused by the cold temperatures in florida that morning on february 3rd pixar animation studios headed by edwin catmull and alvey ray smith was spun off from lucasfilm and established itself as an independent film production company with the backing of steve jobs on february 18th an anti-smoking ad aired on tv for the first time featuring yule brenner who had died of smoking-induced lung cancer six months earlier [Music] on march 25th a year almost to the day since their first gig at the troubadour in los angeles the rock band guns and roses signed a record deal that helped catapult them to worldwide fame and fortune geffen records signed them and soon word spread about the hottest new rock band of the 1980s on april 8th clint eastwood became the mayor of carmel by the sea california and quite possibly the most famous local politician on the planet when he defeated incumbent charlotte townsend the sleepy seaside town of 4500 residents was where the popular film star called home on april 17th the pulitzer prize was awarded to larry mcmurtry for his epic novel lonesome dove the old west saga saw a cast of characters driving cattle from a dusty border town in texas to the mountains of montana on april 21st the highly anticipated live television event the mysteries of al capone's vaults hosted by geraldo rivera aired the two-hour show was watched by 30 million people and when al capone's vault was finally opened nothing was found on may 16th the high-flying action movie top gun opened in theaters the film about the best of the best in naval aviation starred tom cruise anthony edwards val kilmer and kelly mcgillis and would go on to become the highest grossing film of the year on may 25th approximately 6.5 million people formed a human chain from new york city to long beach california to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness in an event called hands across america [Music] on june 19th university of maryland basketball player lynn bias suffered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia from a cocaine overdose he died less than 48 hours after being selected by the boston celtics as the second overall pick in the nba draft on july 18th new close-up video of the sunken ocean liner titanic was released to the public taken on the first manned expedition down to the wreck the videotapes were stunning in their clarity and detail the wreckage had been discovered the year before by marine geologist robert ballard with the help of the u.s navy on september 8th the oprah winfrey show debuted nationally the show was an instant success making oprah one of the most powerful wealthy people in show business and arguably one of the most influential women in america on october 9th the fox broadcasting company launched as the fourth commercial broadcasting television network in the united states the first show on the network was the late show starring joan rivers [Music] october 27th brought us a new world series champion in the new york mets the mets defeated the boston red sox in seven games and is most remembered for game six when red sox first baseman bill buckner let an easy ground ball roll through his legs sealing the win for the mets which led to game seven on november 22nd mike tyson won his first world boxing title by defeating trevor berbick in las vegas tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion ever at age 20. on november 25th the iran contra affair erupted when attorney general ed meese revealed that on white house orders the proceeds of secret arms sales to iran were illegally diverted to fund the rebel contras in nicaragua who were waging a guerrilla war to overthrow that country's leftist regime on december 17th serial killer and hitman richard kaklinsky known as the iceman was arrested after an 18-month undercover operation kuklinski was apprehended and convicted of killing two men before he confessed to killing others the iceman claimed to have killed between 100 to 200 people and would become the inspiration for many crime show plot lines along with multiple documentaries books and movies to close out the year on december 19th the vietnam war movie platoon directed by oliver stone opened in theaters the story of a young recruit who faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war starred charlie sheen tom barringer and willem dafoe and would take home the awards for best picture and best director at the academy awards the following year [Music] you

Channel: Recollection Road

Views: 96,552

Keywords: Recollection Road, nostalgia, memories, photos, history, closed, forgotten, business, past, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, memory, yesteryear, golden age, photo album, oldies, fifties, sixties, abandoned, 20th century, challenger, nasa, christa mcauliffe, mike tyson, top gun, iran contra, guns n roses, capone's vault, new york mets, platoon, iceman, kodak, mlk, chicago bears, lonesome dove, len bias, hands across america

Id: O8Yiu12Q7QY

Length: 9min 8sec (548 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 11 2022