WHAT ALL HAPPENED FEBRUARY TO JULY 1988
Find out what all happened February to July 1988

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

Soviet war in Afghanistan: After more than eight years of fighting, the Red Army begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan. (15. May 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)

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

Near Maui, Hawaii, flight attendant Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing is blown out of Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737, and falls to her death when part of the plane's fuselage rips open in mid-flight. (28. April 1988)

United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard. (3. July 1988)

The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus. (3. July 1988)

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

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

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 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)

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

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)

The Ojhri Camp disaster: Killing more than 1,000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad as a result of rockets and other munitions expelled by the blast. (10. April 1988)

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

The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of space shuttle fuel detonate during a fire. (4. May 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)