February 2- Nurse Anita Cobby is abducted, robbed, raped + murdered by 5 men,in Prospect, Sydney NSW, her killers are sentenced to life imprisonment in June '87
April 15 - At least 100 people died after USA planes bombed targets in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and the Benghazi region.
April 17 - British journalist John McCarthy kidnapped in Beirut (released in August 1991) - three others are found dead, Revolutionary Cells claims responsibility in retaliation for the US bombing of Libya
April 26 - In Ukraine, one of the reactors at the Chornobyl (Chernobyl) nuclear plant explodes creating the worlds worst nuclear disaster. 31 are killed directly by the incident, many thousands more were exposed to significant amounts of radioactive material, vast territories in Ukraine and Belarus rendered uninhabitable.
August 18 - Senator Janine Haines Becomes Aus Democrats Leader after the retierment fo Don Chipp. Haines becomes 1st ever Female leader of Aus Political Party
November 21 - Iran-Contra Affair: National Security Council member Oliver North and his secretary start to shred documents implicating them in the sale of weapons to Iran and channeling the proceeds to help fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
Punk rock band Dead Kennedys breakup, after releasing their last album Bedtime for Democracy. The breakup followed a court fight involving obscenity charges against the band. This brings to light creative differences and signals the beginning of the break between Jello Biafra and the rest of the band.
January - A Vicks Formula 44 ad premieres, starring Peter Bergman from All My Children, in which he told the viewing audience "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV."
October 9 - The FOX Broadcasting Company becomes the United States' fourth television network with a broadcast of "The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers".
