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December 1988 facts for kids

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1988 Calendar
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Pan Am Flight 103. Crashed Lockerbie, Scotland, 21 December 1988
Pan Am Flight 103: Wreckage of the forward section of Clipper Maid of the Seas.

The following events occurred in December 1988:

December 1, 1988 (Thursday)

Red Ribbon
December 1, 1988: First World AIDS Day.

December 2, 1988 (Friday)

  • A cyclone in Bangladesh left 5 million homeless and thousands dead.
  • Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated republic.
  • Agreeing to the bus hijackers' demands, the Soviet government gave them $2 million and an Aeroflot Ilyushin-76 cargo plane with a crew of eight to fly it. After the plane took off from Mineralnyye Vody, the hijackers decided to fly to Israel rather than Pakistan or Iraq, as they had intended. The plane landed at a military airstrip near Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, Israel, where the hijackers surrendered. Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli Minister of Defense, criticized the Soviet response to the hijacking, saying, "I must admit I can't understand how they could manage to leave the Soviet Union without the Soviet authorities doing anything to prevent it."
Launch of STS-27 (STS027-S-006)
December 2, 1988: Launch of STS-27.
  • At 9:30:34 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, NASA launched Space Shuttle Atlantis on the classified STS-27 mission. Unbeknownst to the five-man crew, 85 seconds after liftoff, falling insulation from one of the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) severely damaged the shuttle's thermal protection system. A few hours later, astronaut Mike Mullane used the shuttle's robot arm to deploy the mission's cargo, the Lacrosse 1 satellite (also known as ONYX) for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office and the Central Intelligence Agency. In a 2001 interview, shuttle commander Robert L. Gibson would reveal that the satellite experienced a problem after deployment which required that the shuttle rendezvous with it for the issue to be corrected. Gibson's comments and confusion over the identification of the 100th U.S. spacewalk during the STS-98 mission in February 2001 would lead to speculation that STS-27 crewmembers—possibly astronauts Jerry L. Ross and William Shepherd—conducted a classified spacewalk to repair the satellite.
  • U.S. President-elect George H. W. Bush and his defeated opponent in the presidential election, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, held a joint press conference.
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • Karl-Heinz Bürger, 84, German SS and police leader
    • Tata Giacobetti (born Giovanni Giacobetti), 66, Italian singer and jazz musician (Quartetto Cetra), heart attack
    • Lloyd Rees AC CMG, 93, Australian landscape painter

December 3, 1988 (Saturday)

  • In the United Kingdom, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health Edwina Currie provoked outrage by stating that most of Britain's egg production was infected with the salmonella bacteria, causing an immediate nationwide decrease in egg sales.
STS-27-damageplot
Diagram of damage to Space Shuttle Atlantis.
  • STS-27: Mission Control requested that the shuttle crew use Atlantis' robot arm to photograph the heat shield under the shuttle's right wing. According to his own later account, when shuttle commander Robert L. Gibson saw the tile damage on the camera monitor, he thought, "We are going to die." Due to the classified nature of the mission, the crew was required to use an encryption technique to send video of the damage to mission control, causing ground controllers to underestimate the severity of the damage and inform the crew that it was no worse than on previous flights.
  • Born:

December 4, 1988 (Sunday)

  • Riding his motorcycle without a helmet, American actor Gary Busey had a near-fatal accident, sustaining a head injury that placed him in a coma for four weeks. He would regain consciousness on January 6, 1989, and would subsequently recover and resume his acting career.
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • Osman Achmatowicz, 89, Polish chemist and academic
    • Jan Mesdag (born Jan Henry de Vey Mestdagh), 34, Dutch singer and cabaret artist, complications from AIDS
    • Fernand Mourlot, 93, French printer and publisher
    • Joseph Zimmerman, M.S.F., 64, Swiss Catholic prelate, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Morombe in Madagascar, fall from stairs

December 5, 1988 (Monday)

December 6, 1988 (Tuesday)

  • The Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 granted self-government to the Australian Capital Territory.
  • U.S. President-elect Bush nominated Thomas R. Pickering as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, despite reports that Pickering helped arrange a secret donation to the Nicaraguan Contras when he was U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador. Pickering was only the second career diplomat ever named to the post.
Shuttle Atlantis landing at Edwards AFB after STS-27 (STS027-S-012)
December 6, 1988: Space Shuttle Atlantis returns safely to Earth...
STS-27metalmelt
...despite damage to its thermal protection system.
  • STS-27: Space Shuttle Atlantis and its crew returned safely to Earth, surviving the damage to the orbiter's heat shield and landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 3:36:11 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. During reentry, Gibson kept a close eye on a gauge that would indicate a developing problem, saying afterwards that this would have given him "at least 60 seconds to tell mission control what I thought of their analysis." 707 of the shuttle's heat shield tiles proved to have been damaged; one tile near the shuttle's nose was completely lost, causing a metal antenna anchor plate underneath it to become partly melted during reentry. Had the damage been in a different location, Atlantis would have been destroyed during its return to Earth, as Space Shuttle Columbia would be after sustaining similar damage in 2003.
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • Timothy Patrick Murphy, 29, American actor, AIDS
    • Roy Orbison, 52, American rock musician, heart attack

December 7, 1988 (Wednesday)

Photograph of President Reagan and Vice-President Bush meeting with General Secretary Gorbachev on Governor's Island... - NARA - 198595
December 7, 1988: Gorbachev, Reagan and Bush on Governors Island...
Armenia6
...on the day of a catastrophic earthquake in Armenia.

December 8, 1988 (Thursday)

  • The six-man crew of the Soviet space station Mir – Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov, Musa Manarov, Valeri Polyakov, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Volkov and Sergei Krikalev and French spationaut Jean-Loup Chrétien – were forced to cut short a teleconference with diplomats from 47 countries due to preparations for the following day's spacewalk.
  • Six people, including the pilot, died and 50 were injured as a result of the 1988 Remscheid A-10 crash in Remscheid, West Germany.
  • The British government announced that it would close North East Shipbuilders with the loss of 2,400 jobs, bringing an end to the 600-year-old shipbuilding industry in Sunderland, England.
  • Surface-to-air missiles shot down an American DC-7 carrying crop-dusting insecticides from Dakar, Senegal, to Agadir, Morocco, and damaged a second DC-7. All five crewmembers of the downed plane were killed.
President Ronald Reagan speaking at a podium during his final press conference in the East Room
December 8, 1988: President Reagan's final East Room press conference.
  • U.S. President Ronald Reagan gave his final press conference in the East Room of the White House before leaving office on January 20, 1989. Reagan began the press conference by joking to reporters, "Got to stop meeting like this." He also expressed condolences to the Soviet Union over the Armenian earthquake. When asked whether he trusted Mikhail Gorbachev, Reagan emphasized the need to "trust but verify".
  • U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice William J. Brennan Jr. was hospitalized with pneumonia at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
  • A U.S. military CH-47 Chinook helicopter participating in joint Honduran-U.S. maneuvers crashed near La Ceiba, Honduras, killing all five people aboard.
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • Airini Grennell, 78, New Zealand singer, pianist and broadcaster
    • John Joe McGirl, 67, Irish politician, chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army
    • Sir Andrew McKee, KCB, CBE, DSO, DFC, AFC, 86, Royal Air Force officer
    • Gene Quill, 60, American jazz alto saxophonist (Phil and Quill)
    • Hellmuth Reymann, 96, World War II German Army officer
    • Anne Seymour, 79, American character actress
    • Ulanhu, 80, Chinese general and politician

December 9, 1988 (Friday)

Jean-Loup Chrétien at the Aragatz mission
December 9, 1988: Jean-Loup Chrétien during spacewalk from Mir.
  • Spationaut Chrétien and cosmonaut Volkov conducted a spacewalk from Mir, the first EVA in history involving a spacewalker (Chrétien) who was not a member of the Soviet or U.S. space program. They installed the Enchantillons and ERA experiments on the exterior of Mir; when ERA failed to deploy properly, Volkov kicked it, causing it to unfold.
  • The last Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant rolled off the assembly line in a Chrysler factory in the United States.
  • Former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos was hospitalized at St. Francis Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, for treatment of congestive heart failure.
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • Wally Borrevik, 67, American professional basketball player
    • Maria De Matteis, 90, Italian costume designer

December 10, 1988 (Saturday)

  • The Soviet Union declared this day a national day of mourning in the wake of Wednesday's earthquake in Armenia. General Secretary Gorbachev toured the damaged cities.
  • Approximately 3000 people attended a peaceful rally in Prague, Czechoslovakia, marking the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first rally in the city's third district in almost 20 years. The district would ban such rallies again at a meeting on December 22.
  • James W. Black, Gertrude B. Elion and George H. Hitchings won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment."
  • The trawler Arctic II was capsized by a large wave and sank about 55 miles (89 km) north of Unimak Pass in Alaska. All five crewmembers boarded a life raft, but captain Stan Michna and crewman Gary Heeney were swept off the raft by another large wave and were lost. The three survivors were rescued by the fishing vessel American Beauty.
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • Richard S. Castellano, 55, American actor
    • Anthony Cottrell CBE, 81, New Zealand rugby union player
    • Johnny Lawrence, 77, English cricketer and coach
    • Dorothy de Rothschild (born Dorothy Mathilde Pinto), 93, English philanthropist and activist

December 11, 1988 (Sunday)

December 12, 1988 (Monday)

  • The Clapham Junction rail crash in London killed 35 people and injured 484.
  • At the Monday morning astronaut meeting in Houston, Texas, STS-27 mission commander Robert L. Gibson amused the military astronauts present and disgusted the civilians by joking that, although he still could not reveal details of the shuttle's payload, "I can say Armenia was its first target! And we only had the weapon set on stun!"
  • Born:
  • Died: June Tarpé Mills, 70, American comics artist and writer

December 13, 1988 (Tuesday)

Clapham Junction 1988 incident 2 geograph-3149688-by-Ben-Brooksbank
December 13, 1988: Cleanup efforts the day after the Clapham Junction rail crash.

December 14, 1988 (Wednesday)

  • At 12:00 a.m. on the night of December 13, the RTVE broadcast signal cut out, beginning the 1988 Spanish general strike, called by the Workers' Commissions and Unión General de Trabajadores trade unions against the economic policies of the government of Prime Minister Felipe González. The strike brought Spain to a complete standstill for 24 hours, with 95% of the country's workers taking part. The strike would force the González government to withdraw its controversial "Plan de Empleo Juvenil" (Youth Employment Plan) and negotiate with the workers over their additional demands.
  • After Yasser Arafat renounced violence, the U.S. said it would open dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
  • Born:
    • Nicolas Batum, French professional and Olympic basketball player; in Lisieux, France
    • Nate Ebner, National Football League safety and special teamer and Olympic rugby sevens player; in Columbus, Ohio
    • Vanessa Hudgens, American actress and singer; in Salinas, California
    • Hayato Sakamoto, Japanese professional and Olympic champion baseball shortstop; in Itami, Hyōgo, Japan
  • Died: Stuart Symington, 87, American politician, United States Senator from Missouri

December 15, 1988 (Thursday)

  • Born:
    • Floyd Ayité, French footballer; in Bordeaux, France
    • Boaz van de Beatz (born Boaz de Jong), Dutch-Israeli record producer and DJ
    • Emily Head, English actress; in Fulham, London, England
    • Steven Nzonzi, French footballer; in La Garenne-Colombes, France

December 16, 1988 (Friday)

  • Edwina Currie resigned as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health.
  • The American film Rain Man, starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, was released. It would win four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
  • U.S. President-elect Bush announced his nomination of John Tower, a former U.S. Senator from Texas and former chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, to be his Secretary of Defense. The U.S. Senate would reject Tower's nomination on February 21, 1989.
  • Lyndon LaRouche, a perennial candidate for U.S. President, was convicted of mail fraud.
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • John Cameron, 90, New Zealand cricketer
    • Hunter Hendry, 93, Australian cricketer
    • Ryōhei Koiso (born Ryohei Kishigami), 85, Japanese artist
    • Sylvester (born Sylvester James Jr.), 41, American singer-songwriter, complications from HIV/AIDS

December 17, 1988 (Saturday)

December 18, 1988 (Sunday)

December 19, 1988 (Monday)

  • 1988 Cannes and Nice attacks: At about 3:30 a.m., French far-right extremists carried out a false flag bomb attack on an immigrant hostel in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, killing one person and injuring 12. Most of the hostel's guests were Tunisians, but the sole fatality from the attack was George Iordachescu, a Romanian exile. The bombers left behind leaflets bearing Stars of David and claimed responsibility in the name of the so-called "Masada, Action and Defense Movement" to imply that Jewish terrorists were to blame.
  • In the 1988 Sri Lankan presidential election, Ranasinghe Premadasa was elected President of Sri Lanka with 50.43% of the vote.
  • Born:
  • Died: Robert Bernstein, 69, American comic book writer, playwright and concert impresario, heart failure

December 20, 1988 (Tuesday)

December 21, 1988 (Wednesday)

  • Soviet cosmonauts Titov and Manarov and French spationaut Chrétien returned safely to Earth from Mir aboard Soyuz TM-6, nearly 366 days after Titov and Manarov launched to Mir aboard Soyuz TM-4. Their spacecraft landed 180 kilometres (110 mi) southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. Titov and Manarov had set a new record for the longest human spaceflight.
  • Soviet test pilot Alexander Galunenko made the first flight of the heaviest aircraft ever built, the Antonov An-225 Mriya. The An-225 was built to transport the Soviet spaceplane Buran.
  • Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, by a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player in one of the plane's luggage compartments, killing a total of 270 people (259 passengers and crew and 11 people on the ground). Libya was suspected of involvement. The victims of the bombing included:
    • James MacQuarrie, 55, Captain
    • Raymond R. Wagner, 52, First Officer
    • Jerry Avritt, 46, Flight Engineer
    • Michael S. Bernstein, 36, Assistant Deputy Director, Office of Special Investigations (United States Department of Justice)
    • Bernt Carlsson, 50, Swedish social democrat and diplomat, Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations, United Nations Commissioner for Namibia
    • Peter Dix, 35, Irish Olympic sailor
    • David Dornstein, 25, American writer, subject of his brother Ken Dornstein's memoir The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky
    • James Fuller, 50, American automobile executive
    • Matthew Gannon, 34, American Central Intelligence Agency officer
    • Paul Jeffreys, 36, English rock musician, and his wife, Rachel Jeffreys, 23
    • Ronald Albert Lariviere, 33, Special Agent, Diplomatic Security Service (United States Department of State)
    • Charles McKee, US intelligence officer
    • Daniel Emmett O'Connor, 31, Special Agent, Diplomatic Security Service (United States Department of State)
    • Flora Swire, 23, daughter of Jim Swire, English physician who would become known for his activism in the bombing's aftermath
  • American multinational investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert agreed to plead guilty to insider trading and other violations and pay penalties of US$650 million.
  • Born:
  • Died:

December 22, 1988 (Thursday)

  • In Figueras, Spain, 84-year-old artist Salvador Dalí was hospitalized after vomiting blood from an intestinal lesion. He would be released from the hospital on December 25. Dalí would die of heart failure on January 23, 1989.
  • The day after the death of Bernt Carlsson, the United Nations Commissioner for Namibia, in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, representatives of Angola, Cuba and South Africa signed the Tripartite Accord, granting independence to Namibia from South Africa and ending the direct involvement of foreign troops in the Angolan Civil War. Afonso Van-Dunem of Angola, Isidoro Malmierca Peoli of Cuba and Pik Botha of South Africa signed the accords at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City. Botha and other South African officials had been booked to fly to New York on Flight 103 but cancelled their bookings.
  • A tugboat towing a fuel-oil barge to Grays Harbor, Washington struck the barge, spilling 70,000 US gallons (260,000 L; 58,000 imp gal) of oil. Oil came ashore along a 3 miles (4.8 km) stretch from Grays Harbor to Ocean Shores, Washington. This was the third oil spill in five years near Christmas in Western Washington.
  • Born: Leigh Halfpenny, Welsh rugby union player; in Gorseinon, Swansea, Wales
  • Died:
    • Gerhard Adler, 84, German analytical psychologist
    • Jack Bowden, 72, Irish cricketer and field hockey player
    • Chico Mendes (born Francisco Alves Mendes Filho), 44, Brazilian environmental activist
    • Vincent Sattler, 19, French footballer, traffic collision

December 23, 1988 (Friday)

  • In Liaoning, China, an express passenger train collided at a crossing with a bus filled with peasants, killing at least 46 people.
  • The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players Association denied a December 22 report in The Moscow News that the league had invited the Soviet Union to create an NHL team.
  • A propane tank truck exploded on a ramp at an interstate interchange in Memphis, Tennessee, causing nine deaths of motorists and neighboring residents.
  • Salvadoran Civil War: Leftist rebels set off four car bombs near the San Salvador headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Ministry; they also launched bombs over the walls of the compound by catapult. Three civilians were killed in the attack and 38 people were wounded.
  • In the 1988 Independence Bowl, played at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles defeated the UTEP Miners by a score of 38–18. Golden Eagles quarterback Brett Favre commented, "We really whipped a good team tonight. We did it on TV, too. We should be a Top 20 team. We deserve it."
  • Born:
  • Died: Carlo Scorza, 91, Italian National Fascist Party politician

December 24, 1988 (Saturday)

  • Nanjing anti-African protests: At Hohai University in Nanjing, China, two African students attending a Christmas Eve university dance refused to register the names of the Chinese women accompanying them. The ensuing dispute became an overnight melee in which 13 people were injured. For seven hours, Chinese students threw rocks and bottles at dormitories occupied by African students. The event marked the beginning of anti-African protests that would last into January and were a precursor of later pro-democracy protests in China.
  • PLO leaders met at Yasser Arafat's home outside Baghdad, Iraq, to discuss forming a government for a Palestinian state.
  • Queen Elizabeth II broke precedent by broadcasting a second Christmas message to comfort those suffering after the Armenian earthquake, the Clapham Junction rail crash and the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing.
  • U.S. President-elect Bush nominated Elizabeth Dole to be United States Secretary of Labor.
  • 27-year-old Susan Dzialowy died after reentering her burning apartment on the Southwest Side of Chicago, Illinois, to save her three children, unaware that they had already escaped.
  • At Fort Pierre National Grassland in South Dakota, Governor George S. Mickelson was thrown off a snowmobile into a ravine, breaking his collarbone and four ribs. He was hospitalized in serious condition at St. Mary's Hospital in Pierre, South Dakota.
  • U.S. President Reagan telephoned four members of the United States Armed Forces in different parts of the world with Christmas greetings.
  • Florida State cornerback Deion Sanders was arrested after an incident at a gift shop in Fort Myers, Florida and charged with battery on an auxiliary police officer and disorderly conduct. He was released after posting a $2,600 bond.
  • In the 1988 Sun Bowl, played at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Army Cadets by a score of 29–28.
  • In fiction, the events of the movie Die Hard take place on the night of December 24–25, 1988.
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • Jainendra Kumar, 83, Indian writer, two years after paralytic attack
    • Noel Willman, 70, Northern Irish actor and theater director

December 25, 1988 (Sunday)

  • Communist rebellion in the Philippines: In Malinao village, southeast of Manila, Communist rebels freed six Philippine soldiers captured on September 25 and 28.
  • Nanjing anti-African protests: Over 2000 Chinese students arrived on the Hohai University campus at noon and again threw rocks and bottles at the African students' dormitories. They then marched to other campuses and threw rocks and bottles at dormitories also housing African students.
  • At about 4 a.m., former University of North Carolina running back Derrick Fenner was shot in the chest in a parking lot outside a Southwest Washington, D.C., nightclub after an altercation inside the club. He was released from the hospital the same day.
  • A fire destroyed the 70-year-old United Methodist Church in Ware Shoals, South Carolina, a few hours after Christmas services.
  • The Lonquimay volcano in Chile erupted for the first time since 1889, forcing the evacuation of the town of Malalcahuello.
  • In the 1988 Aloha Bowl, played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, the Washington State Cougars defeated the Houston Cougars by a score of 24–22.
  • On Christmas night, an Amtrak train derailed in Glenwood Canyon, east of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, stranding over 300 passengers. There were no reported injuries.
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • Cornelis Eecen, 90, Dutch Olympic rower
    • Evgeny Golubev, 78, Soviet Russian composer
    • W. F. Grimes CBE, 83, Welsh archaeologist
    • Edward Pelham-Clinton, 10th Duke of Newcastle, 68, English lepidopterist
    • Shōhei Ōoka, 79, Japanese novelist and literary critic

December 26, 1988 (Monday)

  • Nanjing anti-African protests: About 130 African students sought shelter at the central railway station in Nanjing, hoping to travel to Beijing. Meanwhile, about 1000 Chinese protestors marched through the streets decrying China's preferential treatment of foreigners. Several thousand Chinese protesters shouting anti-African slogans gathered at the train station later in the day. The protests were motivated partly by unfounded rumors that a Chinese person was killed in the disturbance on the night of December 24. In the evening, police placed the African students on buses, and they were driven away.
  • The assassination of Indian politician Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga in Vijayawada sparked 60 hours of caste-based rioting in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, in which Kapus targeted Kamma-owned businesses for looting and burning. Over 42 people were killed in the violence.
  • Born:
    • Marco Canola, Italian racing cyclist; in Vicenza, Italy
    • Cicinho (born Neuciano de Jesus Gusmão), Brazilian-Bulgarian footballer; in Belém, Pará, Brazil
    • Lucas Deaux, French footballer; in Reims, France
    • Guy Edi, Ivorian-French basketball player; in Agboville, Ivory Coast
    • Shiho Ogawa, Japanese footballer; in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan
    • Kayo Satoh, Japanese model and television personality; in Aichi Prefecture, Japan
    • Etien Velikonja, Slovenian footballer; in Šempeter pri Gorici, Socialist Republic of Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
    • Mariaesthela Vilera, Venezuelan Olympic track cyclist; in Valle de la Pascua, Venezuela
    • Wang Meiyin, Chinese cyclist; in Qufu, China
  • Died:
    • Herluf Bidstrup, 76, Danish cartoonist and illustrator
    • Julanne Johnston, 88, American silent film actress
    • John Loder (born William John Muir Lowe), 90, British-American actor
    • Glenn McCarthy, 81, American businessman
    • Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga, 41, Indian politician, assassinated
    • Pablo Sorozábal, 91, Spanish composer
    • Otto Zdansky, 94, Austrian paleontologist

December 27, 1988 (Tuesday)

  • Near Munshiganj, Bangladesh, a cargo vessel rammed the ferry Hasail from behind, causing it to sink; at least 200 people were killed.
  • Bulgaria lifted its ban on Radio Free Europe.
  • 34-year-old Brazilian footballer Enéas de Camargo (aka Enéas) died of pneumonia two days before his scheduled release from a São Paulo hospital where he was being treated for injuries from an August 22 car accident.
  • U.S. President Ronald Reagan issued a presidential proclamation extending the territorial jurisdiction of the United States to a distance of 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) from the U.S. coastline.
  • In a bout in Fort Myers, Florida, American boxer Bobby Czyz defeated Mike Devito by knockout in the seventh round.
  • Born:
  • Died:
    • Hal Ashby, 59, American film director
    • William Fea, 90, New Zealand physician and rugby union and squash player
    • Maha Thiri Thudhamma Khin Kyi, 76, Burmese politician and diplomat, stroke
    • Jess Oppenheimer, 75, American radio and television producer, head writer and producer of I Love Lucy, heart failure due to complications from intestinal surgery
    • Tecwyn Roberts, 63, Welsh aerospace engineer

December 28, 1988 (Wednesday)

December 29, 1988 (Thursday)

  • Corazon Aquino, President of the Philippines, appointed Jose Ong to succeed Bienvenido Tan as Tax Commissioner.
  • Li Menghua, China's Minister of Physical Culture and Sports, lost his job, reportedly due to the poor performance of the Chinese team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
  • In response to the December 21 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, the Federal Aviation Administration announced new security measures to take effect within 48 hours for all U.S. airlines at European and Middle Eastern airports.
  • In the 1988 All-American Bowl, played at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, the Florida Gators defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini by a score of 14–10. Florida running back Emmitt Smith was named the game's MVP.
  • In the 1988 Freedom Bowl, played at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, the BYU Cougars defeated the Colorado Buffaloes by a score of 20–17.
  • Former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos was again hospitalized at St. Francis Medical Center in Honolulu for treatment of congestive heart failure and possible pneumonia.
  • Born:
  • Died:

December 30, 1988 (Friday)

  • Soviet news agency TASS reported that the Russian Orthodox Church would allow members of the clergy to run for office in the upcoming March 26 elections for the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union.
  • Branko Mikulić, the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia, submitted a letter of resignation for himself and the 30 members of his Cabinet due to the country's economic problems, the first such resignation since communist rule began in 1945.
  • The Czechoslovak prototype aircraft L-610M made its first flight.
  • Iran–Contra affair: Oliver North's legal team subpoenaed U.S. President Reagan and President-elect Bush as defense witnesses in the retired Marine lieutenant colonel's trial on charges of conspiracy and theft.
  • In the 1988 Holiday Bowl, played at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California, the Oklahoma State Cowboys defeated the Wyoming Cowboys by a score of 62–14.
  • Born:
  • Died:

December 31, 1988 (Saturday)

  • In the 1988 Peach Bowl (December), played at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, the NC State Wolfpack defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes by a score of 28–23.
Fog Bowl 1988
December 31, 1988: The Fog Bowl at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.
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