WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO AUGUST 1988
Find out what all happened January to August 1988

The Troubles: Ulster loyalist militant Michael Stone attacks a Provisional IRA funeral in Belfast with pistols and grenades. Three people are killed and more than 60 wounded. The attack was filmed by news crews. (16. March 1988)

The Chiado area in Lisbon is partially destroyed by a fire. (25. August 1988)

The Piper Alpha drilling platform in the North Sea is destroyed by explosions and fires. 167 oil workers are killed, making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster in terms of direct loss of life. (6. July 1988)

Three cars on a train carrying hexogen to Kazakhstan explode in Arzamas, Gorky Oblast, USSR, killing 91 and injuring about 1,500. (4. June 1988)

Iran–Iraq War: a ceasefire is agreed after almost eight years of war. (20. August 1988)

The USS Samuel B. Roberts strikes a mine in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will. (14. April 1988)

Manuel Noriega is indicted on drug smuggling and money laundering charges. (5. February 1988)

Governor Evan Mecham of Arizona is convicted in his impeachment trial and removed from office. (4. April 1988)

Section 28 of the United Kingdom's Local Government Act 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, is enacted. (24. May 1988)

Gare de Lyon rail accident In Paris a train collides with a stationary train killing 56 people. (27. June 1988)

General Ne Win, effective ruler of Burma since 1962, resigns after pro-democracy protests. (23. July 1988)

President of Pakistan Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and U.S. Ambassador Arnold Raphel are killed in a plane crash. (17. August 1988)

32 people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia. (31. July 1988)

The Island Express train travelling from Bangalore to Kanyakumari derails on the Peruman bridge and falls into Ashtamudi Lake, killing 105 passengers and injuring over 200 more. (8. July 1988)

Eritrean War of Independence: The Nadew Command, an Ethiopian army corps in Eritrea, is attacked on three sides by military units of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in the opening action of the Battle of Afabet. (17. March 1988)

Johnson South Reef Skirmish: Chinese forces defeat Vietnamese forces in Johnson South Reef, disputed Spratly Islands. (14. March 1988)

Three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers are killed by Special Air Service on the territory of Gibraltar in the conclusion of Operation Flavius. (6. March 1988)

The "8888 Uprising" occurs in Burma. (8. August 1988)

"Black Saturday" of the Yellowstone fire in Yellowstone National Park (20. August 1988)

Carrollton bus collision: a drunk driver traveling the wrong way on Interstate 71 near Carrollton, Kentucky, United States hits a converted school bus carrying a church youth group. 27 die in the crash and ensuing fire. (14. May 1988)