1988 CE

1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United States (National Science Foundation Network) and Europe (NORDUnet) as well as the first Internet-based chat protocol, the Internet Relay Chat. The concept of the World Wide Web was first discussed at CERN in 1988.

In the 1980s, the 20th century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • January 13 – Vice-president Lee Teng-hui takes over as President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang following the death of Chiang Ching-kuo.source
  • 14 February – George Vassiliou, an independent candidate supported by AKEL, defeated Glafcos Clerides of the Democratic Rally in presidential elections. They were the first presidential elections in the country's history to go to a second round. Voter turnout was 94.3% in both rounds.Cyprussource
  • February 25 – The constitution of the Sixth Republic of Korea comes into effect.source
  • March 9 – Gorbachev meets with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan Karen Demirchyan and Kamran Baghirov in Moscow to discuss the public demands of unification of Armenia and Karabakh.Armeniasource
  • April 14 – In the Geneva Accords, the Soviet Union commits itself to withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan.source
  • May 8 – François Mitterrand is re-elected as President of France for 7 years.source
  • May 29–June 3 – The Moscow Summit meeting between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev takes place, where the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) was finalized.source
  • 25 June - Dutch national soccer team wins UEFA Euro 1988 in West Germany.Netherlandssource
  • 24 July – 1988 Thai general election – victory for the Thai Nation Party, which won 87 of the 357 seats. Voter turnout was 63.6%.Thailandsource
  • October 3 - Chad and Libya reestablish diplomatic relations after the years-long Chadian–Libyan War.Libyasource
  • October 5 – Promulgation of the 1988 Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil.source
  • October 5 – Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet loses a national plebiscite on his rule; he relinquishes power in 1990.source
  • October 29 – Pakistan's General Rahimuddin Khan resigns from his post as the governor of Sindh, following attempts by the President of Pakistan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, to limit the powers Rahimuddin had accumulated.source
  • November 8 – The United States Vice-president and Republican nominee George H. W. Bush defeats the Democratic nominee and Governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis, in the 1988 United States Presidential Election.source
  • November 15 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed at the Palestinian National Council meeting in Algiers, by a vote of 253–46.source
  • November 16 – In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan choose populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister. Elections are held as planned despite head of state Zia-ul-Haq's death earlier in August.source
  • November 16 – Singing Revolution: The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR adopts the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration in which the laws of the Estonian SSR are declared supreme over those of the Soviet Union. The USSR declares it unconstitutional on November 26. It is the first declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union of any Soviet or Eastern Bloc entity.source
  • 18 November – Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Gambia, India, Nigeria, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka recognizes the State of Palestine. The Czech Republic and Slovakia continue this recognition following the 1992 dissolution of Czechoslovakia.Palestinesource
  • November 23 – Former Korean president Chun Doo-hwan makes a formal apology for corruption during his presidency, announcing he will go into exile.source
  • December 1 – Carlos Salinas de Gortari takes office as President of Mexico.source
  • December 2 – Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.source
  • December 4 – In the 1988 Venezuelan general election, Carlos Andrés Pérez of Democratic Action is elected president with 52.9% of the vote, while Democratic Action win the most seats in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, on a turnout of 81.9% in the presidential election and 81.7% in the Congressional elections.Venezuelasource
  • December 6 – The Australian Capital Territory is granted self-government by the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988.source
  • 19 December – 1988 Sri Lankan presidential election: Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa of the ruling United National Party is elected President of Sri Lanka, receiving 50.4% of all votes cast and defeating Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate Sirimavo Bandaranaike.Sri Lankasource
  • December 20 – The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.source

Conflict & Security

  • January 7–8 – In the Soviet-Afghan War, 39 men of the Soviet Airborne Troops from the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment fight off an attack by 200 to 250 Mujahideen in the Battle for Hill 3234, later dramatized in the Russian film The 9th Company.source
  • 19 February - A cease-fire is declared, ending the Thai–Laotian Border War.Laossource
  • 19 February – ceasefire agreement ends Thai–Laotian Border War.Thailandsource
  • February 20 – The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast votes to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and join the Armenian SSR, triggering the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.source
  • February 23 – Start of Anfal campaign, a genocidal counterinsurgency operation within the Iran–Iraq War carried out by Ba'athist Iraqi forces led by Ali Hassan al-Majid on the orders of President Saddam Hussein that will kill between 50,000 and 182,000 Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan.source
  • February 27–29 – Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Sumgait pogrom of Armenians occurs in Sumqayit.source
  • 4 March – Honduras and La Negra farm massacre: 20 ex-guerrillas recruited by the Colombian Army's Voltíjeros battalion attack the Honduras farm in Currulao, Antioquia and kill 17 of its workers. The same men then travel to the nearby La Negra farm and kill 3 of its workers.Colombiasource
  • March 6 – Operation Flavius: A Special Air Service team of the British Army shoots dead 3 unarmed members of a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) Active service unit in Gibraltar.source
  • March 16 – The Halabja chemical attack is carried out by Iraqi government forces.source
  • 16 March – The Halabja massacre is carried out by Iraqi forces using chemical weapons in the northern Kurdish city of Halabja, which was occupied by Iran days earlier as part of the Iran–Iraq War.Iraqsource
  • March 17 – Eritrean War of Independence – Battle of Afabet: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on 3 sides by military units of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF).source
  • March 19 – Corporals killings in Belfast: Two British Army corporals are abducted, beaten and shot dead by Irish republicans after driving into the funeral cortege of IRA members killed in the Milltown Cemetery attack.source
  • March 20 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the EPLF enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.source
  • April 10 – The Ojhri Camp Disaster occurs in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.source
  • April 14 – The USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) strikes a naval mine in the Persian Gulf, while deployed on Operation Earnest Will, during the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War.source
  • April 18 – The United States Navy retaliates for the USS Samuel B. Roberts mining with Operation Praying Mantis, in a day of strikes against Iranian oil platforms and naval vessels.source
  • 1 May – 1988 IRA attacks in the NetherlandsNetherlandssource
  • May 15 – Soviet–Afghan War: After more than 8 years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan.source
  • May 16–18 – 1988 Gilgit massacre: A revolt by the Shias of Gilgit (in northern Pakistan) is ruthlessly suppressed by the Zia-ul Haq regime.source
  • May 27–29 – Somaliland War of Independence: Somali National Movement launches a major offensive against Somali government forces in Hargeisa and Burao, then second and third largest cities of Somalia.source
  • June 21 – The Poole explosion of 1988 caused 3,500 people to be evacuated out of the town centre in the biggest peacetime evacuation the United Kingdom had seen since the World War II.source
  • June 27 – Villa Tunari massacre: Bolivian anti-narcotics police kills 9 to 12 and injures over a hundred protesting coca-growing peasants.source
  • August 5 – The 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis culminates in the ousting of the Lord President of Malaysia, Salleh Abas.source
  • August 11 – A meeting of Islamic Jihadi leaders, including Osama bin Laden, takes place, leading to the founding of Al-Qaeda.source
  • 18 August – Hamas issues their Charter which outlines the organization's founding identity, positions, and aims.Palestinesource
  • August 20 – A ceasefire effectively ends the Iran–Iraq War, with an estimated one million lives lost.source
  • September 11 – Singing Revolution: In the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 300,000 people gather to express their support for independence.source
  • October 5 – Thousands riot in Algiers, Algeria against the National Liberation Front government; by October 10 the army has tortured and killed about 500 people in crushing the riots.source
  • October 12 – The Birchandra Manu massacre occurs in Tripura, India.source
  • November 3 – 1988 Maldives coup attempt: The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, a Sri Lankan Tamil militant group, attempts to overthrow the Maldivian government. At the request of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the Indian military suppresses the coup attempt within 24 hours.source
  • November 20 – Soviet Armenian Supreme Council recognizes the Armenian genocide.Armeniasource
  • Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil WarSri Lankasource

Exploration & Expansion

  • January 26 – A re-enactment of the First Fleet arrives in Sydney Harbour to mark the bicentenary of the First Fleet arriving in Australia in 1788.source
  • 29 February – Nadav Ben Yehuda, mountaineer and SAR specialistIsraelsource
  • April 30 – World Expo 88 opens in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.source
  • 30 April – World Expo 88 opens in Brisbane, Queensland. The exhibition runs for 6 months hosting pavilions from over 70 countries and thrusts Brisbane into the international spotlight.Australiasource
  • July – Intermovement was established.Estoniasource
  • September – 1988 Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference was held in Nicosia.Cyprussource
  • 5 December – Grand Duke Jean and King Baudouin of Belgium open the A6 motorway, which connects Luxembourg to the Belgian A4 and on to Brussels.Luxembourgsource
  • 16 December – State visit of Turgut Özal to the United States.Turkeysource
  • 20 December – The fifth section of the MRT is opened from Yishun to Khatib.Singaporesource
  • Zebra mussels, a species originally native to the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, are found in the Great Lakes of North America.source
  • Mexico at the 1988 Summer ParalympicsMexicosource

Religion & Belief

  • 11 January – Turkey signs Council of Europe’s convention on “Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.”Turkeysource
  • January 26 – Upon request of Hubert Michon, archbishop of Rabat, two Trappist monks come to Fez and start a community that will later become the Priory of Our Lady of the Atlas.source
  • 20 February – Council of People's Deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) declares the secession of the oblast from the Azerbaijan SSR, triggering the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.Soviet Unionsource
  • 22 February – The Cuibul cu barză Church is translated.Romaniasource
  • 11 March – The Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Mosque in Shah Alam, Selangor was fully constructed. This is the largest mosque in Malaysia.Malaysiasource
  • May 4 – Josefa Edralin Marcos, mother of former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, dies in Manila, aged 95. Her son's request to return to the Philippines for her funeral would be later denied twice.Philippinessource
  • June 30 – Roman Catholic Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre consecrates four bishops at Écône, Switzerland, for his apostolate, along with Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer, without a papal mandate.source
  • 12 October - As Pope John Paul II addresses the European Parliament, Ian Paisley heckles and denounces him as the Antichrist.Northern Irelandsource
  • 29 December – The establishment of Ritek.Taiwansource
  • Mohammad Yeasin, the promoter of Deedar Comprehensive Village Development Cooperative Society, was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award.Bangladeshsource

Economy & Finance

  • January 28 – Toymaker company Mattel Incorporated announces the closure of its Philippine subsidiary, with 3,000 job losses.Philippinessource
  • March 16 – In the United States, the First Republic Bank of Texas fails and enters FDIC receivership, the largest FDIC assisted bank failure in history.source
  • March 24 – The first McDonald's restaurant in a country run by a Communist party opens in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. It was later followed by one in Budapest, and in 1990 in Moscow, and Shenzhen, China.source
  • 13 May – The Highway Concessionnaires Berhad changed its name to Projek Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan (PLUS).Malaysiasource
  • 16 May – The government devalues the Icelandic króna by 10 percent to support the struggling fishing industry amid sliding export prices.Icelandsource
  • 6 June – 10 June – The Australian Labor Party's biennial conference in Hobart sees the left faction defeated on the divisive issues of uranium mining, privatisation and tertiary education fees.Australiasource
  • September 14: Daiei purchases the Nankai Hawks baseball team: they become the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks.Japansource
  • 17 September – China National Petroleum Corporation was established, as changing from Petroleum and chemical industrial section of PRC. (People's Republic of China)Chinasource
  • November 15 – The first Fairtrade label, Max Havelaar, is launched by Nico Roozen, Frans van der Hoff and ecumenical development agency Solidaridad in the Netherlands.source
  • The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission is set up under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.Indiasource
  • Increase since 31 December 1987: 3,100 (0.09%).New Zealandsource

Technology & Infrastructure

  • January 1 – The Soviet Union begins its program of economic restructuring (perestroika) with legislation initiated by Premier Mikhail Gorbachev (though Gorbachev had begun minor restructuring in 1985).source
  • 12 March – The MRT system is officially opened, with the opening of a new section from Tiong Bahru to Clementi.Singaporesource
  • 18 June – The Saint Esprit Tunnel in Luxembourg City is officially opened.Luxembourgsource
  • 22 June – Omri Casspi, the first Israeli basketball player in the NBA.Israelsource
  • July 3 – The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey, is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus.source
  • 3 July – Second bridge over the Bosporus opens.Turkeysource
  • July – Opening of the Sultan Ismail Power Station in Paka, Terengganu, the largest power station in Malaysia.Malaysiasource
  • 7 October – The Russian tricolor is raised openly for the first time in the Soviet Union during a demonstration in Leningrad.Soviet Unionsource
  • 19 October - Broadcasting ban against Sinn Féin and other paramilitary linked groups begins.Northern Irelandsource
  • November 7 – The Tower of Power transmitter was inaugurated by President Aquino and GMA Network board of directors following the transmitter's opening and a musical special.Philippinessource
  • November – TAT-8, the first transatlantic telephone cable to use optical fibers, is completed. This led to more robust connections between the American and European Internet.source
  • Near the end of the year, the first proper and official intercontinental Internet connection between North America (through the National Science Foundation Network) and Europe (through NORDUnet) is permanently established between Princeton, New Jersey, United States, and Stockholm, Sweden.source

Science & Discovery

  • February 12 – The 1988 Black Sea bumping incident: Soviet frigate Bezzavetnyy intentionally rams USS Yorktown in Soviet territorial waters while Yorktown claims innocent passage. The accompanying US destroyer USS Caron escapes damage.source
  • 12 February – American cruiser USS Yorktown and destroyer USS Caron enter Soviet territorial waters in the Black Sea, where they are bumped by the Soviet frigates Bezzavetny and SKR-6, respectively.Soviet Unionsource
  • 31 March — Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988Germanysource
  • June 23 – NASA scientist James Hansen testifies to the U.S. Senate that human-made global warming has begun, becoming one of the first environmentalists to warn of the problem.source
  • July 16: The anime film Akira is released.Japansource
  • 19 September – Israel launches Ofek-1, its first reconnaissance satellite, into space.Israelsource
  • September 29 – STS-26: NASA resumes Space Shuttle flights, grounded after the Challenger disaster, with Space Shuttle Discovery.source
  • November 2 – The Morris worm, the first computer worm distributed via the Internet, written by Robert Tappan Morris, is launched from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S.source
  • November 15 – In the Soviet Union, the uncrewed Shuttle Buran is launched by an Energia rocket on its maiden orbital spaceflight (the first and last space flight for the shuttle).source
  • 21 November – Air France's supersonic Concorde made its first landing at Subang International Airport.Malaysiasource
  • An explosion at Lenasia civic centre causes no injuries.South Africasource
  • 11 December – SES launches its first satellite, Astra 1A, from the Centre Spatial Guyanais, in French Guiana.Luxembourgsource
  • The 1988 Singapore Lunar Year of the Dragon 1oz Gold Coin was struck by the Singapore Mint in the year 1988 and belongs to the popular Lunar series of gold bullion coins. Each 24k coin contains 1 troy ounce (31.1035 grams) of gold and is legal tender with a face value of $100Singaporesource

Health & Medicine

  • 17 January – Education Minister Yitzhaq Navon orders the mobilisation of high school students to assist in the citrus fruit harvest in a crisis caused by the absence of Palestinian Arab workers.Israelsource
  • February 4 – Cardinal Sin announces the closure of the National Secretariat for Social Action for the claims of infiltration by communists.Philippinessource
  • 28 February – First heart transplant in Turkey (Ankara University)Turkeysource
  • 9 June – The National Skin Centre starts operations.Singaporesource
  • 12 June – The opening of National Cheng Kung University Hospital in North District, Tainan City.Taiwansource
  • 15 July – Jacques Poos is made Minister for Health.Luxembourgsource
  • 5 September – The first AIDS case in the Soviet Union kills a 29-year-old woman Olga G.Soviet Unionsource
  • October 28 – Abortion: 48 hours after announcing it was abandoning RU-486, French manufacturer Roussel Uclaf states that it will resume distribution of the drug.source
  • December 1 – The first World AIDS Day is held.source
  • 20 December – The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances takes place in Vienna.Austriasource

Crime & Justice

  • 25 January – While on his way to José María Córdova International Airport, Inspector General Carlos Mauro Hoyos is attacked and kidnapped. He is killed in captivity a few hours after.Colombiasource
  • 4 February – UMNO was declared an illegal organisation by the High Court.Malaysiasource
  • February 17 – U.S. Lieutenant Colonel William R. Higgins, serving with a United Nations group monitoring a truce in southern Lebanon, is kidnapped (and later killed by his captors).source
  • 27 February – Zoe Tay was crowned the winner in the finals of the inaugural season of the long-running Singaporean reality television programme Star Search on SBC 8.Singaporesource
  • March 16 – Iran–Contra affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.source
  • March 29 – Eight suspected communists are captured in military raids on their safehouses in Metro Manila—seven in San Juan, including three leading Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) officials, NPA commander Romulo Kintanar, general secretary Rafael Baylosis, and senior central committee member Benjamin de Vera; and Napoleon Manuel, "logistics officer" for the NPA, in Quezon City.Philippinessource
  • April 16 – Israeli commandos kill the PLO's Abu Jihad in Tunisia.source
  • October 12 – Walsh Street police shootings: Two Victoria Police officers are gunned down, execution style, in Australia.source
  • 26 October – Steaua plays against Spartak Moscow.Romaniasource
  • 1 December – The hijacking of a LAZ-687 bus with schoolchildren takes place in Ordzhonikidze.Soviet Unionsource
  • December 16 – Perennial U.S. presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche is convicted of mail fraud.source
  • Abahani KC won the Bangladesh Federation Cup.Bangladeshsource
  • Jugoplastika Split became champion of Yugoslavia in basketball.Croatiasource

Disasters & Accidents

  • January – The cargo ship Khian Sea deposits 4,000 tons of toxic waste in Haiti after wandering around the Atlantic for sixteen months.source
  • February 17 – 1988 Oshakati bomb blast: A bomb explodes outside the First National Bank in Oshakati, Namibia, killing 27 and injuring 70.source
  • 8 March – Aeroflot Flight 3739 is hijacked en route from Irkutsk to Leningrad.Soviet Unionsource
  • March 17 – A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into the side of the mountains near the Venezuelan border, killing 143 people.source
  • 17 March – Avianca Flight 410 crashes in Cúcuta, killing all 143 people on board.Colombiasource
  • April 1 – A bus carrying 54 passengers falls into the Han River in Seoul, South Korea killing 19 and injuring 35.source
  • April 5 – Kuwait Airways Flight 422 is hijacked while en route from Bangkok, Thailand, to Kuwait. The hijackers demand the release of 17 Shiite Muslim prisoners held by Kuwait. Kuwait refuses to release the prisoners, leading to a 16-day siege across 3 continents. Two passengers are killed before the siege ends.source
  • 5 April – Kuwait Airways Flight 422 hijacked by Lebanese guerillas (suspected Hezbollah) after departing from Bangkok. During the incident the flight, initially forced to land in Iran, travelled 3,200 miles from Mashhad in northeastern Iran to Larnaca, Cyprus, and finally to Algiers. Two hostages were killed, prior to the crisis ending on 20 April.Thailandsource
  • April 20 – The world's longest skyjacking comes to an end when the remaining passengers of Kuwait Airways Flight 422 are released by their captors.source
  • April 28 – Aloha Airlines Flight 243 safely lands after losing its roof in midair, killing a flight attendant and injuring 65 people.source
  • June 27 – The Gare de Lyon rail accident occurs in Paris, France as a commuter train headed inbound to the terminal crashes into a stationary outbound train, killing 56 and injuring 57.source
  • July 3 – Iran Air Flight 655 is shot down by a missile launched from the USS Vincennes, killing a total of 290 people on board.source
  • 3 July – Iran Air Flight 655, a civilian airliner was shot down by the USS Vincennes over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 passengers and crew on board.Iransource
  • July 6 – The Piper Alpha production platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires, killing 165 oil workers and 2 rescue mariners. 61 workers survive.source
  • 31 July – Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal bridge collapse in Butterworth, Penang killed 32 and injured 1,674 people.Malaysiasource
  • August 17 – Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Arnold Lewis Raphel, are among those killed when a plane crashes and explodes near Bahawalpur.source
  • August – General Zia, the U.S. ambassador and top Pakistan army officials die in mysterious air crash on 17 August. General Zia's death in 1988 ends an 11-year military rule.Pakistansource
  • September 22 – The Ocean Odyssey drilling rig suffers a blowout and fire in the North Sea (see also July 6), resulting in one death.source
  • 25 October – A major fire took place at the Singapore Refining Company (SRC) refinery in Pulau Merlimau.Singaporesource
  • December 12 – The Clapham Junction rail crash in London kills 35 and injures 132.source
  • December 21 – Pan Am Flight 103 is blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing a total of 270 people. Libya is suspected of involvement.source
  • December 21 - Pan Am Flight 103 is blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing a total of 270 people. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, was convicted of the bombing in 2001. Libyan refusal to extradite al-Megrahi for a trial was a major contributor to UN sanctions on the country throughout the 1990s.Libyasource

Climate & Environment

  • 8 January – According to state news agency Agerpres, an earthquake hits the Vrancea area at 18:51 EET with an intensity of 5 degrees on the Richter magnitude scale, at a depth of 120 km. No casualties are reported.Romaniasource
  • February 29 – A Nazi document implicates Kurt Waldheim in World War II deportations.source
  • August 21 – The Mw 6.9 Nepal earthquake shakes the Nepal–India border with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 709–1,450 people killed and thousands injured.source
  • September 8–19: Hurricane GilbertMexicosource
  • September 12 – Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica; it turns towards Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula 2 days later, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.source
  • 10 October – Hurricane Joan–Miriam forms.Colombiasource
  • October 23–24 – Typhoon Unsang struck into Luzon resulted in a widespread flooding and landslides. The storm and flood brought scores of fatalities.Philippinessource
  • November 6 – The 1988 Lancang–Gengma earthquakes kills at least 938 people when it strikes the China–Myanmar border region in Yunnan.source
  • December 2 – A cyclone in Bangladesh leaves 5 million homeless and thousands dead.source
  • 2 December – The worst cyclone for 20 years strikes Bangladesh. The cyclone eventually leaves 5 million homeless and thousands dead.Bangladeshsource
  • December 7 – In Soviet Armenia, the Ms 6.8 Spitak earthquake kills nearly 25,000, injures 31,000 and leaves 400,000 homeless.source
  • December 7 – The 6.8 Ms Armenian earthquake leaves 25,000–50,000 dead and 31,000–130,000 injured.Armeniasource
  • 7 December – Spitak earthquake kills several thousands of people.Soviet Unionsource
  • Sultan of Kelantan: Sultan Ismail PetraMalaysiasource

Culture & Society

  • February 13–28 – The 1988 Winter Olympics are held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.source
  • March 25 – The Candle demonstration in Bratislava, Slovakia, is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the socialist government in Czechoslovakia.source
  • 30 April — Queen's Day. During this day: Queen Beatrix kissed by a bystander.Netherlandssource
  • 24 May – Miss Thailand Phonthip Nakhirankanok won the crown title of the Miss Universe 1988 held in Taipei, Taiwan.Thailandsource
  • June 10–14 – Spontaneous 100,000 strong mass night-singing demonstrations in Estonian SSR eventually give name to the Singing Revolution.source
  • June 10–25 – West Germany hosts the UEFA Euro 1988 football tournament, which is won by the Netherlands.source
  • 16 June – the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Estonia Karl Vaino was replaced by Vaino Väljas.Estoniasource
  • July 1 – The Soviet Union votes to end the CPSU's monopoly on economic and other non-political power and to further economic changes towards a less rigidly Marxist-Leninist economy.source
  • September 15 – The International Olympic Committee awards Lillehammer the right to host the 1994 Winter Olympics.source
  • September 17–October 2 – The 1988 Summer Olympics are held in Seoul, South Korea.source
  • September 17 - October 2 – 1988 Summer Olympics are held in Seoul.South Koreasource
  • 17-18 September – The Concert of Concerts is held in the Estadio El Campín in Bogotá.Colombiasource
  • 19 October – The newspaper Der Standard is first published.Austriasource
  • October 20 – The Los Angeles Dodgers won 4 games to 1 in the 1988 World Series against the Oakland Athletics.source
  • December 31: The National Historic Archives of Cape Verde establishedCape Verdesource
  • Bangladesh sent a delegation to compete in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Bangladesh did not win any medals in the competition.Bangladeshsource

Births

Deaths

  • February 3 – René Massigli, 99, French diplomat, ambassador to the U.K. and Turkey.source
  • February 15 – Richard Feynman, 69, American theoretical physicist, Nobel laureate in Physics, kidney failure.source
  • 16 February – Assassination of Vijaya Kumaratunga: Sri Lankan politician and founder of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya Vijaya Kumaratunga is assassinated by an assassin of militant organization Deshapremi Janatha Vyaparaya while attempting to leave his home in Polhengoda.Sri Lankasource
  • March 16 – Milltown Cemetery attack: Three men are killed and 70 wounded in a gun and grenade attack by loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone on mourners at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during the funerals of the 3 IRA members killed in Gibraltar.source
  • 17 March – Nikolas Asimos, composer and singer (born 1949)Greecesource
  • March 31 – Sir William McMahon, 80, Australian politician, Prime Minister of Australia, cancer.source
  • May 8 – Robert A. Heinlein, 80, American science fiction author (Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress), emphysema and heart failure.source
  • May 11 – Kim Philby, 76, British intelligence officer and spy (Cambridge Five), heart failure.source
  • July 31 – Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim Ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.source
  • August 8 – 8888 Uprising: Thousands of protesters in Burma, now known as Myanmar, are killed during anti-government demonstrations.source
  • August 12 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, 27, American artist (Hollywood Africans), heroin overdose.source
  • August 17 – Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, 64, Pakistani military officer, President of Pakistan (since 1978).source
  • August 28 – Seventy people are killed and 346 injured in one of the worst air show disasters in history at Germany's Ramstein Air Base, when three jets from the Italian air demonstration team, Frecce Tricolori, collide, sending one of the aircraft crashing into the crowd of spectators.source
  • September 26 - Branko Zebec, footballerCroatiasource
  • October 15 – Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, 96, English composer, pianist and writer (Gulistan).source
  • October 30 – Jericho bus firebombing: Five Israelis are killed and five wounded in a Palestinian attack in the West Bank.source
  • December 6 – Roy Orbison, 52, American singer and songwriter (Pretty Woman, Only the Lonely, Crying), heart attack.source
  • 9 December – Operation Blue and Brown: A failed Israeli commando raid on a Palestinian base near Na'ameh, 10 km South of Beirut, in which the commanding officer was killed.Palestinesource