1986
This turned out to be
the year of disasters. The U.S. Challenger space shuttle exploded
shortly after take-off from Cape Canaveral, killing all seven
astronauts.
On April 26th the
worst-ever nuclear accident took place at Chernobyl, Ukraine. The
fall-out from the ageing power station contaminated much of Europe, and
there was much criticism over the slow reaction by the Ukraine
authorities to warn people about the disaster.
On a more joyous note
(at the time, anyway!), the royal wedding between Prince Andrew and
Miss Sarah Ferguson took place at Westminster Abbey in London. They
became the Duke & Duchess of York shortly afterwards.
On April 1st oil prices plummeted to record lows and fell below $10 per barrel.
Pickets clashed with
police outside Rupert Murdoch's News Intertaional Group after he moved
newspaper production to Wapping, creating the loss of 5,000 printing
jobs.
Sadly, Actor James Cagney (86) died in March, and British-born actor Cary Grant died on November 30th.
BIG MOVIES: ALIENS,
BLUE VELVET, THE COLOR OF MONEY, CROCODILE DUNDEE, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY
OFF, THE FLY, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, THE HITCHER, MONA LISA, MY
BEAUTIFUL LAUNDERETTE, NINE AND A HALF WEEKS, PLATOON, A ROOM WITH A
VIEW, SALVADOR, TOP GUN.
Martina Navratilova
1987
On January 21st Terry Waite was kidnapped in Beirut, Lebanon.
On 22nd February, pop
artist and film maker Andy Warhol died. He is best remembered for his
silk-screen images of AMrilyn Monroe and the Campbell's soup tin.
30 people died in a
fire at the King's Cross underground station in London. A public
inquiry concluded that there were inadequate safety standards in the
station, with no sprinkler system.
Martina Navratilova
(who appeared on "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here" in 2008 and came
2nd) won her sixth consecutive Wimbledon title on July 11th.
U.S. dancer and actor Fred Estaire died on July 23rd
On June 11th Margaret Thatcher won a third term in office.
On October 19th the
stock market collapsed on what became known as Black Monday. The new
York stock exchange saw shares fall twice as much as in the 1929 Wall
Street Crash.
184 people died in the
Zeebrugge ferry disaster on March 6th. The Herald of Free Enterprise,
run by Townsend Thoreson, keeled over near to the harbour at Zeebrugge.
On the night of
October 15th, one of the worst storms in living memory hit Southern
England, with 100mph winds causing well over £100 million in dame.
Trees were lifted up from their roots and Sevenoaks became known as
Oneoak!
U.S. actress Rita Hayworth and the entertainer Danny Kaye also died in this year.
BIG MOVIES: THE BIG
EASY, DIRTY DANCING, FATAL ATTRACTION, FULL METAL JACKET, THE LAST
EMPORER, LETHAL WEAPON, NO WAY OUT, PREDATOR, RAISING ARIZONA, ROBOCOP,
ROXANNE, THREE MEN AND A BABY, TIN MEN, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK.
Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards
1988
Unfortunately, another
bad years for disasters as 36 people died and over 100 were injured
when two trains collided near Clapham Junction, London on Dec 12th. A
third train was se-railed and a fourth was stopped by a guard, just in
time to avert another disaster.
Also this year, 270
people were killed in the Lockerbie air crash. A boeing 747 crashed at
7.19pm after a mid-air explosion caused it to plunge into the small
town.
On July 6th, fire
engulfed the Piper Alpha oil rig in the North Sea. 160 workers were
killed in a series of devastating explosions. Many of those killed were
asleep, and just 62 people syurvived by jumping into the sea.
Hurrican Gilbert struck Jamaica on 16th September causing millions of dollars of damage and killing thousands.
On a lighter note,
Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards became famous after coming last in the 89 and
120 metre ski jump, in the World Cup skiiing event at Thunder Bay,
Canada.
On September 17th, the
Seoul Olympic Games were opened. Ben Johnson (26) was stripped of his
100 metres Gold medal at the Olympics after testing positive in a drugs
test.
THE ACCIDENTAL
TOURIST, BEETLEJUICE, BIG, A CRY IN THE DARK, DANGEROUS LIASONS, DIE
HARD, A FISH CALLED WANDA, GORILLAS IN THE MIST, MARRIED TO THE MOB,
MISSISSIPPI BURNING, RAIN MAN, THE VANISHING, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT.
1989
The Berlin Wall
One of the biggest World events of the year was, of course, the fall of the Berlin War.
The wall separated East Germany from West Germany for more than a
quarter of a century, from the day construction began on 13 August 1961
until the Wall was brought down on 9 November 1989.
The Hillsborough disaster, one of the biggest tragedies in European Football, claimed the life of 96 Liverpool supporters.
The 486 series of microprocessor is released by Intel opening the way for the next generation of much more powerful PC's.
BIG MOVIES - THE ABYSS, BACK TO THE
FUTURE PART II, BATMAN, CASUALTIES OF WAR, DEAD POETS SOCIRTY, DRIVING
MISS DAISY, THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS, FIELD OF DREAMS, HEATHERS, INDIANA
JONES - THE LAST CRUSADE, THE LITTLE MERMAID, PARENTHOOD, THE WAR OF
THE ROSES, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY.
Daley Thompson 
Michael foot
