On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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LEAD: The Chrysler Corporation, which has been accused of misleading workers at its plant in Kenosha, Wis., annnounced today that it would establish a trust fund of about $20 million to assist workers after the plant is largely closed later this year.
LEAD: Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, said today that important features of the economy seemed stable, if not particularly strong. Economists said his remarks implied that the Fed wanted interest rates and the dollar to stay where they are.
LEAD: In the pairs figure skating competition at the XV Olympic Winter Games, the Soviet Union, led by Yekaterina Gordeyeva and Sergei Grinkov, won the gold and silver medals.
LEAD: These are trying times for American gourmands in Paris, what with the dollar as deflated as a punctured souffle and local prices steadily climbing. A three-course meal with wine in an average Parisian restaurant easily tops $40 a person; it's considerably more if you are picky about wine. A bottle of decent Beaujolais, for example, can run $20 or more, and the price of a better Bordeaux is downright scary, often 25 percent or more over New
LEAD: Cuomo administration officials said today that they had abandoned for now their efforts to give the New York City Mayor more direct control over the city's Board of Education.
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of February 17, 1988, covering February 17, 1988.
George Michael
Soundtrack
Tiffany
INXS
Michael Jackson
1988Michael Frolík, Czech ice hockey player[†]
Michael Frolík is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger for Rytíři Kladno in the Czech Extraliga.
1988Case Keenum, American football player[†]
Casey Austin Keenum is an American professional football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Houston Cougars, where he became the NCAA's all-time leader in total passing yards, touchdowns, and completions. In the 2008 college football season, Keenum ranked first nationally in total offense and second in total passing yards.
1988Vasyl Lomachenko, Ukrainian boxer[†]
Vasiliy Anatolyevich Lomachenko is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed between 2013 and 2024. He has held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight title from 2014 to 2016, the WBO junior welterweight title from 2016 to 2018, the unified World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), WBO, and Ring magazine lightweight titles from 2018 to 2020, and the International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight title from 2024 to 2025.
1988John M. Allegro, English archaeologist and scholar (born 1923)[†]
John Marco Allegro was an English archaeologist and Dead Sea Scrolls scholar. He was a populariser of the Dead Sea Scrolls through his books and radio broadcasts. He was the editor of some of the most famous and controversial scrolls published, the pesharim. A number of Allegro's later books, including The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross, brought him both popular fame and notoriety, and also complicated his career.
1988Karpoori Thakur, Indian educator and politician, 11th Chief Minister of Bihar (born 1924)[†]
Karpoori Thakur was an Indian politician who served two terms as the 11th Chief Minister of Bihar, first from December 1970 to June 1971, and then from June 1977 to April 1979. He was popularly known as Jan Nayak. On 26 January 2024, he was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, by the Government of India. This was announced by the President of India Draupadi Murmu on 23 January 2024.
In 1988, the world population was approximately 5,141,992,542 people[†]