Events making the headlines in 1986 included the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the Space Shuttle Challenger breaking apart 73 seconds after liftoff, Halley’s Comet appearing in the night sky, and the start of the mad cow disease outbreak in the UK.
On television viewers were tuning into the first episodes of ‘Lovejoy’, ‘Every Second Counts’ and ‘The Singing Detective’, while at the cinema ‘Crocodile’, ‘Top Gun’, ‘Rocky IV’ and ‘Aliens’ saw film fans queue around the block.
In the music charts The Communards had the best-selling single of the year with ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’, followed by ‘Every Loser Wins’ by Nick Berry, Boris Gardiner’s ‘I Want To Wake Up With You’, ‘Living Doll’ by The Young Ones and Ciff Richard, and Diana Ross’s ‘Chain Reaction’.
And there was plenty going on in Edinburgh, including that year’s Commonwealth Games and plenty of celebrity visits.
Here are 27 pictures to take you back to Scotland’s Capital in 1986.
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5. Banking on it
People queuing outside the TSB, on Rose Street, in 1986. Photo: Hamish Campbell
6. Consecration
The Right Reverend Richard Holloway became new Bishop of Edinburgh, consecrated at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Palmerston Place, on June 11, 1986. Photo: George Smith
7. Signed up
Edinburgh Lord Provost John Mackay signs a petition to 'Keep the BBC in Edinburgh' at the Greenside Place gap site in January 1986. Photo: Stan Warburton
8. Political big beast
The Right Honorable Denis Healey MP visited Tollcross Community Centre in Edinburgh in April 1986 and was welcomed by local politicians Alistair Darling and Nigel Griffiths. Photo: Denis Straughan