1988 History

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1988 The Hubble Space Telescope Goes into operation to explore deep space and is still in full use today mapping our universe. A bomb is exploded on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland. Also Prozac is sold for the first time as an anti-depressant some of the great movies that year included Rain Man, Die Hard and A Fish Called Wanda

Cost of Living 1988

How Much things cost in 1988
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 4.08%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 2168
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 10.50%
Average Cost of new house $91,600.00
Average Income per year $24,450.00
Average Monthly Rent $420.00
Average Price for new car $10,400.00
1 gallon of gas 91 cents
Movie Ticket $3.50
US Postage Stamp 24 cents
Dozen Eggs 65 cents



What Events Happened in 1988

  • After 8 years and 1.5 million dead the Iran -- Iraq war ends
  • Iraq carries out Poison Gas Attack On Kurds
  • Earthquake in Armenia Kills 60,000
  • Suspected Libyan terrorist bomb explodes on Pan Am jet over Lockerbie in Scotland killing all 259 on board and 11 on the ground
  • Australia celebrates its bicentennial.
  • A new drug Crack appears ( A derivative of Cocaine ) and is increasingly found in US Cities
  • UK SAS kill suspected IRA bombers in Gibraltar
  • The English Pound Note ceases to be legal Tender
  • Salmonella is found in Eggs in Britain causing problems for British Farmers
  • Laws restricting opening times for UK Pubs are changed allowing Pubs to stay open all day
  • 34 people die in the Clapham Rail Crash
  • Widespread strikes in Poland by Solidarity Supporters
  • Archaeologists uncover the original Globe Theater in London
  • Soviet Red Army withdraws from Afghanistan.
  • A Soviet Union School Bus is Hijacked
  • Panama leader General Manual Antonio Noriega, is charged with drug smuggling and money laundering
  • Yasser Arafat is invited to address the U.N. General Assembly
  • Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires killing 165 oil workers and 2 rescue mariners.
  • The Summer Olympics are held in Seoul, South Korea
  • The USS Vincennes shoots down Iranian passenger jet Flight 655
  • Prince Charles escapes avalanche in Switzerland
  • The Winter Olympic Games are held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
  • Hurricane Gilbert devastated Jamaica, it turns towards Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula two days later

Popular Culture 1988

  • Prozac makes its debut in the United States
  • Televangelist Jim Bakker Scandal
  • The Simpson's seen on TV for the first time
  • British Government Stops Publication in Britain of Spycatcher Book

Popular Films

  • Rain Man
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  • Big
  • Twins
  • Crocodile Dundee II
  • Die Hard
  • The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
  • Beetlejuice
  • Dangerous Liaisons
  • A Fish Called Wanda
  • Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood

Popular Musicians

  • Enya
  • Robert Palmer
  • Erasure
  • Kylie Minogue
  • U2
  • The Beach Boys
  • Bros
  • Michael Jackson with " Dirty Diana "
  • Gloria Estefan
  • Chicago with " Look Away "
  • George Michael with " Father Figure "
  • Guns N' Roses
  • George Harrison

Technology 1988

  • First transatlantic fiber optic cable laid able to carry 40,000 telephone calls simultaneously
  • Stephen Hawking Publishes " A Brief History Of Time "
  • The first major computer virus infects computers connected to the Internet.
  • The Hubble Space Telescope is put into operation
  • The US Stealth Bomber is unveiled
  • Using Carbon Dating it is established that the Turin Shroud Can Not Be the Burial Cloth of Christ
  • The Antidepressant Prozac introduced which quickly became the market leader for treating depression

Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country (or attributed to First Use)

  • Laser Eye Surgery USA


Research for this year is provided by The People History.
See History By Year and Decade for more prices and information.
Find out more about the 80s at ThePeopleHistory.com.