Stories from 1988
Browse a timeline of top world events from 1988. Or, use Proust to tell your life story and share personal
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February 13, 1988
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, it's bobsled time! The Jamaican national bobsled team entered the Winter Olympics, winning the hearts of viewers around the world with their perseverance to compete and inspiring the 1993 film Cool Runnings starring John Candy.
July 15, 1988
Bruce Willis starred as a comedic action hero in his breakout role in Die Hard. The film was so successful that three sequels would be produced.
July 23, 1988
'Sweet Child O' Mine' landed Guns N' Roses on the top of the pop charts and has since become a rock classic.
August 8, 1988
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Chicago, IL
Second oldest baseball park, Wrigley Field, finally hosted its first ever night game between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies. Cincinnati, Ohio was the first city to have a major league night game 53 years earlier.
August 9, 1988
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Edmonton, Canada
In a shocking move, top hockey player Wayne Gretzky was traded from Canada's Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings. Oilers fans were enraged and confused, blaming Gretzky's new American wife for her want to pursue an acting career.
October 18, 1988
Unconventional TV sitcom Roseanne premiered on ABC. Roseanne Barr played matriarch of the struggling blue-collar family with John Goodman in the role of her husband. The show was a major hit for its real depiction of family life and undertaking of taboo subjects, airing for nine seasons.
October 21, 1988
With her ear-to-ear smile, Julia Roberts played spirited Daisy Arujo in the romantic comedy Mystic Pizza. Roberts would become a movie star (and eventually 'America's sweetheart') with her next two films, Steel Magnolias and Pretty Woman.
November 15, 1988
The first push for labeling fair trade products began when Mexican coffee was marketed in Holland under the Dutch label 'Max Havelaar'. This trend took off round the world and by 1997 the Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) would be established to ensure the same worldwide standards.
November 18, 1988
President Reagan passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which highly increased the number of people behind bars because it required jail time to those convicted of a drug crime. Previous President Richard Nixon began the country's 'War on Drugs' and President Reagan and First Lady Nancy continued the cause with their 'Just Say No' program.
December 2, 1988
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Pakistan
Following in her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's footsteps, Benazir Bhutto was the first female to be head of a Muslim country when she was elected to be prime minster of Pakistan.
