Year retrospective · 1980s

1988

1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1988th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 988th year of the 2nd millennium, the 88th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1980s decade.

Recorded events

10

top entries

Notable births

30

Notable deaths

30

Decade

1980s

Timeline

Defining events of 1988

  1. 1988 The Ojhri Camp explosion kills or injures more than 1,000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.

    1988 ammunition depot explosion in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province, Pakistan

    The Ojhri Camp disaster took place on 10 April 1988. Ojhri Camp was a military storage center located in Rawalpindi City in Rawalpindi, Punjab Province of Pakistan. Following the disaster, then-Prime Minister Junejo ordered an inquiry into the events, culminating in President Zia-ul-Haq sacking him and dissolving Parliament.

  2. 1988 The USS Samuel B. Roberts strikes a mine in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will.

    Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate (1986–2015)

    USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) was one of the final ships in the United States Navy's Oliver Hazard Perry-class of guided missile frigates (FFG). S.

  3. 1988 In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signs an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

    Global intergovernmental organization

    The United Nations (UN) is a global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the articulated mission of maintaining international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among states, to promote international cooperation, and to serve as a centre for harmonizing the actions of states in achieving those goals.

  4. 1988 The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.

    1988 US attack on Iran in the Iran-Iraq War

    S. warship four days earlier. It took place during the US presidency of Ronald Reagan and the rule of Supreme Leader of Iran Ruhollah Khomeini.

  5. 1988 In Israel John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II, although the verdict is later overturned.

    Ukrainian guard at Nazi death camps (1920–2012)

    John Demjanjuk, was a Trawniki and Nazi camp guard at Sobibor extermination camp, Majdanek, and Flossenbürg. Demjanjuk became the center of global media attention in the 1980s, when he was tried and convicted in Israel after being identified as "Ivan the Terrible", a notoriously cruel watchman at Treblinka extermination camp. Demjanjuk was sentenced to death by hanging in 1988.

  6. 1988 Near Maui, Hawaii, flight attendant Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing is blown out of Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737, and falls to her death when part of the plane's fuselage rips open in mid-flight.

    Second largest island in Hawaii

    2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of Maui County's four sizable islands, along with Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe.

  7. 1988 Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.
  8. 1988 Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov orders the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.
  9. 1988 A British soldier was killed in the Inglis Barracks bombing in London, England.
  10. 1988 Japanese American internment: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, providing $20,000 payments to Japanese Americans who were either interned in or relocated by the United States during World War II.

Arrivals

Born in 1988

Brook Lopez 1988– American basketball player (born 1988)
Robin Lopez 1988– American basketball player (born 1988)
Chris Heston 1988– American baseball player (born 1988)
Kareem Jackson 1988– American football player (born 1988)
Haley Joel Osment 1988– American actor (born 1988)
Jan-Phillip Tadsen 1988– German politician (born 1988)
Milton Casco 1988– Argentine footballer
Leland Irving 1988– Canadian ice hockey player (born 1988)
Ricky Álvarez 1988– Argentine footballer
Stephen Brogan 1988– English footballer (born 1988)
Amedeo Calliari 1988– Italian footballer (born 1988)
Jessie James Decker 1988– American country pop singer (born 1988)

Farewells

Died in 1988

Colette Deréal French actress & singer (1927–1988)
Alan Paton South African author (1903–1988)
Jean Gascon Canadian opera director, actor, and administrator
Kenneth Williams British actor and comedian (1926–1988)
Louise Nevelson American sculptor (1899–1988)
Oktay Rıfat Horozcu Turkish writer and playwright
Kwon Ki-ok First female Korean aviator (1901–1988)
Grigori Kuzmin Estonian astronomer
Irene Rich American actress (1891–1988)
Fred Bear American bow hunter (1902–1988)
Milton Caniff American cartoonist (1907–1988)
Anne Ramsey American actress (1929–1988)

On the charts

Culture of 1988

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Across the calendar of 1988

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