Editing 1986 (section)

===March===
* [[March 1]] – [[Olof Palme]]'s deputy [[Ingvar Carlsson]] becomes acting Prime Minister of Sweden. He is elected Prime Minister by the Swedish Riksdag on March 15.
* [[March 3]] – The first paper is published describing the [[atomic force microscope]] invented the previous year by Gerd Binnig, [[Calvin Quate]] and Christopher Berger.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Binnig, G. |author2=Quate, C. F. |author3=Berger, Ch. |title=Atomic Force Microscope |journal=[[Physical Review Letters]] |volume=56 |issue=9 |pages=930–933 |date=March 3, 1986 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.56.930 |pmid=10033323 |bibcode=1986PhRvL..56..930B |doi-access=free}}</ref>
* [[March 8]] – The Japanese [[Suisei (spacecraft)|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 ''[[Space Shuttle Challenger|Challenger]]''; the bodies of all seven [[astronaut]]s are still inside.
* [[March 13]]
** In a [[1986 Black Sea incident|Black Sea incident]], American [[cruiser]] [[USS Yorktown (CG-48)|USS ''Yorktown'']] and the [[destroyer]] [[USS Caron (DD-970)|USS ''Caron'']], claiming the right of [[innocent passage]], enter the Soviet [[territorial waters]] near the southern [[Crimean Peninsula]].
** [[Microsoft]] Corporation holds its [[initial public offering]] of stock shares.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Becraft |first=Michael B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0hfHEAAAQBAJ&dq=Microsoft+ipo+march+13+1986&pg=PA52 |title=Bill Gates: A Biography |date=2014-08-26 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-4408-3014-3 |language=en}}</ref>
* [[March 15]] – [[Collapse of Hotel New World|Hotel New World collapses]], 33 killed and 17 rescued from rubble.<ref>{{Cite news |last= |date=1986-04-27 |title=Singapore Honors Rescuers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/27/world/singapore-honors-rescuers.html |access-date=2025-02-20 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* [[March 24]] – The [[58th Academy Awards]] are held in [[Los Angeles]], with ''[[Out of Africa (film)|Out of Africa]]'' winning [[Academy Award for Best Picture|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.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Sciolino |first1=Elaine |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |date=1986-03-26 |title=JEWISH GROUP OFFERS DOCUMENTS IT CONTENDS IMPLICATE WALDHEIM |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/26/world/jewish-group-offers-documents-it-contends-implicate-waldheim.html |access-date=2025-02-20 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
* [[March 27]] – [[Russell Street Bombing]]: A [[car bomb]] explodes at [[Russell Street Police Headquarters]] in [[Russell Street, Melbourne]], killing a woman constable, the first Australian policewoman to be killed in the line of duty.
* [[March 31]] – [[Mexicana Flight 940]] crashes near [[Maravatío]], Mexico, killing 167.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.planecrashinfo.com/Airline/AL%20M.htm |title=Airline/Operator "M" |work=PlaneCrashInfo |access-date=2013-03-15}}</ref>