1988 Fun Facts, Trivia and History |
Quick Facts from 1988: |
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Year of the Dragon The year of the dragon is one of the 12 years in the Chinese zodiac cycle. The dragon is the fifth animal in the cycle. The years of the dragon include: 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036, 2048, and 2060 The year of the dragon is associated with strength, power, and good fortune. People born in the year of the dragon are said to be ambitious, charismatic, and confident. They are also said to be independent, intelligent, and have a strong sense of purpose. They are often leaders and respected by others. They are also said to be lucky in their careers and wealth. They are also known to be very passionate and can be intense. They are also known to be a bit impulsive and can sometimes be stubborn. |
Top Ten Baby Names of 1988: Jessica, Ashley, Amanda, Sarah, Jennifer, Michael, Chris, Topher, Matthew, Joshua, Andrew |
The Hotties and Fashion Icons: Elle Macpherson, Jessica Rabbit |
Hollywood Hunks and Leading Men: Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Richard Gere, Morrissey |
“The Quotes:” “Read my lips: no new taxes” “Just do it” “It’s everywhere you want to be” “I’m not bad- I’m just drawn that way” |
Time Magazine’s Planet of the Year: ‘The Endangered’ Earth |
Miss America: Kaye Lani Rae Rafko (Monroe, MI) |
Miss USA: Courtney Gibbs (Texas) |
The Scandals: Barbara Hershey had collagen injected into her lips, a new scandalous thing at the time. There was a false rumor that, while flying in an airplane, her lips swelled and blew up. We were so naive back then. The Morris Worm, the first internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, was launched from MIT. Rob and Fab, Milli Vanilli’s frontmen didn’t really sing, although they were considered good looking guys who could lip-sync rather well. They were also smooth stage dancers. The Lockerbie, Scotland airplane bombing, ordered by Libya killed 270 people. The Four Tops, as well as Sex Pistol’s lead singer Johnny Rotten, were all scheduled to be on the Pan Am Flight 103. The Shroud of Turin had radiocarbon tests indicated that it was from the 13th or 14th century. It should be noted that it had been repaired, even though there had been a fire over the past 2000 (or 600) years. The Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the sale of Lawn Darts in 1988 after the deaths of 3 children. The U.S.S. Vincennes accidentally shot down an Iranian civilian airliner, killing 290 people. |
Pop Culture News: In 1988 the Australian Parliament “borrowed” the original copy of the Australian Constitution from Britain (it was originally a British Act of Parliament) and has not given it back. Doppler radar was invented by Christian Andreas Doppler. During Robert Bork’s (failed) Supreme Court nomination in 1987, his movie rental history was leaked to the press. This led to the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act. A $2500 fine can be given to a video rental service for disclosing your rental Quentin Tarantino had a cameo appearance as an Elvis impersonator in a 1988 episode of The Golden Girls. George Lucas gave a speech in 1988 to Congress about the need to protect films from being altered. “People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians.” #hanshotfirst #starwars In 1988, Harvard Medical School partnered with film and TV studios to insert the concept of the “Designated Driver” into Pop Culture. The project was a huge success. DC ran a phone poll asking viewers to vote whether or not Batman’s sidekick Robin should live or die in a storyline, a Death In The Family. 10,614 votes were tallied-5,343 in favor of Robin’s death, and 5,271 for his survival- a margin of just 72 votes. Snapple lemon-flavored iced tea was distributed nationwide. The terrified expression on Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman)’s face in Die Hard is completely genuine as his stunt team dropped him on the count of 1 instead of the previously promised 3. Hans Gruber was the main antagonist in the 1988’s Die Hard. Dr. Hans Gruber was a character in the 1985 film Re-Animator. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album was on the Billboard charts for a total of 741 consecutive weeks from 1973 to 1988. Debbie Gibson became the youngest person to write, produce and sing a number-one single entirely on her own when Foolish Beat reached Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1988. Doves were traditionally released during the opening ceremony of the Olympics games, but the tradition ended after Seoul in 1988. Several of the birds, instead of flying away, settled on the cauldron housing the Olympic flame and were subsequently incinerated in front of the crowd when it was lit. In 1988, 13% of Americans surveyed thought the Moon was made of cheese. #wut George Harrison was the first and last Beatle to have a U.S No.1 with My Sweet Lord in 1970 and Got My Mind Set on You in 1988. Before becoming a popular children’s character in the 1990’s TV series Barney & Friends, Barney the Dinosaur starred in a direct-to-video series titled Barney and the Backyard Gang. 8 episodes of the series were produced between August 1988 and October 1991. The Soviet Union became a bit freer when Mikhail Gorbachov introduced ‘glasnost’ – allowing political expression and dissent. Some say that The Brave Little Toaster nearly took home the top award at the 1988 Sundance Film Festival, but the judges were afraid that the festival would lose respect by picking a cartoon. (although it was a great cartoon) Table Tennis (Ping Pong) became an Olympic Sport. The Fog Bowl: The NFL game held December 31, 1988 between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears had a fog rollover so dense that the fans couldn’t see the players and the refs had to call what happened after every play because the players couldn’t even see the sidelines. The Bears won, 20 to 12. Wrigley Field, Chicago was the last baseball stadium to get floodlights. The Cubs’ first night game was on August 8, 1988. Duracell had a mascot called the Duracell Bunny that debuted several years before the Energizer Bunny. In 1988, Duracell’s trademark had lapsed and Duracell’s North American rival, Energizer, created the Energizer Bunny. Tennis Champion Steffi Graf is the first and only Golden Slam winner: four Grand Slams and an Olympic Gold in the same year, 1988 CDs out-sold vinyl records for the first time. The Never-Ending Tour is the unofficial name for Bob Dylan’s endless touring schedule, since June 7, 1988. The last major album released on 8-track format was Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits, in 1988. Seventh Generation’s nontoxic, environmentally safe household products began to be marketed. Cosmopolitan magazine ran an erroneous article stating that women had no chance of contracting HIV from sex with a man because HIV could not be transmitted in the missionary position Pete Maravich, during an interview in 1974 said, “I don’t want to play 10 years (in the NBA) and then die of a heart attack when I’m 40.” He died of a heart attack in 1988, at age 40, after a 10-year career in the NBA. Silly String is illegal in Marlborough, MA. It was banned in 1988 because so many kids sprayed pedestrians and vehicles during the Labor Day Parade. Cost of a Superbowl ad in 1988: $645,000 |
Politics: Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis tried to improve his image by having a photo op with an M1 Abrams tank. The image completely backfired and he went on to lose to George H.W. Bush. “Dukakis in the tank” remains shorthand for backfired public relations outings. Judge Douglas Ginsburg was nominated for the Supreme Court in 1988. He had to withdraw his nomination because it was revealed that he smoked pot when he was in college 18 years earlier. On Airforce One, limited edition packs of red, white, and blue colored M&M’s are given to guests instead of cigarette boxes. This was due to Nancy Reagan’s request to ban smoking on Airforce One in 1988. |
Doomsday Clock: 6 minutes to midnight, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. 1988: “The United States and Soviet Union sign the historic Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the first agreement to actually ban a whole category of nuclear weapons. The leadership shown by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev makes the treaty a reality, but public opposition to U.S. nuclear weapons in Western Europe inspires it. For years, such intermediate-range missiles had kept Western Europe in the crosshairs of the two superpowers.” |
Nobel Prize Winners: *Pharmacologist and biochemist Gertrude Belle Elion helped develop drugs for treating leukemia, malaria, herpes, and AIDS. She shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Medicine despite never having completed her Ph.D. |
1st appearances & 1988’s Most Popular Christmas gifts, toys and presents: Scattergories |
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1988: Alaska by James A. Michener The Alchemist (Portuguese: O Alquimista) by Paulo Coelho Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland To Be the Best by Barbara Taylor Bradford The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tim Wolfe The Cardinal of the Kremlin by Tom Clancy The Icarus Agenda by Robert Ludlum The Magic Locket by Elizabeth Koda-Callan Matilda by Roald Dahl Mitla Pass by Leon Uris One by Richard Bach Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice The Sands of Time by Sidney Sheldon The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie Till We Meet Again by Judith Krantz The Tommyknockers by Stephen King Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons Wittgenstein’s Mistress by David Markson Zoya by Danielle Steel |
Best Film Oscar Winner: The Last Emperor (presented in 1988) |
The Big Movies: (according to boxofficemojo) 1. Rain Man 2. Who Framed Roger Rabbit 3. Coming To America 4. Big 5. Twins 6. Crocodile Dundee II 7. Die Hard 8. The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police Squad 9. Cocktail 10. Beetlejuice |
Broadway Show: The Phantom of the Opera (Musical) Opened on January 26, 1988 |
East End Show: Blood Brothers (Musical) Opened on July 28, 1988, and Closed: November 10, 2012 |
1988 Most Popular TV shows: 1. The Cosby Show (NBC) 2. A Different World (NBC) 3. Cheers (NBC) 4. The Golden Girls (NBC) 5. Growing Pains (ABC) 6. Who’s the Boss? (ABC) 7. Night Court (NBC) 8. 60 Minutes (CBS) 9. Murder, She Wrote (CBS) 10. Alf (NBC) |
1988 Billboard Number One Songs: January 9 – Januray 15: January 16 – January 22: January 23 – January 29: January 30 – February 5: February 6 – February 19: February 20 – February 26: February 27 – March 11: March 12 – March 20: March 26 – April 8: April 9 – April 22: April 23 – May 6: May 7 – May 13: May 14 – May 27: May 28 – July 17: June 18 – July 24: June 25 – July 1: July 2 – July 8: July 9 – July 22: July 23 – July 29: July 30 – August 26: August 27 – September 9: September 10 – September 23: September 24 – October 7: October 8 – October 14: October 15 – October 21: October 22 – November 4: November 5 – November 11: November 12 – November 18: November 19 – December 2: December 3 – December 9: December 10 – December 23: December 24, 1988- January 13, 1989: |
Sports: World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers Superbowl XXII Champions: Washington Redskins NBA Champions: Los Angeles Lakers Stanley Cup Champs: Edmonton Oilers U.S. Open Golf Curtis Strange U.S. Tennis: (Men/Ladies) Mats Wilander/Steffi Graf Wimbledon (Men/Women): Stefan Edberg/Steffi Graf NCAA Football Champions: Notre Dame NCAA Basketball Champions: Kansas Kentucky Derby: Winning Colors |