Editor’s note: Take a look back into The Dallas Morning News Archives.
The current year is 2019, but inside The Dallas Morning News Archives, we are living in the ’80s. To celebrate the launch of the new digital archive, every week through the end of 2019, we will release one year of the newly remastered, digitized print issues from 1985-2000.
This week we explore 1986. The governor of Texas is Mark White, the mayor of Dallas is Starke Taylor, the estimated population of Dallas County is 1,805,314 and the price of oil is on a rapid decline. Take a look back through the major headlines and historic highlights of The News in ’86.
Jan. 1: The new year begins with shock and dismay as Ricky Nelson, childhood star and rock 'n' idol, was killed with his fiancee and five other guests when his private plane crashed near De Kalb, Texas. Nelson and the other victims were flying to Dallas for a New Year’s Eve concert at the Park Suite Hotel.
Jan. 28: The NASA space shuttle Challenger appeared to explode just 73 seconds after liftoff, while devastated Americans watched the tragedy unfold. The disaster claimed the lives of all seven astronauts aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire who had been selected to fly as the first civilian to visit space. In 2016, "dozens of educators who competed alongside Christa McAuliffe to become the first teacher-in-space gathered to remember the seven astronauts who perished aboard Challenger 30 years ago.”
April 26: The Chernobyl disaster took place when the No. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Station, near Pripyat in the Soviet Union, exploded, causing fires and nuclear reactions.
In the immediate aftermath, information was scarce and The News didn’t begin coverage until several days after the initial events occurred. On April 30, Louise Branson reported to The News “that an unspecified number of people in four villages had been evacuated in what officials abroad called the worst nuclear disaster in history.”
May 26: Dallas participates in Hands Across America, a charity event charging participants between $10 and $35 to guarantee a place in line to hold hands in a giant human charity chain. Hands Across America Dallas was sprinkled with sports stars, politicians and celebrities — with a line two and three deep at the group’s office in the 1900 block of Main Street.
“Lately, people haven’t been talking to one another in this country,” pop singer Tony Bennett said as he stood in the line downtown. “The fact that they’re participating is really encouraging.” Read the original report from May 26, 1986, by News staff writer Mark Edgar.
June 11: Summer movies made a lasting impression on pop culture with hits like “Top Gun”, “Crocodile Dundee” and “Aliens.” The News’ film critic, Phillip Wuntch, suggested, “for fun on the lam, try ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ and it “is not John Hughes’ most probing film, but it’s definitely his most entertaining one.”
Nov. 15-16: The Southern Methodist University football scandal was in full swing as the athletic program was under investigation for extensive violations of NCAA rules and regulations. The scandal saw the resignation of school president L. Donald Shields, athletic director Bob Hitch and head coach Bobby Collins.
Read more about SMU Mustangs sports.
Dec. 31: In part of the year in review, The News declared “1986 Tested Texas’ grit, businesses soared, sank and merged in a kaleidoscopic year.” Business news was a big deal after the oil bust of ’86 where, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, oil prices plunged by two-thirds, from $37 to about $12. Within a year, over 50,000 Texas workers lost their jobs.
Read more about life in the ’80s in North Texas by becoming a Dallas Morning News Plus subscriber at archives.dallasnews.com.