Events Date 1988 March | History by KabAstro

Mar 1 Courtney Gibbs Eplin, 21, (Texas), crowned 37th Miss USA

Sports History

Mar 1 Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky picks up a 1st period assist in Oilers' 5-3 win over LA Kings to move ahead of Gordie Howe as NHL's all time leader in career assists; Howe 1,049 assists in 26 years, Gretzky 1,050 in 9 years

Sports History

Mar 1 For first time since 1956, the Special Veterans Committee does not elect anyone to the Baseball Hall of Fame; Phil Rizzuto, Leo Durocher, Joe Gordon and Gil Hodges passed over

Baseball Player and Manager Leo Durocher

Sportscaster and MLB Shortstop Phil Rizzuto

Mar 1 Iraq says it launched 16 missiles into Tehran
Mar 1 Pontiac announces the end of the Fiero automobile

Grammy Awards

Mar 2 30th Grammy Awards: Record of the year - Paul Simon "Graceland"; Album of the Year - U2 "The Joshua Tree"; Jody Watley Best New Artist

Mar 2 The flaming basketball is adopted as NBA franchise Miami Heat’s official logo from over 13,000 entries; Mark Henderson submits the winning entry
Mar 5 Constitution of Turks and Caicos Islands is restored and revised.
Mar 6 18th Easter Seal Telethon raises $35,200,000
Mar 6 3 IRA suspects shot dead in Gibraltar by SAS officers
Mar 6 Julie Krone becomes winningest female jockey (1205 victories)
Mar 7 Colombia becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty

Film & TV History

Mar 7 Howard Stern's 1st pay-per-view "Underpants & Negligee Party"

Mar 7 Jim Abbott, 1-handed pitcher, wins 58th James E Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the US, becoming 1st baseball player to win the award

Appointment of Interest

Mar 9 Actress Audrey Hepburn is appointed a UNICEF Special Ambassador (Goodwill Ambassador 1989)

Event of Interest

Mar 9 US President Ronald Reagan presides at unveiling of Knute Rockne stamp

Event of Interest

Mar 10 Avalanche at Swiss Ski resort Klosters nearly kills Prince Charles

Sports History

Mar 10 NHL New York Islanders celebrate Mike Bossy night

Mar 11 British pound note ceases to be legal tender, replaced by one pound coin
Mar 11 Utrecht conservatory destroyed by fire

People's Choice Awards

Mar 13 14th People's Choice Awards: Michael Douglas & Glenn Close win (Motion Picture) and Bill Cosby & Cybill Shepherd win (TV)

Mar 13 29th SEC Men's Basketball Tournament: Kentucky beats Georgia, 62-57
Mar 13 35th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: Duke beats North Carolina, 65-61
Mar 13 9th Big East Men's Basketball Tournament: Syracuse beats Villanova, 85-68
Mar 13 Japan's Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest tunnel with an underwater segment (53.90 km in total) opens, connecting Honshu-Hokkaido by rail. The Channel Tunnel remains the longest underwater tunnel.
Mar 15 Eugene Marino of Atlanta appointed 1st African American archbishop
Mar 15 NASA reports accelerated breakdown of ozone layer by CFK
Mar 15 NFL's St Louis Cardinals officially move to Phoenix
Mar 16 Chemical attack on Kurdish town of Halabja by Iraqi forces kills 5000 civilians - largest ever chemical weapons attack
Mar 16 Federal grand jury indicts North & Poindexter in Iran-Contra affair
Mar 16 North Ireland Protestant fires on Catholic funeral, 3 killed
Mar 16 US sends 3,000 soldiers to Nicaragua's neighbor Honduras
Mar 17 Iran says Iraq uses poison gas
Mar 17 Then highest scoring NCAA basketball game to date; Loyola-Marymont 119, Wyoming 115
Mar 19 France edges Wales, 10-9 at the National Stadium, Cardiff to share the Five Nations Rugby Championship with the Welsh with 3-1 records
Mar 19 Two British Army corporals are attacked during a funeral procession, beaten and shot dead by the Provisional IRA in Belfast, North Ireland

World Record

Mar 19 Yvonne van Gennip skates un-official world record 10 km (15:25.25)

Mar 20 David Henry Hwang's "M. Butterfly," premieres in NYC

Boxing Title Fight

Mar 20 Defending champion Mike Tyson beats Tony Tubbs by TKO in round 2 at the Tokyo Dome, Tokyo for the undisputed world heavyweight boxing title

Mar 20 Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.

Academy of Country Music Awards

Mar 21 23rd Academy of Country Music Awards: Hank Williams Jr, Randy Travis, and Reba McEntire win

Country Music Singer and Songwriter Hank Williams Jr

Mar 22 US Congress overrides President Reagan's veto of sweeping civil rights bill
Mar 22 WA beat Queensland by 5 wkts to win the Sheffield Shield Final

Chalk Mark In A Rain Storm

Mar 23 Geffen Records releases "Chalk Mark In A Rain Storm", Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell's 13th studio album

Mar 24 "Gospel at Colonus" opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC for 61 performances
Mar 24 San Diego Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts announces his retirement after 15 seasons

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Mar 25 "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas is released

Mar 25 NASA launches space vehicle S-206
Mar 25 Robin Givens demands full access to husband Mike Tyson's money
Mar 26 American Janet Evans swims 1,500m freestyle female world record 15:52.10 in the USA Spring Nationals in Orlando, Florida
Mar 27 Ice Dance Championship at Budapest won by Bestemianova & Bukin (URS)
Mar 27 Ice Pairs Championship at Budapest won by E Valova & O Vasiliev (URS)
Mar 27 Ladies' Figure Skating Championship in Budapest won by Katarina Witt (GDR)

Sports History

Mar 27 Men's Figure Skating Champions in Budapest won by Brian Boitano (USA)

Mar 27 Ok-Hee Ku wins Standard Register Turquoise Classic Golf Tournament
Mar 27 PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Local resident Mark McCumber wins with record total 273 (−15), 4 strokes ahead of runner-up Mike Reid
Mar 27 WrestleMania IV, Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, NJ: Randy "Macho Man" Savage beats Ted DiBiase for WWF Heavyweight title
Mar 29 Brazilian musical revue "Oba Oba" opens at Ambassador Theater, NYC; runs for 46 performances
Mar 29 US Congress discontinues aid to Nicaraguan contras