1988 - What happened in 1988 ?

January 1988

Friday 01:

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States of America.

Saturday 16:

CBS fires sports commentator Jimmy 'the Greek' Snyder, a day after publicly stating that African Americans had been bred to produce stronger offspring during slavery.

Sunday 31:

Super Bowl XXII: The Washington Redskins win their second championship of the 1980s, 42-10.

February 1988

Wednesday 03:

Iran-Contra Affair: The United States House of Representatives rejects President Ronald Reagan's request for $36.25 million to aid Nicaraguan Contras.

Friday 05:

Comic Relief hold the first "Red Nose Day", which raises £15 million in the United Kingdom for charity.

Sunday 21:

Jimmy Swaggart, on his own televangelism program being taped in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, confesses that he is guilty of an unspecified sin and will be temporarily leaving the pulpit.

Wednesday 24:

The Supreme Court of the United States sides with Larry Flynt's Hustler magazine by overturning a lower court decision to award Jerry Falwell $200,000 for defamation.

Monday 29:

South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town

March 1988

Monday 07:

Colombia becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.

Friday 11:

Iran-Iraq War: Cease Fire declared.

Sunday 13:

I. King Jordan becomes the first Deaf president of Gallaudet University after the Deaf President Now demonstrations.

Tuesday 15:

The Halabja poison gas attack of the Iran-Iraq War begins.

Friday 18:

Alasdair Crawford is born in Warrington, England.

April 1988

Monday 04:

Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.

Thursday 14:

USS Samuel B. Roberts strikes a mine in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will. U.S. retaliates against Iran on April 18 with Operation Praying Mantis, the world's largest naval battle since World War II.

Monday 18:

U.S. launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in retaliation for the April 14 mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will. The one-day action is the world's largest naval battle since World War II.

Thursday 28:

Near Maui, Hawaii, a flight attendant is sucked out of Aloha Flight 243, a Boeing 737, and falls to her death when an upper part of the plane's cabin area rips off in mid-flight. Metal fatigue is later found to be the cause of the failure.

Saturday 30:

In Dublin, Ireland, Céline Dion wins the thirty-third Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland singing "Ne partez pas sans moi" (Don't leave without me).

May 1988

Monday 02:

The last B-1 Lancer is delivered to the United States by Rockwell International.

Tuesday 10:

Michel Rocard becomes Prime Minister of France.

Monday 16:

A report by American Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.

Tuesday 24:

Section 28 is passed as law by Parliament in the United Kingdom.

Wednesday 25:

1988 - The Berulsemann was born.

June 1988

Saturday 04:

1988 -The Canadian Heraldic Authority is founded.

Saturday 11:

Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute Wembley Stadium, London.

Sunday 12:

Rusty Wallace wins the last Nascar Winston Cup race at the Riverside International Raceway

Tuesday 28:

The worst confined-space industrial accident in U.S. history occurs at a metal-plating plant in Auburn, Indiana, killing five.

July 1988

Friday 01:

Bologna, Italy: Quartetto Cetra's last concert after over forty years' musical career.

Sunday 03:

United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

Wednesday 06:

Carlos Salinas wins controversial Mexican presidential election.

Friday 15:

Die Hard opens in theaters, starring Bruce Willis

Wednesday 20:

Iran Contra: All of Colonel Oliver North's convictions for perjury and other offenses are overturned by an appeals court.

August 1988

Sunday 07:

Rioting in New York City's Tompkins Square Park

Tuesday 09:

Wayne Gretzky is traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial transactions in hockey history.

Thursday 25:

The historical center of Lisbon is destroyed by a fire.

Friday 26:

Merhan Karimi Nasseri arrives at Charles de Gaulle International Airport.

Sunday 28:

At an air show in Ramstein, West Germany, three stunt fighters collide; 69 people die.

September 1988

Monday 05:

With US$2 billion in federal aid, the Robert M. Bass Group agrees to buy the United States's largest bankrupt thrift, American Savings and Loan Association.

Wednesday 07:

Abdul Ahad Mohmand, the first Afghan in space, returns aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz TM-5 after 9 days on the Mir space station

Saturday 17:

Opening ceremony of the Games of the XXIV Olympiad in Seoul, South Korea.

Saturday 24:

1988 Summer Olympics: Ben Johnson "defeated" Carl Lewis and Linford Christie in 100 metres sprinting in a record time of 9.79 seconds. (Johnson would later be disqualified in a high profile case of doping in sports.)

Tuesday 27:

The National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi is founded.

October 1988

Saturday 01:

Mikhail Gorbachev is named head of the Supreme Soviet.

Wednesday 05:

in the first fair poll since 1973, chileans vote "NO" to a 3th term in office for General Augusto Pinochet, sparking a transition to democracy process.

Wednesday 12:

two officers of the Victoria Police are gunned down executional style in the Walsh Street police shootings, Australia

Friday 28:

Abortion: 48 hours after announcing it was abandoning RU-486, French manufacturer Roussel Uclaf states that it would resume distribution of the drug, bowing to pressure from the government of France.

Saturday 29:

In Japan, the Sega Megadrive is released for the first time.

November 1988

Thursday 03:

Sri Lankan Tamil mercenaries try to overthrow the Maldivian government. At President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's request, the Indian military suppresses the coup attempt within 24 hours.

Sunday 06:

Beatle Ringo Starr checks into an alcohol rehabilitation centre.

Monday 07:

Boxing: In Las Vegas, Nevada, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard knocks out Donnie LaLonde.

Tuesday 15:

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council.

Wednesday 16:

In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan choose populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister.

December 1988

Wednesday 07:

1988 Yasser Arafat recognizes the right of Israel to exist.

Tuesday 20:

The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.

Thursday 22:

Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist, was assassinated.

Monday 26:

Start of the Nanjing Anti-African protests

Saturday 31:

Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins becomes the first player in National Hockey League history to score one goal of each type in a single hockey game: a even-strength goal, a power-play goal, a short-handed goal, a penalty shot, and an empty-net goal.