It was an eventful year in the city as the Commonwealth Games returned to the city, financial companies readied themselves for the ‘Big Bang’, and Heart of Midlothian came within a whisker of lifting the Scottish league title, only to blow it on the final day of the season.
Also in 1986, the city’s iconic pooch, Greyfriars Bobby, was put back on his pedestal following a restoration of his statue.
Scroll through our picture gallery for a nostalgic trip back to 1986 – and let us know your own memories in the comments section before you go.
1. Sam Fox at Coasters
Model and former Page Three girl Samantha Fox in Edinburgh for the opening of newly-refurbished Coasters complex at Fountainbridge. Picture taken March 1986. Photo: Alex Brown
2. Gold standard
Liz McColgan (then called Liz Lynch) shows off the gold medal she won in the 10000m at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Edinburgh held at Meadowbank stadium, July 1986. Photo: Denis Straughan Alan Macdonald
3. 'Allow me'
The doorman of Edinburgh's Caldeonian Hotel greets guests with a smile in June 1986. Photo: Stan Warburton
4. Care Bear in the community
A little girl talking to a Care Bear at the Evening News-sponsored Edinburgh Festival Cavalcade in Princes Street, August 1986. Photo: Denis Straughan