On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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LEAD: Although everyone went home empty-handed from a weeklong conference here to promote freer trade, global bargaining has begun that could mean more open markets in future years.
LEAD: In the first significant modification of the industry's recent round of fare increases, United Airlines Inc. on Saturday resumed offering a seven-day advance-purchase discount fare.But the new fares are significantly higher than the discount fares that were offered before the increases took effect last month.
LEAD: The St. Petersburg Times, one of the most independent and aggressive newspapers in the country, should be savoring its successes this year against its cross-bay rival, The Tampa Tribune, and congratulating itself on a move into a stylish new headquarters.
LEAD: In the midst of a huge international earthquake-rescue effort, the ethnic grievances of Soviet Armenians burst out anew today.
LEAD: In an imposing pink baroque building in the center of Munich, Europe's biggest electronics company has been hatching global plans that include making deeper inroads into the all-important American market.
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of December 7, 1988, covering December 12, 1988.
U2
Anita Baker
Soundtrack
Guns N' Roses
Bon Jovi
1988Isaac John, New Zealand rugby league player[†]
Isaac John is a former New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who previously played for the Mount Pritchard Mounties in the Intrust Super Premiership. A Cook Islands and New Zealand international representative, he played as a five-eighth and halfback and previously played for the New Zealand Warriors and Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League, and the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in the Super League.
1988Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, Israeli Olympic marathon runner[†]
Lonah Korlima Chemtai Salpeter is an Israeli Olympic runner. Born in Kenya, she represents Israel internationally. She won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. At the European Athletics Championships in the 10,000 metres, Salpeter won the gold medal in 2018, and earned a bronze medal in 2022. She won the 2020 Tokyo Marathon, won the silver medal at the 2022 New York City Marathon, and finished third at the 2023 Boston Marathon.
1988The Clapham Junction rail crash kills thirty-five and injures hundreds after two collisions of three commuter trains—one of the worst train crashes in the United Kingdom.[†]
The Clapham Junction rail crash occurred on the morning of 12 December 1988, when a crowded British Rail passenger train crashed into the rear of another train that had stopped at a signal just south of Clapham Junction railway station in London, England, and subsequently sideswiped an empty train travelling in the opposite direction. A total of 35 people died in the collision, while 484 were injured.
In 1988, the world population was approximately 5,141,992,542 people[†]