File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform
An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...
Piper Alpha
Piper Alpha was an oil platform located in the North Sea approximately north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited (OPCAL) and began production in 1976, initially as an oil-only platform but la ...
explodes and collapses in the North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49)
USS ''Vincennes'' (CG-49) was a guided missile cruiser outfitted with the Aegis combat system that was in service with the United States Navy from July 1985 to June 2005. She was one of 27 ships of the ''Ticonderoga'' class constructed for the ...
mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655
Iran Air Flight 655 was a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas that was shot down on 3July 1988 by two SM-2MR surface-to-air missiles fired by the , a Cruiser#US cruiser development, guided-missile cruiser of the Unit ...
; Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
celebrates its Bicentennial __NOTOC__
A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to:
Europe
*French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...
on January 26
Events Pre-1600
* 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
*1531 – The 6.4–7.1 1531 Lisbon earthquake, Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
*1564 – ...
; The 1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
are held in Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
; Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
troops begin their withdrawal
Withdrawal means "an act of taking out" and may refer to:
* Anchoresis (withdrawal from the world for religious or ethical reasons)
* ''Coitus interruptus'' (the withdrawal method)
* Drug withdrawal
* Social withdrawal
* Taking of money from a ban ...
from Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, which is completed the next year
"Next Year" is a song released as the last single from the third Foo Fighters' album ''There Is Nothing Left to Lose''.
History
A shorter version (running at just 3:21 compared to the original's 4:36) was released as a single in 2000 and wa ...
; The 1988 Armenian earthquake
The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake ( hy, Սպիտակի երկրաշարժ, ), occurred on December 7 at with a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (''Devastating''). The shock occurre ...
kills between 25,000-50,000 people; The 8888 Uprising
The 8888 Uprising ( my, ၈၈၈၈ အရေးအခင်း), also known as the People Power UprisingYawnghwe (1995), pp. 170 and the 1988 Uprising, was a series of nationwide protests, marches, and riots in Burma (present-day Myanmar) th ...
in Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
, led by students, protests the Burma Socialist Programme Party
The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), ; abbreviated , was Burma's ruling party from 1962 to 1988 and sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government in a coup d'éta ...
; A bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...
explodes on Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...
, causing the plane to crash down on the town of Lockerbie
Lockerbie (, gd, Locarbaidh) is a small town in Dumfries and Galloway, south-western Scotland. It is about from Glasgow, and from the border with England. The United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town ...
, Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
- the event kills 270 people., 300x300px, thumb
rect 0 0 200 200 Piper Alpha
Piper Alpha was an oil platform located in the North Sea approximately north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited (OPCAL) and began production in 1976, initially as an oil-only platform but la ...
rect 200 0 400 200 Iran Air Flight 655
Iran Air Flight 655 was a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas that was shot down on 3July 1988 by two SM-2MR surface-to-air missiles fired by the , a Cruiser#US cruiser development, guided-missile cruiser of the Unit ...
rect 400 0 600 200 Australian Bicentenary
The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788.
History
The bicentennial year marked Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival with the 11 ships ...
rect 0 200 300 400 Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...
rect 300 200 600 400 1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
rect 0 400 200 600 8888 Uprising
The 8888 Uprising ( my, ၈၈၈၈ အရေးအခင်း), also known as the People Power UprisingYawnghwe (1995), pp. 170 and the 1988 Uprising, was a series of nationwide protests, marches, and riots in Burma (present-day Myanmar) th ...
rect 200 400 400 600 1988 Armenian earthquake
The 1988 Armenian earthquake, also known as the Spitak earthquake ( hy, Սպիտակի երկրաշարժ, ), occurred on December 7 at with a surface wave magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum MSK intensity of X (''Devastating''). The shock occurre ...
rect 400 400 600 600 Soviet-Afghan War
1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
—it was the year of the first well-known
computer virus
A computer virus is a type of computer program that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" with a compu ...
, the
1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United States (
NSFNET
The National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) was a program of coordinated, evolving projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 1985 to 1995 to promote advanced research and education networking in the United States. The p ...
) and Europe (Nordunet) as well as the first Internet-based chat protocol,
Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called ''channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat and ...
. The concept of the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
was first discussed at
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
in 1988.
The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
began its major deconstructing towards a
mixed economy
A mixed economy is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with elements of a planned economy, markets with state interventionism, or private enterprise with public enterprise. Common to all mixed economi ...
at the beginning of 1988 and began its
gradual dissolution. The
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
began to disintegrate in 1988 as
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
began allowing freer travel to the
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. . The first
extrasolar planet
An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...
,
Gamma Cephei Ab
Gamma Cephei Ab (abbreviated γ Cephei Ab, γ Cep Ab), formally named Tadmor , is an exoplanet approximately 45 light-years away in the constellation of Cepheus (the King). The planet was confirmed to be in orbit around Gamma Cephei A in 200 ...
(confirmed in 2002) was detected this year and the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
began its mission to
eradicate polio.
Events
January
* January – The cargo ship ''
Khian Sea'' deposits 4,000 tons of toxic waste in
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
after wandering around the Atlantic for sixteen months.
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– The Soviet Union begins its program of economic restructuring (
perestroika
''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
) with legislation initiated by Premier
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
(though Gorbachev had begun minor restructuring in 1985).
*
January 7
Events Pre-1600
*49 BC – The Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army. This prompts the tribunes who support him to flee to Ravenna, where Caesar is waiting.
* 1325 – Alfonso IV ...
–
8 – In the
Afghan War
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
*Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC)
*Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709)
*Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...
, 39 men of the
Soviet Airborne Troops
The Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (from ''Vozdushno- desantnye voyska SSSR'', Russian: Воздушно-десантные войска СССР, ВДВ; Air-landing Forces) was a separate troops branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. First formed be ...
from the
345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment
The 345th Guards Airborne Regiment (345th PPD) of the Soviet Airborne Forces, and after 1992, the Russian Airborne Forces, was active from 1944 to 1998.
History
It was formed on 30 December 1944 at Lapichi, Osipovichi district, Mogilev Oblast, ...
fight off an attack by 200 to 250
Mujahideen
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...
in the
Battle for Hill 3234
The battle for Hill 3234 (Russian: Бой у высоты 3234) was a successful defensive battle fought by the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment, Soviet Airborne Troops, in Afghanistan against a force of some 250 Mujahideen rebels wh ...
, later dramatized in the Russian film ''
The 9th Company
''The 9th Company'' (russian: 9 рота, 9 rota) is a 2005 Russian war film directed by Fedor Bondarchuk and set during the Soviet–Afghan War. The film is loosely based on a real-life battle that took place at Elevation 3234 in early 1988, ...
''.
*
January 13
Events Pre-1600
* 27 BC – Octavian transfers the state to the free disposal of the Roman Senate and the people. He receives Spain, Gaul, and Syria as his province for ten years.
* 532 – The Nika riots break out, during the racing ...
– Vice-President
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui (; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the fir ...
takes over as President of the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
and Chairman of the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
following the death of
Chiang Ching-kuo
Chiang Ching-kuo (27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a politician of the Republic of China after its retreat to Taiwan. The eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government ...
.
February
*
February 12
Events Pre-1600
*1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sophie performed the first post-mortem autopsy for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in Vienna.
*1429 – English forces under ...
– The
1988 Black Sea bumping incident
The Black Sea bumping incident of 12 February 1988 occurred when American cruiser tried to exercise the right of innocent passage through Soviet territorial waters in the Black Sea during the Cold War. The cruiser was bumped by the Soviet friga ...
: Soviet frigate ''
Bezzavetnyy'' intentionally rams
USS ''Yorktown'' in Soviet territorial waters while ''Yorktown'' claims
innocent passage
Innocent passage is a concept in the law of the sea that allows for a vessel to pass through the archipelagic and territorial waters of another state, subject to certain restrictions. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Article 19 ...
. The accompanying US
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
escapes damage.
*
February 13
Events Pre-1600
* 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
*1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
*1462 – The ...
–
28 – The
1988 Winter Olympics
The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts ...
are held in
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada.
*
February 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
* 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of ...
**
1988 Oshakati bomb blast: A bomb explodes outside the
First National Bank in
Oshakati
Oshakati is a town in northern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Oshana Region and one of Namibia's largest places.
Oshakati was founded in July 1966 and proclaimed a town in 1992. The town was used as a base of operations by the S ...
,
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
, killing 27 and injuring 70.
** U.S. Lieutenant Colonel
William R. Higgins
William Richard Higgins (January 15, 1945 – July 31, 1989) was a United States Marine Corps colonel who was captured in Lebanon in 1988 while serving on a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission. He was held hostage, tortured and eventuall ...
, serving with a
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
group monitoring a truce in southern
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, is kidnapped (and later killed by his captors).
*
February 20
Events Pre-1600
*1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
*1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
– The
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), DQMV, hy, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Ինքնավար Մարզ, ԼՂԻՄ was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its cap ...
votes to secede from the
Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic
Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...
and join the
Armenian SSR
The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...
, triggering the
First Nagorno-Karabakh War
The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in th ...
.
*
February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
– Start of
Anfal campaign
The Anfal campaign; ku, شاڵاوی ئەنفال or the Kurdish genocide was a counterinsurgency operation which was carried out by Ba'athist Iraq from February to September 1988, at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The campaign targeted ru ...
, a genocidal
counterinsurgency
Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...
operation within the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
carried out by
Ba'athist Iraq
Ba'athist Iraq, formally the Iraqi Republic until 6 January 1992 and the Republic of Iraq thereafter, covers the History of Iraq, national history of Iraq between 1968 and 2003 under the rule of the Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction), Arab S ...
i forces led by
Ali Hassan al-Majid
Ali Hassan Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( ar, علي حسن عبد المجيد التكريت, ʿAlī Ḥasan ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Tikrītī; 30 November 1941 – 25 January 2010), nicknamed Chemical Ali ( ar, علي الكيمياوي, ʿAlī al-Kīm ...
on the orders of President
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...
that will kill between 50,000 and 182,000
Kurds ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...
in
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan ( ku, باشووری کوردستان, Başûrê Kurdistanê) refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of "Kurdistan" in Western Asia, which also incl ...
.
*
February 25
Events Pre-1600
* 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor.
* 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II.
...
– The constitution of the
Sixth Republic of Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its east ...
comes into effect.
*
February 27
Events Pre-1600
* 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity.
* 425 – The University of Constantinople ...
–
29 –
Collapse of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
: The
Sumgait pogrom of Armenians occurs in
Sumqayit
Sumgait (; az, Sumqayıt, ) is a city in Azerbaijan, located near the Caspian Sea, on the Absheron Peninsula, about away from the capital Baku. The city has a population of around 345,300, making it the second largest city in Azerbaijan after Bak ...
.
*
February 29
February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in mos ...
– A
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
document implicates
Kurt Waldheim
Kurt Josef Waldheim (; 21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and president of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for th ...
in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
deportations.
March
*
March 6
Events Pre-1600
* 12 BCE – The Roman emperor Augustus is named Pontifex Maximus, incorporating the position into that of the emperor.
* 632 – The Farewell Sermon (Khutbah, Khutbatul Wada') of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
* 845 & ...
–
Operation Flavius: A
Special Air Service
The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...
team of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
shoots dead 3 unarmed members of a
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...
(IRA)
Active service unit
An active service unit (ASU; ) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) cell of four to ten members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002, the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were in active service units.
T ...
in
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
.
*
March 16
Events Pre-1600
* 934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.
*1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.
* 1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse ...
** The
Halabja chemical attack
The Halabja massacre ( ku, Kêmyabarana Helebce کیمیابارانی ھەڵەبجە), also known as the Halabja chemical attack, was a massacre of Kurdish people that took place on 16 March 1988, during the closing days of the Iran–Iraq War ...
is carried out by
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
i government forces.
**
Iran–Contra affair
The Iran–Contra affair ( fa, ماجرای ایران-کنترا, es, Caso Irán–Contra), often referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the McFarlane affair (in Iran), or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States ...
: Lieutenant Colonel
Oliver North
Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.
A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Secu ...
and Vice Admiral
John Poindexter
John Marlan Poindexter (born August 12, 1936) is a retired United States naval officer and Department of Defense official. He was Deputy National Security Advisor and National Security Advisor during the Reagan administration. He was convicte ...
are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
**
Milltown Cemetery attack
The Milltown Cemetery attack (also known as the Milltown Cemetery killings or Milltown massacre) took place on 16 March 1988 at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast, Northern Ireland. During the large funeral of three Provisional IRA members killed ...
: Three men are killed and 70 wounded in a gun and grenade attack by
loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone on mourners at
Milltown Cemetery
Milltown Cemetery ( ga, Reilig Bhaile an Mhuilinn) is a large cemetery in west Belfast, Northern Ireland. It lies within the townland of Ballymurphy, between Falls Road and the M1 motorway.
History
Milltown Cemetery opened in 1869 as part ...
in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, during the funerals of the 3
IRA
Ira or IRA may refer to:
*Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name
*Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name
*Iran, UNDP code IRA
Law
*Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
members killed in Gibraltar.
** In the United States, the
First Republic Bank
First Republic Bank is an American full-service bank and wealth management company offering personal banking, business banking, trust, and wealth management services, catering to low-risk, high net-worth clientele, and focusing on providing pe ...
of Texas fails and enters FDIC receivership, the largest FDIC assisted bank failure in history.
*
March 17
Events Pre-1600
* 45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda.
* 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of eigh ...
** A
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
n
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...
jetliner,
Avianca Flight 410
Avianca Flight 410 was a flight that crashed at 13:17 on March 17, 1988, near Cúcuta, Colombia, which occurred shortly after takeoff when it flew into a mountain. All 143 people on board were killed. It was the deadliest aviation accident to oc ...
, crashes into the side of the mountains near the
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
n border, killing 143 people.
**
Eritrean War of Independence
The Eritrean War of Independence was a war for independence which Eritrean independence fighters waged against successive Ethiopian governments from 1 September 1961 to 24 May 1991.
Eritrea was an Italian colony from the 1880s until the d ...
–
Battle of Afabet
The Battle of Afabet was fought from 17 March through 20 March 1988 in and around the town of Afabet, as part of the Eritrean War of Independence.
Background
The Nadew Command was one of four commands, or army corps, of the Ethiopian Second ...
: The Nadew Command, an
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
n army corps in
Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
, is attacked on 3 sides by military units of the
Eritrean People's Liberation Front
The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), colloquially known as Shabia, was an armed Marxist–Leninist organization that fought for the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia. It emerged in 1970 as a far-left to left-wing nationalist group ...
(EPLF).
*
March 19
Events Pre-1600
* 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire.
*1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen ends ...
–
Corporals killings
British Army corporals Derek Wood and David HowesTaylor, p. 284. were killed by the Provisional IRA on 19 March 1988 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in what became known as the corporals killings. The soldiers (wearing civilian clothes, both ...
in Belfast: Two British Army corporals are abducted, beaten and shot dead by
Irish republicans
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
The developm ...
after driving into the funeral cortege of
IRA
Ira or IRA may refer to:
*Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name
*Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name
*Iran, UNDP code IRA
Law
*Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
members killed in the
Milltown Cemetery attack
The Milltown Cemetery attack (also known as the Milltown Cemetery killings or Milltown massacre) took place on 16 March 1988 at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast, Northern Ireland. During the large funeral of three Provisional IRA members killed ...
.
*
March 20
Events Pre-1600
* 673 – Emperor Emperor Tenmu, Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Asuka, Yamato#Imperial Palaces, Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka, Yamato, Asuka.
*1206 – Michael IV of Constantinople, Michael IV Au ...
–
Eritrean War of Independence
The Eritrean War of Independence was a war for independence which Eritrean independence fighters waged against successive Ethiopian governments from 1 September 1961 to 24 May 1991.
Eritrea was an Italian colony from the 1880s until the d ...
: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the EPLF enters the town of
Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
*
March 24
Events Pre-1600
* 1199 – King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6.
*1387 – English victory over a Franco- Castilian-Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margate off ...
– The first
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
restaurant in a country run by a
Communist party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
opens in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. In 1989 it will be followed by one in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, and in 1990 in Moscow and
Shenzhen, China
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major Sub-provincial division, sub-provincial city and one of the Special economic zones of China, special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pea ...
.
*
March 25
Events Pre-1600
* 421 – Italian city Venice is founded with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo di Rialto on the islet of Rialto.
* 708 – Pope Constantine becomes the 88th pope. He would be the last pope to vi ...
– The
Candle demonstration in Bratislava
The Candle demonstration ( sk, sviečková demonštrácia) on 25 March 1988 in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, was the first mass demonstration since 1969 against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
The demonstration was organized by ...
,
Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
, is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the socialist government in
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
.
April
![OperationPrayingMantis-IS Alvand](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/OperationPrayingMantis-IS_Alvand.jpg)
*
April 5
Events Pre-1600
* 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
* 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his a ...
–
Kuwait Airways Flight 422
Kuwait Airways Flight 422 was a Boeing 747 jumbo jet hijacked en route from Bangkok, Thailand, to Kuwait on 5 April 1988, leading to a hostage crisis that lasted 16 days and encompassed three continents. The hijacking was carried out by several ...
is hijacked while en route from
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, to
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
. The hijackers demand the release of 17
Shiite Muslim
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...
prisoners held by Kuwait. Kuwait refuses to release the prisoners, leading to a 16-day siege across 3 continents. Two passengers are killed before the siege ends.
*
April 10
Events Pre-1600
* 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
* 1407 ...
– The
Ojhri Camp Disaster
Ojhri Camp ( ur, اوجھڑی کیمپ) was a military storage center located in Rawalpindi Cantonment, Rawalpindi Military District in Rawalpindi, Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab Province of Pakistan, and the site of the 1988 Ojhri Camp disaster.
Ev ...
occurs in
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
and
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...
.
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
** In the
Geneva Accords, the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
commits itself to withdrawal of its forces from
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.
** The
USS ''Samuel B. Roberts'' (FFG-58) strikes a
naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
in the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
, while deployed on
Operation Earnest Will
Operation Earnest Will (24 July 1987 – 26 September 1988) was the American military protection of Kuwaiti-owned tankers from Iranian attacks in 1987 and 1988, three years into the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War. It was the largest nav ...
, during the
Tanker War
The Tanker War was a protracted series of armed skirmishes between Iran and Iraq against merchant vessels in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz from 1984 to 1988. The conflict was a part of the larger Iran–Iraq War.
Background
Prior to 1 ...
phase of the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
.
*
April 16
Events Pre-1600
* 1457 BC – Battle of Megido - the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.
* 69 – Defeated by Vitellius' troops at Bedriacum, Otho commits suicide.
* 73 – Masad ...
–
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i commandos kill the
PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and s ...
's
Abu Jihad
Khalil Ibrahim al-Wazir Standardized Arabic transliteration: '' / / '' ( ar, خليل إبراهيم الوزير, also known by his '' kunya'' Abu JihadStandardized Arabic transliteration: ' —"Jihad's Father"; 10 October 1935 – 16 April 1 ...
in
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
.
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
* 1428 – Peace of Ferrara betw ...
– The United States Navy retaliates for the mining with
Operation Praying Mantis
Operation Praying Mantis was an attack on 18 April 1988, by the United States Armed Forces within Iranian territorial waters in retaliation for the Iranian naval mining of the Persian Gulf during the Iran–Iraq War and the subsequent damage t ...
, in a day of strikes against
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ian oil platforms and naval vessels.
*
April 20
Events Pre-1600
* 1303 – The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII.
1601–1900
* 1653 – Oliver Cromwell dissolves England's Rump Parliament.
* 1657 – English Admiral Robert Blake destroy ...
– The world's longest skyjacking comes to an end when the remaining passengers of
Kuwait Airways Flight 422
Kuwait Airways Flight 422 was a Boeing 747 jumbo jet hijacked en route from Bangkok, Thailand, to Kuwait on 5 April 1988, leading to a hostage crisis that lasted 16 days and encompassed three continents. The hijacking was carried out by several ...
are released by their captors.
*
April 28
Events Pre-1600
* 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V effectively ending the Parthian Empire.
* 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory ...
–
Aloha Airlines Flight 243
Aloha Airlines Flight 243 (IATA: AQ243, ICAO: AAH243) was a scheduled Aloha Airlines flight between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii. On April 28, 1988, a Boeing 737-297 serving the flight suffered extensive damage after an explosive decompression ...
safely lands after losing its roof in midair, killing a flight attendant and injuring 65 people.
*
April 30
Events Pre-1600
* 311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.
* 1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois.
*1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus hi ...
–
World Expo 88
World Expo 88, also known as Expo 88, was a specialised Expo held in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia, during a six-month period between Saturday, 30 April 1988 and Sunday, 30 October 1988, inclusive. The theme of the Expo wa ...
opens in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
, Queensland, Australia.
May
*
May 8
Events Pre-1600
* 453 BC – Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.
* 413 – Emperor Honorius signs a ...
– Re-election of
François Mitterrand
François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...
as
President of France
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
for 7 years.
*
May 15
Events Pre-1600
* 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
* 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbog ...
–
Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...
: After more than 8 years of fighting, the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
begins
its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
*
May 16
Events Pre-1600
* 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
*1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
* 1364 ...
–
18 –
1988 Gilgit massacre
The 1988 Gilgit massacre refers to the state-sponsored mass killing of Shia civilians in the Gilgit District of Pakistan who revolted against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's Sunni Islamist regime, responsible for vehement persecution of rel ...
: A revolt by the Shias of Gilgit (in northern Pakistan) is ruthlessly suppressed by the Zia-ul Haq regime.
*
May 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed.
* 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
* 1153 &ndash ...
–
29 –
Somaliland War of Independence
The Somaliland War of Independence ( so, Dagaalkii Xoraynta Soomaaliland, lit=Somaliland Liberation War) was a rebellion waged by the Somali National Movement against the ruling military junta in Somali Democratic Republic, Somalia led by Genera ...
:
Somali National Movement
The Somali National Movement ( so, Dhaqdhaqaaqa Wadaniga Soomaaliyeed, ar, الحركة الوطنية الصومالية) was one of the first and most important organized guerilla groups opposed to the Siad Barre regime in the 1980s to the 19 ...
launches a
major offensive against Somali government forces in
Hargeisa
Hargeisa (; so, Hargeysa, ar, هرجيسا) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland. It is located in the Maroodi Jeex region of the Horn of Africa. It succeeded Burco as the capital of the British Somaliland Protector ...
and
Burao
Burao, also spelt Bur'o or Bur'ao (; so, Burco, , ar, برعو) is the capital of the Togdheer region and the second largest city in Somaliland. Burao was also the third largest city of Somalia. Burao was the site of the declaration of an in ...
, then second and third largest cities of
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
.
June
*
June 10
Events Pre-1600
* 671 – Emperor Tenji of Japan introduces a water clock ( clepsydra) called ''Rokoku''. The instrument, which measures time and indicates hours, is placed in the capital of Ōtsu.
*1190 – Third Crusade: Frederick I ...
–
14 – Spontaneous 100,000 strong mass night-singing demonstrations in
Estonian SSR
The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
eventually give name to the
Singing Revolution
The Singing Revolution; lv, dziesmotā revolūcija; lt, dainuojanti revoliucija) was a series of events that led to the restoration of independence of the Baltic states, Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union a ...
.
*
June 10
Events Pre-1600
* 671 – Emperor Tenji of Japan introduces a water clock ( clepsydra) called ''Rokoku''. The instrument, which measures time and indicates hours, is placed in the capital of Ōtsu.
*1190 – Third Crusade: Frederick I ...
–
25 –
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
hosts the
UEFA Euro 1988
The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA.
The tournament crowned Netherlan ...
football tournament, which is won by the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
.
*
June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
– NASA scientist
James Hansen
James Edward Hansen (born March 29, 1942) is an American adjunct professor directing the Program on Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is best known for his research in climatology, his 1 ...
testifies to the U.S. Senate that man-made global warming has begun, becoming one of the first environmentalists to warn of the problem.
*
June 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1358 – The Republic of Ragusa is founded.
* 1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England.
* 1499 – Americo Vespucci, on Spanish financed trip, sights coas ...
** The
Gare de Lyon rail accident Gare is the word for "station" in French and related languages, commonly meaning railway station
Gare can refer to:
People
* Gare (surname), surname
* The Gare Family, fictional characters in the novel '' Wild Geese'' by Martha Ostenso
Places
* ...
occurs in Paris, France as a commuter train headed inbound to the terminal crashes into a stationary outbound train, killing 56 and injuring 57.
**
Villa Tunari massacre
The Villa Tunari Massacre was a 27 June 1988 mass murder committed by UMOPAR (Rural Patrol Mobile Unit) troops in response to a protest by coca-growing peasants ( cocaleros) in the town of Villa Tunari in Chapare Province, Bolivia. The cocalero m ...
:
Bolivian anti-narcotics police kills 9 to 12 and injuries over a hundred protesting
coca-growing peasants.
*
June 30
Events Pre-1600
* 296 – Pope Marcellinus begins his papacy.
* 763 – The Byzantine Empire, Byzantine army of emperor Constantine V defeats the First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgarian forces in the Battle of Anchialus (763), Battle of Anc ...
–
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
Marcel Lefebvre
Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre (; 29 November 1905 – 25 March 1991) was a French Catholic archbishop who greatly influenced modern traditional Catholicism. In 1970, he founded the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a community to train ...
consecrates four
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
s at
Écône, Switzerland, for his
apostolate
An apostolate is a Christian organization "directed to serving and evangelizing the world", most often associated with the Anglican Communion or the Catholic Church. In more general usage, an apostolate is an association of persons dedicated to the ...
, along with
Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer, without a
papal
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
mandate.
July
*
July 1
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.
* 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the ...
– The Soviet Union votes to end the
CPSU
"Hymn of the Bolshevik Party"
, headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow
, general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last)
, founded =
, banned =
, founder = Vladimir Lenin
, newspaper ...
's monopoly on economic and other non-political power and to further economic changes towards a less rigidly
Marxist-Leninist economy.
*
July 3
Events Pre-1600
* 324 – Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
* 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revol ...
** The
Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge
The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge ("Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror Bridge"), also known as the Second Bosphorus Bridge (in Turkish: ''Fatih Sultan Mehmet Köprüsü'', ''F.S.M. Köprüsü'' or ''2. Köprü''), is a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey spannin ...
in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the
Bosphorus
The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
.
**
Iran Air Flight 655
Iran Air Flight 655 was a scheduled passenger flight from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas that was shot down on 3July 1988 by two SM-2MR surface-to-air missiles fired by the , a Cruiser#US cruiser development, guided-missile cruiser of the Unit ...
is shot down by a missile launched from the , killing a total of 290 people on board.
*
July 6
Events Pre-1600
* 371 BC – The Battle of Leuctra shatters Sparta's reputation of military invincibility.
* 640 – Battle of Heliopolis: The Muslim Arab army under 'Amr ibn al-'As defeat the Byzantine forces near Heliopolis (Egypt) ...
– The
Piper Alpha
Piper Alpha was an oil platform located in the North Sea approximately north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Limited (OPCAL) and began production in 1976, initially as an oil-only platform but la ...
production platform in the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
is destroyed by explosions and fires, killing 165 oil workers and 2 rescue mariners. 61 workers survive.
*
July 31
Events Pre-1600
*30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
* 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Tr ...
– Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the
Sultan Abdul Halim Ferry terminal
collapses in
Butterworth, Penang
Butterworth is the largest urban town in the city of Seberang Perai, Penang, Malaysia. It lies about east of George Town, the capital city of Penang, across the Penang Strait. , Butterworth has a total population of 107,591 residents.
Butter ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
August
*
August 5
Events Pre-1600
*AD 25 – Guangwu claims the throne as Emperor of China, restoring the Han dynasty after the collapse of the short-lived Xin dynasty.
* 70 – Fires resulting from the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem are ...
– The
1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis
The 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis (also known as the 1988 judicial crisis) was a series of events that began with United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party elections in 1987 and ended with the suspension and the eventual removal ...
culminates in the ousting of the
Lord President of
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Salleh Abas
Mohamed Salleh bin Abas ( Jawi: محمد صالح بن عباس; 25 August 1929 – 16 January 2021) was a Malaysian judge and politician. He was a Lord President of the Federal (then Supreme) Court of Malaysia. He was dismissed from his ...
.
*
August 8
Events Pre-1600
* 685 BC – Spring and Autumn period: Battle of Qianshi: Upon the death of the previous Duke of Qi, Gongsun Wuzhi, Duke Zhuang of Lu sends an army into the Duchy of Qi to install the exiled Qi prince Gongzi Jiu as th ...
–
8888 Uprising
The 8888 Uprising ( my, ၈၈၈၈ အရေးအခင်း), also known as the People Power UprisingYawnghwe (1995), pp. 170 and the 1988 Uprising, was a series of nationwide protests, marches, and riots in Burma (present-day Myanmar) th ...
: Thousands of protesters in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, now known as ''Myanmar'', are killed during anti-government
demonstrations
Demonstration may refer to:
* Demonstration (acting), part of the Brechtian approach to acting
* Demonstration (military), an attack or show of force on a front where a decision is not sought
* Demonstration (political), a political rally or prote ...
.
*
August 11
Events Pre-1600
* 3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya, begins.
* 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founde ...
– A meeting of Islamic Jihadi leaders, including
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
, takes place, leading to the founding of
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
.
*
August 17
Events Pre-1600
* 309/310 – Pope Eusebius is banished by the Emperor Maxentius to Sicily, where he dies, possibly from a hunger strike.
* 682 – Pope Leo II begins his pontificate.
* 986 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle of ...
–
Pakistani President
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...]
and the
U.S. ambassador to Pakistan,
Arnold Lewis Raphel
Arnold Lewis Raphel (March 16, 1943 – August 17, 1988) was the 18th United States Ambassador to Pakistan.
Early life and education
Raphel was born March 16, 1943 in Troy, New York, into a Jewish family, the son of Harry and Sarah (Rote-Rosen ...
, are among those killed when a plane crashes and explodes near
Bahawalpur
Bahawalpur () is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. With inhabitants as of 2017, it is Pakistan's 11th most populous city.
Founded in 1748, Bahawalpur was the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur, ruled by the Abbasi fa ...
.
*
August 20
Events Pre-1600
*AD 14 – Agrippa Postumus, maternal grandson of the late Roman emperor Augustus, is mysteriously executed by his guards while in exile.
* 636 – Battle of Yarmouk: Arabs, Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take c ...
– A ceasefire effectively ends the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...
, with an estimated one million lives lost.
*
August 21
Events Pre-1600
* 959 – Eraclus becomes the 25th bishop of Liège.
* 1140 – Song dynasty general Yue Fei defeats an army led by Jin dynasty general Wuzhu at the Battle of Yancheng during the Jin–Song Wars.
*1169 – Battle o ...
– The 6.9
Nepal earthquake shakes the Nepal–India border with a maximum
Mercalli intensity
The Modified Mercalli intensity scale (MM, MMI, or MCS), developed from Giuseppe Mercalli's Mercalli intensity scale of 1902, is a seismic intensity scale used for measuring the intensity of shaking produced by an earthquake. It measures the eff ...
of VIII (''Severe''), leaving 709–1,450 people killed and thousands injured.
*
August 28
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna.
* 489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way ...
– Seventy-five people are killed and 346 injured in one of the worst
air show disasters in history at Germany's
Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also ...
, when three
jets from the Italian air demonstration team, ''
Frecce Tricolori
The ''Frecce Tricolori'' (; literally "Tricolour Arrows"), officially known as the ''313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, Pattuglia Acrobatica Nazionale (PAN) Frecce Tricolori'' ("313th Acrobatic Training Group, National Aerobatic Team (PAN) Frec ...
'', collide, sending one of the aircraft crashing into the crowd of spectators.
September
*
September 11
Events Pre-1600
* 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hun ...
–
Singing Revolution
The Singing Revolution; lv, dziesmotā revolūcija; lt, dainuojanti revoliucija) was a series of events that led to the restoration of independence of the Baltic states, Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union a ...
: In the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 300,000 people gather to express their support 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 15 – The International Olympic Committee awards Lillehammer the right to host the 1994 Winter Olympics.
* September 17–October 2 – The
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
are held in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, South Korea.
* September 22 – The Ocean Odyssey drilling rig suffers a blowout and fire in the North Sea (see also July 6), resulting in one death.
* September 29 – STS-26: NASA resumes Space Shuttle flights, grounded after the ''Space Shuttle Challenger, Challenger'' STS-51-L, disaster, with Space Shuttle Discovery, Space Shuttle ''Discovery''.
October
* October 5
** Thousands riot in Algiers, Algeria against the National Liberation Front (Algeria), National Liberation Front government; by October 10 the army has tortured and killed about 500 people in crushing the riots.
** Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet loses a 1988 Chilean national plebiscite, national plebiscite on his rule; he relinquishes power in 1990.
** Promulgation of the Constitution of Brazil, 1988 Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
* October 12
** Walsh Street police shootings: Two Victoria Police officers are gunned down, execution-style murder, execution style, in Australia.
** The Birchandra Manu massacre occurs in Tripura, India.
* October 20 – The Los Angeles Dodgers won 4 games to 1 in the 1988 World Series against the Oakland Athletics.
* 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 powers Rahimuddin had accumulated.
* October 30 – Jericho bus firebombing: Five Israeli Jews, Israelis are killed and five wounded in a Palestinian people, Palestinian attack in the West Bank.
November
* November – TAT-8, the first transatlantic telephone cable to use optical fibers, is completed. This led to more robust connections between the American and European Internet.
* November 2 – The Morris worm, the first computer worm distributed via the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
, written by Robert Tappan Morris, is launched from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the U.S.
* November 3 – Sri Lankan Tamil people, Tamil mercenary, mercenaries try to overthrow the Maldives, Maldivian government. At President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's request, the Indian military suppresses the coup d'état, coup attempt within 24 hours.
* November 6 – The 1988 Lancang–Gengma earthquakes kills at least 938 people when it strikes the China–Myanmar border region in Yunnan.
* November 8 – The United States Vice President of the United States, Vice-President and Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee George H. W. Bush, defeats the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee and Governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis, in the 1988 United States presidential election, 1988 United States Presidential Election.
* November 15
** In the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, the unmanned Shuttle ''Buran (spacecraft), Buran'' is launched by an Energia (rocket), Energia rocket on its maiden orbital spaceflight (the first and last space flight for the shuttle).
** Israeli–Palestinian conflict: An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed at the Palestinian National Council meeting in Algiers, by a vote of 253–46.
** The very first Fairtrade label, Stichting Max Havelaar, Max Havelaar, is launched by Nico Roozen, Frans van der Hoff and ecumenical development agency Solidaridad in the Netherlands.
* November 16
**
Singing Revolution
The Singing Revolution; lv, dziesmotā revolūcija; lt, dainuojanti revoliucija) was a series of events that led to the restoration of independence of the Baltic states, Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union a ...
: The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR adopts the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration in which the laws of the Estonian SSR are declared supreme over those of the Soviet Union. The USSR declares it unconstitutional on November 26. It is the first declaration of sovereignty from Moscow of any Soviet or Eastern Bloc entity.
** 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 23 – Former Korean president Chun Doo-hwan makes a formal apology for corruption during his presidency, announcing he will go into exile.
December
* December 1
** Carlos Salinas de Gortari takes office as President of Mexico.
** The first World AIDS Day is held.
* 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.
** A 1988 Bangladesh cyclone, cyclone in Bangladesh leaves 5 million homeless and thousands dead.
* December 6 – The Australian Capital Territory is granted self-government by the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988.
* December 7 – In Soviet Armenia, the 6.8 1988 Armenian earthquake, Spitak earthquake kills nearly 25,000, injures 31,000 and leaves 400,000 homeless.
* December 12 – The Clapham Junction rail crash in London 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
Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...
is blown up over
Lockerbie
Lockerbie (, gd, Locarbaidh) is a small town in Dumfries and Galloway, south-western Scotland. It is about from Glasgow, and from the border with England. The United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town ...
, Scotland, killing a total of 270 people. Libya is suspected of involvement.
Date unknown
* Near the end of the year, the first proper and official
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
connection between North America and Europe is made between Princeton, New Jersey, United States, and Stockholm, Sweden.
* Zebra mussels, a species originally native to the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, are found in the Great Lakes of North America.
Births
January
![Kerber EBN17 (18) (35046161064)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Kerber_EBN17_%2818%29_%2835046161064%29.jpg)
* January 3 – Jonny Evans, Northern Irish footballer
* January 5 – Azizulhasni Awang, Malaysian track cyclist
*
January 7
Events Pre-1600
*49 BC – The Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army. This prompts the tribunes who support him to flee to Ravenna, where Caesar is waiting.
* 1325 – Alfonso IV ...
– Haley Bennett, American actress and singer
* January 8 – Alex Tyus, American-Israeli basketball player
* January 12 – Claude Giroux, Canadian ice hockey player
* January 15 – Skrillex, American musician and DJ
* January 16
** Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
** FKA Twigs, English singer-songwriter, record producer, director and dancer
** Li Xiaoxia, Chinese table tennis player
* January 18 – Angelique Kerber, German tennis player
* January 21
** Ashton Eaton, American decathlete
** Glaiza de Castro, Filipino actress and singer
* January 27 – Liu Wen (model), Liu Wen, Chinese model
* January 29 – Stephanie Gilmore, Australian surfer
February
![Rihanna Fenty 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Rihanna_Fenty_2018.png)
* February 3
** Cho Kyuhyun, Korean singer
** Gregory van der Wiel, Dutch footballer
** Kamil Glik, Polish footballer
* February 4 – Carly Patterson, American gymnast
* February 7
** Ai Kago, Japanese singer
** Lee Joon, South Korean idol singer (MBLAQ), dancer, actor and model
*
February 12
Events Pre-1600
*1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sophie performed the first post-mortem autopsy for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in Vienna.
*1429 – English forces under ...
– Nicolás Otamendi, Argentinian footballer
*
February 13
Events Pre-1600
* 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
*1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
*1462 – The ...
– Aston Merrygold, English singer
* February 14 – Ángel Di María, Argentine footballer
* February 16
** Zhang Jike, Chinese table tennis player
** Kim Soo-hyun, South Korean actor
*
February 17
Events Pre-1600
* 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
* 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of ...
– Natascha Kampusch, Austrian television hostess and kidnapping victim
* February 18 – Changmin, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor
*
February 20
Events Pre-1600
*1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
*1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
– Rihanna, Barbadian pop singer
* February 21 – Matthias de Zordo, German javelin thrower
* February 22
** Ximena Navarrete, Mexican actress, Miss Universe 2010
** Efraín Juárez, Mexican footballer
* February 28 – Markéta Irglová, Czech songwriter
*
February 29
February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in mos ...
** Lena Gercke, German fashion model
** Benedikt Höwedes, German footballer
March
![Brenda Song 2009 (Cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Brenda_Song_2009_%28Cropped%29.jpg)
* March 2 – Matthew Mitcham, Australian diver
* March 4 – Gal Mekel, Israeli basketball player
*
March 6
Events Pre-1600
* 12 BCE – The Roman emperor Augustus is named Pontifex Maximus, incorporating the position into that of the emperor.
* 632 – The Farewell Sermon (Khutbah, Khutbatul Wada') of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
* 845 & ...
** Agnes (singer), Agnes, Swedish recording artist
** Simon Mignolet, Belgian footballer
** Lee Seung-hoon, South Korean speed skater
* March 10 – Ivan Rakitić, Croatian and Swiss footballer
* March 11 – Fábio Coentrão, Portuguese footballer
* March 12 – Sebastian Brendel, German canoeist
* March 14 – Stephen Curry, American basketball player
*
March 16
Events Pre-1600
* 934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.
*1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.
* 1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse ...
– Jhené Aiko, American singer-songwriter
*
March 19
Events Pre-1600
* 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire.
*1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen ends ...
– Zhou Lulu, Chinese weightlifter
* March 21 – Josepmir Ballón, Peruvian footballer
* March 23 – Jason Kenny, British cyclist
*
March 25
Events Pre-1600
* 421 – Italian city Venice is founded with the dedication of the first church, that of San Giacomo di Rialto on the islet of Rialto.
* 708 – Pope Constantine becomes the 88th pope. He would be the last pope to vi ...
** Big Sean, American rapper
** Ryan Lewis, American musician
* March 27
** Jessie J, English singer-songwriter
** Brenda Song, American actress
** Atsuto Uchida, Japanese footballer
* March 28 – Lacey Turner, English actress
April
![Ana de Armas by Gage Skidmore](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Ana_de_Armas_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg)
* April 2 – Jesse Plemons, American film and television actor
*
April 5
Events Pre-1600
* 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
* 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his a ...
– Daniela Luján, Mexican pop singer and actress
* April 7 – Ed Speleers, British actor
* April 8 – Stephanie Cayo, Peruvian actress, singer-songwriter and model
*
April 10
Events Pre-1600
* 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
* 1407 ...
– Haley Joel Osment, American actor
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
– Roberto Bautista Agut, Spanish tennis player
* April 15 – Eliza Doolittle (singer), Eliza Doolittle, English singer-songwriter
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
* 1428 – Peace of Ferrara betw ...
** Vanessa Kirby, English actress and model
** Kayleigh McEnany, White House press secretary
* April 21
** Robbie Amell, Canadian-American actor and producer
** Ricky Berens, American Olympic swimmer
* April 23 – Alistair Brownlee, English triathlete
* April 25 – Laura Lepisto, Finnish figure skater
* April 27 – Lizzo, American singer-songwriter and rapper
*
April 28
Events Pre-1600
* 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V effectively ending the Parthian Empire.
* 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory ...
– Juan Mata, Spanish footballer
* April 29 – Jonathan Toews, Canadian ice hockey player
*
April 30
Events Pre-1600
* 311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.
* 1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois.
*1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus hi ...
– Ana de Armas, Cuban actress
May
![Blac Chyna by dvsross](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Blac_Chyna_by_dvsross.jpg)
* May 1 – Anushka Sharma, Indian actress
* May 4 – Radja Nainggolan, Belgian footballer
* May 6 – Dakota Kai, New Zealand wrestler
* May 5 – Adele, British singer-songwriter
* May 11
** Ace Hood, American rapper
** Blac Chyna, American model and entrepreneur
** Brad Marchand, Canadian ice hockey player
* May 12 – Marcelo Vieira, Brazilian footballer
*
May 16
Events Pre-1600
* 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
*1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
* 1364 ...
– Behati Prinsloo, Namibian model
* May 17 – Nikki Reed, American actress
* May 18 – Taeyang, South Korean recording artist and model
* May 21 – Park Gyu-ri, South Korean idol singer
* May 25 – Cameron van der Burgh, South African Olympic swimmer
* May 26
** Dani Samuels, Australian discus thrower
** Juan Cuadrado, Colombian footballer
*
May 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed.
* 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
* 1153 &ndash ...
** Geoffrey Couët, French actor and comedian
** Stevin John, American children's entertainer
* May 28 – Cheng Fei, Chinese gymnast
* May 29 – Tobin Heath, American women's soccer player
June
![Claire Holt at PaleyFest 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Claire_Holt_at_PaleyFest_2014.jpg)
* June 2
** Sergio Agüero, Argentine footballer
** Amber Marshall (actor), Amber Marshall, Canadian actress
** Staniliya Stamenova, Bulgarian canoeist
** Awkwafina, American actress
* June 7
** Michael Cera, Canadian actor, comedian, producer and singer-songwriter
** Ekaterina Makarova, Russian tennis player
** Milan Lucic, Canadian ice hockey player
* June 9
** Mae Whitman, American actress, voice actress and singer
** Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Greek footballer
* June 11 – Claire Holt, Australian actress
* June 12 – Eren Derdiyok, Swiss footballer
* June 14 – Kevin McHale (actor), Kevin McHale, American actor, dancer and singer
* June 16
** Banks (singer), Banks, American singer-songwriter
** Thierry Neuville, Belgian rally driver
* June 17 – Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer
* June 18 – Josh Dun, American drummer
* June 22
** Portia Doubleday, American actress
** Dean Furman, South African footballer
*
June 23
Events Pre-1600
* 229 – Sun Quan proclaims himself emperor of Eastern Wu.
* 1266 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Trapani, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet, capturing all its ships.
* 1280 – The Spanish Re ...
– Chellsie Memmel, American gymnast
* June 25 – Therese Johaug, Norwegian cross-country skier
*
June 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1358 – The Republic of Ragusa is founded.
* 1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England.
* 1499 – Americo Vespucci, on Spanish financed trip, sights coas ...
– Matthew Spiranovic, Australian soccer player
* June 29 – Éver Banega, Argentine footballer
July
![Julianne Hough (25831904580) (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Julianne_Hough_%2825831904580%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
*
July 1
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.
* 552 – Battle of Taginae: Byzantine forces under Narses defeat the Ostrogoths in Italy, and the ...
– Aleksander Lesun, Russian modern pentathlete
* July 2 – Lee Chung-yong, South Korean footballer
* July 4 – Angelique Boyer, French-Mexican actress and singer
* July 10 – Sarkodie (rapper), Sarkodie, Ghanaian hip hop artist
* July 13
** Colton Haynes, American actor and model
** Tulisa Contostavlos, British singer-songwriter
* July 14 – Conor McGregor, Irish mixed martial artist
* July 16
** Eric Johannesen, German rower
** Sergio Busquets, Spanish footballer
* July 20 – Julianne Hough, American ballroom dancer, country music singer and actress
* July 21 – DeAndre Jordan, American basketball player
* July 22 – Noriko Senge, Japanese princess
* July 24 – Han Seung-yeon, South Korean singer and actress
* July 25 – Sarah Geronimo, Filipina singer and actress
* July 26 – Francia Raisa, American actress
*
July 31
Events Pre-1600
*30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
* 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Tr ...
– Charlie Carver, American actor
August
![Kacey Musgraves 2019 by Glenn Francis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Kacey_Musgraves_2019_by_Glenn_Francis.jpg)
* August 1 – Max Carver, American actor
*
August 5
Events Pre-1600
*AD 25 – Guangwu claims the throne as Emperor of China, restoring the Han dynasty after the collapse of the short-lived Xin dynasty.
* 70 – Fires resulting from the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem are ...
– Federica Pellegrini, Italian swimmer
*
August 8
Events Pre-1600
* 685 BC – Spring and Autumn period: Battle of Qianshi: Upon the death of the previous Duke of Qi, Gongsun Wuzhi, Duke Zhuang of Lu sends an army into the Duchy of Qi to install the exiled Qi prince Gongzi Jiu as th ...
– Princess Beatrice of York, British princess
* August 9 – Willian (footballer, born 1988), Willian, Brazilian footballer
*
August 11
Events Pre-1600
* 3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya, begins.
* 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founde ...
– Irfan Bachdim, Indonesian footballer
* August 12 – Tyson Fury, British boxer
* August 13 – MØ, Danish singer
* August 18 – G-Dragon, South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter and fashion icon
* August 19 – Veronica Roth, American novelist and short story writer
*
August 21
Events Pre-1600
* 959 – Eraclus becomes the 25th bishop of Liège.
* 1140 – Song dynasty general Yue Fei defeats an army led by Jin dynasty general Wuzhu at the Battle of Yancheng during the Jin–Song Wars.
*1169 – Battle o ...
** Kacey Musgraves, American country music artist
** Robert Lewandowski, Polish footballer
* August 24 – Rupert Grint, English actor
* August 25
** Alexandra Burke, English singer
**Giga Chikadze, Georgian mixed martial artist
*
August 28
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna.
* 489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way ...
– Rosie MacLennan, Canadian trampoline gymnast
* August 29 – Bartosz Kurek, Polish volleyball player
September
![Golden State Warriors Small Forward Kevin Durant (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Golden_State_Warriors_Small_Forward_Kevin_Durant_%28cropped%29.jpg)
* September 1 – Simona de Silvestro, Swiss racing driver
* September 2 – Ishant Sharma, Indian cricketer
* September 3 – Jérôme Boateng, German footballer
* September 5
** Nuri Şahin, Turkish footballer
** Felipe Caicedo, Ecuadorian association footballer
* September 6 – Sargun Mehta, Indian model, comedian, dancer, presenter and actress.
* September 7 – Kevin Love, American basketball player
* September 9 – Sergey Stanev, Bulgarian Association football, footballer of Ukraine, Ukrainian descent
* September 10 – Coco Rocha, Canadian fashion model
*
September 11
Events Pre-1600
* 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hun ...
– Lee Yong-dae, South Korean male badminton player
* September 12 – Prachi Desai, Indian film and television actress
* September 14 – Martin Fourcade, French biathlete
* September 15 – Chelsea Kane, American actress and singer
* September 21 – Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistani politician
* September 23 – Juan Martín del Potro, Argentine tennis player
* September 26
** Kiira Korpi, Finnish figure skater
** James Blake (musician), James Blake, English electronic music producer and singer-songwriter
* September 27 – Alma (French singer), Alma, French singer-songwriter
* September 29 – Kevin Durant, American basketball player
October
![Mesut Özil at Baku before 2019 UEFA Europe League Final](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Mesut_%C3%96zil_at_Baku_before_2019_UEFA_Europe_League_Final.jpg)
* October 1
** Cariba Heine, Australian actress and performer
** Nemanja Matić, Serbian footballer
* October 3
** ASAP Rocky, American rapper and music video director
** Alicia Vikander, Swedish actress
* October 4
** Melissa Benoist, American actress and singer
** Derrick Rose, American basketball player
* October 5 – Sam Warburton, Welsh rugby union player
* October 15 – Mesut Özil, German football player
* October 20
** Ma Long, Chinese table tennis player
** Candice Swanepoel, South African supermodel
* October 21
** Blanca Suárez, Spanish actress
** Hope Hicks, American public relations consultant, White House Communications Director
** Glen Powell, American actor
* October 22 – Parineeti Chopra, Indian actress
* October 31 – Sébastien Buemi, Swiss racing driver
November
![Emma Stone at the 39th Mill Valley Film Festival (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Emma_Stone_at_the_39th_Mill_Valley_Film_Festival_%28cropped%29.jpg)
* November 1 – Scott Arfield, Scottish footballer
* November 2 – Julia Görges, German tennis player
* November 5 – Virat Kohli, Indian international cricketer
* November 6
** Emma Stone, American actress
** Conchita Wurst, Austrian singer, Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner
* November 7
** Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ukrainian tennis player
** Tinie Tempah, English rapper
* November 8
**Makwan Amirkhani, Iranian-Finnish mixed martial artist
**Jessica Lowndes, Canadian actress and singer
* November 12 – Russell Westbrook, American basketball player
* November 15 – B.o.B., American rapper, singer, record producer and conspiracy theorist
* November 19 – Patrick Kane, American ice hockey player
* November 20 – Dušan Tadić, Serbian footballer
* November 23 – Juha-Pekka Inkeröinen, Finnish football player
* November 26 – Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, Icelandic strongman and actor
* November 29 – Russell Wilson, American football player
* November 30
** Rebecca Rittenhouse American actress
** Phillip Hughes, Australian cricketer (d. 2014)
December
![Vanessa Hudgens - 2019 by Glenn Francis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Vanessa_Hudgens_-_2019_by_Glenn_Francis.jpg)
* December 1
** Tyler Joseph, American singer
** Zoë Kravitz, American actress, singer and model
* December 2 – Alfred Enoch, British actor
* December 4 – Mario Maurer, Thai model and actor
* December 6 – Sandra Nurmsalu, Estonian musician
* December 7
** Nathan Adrian, American Olympic swimmer
** Emily Browning, Australian actress
* December 9 – Kwadwo Asamoah, Ghanaian footballer
* December 10 – Wilfried Bony, Ivorian footballer
* December 14
** Nicolas Batum, French basketball player
** Vanessa Hudgens, American actress and singer
* December 16
** Mats Hummels, German footballer
** Park Seo-joon, South Korean actor and singer
* December 17
** David Rudisha, Kenyan middle-distance runner
** Rin Takanashi, Japanese film and television actress
* December 19 – Alexis Sánchez, Chilean footballer
* December 25 – Marco Mengoni, Italian singer-songwriter
* December 27 – Hayley Williams, American singer
Deaths
January–February
![第7任總統蔣經國先生玉照](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/%E7%AC%AC7%E4%BB%BB%E7%B8%BD%E7%B5%B1%E8%94%A3%E7%B6%93%E5%9C%8B%E5%85%88%E7%94%9F%E7%8E%89%E7%85%A7.jpg)
* January 2 – E. B. Ford, British geneticist (b. 1901)
* January 3
** Gaston Eyskens, Belgian politician, 35th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1905)
** Rose Ausländer, German poet (b. 1901)
* January 5 – Pete Maravich, American basketball player (b. 1947)
*
January 7
Events Pre-1600
*49 BC – The Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army. This prompts the tribunes who support him to flee to Ravenna, where Caesar is waiting.
* 1325 – Alfonso IV ...
– Trevor Howard, English actor (b. 1913)
* January 11 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1898)
*
January 13
Events Pre-1600
* 27 BC – Octavian transfers the state to the free disposal of the Roman Senate and the people. He receives Spain, Gaul, and Syria as his province for ten years.
* 532 – The Nika riots break out, during the racing ...
–
Chiang Ching-kuo
Chiang Ching-kuo (27 April 1910 – 13 January 1988) was a politician of the Republic of China after its retreat to Taiwan. The eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek, he held numerous posts in the government ...
, Chinese politician, 3rd President of the Republic of China (b. 1910)
* January 14 – Georgy Malenkov, Soviet politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (b. 1902)
* January 15 – Seán MacBride, Irish Republican Army leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1904)
* January 20 – Philippe de Rothschild, French vineyard owner (b. 1902)
* January 25 – Colleen Moore, American actress (b. 1899)
* January 28 – Klaus Fuchs, German-British physicist and spy (b. 1911)
* February 5 – Emeric Pressburger, Hungarian-British film producer (b. 1902)
* February 6 – Carmen Polo, wife of Francisco Franco (b. 1900)
*
February 13
Events Pre-1600
* 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome.
*1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th.
*1462 – The ...
– Léon Goossens, British oboist (b. 1897)
* February 14 – Frederick Loewe, Austrian-American composer (b. 1901)
* February 15 – Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
* February 19
** René Char, French poet (b. 1907)
** André Frédéric Cournand, French-American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1895)
March–April
![William McMahon 1966](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/William_McMahon_1966.jpg)
* March 3 – Lois Wilson (actress), Lois Wilson, American actress (b. 1894)
* March 7 – Divine (performer), Divine, American singer and actor (b. 1945)
* March 8 – Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (b. 1918)
* March 9 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, German politician, List of Chancellors of Germany, 28th Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
) (b. 1904)
* March 10
** Andy Gibb, English singer, songwriter, performer, and teen idol (b. 1958)
** Phạm Hùng, 3rd Prime Minister of Vietnam (b. 1912)
* March 11
** Rashid Bakr (politician), Rashid Bakr, 10th Prime Minister of Sudan (b. 1930)
** Abdullahi Issa, Somalian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Somalia (b. 1922)
* March 29 – Dulcie September, South African ANC activist (b. 1935; assassinated).
* March 30 – Edgar Faure, French politician, 69th Prime Minister of France (b. 1908)
* March 31 – William McMahon, Sir William McMahon, Australian politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
* April 12 – Alan Paton, South African author (b. 1903)
* April 17 – Louise Nevelson, Ukrainian-American sculptor (b. 1900)
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
* 1428 – Peace of Ferrara betw ...
– Pierre Desproges, French humorist (b. 1939)
* April 21
** I. A. L. Diamond, American screenwriter (b. 1920)
** Princess Nadejda Petrovna of Russia (b. 1898)
* April 23 – Michael Ramsey, British Anglican bishop, 100th Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1904)
* April 26
** Valerie Solanas, American author (b. 1936)
** Valery Legasov, Soviet chemist, chief of the Chernobyl disaster investigation commission (b. 1936)
*
April 28
Events Pre-1600
* 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V effectively ending the Parthian Empire.
* 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory ...
– Fenner Brockway, British politician and anti-war activist (b. 1888)
May–June
![Giuseppe Saragat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Giuseppe_Saragat.jpg)
* May 3
** Premendra Mitra, Indian poet, writer and film director (b. 1904)
** Lev Pontryagin, Russian mathematician (b. 1908)
*
May 8
Events Pre-1600
* 453 BC – Spring and Autumn period: The house of Zhao defeats the house of Zhi, ending the Battle of Jinyang, a military conflict between the elite families of the State of Jin.
* 413 – Emperor Honorius signs a ...
– Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction author (b. 1907)
* May 10 – Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (b. 1902)
* May 11 – Kim Philby, British spy (b. 1912)
* May 13 – Chet Baker, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1929)
* May 14 – Willem Drees, Dutch politician and historian, 30th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1886)
*
May 15
Events Pre-1600
* 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
* 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbog ...
– Greta Nissen, Norwegian-born actress (b. 1905)
* May 21 – Dino Grandi, Italian politician (b. 1895)
*
May 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed.
* 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death.
* 1153 &ndash ...
– Ernst Ruska, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
* May 29 – Siaka Stevens, 3rd Prime Minister of Sierra Leone and 1st President of Sierra Leone (b. 1905)
* May 30 – Ella Raines, American actress (b. 1920)
* June 2 – Raj Kapoor, Indian actor, producer and director (b. 1924)
*
June 10
Events Pre-1600
* 671 – Emperor Tenji of Japan introduces a water clock ( clepsydra) called ''Rokoku''. The instrument, which measures time and indicates hours, is placed in the capital of Ōtsu.
*1190 – Third Crusade: Frederick I ...
– Louis L'Amour, American writer (b. 1908)
* June 11 – Giuseppe Saragat, Italian politician, 5th President of Italy (b. 1898)
* June 26 – Hans Urs von Balthasar, Swiss theologian and Catholic priest (b. 1905)
*
June 27
Events Pre-1600
* 1358 – The Republic of Ragusa is founded.
* 1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England.
* 1499 – Americo Vespucci, on Spanish financed trip, sights coas ...
– Aparicio Méndez, former President of Uruguay (b. 1904)
July–August
![Jack Marshall, 1972](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Jack_Marshall%2C_1972.jpg)
* July 8
** Ray Barbuti, American athlete (b. 1905)
** Ranjit Khanwilkar, Indian cricketer (b. 1960)
* July 12 – Joshua Logan, American stage and film director (b. 1908)
* July 18 – Nico, German rock musician, fashion model, actress and Warhol socialite (b. 1938)
* July 27
** Brigitte Horney, German actress (b. 1901)
** Frank Zamboni, American inventor (b. 1901)
* August 1
** Florence Eldridge, American actress (b. 1901)
** Georges Wambst, French cyclist (b. 1902)
* August 2 – Raymond Carver, American short-story writer and poet (b. 1938)
* August 6 – Anatoly Levchenko, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1941)
* August 9 – Ramón Valdés, Mexican actor, comedian, songwriter and entrepreneur (b. 1923)
* August 10 – Arnulfo Arias, Panamanian politician, 3-time President of Panama (b. 1901)
*
August 11
Events Pre-1600
* 3114 BC – The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, used by several pre-Columbian Mesoamerican civilizations, notably the Maya, begins.
* 2492 BC – Traditional date of the defeat of Bel by Hayk, progenitor and founde ...
– Anne Ramsey, American actress (b. 1929)
* August 12 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, American musician/graffiti painter (b. 1960)
* August 14 – Enzo Ferrari, Italian car maker (b. 1898)
* August 15 - Viktor Tsoi, Russian rock artist and lead singer of the band Kino (band), Kino (b. 1962)
*
August 17
Events Pre-1600
* 309/310 – Pope Eusebius is banished by the Emperor Maxentius to Sicily, where he dies, possibly from a hunger strike.
* 682 – Pope Leo II begins his pontificate.
* 986 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle of ...
–
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...
, 6th President of Pakistan (b. 1924)
* August 19 – Sir Frederick Ashton, choreographer (b. 1904)
*
August 20
Events Pre-1600
*AD 14 – Agrippa Postumus, maternal grandson of the late Roman emperor Augustus, is mysteriously executed by his guards while in exile.
* 636 – Battle of Yarmouk: Arabs, Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take c ...
– Lazarus Salii, 3rd President of Palau (b. 1936)
* August 25 – Françoise Dolto, French physician and psychoanalyst (b. 1908)
*
August 28
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna.
* 489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way ...
– Paul Grice, British philosopher (b. 1913)
* August 30 – Jack Marshall, 28th Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1912)
September–October
![Franz Josef Strauß 1982](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Franz_Josef_Strau%C3%9F_1982.jpg)
* September 1 – Luis Walter Alvarez, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
* September 5 – Gert Fröbe, German actor (b. 1913)
* September 12 – Roger Hargreaves, English author (b. 1935)
* September 18 – Alan Watt (diplomat), Alan Watt, Australian public servant (b. 1901)
* September 28 – Charles Addams, American cartoonist (b. 1912)
* September 30 – Trường Chinh, Vietnamese political leader, 3rd President of Vietnam (b. 1907)
* October 2
** Hamengkubuwono IX, 9th Sultan of Yogyakarta and 2nd Vice President of Indonesia (b. 1912)
** Alec Issigonis, Greek-British engineer (b. 1906)
* October 3 – Franz Josef Strauss, German politician (b. 1915)
* October 9
** Jackie Milburn, English footballer (b. 1924)
** Felix Wankel, German mechanical engineer (b. 1902)
* October 10 – Juan Pujol García ('Garbo'), Spanish Catalan-born double agent (b. 1912)
* October 11 – Bonita Granville, American actress (b. 1923)
* October 16 – Queen Farida of Egypt, consort of King Farouk of Egypt (b. 1921)
* October 19 – Son House, American musician (b. 1902)
* October 22 – Henry Armstrong, American boxer (b. 1912)
* October 29
** Thomas Cooray, Sri Lankan Roman Catholic archbishop and servant of God (b. 1901)
** Nataša Gollová, Czech actress (b. 1912)
* October 31 – John Houseman, Romanian-American actor and producer (b. 1902)
November–December
![Roy Orbison (1965)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Roy_Orbison_%281965%29.jpg)
* November 4 – Hermann Graf, German fighter ace (b. 1912)
* November 13 – Antal Doráti, Hungarian conductor (b. 1906)
* November 14 – Takeo Miki, Japanese politician, List of Prime Ministers of Japan, 41st Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1907)
* November 15 – Mona Washbourne, English actress (b. 1903)
* November 19 – Christina Onassis, American shipping magnate (b. 1950)
* November 22
** Luis Barragán, Mexican architect (b. 1902)
** Raymond Dart, Australian anatomist and anthropologist (b. 1893)
* November 24 – Irmgard Seefried, German operatic soprano (b. 1919)
* November 25
** Alphaeus Philemon Cole, American artist, engraver, etcher and supercentenarian (b. 1876)
** Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi prince (b. 1910)
* November 27
** John Carradine, American actor (b. 1906)
** Takieddin el-Solh, Lebanese politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1908)
* December 6 – Roy Orbison, American rock musician (b. 1936)
* December 10 – Richard S. Castellano, American actor (b. 1933)
* December 21 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ornithologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1907)
* December 22 – Chico Mendes, Brazilian environmental activist (murdered) (b. 1944)
* December 27 – Hal Ashby, American film director (b. 1929)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz, Jack Steinberger
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Johann Deisenhofer, Robert Huber, Hartmut Michel
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Medicine – Sir James Black (pharmacologist), James W. Black, Gertrude B. Elion, George H. Hitchings
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Naguib Mahfouz
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – The
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
United Nations peacekeeping, Peace-Keeping Forces
* Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel – Maurice Allais
References
{{Authority control
1988,
Leap years in the Gregorian calendar