What happened in 1988
400 entries recorded for 1988, listed by date. That was 38 years ago.
1988 at a glance
- Years ago
- 38 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1980s
- Generation born
- Millennials (Generation Y)
- Entries here
- 400
- Breakdown
- 108 historical events · 291 births · 1 deaths
January
- January 2
Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782
Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782 crashes near Seferihisar, Turkey, killing 16 people.
- January 8
Adrián López
Adrián López, Spanish footballer
- January 10
Leonard Komon
Leonard Patrick Komon, Kenyan runner
- January 11
Epiphanny Prince
Epiphanny Prince, American-Russian basketball player
- January 13
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui becomes the first native Taiwanese President of the Republic of China.
- January 16
Jorge Torres Nilo
Jorge Torres Nilo, Mexican footballer
- January 16
Nicklas Bendtner
Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
- January 16
FKA Twigs
FKA Twigs, English singer-songwriter and actress
- January 18
China Southwest Airlines Flight 4146
China Southwest Airlines Flight 4146 crashes near Chongqing Baishiyi Airport, killing all 98 passengers and 10 crew members.
- January 19
Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286
Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286 crashes in Bayfield, Colorado, killing nine.
- January 22
Greg Oden
Greg Oden, American basketball player
- January 24
Aeroflot
An Aeroflot Yakovlev Yak-40 crashes at Nizhnevartovsk Airport, killing 27 people.
- January 24
DaJuan Summers
DaJuan Summers, American basketball player
- January 24
Selina Jörg
Selina Jörg, German snowboarder
- January 25
Ryota Ozawa
Ryota Ozawa, Japanese actor
- January 25
Tatiana Golovin
Tatiana Golovin, French tennis player
- January 27
Kerlon
Kerlon, Brazilian footballer
- January 28
R v Morgentaler
In R v Morgentaler the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down all anti-abortion laws.
- January 29
Ayobami Adebayo
Ayobami Adebayo, Nigerian author
- January 29
Shay Logan
Shay Logan, English footballer
- January 29
Jake Auchincloss
Jake Auchincloss, American politician, businessman, and Marine veteran
- January 29
Hank Conger
Hank Conger, American baseball player
- January 31
Doug Williams (quarterback)
Doug Williams became the first African-American quarterback to play in the Super Bowl, leading the Washington Redskins to victory in Super Bowl XXII.
- January 31
Taijo Teniste
Taijo Teniste, Estonian footballer
- January 31
Brett Pitman
Brett Pitman, English footballer
February
- February 3
Cho Kyu-hyun
Cho Kyu-hyun, South Korean singer
- February 4
Charlie Barnett (actor)
Charlie Barnett, American actor
- February 4
Carly Patterson
Carly Patterson, American gymnast and singer
- February 5
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Noriega is indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges.
- February 6
Bailey Hanks
Bailey Hanks, American actress, singer, and dancer
- February 8
Keegan Meth
Keegan Meth, Zimbabwean cricketer
- February 12
Innocent passage
While claiming the right of innocent passage through Soviet territorial waters in the Black Sea, the American cruiser USS Yorktown and destroyer USS Caron were bumped by Soviet warships.
- February 12
Cold War
Cold War: The 1988 Black Sea bumping incident: The U.S. missile cruiser USS Yorktown (CG-48) is intentionally rammed by the Soviet frigate Bezzavetnyy in the Soviet territorial waters, while Yorktown claims innocent passage.
- February 12
Nicolás Otamendi
Nicolás Otamendi, Argentine footballer
- February 12
DeMarco Murray
DeMarco Murray, American football player
- February 12
Josh Phegley
Josh Phegley, American baseball player
- February 12
Mike Posner
Mike Posner, American singer-songwriter and producer
- February 13
Ryan Goins
Ryan Goins, American baseball player
- February 13
Dave Rudden
Dave Rudden, Irish author
- February 15
Papu Gómez
Papu Gómez, Argentine footballer
- February 15
Rui Patrício
Rui Patrício, Portuguese footballer
- February 17
Vasiliy Lomachenko
Vasyl Lomachenko, Ukrainian boxer
- February 17
Case Keenum
Case Keenum, American football player
- February 17
Michael Frolík
Michael Frolík, Czech ice hockey player
- February 19
Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner
A Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner operating as AVAir Flight 3378 crashes in Cary, North Carolina, killing 12.
- February 19
Shawn Matthias
Shawn Matthias, Canadian ice hockey player
- February 19
Skillet (band)
Seth Morrison, American guitarist
- February 20
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
- February 20
Rihanna
Rihanna, Barbadian singer, songwriter, businesswoman, and actress
- February 20
Ki Bo-bae
Ki Bo-bae, South Korean archer
- February 22
Jonathan Borlée
Jonathan Borlée, Belgian sprinter
- February 23
Anfal campaign
Saddam Hussein begins the Anfal genocide against Kurds and Assyrians in northern Iraq.
- February 23
Nicolás Gaitán
Nicolás Gaitán, Argentine footballer
- February 27
Sumgait pogrom
Sumgait pogrom: The Armenian community in Sumgait, Azerbaijan is targeted in a violent pogrom.
- February 27
Sumgait
The Armenian community of Sumgait in Azerbaijan was the target of a violent pogrom (memorial pictured).
- February 27
Dustin Jeffrey
Dustin Jeffrey, Canadian ice hockey player
- February 29
Svend Robinson
Svend Robinson becomes the first member of the House of Commons of Canada to come out as gay.
- February 29
Desmond Tutu
South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 other clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town.
- February 29
Lena Gercke
Lena Gercke, German model and television host
- February 29
Coco Khan
Coco Khan, British writer
- February 29
Hannah Mills
Hannah Mills, Welsh sports sailor
- February 29
Brent Macaffer
Brent Macaffer, Australian Rules footballer
- February 29
Benedikt Höwedes
Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer
March
- March 6
The Troubles
The Troubles: In Operation Flavius, the Special Air Service killed three volunteers of the Provisional Irish Republican Army conspiring to bomb a parade of British military bands in Gibraltar.
- March 6
Operation Flavius
Operation Flavius: Three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers are shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar.
- March 8
Aeroflot Flight 3739 (1988)
Aeroflot Flight 3379 is hijacked by the Ovechkin family and diverted to Veshchevo in the Soviet Union.
- March 8
Benny Blanco
Benny Blanco, American record producer
- March 8
Tommy Pham
Tommy Pham, American baseball player
- March 10
Josh Hoffman
Josh Hoffman, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player
- March 10
Ego Nwodim
Ego Nwodim, American actress
- March 10
Clarissa dos Santos
Clarissa dos Santos, Brazilian basketball player
- March 11
Cecil Lolo
Cecil Lolo, South African footballer (died 2015)
- March 11
Pedro Báez
Pedro Báez, Dominican baseball player
- March 11
Fábio Coentrão
Fábio Coentrão, Portuguese footballer
- March 13
Seikan Tunnel
The 53.85 km (33.46 mi) Seikan Tunnel opened between the cities of Hakodate and Aomori, Japan.
- March 14
Johnson South Reef skirmish
China defeated Vietnam in a naval altercation while attempting to establish oceanographic observation posts on the Spratly Islands.
- March 16
Michael Stone (loyalist)
Michael Stone, an Ulster loyalist, attacked the funeral of three Provisional IRA members, killing three attendees and injuring at least sixty others.
- March 16
Iran–Contra affair
Iran–Contra affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
- March 16
Halabja massacre
Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5,000 people and injuring about 10,000 people.
- March 16
Iran–Iraq War
Iran–Iraq War: Iraqi forces began attacking the Kurdish town of Halabja with chemical weapons, killing up to 5,000 people.
- March 16
The Troubles
The Troubles: Ulster loyalist militant Michael Stone attacks a Provisional IRA funeral in Belfast with pistols and grenades. Three persons, one of them a member of PIRA, are killed, and more than 60 others are wounded.
- March 17
Colombia
A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143.
- March 17
Eritrean War of Independence
Eritrean War of Independence: Eritrean People's Liberation Front troops encircled Ethiopian forces in the Battle of Afabet, gaining a decisive victory three days later.
- March 19
Clayton Kershaw
Clayton Kershaw, American baseball player
- March 19
Ben Uzoh
Ben Uzoh, Nigerian-American basketball player
- March 20
Eritrean War of Independence
Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
- March 22
Chris Ivory
Chris Ivory, American football player
- March 23
Battle of Cuito Cuanavale
Angolan and Cuban forces defeated South Africa in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.
- March 24
Aiga Grabuste
Aiga Grabuste, Latvian heptathlete
- March 25
Candle demonstration in Bratislava
The Candle demonstration in Bratislava is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
- March 25
Ryan Lewis
Ryan Lewis, American music producer
- March 25
Big Sean
Big Sean, American rapper, singer and songwriter
- March 25
Mitchell Watt
Mitchell Watt, Australian long jumper
- March 25
Arthur Zeiler
Arthur Zeiler, German rugby player
- March 30
Will Matthews (rugby league)
Will Matthews, Australian rugby league player
- March 30
Larisa Yurkiw
Larisa Yurkiw, Canadian alpine skier
- March 30
Thanasis Papazoglou
Thanasis Papazoglou, Greek footballer
- March 30
Richard Sherman (American football)
Richard Sherman, American football player
April
- April 1
Brook Lopez
Brook Lopez, American basketball player
- April 1
Robin Lopez
Robin Lopez, American basketball player
- April 2
Ellen Adarna
Ellen Adarna, Filipino actress, model and public figure
- April 3
Kam Chancellor
Kam Chancellor, American football player
- April 4
List of governors of Arizona
Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.
- April 4
Evan Mecham
Evan Mecham, Governor of Arizona, was removed from office after being convicted in his impeachment trial.
- April 7
Antonio Piccolo
Antonio Piccolo, Italian footballer
- April 7
Ed Speleers
Ed Speleers, English actor and producer
- April 10
Ojhri Camp disaster
The Ojhri Camp explosion kills or injures more than 1,000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan.
- April 10
Chris Heston
Chris Heston, American baseball pitcher
- April 10
Haley Joel Osment
Haley Joel Osment, American actor
- April 10
Jan-Phillip Tadsen
Jan-Phillip Tadsen, German politician
- April 10
Kareem Jackson
Kareem Jackson, American football player
- April 13
Allison Williams
Allison Williams, American actress and singer
- April 13
Anderson (footballer, born 1988)
Anderson, Brazilian footballer
- April 14
USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58)
The USS Samuel B. Roberts strikes a mine in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will.
- April 14
United Nations
In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signs an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
- April 14
Eliška Klučinová
Eliška Klučinová, Czech heptathlete
- April 14
Anthony Modeste (French footballer)
Anthony Modeste, French footballer
- April 14
Brad Sinopoli
Brad Sinopoli, Canadian football player
- April 14
Eric Gryba
Eric Gryba, Canadian ice hockey player
- April 15
Steven Defour
Steven Defour, Belgian footballer
- April 15
Chris Tillman
Chris Tillman, American baseball pitcher
- April 15
Blake Ayshford
Blake Ayshford, Australian rugby league player
- April 16
Kyle Okposo
Kyle Okposo, American ice hockey player
- April 17
Takahiro Moriuchi
Takahiro Moriuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
- April 18
John Demjanjuk
In Israel John Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II, although the verdict is later overturned.
- April 18
Operation Praying Mantis
The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II.
- April 18
Vanessa Kirby
Vanessa Kirby, English actress
- April 18
Oktay Rifat
Oktay Rıfat Horozcu, Turkish poet and playwright (born 1914)
- April 20
Brandon Belt
Brandon Belt, American baseball player
- April 21
Ricky Berens
Ricky Berens, American swimmer
- April 21
Jencarlos Canela
Jencarlos Canela, American singer-songwriter and actor
- April 21
Christoph Sanders
Christoph Sanders, American actor
- April 22
Dee Strange-Gordon
Dee Strange-Gordon, American baseball player
- April 23
Victor Anichebe
Victor Anichebe, Nigerian footballer
- April 25
Sara Paxton
Sara Paxton, American actress
- April 25
Jonathan Bailey
Jonathan Bailey, English actor
- April 27
Semyon Varlamov
Semyon Varlamov, Russian ice hockey player
- April 27
Lizzo
Lizzo, American singer and rapper
- April 28
Maui
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.
- April 28
Aloha Airlines Flight 243
Aloha Airlines Flight 243 experienced explosive decompression while airborne between Hilo and Honolulu, Hawaii, with one fatality as a flight attendant was ejected from the aircraft.
- April 28
Jonathan Biabiany
Jonathan Biabiany, French footballer
- April 28
Juan Mata
Juan Mata, Spanish footballer
- April 29
Taoufik Makhloufi
Taoufik Makhloufi, Algerian athlete
- April 29
Alfred Hui
Alfred Hui, Hong Kong singer
May
- May 1
Anushka Sharma
Anushka Sharma, Indian actress and film producer
- May 2
Neftalí Feliz
Neftalí Feliz, Dominican baseball player
- May 3
Ben Revere
Ben Revere, American baseball player
- May 4
PEPCON disaster
The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of Space Shuttle fuel detonate during a fire.
- May 4
Radja Nainggolan
Radja Nainggolan, Belgian footballer
- May 5
Adele
Adele, English singer-songwriter
- May 5
Mervyn Westfield
Mervyn Westfield, English cricketer
- May 6
Widerøe Flight 710
Widerøe Flight 710 crashed into the fog-covered mountain of Torghatten in Brønnøy, Norway, killing all 36 people on board.
- May 6
Ryan Anderson (basketball, born 1988)
Ryan Anderson, American basketball player
- May 8
Illinois Bell
A fire at Illinois Bell's Hinsdale Central Office triggers an extended 1AESS network outage once considered to be the "worst telecommunications disaster in US telephone industry history".
- May 8
Trisha Paytas
Trisha Paytas, American media personality
- May 9
Parliament House, Canberra
New Parliament House, Canberra officially opens.
- May 9
J. R. Fitzpatrick
J. R. Fitzpatrick, Canadian racing driver
- May 10
Adam Lallana
Adam Lallana, English footballer
- May 12
Marcelo (footballer, born 1988)
Marcelo, Brazilian footballer
- May 14
Carrollton bus collision
Carrollton bus collision: A drunk driver traveling the wrong way on Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Kentucky, hits a converted school bus carrying a church youth group. Twenty-seven die in the crash and ensuing fire.
- May 15
Soviet–Afghan War
Soviet–Afghan War: After more than eight years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins to withdraw 115,000 troops from Afghanistan.
- May 15
Indrek Kajupank
Indrek Kajupank, Estonian basketball player
- May 15
Scott Laird
Scott Laird, English footballer
- May 16
Surgeon General of the United States
A report by the Surgeon General of the United States C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
- May 16
Jesús Castillo (Mexican footballer)
Jesús Castillo, Mexican footballer
- May 16
Martynas Gecevičius
Martynas Gecevičius, Lithuanian basketball player
- May 17
Nikki Reed
Nikki Reed, American actress, singer, and screenwriter
- May 18
Taeyang
Taeyang, South Korean singer
- May 20
Joel Moon
Joel Moon, Australian rugby league player
- May 22
Heida Reed
Heida Reed, Icelandic-British actress
- May 24
Section 28
Section 28 of the United Kingdom's Local Government Act of 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, was enacted.
- May 24
Artem Anisimov
Artem Anisimov, Russian ice hockey player
- May 24
Monica Lin Brown
Monica Lin Brown, American sergeant
- May 25
Cameron van der Burgh
Cameron van der Burgh, South African swimmer
- May 25
Dávid Škutka
Dávid Škutka, Slovak footballer
- May 26
Andrea Catellani
Andrea Catellani, Italian footballer
- May 26
Dani Stevens
Dani Samuels, Australian discus thrower
- May 26
Juan Cuadrado
Juan Cuadrado, Colombian footballer
- May 27
Somaliland War of Independence
Somaliland War of Independence: The Somali National Movement launches a major offensive against Somali government forces in Hargeisa and Burao, then the second- and third-largest cities of Somalia.
- May 28
NaVorro Bowman
NaVorro Bowman, American football player
- May 28
Percy Harvin
Percy Harvin, American football player
- May 28
Craig Kimbrel
Craig Kimbrel, American baseball player
- May 28
David Perron
David Perron, Canadian ice hockey player
- May 29
President of the United States
U.S. President Ronald Reagan begins his first visit to the Soviet Union when he arrives in Moscow for a superpower summit with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
June
- June 1
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was ratified, banning all American and Soviet land-based missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 km (310 to 3,420 mi).
- June 1
Group representation constituency
Group representation constituencies were introduced to the parliament of Singapore.
- June 1
Javier Hernández
Javier Hernández, Mexican footballer
- June 2
Awkwafina
Awkwafina, American actress, rapper, and comedian
- June 2
Staniliya Stamenova
Staniliya Stamenova, Bulgarian canoeist
- June 2
Sergio Agüero
Sergio Agüero, Argentine footballer
- June 4
RDX
Three cars on a train carrying hexogen to Kazakhstan explode in Arzamas, Gorky Oblast, USSR, killing 91 and injuring about 1,500.
- June 4
Matt Bartkowski
Matt Bartkowski, American ice hockey defenseman
- June 5
Alessandro Salvi
Alessandro Salvi, Italian footballer
- June 6
Anthony Pilkington
Anthony Pilkington, Irish footballer
- June 7
Michael Cera
Michael Cera, Canadian actor and musician
- June 9
Jason Demers
Jason Demers, Canadian ice hockey player
- June 9
Mae Whitman
Mae Whitman, American actress
- June 9
Sara Isaković
Sara Isaković, Slovenian swimmer
- June 9
Sokratis Papastathopoulos
Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Greek footballer
- June 10
Jeff Teague
Jeff Teague, American basketball player
- June 11
Claire Holt
Claire Holt, Australian actress
- June 11
Yui Aragaki
Yui Aragaki, Japanese actress, voice actress, singer-songwriter, model, radio host
- June 11
Jesús Fernández (footballer, born 1988)
Jesús Fernández Collado, Spanish footballer
- June 12
Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046
Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 046, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81, crashes short of the runway at Libertador General José de San Martín Airport, killing all 22 people on board.
- June 12
Mauricio Isla
Mauricio Isla, Chilean footballer
- June 12
Eren Derdiyok
Eren Derdiyok, Swiss footballer
- June 14
Kevin McHale (actor)
Kevin McHale, American actor, singer, dancer and radio personality
- June 14
Adrián Aldrete
Adrián Aldrete, Mexican footballer
- June 15
Ariane 4
The Ariane 4 rocket is launched on its maiden flight.
- June 17
Andrew Ogilvy
Andrew Ogilvy, Australian basketball player
- June 17
Stephanie Rice
Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer
- June 17
Shaun MacDonald (footballer, born 1988)
Shaun MacDonald, Welsh footballer
- June 18
Elini Dimoutsos
Elini Dimoutsos, Greek footballer
- June 19
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II canonizes 117 Vietnamese Martyrs.
- June 19
Jacob deGrom
Jacob deGrom, American baseball player
- June 20
Leslie Manigat
Haitian president Leslie Manigat is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Lieutenant General Henri Namphy.
- June 22
Omri Casspi
Omri Casspi, Israeli basketball player
- June 23
Chet Faker
Chet Faker, Australian singer-songwriter
- June 23
Chellsie Memmel
Chellsie Memmel, American gymnast
- June 24
Micah Richards
Micah Richards, English footballer
- June 24
Nichkhun
Nichkhun, Thai-American singer and actor
- June 25
Miguel Layún
Miguel Layún, Mexican footballer
- June 25
Jhonas Enroth
Jhonas Enroth, Swedish ice hockey player
- June 25
Therese Johaug
Therese Johaug, Norwegian cross-country skier
- June 26
Airbus A320 family
The first crash of an Airbus A320 occurs when Air France Flight 296Q crashes at Mulhouse–Habsheim Airfield in Habsheim, France, during an air show, killing three of the 136 people on board.
- June 27
Villa Tunari massacre
Villa Tunari massacre: Bolivian anti-narcotics police kill nine to 12 and injure over a hundred protesting coca-growing peasants.
- June 27
Gare de Lyon rail accident
The Gare de Lyon rail accident in Paris, France, kills 56 people.
- June 27
Stefani Bismpikou
Stefani Bismpikou, Greek gymnast
- June 30
Jacksfilms
Jacksfilms, American YouTuber
- June 30
Joe Mazzulla
Joe Mazzulla, American basketball coach
July
- July 2
Lee Chung-yong
Lee Chung-yong, South Korean footballer
- July 3
United States Navy
The US Navy warship Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.
- July 3
Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge
The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus.
- July 3
Winston Reid
Winston Reid, New Zealand-Danish footballer
- July 4
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue's first album, Kylie, was released, and went on to top the charts in the UK and New Zealand.
- July 4
Angelique Boyer
Angelique Boyer, French-Mexican actress
- July 5
Samir Ujkani
Samir Ujkani, Albanian footballer
- July 6
Piper Alpha
The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. One hundred sixty-seven oil workers are killed, making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms of direct loss of life.
- July 6
Cody Fern
Cody Fern, Australian actor
- July 6
Kevin Fickentscher
Kevin Fickentscher, Swiss footballer
- July 7
Lukas Rosenthal
Lukas Rosenthal, German rugby player
- July 7
Kaci Brown
Kaci Brown, American singer-songwriter
- July 8
Island Express (train)
The Island Express train travelling from Bangalore to Kanyakumari derails on the Peruman bridge and falls into Ashtamudi Lake, Kerala in India killing 105 passengers and injuring over 200 more.
- July 8
Jesse Sergent
Jesse Sergent, New Zealand cyclist
- July 8
Miki Roqué
Miki Roqué, Spanish footballer (died 2012)
- July 9
Raul Rusescu
Raul Rusescu, Romanian footballer
- July 10
Sarah Walker (BMX rider)
Sarah Walker, New Zealand BMX rider
- July 10
Heather Hemmens
Heather Hemmens, American actress, director, and producer
- July 10
Antonio Brown
Antonio Brown, American football player
- July 13
Marcos Paulo (footballer, born 1988)
Marcos Paulo Gelmini Gomes, Brazilian-Italian footballer
- July 14
Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor, Irish mixed martial artist
- July 14
Jérémy Stravius
Jérémy Stravius, French swimmer
- July 16
Sergio Busquets
Sergio Busquets, Spanish footballer
- July 19
Cherami Leigh
Cherami Leigh, American actress
- July 19
Shane Dawson
Shane Dawson, American comedian and actor
- July 19
Trent Williams
Trent Williams, American football player
- July 19
Kevin Großkreutz
Kevin Großkreutz, German footballer
- July 19
Jakub Kovář
Jakub Kovář, Czech ice hockey player
- July 23
Ne Win
General Ne Win, effective ruler of Burma since 1962, resigns after pro-democracy protests.
- July 24
Nichkhun
Nichkhun, Thai-American singer-songwriter and actor
- July 24
Ricky Petterd
Ricky Petterd, Australian footballer
- July 24
Han Seung-yeon
Han Seung-yeon, South Korean singer and dancer
- July 26
Sayaka Akimoto
Sayaka Akimoto, Filipino–Japanese actress and singer
- July 26
Anthony Smith (fighter)
Anthony Smith, American Mixed Martial Artist
- July 26
Yurie Omi
Yurie Omi, Japanese announcer and news anchor
- July 27
Adam Biddle (soccer)
Adam Biddle, Australian footballer
- July 27
Yoervis Medina
Yoervis Medina, Venezuelan baseball player
- July 27
Ryan Tannehill
Ryan Tannehill, American football player
- July 28
Gunnar Nelson (fighter)
Gunnar Nelson, Icelandic professional fighter and mixed martial artist
- July 29
Tarjei Bø
Tarjei Bø, Norwegian biathlete
- July 30
Chrystal Lim
Wen Chean Lim, Malaysian rhythmic gymnast
- July 31
Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal bridge collapse
Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
- July 31
A. J. Green
A. J. Green, American football player
- July 31
Charlie Carver
Charlie Carver, American actor and writer
- July 31
Alex Glenn
Alex Glenn, New Zealand rugby league player
August
- August 1
Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1980–1989)
A British soldier is killed in the Inglis Barracks bombing in London, England.
- August 4
Kelley O'Hara
Kelley O'Hara, American soccer player
- August 8
8888 Uprising
A series of marches, demonstrations, protests, and riots, which became known as the 8888 Uprising, began against the one-party state of the Burma Socialist Programme Party.
- August 8
Tropical Storm Beryl (1988)
Tropical Storm Beryl formed over southeastern Louisiana, making it one of the few tropical cyclones to form over land.
- August 9
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial player transactions in ice hockey history.
- August 10
Internment of Japanese Americans
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.
- August 10
Civil Liberties Act of 1988
The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 became law, authorizing reparations to surviving Japanese Americans interned during World War II.
- August 11
Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif
A meeting between Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif, Osama bin Laden, Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, and leaders of Egyptian Islamic Jihad in Afghanistan culminates in the formation of Al-Qaeda.
- August 11
Rabeh Al-Hussaini
Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Filipino basketball player
- August 11
Patty Mills
Patty Mills, Australian basketball player
- August 11
Mustafa Pektemek
Mustafa Pektemek, Turkish footballer
- August 13
Jerry Hughes
Jerry Hughes, American football player
- August 13
Keith Benson
Keith Benson, American basketball player
- August 15
Oussama Assaidi
Oussama Assaidi, Moroccan footballer
- August 15
Boban Marjanović
Boban Marjanović, Serbian basketball player
- August 16
Rumer Willis
Rumer Willis, American actress
- August 16
Ryan Kerrigan
Ryan Kerrigan, American football player
- August 16
Ismaïl Aissati
Ismaïl Aissati, Moroccan footballer
- August 17
Zia-ul-Haq
President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash.
- August 19
Veronica Roth
Veronica Roth, American author
- August 19
Kirk Cousins
Kirk Cousins, American football player
- August 20
Iran–Iraq War
Iran–Iraq War: A ceasefire is agreed after almost eight years of war.
- August 20
Yellowstone fires of 1988
More than 150,000 acres (610 km2) were burned on the worst day of the largest wildfire in the recorded history of Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
- August 20
The Troubles
The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army bombed a bus carrying British Army soldiers in Northern Ireland, killing eight of them and wounding twenty-eight.
- August 21
1988 Nepal earthquake
The 6.9 Mw Nepal earthquake shakes the Nepal–India border with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 709–1,450 people killed and thousands injured.
- August 24
Maya Yoshida
Maya Yoshida, Japanese footballer
- August 24
Brad Hunt (ice hockey)
Brad Hunt, Canadian ice hockey player
- August 24
Manu Maʻu
Manu Ma'u, New Zealand rugby league player
- August 24
Rupert Grint
Rupert Grint, English actor
- August 25
Giga Chikadze
Giga Chikadze, Georgian mixed martial artist and kickboxer
- August 25
Angela Park
Angela Park, Brazilian-American golfer
- August 26
Elvis Andrus
Elvis Andrus, Venezuelan baseball player
- August 28
Ramstein air show disaster
Ramstein air show disaster: Three aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori demonstration team collide and the wreckage falls into the crowd. Seventy are killed and 346 seriously injured.
- August 28
Rosie MacLennan
Rosie MacLennan, Canadian trampoline gymnast
- August 30
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis, Latvian tennis player
- August 31
CAAC Flight 301
CAAC Flight 301 overshoots the runway at Kai Tak Airport and crashes into Kowloon Bay, killing seven people.
- August 31
Delta Air Lines Flight 1141
Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 crashes during takeoff from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, killing 14.
September
- September 4
JJ Hickson
JJ Hickson, American basketball player
- September 4
Adam Duvall
Adam Duvall, American baseball player
- September 6
Anfal campaign
End of the last stage of the Anfal campaign of Ba'athist Iraq against its Kurdish population, which resulted in major destructions and major civilian losses.
- September 8
Yellowstone fires of 1988
Yellowstone National Park is closed for the first time in U.S. history due to ongoing fires.
- September 9
Vietnam Airlines Flight 831
Vietnam Airlines Flight 831 crashes in Khu Khot, Thailand, while on approach to Don Muang International Airport, killing 76.
- September 10
Jordan Staal
Jordan Staal, Canadian ice hockey player
- September 10
Bobby Sharp
Bobby Sharp, Canadian wrestler
- September 12
Hurricane Gilbert
Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica; it turns towards Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula two days later, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.
- September 12
Amanda Jenssen
Amanda Jenssen, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- September 12
Guðmundur Ari Sigurjónsson
Guðmundur Ari Sigurjónsson, Icelandic politician
- September 13
Hurricane Gilbert
Hurricane Gilbert reached a minimum pressure of 888 mb (26.22 inHg) with sustained flight-level winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), making it the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record at the time.
- September 15
Chelsea Kane
Chelsea Kane, American actress and singer
- September 15
Tim Moltzen
Tim Moltzen, Australian rugby league player
- September 18
Henri Namphy
General Henri Namphy, president of Haiti, is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by General Prosper Avril.
- September 18
Magna Charta Universitatum
The Magna Charta Universitatum, asserting key principles essential to the free operation of universities, is signed in Bologna by the rectors of 388 institutions of higher learning, to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna.
- September 18
8888 Uprising
The 8888 Uprising in Myanmar comes to an end.
- September 20
Margaret Thatcher
British prime minister Margaret Thatcher gave a landmark speech at the Belfry of Bruges, Belgium, against federalism in the European Economic Community.
- September 20
Coby Fleener
Coby Fleener, American football player
- September 20
Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Nurmagomedov, Russian mixed martial artist
- September 20
Sergei Bobrovsky
Sergei Bobrovsky, Russian ice hockey player
- September 22
Sana Saeed
Sana Saeed, Indian actress and model
- September 23
Yannick Weber
Yannick Weber, Swiss ice hockey player
- September 23
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro, Argentinian tennis player
- September 23
Kairi Sane
Kairi Sane, Japanese wrestler
- September 24
Kyle Sullivan
Kyle Sullivan, American actor
- September 24
Karl Alzner
Karl Alzner, Canadian ice hockey player
- September 24
Steven Kampfer
Steven Kampfer, American ice hockey player
- September 26
Kiira Korpi
Kiira Korpi, Finnish figure skater
- September 26
Chris Archer
Chris Archer, American baseball player
- September 26
Buddy Matthews
Buddy Matthews, Australian wrestler
- September 26
James Blake (musician)
James Blake, English singer-songwriter and producer
- September 27
Aung San Suu Kyi
Led by pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi (pictured), the political party National League for Democracy was founded in Burma.
- September 27
National League for Democracy
The National League for Democracy is formed by Aung San Suu Kyi and others to fight dictatorship in Myanmar.
- September 29
STS-26
NASA launches STS-26, the first Space Shuttle mission since the Challenger disaster.
- September 29
Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant, American basketball player
- September 30
Natalie Eggermont
Natalie Eggermont, Belgian politician
October
- October 2
Brittany Howard
Brittany Howard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- October 3
Dustin Gazley
Dustin Gazley, American ice hockey player
- October 4
Caner Erkin
Caner Erkin, Turkish footballer
- October 4
Evgeni Krasnopolski
Evgeni Krasnopolski, Israeli figure skater
- October 4
Lonnie Chisenhall
Lonnie Chisenhall, American baseball player
- October 4
Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose, American basketball player
- October 4
Melissa Benoist
Melissa Benoist, American actress and singer
- October 5
Lloyd Bentsen
During the United States vice-presidential debate, Democratic candidate Lloyd Bentsen told his opponent Dan Quayle, "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
- October 5
Augusto Pinochet
A Chilean opposition coalition defeats Augusto Pinochet in his re-election attempt.
- October 5
Benny Howell
Benny Howell, English cricketer
- October 5
Bahar Kizil
Bahar Kızıl, German singer-songwriter
- October 5
Maja Salvador
Maja Salvador, Filipino actress, dancer, singer, and host
- October 7
Operation Breakthrough
A hunter discovers three gray whales trapped under the ice near Alaska; the situation becomes a multinational effort to free the whales.
- October 7
Point Barrow
Near Point Barrow in Alaska, an Iñupiat hunter discovered three gray whales trapped in pack ice, which resulted in an international effort to free them.
- October 12
Victoria Police
Two officers of the Victoria Police are gunned down execution-style in the Walsh Street police shootings, Australia.
- October 12
Calum Scott
Calum Scott, British singer
- October 12
Sam Whitelock
Sam Whitelock, New Zealand rugby player
- October 13
Scott Jamieson
Scott Jamieson, Australian footballer
- October 13
Norris Cole
Norris Cole, American basketball player
- October 14
Max Thieriot
Max Thieriot, American actor
- October 14
Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell, Australian cricketer
- October 17
Uganda Airlines Flight 775
Uganda Airlines Flight 775 crashes at Rome–Fiumicino International Airport, in Rome, Italy, killing 33 people.
- October 18
Tessa Schram
Tessa Schram, Dutch director and actress
- October 19
1988–1994 British broadcasting voice restrictions
The British government restricted the broadcast of the voices of representatives from Sinn Féin and several Irish republican and loyalist paramilitary groups on television and radio.
- October 22
Sarah Barrow
Sarah Barrow, English diver
- October 22
Parineeti Chopra
Parineeti Chopra, Indian actress
- October 22
Corey Hawkins
Corey Hawkins, American actor
- October 26
Greg Zuerlein (figure skater)
Greg Zuerlein, American figure skater
- October 26
Nosliw Rodríguez
Nosliw Rodríguez, Venezuelan politician
- October 27
Embassy of the United States, Moscow
Cold War: Ronald Reagan suspends construction of the new U.S. Embassy in Moscow due to Soviet listening devices in the building structure.
- October 27
Viktor Genev
Viktor Genev, Bulgarian footballer
- October 27
Brady Ellison
Brady Ellison, American archer
- October 28
Edd Gould
Edd Gould, English cartoonist and animator (died 2012)
- October 29
Janoris Jenkins
Janoris Jenkins, American football player
- October 30
Janel Parrish
Janel Parrish, American actress and singer
- October 31
Lizzy Yarnold
Lizzy Yarnold, British skeleton racer
- October 31
Jack Riewoldt
Jack Riewoldt, Australian footballer
- October 31
Sébastien Buemi
Sébastien Buemi, Swiss race car driver
- October 31
Cole Aldrich
Cole Aldrich, American basketball player
November
- November 2
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 703
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 703 crashes in Białobrzegi, Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland, killing one person and injuring several more.
- November 2
Morris worm
The Morris worm, the first Internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT.
- November 2
Lisa Bowman
Lisa Bowman, Irish netball player
- November 2
Julia Görges
Julia Görges, German tennis player
- November 3
Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan Tamil mercenaries attempt to overthrow the Maldivian government. At President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's request, the Indian military suppresses the rebellion within 24 hours.
- November 4
Dez Bryant
Dez Bryant, American football player
- November 5
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli, Indian cricketer
- November 5
Yannick Borel
Yannick Borel, French fencer
- November 6
1988 Lancang–Gengma earthquakes
Two earthquakes occurring 12 minutes apart struck Yunnan near the China–Myanmar border, killing more than 730 people.
- November 6
John Holland (basketball)
John Holland, Puerto Rican-American basketball player
- November 8
Vice President of the United States
U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush is elected as the 41st president.
- November 9
Nikki Blonsky
Nikki Blonsky, American actress, singer, and dancer
- November 9
Lio Tipton
Lio Tipton, American actor and model
Questions about 1988
What happened in 1988?
This site records 400 entries for 1988, including Condor Flugdienst Flight 3782 on January 2. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1988?
38 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1988 turns 38 this year.
Which century is 1988 in?
1988 falls in the 20th century, in the 1980s.
Which generation was born in 1988?
Millennials (Generation Y) (1981–1996). Came of age around the year 2000 and the rise of the internet.
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