Top News Stories from 1988
World Events
World Statistics
Population: 4.378 billion
population by decade Nobel Peace Prize: U.N. Peacekeeping Forces
More World Statistics... - 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).
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
More U.S. Statistics... - 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).
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $5,049.60 billion
Federal spending: $1064.14 billion
Federal debt $2601.3 billion
Consumer Price Index: $118.3
Unemployment: 5.5%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.22 ($0.25 as of 4/3/88)
Sports
Super Bowl
Washington d. DenverWorld Series
LA Dodgers d. Oakland A's (4-1)NBA Championship
LA Lakers d. Detroit PistonsStanley Cup
Edmonton d. BostonWimbledon
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 ColorsNCAA Basketball Championship
Kansas d. OklahomaNCAA Football Champions
Notre Dame (12-0-0) 1988 Summer OlympicsEntertainment
Entertainment Awards
Pulitzer Prizes Fiction:
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Music: 12 New Etudes for Piano, William Bolcom
Drama: Driving Miss Daisy, Alfred Uhry
Academy Award, Best Picture: The Last Emperor, Jeremy Thomas, producer (Columbia)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt)
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
More Nobel Prizes in 1998... - 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
Death
- Roy Orbison
- Chet Baker
- Luis Alvarez
- Edgar Jean Faure
- Nora Astorga
