The top 10 things of 1986 (and Europe concert tickets to win)
"It's the final countdown! The da da da da da da da! Dä dädädädääääh!" Europe is coming to Zurich. And you can win tickets by answering one question. We also thought we'd take a look back to 1986 together, the year of what was probably the biggest and longest-lasting hit of the decade.
Disasters, scandals, music and film. The year 1986 had a lot to offer. Here are the most 1986 things that the year produced. In the countdown.
10th Pixar
Steve Jobs pays Lucasfilm 10 million US dollars and buys the special effects team from the Star Wars studio. He renamed the team Pixar and ushered in the era of modern animated films.
9th Hulk Hogan wins!
Terry Bollea aka Hulk Hogan beats up his opponent King Kong Bundy (real name Chris Pallies) at WWF Wrestlemania II on 7 April. The second Wrestlemania was the first to be broadcast nationally as a pay-per-view event. In the scripted bout, Bundy first seriously injured Hogan, but the Hulkster ignored the ring doctor's instructions and carried off the victory! The fans were ecstatic and the fan movement known as Hulkamania received a mad boost.
8th film of the year: Top Gun
Tom Cruise as Maverick and Val Kilmer as Iceman thrill cinema-goers in Top Gun. The film grossed 176 million dollars in the USA alone. In the film, elite pilot Maverick learns from the beautiful Charlie (Kelly McGillis) that there is more to life than reckless flying and fighting against his father's legacy.
7. The first computer virus
The Pakistani brothers Basit Farooq Alvi and Amjad Farooq Alvi programme a virus that is considered to be the first computer virus in history. Brain, as the malware is called, nests in the boot sector of a floppy disc and displays a message.
6th Zelda: The Legend Begins
On 21 February, gamers around the world will be there for the first time as Link faces off against the villain Ganon in the fantasy kingdom of Hyrule. With this game, Nintendo, under the direction of Shigeru Miyamoto, has written one of the longest and most successful game series in history.
5th Challenger explodes on take-off
The space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after take-off and shocks the world. All seven astronauts die and the space shuttle programme is paused for three years so that NASA can improve its safety precautions
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4th Chernobyl causes nuclear fear
On 26 April, a system test is carried out at the Soviet nuclear power plant Chernobyl near the city of Pripyat. However, as the test has to be carried out under great time pressure, safety mechanisms designed to prevent a core meltdown are switched off. It goes wrong. The radioactive cloud emanating from one of the two worst nuclear disasters in history spreads fear and terror throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
3. The perfume disgusts readers
Patrick Süskind writes about a man called Grenouille, who has the strange characteristic that he smelled of nothing as a baby. However, the odourless Grenouille makes a name for himself as a perfumer. However, the search for the perfect fragrance led the Frenchman to take ever more extreme measures.
Over 20 million readers worldwide have read "Perfume", which was published in 1985 but only became a hit the following year.
2nd Knight Rider is cancelled
Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) has spent four years fighting crime with his car K.I.T.T.. Although he made the world a safer place in the name of the Foundation for Law and Order, the series was cancelled. The last episode flickered across the screen on 4 April. The reason for the cancellation: a lack of interest from viewers and therefore a lack of ratings.
However, K.I.T.T. - the Knight Industries Two Thousand - is still a cult car and a fixture of pop culture to this day.
1. The Final Countdown
It was bound to happen. Although the song by the Swedish band Europe only reached 13th place in the Swiss annual charts - the year's winner was Eros Ramazzotti with Adesso Tu - there is hardly a song that epitomises the 1980s better than "The Final Countdown". Other hits were more successful, but humanity's collective memory will probably never forget the song's hook.
And you can now win 5x2 tickets for the Europe concert on Wednesday, 16 November 2016 at the Volkshaus in Zurich
What you have to do to get your tickets for the Europe concert
In order for you and another person of your choice to go to the Europe concert, you have to tell us in a comment - either here or on Facebook - what your highlight of the year 1986 was.
You can also take part if you were not yet in the world in 1986, just write us in the comments which event you would have liked to have been at that year. Or you can send us a video of you singing "The Final Countdown" acapella. This won't increase your chances of winning, but it will certainly be fun.
Conditions of participation
- Please write only one comment. Multiple comments do not increase your chance of winning.
- Employees of Digitec Galaxus AG are excluded from the competition
- Closing date for entries: Up to and including 11 November 2016
- No correspondence will be entered into about the competition and all legal recourse is excluded
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.