- Dec 1 596 dead after cyclone hits Bangladesh, half a million homeless
Benazir Bhutto
Dec 1 Benazir Bhutto named Prime Minister of Pakistan, the 1st female leader of a Muslim country
- Dec 1 Chinese minister of Foreign affairs Qian Qichen visits Moscow
- Dec 1 First World AIDS day to raise awareness of the AIDS global epidemic
- Dec 1 NBC bids a record $401 million to capture television broadcasting rights for the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games
Roy Orbison
Dec 1 Roy Orbison gives his final concert at The Front Row Theater in Cleveland, Ohio
- Dec 2 "Naked Gun" movie based on TV's "Police Squad" premieres
- Dec 2 5 gunmen who hijacked Soviet Aeroflot jet surrender in Israel
- Dec 2 ESPN airs its 10,000th edition of 'Sports Center', making it the most televised cable program in history
- Dec 2 STS-27 Atlantis launched (Secret military mission)
- Dec 2 UN votes 151-2 (Israel and US) to move PLO debate to Geneva, Great Britain abstains
- Dec 3 54th Heisman Trophy Award: Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State (RB)
- Dec 3 NY Lotto pays $45 million to twelve winner (#s are 1-8-13-18-28-48)
- Dec 4 Actor Gary Busey critically injured in motorcycle crash
- Dec 4 Edmonton center Jimmy Carson becomes just the third player to score 6 NHL hat tricks before the age of 21 in the Oilers 10-6 win over the New York Rangers
Eddie Murray
Dec 4 Orioles trade veteran 1B Eddie Murray to the Dodgers
- Dec 4 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
Becker's 1st ATP
Dec 5 Boris Becker beats defending champion Ivan Lendl 5–7, 7–6, 3–6, 6–2, 7–6 in a classic final to win his first of 3 ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis titles at Madison Square Garden, NYC
Jim Bakker Indicted
Dec 5 Federal grand jury indicts The PTL Club founder and Christian evangelist Jim Bakker for fraud after he paid hush money to cover up an alleged rape
- Dec 5 Shuttle Atlantis launches world's 1st nuclear-war-fighting satellite
- Dec 6 Agnes Neil Williams purchases Baltimore Orioles for $70 million Eli Jacobs becomes CEO of Baltimore Orioles
- Dec 6 Carlos Andres Perez re-elected president of Venezuela
- Dec 6 Merv Hughes takes 13 wickets v WI at the WACA but Australia lose
- Dec 6 Milwaukee Bucks win their 1,000th NBA game (2nd fastest)
Mandela Enters Capetown Prison
Dec 6 Nelson Mandela is transferred to Victor Vester Prison, Capetown
- Dec 6 STS-27 Atlantis lands in California after secret mission
Arafat Meets US Jews
Dec 6 Yasser Arafat meets prominent American Jews in Stockholm, Sweden
- Dec 7 6.9 earthquake in Spitak, Armenia kills 25,000-50,000 people and leaves up to 500,000 homeless
- Dec 7 American visual artist Chuck Close (48) suffers a spinal artery collapse leaving him paralyzed from the neck down
- Dec 7 Mikhail Gorbachev cheered by Wall St crowds upon arrival in NYC
Texas Rangers Sign Ryan
Dec 7 MLB Texas Rangers sign free-agent pitcher Nolan Ryan to a one-year contract
- Dec 7 PLO delegation lead by Yasser Arafat proclaims the State of Palestine, recognizing the existence of the State of Israel for the first time
- Dec 8 Knick's set NBA record of 11 3-pointers & sink Bucks, 113-109
- Dec 9 NY Yankees sign 12-year television contract with MSG for $500M
- Dec 9 Premiere of fact based crime drama film "Mississippi Burning"
- Dec 9 The Michael Hughes Bridge in Sligo, Ireland is officially opened.
Drug Developers Awarded Nobel
Dec 10 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine presented to Gertrude B. Elion, George H. Hitchings and James W. Black "for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment"
- Dec 10 Washington Capitals 1st NHL scoreless tie, vs Montreal Canadiens
Rainman
Dec 12 "Rainman" directed by Barry Levinson and starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise premieres in New York (Best Picture 1989)
- Dec 12 3 trains collide in London, 40 die
- Dec 12 NYC Subway system adds new stations (Z line)
- Dec 12 PLO leader Yasi Arafat accepts Israel's right to exist
Tyson Sued for Sexual Harassment
Dec 12 Sandra Miller of Queens sues Mike Tyson for sexual harassment
- Dec 13 3 men end 29-hr all-466-station subway ride in NYC
- Dec 13 Yasser Arafat addresses UN in Geneva
- Dec 14 CBS' $1.1 B bid wins exclusive 1990-94 major-league baseball rights
- Dec 14 NBA's Miami Heat wins 1st game ever, 89-88 (Clippers), after 17 loses
- Dec 14 Spanish General strike to protest austerity measures
- Dec 14 US agrees to talk to Palestine Liberation Org for the 1st time in 13 yrs
- Dec 15 Lori Davis of Long Island sues Mike Tyson for grabbing her buttocks
- Dec 16 American political cult leader Lyndon LaRouche convicted of tax and mail fraud
- Dec 17 77th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Gothenburg (4-1)
- Dec 17 Bryan Murray becomes 17th NHL coach to win 300 games (Washington Capitals)
- Dec 17 NY Islanders break 12 game losing streak, beat Devils 5-2
- Dec 17 USS Tennessee, 1st sub to carry Trident 2 missiles, commissioned
- Dec 17 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Dec 18 Cricket Women's World Cup: Australia defeats England by 8 wickets
- Dec 18 Seattle Seahawks win their 1st ever division title with 9-7 record
- Dec 19 NASA unveils plans for lunar colony & manned missions to Mars
- Dec 19 Oklahoma's College football team gets 3 year probation
- Dec 19 Unexploded WW II bomb found in Frankfurt, Germany-5,000 evacuated
"Working Girl"
Dec 20 "Working Girl" premieres directed by Mike Nicols, starring Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford and Sigourney Weaver
- Dec 20 Animal rights terrorists fire-bomb Harrod's department store, London
- Dec 20 NBC signs lease to stay in NYC, 33 more years
- Dec 20 Premier Ranasinghe Premadasa elected President of Sri Lanka
- Dec 21 Drexel agrees guilt to security felonies, pays a $650 million fine
Lockerbie Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
Dec 21 Lockerbie disaster: A terrorist bomb destroys Pan Am Flight 103 mid-air, over Scotland; killing all 259 passengers and crew on board, and 11 people on the ground [1]
- Dec 21 Vladimir Titov & Musa Manarov return to earth (a year) with Chretien
- Dec 22 2 robbers wearing police uniforms rob armored truck of $3 M in NJ
- Dec 22 South Africa signs accord granting independence to South West Africa
- Dec 22 Tug hits oil barge, spreads 231,000 gal on 300 mi of WA & BC coast
- Dec 26 Anti African student rebellion in Nanjing, China
- Dec 26 Peter Allen's musical "Legs Diamond" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater, NYC; runs for 64 performances
Ballon d'Or
Dec 27 Ballon d'Or: Milan 1-2-3; Dutch striker Marco van Basten wins his 1st of 3 best football player in Europe awards ahead of Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard
- Dec 27 Bulgaria stops jamming Radio Free Europe after more than 3 decades
- Dec 28 John Tarrant, 1st Australian born Zen teacher, receives Dharma Transmission
- Dec 28 US 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirms Yonkers is guilty of racism
- Dec 28 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Dec 29 Soviet Red Army Team edges NY Islanders, 3-2 at Nassau Coliseum
- Dec 29 Toronto’s Ed Olczyk and Gary Leeman score goals just 4 seconds apart in the 3rd period, tying the NHL record for fastest 2 goals by one team; Leafs beat the Quebec Nordiques, 6-5.
- Dec 29 Victorian Post Office Museum in Australia closes
- Dec 30 Canadian Senate OK's free trade pact; with US
- Dec 30 Former Soviet President Brezhnev's son-in-law sentenced to 12-yr (bribery)
- Dec 30 Mercedes-Benz pays $20.2-M fine failed to meet '86 government fuel standard
North Subpoenas Reagan and Bush
Dec 30 Oliver North subpoenas US Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush as defense witnesses for his upcoming trial
The 1988 Fog Bowl
Dec 31 "The Fog Bowl", a heavy, dense fog rolls over Soldier Field in Chicago during second quarter of the Bears vs Eagles NFC Divisional Playoff Game, cuts visibility to 15-20 yards (Bears win 20-12)
Lemieux's Famous Five
Dec 31 Pittsburgh NHL center Mario Lemieux accounts for all his team's goals in Penguins 8-6 win over the NJ Devils; famously scores 5 goals, each in a different way: even strength, power play, shorthanded, penalty shot and empty net; also 3 assists
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