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January
7th |
English actor, Trevor Howard, died at the age of 75. |
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February
13th |
The 15th Winter Olympic Games opened in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. |
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March
10th |
Prince Charles of England, narrowly escaped an avalanche while skiing in Switzerland. The avalanche did however claim the life of one of his closest friends. |
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March
13th |
American porn actor, John Holmes, died from AIDS at the age of 43. He was probably the most known male porn star of the golden age of adult cinema of the 1970's. |
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March
15th |
Iraqi military forces launched a chemical attack on the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja killing several thousands of people. |
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March
17th |
A Colombian passenger jet crashed into the mountains near the Venezuelan border resulting in the death of all 143 people on board. |
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April
14th |
The US navy frigate "USS Samuel B. Roberts" struck a mine in the Persian Gulf. The US retaliates against Iran with Operation Praying Mantis. The operation resulted in the world's largest naval engagement since the Second World War |
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June
10th |
American author, Louis L'Amour, died at the age of 79. He was one of the best selling novelists of the 20th century, he wrote over 100 books. |
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July
3rd |
An Iranian air passenger jet was shot down by United States navy warship, USS Vincennes, resulting in the death of all 290 people on board. |
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August
28th |
Three aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori demonstration team collided and crashed into the crowd during an air show at the US Air Base in Ramstein, West Germany. 69 people died in what has been the worlds worst ever air show disaster. |
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September
13th |
Hurricane Gilbert struck the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. It was one of the strongest recorded hurricanes in history and it caused the death of 318 people, as well as damages in excess of 5 billion US dollars. |
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September
17th |
Opening ceremony of the Games of the 24th Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. |
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September
24th |
In the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson wins the 100 metres race. Johnson was later disqualified for doping. |
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October
1st |
Mikhail Gorbachev was named head of the Supreme Soviet. |
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October
29th |
The Sega Megadrive gaming console was released for the first time. It was known as Sega Genesis in many countries and was the last entertainment system by SEGA that was a commercial success. |
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October
30th |
The Philip Morris company purchased Kraft Foods for US$13.1 billion. |
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November
30th |
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. bought RJR Nabisco for 25 billion USD. It was one of the biggest leveraged buyouts in history. |
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December
2nd |
Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan. She was the first woman to be elected as head of an Islam-dominated state. |
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December
6th |
American musician, Roy Orbison, died at the age of 52. He was one of the most influential American singers and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. |
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December
7th |
An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, hit the city of Spitak in Armenia resulting in the death of aproximately 25,000 people. |
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December
7th |
Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, formally recognized the right of Israel to exist. |
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December
12th |
Three commuter trains crashed together in south west London. It was one of the worst train disasters in the history of the United Kingdom. The crash claimed the lives of 35 people and injured more than 100. |
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December
21st |
A bomb exploded aboard Pan Am flight 103 while over Lockerbie, Scotland, resulting in the death of 270 people. |
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December
22nd |
Brazilian activist, Chico Mendes, was assassinated because of his efforts to halt the logging, of the Amazon Rainforest. |
