September 1988
September 5 – With US$2 billion in federal aid, the Robert M. Bass Group agrees to buy the United States’ largest thrift, American Savings and Loan Association. (Remember when this was a ton on money?)
September 11 – In Estonia, 300,000 demonstrate for independence.
September 12 – Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica; it turns towards Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula 2 days later, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.
September 17 – October 2 – The 1988 Summer Olympics are held in Seoul, South Korea.
September 18 – Anthony Goering was born on this day.
September 22 – The Ocean Odyssey drilling rig suffers a blowout and fire in the North Sea (see also July 6).
September 24–26 – Large, militant protests against the 1988 World Bank and IMF meetings take place in West Berlin.
September 29 – STS-26: NASA resumes space shuttle flights, grounded after the Challenger disaster, with Space Shuttle Discovery. (Do you remember where you were when Dr. Ganious, came on the PA on that cold 1987 day to let us know about the Challenger accident?)
October 1988
October 5 – Thousands riot in Algiers, Algeria against the National Liberation Front government; by
October 10 the army has killed and tortured about 500 people in crushing the riots.
October 5 – Chilean president Augusto Pinochet is defeated in a national plebiscite which sought to renew his mandate.
October 5 – In Omaha, Nebraska, in the only vice presidential debate of the 1988 U.S. presidential election, the Republican vice presidential nominee, Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana, insists he has as much experience in government as John F. Kennedy did when he sought the presidency in 1960. His Democratic opponent, Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas, replies, "Senator, I knew Jack Kennedy. I served with Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." The audience response to Sen. Bentsen's remark is overwhelmingly positive. (Who really though Lloyd Bentsen was so cleaver with his one liner… who won that election Senator?)
October 11 – Women are allowed to study at Magdalene College, Cambridge, for the first time. Male students wear black armbands and the porter flies a black flag.
October 12 – Walsh Street police shootings: Two Victoria Police officers are gunned down, execution style, in Australia.
October 13 – In the second U.S. presidential debate, held by U.C.L.A., the Democratic party nominee, Michael Dukakis, is asked by journalist Bernard Shaw of CNN if he would support the death penalty if his wife, "Kitty", were to be raped and murdered. Gov. Dukakis' reply, voicing his opposition to capital punishment in any and all circumstances, is later said to have been a major reason for the eventual failure of his campaign for the White House. (This is one of the reasons Dukakis lost big)
October 15 – Kirk Gibson hits a dramatic home run to win Game 1 of the World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers, over the Oakland Athletics, by a score of 5–4.
October 19 – The United Kingdom bans broadcast interviews with IRA members. The BBC gets around this stricture through the use of professional actors.
October 23 – Super Mario Bros. 3 is released in Japan. (Remember when these graphics were cutting edge?)
October 27 – Ronald Reagan decides to tear down the new U.S. Embassy in Moscow because of Soviet listening devices in the building structure.
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.
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 vast powers Gen. Rahimuddin had accumulated.
October 30 – Philip Morris buys Kraft Foods for US$13.1 billion.[1]
October 30 – Expo '88 in Brisbane, Australia draws to a close after a six month spectacular.
October 30 – Formula One: Ayrton Senna clinches his first World Championship with a phenomenal drive in the Japanese Grand Prix, recovering from 16th place on the first lap to win the race and beat rival Alain Prost into 2nd place.
November 1988
November 1 – In the Israeli election, Likud wins 47 seats, Labour wins 49, but Likud Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir remains in office.
November 3–5: Thousands of South Korean students demonstrate against former president Chun Doo Hwan.
November 8 – United States presidential election, 1988: George H. W. Bush is elected over Michael Dukakis. (Did anyone think we’d have another President Bush just Twelve short years later?)
November 11 – In Sacramento, California, police find a body buried in the lawn of 60-year-old boardinghouse landlady Dorothea Puente (7 bodies are eventually found and Puente is convicted of 3 murders and sentenced to life in prison).
November 13 – Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian law student in Portland, Oregon is beaten to death by members of the Neo-Nazi group East Side White Pride.
November 15 – In the Soviet Union, the unmanned Shuttle Buran is launched by an Energia rocket on its maiden orbital spaceflight (the first and last space flight for the shuttle).
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.
November 15 – The very first Fairtrade label, Max Havelaar, is launched by Nico Roozen, Frans van der Hoff and ecumenical development agency Solidaridad in the Netherlands.
November 16 – The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR declares that Estonia is "sovereign" but stops short of declaring independence. (this was the beginning of the end of the Evil Empire)
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.
November 18 – War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill providing the death penalty for murderous drug traffickers.
November 21 – Canadian federal election, 1988: Brian Mulroney and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada win a second majority government.
November 21 – Ted Turner officially buys Jim Crockett Promotions, known as NWA Crockett, and turns it into World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
November 22 – In Palmdale, California, the first prototype B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is revealed.
November 23 – Former Korean president Chun Doo Hwan publicly apologizes for corruption during his presidency, announcing he will go into exile.
November 24 – The popular American cult television comedy Mystery Science Theater 3000 makes its debut on KTMA.
November 30 – Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. buys RJR Nabisco for US$25.07 billion in the biggest leveraged buyout deal of all time.
December 1988
December 1 – Carlos Salinas de Gortari takes office as President of Mexico.
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. (Remember this is when the world met Mrs. Bhutto)
December 2 – A cyclone in Bangladesh leaves 5 million homeless and thousands dead.
December 7 – In Armenia, an earthquake (6.9 on the Richter scale) kills nearly 25,000, injures 15,000 and leaves 400,000 homeless.
December 7 – Estonian becomes the official language of Estonia.
December 9 – The last Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant roll off the assembly line in a Chrysler factory. (Remember those Cars, today they are now classics)
December 12 – The Clapham Junction rail crash kills 35 and injures 132.
December 16 – Perennial U.S. presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche is convicted of mail fraud.
December 20 – The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
December 21 – Pan Am Flight 103 is blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing a total of 270 people. Those responsible are believed to be either Iranians or Libyans. (And 20 years later the Brits let him go for an Oil Deal, enough said)
December 22 – Brazilian union and environmental activist Chico Mendes is assassinated.
January 1989
January 4 – Gulf of Sidra incident (1989): Two Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are engaged and shot down by 2 US Navy F-14 Tomcats. (Got to love the Gipper on his way out he smacked down Libyan terrorists)
January 7 – Hirohito (posthumus name: Emperor Shōwa) died. By Hirohito's death, supreme leaders of World War II died all. Since the next day, Akihito ascended to the throne of Emperor of Japan, Heisei era began.
January 8 – Kegworth Air Disaster: A British Midland Boeing 737 crashes on approach to East Midlands Airport, leaving 47 dead.
January 17 – Stockton massacre: Patrick Edward Purdy kills 5 children, wounds 30 and then shoots himself in Stockton, California.
January 18 – The Communist Party of Poland votes to legalize Solidarity. (Yet another Nail in the tomb of the Communist Menace)
January 20 – George H. W. Bush succeeds Ronald Reagan as the 41st President of the United States of America.
January 24 – Serial killer Theodore Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair.
February 1989
February 1 – Joan Kirner becomes Victoria's first female Deputy Premier, after the resignation of Robert Fordham over the VEDC (Victorian Economic Development Co-operation) Crisis.
February 2 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul, ending 9 years of military occupation. (This was the beginning of the crumbling of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain being ripped down)
February 2 – Satellite television service Sky Television plc is launched in Europe.
February 3 – A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.
February 3 – After a stroke, Pieter Willem Botha resigns his party's leadership and the presidency of South Africa.
February 7 – The Los Angeles, California City Council bans the sale or possession of semiautomatic weapons.
February 10 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first African American to lead a major United States political party.
February 11 – Barbara Clementine Harris is consecrated as the first female bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
February 14 – Union Carbide agrees to pay USD $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal Disaster.
February 14 – Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini encourages Muslims to kill The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie. (Salaman Rushdie is still alive and well… Seinfeld even did a bit on Rushdie…)
February 14 – The first of 24 Global Positioning System satellites is placed into orbit.
February 15 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: The Soviet Union announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.
February 16 – Pan Am flight 103: Investigators announce that the cause of the crash was a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player.
February 23 – After protracted testimony, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee rejects, 11–9, President Bush's nomination of John Tower for Secretary of Defense.
February 24 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini places a US $3-million bounty on the head of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.
February 24 – After 44 years, Estonian flag is raised to the Pikk Hermann Castle tower.
February 27 – Venezuela is rocked by the Caracazo, a wave of protests and looting.
March 1989
March 1 – Treaty on copyrights, is ratified by the United States.
March 1 – A curfew is imposed in Kosovo, where protests continue over the alleged intimidation of the Serb minority.
March 1 – Louis Wade Sullivan starts his term of office as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.
March 1 – James D. Watkins starts his term of office as U.S. Secretary of Energy.
March 1 – The Politieke Partij Radicalen, Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij, Communistische Partij Nederland and the Evangelische Volks Partij amalgamate to form Netherlands political party the GroenLinks (GL, GreenLeft).
March 2 – Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.
March 3 – Jammu Siltavuori abducts and murders two 8-year-old girls in Myllypuro suburb in Helsinki, Finland.
March 3 – Portugal wins the FIFA U-20 World Cup, defeating Nigeria on the final by 2–0 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
March 4 – Time, Inc. and Warner Communications announce plans for a merger, forming Time Warner. (Remember how happy everyone was back then.. oh wait 20 years and everyone opinions change)
March 4 – The Purley Station rail crash in London leaves 5 dead and 94 injured.
March 4 – The first ACT (Australian Capital Territory) elections are held.
March 7 – Iran breaks off diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom over Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses.
March 9 – A strike forces financially troubled Eastern Air Lines into bankruptcy.
March 13 – A geomagnetic storm causes the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid. Six million people are left without power for 9 hours. Some areas in the northeastern U.S. and in Sweden also lose power, and aurorae are seen as far as Texas. (Wonder if the same thing caused the power outage in New York in 2002)
March 14 – Gun control: U.S. President George H. W. Bush bans the importation of certain guns deemed assault weapons into the United States.
March 14 – Christian General Michel Aoun declares a 'War of Liberation' to rid Lebanon of Syrian forces and their allies.
March 17 – The Civic Tower of Pavia, built in the 14th century, crumbles down.
March 18 – In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Great Pyramid of Giza.
March 20 – Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke weeps on national television as he admits marital infidelity.
March 22 – Clint Malarchuk of the NHL Buffalo Sabres suffers an almost fatal injury when another player accidentally slits his throat.
March 22 – Asteroid 4581 Asclepius approaches the Earth at a distance of 700,000 kilometers.
March 23 – Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce that they have achieved cold fusion at the University of Utah.
March 24 – Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Alaska's Prince William Sound the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (11 million gallons) of oil after running aground. (Gave the night time soap opera, Dallas a plot line which led to the fall of Ewing Oil)
March 29 – The 61st Academy Awards are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, with Rain Man winning Best Picture.
April 1989
April 1 – Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax, the Poll tax, is introduced in Scotland.
April 4 – In Brussels, Belgium, NATO celebrates its 40th anniversary.
April 6 – National Safety Council of Australia chief executive John Friedrich is arrested after defrauding investors to the tune of $235 million.
April 7 – The Soviet submarine K-278 Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea, killing 41. (Marvel Comics had a story line from this one Omega Red was in the Sub)
April 9 – Georgian demonstrators are massacred by Red Army soldiers in Tbilisi's central square during a peaceful rally; 20 citizens are killed, many injured.
April 14 The U.S. government seizes the Irving, CA Lincoln Savings and Loan Association; Charles Keating (for whom the Keating Five were named – John McCain among them) eventually goes to jail, as part of the massive 1980s Savings and Loan Crisis which costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $200 billion in bailouts, and many people their life savings.[1] (Oh John McCain gave us Campaign Finance Reform, because he wouldn’t of broken the law if CFR was in place)
April 15 – The Hillsborough disaster, one of the biggest tragedies in European football, claims the life of 96 Liverpool supporters.
April 17 – Poland, Solidarity was again legalized and allowed to participate in semi-free elections on June 4.
April 19 – Trisha Meili is attacked while jogging in New York City's Central Park; as her identity remains secret for years, she becomes known as the "Central Park Jogger."
April 19 – A gun turret explodes on the U.S. battleship Iowa, killing 47 crew members.
April 20 – NATO debates modernising short range missiles; although the U.S. and UK are in favour, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl obtains a concession deferring a decision.
April 21 – Students from Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, and Nanjing begin protesting in Tiananmen Square.
April 25 – The term of Baginda Almutawakkil Alallah Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail as the 8th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia ends.
April 25 – Motorola introduces the Motorola MicroTAC Personal Cellular Telephone, then the world's smallest mobile phone.
April 26 – Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu, Sultan of Perak, becomes the 9th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
May 1989
May 1 – Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World opens to the public for the first time.
May 2 – The first crack in the Iron Curtain: Hungary dismantles 150 miles (240 km) of barbed wire fencing along the border with Austria. (This is when the Evil Empire had visible fractures)
May 6 – Yugoslavia wins the Eurovision Song Contest in Lausanne with the song Rock me performed by Riva.
May 9 – Andrew Peacock deposes John Howard as Federal Opposition Leader of Australia.
May 11 – The ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Legislative Assembly meets for the first time.
May 12 – A Southern Pacific Railroad freight train crashes on Duffy Street in San Bernardino, California.
May 14 – Mikhail Gorbachev visits China, the first Soviet leader to do so since the 1960s.
May 15 – Australia's first private tertiary institution, Bond University, opens on the Gold Coast.
May 19 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: Zhao Ziyang meets the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
May 20 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The Chinese government declares martial law in Beijing. (This is the start which leads to the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989)
May 22 – The Nordland Days in Leningrad region (Leningrad oblast) open.
May 25 – The Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL) win their first Stanley Cup with a 4–2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
May 25 – Thirteen days after a Southern Pacific train derails, a Calnev pipeline explodes at the same section of Duffy Street in San Bernardino, California.
May 26 – Arsenal wins the First Division league title against Liverpool, with a goal from Michael Thomas in the last minute of the last game of the season.
May 30 – Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 10 m (33 ft) high Goddess of Democracy statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.
May 30 – An attempted assassination of Miguel Maza Marquez, director of the Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) in Bogotá, Colombia is committed by members of the Medellín Cartel, who kill 4 and injure 37.
June 1989
June 3 – The SkyDome (now known as Rogers Centre) is opened in Toronto.
June 3 – The Ayatollah Khomeini dies in Iran; during the funeral, his corpse falls out of the casket into the mob of mourners. (Paul Berry said it best “… he is dead good…” at commencement)
June 4 – The Tiananmen Square massacre takes place in Beijing on the army's approach to the square, and the final stand-off in the square is covered live on television.
June 4 – Solidarity's victory in Polish elections is the first of many anti-communist revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989.
June 4 – Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia kills 645 as 2 trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.
June 7 – Class of 1989 Graduates at DAR Constitution Hall – Commencement Speaker was former Chanel 7’er Paul Berry … and as Billy Joel would say “… can’t tell you anymore, because we were their waving good bye…”
Monday, September 7, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
