Hands Across America was a benefit event staged on May 25, 1986 in which millions of people held hands in a human chain for fifteen minutes along a path across the continental United States. Participants paid ten dollars to reserve their place in line; the proceeds were donated to local charities to fight hunger and help those in poverty. is the 145th day of the year (146th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Two or more people voluntarily hold hands for one of the following reasons and purposes: in various rituals: handshake in certain religious services, to pray in various occult rituals to express friendship or love, to enjoy physical contact (not necessarily of erotic character), for emotional support, to guide (a child... The 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally human chain was 500-km long. ...

scan of the Hands Across America t-shirt; shows logo

"On the afternoon of Sunday, May 25, 1986, more than five million people joined hands to form a line that stretched 4,152 miles – from New York City's Battery Park to a pier in Long Beach, California. This nationwide event, called Hands Across America, was intended to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness."

Enough people participated to form an unbroken chain across the country if the path were a straight line. (However, there were many breaks in the chain). In order to allow the maximum number of people to participate, the path linked major cities and meandered back and forth within the cities. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1500x1797, 334 KB) Scan of Hands Across America 1986 event t-shirt (includes event logo) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Hands Across America ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1500x1797, 334 KB) Scan of Hands Across America 1986 event t-shirt (includes event logo) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Hands Across America ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Battery Park (to New Yorkers, The Battery) is a 21-acre (8. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: , Country State County Los Angeles County Government  - Mayor Bob Foster Area  - City  65. ...

The Coca-Cola Company and Citibank donated a combined $8 million to fund the event. The event raised nearly $20 million, far short of its $50 million goal, and critics branded the event a failure, as production costs exceeded $17 million. It was believed that a substantial number of participants joined in without paying the requisite ten dollar fee. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is one of the largest manufacturer, distributor and marketer of nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups in the world. ... Citibank is a major international bank, founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York. ...

Cities along the route included the following:

• New York City, New York (with Brooke Shields as well as Liza Minnelli, Susan Anton, Gregory Hines, and Edward James Olmos, Yoko Ono,and Harry Belafonte anchoring the George Washington Bridge)
• Trenton, New Jersey (with Dionne Warwick and Tony Danza)
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Baltimore, Maryland (the first break in the chain west of New York was reported to be in Maryland)
• Washington, D.C. (with Ronald Reagan at the White House and Tip O'Neill at the U.S. Capitol)
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Cleveland, Ohio (with David Copperfield)
• Columbus, Ohio
• Toledo, Ohio
• Indianapolis, Indiana (occurred in the rain, scheduled side-by-side with the Indy 500, which was rained-out that day)
• Chicago, Illinois (with Walter Payton . . .the longest unbroken section of the chain was allegedly in Illinois)
• Springfield, Illinois
• St. Louis, Missouri (with Kathleen Turner under the St. Louis Arch)
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Little Rock, Arkansas (with Bill Clinton)
• Amarillo, Texas (with Kenny Rogers and Tony Dorsett at the TX-NM border)
• Albuquerque, New Mexico (with Don Johnson)
• Phoenix, Arizona (with Ed Begley Jr., however desert areas were mostly empty, dotted with one-mile-long chains of people. Truck drivers sounded their horns during the appointed time.)
• San Bernardino, California (with Bob Seger and Charlene Tilton)
• Santa Monica, California (with Jack Youngblood and Dudley Moore, Richard Dreyfuss, and Donna Mills)
• Long Beach, California (with Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Reverend Robert H. Schuller)

The event was conceived and organized by Ken Kragen. A theme song, entitled "Hands Across America," was played simultaneously on hundreds of radio stations at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time (noon Pacific time) to add to the festive atmosphere of the event. New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Brooke Christa Camille Shields[1] (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress and supermodel. ... Liza Minnelli (born March 12, 1946 in Los Angeles, California) is an Academy Award and Tony Award-winning American actress and singer. ... Susan Anton (born on October 12, 1950 in Oak Glen, California) is an American actress, best known for her role as Susan Williams in the various Stop Susan Williams!-related television series and television movies. ... Gregory Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was a Tony Award-winning American actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer. ... Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated American actor, of Mexican descent. ... Yoko Ono Lennon (小野 洋子 Ono Yōko (ONO Yōko), born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese-American artist and musician. ... Harold George Belafonete, Jr. ... For the bridge in New York that crosses the Harlem River, see Washington Bridge. ... Location of Trenton inside of Mercer County Coordinates: Country United States State New Jersey County Mercer County Founded circa 1719 Government  - Mayor Douglas H. Palmer Area  - City  8. ... Marie Dionne Warrick (born December 12, 1940 in East Orange, New Jersey), known professionally as Dionne Warwick, is an African-American singer best known for her work with Hal David and Burt Bacharach as songwriters and producers. ... Tony Danza. ... Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love endure Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: , Country Commonwealth County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government  - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area  - City 369. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Monument City, Charm City, Mob Town, B-more Motto: Get In On It (formerly The City That Reads and The Greatest City in America; BELIEVE is not the official motto but rather a specific campaign) Location Location of Baltimore in Maryland Coordinates , Government Country State County United... For other uses, see Washington, D.C. (disambiguation). ... “Reagan” redirects here. ... For other uses, see White House (disambiguation). ... Thomas Phillip ONeill, Jr. ... United States Capitol The United States Capitol is the building which serves as home for the legislative branch of the United States government. ... “Pittsburgh” redirects here. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... David Copperfield is a quasi-autobiographical novel by Charles Dickens. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Ohio, USA Coordinates: , Country State Counties Franklin, Delaware, and Fairfield Government  - Mayor Michael B. Coleman (D) Area  - City  212. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Ohio Coordinates: , Country United States State Ohio County Lucas Founded 1833 Government  - Mayor Carty Finkbeiner (D) Area  - City 84. ... The Indianapolis skyline Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana. ... Results of the 1986 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on May 30, 1986. ... Nickname: Motto: Urbs in Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in the Chicago metro area and Illinois Coordinates: , Country State Counties Cook, DuPage Settled 1770s Incorporated March 4, 1837 Government  - Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area  - City  234. ... Walter Jerry Payton (July 25, 1954 – November 1, 1999) was an American football running back for the Chicago Bears. ... : Home of President Abraham Lincoln United States Illinois Sangamon 60. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Missouri Coordinates: , Country State County Independent City Government  - Mayor Francis G. Slay (D) Area  - City  66. ... Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is an Academy Award nominated American actress. ... The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is located in St. ... For other uses, see Memphis (disambiguation). ... There is also a Littlerock, California. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Nickname: Location within the state of Texas Coordinates: , Country State County Potter (and Randall) Government  - Mayor Debra McCartt Area  - City  90. ... Kenneth Donald Kenny Rogers (born August 21, 1938, in Houston, Texas) is a prolific American country music singer, photographer, producer, songwriter, actor and businessman. ... Anthony Drew Dorsett (born April 7, 1954 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Rochester, Pennsylvania) was an American football running back who was a star in college football and the NFL. Dorsett was a star running back at University of Pittsburgh and helped to lead them to a national title in... This article is about the largest city of New Mexico. ... Donald Wayne Don Johnson (born December 15, 1949) is an American actor well known for his fame in film and television. ... Nickname: Location in Maricopa County and the state of Arizona Coordinates: , Country State Counties Maricopa Incorporated February 25, 1881 Government  - Type Council-Manager  - Mayor Phil Gordon (D) Area  - City  515. ... Edward James Begley, Jr. ... San Bernardino is the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. ... Robert Clark Seger (born May 6, 1945) is a Rock and Roll singer, songwriter, and musician from Michigan. ... Actress Charlene Tilton was born December 1, 1958 in San Diego, California, USA. She has had a varied career, with many roles, beginning with a small part as Bambi in Freaky Friday. ... Santa Monica Pier Santa Monica is a coastal city located in Los Angeles County, California USA, by the Pacific Ocean, south of Pacific Palisades and Brentwood, west of Westwood, Los Angeles, and north of Venice. ... Herbert Jackson Youngblood III (born January 26, 1950 in Jacksonville, Florida) is a former American football defensive end who played for the Los Angeles Rams. ... Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE (April 19, 1935 – March 27, 2002), was an Academy-Award nominated British comedian, actor and musician. ... Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (born October 29, 1947) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... On the cover of Playboy, November 1989 Main title caption for Knots Landing. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: , Country State County Los Angeles County Government  - Mayor Bob Foster Area  - City  65. ... Mickey Mouse is an Academy Award-winning comic animal cartoon character who has become an icon for The Walt Disney Company. ... It has been suggested that Goofy holler be merged into this article or section. ... Robert Harold Schuller (born September 16, 1926) is an American televangelist known around the world through his weekly broadcast The Hour of Power. ... Ken Kragen is an entertainment lawyer and activist. ... The theme music of a radio or television program is a melody closely associated with the show, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits. ... EST is UTC-5 The North American Eastern Standard Time Zone (abbreviated EST) is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting five hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) resulting in UTC-5. ... PST is UTC-8 The Pacific Standard Time Zone (PST) is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) resulting in UTC-8. ...

The date and time chosen for the event inadvertently conflicted with another charity fundraiser Sport Aid, which was organized by USA for Africa on the same day. Since Hands Across America was much better publicized in the United States, only 4000 runners participated in New York City for Sport Aid. Sport Aid (also known as Sports Aid) was a charitable event held on May 25, 1986, raising millions of pounds to support famine relief in Africa, and is the sporting event with the most participants in history. ... USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa), was the name under which forty-five U.S. artists, led by Harry Belafonte, Kenny Rogers, Michael Jackson, and Lionel Richie, recorded the hit single We Are the World in 1985. ...

Pop culture references

• The episode "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" of The Simpsons showed a flashback of "Hands Across America" in the Simpson's living room, parodying the incompleteness of the chain by mentioning "huge gaps in the western states." Rather than participate, Homer schlumpily watches the event on TV while drinking a beer.
• An episode of America's Funniest Videos had "Bananas Across America", where people passed a banana from one person to the next while being filmed near welcome signs to big cities, to make it appears as if a banana was being passed by an unbroken human chain coast to coast.
• The film Beerfest had characters who had not seen each other since the event, and mentioned the "few breaks in the chain".
• In the episode "The Hiatus" of 30 Rock, Jack Donaghy mentions after having a heart attack that he participated in "Hands Across America."

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes? is the 24th episode of The Simpsons third season. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... Homer Simpson is also a character in the book and film The Day of the Locust. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Beerfest is a beer-themed comedy film by the comedy group Broken Lizard released 2006. ... This article is about the TV series. ...

References

• ABC News: Great Shakes: 'Hands Across America' 20 Years Later
• Time: American Notes Charity, 1 December 1986