1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year that started on a Wednesday, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events of 1986
January
February
- February 2—One of Australia's worst crimes, the Anita Cobby murder, occurs.
- February 3—Pixar Animation Studios is opened.
- February 7—President Jean-Claude Duvalier ("Baby Doc") flees Haiti, ending 28 years of family rule.
- February 9—Halley's Comet reaches its perihelion, the closest point to the Sun, during its second visit to the solar system in the 20th Century.
- February 11—Human rights activist Anatoly Shcharansky is released by the Soviet Union and leaves the country.
- February 15—The Beechcraft Starship makes its maiden flight.
- February 16—The Soviet liner Mikhail Lermontov sinks in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand.
- February 16—The French Air Force raids the Libyan Ouadi Doum airbase in northern Chad.
- February 17—The Single European Act is signed.
- February 19—The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station.
- February 19—After waiting 37 years, the United States Senate approves a treaty outlawing genocide.
- February 25—People Power Revolution: President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines goes into exile in Hawaii after 20 years of rule; Corazon Aquino becomes the first Filipino woman president, first as an interim president. Salvador Laurel becomes her Vice President.
- February 25—Egyptian military police, protesting against bad salaries, enter 4 luxury hotels near the pyramids, set fire to them and loot them.
- February 26—People Power Revolution in the Philippines.
- February 27—The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis.
- February 28—Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme is assassinated on his way home from the cinema.
March
- March 3—The first paper is published describing the Atomic force microscope, invented the previous year by Gerd Binnig, Calvin Quate and Christophe Berger. [1]
- March 4—The Today national tabloid newspaper is launched in the United Kingdom, pioneering the use of computer photosetting and full-colour offset printing, at a time when British national newspapers still use Linotype machines and letterpress.
- March 8—The Japanese Suisei probe flies by Halley's Comet, studying its UV hydrogen corona and solar wind.
- March 9—United States Navy divers find the largely intact but heavily damaged crew compartment of the Space Shuttle Challenger; the bodies of all seven astronauts are still inside.
- March 13—Irish racemare Dawn Run wins the Cheltenham Gold Cup at Cheltenham, England, becoming the first racehorse to complete the Champion Hurdle, Cheltenham Gold Cup double.
- March 25—The 58th Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles, California, with Out of Africa winning Best Picture.
- March 26—An article in the New York Times charges that Kurt Waldheim, former United Nations Secretary General and candidate for president of Austria, may have been involved in Nazi war crimes during World War II.
- March 27—A car bomb explodes at Russell Street Police HQ in Melbourne, killing a police officer.
- March 31—A fire devastates Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, England.
- March 31—A Mexicana Boeing 727 jetliner crashes at Maravatio, Mexico, killing 173. [2]
April
- April 2—A bomb explodes on a Trans World Airlines flight from Rome to Athens, killing 4 people.
- April 5—1986 Berlin discotheque bombing: The West Berlin discothèque, a known hangout for United States soldiers, is bombed, killing 3 and injuring 230; Libya is held responsible.
- April 13—Pope John Paul II officially visits the Synagogue of Rome, the first time a modern Pope has visited a synagogue.
- April 14—Hailstones weighing 2.2 lb (1 kg) fall on the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, killing 92.
- April 15—Operation El Dorado Canyon: At least 15 people die after United States planes bomb targets in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the Benghazi region
- April 17—British journalist John McCarthy is kidnapped in Beirut (released in August 1991) – 3 others are found dead; Revolutionary Cells (RZ) claims responsibility in retaliation for the U.S. bombing of Libya.
- April 17—A treaty ends the Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly.
- April 17—The Hindawi Affair begins when an Irishwoman is found unknowingly carrying explosives onto an El Al flight from London to Tel Aviv.
- April 21—Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's secret vault on The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault, discovering only a bottle of moonshine.
- April 26— The Chernobyl disaster: A mishandled safety test at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Kiev, Ukraine, "killed at least 4056 people and damaged almost $7 billion of property".1 Radioactive fallout from the accident concentrated near Belarus, Ukraine and Russia and at least 350,000 people were forcibly resettled away from these areas. After the accident, "traces of radioactive deposits unique to Chernobyl were found in nearly every country in the northern hemisphere".1
- April 27—"Captain Midnight" interrupts the HBO satellite feed.
- April 29—Roger Clemens sets the record for the most strikeouts in a 9-inning MLB game, striking out 20 batters.
- April 29—Diamond Jubilee of Emperor Showa is held at the Kokugikan in Tokyo
May
- May 2—The 1986 World Exposition opens in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- May 7—The European Champion Clubs' Cup is won by Steaua Bucharest on penalties in a final against FC Barcelona.
- May 8—Óscar Arias is inaugurated into his first term as President of Costa Rica.
- May 16—The Seville Statement on Violence is adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain.
- May 24—The Montreal Canadiens win the Stanley Cup, beating the Calgary Flames in 5 games.
- May 25—Hands Across America: At least 5,000,000 people form a human chain from New York City to Long Beach, California, to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness.
- The Bangladeshi double decked ferry Shamia capsizes in the Meghna River, southern Barisal, Bangladesh, killing at least 600.
- May 31—The 1986 FIFA World Cup begins in Mexico.
June
July
August
- August 6—A low-pressure system moving from South Australia and redeveloping off the New South Wales coast dumps a record 328 millimetres (12.9 in) of rain in a day on Sydney.
- August 6—In Louisville, Kentucky, William J. Schroeder, the second artificial heart recipient, dies after 620 days.
- August 6—Australian Democrats leader Don Chipp retires from federal parliament and is succeeded by Janine Haines, the first woman to lead a political party in Australia.
- August 19—Two weeks after it was stolen, the Picasso painting Weeping Woman is found in a locker at the Spencer Street Station in Melbourne, Australia.
- August 20—In Edmond, Oklahoma, United States Postal Service employee Patrick Sherrill guns down 14 of his co-workers before committing suicide.
- August 21—The Lake Nyos disaster occurs in Cameroon, killing nearly 2,000 people.
- August 31—The Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov collides with the bulk
carrier Pyotr Vasev in the Black Sea and sinks almost immediately, killing 398.
September
October
- October 1—U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Goldwater-Nichols Act into law, making official the largest reorganization of the United States Department of Defense since the Air Force was made a separate branch of service in 1947.
- October 3—TASCC, a superconducting cyclotron, officially opens at Chalk River Laboratories.
- October 9—United States District Court Judge Harry E. Claiborne becomes the fifth federal official to be removed from office through impeachment.
- October 9—News Corporation completes its acquisition of the Metromedia group of companies, thereby launching the Fox Broadcasting Company.
- October 9—The Phantom of the Opera, the longest running Broadway show in history, opened in Her Majesty's Theatre in London.
- October 10—An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people.
- October 11—Cold War: Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe (the talks break down in failure).
- October 12—Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China.
- October 16—The International Olympic Committee chooses Albertville, France to be the host city of the 1992 Winter Olympics and Barcelona, Spain to be the host city of the 1992 Summer Olympics.
- October 19—Mozambican president Samora Machel's plane crashes in South Africa.
- October 21—The Marshall Islands become an associated state under the Compact of Free Association.
- October 22—In New York City WNBC Radio's traffic helicopter crashes into the Hudson River, killing traffic reporter Jane Dornacker. The last words heard on-the-air were Dornacker's screams of terror, "Hit the water! Hit the water! Hit the water!"
- October 26—Bus deregulation goes into effect in the United Kingdom, except Greater London and Northern Ireland.
- October 27—The International World Day of Prayer is held in Assisi, Italy.
- October 27—World Series: The New York Mets defeat the Boston Red Sox in 7 games. This is the second world series title in the Mets franchise. It is also remembered for Game 6, when Bill Buckner lets an easy ground ball hit by Mookie Wilson roll through his legs, letting the Mets win and pull even with the Red Sox in the series.
- October 27—The Big Bang in the London Stock Exchange abolishes fixed commission charges, paving the way for electronic trading.
- October 28—The centennial of the Statue of Liberty's dedication is celebrated in New York Harbor.
- October 28—In London, Jeremy Bamber is found guilty of the murder of his parents, sister and twin nephews, and sentenced to life imprisonment, with a recommendation by the trial judge that he should serve at least 25 years before being considered for parole.
November
- November 1—Queensland, Australia: Joh Bjelke-Petersen wins his final election as Premier of Queensland with 38.6% of the vote. He resigns on December 1, 1987 following revelations of his involvement with corruption released in the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
- November 3—Iran–Contra affair: The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa reports that the United States has been selling weapons to Iran in secret, in order to secure the release of 7 American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.
- November 4—Democrats regain control of the United States Senate for the first time in 6 years. In California, Chief Justice Rose Bird and two colleagues are removed by voters from the Supreme Court of California for opposing capital punishment.
- November 6—Sumburgh disaster: A British International Helicopters Boeing 234LR Chinook crashes 2.5 miles east of Sumburgh Airport, killing 45 people (the deadliest civilian helicopter crash on record).
- November 11—Sperry Rand and Burroughs merge to form Unisys, becoming the second largest computer company.
- November 12—Australian singer John Farnham releases the album Whispering Jack, which becomes the highest selling album in Australia's history.
- November 18—Greater Manchester Police announce that they are to search for the bodies of 2 missing children (who both vanished more than 20 years ago) after the Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley confess to 2 more murders.
- November 21—Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary, Fawn Hall, start shredding documents implicating them in selling weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
- November 22—Mike Tyson wins his first world boxing title by defeating Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas.
- November 25—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.
- November 26—Iran-Contra Affair: U.S. President Ronald Reagan announces that as of December 1 former Senator John Tower, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft will serve as members of the Special Review Board looking into the scandal (they became known as the Tower Commission). Reagan denies involvement in the scandal.
December
- December 7—A 5.7 Richter scale earthquake destroys most of the Bulgarian town of Strajica, killing 2 people.
- December 14—Rutan Voyager, an experimental aircraft designed by Burt Rutan and piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, begins its flight around the world.
- December 19—Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov is permitted to return to Moscow after years of internal exile.
- December 20—Three African Americans are assaulted by a group of white teens in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York. One of the victims, Michael Griffith, is run over and killed by a motorist while attempting to flee the attackers.
- December 22—British Liberal Party Member of Parliament David Penhaligon, 42, is killed in a car crash near Truro in Cornwall, England.
- December 23—Voyager completes the first nonstop circumnavigation of the earth by air without refueling in 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
- December 26—After 35 years on the airwaves and holding the title of longest-running non-news program on network television, NBC airs the final episode of daytime drama Search for Tomorrow.
- December 31—A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.
Undated
Fictional
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Births
January–March
- January 1—Lee Sungmin, Korean singer (Super Junior)
- January 3—Lloyd Polite, American singer
- January 5—Deepika Padukone, Bollywood actress
- January 5—Teppei Koike, Japanese singer and actor
- January 6—Petter Northug, Norwegian cross-country skier
- January 6—Alex Turner, British musician
- January 6—Irina Sheik, Russian model
- January 8—David Silva, Spanish footballer
- January 10—Chen Jin, Chinese badminton player
- January 12—Gemma Arterton, British actress
- January 15—Jessy Schram, American actress
- January 17—Chloe Rose Lattanzi, Australian actress and singer
- January 22—Daniel Smith, American actor (d. 2006)
- January 24—Mischa Barton, British-born American actress
- January 24—Raviv Ullman, Israeli-born American actor
- January 26—Gerald Green, American basketball player
- January 26—Hero, Korean singer (TVXQ)
- January 26—Matt Heafy, American singer
- January 29—Drew Tyler Bell, American actor
- January 31—Yves Makabu-Makalambay, Belgian footballer
- February 1—Lauren Conrad, American television personality
- February 2—Miwa Asao, Japanese beach volleyball player
- February 2—Tiffany Vise, American figure skater
- February 5—Claudia Cruz, Dominican model and beauty queen
- February 6—U-Know, Korean singer (TVXQ)
- February 6—Vedran Ćorluka, Croatian international footballer
- February 7—Deanna Casaluce, Canadian actress
- February 8—Charles Andrew Williams, American murderer
- February 10—Yui Ichikawa, Japanese actress
- February 12—Gary LeRoi Gray, American actor
- February 13—Stephen Colletti, American television personality
- February 14—Tiffany Thornton, American actress
- February 14—Aschwin Wildeboer, Spanish swimmer
- February 15—Valeri Bojinov, Bulgarian footballer
- February 19—Marta, Brazilian footballer
- February 19—Maria Mena, Norwegian singer
- February 19—Björn Gustafsson, Swedish comedian
- February 21—Charlotte Church, Welsh soprano
- February 21—Prince Amedeo, Archduke of Austria-Este, Son of Princess Astrid of Belgium and Prince Lorenz of Belgium
- February 23—Kazuya Kamenashi, Japanese singer and actor
- February 25—Justin Berfield, American actor
- February 25—Danny Saucedo, Swedish singer
- February 25—James and Oliver Phelps British actors
- February 26—Crystal Kay, Japan-born singer
- February 26—Teresa Palmer, Australian actress and model
- March 3—Stacie Orrico, American singer
- March 4—Margo Harshman, American actress
- March 5—Corey Brewer, American basketball player
- March 6—Eli Marienthal, American actor
- March 8—Princess Tsuguko of Takamado, a member of the Japanese Imperial Family
- March 9—Brittany Snow, American actress
- March 12—Danny Jones, British musician
- March 13—Chiaki Kyan, Japanese gravure idol
- March 14—Jamie Bell, British actor
- March 16—Ken Doane, American wrestler
- March 16—T. J. Jordan, American basketball player
- March 16—Daisuke Takahashi, Japanese figure skater
- March 17—Olesya Rulin, Russian-born actress
- March 23—Steven Strait, American actor
- March 25—Marco Belinelli, Italian basketball player
- March 25—Megan Gibson, American softball player
- March 26—Jonny Craig, Canadian singer and songwriter
- March 27—Valerie "So Cal Val" Wyndham, American wrestling valet
- March 28—Lady Gaga, American singer and songwriter
- March 29—Romina Oprandi, Italian tennis player
- March 30—Sergio Ramos, Spanish footballer
April–June
- April 1—Yurika Nakamura, Japanese long-distance runner
- April 3—Amanda Bynes, American actress
- April 3—Coleen Rooney, English model (and footballer's wife)
- April 4—Eunhyuk, Korean singer (Super Junior)
- April 8—Igor Akinfeev, Russian footballer
- April 8—Félix Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- April 8—Erika Sawajiri, Japanese actress and model
- April 9—Leighton Meester, American actress
- April 10—Fernando Gago, Argentine footballer
- April 10—Vincent Kompany, Belgian footballer
- April 18—Maurice Edu , American footballer
- April 19—Candace Parker, American basketball player
- April 22—Amber Heard, American actress
- April 27—Dinara Safina, Russian tennis player
- May 7—Amy Kwolek, English actress
- May 12—Emily VanCamp, Canadian actress
- May 13—Robert Pattinson, British actor
- May 13—Alexander Rybak, Norwegian singer
- May 14—Joseph Attieh, Lebanese singer
- May 15—Matías Fernández, Chilean footballer
- May 16—Megan Fox, American actress
- May 17—Tahj Mowry, American actor
- May 19—Eric Lloyd, American actor
- May 20—Dexter Blackstock, English footballer
- May 21—Myra, American singer
- May 22—Tatiana Volosozhar, Ukrainian figure skater
- May 23—Nico Colaluca , American footballer
- May 23—Valentina Marchei , Italian figure skater
- May 25—Juri Ueno, Japanese actress
- May 28—Charles N'Zogbia, French footballer
- May 29—Jaslene Gonzalez, Puerto Rican/American fashion model
- May 31—Brooke Castile, American figure skater
- May 31—Robert Gesink, Dutch cyclist
- May 31—Sopho Khalvashi, Georgian musical artist
- June 1—Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008
- June 3—Brenden Richard Jefferson, American actor
- June 3—Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player
- June 3—Tomáš Verner, Czech Republic ice skater
- June 4—Micky, Korean singer (TVXQ)
- June 11—Shia LaBeouf, American actor
- June 13—Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, American actresses
- June 13—Kat Dennings, American actress
- June 14—Haley Hudson, American actress
- June 15—Momoko Ueda, Japanese golfer
- June 18—Richard Gasquet, French tennis player
- June 18—Shusaku Nishikawa, Japanese footballer
- June 19—Marvin Williams, American basketball player
- June 25—Lee Ho-Suk, South Korean short-track skater
- June 25—Aya Matsuura, Japanese singer
- June 26—Philip Hughes, American baseball player
- June 27—Drake Bell, American actor and singer
- June 28—Kellie Pickler, American singer
- June 28—Shadia Simmons, Canadian actress
- June 29—Austin Drage, British actor and singer
- June 30—Victoria Crawford, American wrestler and model
July–September
- July 1—Casey Reinhardt, American model
- July 2—Lindsay Lohan, American actress and singer
- July 6—Caroline Welz, tallest woman in Germany and model
- July 8—Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer
- July 8—Jake McDorman, American actor
- July 9—Kiely Williams, American actress and singer
- July 12—JP Pietersen, South African rugby player
- July 12—Krystal Forscutt Australian reality TV star
- July 17—Dana, Korean singer/dancer/actress (TSZX)
- July 24—Natalie Tran, Australian Comedian
- July 25—Givanildo Vieira de Souza, Brazilian footballer
- July 28—Alexandra Chando, American actress
- July 31—Evgeni Malkin, Russian hockey player
- August 2—Caitlin Murphy, Australian model and actress
- August 3—Charlotte Casiraghi, heir to the Monaco throne
- August 3- Prince Louis of Luxembourg, Prince of Luxembourg
- August 4—Oleg Ivanov, Russian footballer
- August 5—Paula Creamer, American golfer
- August 6—Bryan Young, Canadian ice hockey player
- August 7—Paul Biedermann, German swimmer
- August 11—Kaori Fukuhara, Seiyū
- August 14—Nigel Boogaard, Australian Footballer
- August 16—Yu Darvish, Japanese baseball player
- August 16—Shawn Pyfrom, American actor
- August 17—Tobias Schönenberg, German actor and photo model
- August 20—Robert Clark, Canadian actor
- August 21—Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter
- August 22—Jack Perkins, Australian racing driver
- August 23—Neil Cicierega, American musician and animator
- August 26—Cassie Ventura, American pop and R&B singer
- August 27—Mario, R&B singer and actor
- August 28—Gilad Shalit, Israeli soldier/hostage
- August 29—Lauren Collins, Canadian actress
- August 29—Samuell Benta, British actor
- August 30—Ryan Ross, guitarist (Panic at the Disco)
- August 31—Feng Tianwei, Singaporean Olympic table tennis player
- September 3—Shaun White, American professional snowboarder
- September 6—Raven Riley, American porn star
- September 12—Emmy Rossum, American actress and singer
- September 14—Ai Takahashi, Japanese singer
- September 15—Jenna McCorkell, British figure skater
- September 16—Kyla Pratt, American actress
- September 18—Keeley Hazell, British model
- September 18—Renaud Lavillenie, French pole vaulter
- September 19—Peter Vack, American voice actor
- September 19—Mandy Musgrave, American actress
- September 21—Faris Rotter, British vocalist (The Horrors)
- September 23—Kaylee DeFer, American actress
- September 24—Leah Dizon, American singer and model
- September 26—Ashley Leggat, Canadian actress
- September 27—Natasha Thomas, Danish singer and songwriter
- September 28—Andrés Guardado, Mexican footballer
- September 29—Lisa Foiles, American actress and singer
October–December
- October 1—Jurnee Smollett, American actress
- October 2—Camilla Belle, American actress
- October 4—Yuridia, Mexican Singer
- October 6—Tereza Kerndlová, Czech singer
- October 6—Olivia Thirlby, American actress
- October 9—Laure Manaudou, French swimmer
- October 10—Nathan Jawai, Australian basketball player
- October 12—Marcus T. Paulk, American actor
- October 14—Skyler Shaye, American actress
- October 15—Lee Donghae, Korean singer (Super Junior)
- October 16—Craig Pickering, British sprinter
- October 21—Natalee Holloway, American murder victim (d.2005)
- October 21—Christopher Uckermann, Mexican actor
- October 22—Kyle Gallner, American actor
- October 22—Kara Lang, Canadian footballer
- October 24—Aubrey Graham, Canadian actor and rapper
- October 30—Thomas Morgenstern, Austrian ski jumper
- November 1—Penn Badgley, American actor
- November 2—Talan Torriero, American reality television star
- November 3—Jasmine Trias, Filipino-American singer
- November 4—Alexz Johnson, Canadian actress and singer
- November 5—BoA, Korean singer
- November 5—Kasper Schmeichel, Danish footballer
- November 10—Josh Peck, American actor and director
- November 11—François Trinh-Duc, French rugby player
- November 12—Evan Yo, Taiwanese singer-songwriter
- November 15—Sania Mirza, Indian tennis player
- November 17—Karmichael Hunt, Australian NRL player
- November 17—Nani, Cape Verde-born Portuguese footballer
- November 18—Nic Sampson, New Zealand actor
- November 19—Veronica Scott, American Fashion Designer
- November 20—Aaron Yan,Taiwanese Singer
- November 20—Oliver Sykes,English vocalist
- November 22—Oscar Pistorius,South African Paralympic runner
- November 25—Katie Cassidy, American singer and model
- November 25—Amber Hagerman, American murder victim and namesake for the AMBER alert system (d. 1996)
- November 26—Antonella Barba, American singer
- December 1—DeSean Jackson, American football player
- December 4—Martell Webster, American basketball player
- December 8—Amir Khan, British boxer
- December 11—Lee Peltier, English footballer
- December 15—Xiah, Korean singer (TVXQ)
- December 18—Jery Sandoval, Colombian actress, model and singer
- December 19—Ryan Babel, Dutch footballer
- December 24—Satomi Ishihara, Japanese actress
- December 24—Riyo Mori, Japanese Miss Universe 2007 winner
- December 26—Mew Azama, Japanese actress
- December 29—Kim Ok-bin, South Korean actress and model
- December 29—Katie Sheridan, British actress
Deaths
January–March
- January 1—Alfredo Binda, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)
- January 2—Una Merkel, American actress (b. 1903)
- January 4—Christopher Isherwood, English writer (b. 1904)
- January 4—Phil Lynott, lead singer and bassist of Thin Lizzy (b. 1949)
- January 7—Juan Rulfo, Mexican writer (b. 1917)
- January 8—Pierre Fournier, French cellist (b. 1906)
- January 10—Jaroslav Seifert, Czech writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
- January 14—Donna Reed, American actress (b. 1921)
- January 23—Willard Van Dyke, American filmmaker and photographer (b. 1906)
- January 24—L. Ron Hubbard, American writer and founder of Scientology (b. 1911)
- January 24—Gordon MacRae, American actor, singer (b. 1921)
- January 27—Lilli Palmer, German actress (b. 1914)
- January 28—Gregory Jarvis, American astronaut (b. 1944)
- January 28—Christa McAuliffe, American astronaut and teacher (b. 1948)
- January 28—Ronald McNair, American astronaut (b. 1950)
- January 28—Ellison Onizuka, American astronaut (b. 1946)
- January 28—Judith Resnik, American astronaut (b. 1949)
- January 28—Dick Scobee, American astronaut (b. 1939)
- January 28—Michael J. Smith, American astronaut (b. 1945)
- January 29—Leif Erickson, American actor (b. 1911)
- February 1—Alva Myrdal, Swedish politician, diplomat, and writer, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1902)
- February 6—Frederick Coutts, the 8th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1899)
- February 7—Minoru Yamasaki, Japanese-American architect, designed the twin towers of the World Trade Center (b. 1912)
- February 10—Brian Aherne, British actor (b. 1902)
- February 11—Frank Herbert, American author (b. 1920)
- February 11—Evelio Javier, Filipino politician, lawyer, and civil servant (b. 1942)
- February 16—Howard Da Silva, American actor (b. 1909)
- February 21—Helen Hooven Santmyer, American writer (b. 1895)
- February 21—Shigechiyo Izumi, Japanese supercentenarian, claimed to be the oldest man ever (b. 1865?)
- February 24—Tommy Douglas, Canadian politician and "Father of medicare" in Canada (b. 1904)
- February 27—Jacques Plante, Canadian hockey player (b. 1929)
- February 28—Olof Palme, Swedish politician, Prime Minister of Sweden (b. 1927)
- February 28—Thomas Williams, British politician (b. 1915)
- March 4—Richard Manuel, Canadian musician (The Band) (b. 1943)
- March 4—Howard Greenfield, American songwriter (b. 1936)
- March 6—Adolph Caesar, American actor (b. 1933)
- March 6—Georgia O'Keeffe, American artist (b. 1887)
- March 10—Myron Cohen, American comedian (b. 1902)
- March 10—Ray Milland, Welsh actor (b. 1907)
- March 18—Bernard Malamud, American writer (b. 1914)
- March 22—Harriette Simpson Arnow, American novelist (b. 1908)
- March 22—Charles Starrett, American actor (b. 1903)
- March 23—Moshe Feinstein, Orthodox Rabbi (b. 1895)
- March 28—Virginia Gilmore, American actress (b. 1919)
- March 29—Harry Ritz, American actor (b. 1907)
- March 30—James Cagney, American actor (b. 1899)
- March 31—O'Kelly Isley, American singer of The Isley Brothers (b. 1937)
- March 31—Jerry Paris, American actor and director (b. 1925)
April–June
- April 3—Peter Pears, English tenor (b. 1910)
- April 7—Leonid Kantorovich, Russian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
- April 8—Yukiko Okada, Japanese idol singer (b. 1967)
- April 13—Stephen Stucker, American actor (b. 1947)
- April 14—Simone de Beauvoir, French feminist writer (b. 1908)
- April 15—Jean Genet, French writer (b. 1910)
- April 15—Tim McIntire, American actor (b. 1944)
- April 19—Aileen Britton, Australian actress (b. 1916)
- April 19—Alvin Childress, American actor (b. 1907)
- April 22—Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian of religions and writer (b. 1907)
- April 23—Harold Arlen, American music composer (b. 1905)
- April 23—Otto Preminger, Austrian-born film director (b. 1906)
- April 24—Wallis Simpson, wife of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, later titled "Duke of Windsor" due to his abdication (b. 1896)
- April 26—Broderick Crawford, American actor (b. 1911)
- April 26—Bessie Love, American actress (b. 1898)
- April 26—Dechko Uzunov, Bulgarian painter (b. 1899)
- April 30—Robert Stevenson, English film director (b. 1905)
- May 1—Hylda Baker, English comedy actress (b. 1905)
- May 2—Henri Toivonen, Finnish rally car driver (b. 1956)
- May 3—Robert Alda, American-born actor (b. 1914)
- May 9—Herschel Bernardi, American actor (b. 1923)
- May 9—Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese sherpa (b. 1914)
- May 11—Henry Plumer McIlhenny, American art collector, socialite, philanthropist and the chairman of the Philadelphia Art Museum (b. 1910)
- May 12—Elisabeth Bergner, Austrian actress (b. 1897)
- May 14—Janne Aikala, Finnish murder victim (b. 1975)
- May 15—Elio de Angelis, Italian race car driver (b. 1958)
- May 15—Theodore White, American writer (b. 1915)
- May 19—Jimmy Lyons, American musician (b. 1931)
- May 23—Sterling Hayden, American actor (b. 1916)
- May 24—Yakima Canutt, American actor and stuntman (b. 1895)
- May 25—Chester Bowles, American politician (b. 1901)
- May 26—Gian-Carlo Coppola, American film producer (b. 1963)
- May 30—Perry Ellis, American fashion designer (b. 1940)
- May 31—Jane Frank, American artist (b. 1918)
- May 31—James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- June 3—Anna Neagle, English actress (b. 1904)
- June 5—Bryan Grant, American tennis champion (b. 1909)
- June 13—Benny Goodman, American jazz musician (b. 1909)
- June 13—Ulla Strömstedt, Swedish actress (b. 1939)
- June 14—Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer (b. 1899)
- June 14—Alan Jay Lerner, American lyricist (b. 1918)
- June 14—Marlin Perkins, American zoologist (b. 1905)
- June 16—Maurice Duruflé, French composer (b. 1902)
- June 17—Kate Smith, American singer (b. 1907)
- June 18—Frances Scott Fitzgerald, Daughter of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre. (b. 1921)
- June 19—Len Bias, American basketball player (b. 1963)
- June 19—Coluche, stage name of Michel Colucci, French comedian and humorist (b. 1944)
- June 21—Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer, musician, conductor and author (b. 1923)
- June 29—Robert Drivas, American actor (b. 1938)
July–September
- July 3—Rudy Vallée, American singer, actor, and bandleader (b. 1901)
- July 4—Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (b. 1899)
- July 6—Jagjivan Ram, Indian politician (b. 1908)
- July 8—Hyman G. Rickover, American admiral (b. 1900)
- July 8—Skeeter Webb, baseball player (b. 1909)
- July 14—Raymond Loewy, French-born industrial designer (b. 1893)
- July 15—Florence Halop, American actress (b. 1923)
- July 15—Billy Haughton, American harness driver and trainer (b. 1923)
- July 21—Ernest Maas, American screenwriter (b. 1892)
- July 24—Fritz Albert Lipmann, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
- July 24—Laurie Nash, Australian sportsman (b. 1910)
- July 24—Yoshiyuki Tsuruta, Japanese Olympic swimmer (b. 1903)
- July 25—Vincente Minnelli, American film director (b. 1903)
- July 26—W. Averell Harriman, American diplomat and politician (b. 1891)
- July 27—Osbert Lancaster, British cartoonist (b. 1908)
- July 31—Teddy Wilson, American jazz pianist (b. 1912)
- August 2—Roy Cohn, American lawyer and anti-Communist (b. 1927)
- August 10—Chuck McKinley, American tennis champion (b. 1941)
- August 16—Jaime Sáenz, Bolivian poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1921)
- August 19—Hermione Baddeley, English actress (b. 1906)
- August 19—Lorenzo Tucker, American actor (b. 1907)
- August 20—Milton Acorn, Canadian poet, writer, and playwright (b. 1923)
- August 21—Thad Jones, American jazz musician (b. 1923)
- August 22—Celal Bayar, ex president of Turkey (b:1883)
- August 26—Ted Knight, American actor (b. 1923)
- August 29 - Arthur Meyerhoff, American advertising agency executive and entrepreneur (b. 1895)
- August 31—Urho Kekkonen, President of Finland (b. 1900)
- August 31—Henry Moore, British sculptor (b. 1898)
- September 1—Murray Hamilton, American actor (b. 1923)
- September 4—Hank Greenberg, baseball player (b. 1911)
- September 6—Blanche Sweet, American actress (b. 1896)
- September 7—Omar Ali Saifuddin III, Sultan of Brunei (b. 1914)
- September 12—Frank Nelson, American actor (b. 1911)
- September 18—Pat Phoenix, British actress (b. 1923)
- September 22—József Asbóth, Hungarian tennis champion (b. 1917)
- September 25—Nikolay Semyonov, Russian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
- September 26—Noboru Terada, Japanese Olympic swimmer (b. 1917)
- September 27—Cliff Burton, American bassist (Metallica) (b. 1962)
- September 28—Robert Helpmann, Australian dancer and choreographer (b. 1909)
October–December
- October 5—Hal B. Wallis, American film producer (b. 1899)
- October 5—James H. Wilkinson, English mathematician (b. 1919)
- October 7—Wallace Wade, American football coach, University of Alabama, Duke University (b. 1892)
- October 11—Boris Leven, Russian-born art director (b. 1908)
- October 14—Keenan Wynn, American actor (b. 1916)
- October 16—Arthur Grumiaux, Belgian violinist (b. 1921)
- October 19—Samora Machel, President of Mozambique (b.1933)
- October 22—Albert Szent-Györgyi, Hungarian physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1893)
- October 23—Edward Adelbert Doisy, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1893)
- October 25—Forrest Tucker, American actor (F Troop) (b. 1919)
- October 26—Jackson Scholz, American runner (b. 1897)
- October 28—Ian Marter, British actor and writer (b. 1944)
- October 31—Robert S. Mulliken, American physicist and chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1896)
- November 2—Paul Frees, American voice actor (b. 1920)
- November 5—Claude Jutra, Canadian film director (b. 1930)
- November 6—Elisabeth Grümmer, Alsatian soprano (b. 1911)
- November 8—Artur London, Czech statesman (b. 1915)
- November 8—Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet politician (b. 1890)
- November 10—Rogelio de la Rosa, Filipino actor and politician (b. 1916)
- November 16—Siobhan McKenna, Irish actress (b. 1923)
- November 18—Gia Carangi, supermodel (b. 1960)
- November 21—Jerry Colonna, American comedian (b. 1904)
- November 21—Dar Robinson, American film stuntman (b. 1947)
- November 22—Scatman Crothers, American actor, musician (b. 1910)
- November 22—William Bradford Huie, American journalist, editor, publisher and author (b. 1910)
- November 29—Cary Grant, British actor (b. 1904)
- December 2—Desi Arnaz, Cuban-born actor (b. 1917)
- December 3—Austin Hayes, Irish footballer (b. 1958)
- December 10—Susan Cabot, American actress (b. 1927)
- December 13—Heather Angel, English actress (b. 1909)
- December 15—Serge Lifar, Russian dancer and choreographer (b. 1905)
- December 21—Willy Coppens, Belgian pilot (b. 1892)
- December 22—Ida Cook (aka Mary Burchell), British novelist and campaigner for Jewish refugees (b. 1904)
- December 26—Elsa Lanchester, English actress (b. 1902)
- December 29—Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)
- December 29—Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian film director (b. 1932)
- December 31—Lloyd Haynes, American actor (b. 1934)
Unknown dates
Ship events
Nobel Prizes
Templeton Prize
See also
Notes
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