1986 - That was the year that was
It was 40 years ago this year that ASM came into existence.
In a lot of ways, it seemed like a different universe back then.
The world wide web, the internet, didn't exist. There were only 4 TV channels. No social media. No email, no video calling. Mobile phones were a thing, but only just and not that mobile and certainly not smart.
The first version of Microsoft Windows was only released in November of the previous year. And we had fax machines and floppy disks!
The Communards had the best-selling single of the year with "Don't Leave Me This Way".
Freight forwarders based at Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester airports were using ACP80 - a 'green screen' dumb terminal system from BT Applied Technology [BTAT] - to clear goods. ACP80 was connected to the DEPS system run by customs.
ACP80 was only switched back on following the disastrous introduction of the Travicom system which failed within days of going live. This calamity was the reason ASM exists today. The company was started to handle compensation payments due to the 'agency sector' as a result of the failure of Travicom.
ACP90 would soon build on and replace ACP80. It would allow users to control and manage freight inventories for the first time.
Third party customs software was in it's infancy and CHIEF was only just a twinkle in the eye of the designers who would bring it to life in 1994. ASM's first software for forwarders - ASM2000 - was launched the same year.
A lot has happened since then.
Have a look below to see what was in the news back in 1986.
January
Wednesday 1st
Spain and Portugal are the 11th and 12th countries to join the European Economic Community
Sunday 12th
The game show Catchphrase begins on ITV hosted by Roy Walker along with the computer generated character Mr. Chips.
Monday 20th
The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel, which they hope to open by the early-1990s.
Tuesday 28th
Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after it lifted off from Cape Canaveral. All 7 crew members were killed, including Christa McAuliffe who was going to be the first teacher in space.
February
Monday 17th
The UK signs the Single European Act. A core element was to create a single market within the European Community by 1992.
March
Saturday 8th
The Young Ones and Cliff Richard release a new version of the single Living Doll for Comic Relief.
Thursday 13th
The Sun newspaper alleges that comedian Freddie Starr ate a live hamster.
Wednesday 19th
Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson.
April
Tuesday 1st
The extension of London Underground's Piccadilly line to Heathrow Terminal 4 is opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales (Charles and Diana).
Saturday 26th
The fourth reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (then located in the Soviet Union) explodes, immediately killing 31 people and with contamination reaching the rest of Europe.
May
Friday 16th
The film Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise, premieres.
June
Sunday 29th
The football World Cup ends in Mexico with Argentina as winners and West Germany runners-up, but England's Gary Lineker wins the Golden Boot, having finished as the competition's leading scorer with six goals. Diego Maradona scored his infamous ‘hand of god’ goal in the quarter final defeat of England.
July
Thursday 17th
Unemployment rose to 3,220,400 in June. It has now exceeded 3 million for nearly five years.
Monday 28th
Estate agent Suzy Lamplugh vanishes after a viewing in London. No-one has been charged with her murder.
August
Saturday 2nd
Saddam Hussein offers peace in an open letter to Iran.
Thursday 21st
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt is born.
September
Monday 1st
GCSE examination courses replace both GCE 'O' Level and CSE courses for 14-year-olds.
Saturday 6th
The first episode of medical drama serial Casualty airs on BBC One.
Tuesday 9th
ASM - Agency Sector Management (UK) Limited - is born.
October
Sunday 12th
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China, the first ever visit to the country by a British monarch.
US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev have failed to reach agreement at a disarmament summit in Reykjavik.
Monday 27th
"Big Bang Day". The London Stock Exchange is computerised, and opens to foreign companies.
BBC1 starts a full daytime television service, including the UK launch of Australian soap Neighbours.
Wednesday 29th
Margaret Thatcher opens the completed M25 London Orbital Motorway, the first section of which opened in 1975. It covers a distance of 122 miles and features 31 junctions, although there are no service stations yet.
November
Thursday 6th
Alex Ferguson is appointed manager of Manchester United football club following the dismissal of Ron Atkinson after more than five years in charge.
Friday 7th
Education (No. 2) Act 1986 requires increased representation of parents in the governance of schools, abolishes school corporal punishment in the state sector, and gives universities a duty to protect freedom of speech.
Thursday 13th
U.S. President Ronald Reagan confesses to weapon sales to Iran, in the so called ‘Iran-Contra affair’.
Saturday 22nd
Mike Tyson, at 20 years old, becomes the youngest heavyweight champion in history when he stops Trevor Berbick in the second round to earn the WBC title in Las Vegas.
December
Wednesday 3rd
4 million people apply for shares in British Gas (everybody told Sid) in anticipation of flotation next week.
Wednesday 17th
The world's first heart, lung and liver transplant is carried out at Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire.
Thursday 25th
The highest audience of all time for a British television drama is attracted by the Christmas Day episode of EastEnders, the BBC 1 soap opera, in which Den Watts (Leslie Grantham) serves the divorce papers on his wife Angie (Anita Dobson).
