Top News Stories from 1988

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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

Median Household Income(current dollars): $27,225 billion

Consumer Price Index: $118.3

Unemployment: 5.5%

Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.22 ($0.25 as of 4/3/88)

More Economics...

Sports

Sports Links

Pro Football Summary

Pro Basketball Summary

Pro Baseball Summary

Super Bowl

Washington d. Denver

World Series

LA Dodgers d. Oakland A's (4-1)

NBA Championship

LA Lakers d. Detroit Pistons

Stanley Cup

Edmonton d. Boston

Wimbledon

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 Colors

NCAA Basketball Championship

Kansas d. Oklahoma

NCAA Football Champions

Notre Dame (12-0-0) 1988 Summer Olympics

Entertainment

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