Timeline December 1988

Events in December 1988 12

• 1936 – 1988 Roy Orbison (1936-1988) Died 6 December 1988, aged 52 Roy Orbison was an American singer-songwriter known for hits including "Oh, Pretty Woman" and "Crying" and his distinctive operatic voice. He enjoyed a career revival in 1988 as a member of the Traveling Wilburys and with his album Mystery Girl. He died of a heart attack shortly before the album's release.
• 1982 – 1988 Rise Through the Ranks Rose through Toyota's management hierarchy, gaining a reputation for cost-cutting prowess and quick decision-making. Spent time in Toyota's overseas operations, developing his understanding of global markets.
• 1988 1988: Ayrton Senna McLaren Brazilian Senna won his first title in one of the most dominant cars in F1 history, the McLaren MP4/4 designed by Gordon Murray, which won 15 of 16 races. His rivalry with teammate Prost defined an era.
• 1988 Lasker Award and Horwitz Prize Received two of the most prestigious awards in biomedical research: the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University, both for his discovery of RNA splicing.
• 1988 Rasta and Us an Dem Published Rasta and his album Us an Dem, blending poetry with music and bringing dub poetry to mainstream attention.
• 1988 Record-Breaking Concert in Rio Performed to 180,000 people in Rio de Janeiro, one of the largest concert audiences for any solo performer in history.
• 1988 – 1991 James Brown in prison Car chase Serves two years after a car chase across Georgia and South Carolina.
• 1988 KKR wins leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco $25 billion deal becomes largest LBO in history Kohlberg Kravis Roberts won a bidding war to acquire RJR Nabisco for roughly $25 billion, the largest leveraged buyout to that date. The deal became emblematic of 1980s Wall Street excess and was chronicled in the book Barbarians at the Gate. It stood as the largest LBO in history for nearly two decades.
• 1988 Benazir Bhutto becomes Prime Minister of Pakistan First woman to lead a modern Muslim-majority country Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan after her Pakistan Peoples Party won parliamentary elections following the death of Zia-ul-Haq. She was the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority nation in modern history.
• 1988 Roy Orbison dies Hendersonville, Tennessee Dies of a heart attack, aged 52.
• 1988 Armenian earthquake devastates Spitak and Leninakan Magnitude 6.8 quake kills tens of thousands A powerful earthquake struck northern Armenia, then part of the Soviet Union, destroying the city of Spitak and badly damaging Leninakan. An estimated 25,000 to 50,000 people were killed. The disaster prompted an unprecedented opening of Soviet borders to international aid.
• 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie Terrorist bombing kills 270 people A bomb concealed in luggage destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground. The attack was later linked to Libyan intelligence agents. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in British history.