January 22 - In Pennsylvania, R. Budd Dwyer, Treasurer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania shoots himself at a press conference after being found guilty on charges of bribery, fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering.
January 24 - In Lebanon, gunmen kidnap Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh
March 17 - An Iraqi F-1 Mirage fighter fires two exocet missiles at the USS Stark while patrolling the Persian Gulf, killing 37 sailors, wounding 62 others.
August 16 - A McDonnell Douglas MD-82 carrying Northwest Airlines flight 255 crashes on takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport killing all but one of the 156 people on-board (sole survivor was four-year old Cecelia Cichan). The crew forgot to properly set the planes flaps.
October 15 - Hurricane force winds cause extensive damage in southern England
October 14 - October 16 - The US is caught up in a drama that unfolds on television as a young child, Jessica McClure, falls down a well and is later rescued.
October 19 - Black Monday: sharp stock market falls around the world
November 5 - Apartheid: In South Africa, Govan Mbeki is released from custody after serving 24 years in the Robben Island prison. He had been sentenced to life for treason against the white minority South Africa government.
November 18 - Iran-Contra scandal: The United States Congress issues its final report on the Iran-Contra affair, stating that US President Ronald Reagan bore "ultimate responsibility" for wrongdoing by his aides and his administration exhibited "secrecy, deception, and disdain for the law."
November 28 - In Wappingers Falls, New York, Tawana Brawley is found wrapped in garbage bags, with feces smeared all over her body and a racial written on her body (she later told police that she was held against her will for four days and repeatedly raped by a group of white men, one of which had a police badge. Her story did not check out, however).