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If you weren't feeling old before, you will now! :-)
From the generation of the Blues Brothers, Izods and Togas!!
The Year 1988:
- US and Canada reach free trade agreement (Jan. 2). Background:
NAFTA
- Terrorists kill nine tourists on Aegean cruise (July 11).
- Benazir Bhutto, first Islamic woman prime minister, chosen to
lead Pakistan (Dec. 1).
- Pan-Am 747 explodes from terrorist bomb and crashes in
Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 aboard and 11 on ground (Dec.
21).
- Robert C. McFarlane, former National Security Adviser, pleads
guilty in
Iran-Contra case (March 11).
US Navy ship shoots down Iranian airliner in Persian Gulf,
mistaking it for jet fighter; 290 killed (July 3).
Democratic convention nominates Gov. Michael Dukakis of
Massachusetts for President and Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen for Vice
President (July 17 et seq.).
Republican convention nominates George Bush for President and
Indiana Senator Dan Quayle for Vice President (Aug. 15 et seq.).
Republicans sweep 40 states in election, and Bush beats Dukakis
(Nov. 8).
U.S.
Statistics
President: Ronald W. Reagan
Vice President: George Bush
Population: 244,498,982
Life expectancy: 74.9 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 56.6
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 50.3
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Ecomonics
of 1988 |
US GDP (1998 dollars): $5,049.60
billion
Federal spending: $1064.14 billion
Federal debt: $2601.3 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars): $27,225
Consumer Price Index: 118.3
Unemployment: 5.5%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.22 ($0.25 as of
4/3/88)
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Sports
Highlights of 1988 |
Super Bowl
Washington d. Denver (42-10)World Series
LA Dodgers d. Oakland A's (4-1)
NBA Championship
LA Lakers d. Detroit Pistons (4-3)
Stanley Cup
Edmonton d. Boston (4-0)
Wimbledon
Women: Steffi Graf d. M. Navratilova (5-7 6-2 6-1)
Men: Stefan Edberg d. B. Becker (4-6 7-6 6-4 6-2)
Kentucky Derby Champion
Winning Colors
NCAA Basketball Championship
Kansas d. Oklahoma (83-79)
NCAA Football Champions
Notre Dame (12-0-0)
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Entertainment
News 1988 |
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Top movies of 1988: Die Hard
The Accused
Rain Man
The Naked Gun
Record of the Year: "Graceland,"
Paul Simon
Album of the Year: Joshua
Tree, U2 (Island)
Song of the Year: "Somewhere Out
There," James Horner, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil,
songwriters
Events
- Ninety-eight percent of U.S. households have at least
one television set.
- CDs outsell vinyl records for the first time.
- Ted Turner starts Turner Network Television (TNT) and
buys MGM's film library.
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Deaths |
- Roy Orbison
- Chet Baker
- Luis Alvarez
- Edgar Jean Faure
- Nora Astorga
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You’re lost between baby
boomer and Generation X if: |
- You
remember when Jordache jeans with a flat-handle comb in
the back pocket were cool.
- A
photograph shows you wearing an Izod shirt with the collar
turned up.
- You
know any Weird Al Yankovic song by heart.
- You’ve
ever rung someone’s doorbell and shouted, “Landshark!”
- You
once were bowled over by the technological excellence of
Atari, Coleco, TelStar and Intellivision.
- You
remember the premiere of MTV. Worse yet, you remember its
predecessor, Friday Night Videos.
- A
predominant color in your childhood colors is plaid.
- You
took family trips BEFORE the invention of the minivan.
- You
rode in the back of the station wagon, facing the cars
behind you.
- You’ve
recently horrified yourself by using any one of the
following phrases:
- “You
know, back when…,” When I was our age…” or “When
I was younger…”
- Schoolhouse
Rock played a huge part in how you learned grammar, math
and history. You also learned to recite the preamble to
the Constitution by singing it.
- The
question, “Where’s the beef?” still makes you laugh.
- You
remember when movie critics raved that no movie could ever
surpass the special effects in Tron.
- You
had a crush on Ted the photographer in Love Boat, Gage
from Emergency or Ponch from C.H.I.P.S.
- You
remember trying to guess which episode of The Brady Bunch
it was by the first scene.
- You
know who shot J.R.
- You
remember when Love’s Baby Soft was in every girl’s
Christmas stocking.
- You
recognize this line: “My name is Charlie and they work
for me.”
- You’ve
ever had a Dorothy Hamill haircut.
- You
owned a pair of rainbow suspenders like the ones Mork
wore.
- You
remember when your cable TV box had a sliding selector
switch and was attached to your TV by a wire.
- You
actually believed that Mikey, the Life cereal kid, died
after eating Pop Rocks and drinking a Coke.
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