- Benazir Bhutto elected president of Pakistan and becomes first woman to lead a Muslim country
- End of eight-year Iran-Iraq war
- Pan Am flight 103 is blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland
- Illegal raves spring up across the UK
- Tony Cragg represents Britain at the Venice Biennale
- Freeze exhibition curated by Damien Hirst
- Opening of Tate Liverpool
- Aperto 88, Venice Biennale shows young artists under forty