1988 The Hubble Space Telescope Goes into operation to explore deep space and is still in full use today mapping our universe. A bomb is exploded on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland. Also Prozac is sold for the first time as an anti-depressant some of the great movies that year included Rain Man, Die Hard and A Fish Called Wanda

Cost of Living 1988

How Much things cost in 1988
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 4.08%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 2168
Interest Rates Year End Federal Reserve 10.50%
Average Cost of new house $91,600.00
Average Income per year $24,450.00
Average Monthly Rent $420.00
Average Price for new car $10,400.00
1 gallon of gas 91 cents
Movie Ticket $3.50
US Postage Stamp 24 cents
Dozen Eggs 65 cents



What Events Happened in 1988

• After 8 years and 1.5 million dead the Iran -- Iraq war ends
• Iraq carries out Poison Gas Attack On Kurds
• Earthquake in Armenia Kills 60,000
• Suspected Libyan terrorist bomb explodes on Pan Am jet over Lockerbie in Scotland killing all 259 on board and 11 on the ground
• Australia celebrates its bicentennial.
• A new drug Crack appears ( A derivative of Cocaine ) and is increasingly found in US Cities
• UK SAS kill suspected IRA bombers in Gibraltar
• The English Pound Note ceases to be legal Tender
• Salmonella is found in Eggs in Britain causing problems for British Farmers
• Laws restricting opening times for UK Pubs are changed allowing Pubs to stay open all day
• 34 people die in the Clapham Rail Crash
• Widespread strikes in Poland by Solidarity Supporters
• Archaeologists uncover the original Globe Theater in London
• Soviet Red Army withdraws from Afghanistan.
• A Soviet Union School Bus is Hijacked
• Panama leader General Manual Antonio Noriega, is charged with drug smuggling and money laundering
• Yasser Arafat is invited to address the U.N. General Assembly
• Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires killing 165 oil workers and 2 rescue mariners.
• The Summer Olympics are held in Seoul, South Korea
• The USS Vincennes shoots down Iranian passenger jet Flight 655
• Prince Charles escapes avalanche in Switzerland
• The Winter Olympic Games are held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• Hurricane Gilbert devastated Jamaica, it turns towards Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula two days later
  

Popular Culture 1988

• Prozac makes its debut in the United States
  
• Televangelist Jim Bakker Scandal
  
• The Simpson's seen on TV for the first time
  
• British Government Stops Publication in Britain of Spycatcher Book
  

Popular Films

• Rain Man
  
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  
• Big
  
• Twins
  
• Crocodile Dundee II
  
• Die Hard
  
• The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
  
• Beetlejuice
  
• Dangerous Liaisons
  
• A Fish Called Wanda
  
• Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood
  

Popular Musicians

• Enya
  
• Robert Palmer
  
• Erasure
  
• Kylie Minogue
  
• U2
  
• The Beach Boys
  
• Bros
  
• Michael Jackson with " Dirty Diana "
  
• Gloria Estefan
  
• Chicago with " Look Away "
  
• George Michael with " Father Figure "
  
• Guns N' Roses
  
• George Harrison

Technology 1988

• First transatlantic fiber optic cable laid able to carry 40,000 telephone calls simultaneously
• Stephen Hawking Publishes " A Brief History Of Time "
• The first major computer virus infects computers connected to the Internet.
• The Hubble Space Telescope is put into operation
• The US Stealth Bomber is unveiled
• Using Carbon Dating it is established that the Turin Shroud Can Not Be the Burial Cloth of Christ
• The Antidepressant Prozac introduced which quickly became the market leader for treating depression

Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country (or attributed to First Use)

• Laser Eye Surgery USA