WHAT ALL HAPPENED SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 1986
Find out what all happened September to December 1986

Reinhold Messner becomes the first person to summit all 14 Eight-thousanders. (16. October 1986)

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China (12. October 1986)

Samora Machel, President of Mozambique and a prominent leader of FRELIMO, and 33 others die when their Tupolev 134 plane crashes into the Lebombo Mountains. (19. October 1986)

Cold War: U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, in an effort to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe. (11. October 1986)

Sumburgh disaster – A British International Helicopters Boeing 234LR Chinook crashes 2.5 ! 21⁄2 miles east of Sumburgh Airport killing 45 people. It is the deadliest civilian helicopter crash on record. (6. November 1986)

Jim Deshaies of the Houston Astros sets the major-league record by striking out the first eight batters of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. (23. September 1986)

An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people. (10. October 1986)

Iran Contra Affair: U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua. (25. November 1986)

The Boston Red Sox win Game 2 of the 1986 World Series versus the New York Mets 9-3 at Shea Stadium. (19. October 1986)

The British government suddenly deregulates financial markets, leading to a total restructuring of the way in which they operate in the country, in an event now referred to as the Big Bang. (27. October 1986)

Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling. (23. December 1986)

The King Fahd Causeway is officially opened in the Persian Gulf. (25. November 1986)

Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents allegedly implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. (21. November 1986)

Gen. Augusto Pinochet, president of Chile, escapes attempted assassination. (7. September 1986)

Iran-Contra Affair: The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been secretly selling weapons to Iran in order to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon. (3. November 1986)

In Lebanon, pro-Irankidnappers claim to have abducted American writer Edward Tracy (he is released in August 1991). (21. October 1986)

The Compact of Free Association becomes law, granting the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands independence from the United States. (13. November 1986)

The Federated States of Micronesia gain independence from the United States of America. (3. November 1986)

Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, releases Andrei Sakharov and his wife from exile in Gorky. (19. December 1986)

Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed details of Israel's covert nuclear program to British media, is kidnapped in Rome, Italy by the Israeli Mossad. (30. September 1986)