50 Fun Facts About 1988

Which Canadian city hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics?

Host nation Canada failed to win a single official gold medal, just as it had at Montreal in 1976.

Which city hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics?

They were the last Games for the Soviet Union and East Germany, which topped the medal table in first and second.

What was the name of the Soviet economic restructuring program formally launched on January 1, 1988?

In July the party also voted to end its own monopoly on economic power.

In February 1988, Nagorno-Karabakh voted to leave which Soviet republic and join Armenia?

The vote triggered the First Nagorno-Karabakh War and, within days, the Sumgait pogrom.

In which city did the first McDonald's in a Communist-run country open on March 24, 1988?

Budapest followed, and Moscow and Shenzhen opened in 1990.

Where did an SAS team shoot dead three unarmed IRA members in Operation Flavius on March 6, 1988?

Their funerals in Belfast were then attacked by loyalist Michael Stone, and two soldiers were killed at the next funeral.

What happened to Aloha Airlines Flight 243 on April 28, 1988?

The plane landed safely; one flight attendant was killed and 65 people injured.

Which Australian city hosted World Expo 88, which opened on April 30?

The year was Australia's bicentenary, marked in January by a re-enactment of the First Fleet's arrival.

Which country's president, François Mitterrand, was re-elected for seven years on May 8, 1988?

The same month, the Soviet Army began pulling out of Afghanistan after more than eight years of war.

From which country did the Soviet Army begin withdrawing on May 15, 1988?

The Geneva Accords signed in April had committed Moscow to the pullout after more than eight years of fighting.

Which arms agreement was finalized at the Reagan-Gorbachev Moscow Summit in mid-1988?

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty eliminated a whole class of missiles.

Which country won the UEFA Euro 1988 tournament hosted by West Germany?

It remains the Dutch team's only major international title.

Which NASA scientist told the US Senate in June 1988 that human-made global warming had begun?

His June 23 testimony made him one of the first scientists to warn Congress of the problem.

Which US warship shot down Iran Air Flight 655 on July 3, 1988?

All 290 people on board were killed; the Roberts had struck an Iranian mine in the Gulf in April.

How many oil workers died when the Piper Alpha platform exploded in the North Sea on July 6, 1988?

Two rescue mariners also died and only 61 workers survived.

The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, completed in July 1988, gave which city a second crossing between Europe and Asia?

It spans the Bosphorus alongside the original 1973 bridge.

In which country did the 8888 Uprising against the government take place on August 8, 1988?

Thousands of protesters were killed in the country now known as Myanmar.

Which organization's founding followed a meeting of jihadi leaders including Osama bin Laden on August 11, 1988?

The meeting came as the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan was under way.

Which Pakistani president was killed in a plane crash near Bahawalpur on August 17, 1988?

The US ambassador to Pakistan died in the same crash, and elections went ahead in November regardless.

Which war effectively ended with a ceasefire on August 20, 1988?

An estimated one million lives were lost over eight years of fighting.

Which country's aerobatic team was involved in the Ramstein air show disaster on August 28, 1988?

Three Frecce Tricolori jets collided and one crashed into the crowd, killing 70 people.

Which hurricane devastated the Caribbean and Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula in September 1988?

It caused an estimated $5 billion in damage after tearing across the region on September 12.

Which town did the IOC choose on September 15, 1988, to host the 1994 Winter Olympics?

The 1994 Games were the first held two years after the previous Winter Olympics, breaking the four-year cycle.

Which Space Shuttle returned NASA to flight on September 29, 1988, after the Challenger disaster?

The mission was designated STS-26 and ended a grounding of more than two and a half years.

Which dictator lost a national plebiscite on his rule on October 5, 1988?

He relinquished power in Chile in 1990; Brazil promulgated a new constitution the same day.

Which team upset the Oakland Athletics to win the 1988 World Series?

Kirk Gibson's hobbling pinch-hit home run won Game 1, and Orel Hershiser was named MVP.

Which pitcher set the all-time scoreless innings streak at 59 in 1988 and was named World Series MVP?

He also won the Cy Young and a Gold Glove that year and shut out the Mets in Game 7 of the NLCS.

From which institution was the Morris worm, the first Internet worm, launched in November 1988?

Its author, Robert Tappan Morris, became the first person convicted under the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Whom did George H. W. Bush defeat in the November 1988 US presidential election?

The losing candidate was the sitting governor of Massachusetts.

Which Soviet space shuttle made its only orbital flight on November 15, 1988?

It flew uncrewed atop an Energia rocket and never launched again.

In which city was an independent State of Palestine proclaimed on November 15, 1988?

The vote was 253 to 46.

What was the name of the first Fairtrade label, launched in 1988?

It was named after a Dutch novel about colonial coffee exploitation.

Which Soviet republic was the first to declare its laws supreme over Moscow's, on November 16, 1988?

The Singing Revolution had drawn 300,000 people to a rally there in September.

Who became the first woman to lead a Muslim-majority state's government, on December 2, 1988?

She won Pakistan's first open election in more than a decade, held despite the president's death in August.

Where did the Spitak earthquake kill nearly 25,000 people on December 7, 1988?

The magnitude 6.8 quake injured 31,000 and left 400,000 homeless.

Over which Scottish town was Pan Am Flight 103 blown up on December 21, 1988?

All 259 people aboard and 11 residents on the ground died, the deadliest terrorist attack in British history.

What was TAT-8, completed in November 1988?

It was the first transatlantic telephone cable to use optical fibres and strengthened early Internet links.

Which invasive species was first found in North America's Great Lakes in 1988?

They are native to the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine and arrived in ships' ballast water.

Which Egyptian author won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature?

The Peace Prize that year went to the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces.

Which banned substance did sprinter Ben Johnson test positive for after winning the 100 metres in Seoul?

His world-record 9.79 seconds was struck from the books within days.

How many gold medals did East German swimmer Kristin Otto win in Seoul?

Matt Biondi took five in the pool and Janet Evans three.

Which diver hit his head on the springboard in Seoul yet still won both diving titles?

He suffered a concussion in the third round and went on to defend both of his 1984 gold medals.

Which Caribbean nation's bobsleigh team made a famous Winter Olympic debut in 1988?

British ski jumper Michael 'Eddie the Eagle' Edwards provided the Games' other heroic failure.

Which quarterback was MVP of Super Bowl XXII in January 1988 after throwing four touchdowns?

Washington beat Denver 42-10, and he set a Super Bowl record with 340 passing yards.

Which film was the highest-grossing of 1988 and won Best Picture at the following Oscars?

Dustin Hoffman became only the fifth person to win Best Actor twice for his role as Raymond Babbitt.

Who played the villain Hans Gruber in the 1988 film Die Hard?

Bruce Willis was paid $5 million for a role that Schwarzenegger and Stallone had both turned down.

Who directed the 1988 live-action and animation hybrid Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Bob Hoskins played detective Eddie Valiant, and the film won four Oscars.

Which singer, who co-founded the Traveling Wilburys in 1988, died of a heart attack that December?

He was 52, and his comeback single 'You Got It' became a posthumous top-ten hit in both the US and UK.

Which pop star, born on February 20, 1988, came from Barbados?

Adele was born the same year on May 5 and Emma Stone on November 6.

Which NBA star was born on March 14, 1988?

All four were born in 1988, making it one of the richest birth years in basketball history.