Events of 1988

January

• January 1 – The Soviet Union begins its program of economic restructuring (perestroika) with legislation initiated by Premier Mikhail Gorbachev (though Gorbachev had begun minor restructuring in 1985).
• January 1 – The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is established, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States.

• January 8 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 140.58 points, or 6.85%, to close at 1,911.31 in a mini-crash.
• January 13 – Taiwan President Chiang Ching-kuo dies in Taipei; Vice-President Lee Teng-hui becomes president.
• January 15 – In Jerusalem, Israeli police and Palestinian protestors clash at the Dome of the Rock; several police and at least 70 Palestinians are injured.
• January 25 – U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush and CBS News anchor Dan Rather clash over Bush's role in the Iran-Contra scandal, during a contentious television interview.
• January 29 – The Midwest Classic Conference, a U.S. college athletic conference, is formed.

February

• February 3 – The Democratic-controlled United States House of Representatives rejects President Ronald Reagan's request for $36.25 million to support the Nicaraguan Contras.
• February 12 – Anthony M. Kennedy is appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States.
• February 13–28 – The 1988 Winter Olympics are held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
• February 17 – A bomb explodes outside of the First National Bank in Oshakati, Namibia, killing 27 and injuring 70 others.
• February 17 – U.S. Lieutenant Colonel William R. Higgins, serving with a United Nations group monitoring a truce in southern Lebanon, is kidnapped (he is later killed by his captors).
• February 24 – Hustler Magazine v. Falwell: The Supreme Court of the United States sides with Hustler magazine by overturning a lower court decision to award Jerry Falwell $200,000 for defamation.
• February 29 – A Nazi document implicates Kurt Waldheim in World War II deportations.

March

• March 7 – Operation Flavius: The Special Air Service fatally shoots 3 unarmed Provisional Irish Republican Army members in Gibraltar.
• March 8 – Two U.S. Army helicopters collide in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, killing 17 servicemen.
• March 8 – U.S. presidential candidate George Herbert Walker Bush defeats Robert Dole in numerous Republican primaries and caucuses on "Super Tuesday". The bipartisan primary/caucus calendar, designed by Democrats to help solidify their own nominee early, backfires when none of the 6 competing candidates are able to break out of the pack in the day's Democratic contests. Jesse Jackson, however, wins several Southern state primaries.
• March 13 – Gallaudet University, a Deaf university in Washington D.C. elects Dr. I King Jordan as the first Deaf president in its history. This event is a turning point in the Deaf civil rights movement.
• March 16 – The Halabja poison gas attack is carried out by Iraqi government forces.
• March 16 – First RepublicBank of Texas fails and enters FDIC receivership, the largest FDIC assisted bank failure in history.
• March 16 – Iran-Contra Affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
• March 17 – A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into the side of the mountains near the Venezuelan border, killing 143.
• March 17 – Eritrean War of Independence – Battle of Afabet: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on 3 sides by military units of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF).
• March 19 – Corporals killings: British Army Corporals Woods and Howes are killed by the IRA.
• March 20 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the EPLF enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
• March 24 – An Israeli court sentences Mordechai Vanunu to 18 years in prison for disclosing Israel's nuclear program to The Sunday Times.
• March 25 – The Candle Demonstration in Bratislava, Slovakia is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
• March 26 – U.S. presidential candidate Jesse Jackson defeats Michael Dukakis in the Michigan Democratic caucuses, becoming the temporary front-runner for the party's nomination. Richard Gephardt withdraws his candidacy after his campaign speeches against imported automobiles fail to earn him much support in Detroit.
• March 29 – African National Congress representative Dulcie September is assassinated in Paris.

April

• April 4 – Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office.
• April 5 – Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis wins the Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary.
• April 10 – The comic strip FoxTrot débuts.
• April 10 – The Ojhri Camp Disaster occurs in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
• April 10 – The Great Seto Bridge opens to traffic in Japan.
• April 11 – The Last Emperor (directed by Bernardo Bertolucci) wins nine Oscars.
• April 12 – Former pop singer Sonny Bono is elected mayor of Palm Springs, California.
• April 14 – In the Geneva Accords, the Soviet Union commits itself to withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan.
• The USS Samuel B. Roberts strikes a naval mine in the Persian Gulf, while deployed on Operation Earnest Will, during the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War.
• April 16 – Israeli commandos kill the PLO's Abu Jihad in Tunisia.
• April 16 – In Forlì, Italy, the brigate rosse kill Senator Roberto Ruffilli, an advisor of Prime Minister Ciriaco de Mita.
• April 18 – The United States Navy retaliates for the Roberts mining with Operation Praying Mantis, in a day of strikes against Iranian oil platforms and naval vessels.
• April 25 – In Israel, Ivan Demjanjuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II. He was accused by survivors of being the notorious guard at the Treblinka extermination camp known as "Ivan the Terrible". The conviction is later overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.
• April 28 – Aloha Flight 243 loses several yards of its upper fuselage while in flight, killing 1 person.
• April 30 – World Expo '88 opens in Brisbane Queensland, Australia.
• April 30 – Celine Dion wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland with the song Ne partez pas sans moi.

May

• May 4 – PEPCON disaster in Henderson, Nevada: A major explosion at an industrial solid-fuel rocket plant causes damage extending up to 10 miles away, including Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport.
• May 14 – Bus collision near Carrollton, Kentucky: A drunk driver going the wrong way on Interstate 71, hits a converted school bus carrying a church youth group from Radcliff, Kentucky. The resulting fire kills 27, making it tied for 1st in the U.S. for most fatalities involving 2 vehicles to the present day. Coincidentally, the other 2-vehicle accident involving a bus that also killed 27 occurred in Prestonsburg, KY 30 years prior.
• May 14 – Wimbledon wins the English FA Cup after beating Liverpool 1–0 at Wembley. The southwest Londoners had pulled off one of the greatest upsets in the history of English football, as they had been top division members for just 2 years and had joined the Football League only 11 years earlier. Liverpool, meanwhile, had won a total of 30 major trophies including 17 league titles.
• May 15 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: After more than 8 years of fighting, the Red Army begins withdrawing from Afghanistan.
• May 16 – A report by U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
• May 16 – California v. Greenwood: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that police officers do not need a search warrant to search through discarded garbage.
• May 24 – Section 28 (outlawing promotion of homosexuality in schools) is passed as law by Parliament in the United Kingdom.
• May 27 – Microsoft releases Windows 2.1
• May 31 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan addresses 600 Moscow State University students, during his visit to the Soviet Union.

June

• June 5 – The first National Cancer Survivors Day is held.
• June 6 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom strips jockey Lester Piggott of his Order of the British Empire, following his jailing for tax irregularities.
• June 11 – The name of the General Public License (GPL) is mentioned for the first time.
• June 11 – Wembley Stadium hosts a concert featuring stars from the fields of music, comedy and film, in celebration of the 70th birthday of imprisoned ANC leader Nelson Mandela.
• June 25 – The Netherlands defeats the Soviet Union 2–0 to win Euro 88.
• June 26 – Air France Flight 296 crashes into the tops of trees beyond the runway on a demonstration flight at Habsheim, France; 3 passengers are killed.
• June 28 – Four workers are asphyxiated at a metal-plating plant in Auburn, Indiana, in the worst confined-space industrial accident in U.S. history (a fifth victim dies 2 days later).
• June 29 – Morrison v. Olson: The United States Supreme Court upholds the law allowing special prosecutors to investigate suspected crimes by executive branch officials.
• June 30 – Roman Catholic Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre consecrates 4 bishops at Ecône, Switzerland for his apostolate, along with Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer, without a papal mandate.

July

• July 3 – The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus.
• July 3 – Iran Air Flight 655 is shot down by a missile launched from the USS Vincennes.
• July 6 – The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires, killing 165 oil workers and 2 rescue mariners.
• July 6 – The first reported medical waste on beaches in the Greater New York area (including hypodermic needles and syringes possibly infected with the AIDS virus) washes ashore on Long Island. Subsequent medical waste discoveries on beaches in Coney Island and in Monmouth County, New Jersey force the closure of numerous New York–area beaches in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record in the American Northeast.
• July 14 – Volkswagen closes its Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania plant after 10 years of operation (the first factory built by a non-American automaker in the U.S.).
• July 20 – The Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia nominates Michael Dukakis for U.S. President and Lloyd Bentsen for Vice President.
• July 31 – Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim Ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Malaysia.

August

• Allama Arif Hussain Hussaini, leader of Pakistani Shia Muslims, is killed in Peshawar.
• August 5 – The 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis culminates in the ouster of the Lord President of Malaysia, Salleh Abas.
• August 6–7 – Tompkins Square Park Police Riot in New York City: A riot erupts in Tompkins Square Park when police attempt to enforce a newly passed curfew for the park. Bystanders, artists, residents, homeless people and political activists are caught up in the police action which takes place during the night of August 6 and into the early morning of August 7.
• August 8 – 8888 Uprising: Thousands of protesters in Burma, now known as Myanmar, are killed during anti-government demonstrations.
• August 17 – Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Arnold Raphel, are killed in a plane crash near Bhawalpur.
• August 18 – The Republican National Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana nominates George H.W. Bush for President and Dan Quayle for Vice President of the United States of America.
• August 19 – A truce begins in the Iran–Iraq War.
• August 20 – The Iran–Iraq War ends, with an estimated one million lives lost.
• August 25 – A fire destroys part of Chiado quarter, in Lisbon's historical center.
• August 26 – Mehran Karimi Nasseri, "The terminal man", is stuck in the De Gaulle Airport in Paris, where he will continue to reside until August 1, 2006.
• August 28 – Seventy-five people are killed and 346 injured in one of the worst airshow disasters in history at Germany's Ramstein Air Base, when three jet from the Italian air demonstration team, Frecce Tricolori, collide, sending one of the aircraft crashing into the crowd of spectators.

September

• September 5 – With US$2 billion in federal aid, the Robert M. Bass Group agrees to buy the United States' largest thrift, American Savings and Loan Association.
• September 11 – In Estonia, 300,000 demonstrate for independence.
• September 12 – Hurricane Gilbert devastates Jamaica; it turns towards Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula 2 days later, causing an estimated $5 billion in damage.
• September 17 – October 2 – The 1988 Summer Olympics are held in Seoul, South Korea.
• September 22 – The Ocean Odyssey drilling rig suffers a blowout and fire in the North Sea (see also July 6).
• September 24–26 – Large, militant protests against the 1988 World Bank and IMF meetings take place in West Berlin.
• September 29 – STS-26: NASA resumes space shuttle flights, grounded after the Challenger disaster, with Space Shuttle Discovery.

October

• October 5 – Thousands riot in Algiers, Algeria against the National Liberation Front government; by October 10 the army has killed and tortured about 500 people in crushing the riots.
• October 5 – Chilean president Augusto Pinochet is defeated in a national plebiscite which sought to renew his mandate.
• October 5 – In Omaha, Nebraska, in the only vice presidential debate of the 1988 U.S. presidential election, the Republican vice presidential nominee, Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana, insists he has as much experience in government as John F. Kennedy did when he sought the presidency in 1960. His Democratic opponent, Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas, replies, "Senator, I knew Jack Kennedy. I served with Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." The audience response to Sen. Bentsen's remark is overwhelmingly positive.
• October 11 – Women are allowed to study at Magdalene College, Cambridge, for the first time. Male students wear black armbands and the porter flies a black flag.
• October 12 – Walsh Street police shootings: Two Victoria Police officers are gunned down, execution style, in Australia.
• October 13 – In the second U.S. presidential debate, held by U.C.L.A., the Democratic party nominee, Michael Dukakis, is asked by journalist Bernard Shaw of CNN if he would support the death penalty if his wife, "Kitty", were to be raped and murdered. Gov. Dukakis' reply, voicing his opposition to capital punishment in any and all circumstances, is later said to have been a major reason for the eventual failure of his campaign for the White House.
• October 15 – Kirk Gibson hits a dramatic home run to win Game 1 of the World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers, over the Oakland Athletics, by a score of 5–4.
• October 19 – The United Kingdom bans broadcast interviews with IRA members. The BBC gets around this stricture through the use of professional actors.
• October 23 – Super Mario Bros. 3 is released in Japan.
• October 27 – Ronald Reagan decides to tear down the new U.S. Embassy in Moscow because of Soviet listening devices in the building structure.
• October 28 – Abortion: 48 hours after announcing it was abandoning RU-486, French manufacturer Roussel Uclaf states that it will resume distribution of the drug.
• October 29 – Pakistan's General Rahimuddin Khan resigns from his post as the governor of Sindh, following attempts by the President of Pakistan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, to limit the vast powers Gen. Rahimuddin had accumulated.
• October 30 – Philip Morris buys Kraft Foods for US$13.1 billion.
• October 30 – Expo '88 in Brisbane, Australia draws to a close after a six month spectacular.
• October 30 – Formula One: Ayrton Senna clinches his first World Championship with a phenomenal drive in the Japanese Grand Prix, recovering from 16th place on the first lap to win the race and beat rival Alain Prost into 2nd place.

November

• November 1 – In the Israeli election, Likud wins 47 seats, Labour wins 49, but Likud Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir remains in office.
• November 3–5: Thousands of South Korean students demonstrate against former president Chun Doo Hwan.
• November 8 – United States presidential election, 1988: George H. W. Bush is elected over Michael Dukakis.
• November 11 – In Sacramento, California, police find a body buried in the lawn of 60-year-old boardinghouse landlady Dorothea Puente (7 bodies are eventually found and Puente is convicted of 3 murders and sentenced to life in prison).
• November 13 – Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian law student in Portland, Oregon is beaten to death by members of the Neo-Nazi group East Side White Pride.
• November 15 – In the Soviet Union, the unmanned Shuttle Buran is launched by an Energia rocket on its maiden orbital spaceflight (the first and last space flight for the shuttle).
• November 15 – Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: An independent State of Palestine is proclaimed at the Palestinian National Council meeting in Algiers, by a vote of 253–46.
• November 15 – The very first Fairtrade label, Max Havelaar, is launched by Nico Roozen, Frans van der Hoff and ecumenical development agency Solidaridad in the Netherlands.
• November 16 – The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR declares that Estonia is "sovereign" but stops short of declaring independence.
• November 16 – In the first open election in more than a decade, voters in Pakistan choose populist candidate Benazir Bhutto to be Prime Minister. Elections are held as planned despite head of state Zia-ul-Haq's death earlier in August.
• November 18 – War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill providing the death penalty for murderous drug traffickers.
• November 21 – Canadian federal election, 1988: Brian Mulroney and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada win a second majority government.
• November 21 – Ted Turner officially buys Jim Crockett Promotions, known as NWA Crockett, and turns it into World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
• November 22 – In Palmdale, California, the first prototype B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is revealed.
• November 23 – Former Korean president Chun Doo Hwan publicly apologizes for corruption during his presidency, announcing he will go into exile.
• November 24 – The popular American cult television comedy Mystery Science Theater 3000 makes its debut on KTMA.
• November 30 – Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. buys RJR Nabisco for US$25.07 billion in the biggest leveraged buyout deal of all time.

December

• December 1 – Carlos Salinas de Gortari takes office as President of Mexico.
• December 2 – Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.
• December 2 – A cyclone in Bangladesh leaves 5 million homeless and thousands dead.
• December 7 – In Armenia, an earthquake (6.9 on the Richter scale) kills nearly 25,000, injures 15,000 and leaves 400,000 homeless.
• December 7 – Estonian becomes the official language of Estonia.
• December 9 – The last Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant roll off the assembly line in a Chrysler factory.
• December 12 – The Clapham Junction rail crash kills 35 and injures 132.
• December 16 – Perennial U.S. presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche is convicted of mail fraud.
• December 20 – The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
• December 21 – Pan Am Flight 103 is blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing a total of 270 people. Those responsible are believed to be either Iranians or Libyans.
• December 22 – Brazilian union and environmental activist Chico Mendes is assassinated.

Undated

• TAT-8, the first transatlantic telephone cable to use optical fibers, is completed.
• Zebra mussels are found in the Great lakes.
• The U.S. Drought of 1988 causes big crop damage in many states, impacts many portions of the United States and causes around $60 billion in damage. Multiple regions suffer in the conditions. Heat waves cause 4,800 to 17,000 deaths while scorching many areas of the United States during 1988.

Ongoing

• 1988 Junior Olympics
• Cold War
• Australian Bicentenary

Births

January

• January 4 – Nabila Jamshed, Indian author
• January 5 – Pauline, French singer
• January 7 – Alan Lowing, Scottish footballer
• January 7 – Haley Bennett, American Actress and Singer
• January 7 – Robert Sheehan, Irish actor
• January 8 – Michael Mancienne, English footballer
• January 9 – Lee Yeon-hee, South Korean actress
• January 9 – Glyn Wise, Welsh television/radio personality – runner-up, Big Brother 2006
• January 10 – Michael Mcilorum, English rugby league player
• January 10 – Wu Si Xuan, Taiwanese singer
• January 12 – Chris Casement, Northern Irish footballer
• January 12 – Andrew Lawrence, American actor
• January 13 – Tatev Abrahamyan, American chess player
• January 14 – Mikalah Gordon, American television personality
• January 16 – Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
• January 19 – Danny Haynes, English footballer
• January 22 – Greg Oden, American basketball player
• January 24 – Jade Ewen, English singer
• January 25 – Tatiana Golovin, French tennis player
• January 27 – Kerlon, Brazilian footballer
• January 29 – Owen Garvan, Irish footballer
• January 29 – Aydın Yılmaz, Turkish footballer

February

• February 3 – Cho Kyuhyun, Korean singer (Super Junior)
• February 4 – Carly Patterson, American gymnast
• February 4 – Eoin McDowell, Irish rugby player
• February 6 – Bailey Hanks, American actress
• February 7 – Ai Kago, Japanese singer
• February 7 – Matthew Stafford, American football player
• February 8 – Ryan Pinkston, American actor
• February 11 – Li Chun, Chinese singer
• February 12 – Nicoleta Daniela Şofronie, Romanian gymnast
• February 13 – Aston Merrygold, English singer, member of boy band JLS
• February 14 – Quentin Mosimann, Swiss singer, winner of Star Academy France 7
• February 18 – Andie Valentino, American nude model
• February 18 – Mark Davies, English footballer
• February 18 – Shane Lyons, American actor
• February 18 – Maiara Walsh, Brazilian-American actress
• February 18 – Max, Korean singer (TVXQ)
• February 19 – Miyu Irino, Japanese voice actor
• February 20 – Rihanna, Barbadian pop singer
• February 25 – Rúrik Gíslason, Icelandic footballer
• February 26 – David Williams, Australian soccer player
• February 27 – Dustin Jeffrey, Canadian ice hockey player
• February 29 – Lena Gercke, German model

March

• March 1 – Melissandre Fuentes, Andorra figure skater
• March 1 – Katija Pevec, American actress
• March 2 – Kathryn Blair, daughter of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
• March 2 – Vito Mannone, Italian footballer
• March 2 – Kate Alexa, Australian singer
• March 3 – Timur Gareev, Asian chess player
• March 3 – Rafael Munoz Perez, Spanish swimmer
• March 4 – Mikuru Uchino, Japanese gravure idol
• March 6 – Elaine and Melanie Silver, American actresses
• March 10 – Ivan Rakitic, Croatian and Swiss footballer
• March 15 – Rebecca Moore, Miss Alabama USA
• March 21 – Lee Cattermole, English footballer
• March 21 – Pat McCabe, Australian rugby union player
• March 25 – Erik Knudsen, Canadian actor
• March 27 – Brenda Song, Korean American actress
• March 28 – Lacey Turner, English actress
• March 31 – Hogan Ephraim, English football player

April

• April 3 – Tim Krul, Dutch footballer
• April 5 – Daniela Luján, Mexican actress
• April 5 – Asumi Nakata, Japanese voice actress (seiyū)
• April 6 – Fabrice Muamba, English footballer
• April 6 – Mike Bailey, British actor
• April 8 – Philip Dowling, British actor
• April 10 – Haley Joel Osment, American actor
• April 10 – Özgürcan Özcan, Turkish footballer
• April 13 – Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
• April 13 – Kallie Flynn Childress, American actress
• April 15 – Emily Parr, 2007 UK Big Brother contestant
• April 21 – Mia Permanto, Finnish pop singer and radio host (d. 2008)
• April 23 – Erica Mer, American actress
• April 24 – Petter Jacobsen Drugli, Norwegian Chess Master
• April 25 – Sara Paxton, American actress
• April 26 – Anna Svidersky, American murder victim (d. 2006)
• April 28 – Ji-Yai Shin, South Korean golfer
• April 29 – Jonathan Toews, Canadian hockey player
• April 29 – Jeff Batchelor, Canadian snowboarder
• April 29 – Younha, Korean born singer

May

• May 1 – Kristopher Tate, American businessman
• May 1 – Darryl Knights, English footballer
• May 5 – Adele, English singer
• May 5 – Jessica Dubroff, American student pilot (d. 1996)
• May 5 – Brooke Hogan, American reality star and singer
• May 5 – Skye Sweetnam, Canadian singer
• May 12 – Marky Cielo, Philippine actor (d. 2008)
• May 13 – Casey Donovan, Australian Idol 2004 singer
• May 17 – Nikki Reed, American actress
• May 18 – Ryan Cooley, Canadian actor, TaeYang South Korean singer forBigBang
• May 19 – Lily Cole, English supermodel
• May 23 – Christian Lorentzen, British heir
• May 23 – Morgan Pressel, American golfer
• May 24 – Billy Gilman, American singer
• May 24 – Iyama Yuta, Japanese Go player
• May 25 – Adrián González, Spanish footballer
• May 25 – Cameron van der Burgh, South African swimmer
• May 27 – Joel Selwood, Australian rules footballer
• May 27 – Scott McGregor, English musician
• May 28 – Cheng Fei, Chinese gymnast
• May 28 – Meisa Kuroki, Japanese actress
• May 29 – Steve Mason , Canadian hockey player

June

• June 1 – Nami Tamaki, Japanese singer
• June 2 – Sergio Agüero, Argentine footballer
• June 2 – Ayaka Saito, Japanese voice actor
• June 7 – Milan Lučić, Canadian ice Hockey Player
• June 7 – Michael Cera, Canadian actor
• June 7 – Godwin Antwi, Ghana footballer
• June 9 – Mae Whitman, American actress
• June 11 – Gakky, Japanese model/actress
• June 17 – Andrew Ogilvy, Australian basketball player
• June 17 – Stephanie Rice, Australian swimmer
• June 20 – Shefali Chowdhury, British actress
• June 21 – Allyssa DeHaan, American basketball player
• June 21 – Alejandro Ramirez, Costa Rica chess player
• June 21 – Thaddeus Young, American basketball player
• June 22 – Kieran Lee, English footballer
• June 23 – Isabella Leong, Hong Kong singer, actress and model
• June 23 – Chellsie Memmel, American gymnast
• June 24 – Micah Richards, English footballere
• June 24 – Nichkhun Horvejkul, Thai-Chinese singer active in Korea (2PM)
• June 25 – Amanda Dowler, British murder victim
• June 26 – Amanda and Sam Marchant, 2007 UK Big Brother contestants
• June 27 – Kate Ziegler, American swimmer
• June 28 – Lacey Schwimmer, American ballroom dancer
• June 30 – Sean Marquette, American actor

July

• July 1 – Evan Ellingson, American actor
• July 1 – Joseph Groarke, British taekwondo expert
• July 4 – Angelique Boyer, Mexican actress
• July 6 – Sarah Barrable-Tishauer, Canadian actress
• July 8 – Miguel Roque Farrero, Spanish footballer
• July 12 – Melissa O'Neil, Canadian Idol winner, season 3
• July 12 – Inbee Park, South Korean golfer
• July 17 – Summer Bishil, American actress
• July 20 – Julianne Hough, American ballroom dancer; actress; singer
• July 22 – Constantin, Prince of Nassau
• July 23 – Paul Anderson, English footballer
• July 25 – Heather Marks, Canadian model
• July 25 – Anthony Stokes, Irish footballer
• July 28 – Ayla Brown, American singer and basketball player
• July 30 – Lara Jean Marshall, actress and recording artist

August

• August 4 – Monette Russo, Australian gymnast
• August 5 – Fleur Maxwell, Luxembourg figure skater
• August 5 – Federica Pellegrini, Italian swimmer
• August 6 – Andrew Lane, American Politician
• August 7 – Chris "Beanie" Wells, American football player
• August 8 – Princess Beatrice of York
• August 8 – Flavia Bujor, French writer
• August 8 – Jake Goldsbie, Canadian actor
• August 8 – Jeff Weise, American murderer (d. 2005)
• August 11 – Patrick Mills, Australian basketball player
• August 12 – Jose Tabata, Venezuelan baseball player
• August 12 – Leah Pipes, American actress
• August 13 – Ryan Villopoto, American Motocross Racer
• August 16 – Ismaïl Aissati, Morrocan footballer
• August 16 – Rumer Willis, American actress
• August 17 – Belal Mansoor Ali, Kenyan runner
• August 17 – Brady Corbet, American actor
• August 17 – Erika Toda, Japanese actress
• August 18 – G-Dragon, Leader of Korean band, Big Bang
• August 18 – Jack Hobbs, English footballer
• August 19 – Travis Tedford, American actor
• August 24 – Rupert Grint, English actor
• August 25 – Angela Park, Brazilian golfer
• August 25 – Alexandra Burke, English singer
• August 25 – Raymond Quinn, English singer and actor
• August 26 – Princess Maria Laura, Archduchess of Austria-Este
• August 26 – Evan Ross, American actor
• August 27 – Alexa Vega, American actress
• August 28 – Ray Jones, English football player (d. 2007)
• August 30 – Laura Põldvere, Estonian singer

September

• September 5 – Nuri Şahin, Turkish footballer
• September 9 – Sana Saeed, Indian actress
• September 10 – Jordan Staal, Canadian hockey player
• September 11 – Angie Diaz, Australian actress
• September 15 – Chelsea Staub, American actress and singer
• September 16 – Teddy Geiger, American singer
• September 16 – Tempest Smith, American religious discrimination victim (d. 2001)
• September 17 – Candice Swanepoel, South African model
• September 18 – Annette Obrestad, Norwegian poker player
• September 19 – Katie Bowden, American actress
• September 20 – Aura Andreea Munteanu, Romanian gymnast
• September 22 – Bethany Dillon, Christian contemporary music singer/songwriter & Qwanell Mosley, American R&B singer (member of the group Day26)
• September 23 – Bryan Hearne, American actor and rapper
• September 23 – Juan Martin del Potro, Argentine tennis player
• September 24 – Kyle Sullivan, American actor
• September 29 – Kevin Durant, American basketball player

October

• October 1 – Luca Caputi, Canadian ice hockey player
• October 1 – Cariba Heine, Australian actress and performer
• October 3 – Tadhg Kelly, American actor
• October 4 – Derrick Rose, American Basketball Player
• October 5 – Bobby Edner, American actor
• October 5 – Meagen Nay, Australian Olympic Swimmer
• October 6 – Maki Horikita, Japanese actress
• October 7 – Stacy DuPree, American musician
• October 7 – Geneva Locke, Canadian actress
• October 12 – Jack O'Donnell, Irish comic
• October 13 – Scott Jamieson, Australian footballer
• October 14 – Max Thieriot, American actor
• October 15 – Aleksandra Szutenberg, Polish gymnast
• October 19 – Carly Janiga, American gymnast
• October 20 – Adam Butcher, Canadian actor
• October 20 – Risa Niigaki, Japanese singer
• October 25 – Mandi Lampi, Finnish singer and actress (d. 2008)
• October 25 – Kaz Patafta, Australian footballer
• October 28 – Devon Murray, Irish actor
• October 30 – Scott Dyleski, American murderer

November

• November 1 – Ai Fukuhara, Japanese table tennis player
• November 1 – Masahiro Tanaka, Japanese baseball player
• November 2 – Lindze Letherman, American actress
• November 5 – Enchong Dee, Filipino actor
• November 6 – Emma Stone, American actress
• November 7 – Georg Margreitter, Austrian footballer
• November 8 – Tajima Honami, Japanese actress
• November 9 – Nikki Blonsky, American actress and singer
• November 11 – Alexandra Kyle, American actress
• November 13 – Stephen Pollard, American musician
• November 15 – Zena Grey, American actress
• November 15 – Nikolas Besagno, American footballer
• November 19 – Patrick Kane, American professional hockey player
• November 23 – Esmée Denters, Dutch singer-songwriter
• November 26 – Yumi Kobayashi, Japanese model
• November 28 – Scarlett Pomers, American actress

December

• December 1 – Ashley Monique Clark, actress
• December 2 – Alfred Enoch, British actor
• December 2 – Edward Windsor, Lord Downpatrick
• December 3 – Kevin Alexander Clark, American actor and drummer
• December 4 – Lisa Ingildeeva, Russian gymnast
• December 5 – Ross Bagley, American actor
• December 7 – Emily Browning, Australian actress
• December 14 – Nicolas Batum, French basketball player
• December 14 – Vanessa Hudgens, American actress and singer
• December 14 – Hayato Sakamoto, Japanese baseball player
• December 15 – Ilona Senderek, Polish figure skater
• December 15 – Emily Head, English actress
• December 16 – Anna Popplewell, English actress
• December 16 – Jacob Lensky, Canadian footballer
• December 19 – Victoria Ribeiro, British heir
• December 22 – Eddy Vilard, Mexican actor
• December 23 – Eri Kamei, Japanese singer
• December 24 – Piyush Chawla, Indian cricketer
• December 27 – Hayley Williams, American singer (Paramore)
• December 29 – Ágnes Szávay, Hungarian tennis player

Unknown dates

• Delanie Fitzpatrick, American actress
• Ateqeh Rajabi, Iranian teenage offender (executed 2004)
• Laura Ross, American chess player
• Everlyn Sampi, Australian actor
• 20Q, Artificial intelligence

For musicians born in 1988, see 1988 in music.

Deaths

January–February

• January 1 – Margot Bryant, British actress (b. 1897)
• January 2 – Edmund Brisco Ford, British geneticist (b. 1901)
• January 5 – Pete Maravich, American basketball player (b. 1947)
• January 6 – L. P. Davies, English novelist (b. 1914)
• January 7 – Trevor Howard, British actor (b. 1913)
• January 11 – Pappy Boyington, American pilot (b. 1912)
• January 12 – Hiram Bingham IV, American diplomat (b. 1903)
• January 13 – Chiang Ching-kuo, President of the Republic of China (b. 1910)
• January 14 – Georgi Malenkov, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party (b. 1902)
• January 15 – Seán MacBride, Irish Republican Army leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1904)
• January 16 – Ballard Berkeley, British actor (b. 1904)
• January 20 – Philippe de Rothschild, French vineyard owner (b. 1902)
• January 22 – Parker Fennelly, American comedian and actor (b. 1891)
• January 25 – Colleen Moore, American actress (b. 1900)
• January 28 – Klaus Fuchs, German-born physicist and spy (b. 1911)
• February 1 – Heather O'Rourke, American actress (b. 1975)
• February 3 – Robert Duncan, American poet (b. 1919)
• February 5 – Emeric Pressburger, Hungarian-British film producer (b. 1902)
• February 11 – Marion Crawford, English nanny for Princess Elizabeth (b. 1909)
• February 13 – Ron Embleton, British comics artist and illustrator (b. 1930)
• February 13 – Léon Goossens. British oboist (b. 1897)
• February 14 – Frederick Loewe, Austrian-American composer (b. 1901)
• February 15 – Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
• February 19 – René Char, French poet (b. 1907)
• February 19 – André Frédéric Cournand, French-born physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1895)
• February 25 – Kurt Mahler, German born Australian mathematician (b. 1903)

March–April

• March 1 – Joe Besser, American actor and comedian (b. 1907)
• March 3 – Lois Wilson, American actress (b. 1894)
• March 5 – Alberto Olmedo, Argentine comedian and actor (b. 1933)
• March 7 – Divine, American actor (b. 1945)
• March 7 – Edmund Berkeley, American scientist (b. 1909)
• March 7 – Robert Livingston, American actor (b. 1904)
• March 8 – Werner Hartmann, German physicist (b. 1912)
• March 8 – Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (b. 1918)
• March 9 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, third Chancellor of Germany (b. 1904)
• March 10 – Glenn Cunningham, American Olympic athlete (b. 1909)
• March 10 – Andy Gibb, British singer (b. 1958)
• March 13 – Olive Carey, American actress (b. 1896)
• March 13 – John Holmes, American pornographic actor (b. 1944)
• March 20 – Gil Evans, American jazz pianist (b. 1912)
• March 20 – Ralph Wright, Writer and American actor (b. 1908)
• March 22 – Lester Rawlins, American stage and screen director (b. 1924)
• March 25 – Robert Joffrey, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1930)
• March 31 – Sir William McMahon, twentieth Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908)
• April 1 – Jim Jordan, radio show, classic old time radio (b. 1896)
• April 3 – Milt Caniff, American cartoonist (b. 1907)
• April 6 – John Clements, British actor (b. 1910)
• April 11 – Hermann Graf, German fighter ace (d. 1912)
• April 11 – Jesse L. Lasky, Jr., American screenwriter (b. 1910)
• April 12 – Harry McShane, Scottish socialist (b. 1891)
• April 12 – Alan Paton, South African author (b. 1903)
• April 15 – Kenneth Williams, British actor and raconteur (b. 1926)
• April 17 – Louise Nevelson, Ukrainian-born American sculptor (b. 1900)
• April 17 – Eva Novak, American actress (b. 1898)
• April 18 – Pierre Desproges, French humorist (b. 1939)
• April 21 – I.A.L. Diamond, American screenwriter (b. 1920)
• April 22 – Irene Rich, American actress (b. 1891)
• April 23 – Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1904)
• April 26 – James McCracken, American tenor (b. 1926)
• April 26 – Valerie Solanas, American author (b. 1936)
• April 27 – David Scarboro, British actor (b. 1968)

May–June

• May 3 – Lev Semenovich Pontryagin, Russian mathematician (b. 1908)
• May 5 – George Rose, English actor (b. 1920)
• May 8 – Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction author (b. 1907)
• May 10 – Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (b. 1902)
• May 10 – Ciaran Bourke, member of The Dubliners (b. 1935)
• May 11 – Kim Philby, British spy (b. 1912)
• May 12 – Chet Baker, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1929)
• May 14 – Willem Drees, Dutch Politician, Prime Minister and Centenarian (b. 1886)
• May 15 – Andrew Duggan, American actor (b. 1923)
• May 15 – Greta Nissen, Norwegian-born actress (b. 1905)
• May 16 – Charles Keeping, British illustrator (b. 1924)
• May 18 – Daws Butler, voice actor (b. 1916)
• May 21 – Sammy Davis, Sr., American dancer (b. 1900)
• May 23 – Aya Kitō, Japanese Writer (b. 1962)
• May 25 – Ernst Ruska, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• May 27 – Florida Friebus, American actor (b. 1909)
• May 30 – Ella Raines, American actress (b. 1920)
• June 8 – Eli Mintz, American actor (b. 1904)
• June 10 – Louis L'Amour, American writer (b. 1908)
• June 16 – Kim Milford, American actor and singer (b. 1951)
• June 18 – Wilford Leach, American theater director (b. 1929)
• June 22 – Dennis Day, Irish-American singer and radio and television personality (b. 1916)
• June 25 – Hillel Slovak, Israeli-born guitarist (Red Hot Chili Peppers) (b. 1962)

July–August

• July 3 – Gabriel Dell, American actor (b. 1919)
• July 4 – Adrian Adonis, American wrestler (b. 1954)
• July 8 – Ray Barbuti, American athlete (b. 1905)
• July 12 – Joshua Logan, American stage and film director (b. 1908)
• July 17 – Bruiser Brody, American professional wrestler (b. 1946)
• July 18 – Nico, singer-songwriter, fashion model, actress and Warhol socialite (b. 1938)
• July 21 – Jack Clark, American television personality and game show host (b. 1921)
• July 25 – Judith Barsi, American child actress (b. 1978)
• July 27 – Frank Zamboni, American inventor (b. 1901)
• July 31 – Trinidad Silva, American actor (b. 1950)
• August 1 – Florence Eldridge, American actress (b. 1901)
• August 2 – Raymond Carver, American short-story writer & poet (b. 1938)
• August 5 – Colin Higgins, American film director (b. 1941)
• August 5 – Ralph Meeker, American actor (b. 1920)
• August 8 – Félix Leclerc, French-Canadian poet & singer (b. 1914)
• August 8 – Alan Napier, American actor (b. 1903)
• August 9 – Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (b. 1905)
• August 9 – Ramon Valdez, Mexican actor (b. 1923)
• August 10 – Adela Rogers St. Johns, American journalist and screenwriter (b. 1893)
• August 11 – Anne Ramsey, American actress (b. 1929)
• August 12 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, American musician/graffiti painter (b. 1960)
• August 14 – Enzo Ferrari, Italian car maker (b. 1898)
• August 17 – Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1914)
• August 17 – Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, leader of Pakistan (b. 1924)
• August 21 – Ray Eames, American artist, designer, and filmmaker (b. 1912)
• August 24 – Leonard Frey, American actor (b. 1938)
• August 27 – William Sargant, British psychiatrist (b. 1907)
• August 27 – Mario Montenegro, Filipino actor (b. 1928)
• August 28 – Hazel Dawn, American actress (b. 1891)

September–October

• September 1 – Luis Walter Alvarez, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
• September 5 – Gert Fröbe, German actor (b. 1913)
• September 6 – Harold Rosson, American cinematographer (b. 1895)
• September 12 – Roger Hargreaves, author of the Mr. Men series (b. 1935)
• September 16 – Dick Pym, English footballer (b. 1893)
• September 18 – Mohammad-Hossein Shahriar, Iranian Azari poet (b. 1906)
• September 20 – Roy Kinnear, British actor (b. 1934)
• September 21 – Glenn Robert Davis, member of United States Congress (b. 1914)
• September 21 – Henry Koster, German-born film director (b. 1905)
• September 28 – Charles Addams, American cartoonist (b. 1912)
• September 28 – Ethel Grandin, American actress (b. 1894)
• October 1 – Lucien Ballard, American cinematographer (b. 1908)
• October 1 – Sacheverell Sitwell, English writer (b. 1897)
• October 7 – Billy Daniels, American singer (b. 1915)
• October 9 – Jackie Milburn, English footballer (b. 1924)
• October 11 – Wayland Flowers, American puppeteer (b. 1939)
• October 11 – Bonita Granville, American actress (b. 1923)
• October 12 – Ken Murray, American actor (b. 1903)
• October 12 – Ruth Manning-Sanders, British children's author (b. 1895)
• October 13 – Melvin Frank, American screenwriter and director (b. 1913)
• October 15 – Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, English composer and pianist (b. 1892)
• October 18 – Frederick Ashton, English dancer and choreographer (b. 1904)
• October 19 – Son House, American musician (b. 1902)
• October 22 – Henry Armstrong, American boxer (b. 1912)
• October 27 – Charles Hawtrey, English actor (b. 1914)
• October 31 – John Houseman, Romanian-born actor and producer (b. 1902)

November–December

• November 1 – George J. Folsey, American cinematographer (b. 1898)
• November 9 – John N. Mitchell, U.S. Attorney General and convicted Watergate criminal (b. 1913)
• November 11 – William Ifor Jones, Welsh conductor & organist (b. 1900)
• November 12 – Vet Boswell, American singer (b. 1911)
• November 12 – Lyman Lemnitzer, American Army General (b. 1899)
• November 13 – Antal Dorati, Hungarian conductor (b. 1906)
• November 15 – Mona Washbourne, British actress (b. 1903)
• November 17 – Sheilah Graham, English-born gossip columnist (b. 1904)
• November 19 – Christina Onassis, American shipping magnate (b. 1950)
• November 21 – Carl Hubbell, American baseball player (b. 1903)
• November 22 – Luis Barragán, Mexican architect (b. 1902)
• November 27 – John Carradine, American actor (b. 1906)
• December 2 – Tata Giacobetti, Italian singer and lyricist (Quartetto Cetra) (b. 1922)
• December 4 – Osman Achmatowicz, Polish chemist (b. 1899)
• December 6 – Roy Orbison, American singer (b. 1936)
• December 6 – Timothy Patrick Murphy, American actor (b. 1959)
• December 10 – Richard S. Castellano, American actor (b. 1933)
• December 16 – Sylvester, American R&B singer, disco performer (b. 1948)
• December 21 – Bob Steele, American actor (b. 1907)
• December 21 – Nikolaas Tinbergen, Dutch ornithologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1907)
• December 22 – Francisco Alves Mendes Filho, aka Chico Mendes, Brazilian environmental activist, fought the logging of the Amazon, assassinated (b. 1944)
• December 26 – John Loder, English actor (b. 1898)
• December 26 – Glenn McCarthy, American oil tycoon and businessman (b. 1907)
• December 27 – Hal Ashby, American film director (b. 1929)
• December 27 – Jess Oppenheimer, American radio and television producer (b. 1913)
• December 30 – Isamu Noguchi, Japanese-American artist (b. 1904)

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz, Jack Steinberger
• Chemistry – Johann Deisenhofer, Robert Huber, Hartmut Michel
• Medicine – Sir James W. Black, Gertrude B. Elion, George H. Hitchings
• Literature – Naguib Mahfouz
• Peace – The United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces.
• The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel – Maurice Allais

Templeton Prize

• Inamullah Khan

Right Livelihood Award

• International Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims / Dr. Inge Kemp Genefke
• José Lutzenberger
• John F. Charlewood Turner
• Sahabat Alam Malaysia / Mohamed Idris, Harrison Ngau, the Penan people.

See also

• 20th century

Notes

1. Kraft Accepts $13B Buyout by Philip Morris The Boston Globe. Accessed 2009-03-17. Archived 2009-05-08.