WHAT ALL HAPPENED JANUARY TO APRIL 1988
Find out what all happened January to April 1988

Michael Jordan makes his signature slam dunk from the free throw line inspiring Air Jordan and the Jumpman logo. (6. February 1988)

The United States launches Operation Praying Mantis against Iranian naval forces in the largest naval battle since World War II. (18. April 1988)

Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet. (20. March 1988)

Auntie Anne's is founded by Anne F. Beiler in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (2. February 1988)

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America comes into existence, creating the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. (1. January 1988)

The Seikan Tunnel, the longest undersea tunnel in the world, opens between Aomori and Hakodate, Japan. (13. March 1988)

Halabja poison gas attack: The Kurdish town of Halabjah in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5000 people and injuring about 10000 people. (16. March 1988)

A Colombian Boeing 727 jetliner, Avianca Flight 410, crashes into a mountainside near the Venezuelan border killing 143. (17. 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)

In Israel, John Demjanuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II. (25. April 1988)

Sumgait Pogrom: The Armenian community of Sumgait in Azerbaijan was in the target of a violent pogrom. (27. February 1988)

The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast votes to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the Nagorno-Karabakh War. (20. February 1988)

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

Svend Robinson becomes the first member of the Canadian House of Commons to come out as gay. (29. February 1988)

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

In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signs an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. (14. April 1988)

The Candle demonstration in Bratislava is the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. (25. March 1988)

Lee Teng-hui becomes the first native Taiwanese President of the Republic of China. (13. January 1988)

South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is arrested along with 100 clergymen during a five-day anti-apartheid demonstration in Cape Town. (29. February 1988)