March 16, 1988

1988Jhené Aiko, American singer-songwriter and rapper^[†]

Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo is an American R&B singer and rapper. Aiko embarked on her musical career in 2002, as a backing vocalist and music video performer for the R&B group B2K. She was signed by their record label, The Ultimate Group that same year and was marketed as the "cousin" of B2K member Lil' Fizz to cultivate her own following, although they are not related. Her debut album, slated for a 2003 release through the label with Epic Records, was shelved due to Aiko instead further pursuing her education.

1988Jessica Gregg, Canadian speed skater^[†]

Jessica Gregg is a former Canadian short track speed skater.

1988Patrick Herrmann, German footballer^[†]

Patrick Herrmann is a German professional former footballer.

1988Agustín Marchesín, Argentinian footballer^[†]

Agustín Federico Marchesín is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors.

1988Jigger Statz, American baseball player (born 1897)^[†]

Arnold John "Jigger" Statz was an American professional baseball player, manager and scout. An outfielder, Statz appeared in 683 games played in Major League Baseball, but had a lengthy and notable minor league career, playing in almost 2,800 games. He is one of only nine players known to have amassed at least 4,000 combined hits in the major and minor leagues. The native of Waukegan, Illinois, threw and batted right-handed, and was listed as 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) tall and 150 pounds (68 kg).

1988Mickey Thompson, American race car driver (born 1928)^[†]

Marion Lee "Mickey" Thompson was an American auto racing builder and promoter.

1988Iran–Contra affair: Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North and Vice Admiral John Poindexter are indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.^[†]

The Iran–Contra affair, also referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the Iran Initiative, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that centered on arms trafficking to Iran between 1981 and 1986, facilitated by senior officials of the Ronald Reagan administration. As Iran was subject to an arms embargo at the time of the scandal, the sale of arms was deemed illegal. The administration hoped to use the proceeds of the arms sale to fund the Contras, an anti-Sandinista rebel group in Nicaragua. Under the Boland Amendment, passed by Congress in a 411-0 vote and signed into law by Reagan, further funding of the Contras by legislative appropriations was prohibited by Congress, but the Reagan administration continued funding them secretively using non-appropriated funds.

1988Halabja chemical attack: The Kurdish town of Halabja in Iraq is attacked with a mix of poison gas and nerve agents on the orders of Saddam Hussein, killing 5,000 people and injuring about 10,000 people.^[†]

The Halabja massacre took place in Iraqi Kurdistan on 16 March 1988, when thousands of Kurds were killed by a large-scale Iraqi chemical attack. A targeted attack in Halabja, it was carried out during the Anfal campaign, which was led by Iraqi military officer Ali Hassan al-Majid. Two days before the attack, the city had been captured by Iran as part of Operation Zafar 7 of the Iran–Iraq War. Following the incident, the United Nations launched an investigation and concluded that mustard gas as well as unidentified nerve agents had been used against Kurdish civilians. The United States Defense Intelligence Agency initially blamed Iran for the attack, though the majority of evidence later revealed that Iraq had used the chemical weapons to bolster an ongoing military offensive against Iran, pro-Iranian Kurdish fighters, and ordinary Halabja residents.