Today in History for December 1988

Months in 1988: January February March April May June July August September October November

Historical Events

Events 1 - 78 of 78

1st - 596 dead after cyclone hits Bangladesh, half a million homeless
1st - Benazir Bhutto named 1st female PM of a Moslem country (Pakistan)
1st - Chinese minister of Foreign affairs Qian Qichen visits Moscow
1st - NBC bids record $401M to capture rights to 1992 Barcelona Olympics
1st - NY Islanders greatest shutout lose (8-0) vs St Louis Blues
2nd - "Naked Gun" premieres, a movie based on TV's "Police Squad"
2nd - 5 gunmen who hijacked Soviet Aeroflot jet, surrender in Israel
2nd - STS-27 Atlantis launched (Secret military mission)
2nd - UN votes 151-2 (Isr & US) to move PLO debate to Geneva, Brit abstains
3rd - 54th Heisman Trophy Award: Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State (RB)
3rd - NY Lotto pays $45 million to twelve winner (#s are 1-8-13-18-28-48)
4th - Actor Gary Busey critically injured in motorcycle crash
4th - Amy Benz/John Huston wins LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
4th - Orioles trade veteran 1B Eddie Murray to the Dodgers
4th - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
5th - NC fed grand jury indict PTL founder Jim Bakker on fraud & conspiracy
5th - Shuttle Atlantis launches world's 1st nuclear-war-fighting satellite
6th - Arafat meets prominent American Jews in Stockholm, Sweden
6th - Carlos Andres Perez re-elected president of Venezuela
6th - Merv Hughes takes 13 wickets v WI at the WACA but Australia lose
6th - Milwaukee Bucks win their 1,000th NBA game (2nd fastest)
Anti-apartheid activist/South African President Nelson Mandela 6th - Nelson Mandela is transferred to Victor Vester Prison, Capetown
6th - STS-27 Atlantis lands in California after secret mission
6th - Agnes Neil Williams purchases Baltimore Orioles for $70 million Eli Jacobs becomes CEO of Balt Orioles
7th - 6.9 earthquake in Spitak, Armenia (>25,000 killed, 5,000,000 homeless)
7th - Gorbachev announces 10% unilateral Soviet troop reductions at UN
7th - Mikhail Gorbachev cheered by Wall St crowds upon arrival in NYC
7th - NY Islanders fire Simpson, Arbour new coach
7th - Rangers sign free-agent pitcher Nolan Ryan to a one-year contract
8th - Knick's set NBA record of 11 3-pointers & sink Bucks, 113-109
9th - NY Yankees sign 12-year television contract with MSG for $500M
9th - The Michael Hughes Bridge in Sligo, Ireland is officially opened.
10th - Washington Capitals 1st NHL scoreless tie, vs Mont Canadiens
12th - 3 trains collide in London, 40 die
12th - NYC Subway system adds new stations (Z line)
12th - PLO leader Yasi Arafat accepts Israel's right to exist
Heavyweight Boxing Champion Mike Tyson 12th - Sandra Miller of Queens sues Mike Tyson for sexual harassment
13th - 3 men end 29-hr all-466-station subway ride in NYC
13th - Arafat addresses UN in Geneva
14th - CBS' $1.1 B bid wins exclusive 1990-94 major-league baseball rights
14th - NBA's Miami Heat wins 1st game ever, 89-88 (Clippers), after 17 loses
14th - Spanish General strike to protest austerity measures
14th - US agrees to talk to Palestine Liberation Org (1st time in 13 yrs)
15th - Lori Davis of Long Island sues Mike Tyson for grabbing her buttocks
16th - Political cult leader Lyndon LaRouche convicted of tax, mail fraud
17th - 77th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Gothenburg (4-1)
17th - Bryan Murray becomes 17th NHL coach to win 300 games (Wash Caps)
17th - NY Islanders break 12 game losing streak, beat Devils 5-2
17th - USS Tennessee, 1st sub to carry Trident 2 missiles, commissioned
17th - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
18th - 5th meeting of Giants-Jets, Jets win & eliminate Giants from playoffs
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev 18th - Seattle Seahawks win their 1st ever division title with 9-7 record
19th - NASA unviels plans for lunar colony & manned missions to Mars
19th - Oklahoma's College football team gets 3 year probation
19th - Unexploded WW II bomb found in Frankfurt, Germany-5,000 evacuated
20th - Animal rights terrorists fire-bomb Harrod's dept store, London
20th - NBC signs lease to stay in NYC, 33 more years
20th - Premier Ranasinghe Premadasa elected pres of Sri Lanka
21st - Drexel agrees guilt to security felonies, pays a $650 million fine
21st - NY bound Pan Am jumbo jet explodes over Scotland all 258 aboard die
21st - Vladimir Titov & Musa Manarov return to earth (a year) with Chretien
21st - Pan AM Flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb killing 243 passengers and 16 crew (also known as the Lockerbie bombing)
22nd - 2 robbers wearing police uniforms rob armored truck of $3 M in NJ
22nd - South Africa signs accord granting independence to South West Africa
22nd - Tug hits oil barge, spreads 231,000 gal on 300 mi of WA & BC coast
22nd - Chico Mendes, a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist, is assassinated.
26th - "Legs Diamond" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 64 performances
26th - Anti African student rebellion in China PR
27th - Bulgaria stops jamming Radio Free Europe after more than 3 decades
28th - John Tarrant, 1st Aust born Zen teacher, receives Dharma Transmission
28th - US 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirms Yonkers is guilty of racism
28th - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
29th - Soviet Red Army Team edges NY Islanders, 3-2 at Nassau Coliseum
29th - Victorian Post Office Museum in Australia closes
30th - Canadian Senate OK's free trade pact; with US
30th - Former Soviet Pres Brezhnev's son-in-law sentenced to 12-yr (bribery)
30th - Mercedes-Benz pays $20.2-M fine failed to meet '86 government fuel standard
30th - North subpoenas Reagan & Bush as defense witnesses for upcoming trial

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 19 of 19

1st - Zoe Kravitz, daughter of Lisa Bonet & Lenny Kravitz
2nd - Edward EMG baron Downpatrick, grandson of English prince Edward
2nd - Alfred Enoch, British Actor
2nd - Soniya Mehra, Indian Actress
7th - Emily Browning, Australian actress
7th - Asia Ray Smith, American actress
11th - Murugan Thiruchelvam, English chess prodigy
11th - Tim Southee, New Zealand cricketer
13th - Darcy Blake, Welsh footballer
14th - Nicolas Batum, French basketball player
14th - Vanessa Hudgens, American singer and actress
16th - Anna Popplewell, English actress
19th - Peter Winn, English footballer
19th - Paulina Gretzky, American-born Canadian actress and model
23rd - Eri Kamei, Japanese singer
25th - Eric Gordon, American Basketball Player
27th - Rick Porcello, American baseball player
29th - Agnes Szavay, Hungary tennis player
30th - Leon Jackson, Scottish singer

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 29 of 29

2nd - Tata Giacobetti, Italian singer and lyricist (Quartetto Cetra)
4th - Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist (b. 1899)
6th - Bill Harris, US guitarist (Clovers-Love Potion No 9), dies at 63
6th - Roy Orbison, singer (Pretty Woman), dies of massive heart attack at 52
7th - Andrei P Ershov, Russian computer pioneer, dies
7th - Christopher Connelly, actor (Liar's Moon, Hawmps), dies at 47
7th - Peter Langan, Irish restaurateur (Langans London), dies in fire
8th - Anne Seymour, actress (Misty, Chevy Mystery Show), dies at 79
8th - Herbert "Tubo" Rhoad, US singer (Persuasions-Good news), dies at 44
10th - Dick Clair, comedian (Clair & McMahon, Facts of Life), dies of AIDS
10th - Richard Castellano, aqctor (Honor thy Father), dies at 55
12th - John Canning, NY Post managing editor, dies at 56
12th - Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano, American Mafia figure (b. 1917)
16th - H "Stork" Hendry, cricketer (11 Tests for Australia 1921-29), dies
16th - Sylvester, American singer (b. 1948)
20th - Max Robinson, 1st black network (ABC) TV anchor, dies of AIDS at 49
20th - Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian television pioneer (b. 1908)
21st - Bob Steele, [Robert Bradbury], dies after short illness at 60
21st - Nicholas Tinbergen, Dutch/British biologist, dies at 81
22nd - Tucker Smith, singer/dancer (Cool-West Side Story), dies
25th - Ooka Shohei, Japanese novelist (b. 1909)
25th - Edward Pelham-Clinton, 10th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne (b. 1920)
26th - John Loder, actor (Sabotage, Java Head), dies at 90
26th - Glenn McCarthy, American oil tycoon and businessman (b. 1907)
27th - Fox Harris, actor (Alienator, Warlords, Sid & Nancy), dies
27th - Hall Ashby, US director (Shampoo, 8 Million Ways to Die), dies at 59
28th - Hal Ashby, academy-award winning director, dies of cancer at 59
29th - Mike Beuttler, British racing driver (b. 1940)
30th - Yuli Daniel, Russian writer (b. 1925)