1988 in history
Here are some light-hearted facts about 1988, designed to serve as a prep sheet for a radio feature on 1988.
I created this page because when I needed some notes to create a few talking points about 1988 in Ireland I couldn't find any suitable sources, so I thought I'd share what I did find. It applies to 1988 in Britain too.
You can also look at years other than 1988:
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1988
Pubs in England and Wales were allowed to stay open all day thanks to new licensing laws.
Double denim was the fashion trend, with badges sown on jackets.
Activists protesting LGBT legislation invaded the BBC News studio, as the evening news was going live. Nicholas Witchell sat on one of the protesters to allow Sue Lawley to read the headlines - good for audio
The Sunday Sport published their notorious headline "World War 2 Bomber Found On Moon". A few weeks later they published another one, "World War 2 Bomber Found On Moon Vanishes".
The Olympic Games were held in Seoul. Table Tennis was played for the first time.
119,986 people set a world record for the largest conga line, dancing to Gloria Estefan's song.
Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday party took place at Wembley Stadium, London, with Eurythmics, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder and Phil Collins. It was broadcast to around a billion people across 40 countries.
The Bank of England £1 note ceased to be legal tender.
Dublin celebrated its 1,000th birthday as a city. Jonathan Swift's 'Gulliver' visited Dublin for the city's millennium celebrations. The statue of Molly Malone was unveiled in Grafton Street, Michael Smurfit unveiled the Anna Livia fountain on O'Connell Street, and special milk bottles were produced.
Irishman Noel Duffy invented the 50cc motorised bar stool.
1988 Launches
Never Going To Give You Up was a big hit - it later gave way to 'Rick Rolling'.
The domain .ie became the country code for Irish websites.
Roald Dahl's Matilda was published.
Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time was published.
1988 in Film
Who Framed Roger Rabbit was the biggest film of the year.
Other big films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Big, Crocodile Dundee II, Die Hard and Beetlejuice.
A Fish Called Wanda, Cocktail and Beaches were also released.
1988 in TV
Big TV shows of the year (not premiers): Bread, Last of the Summer Wine, Allo Allo, Family Ties and Cheers.
The Wonder Years, Minder, Garfield, Roseanne, The Wonder Years and Red Dwarf were shown on TV.
This Morning was shown for the first time, with Richard and Judy. Critics said it wouldn't last until Christmas.
Pat Kenny and Michelle Rocca hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin with a then-unknown Celine Dion winning for Switzerland by one point.
Long-running British programme Countryfile began in this year.
Comedy series Nighthawks was first broadcast on the newly-renamed RTÉ Network 2.
While these facts about 1988 have been checked against third-party sources (and have been used on air before!), they are provided in good faith to inspire your research and no guarantee is made about their accuracy or their uniqueness. You can use the facts however you wish: most people just take a couple of points they remember and talk around then.
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