Year 1988: Fun Facts, Trivia, and History

This quick read presents a collection of fun facts, trivia, and history events from the year 1988. Discover the year’s top news stories, most influential people, sports facts, historic firsts, grocery prices, and much more.

Take a journey through history in just minutes.

1. In 1988, Ronald Reagan was the 40th U.S. president, and George H. W. Bush was the nation’s vice president.
2. The U.S. unemployment rate averaged 6.2%, the nation’s inflation rate was 4.7%, and the average retail price for a gallon of gas was $1.08.
3. The federal minimum wage was $3.35 per hour, the median household income was $27,225, and the average cost of a new home was $138,300.
4. In 1988, the violent crime rate in America was 56.6 per 100,000 residents. On the other hand, about 50 of every 100,000 Americans were victims of property crime.
5. At the grocery store, apples were 69 cents a pound, blueberries cost $1.19 a pint, and mangoes were $1.29 apiece. A loaf of white bread cost 60 cents, potatoes were $1.39 for a five-pound bag, and sirloin steak was $2.99 a pound. Six 12-ounce cans of Coke cost $1.79, eggs were 89 cents a dozen, and a gallon of milk was $2.30.
6. Here were the sticker prices for two best-selling 1988 cars: A Buick Skylark cost $11,306, and a Nissan Sentra was $7,866.
7. Since 1988, the prices of both PCs and big-screen televisions have gone down, and the quality of both items has increased significantly. In 1988, a personal computer cost around $1,400, and you can buy a much better model today for about $500. Back in 1988, a big-screen TV cost around $3,000, and today you can have a much better television for about $800.
8. On January 19, 48 Hours, a television news magazine that investigates crime and justice cases, premiered on CBS.
9. The 1988 Winter Olympics took place in Calgary, Canada, from February 13 to 28. A total of 1,423 athletes from 47 countries participated in 46 events. Olympic.org points out that “For the first time, the Winter Games extended to 16 days, including three weekends.”
10. On March 1, General Motors announced that it would stop production of the fire-plagued Pontiac Fiero. (Between 1984 and 1988, Pontiac sold 370,168 Fieros. From the get-go, the car was plagued with a “litany” of problems, including “low-capacity oil pans that caused overheating, faulty connecting rods that failed at a rate of about 1 in 10, and an electric panel that was mounted too close to the exhaust manifold.”)
11. On March 9, the USPS issued a stamp that commemorated Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne.
12. On March 31, author Toni Morrison received a Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved.
13. At the 60th Academy Awards on April 11, The Last Emperor won an Oscar for Best Picture, and Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor) won an Oscar for Best Director. Michael Douglas (Wall Street) won an Oscar for Best Actor, and Cher (Moonstruck) won an Oscar for Best Actress.
14. On April 23, President Reagan signed a bill that banned smoking on all domestic flights that had a duration of two hours or less.
15. On May 17, the Supreme Court ruled that trash placed at the curbside is unprotected by the Fourth Amendment.
16. On May 20, MLB player Mike Schmidt hit his 535th career HR and moved into 8th place on the all-time list. (On July 14, 1988, Schmidt hit his 537th career HR and passed Mickey Mantle, who hit 536 HRs during his career.)
17. On June 2, Consumer Reports magazine asked the U.S. government to recall the Suzuki Samurai, a four-wheel drive vehicle that the magazine had given an “unacceptable” rating to during a review. AutoTrader remarks that by late 1988, sales of the Samurai “had plummeted by 70 percent compared to a year earlier.”
18. On June 25, the thermometer reached 104°F in Cleveland, which was the highest temperature ever recorded there during the month of June.
19. On June 25, MLB legend Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 1000th consecutive game.
20. On June 30, Brooklyn named a bus depot after the comic Jackie Gleason.
21. On July 8, singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder announced that he would run for mayor of Detroit in 1992.
22. On July 18, the thermometer reached 103°F in San Francisco, the highest temperature ever recorded in “The City by the Bay” up until then.
23. On July 31, the last Playboy Club closed in Lansing, Michigan.
24. On August 1, Microsoft released Microsoft Office, a software suite “that is widely used in business and educational environments to create, view, and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.” Today, the standard Office package includes Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
25. On August 1, Rush Limbaugh began his conservative talk radio show.
26. On August 4, President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act into law, which compensated over 100,000 Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in internment camps during World War II. The legislation offered a formal apology and paid out $20,000 in compensation to each surviving victim.
27. On August 6, a riot broke out in Tompkins Square Park in New York City. Groups of "drug pushers, homeless people, and young people known as squatters and punks," who had taken over the park, protested against a newly imposed 1:00 AM curfew in the previously 24-hour park. NYU Journalism remarks that “The park had become the embodiment of New York City’s socioeconomic problems and the widening class gap.”
28. On August 7, a five-month strike by 9,000 movie and television writers ended.
29. On May 24, 1935, the first-ever night baseball game took place at Crosley Field in Cincinnati and soon became a fixture in the major leagues. On August 8, 1988, the lights went on for the first time at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, which had been the only MLB park up until then where night games were not played. According to MLB.com, Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Billy Williams threw out the first pitch, the Chicago Symphony performed, and the Cubs' broadcasters wore tuxedos.
30. On August 9, just one day after 8/8/88, New York’s daily number was 888.
31. At the 40th Primetime Emmy Awards on August 28, The Wonder Years (ABC) won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, and Thirtysomething (ABC) won an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.
32. The 1988 Summer Olympics were held in Seoul, South Korea, from September 17 to October 7. A total of 8,391 athletes from 159 countries participated in 237 events.
33. On September 26, New York's Rockefeller Center became a national landmark.
34. On October 9, the musical The Phantom of the Opera opened on Broadway. (Did you know that The Phantom of the Opera is the longest-running Broadway show of all time and celebrated its 10,000th Broadway performance on February 11, 2012?)
35. On October 18, the TV sitcom Roseanne, starring Roseanne Barr and John Goodman, premiered on ABC.
36. On November 3, President Reagan signed the Credit and Charge Card Disclosure Act of 1988 into law. GovTrack.us reports that the bill provided for a “more detailed and uniform disclosure by credit card issuers concerning information on interest rates and other fees that may be incurred by consumers through the use of any credit card.”
37. On November 8, Vice President George H. W. Bush became the 41st U.S. president by defeating Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis—the Democratic candidate. The Republicans swept 40 states in the election.
38. On November 14, the TV sitcom Murphy Brown debuted on CBS.
39. On November 16, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was President Reagan's last foreign visitor to the White House, just as she had been among the first.
40. In 1988, McDonald’s opened its 10000th restaurant in Dale City, Virginia. The fast food giant also announced that it would open 20 restaurants in Moscow.
41. A 4.55-mile banana split was made in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. According to FoodReference.com, the sweet treat had 33,000 bananas, 2,500 gallons of ice cream, 600 pounds of chopped nuts, and 450 gallons of topping.
42. Low-fat dairy products were gaining widespread acceptance. For the first time, combined low-fat and skim milk sales exceeded whole milk ones.
43. Snapple lemon-flavored iced tea first appeared on grocery store shelves.
44. The first Walmart Supercenter opened in Wheeler, Oklahoma.
45. Austrian physicist Christian Andreas Doppler invented Doppler radar.
46. Table tennis (ping pong) became an Olympic sport.
47. In 1988, sales of CDs surpassed sales of vinyl records for the first time, Microsoft sold its one-millionth mouse, and there were about 45 million PCs in use in the United States.
48. James A. Michener’s Alaska was a best-selling book, The Cosby Show (NBC) was a top-rated TV show, and Rain Man was a popular film.
49. Here are some sports facts from the year 1988: The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, the Washington Redskins were the Super Bowl champs, and the Edmonton Oilers clinched the Stanley Cup. In addition, the cost of a 30-second Super Bowl ad was $645,000.
50. In 1988 as well, the words "A-fib," "channel surfing," "charter school," "e-book," "food desert," "heteroglossia," "hyperlink," "joypad," "JPEG," "killer app," "mad cow disease," "road rage," and "service animal" all appeared in print for the first time.

References:

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/1988
2. https://www.infoplease.com/year/1988
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_in_the_United_States
4. https://www.foodreference.com/html/html/food-history-1986.html
5. https://www.onthisday.com/events/date/1988
6. https://www.computerhope.com/history/1988.htm
7. https://www.mclib.info/Research/Local-History-Genealogy/Historic-Prices
8. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/1988/

Disclaimer: In writing and editing this article, Gregory DeVictor has made every effort to ensure historical accuracy and not to mislead his audience. In addition, the contents of this article, including text, graphics, and captions, are for general informational purposes only.

© 2026 Gregory DeVictor