On this day
January 16, 1988
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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Headlines from January 16, 1988
U.S. TRADE DEFICIT NARROWS SHARPLY AS EXPORTS SURGE
LEAD: In a surprisingly favorable development, the United States trade deficit tumbled by 25 percent in November, to $13.2 billion, as exports surged to a record for any month.
Sakharov Meets With Gorbachev And Hands Leader a Prisoner List
LEAD: Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the most powerful symbol of authority in the Soviet Union, met in the Kremlin today with Andrei D. Sakharov, the Nobel laureate once made an outcast here for defending the rights of the individual.
Post Office Hours to Be Cut in Austerity Move
LEAD: The United States Postal Service said tonight that post offices around the country would begin to close a half-day a week to absorb budget cuts.
Jerusalem Police, Firing Tear Gas, Fight With Palestinians at Mosque
LEAD: The Israeli police, firing tear gas and wielding night sticks, fought today with stone-throwing Palestinians around the Dome of the Rock mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites.
Music on My Birthday
Billboard 200
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of January 13, 1988, covering January 16, 1988.
- 1
Faith
George Michael
- Last week
- 2
- Peak
- 1
- Weeks
- 9
- 2
Dirty Dancing
Soundtrack
- Last week
- 1
- Peak
- 1
- Weeks
- 18
- 3
Tiffany
Tiffany
- Last week
- 4
- Peak
- 3
- Weeks
- 17
- 4
Bad
Michael Jackson
- Last week
- 3
- Peak
- 1
- Weeks
- 17
- 5
Whitesnake
Whitesnake
- Last week
- 5
- Peak
- 2
- Weeks
- 40
Notable Births
1988Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer[†]
Nicklas Bendtner is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a forward. His preferred position was centre-forward, but he has also played on the right side of attack, and occasionally on the left. A large, tall, and physically strong player, he was known for his ability in the air and possessed a powerful header.

1988Jorge Torres Nilo, Mexican footballer[†]
Jorge Emmanuel Torres Nilo, also known as Pechu, is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a left-back.
1988FKA Twigs, English singer-songwriter and actress[†]
Tahliah Debrett Barnett, known professionally as FKA Twigs, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and dancer. She was a backup dancer for numerous musicians, and made her musical debut with EP1 (2012). Barnett's debut studio album, LP1 (2014), reached number 16 on the UK Albums Chart and number 30 on the US Billboard 200. It was nominated for that year's Mercury Prize. She then released the EP M3LL155X (2015).
Notable Deaths

1988Andrija Artuković, Croatian politician, war criminal, and Porajmos perpetrator, first Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia (born 1899)[†]
Andrija Artuković was a Croatian lawyer, politician, and senior member of the fascist Ustaše movement, who served as the Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Justice in the Government of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during World War II in Yugoslavia. He signed into law several racial laws against Serbs, Jews, and Roma, and was responsible for a string of concentration camps in which over 100,000 civilians were tortured and murdered. He escaped to the United States after the war, where he lived until he was extradited to Yugoslavia in 1986. He was tried and found guilty of several mass killings in the NDH and was sentenced to death, but the sentence was not carried out due to his age and health. He died in custody in 1988.
Historical Context for January 16, 1988
In 1988, the world population was approximately 5,141,992,542 people[†]