random retro-spective
Smiling but at what cost?
Paul McCartney was fined
for importing cannabis into Sweden, 1972
the retro hour: 1988
We've been through the archive and compiled everything we think you need to know about the year. To make it easier for you to find what you're looking for, everything is organised into categories.
the top stories
More than 50 nurses were on strike in Manchester over proposed cuts in
their unsociable hours payments
MPs voted for the televising of events in The Commons
Plans for Britain's biggest skyscraper in London's docklands were unveiled
Francois Mitterand was re-elected as President of France, with 54% of
the vote
Plans for the ordination of women in 1993 were published
150 people died as the oil platform Piper Alpha caught fire in the North
Sea off Wick
Postal workers were on strike with only the office in Belfast sorting
mail
America were back in space with the shuttle Discovery
Peter Wright's book Spycatcher was published after much wrangling in the
courts
George Bush was elected President of America
Junior Health Minister Edwina Currie said most of the UK's eggs were infected
with salmonella
on the chart
Michael Jackson played to a full house at Wembley, despite bad press
Alison Moyet and George Michael won the Brit awards for Best Female and
Best Male.
INXS won five MTV awards
Celine Dion won the Eurovision Song Contest for Switzerland
Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday concert was held at Wembley Stadium
Bros were mobbed by 6,000 fans on their arrival in Australia
Roy Orbison died
on the tv and at the cinema
Actor and comedian Kenneth Williams died
Broadcaster Russell Hardy died in hospital in Leeds, aged 53
Neighbours and Red Dwarf appeared for the first time
The husband and wife team of Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan joined
forces to present "This Morning" from Liverpool's Albert Dock
Children were learning how to live in the sewers courtesy of Teenage Mutant
Hero Turtles
Top programmes of 1988 were: EastEnders, Bread, Neighbours, Coronation
Street and Last of the Summer Wine
The Last Emperor took the award for Best
Picture at the Oscars. Cher was awarded Best Actress for Moonstruck. Best
Actor was Michael Douglas for Wall Street.
Phil Collins starred in (and provided some of the soundtrack for) Buster,
a different take on the Great Train Robbery.
Top films of the year were: Fatal Attraction, Crocodile Dundee II, Three
Men and a Baby, A Fish Called Wanda and Buster
sports achievements and milestones
The Olympics in Seoul were tarnished by Ben Johnson who was stripped
of his gold medal after failing a drugs test.
Steffi Graf and Stefan Edberg won Wimbledon
Alan Shearer became the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the First
Division
Liverpool lifted the Division One trophy and Wimbledon won the FA Cup.
Gary Kasparov was the World Chess Champion
Mike Gatting was sacked as England's cricket captain for irresponsible
off-field behaviour
Ayrton Senna was the Formula 1 World Champion
Sandy Lyle became the first Briton to win the US Masters
The Grand National at Aintree was won by Rhyme 'n' Reason
and finally
A Norwegian court ruled that soldiers could wear ear-rings on parade
Dave Hurst and Alan Matthews became the first blind duo to scale Mont
Blanc
New words included bum bag, desktop publishing and global warming
Students took GCSEs for the first time (they were the exams that replaced
the old-fashioned "O" levels)