29. Soda is Serious Business
In the 1980s, Coca-Cola saw sales dip, as they competed with Pepsi, diet pop, and non-cola drinks. In response, Coca-Cola launched a new formula called New Coke. Consumers did not like the new formula and neither did bottlers, who planned to sue the company. Coca-Cola soon re-launched their old formula as Coca-Cola Classic. The sales for Classic skyrocketed and effectively led Coke to once again outsell Pepsi. Many conspiracy theorists believe that the whole New Coke fiasco was deliberate. Apparently, Coca-Cola knew it would create demand for the original formula and cause sales to skyrocket.
30. Max Headroom Take Over Chicago Television
On November 22, 1987, an unidentified person wearing a Max Headroom mask hijacked the signals of two Chicago area broadcast networks. During these strange intrusions, the person wearing the Max Headroom mask rambled unintelligibly. At one point another unidentified individual used a flyswatter to spank "Max." To this day, the authorities have never caught the so-called hijackers.
31. Unearthing Corruption
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, FBI agents conducted a notorious sting operation. It caught over 30 government officials accepting bribes from a phony Arabian company in exchange for political favors. One US Senator, six US Congressmen, and members of the Philadelphia city council all went to jail. The sting known as ABSCAM became a major story and later inspired the 2013 film American Hustle.
32. A Controversial Plea
In 1987, televangelist Oral Roberts made an impassioned fundraising plea to his horde of followers. Roberts said that if his ministry did not raise $8 million, God would “call him home.” The plea was triggered as his large Christian medical center in Tulsa, Oklahoma was losing millions. The ploy seemingly worked as their ministry raised over $9 million.
What raised eyebrows, however, was Roberts’ lavish lifestyle. He had a penchant for wearing designer clothing and expensive jewelry. A board member from his ministry later resigned after he discovered that Roberts redirected the endowment money to purchase a home in Beverly Hills.
33. Taking the Bad Boy Persona Way Too Far
Many 1980s scandals seem relegated to the past, but this one involves a still-famous actor. Sean Penn made troubling news throughout the 1980s. Penn allegedly assaulted a film extra and a pair of photographers who tried to snap pictures of his then-fiancé Madonna. Penn served a month-long jail term for assaulting the extra and paid a fine for harming the photographers. Most troublingly, Madonna accused him of domestic violence in 1989. Madonna dropped the charges and retracted her claims in 2015.
34. When Soap Operas Become Real
Actress Brenda Dickson played Jill Foster Abbott on the popular soap opera The Young and the Restless. However, she was unceremoniously dumped from the show in 1987. Dickson alleges that this was an act of retribution from the show’s creator William J. Bell, after she ended their affair. She launched a $10 million lawsuit against Columbia Pictures and claimed that she was being blacklisted, preventing her from receiving future acting roles.
35. The Death of a Boxer
Following a gruelling 15-round bout with Ray Mancini in 1982, Korean boxer Kim Duk-koo collapsed and fell into a coma. He had suffered a subdural hematoma from a punch to the head and died four days later. As the fight was broadcast live on CBS, the tragedy received a great amount of attention. Kim’s death sparked a wave of reforms in the world of boxing. 15 round fights would no longer be sanctioned and boxers were subject to a series of rigorous pre-fight medical tests to screen out any preexisting conditions.
36. The Keating Five
The Keating Five refers to the five US Senators who improperly intervened on behalf of Charles J. Keating. Keating was the Chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which recently collapsed and was undergoing federal investigation. Investigators found that Keating made political donations to the five US Senators and they in turn are alleged to have handled the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association in favor of Keating.
The punishments handed out were rather minor, with only one senator receiving a formal reprimand. Two of the most notable senators of the five were former astronaut John Glenn and former POW John McCain. Instead of "improper intervention," investigators concluded that Glenn and McCain simply exercised poor judgment.
37. An Overnight Heist
In the early hours of March 29, 1984, a fleet of trucks moved the belongings of the NFL’s Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis. The team owner Robert Irsay decided to move his team after he couldn't get Baltimore officials to build a new stadium. His relocation angered many of longtime Colts fans. Baltimore lacked an NFL franchise for more than a decade, before the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore in 1995 and became the Ravens.
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38. A Dark Day in Sheffield
On April 15, 1989, an overcrowded holding pen at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England collapsed and led to 96 fans being crushed to death. The already awful tragedy worsened when sections of the media falsely blamed the victims, arguing that their hooliganism caused the collapse. An inquest found the local police to be at fault for letting the impacted section become overcrowded. After an initial inquest stated that the deaths were accidental, the victims' families protested. After the investigation reopened, the authorities placed the blame on negligent police and ambulance services.
39. Double Crossing the Champ
Wendi Richter was the World Wrestling Federation’s most famous female star in the 1980s. However, in 1985, her promoters double-crossed her. Richter went into her match on November 25, 1985 thinking she would beat her opponent, The Spider. During the the match, the referee, who was in on the plan, applied a very quick three count in favor of The Spider.
The WWF apparently orchestrated this plan in response to Richter refusing to sign a new contract. The blindsided Richter immediately left the arena in her wrestling gear and booked herself a flight out of New York. Twelve years later, the WWF would deploy a similar screwjob to their men’s Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart.
40. Debategate
During the 1980 election, members of Ronald Reagan’s team reportedly stole important papers that President Jimmy Carter used to prepare for an upcoming debate. This allegation first surfaced in 1983 and sparked investigations by the FBI and Congress. Neither could verify exactly what how the classified documents ended up in the hands of Reagan’s campaign team. Either way, Reagan won the election, though most experts contend that the papers had no bearing on the result.
41. The Front-Runner
US Senator Gary Hart was the front-runner to win the Democratic nomination in 1988. However, in the spring of 1987, various media outlets reported Hart's extra-marital affair with a woman named Donna Rice. As the story broke, Hart’s poll numbers nosedived. He dropped out of the race and though he re-entered in late 1987, the writing was on the wall. Hart never recovered from the affair. Apart from two advisory positions, since the scandal Hart stepped away from politics and public life.
42. Iran-Contra Affair
No list of 1980s scandals would be complete with the Iran-Contra Affair. It rocked US politics towards the end of the 80s. Here’s a quick summary of the messy scandal. Following the overthrow of the Shah and the subsequent hostage crisis, the United States implemented an arms embargo against Iran and pressured other nations to do the same. Yet, in the early 1980s, US officials concocted a plan where the US would sell arms to Iran in exchange for releasing American hostages in Lebanon. Israel—an ally of the US and foe of Iran—would negotiate the deal.
A portion of the funds from the deal would then go to the Contras—the rebel group planning to overthrow the socialist government in Nicaragua. Heads up: Funding the rebel group violated US policy. Ensuing investigations claimed that President Reagan himself didn't know about the full plan, though a few officials got convicted, and after enough time passed, pardoned. Oliver North (the supposed mastermind) received limited immunity in exchanging for testifying before Congress. Although he was convicted for three felony charges, they were eventually dropped.
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