News and Events of 1988

Year by Year: 1900-2012 View a 1988 calendar

World Events

World Statistics

Population: 5.104 billion
population by decade

Nobel Peace Prize:
U.N. Peacekeeping Forces

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US and Canada reach free trade agreement (Jan. 2). Background: NAFTA
Terrorists kill nine tourists on Aegean cruise (July 11).
Benazir Bhutto, first Islamic woman prime minister, chosen to lead Pakistan (Dec. 1).
Pan-Am 747 explodes from terrorist bomb and crashes in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 aboard and 11 on ground (Dec. 21).

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U.S. Events

U.S. Statistics

President: Ronald W. Reagan
Vice President: George Bush
Population: 244,498,982
Life expectancy: 74.9 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 56.6
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 50.3

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Robert C. McFarlane, former National Security Adviser, pleads guilty in Iran-Contra case (March 11).
US Navy ship shoots down Iranian airliner in Persian Gulf, mistaking it for jet fighter; 290 killed (July 3).
Democratic convention nominates Gov. Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts for President and Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen for Vice President (July 17 et seq.).
Republican convention nominates George Bush for President and Indiana Senator Dan Quayle for Vice President (Aug. 15 et seq.).
Republicans sweep 40 states in election, and Bush beats Dukakis (Nov. 8).

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Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $5,049.60 billion
Federal spending:   $1064.14 billion
Federal debt:   $2601.3 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $27,225
Consumer Price Index:   118.3
Unemployment:   5.5%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.22 ($0.25 as of 4/3/88)

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Sports

Sports Links

Pro Football Summary

Pro Basketball Summary

Pro Baseball Summary

Super Bowl

Washington d. Denver (42-10)

World Series

LA Dodgers d. Oakland A's (4-1)

NBA Championship

LA Lakers d. Detroit Pistons (4-3)

Stanley Cup

Edmonton d. Boston (4-0)

Wimbledon

Women: Steffi Graf d. M. Navratilova (5-7 6-2 6-1)
Men: Stefan Edberg d. B. Becker (4-6 7-6 6-4 6-2)

Kentucky Derby Champion

Winning Colors

NCAA Basketball Championship

Kansas d. Oklahoma (83-79)

NCAA Football Champions

Notre Dame (12-0-0)

1988 Summer Olympics

1988 Winter Olympics

Entertainment

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: Beloved, Toni Morrison
Music: 12 New Etudes for Piano, William Bolcom
Drama: Driving Miss Daisy, Alfred Uhry

Oscars awarded in 1988
Academy Award, Best Picture: The Last Emperor, Jeremy Thomas, producer (Columbia)

Nobel Prize for Literature: Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt)

1988 Emmy Awards

1988 Tony Awards

Grammys awarded in 1988
Record of the Year: "Graceland," Paul Simon
Album of the Year: Joshua Tree, U2 (Island)
Song of the Year: "Somewhere Out There," James Horner, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, songwriters

Miss America: Kaye Lani Rae Rafko (MI)

More Entertainment Awards...

Events

Ninety-eight percent of U.S. households have at least one television set.
CDs outsell vinyl records for the first time.
Ted Turner starts Turner Network Television (TNT) and buys MGM's film library.

Movies

Rain Man, Mississippi Burning, A Fish Called Wanda, Bull Durham

Books

Peter Carey, Oscar and Lucinda
Anne Tyler, Breathing Lessons

Science

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: Johann Deisenhofer, Robert Huber, and Hartmut Michel (all West Germany), for unraveling the structure of proteins that play a crucial role in photosynthesis

Physics: Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz, and Jack Steinberger (all US), for research that improved the understanding of elementary particles and forces

Physiology or Medicine: Gertrude B. Elion, George H. Hitchings (both US), and Sir James Black (UK), for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment

France and China permit use of "morning-after" birth-control drug RU486 (Mifepristone). Background: Birth & Contraception
NASA scientist James Hansen warns congress of the dangers of the global warming and the greenhouse effect. Background: Environment & Nature