• Stephen Sondheim writes Into the Woods.
  
• Toni Morrison writes Beloved and the novel wins the Pulitzer Prize.
  
• Condom Commercials first appear on T.V.
  
• Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
  
• An Amtrak derails killing 16.
  
• Budd Dwyer shoots himself at a press conference live on T.V.
  
• Unabomber bomb explodes in Salt Lake City, Utah.
  
• The Federal Communications Commission rescinds the Fairness Doctrine.
  
• Iraqi missiles kill 37 Americans.
  
• Northwest Airlines flight 255 crashes on takeoff, killing all but one of the 156 passengers.
  
• Michael Jackson releases Bad, his follow-up to 1982's Thriller.
  
• Hungerford Massacre: In the United Kingdom, Michael Ryan kills 16 with an assault rifle and then commits suicide.
  
• Wednesday-Friday, October 14-October 16: Jessica McClure, falls down a well.
  
• Black Monday: stock market falls sharply around the world.
  
• Prozac makes its debut in the U.S.
  
• Movies to come out that year: Masters of the Universe, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, Hellrasier, The Untouchables, Three Men and a Baby, The Princess Bride, Overboard, Spaceballs, The Lost Boys, The Living Daylights, Full Metal Jacket, The Running Man, Lethal Weapon, Fatal Attraction, Good Morning, Vietnam, Heat, Dirty Dancing, Predator, Robocop, and Ernest Goes to Camp.

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