WHAT ALL HAPPENED JULY TO DECEMBER 1986
Find out what all happened July to December 1986

Israeli secret nuclear weapons are revealed. The British newspaper The Sunday Times runs Mordechai Vanunu's story on its front page under the headline: "Revealed — the secrets of Israel's nuclear arsenal". (5. October 1986)

Gennady Kolbin replaces Dinmukhamed Konayev as First Secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party, prompting the Jeltoqsan protests which began the next day. (16. December 1986)

Carbon dioxide gas erupts from volcanic Lake Nyos in Cameroon, killing up to 1,800 people within a 20-kilometer range. (21. August 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)

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

In London, England, Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey. (23. July 1986)

Desmond Tutu becomes the first black man to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa. (7. September 1986)

The Soviet passenger liner  Admiral Nakhimov sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 423. (31. August 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)

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

A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140. (31. December 1986)

TASCC, a superconducting cyclotron at the Chalk River Laboratories, is officially opened. (3. October 1986)

A low-pressure system that redeveloped off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimeters (13 inches) of rain in a day on Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. (6. August 1986)

Mike Tyson defeats Trevor Berbick to become youngest Heavyweight champion in boxing history. (22. November 1986)

USS Rentz, USS Reeves and USS Oldendorf visit Qingdao (Tsing Tao) China – the first US Naval visit to China since 1949. (5. November 1986)

The Parliament of New Zealand passes the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalising homosexuality in New Zealand. (9. July 1986)

Davis Phinney becomes the first American cyclist to win a road stage of the Tour de France. (6. July 1986)

In Edmond, Oklahoma, U.S. Postal employee Patrick Sherrill guns down 14 of his co-workers and then commits suicide. (20. August 1986)