1988

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1950s 1960s 1970s – 1980s – 1990s 2000s 2010s
Years:	1985 1986 1987 – 1988 – 1989 1990 1991

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1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday in the Gregorian calendar.

Events

Yellowstone fires of 1988 near Old Faithful

February 13 – Michael Jackson purchases a ranch in Santa Ynez, California. He calls his new home "Neverland".
March 12 – Record producer Jimmy Iovine presents the Special Olympics with a donation of $5 million, which was raised with the release of the A Very Special Christmas album.
April 19 – Former rock and roll singer Sonny Bono becomes the mayor of Palm Springs, California.
May 1 – Citing the 1st Amendment, a judge drops all charges filed against singer Billy Joel. Joel was being sued by Jack Powers for defamation following an interview with Playboy in which he called Powers a "creep".
June 14 – A small wildfire starts in Montana near Yellowstone National Park. It joins other fires. Eventually, over 750,000 acres (3,000 km²) of Yellowstone burns before firefighters gain control in late September.
July 1 – Quartetto Cetra's last concert
August 20 – The Iran–Iraq War ends
September 16 – rapper Eazy-E releases his first album Eazy-Duz-It
November 1 – Bad Religion releases Suffer
Hurricane Gilbert strikes the Caribbean, Mexico and south Texas
November 24 – Mystery Science Theater 3000 premieres
December 7 – A powerful earthquake kills nearly 25,000 people in Soviet Armenia
December 21 – A Pan-Am airplane explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing more than 270 people
Ankst music label founded
Peter Ruzicka becomes director of the Hamburg State Opera and State Philharmonic Orchestra
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" experiences a surge in popularity sparked by television commercials featuring claymation raisin figures dancing to the song. The California Raisins version of the song peaks at No. 84 on Billboard's Hot 100.

Births

January

Chiang Ching-kuo

Georgy Malenkov

January 3 – Rose Auslander, German poet (b. 1901)
January 3 – Gaston Eyskens, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1905)
January 5 – Pete Maravich, basketball player (b. 1947)
January 7 – Trevor Howard, English actor (b. 1913)
January 11 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist (b. 1898)
January 13 – Chiang Ching-kuo, 3rd President of the Republic of China (b. 1910)
January 14 – Georgy Malenkov, 5th Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (b. 1902)
January 15 – Seán MacBride, Irish Republican Army leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1904)
January 16 – Ballard Berkeley, British actor (b. 1904)

February

Richard Feynman

February 1 – Heather O'Rourke, American actress (b. 1975)
February 13 – John Curulewski, American guitarist (Styx) (b. 1950)
February 15 – Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)

March

Kurt Georg Kiesinger

Andy Gibb

William McMahon

March 7 – Divine, American actor and singer (b. 1945)
March 9 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, 3rd Chancellor of Germany (b. 1904)
March 10 – Andy Gibb, singer (b. 1958)
March 10 – Phạm Hùng, Vietnamese prime minister (b. 1912)
March 31 – Sir William McMahon, twentieth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)

April

Alan Paton

April 12 – Alan Paton, South African author (b. 1903)
April 17 - Louise Nevelson, American sculptor
April 25 - Valerie Solanas, American author (b. 1936)

May

Robert A. Heinlein

May 8 – Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer (b. 1907)
May 11 – Kim Philby, British agent and spy (b. 1912)
May 14 – Willem Drees, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1886)
May 25 – Ernst Ruska, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)

June

Giuseppe Saragat

June 7 - Vernon Washington, American actor (b. 1927)
June 11 – Giuseppe Saragat, 5th President of Italy (b. 1898)
June 25 – Hillel Slovak, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers) (b. 1962)

July

Judith Barsi

July 25 – Judith Barsi, American child actress (b. 1978)

August

Enzo Ferrari

Lazarus Salii

Jack Marshall

August 2 – Raymond Carver, American writer (b. 1938)
August 10 – Arnulfo Arias, President of Panama (b. 1901)
August 14 – Enzo Ferrari, Italian car maker (b. 1898)
August 17 – Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, President of Pakistan (b. 1924)
August 20 – Lazarus Salii, President of Palau (b. 1937)
August 30 – Jack Marshall, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1912)

September

Luis Walter Alvarez

September 1 – Luis Walter Alvarez, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
September 5 - Gert Fröbe, German actor (b. 1913)
September 11 - Roger Hargreaves, English writer (b. 1934)
September 30 – Trường Chinh, former President of Vietnam (b. 1907)

October

Franz Josef Strauß

October 3 – Franz Josef Strauß, German politician (b. 1915)

November

Takeo Miki

November 4 – Kleanthis Vikelidis, Greek footballer (b. 1916)
November 14 – Takeo Miki, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1907)
November 27 – Angela Aames, American actress (b. 1956)
November 27 – John Carradine, American actor (b. 1906)

December

Roy Orbison

December 3 – Thawan Thamrongnawasawat, Prime Minister of Thailand (b. 1901)
December 4 – Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist (b. 1899)
December 6 – Roy Orbison, American singer (b. 1936)

Deaths

Nobel Prizes

Nobel Prize in Physics shared by Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz, and Jack Steinberger for their research on neutrinos
Nobel Prize in Chemistry shared by Johann Deisenhofer, Robert Huber, and Hartmut Michel
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine shared by Sir James W. Black, Gertrude B. Elion, and George H. Hitchings
Nobel Prize in Literature won by Naguib Mahfouz, an Egyptian writer
Nobel Peace Prize won by The United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences won by Maurice Allais, French economist

1988 Media

1988 Events Collage
The Iranian frigate, IS Alvand, attacked by US Navy forces during Operation Praying Mantis
The Holy Saviour's Church in Gyumri after the Spitak earthquake in Armenia, December 7
Haley Bennett during an interview for Cyrano in December 2021
Irish actor Robert Sheehan at the Electric Entertainment Press Room, where the TV series The Librarians and the film Bad Samaritan w
From First To Last at Emo Nite.
Sydney, Australia - 7January 2018: Sydney International defending champion Angelique Kerber during a press conference at Sydney Olympic Park. Kerber as she listens to a question that asked "Who do you see as your main competition at the Australian Open? Who are you looking out for in particular?" (Photo by Rob Keating/robiciatennis.com)
Mike Posner performs at B96 Summerbash on June 16, 2012. Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL, USA. Photo by Adam Bielawski
Ángel Di María with Argentina against Iceland in the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Maiara Walsh stands with the Chevrolet Volt electric plug-in vehicle on the green carpet of Global Green USA’s 2010 Pre-Oscar Party on Wednesday, March 3, 2010 in Hollywood, California

Other websites

Media related to 1988 at Wikimedia Commons

1988 by topic
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