What Happened in April 1988

Historical Events

Cricket Debut

Apr 2 West Indies cricket fast bowling great Curtly Ambrose makes his debut in 9 wicket 1st Test defeat to Pakistan in Georgetown, Guyana; low key debut with 2-108

  • Apr 3 7th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Louisiana Tech beats Auburn, 56-54; Lady Techsters Erica Westbrooks MOP

Sports History

Apr 3 Mario Lemieux wins NHL scoring title, stopping Gretzky's 7 year streak

Golf Major

Apr 3 Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: Amy Alcott wins the 2nd of her 3 DS events, 2 strokes ahead of runner-up Colleen Walker

  • Apr 3 NJ Devils beat Blackhawks, 4-3 in OT to join playoffs for 1st time
  • Apr 3 Somalia & Ethiopia sign accord about Ogaden desert
  • Apr 3 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
  • Apr 4 50th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kansas beats Oklahoma, 83-79; Jayhawks power forward Danny Manning named tournament Most Outstanding Player
  • Apr 4 Eddie Hill becomes the world's first driver to cover the quarter mile in under 5 seconds
  • Apr 4 Largest crowd (55,438) at an MLB Opening Day game at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium; Reds win over St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 in 12 innings
  • Apr 4 Last broadcast of British soap opera "Crossroads" on ITV
  • Apr 4 MLB New York Mets set Opening Day record with 6 HRs, in a 10-6 win over Expos at Montreal
  • Apr 6 African American polar explorer Matthew Henson buried next to Robert Peary in Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia
  • Apr 6 NJ Devils' 1st playoff game; lose to NY Islanders 4-3 (OT) in 1st round
  • Apr 7 Murderer of Gerrit Jan Heijns, Ferdi Elsas, arrested in the Netherlands
  • Apr 7 Russia announces it will withdraw its troops from Afghanistan
  • Apr 7 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
  • Apr 9 142nd Grand National: Irish jockey Brendan Powell wins aboard 10/1 shot Rhyme 'n' Reason by 4 lengths from Durham Edition
  • Apr 9 NHL New Jersey Devils win 3-0 over New York Islanders; Devils lead 2-1 in playoff 1st round
  • Apr 9 US imposes economic sanctions on Panama
  • Apr 10 52nd US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Scotsman Sandy Lyle claims his second major title with a birdie on the 72nd hole to win by 1 stroke over Mark Calcavecchia
  • Apr 10 8th Golden Raspberry Awards: "Leonard Part 6" wins
  • Apr 10 Herschel Walker performs Fort Worth Ballet
  • Apr 10 Islanders beat Devils 5-4 (OT) 1st round tied at 2-2
  • Apr 11 Royal Concert building in Amsterdam reopens
  • Apr 12 Devils 4-2 over Islanders-Devils lead 3-2 in 1st round

Election of Interest

Apr 12 Entertainer and restaurateur Sonny Bono is elected mayor of Palm Springs, California

Sports History

Apr 12 Frank Robinson replaces Cal Ripkin as manager of Baltimore Orioles

  • Apr 12 Harvard University patents a genetically engineered mouse (1st for animal life)
  • Apr 13 Italian government of Ciriaco De Mita forms
  • Apr 14 Michael Rupert and Jerry Colker's musical "Mail" opens at Music Box Theater, NYC; runs for 37 performances
  • Apr 14 NHL playoffs: New Jersey Devils win 6-5 over NY Islanders to take 1st round 4-2
  • Apr 14 USSR, US, Pakistan & Afghanistan sign Afghanistan treaty
  • Apr 15 Meteorite explode above Indonesia

Heidi Chronicles

Apr 15 Wendy Wasserstein's play "Heidi Chronicles" premieres in NYC

  • Apr 17 Ethiopian Belayneh Densimo runs world record marathon (2:06:50)

Boston Marathon

Apr 18 92nd Boston Marathon: Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya wins men's race in 2:08:43; Rosa Mota of Portugal repeats as women's champion in 2:24:30

  • Apr 20 Baltimore Orioles set worst record to start a season 0-14 (will go 0-21)
  • Apr 20 NJ Devils 1st playoff hat trick-Eric Broten
  • Apr 20 US accuses Renamo of killing 100,000 Mozambiquians
  • Apr 20 Yanks HR 9,999 (D Winfield) 10,000 (C Washington) 10,001 (J Clarke)
  • Apr 21 1st four-day games in County Cricket Championship commence
  • Apr 21 Barbra Streisand records "You'll Never Know"
  • Apr 22 NJ Devil Patrik Sundstrom sets NHL playoff record of 8 pts in a playoff game (hat trick & 5 assists) in 10-4 rout over the Capitals
  • Apr 22 Women are allowed to compete in Little 500 bicycle race (Indiana)
  • Apr 23 A Greek pedals self-powered aircraft, 74 miles
  • Apr 23 Federal smoking ban during domestic airline flights of 2 hrs or less
  • Apr 23 Karolina Szabo runs female world record 25k (1:29:30)/30k (1:47;06)
  • Apr 24 NFL Draft: Auburn tight end Aundray Bruce first pick by Atlanta Falcons
  • Apr 25 American news program "Nightline" goes on location to Jerusalem Israel
  • Apr 25 John Demjanjuk (Ivan the Terrible), Nazi concentration camp guard, sentenced to death in Jerusalem
  • Apr 25 NASA launches space vehicle S-211

TNN Viewers Choice Awards

Apr 26 1st TNN Viewers choice awards: Randy Travis wins in 5 categories

  • Apr 26 NBA approves addition of 3rd referee in 1988-89 season

Sports History

Apr 26 NY Met Davey Johnson becomes 2nd manager to record 400 victory in 1st 4 years (Al López was 1st)

  • Apr 28 Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 roof tears off in flight; kills stewardess
  • Apr 28 Baltimore Orioles lose AL record 21 games in a row

Chess

Apr 28 Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice's musical "Chess" opens at Imperial Theater, NYC; runs for 68 performances

  • Apr 28 NJ Devils set all time playoff mark for penalty minutes
  • Apr 29 Baltimore Orioles end their record 21-game losing streak by beating the White Sox 9-0
  • Apr 29 Orioles beat White Sox 9-0 for 1st 1988 win after 21 loses

Celine Dion Wins Eurovision

Apr 30 33rd Eurovision Song Contest: Celine Dion for Switzerland wins singing "Ne partez pas sans moi" in Dublin

  • Apr 30 NJ Devils beat Caps 3-2 taking 7th game of Patrick Division final
  • Apr 30 NY Knights 1st arena football game beats Cobras 60-52 (10,157 in LA)

Sports History

Apr 30 NY Yank Dave Winfield gets his 29th RBI of April-Sets AL & ties ML Rec

  • Apr 30 The then largest banana split ever, at 4.5 miles long, is made along Market Street in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania
  • Apr 30 World Exposition, Expo 88 opens in Brisbane Australia
1988 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Apr 1 Brook Lopez, American basketball center (NBA C'ship 2021 Milwaukee Bucks; NBA All-Star 2013 NJ / Brooklyn Nets; Los Angeles Lakers), born in North Hollywood, California
  • Apr 2 Jesse Plemons, American actor (Fargo, The Power of the Dog), born in Dallas, Texas
  • Apr 3 Peter Hartley, English footballer (Motherwell), born in Hartlepool, England
  • Apr 3 Tim Krul, Dutch football goalkeeper (Netherlands National Team), born in The Hague, Netherlands
  • Apr 4 Frank Fielding, English football goalkeeper, born in Blackburn, Lancashire
  • Apr 6 Fabrice Muamba, Anglo-Congolese footballer
  • Apr 6 Mike Bailey, English actor

Haley Joel Osment (35 years old)

Apr 10 American actor (The Sixth Sense, A.I., Pay it Forward), born in Los Angeles, California

  • Apr 12 Paulo Londra, Argentine rapper and singer (“Adán Y Eva”; “Nena Maldición”), born in Córdoba, Argentina
  • Apr 13 Allison Williams, American actress (Girls, Get Out), born in New Canaan, Connecticut
  • Apr 13 Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira, Brazilian footballer, born in Porto Alegre, Brazil
  • Apr 14 Chris Wood, American actor (Supergirl), born in Dublin, Ohio
  • Apr 15 Eliza "Doolittle" [Caird], British pop singer-songwriter ("Skinny Genes"; "Pack Up"), born in Westminster, London
  • Apr 16 Joe McKnight, NFL and CFL player killed in road rage incident, born in Kenner, Louisiana (d. 2016)
  • Apr 17 Takahiro Moriuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter and musician (One Ok Rock), born in Tokyo, Japan
  • Apr 18 Vanessa Kirby, English actress (Princess Margaret in The Crown), born in London, England
  • Apr 21 Pedro Mosquera, Spanish footballer

Robbie Amell (35 years old)

Apr 21 Canadian actor (Tomorrow People), born in Toronto, Ontario

  • Apr 23 Alistair Brownlee, British triathlete (Olympic gold 2012, 16), born in Dewsbury, England
  • Apr 23 Victor Anichebe, Nigerian footballer, born in Lagos, Nigeria
  • Apr 24 Michael Tylo, son of American actor Michael Tylo and Deborah Hunter, born in California (d. 2007)
  • Apr 25 Anna Stöhr, Austrian rock climber and bouldering competition champion, born in Reith im Alpbachtal, Austria
  • Apr 25 James Sheppard, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, Canada
  • Apr 25 Jonathan Bailey, English actor (Bridgerton), born in Wallingford, England
  • Apr 25 Sara Paxton, American actress (Darcy's Wild Life), born in Los Angeles, California
  • Apr 27 (Regererai) Regé-Jean Page, British-Zimbabwean actor (Bridgerton), born in London, England

Lizzo (35 years old)

Apr 27 American rapper, born in Detroit, Michigan

  • Apr 28 Jiyai Shin, South Korean golfer (Women's British Open 2008, 12; US Open 2023 runner-up), born in Seoul, South Korea
  • Apr 28 Juan Mata, Spanish footballer (Manchester United, Spain), born in Burgos, Spain
  • Apr 29 Younha [Go Youn-ha], Korean pop singer-songwriter (Touch; Run; Winter Flower), born in Seoul, South Korea
  • Apr 30 Ana de Armas, Cuban-Spanish actress (Knives Out; Blonde), born in Santa Cruz del Norte, Cuba
  • Apr 30 Molloko, 1st California condor chick conceived in captivity, born in San Diego Zoo (San Diego, California)
Born in 1988

Famous Weddings

Mick Fleetwood

Apr 24 Musician Mick Fleetwood (40) weds model Sara Recor

Mike Nichols

Apr 29 American "60 Minutes" broadcast journalist Diane Sawyer (42) weds German-American director Mike Nichols (56)

Burt Reynolds

Apr 29 Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson marry

Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson

Apr 30 Actor Tom Hanks (31) weds actress Rita Wilson (31)


Famous Deaths

  • Apr 1 Jim Jordan, American actor and radio comedian (Fibber McGee), dies from a blood clot at 91
  • Apr 1 Marius Holtrop, Dutch economist and President of Netherlands Bank (DNB), 1946-67, dies at 85
  • Apr 3 Milton A. Caniff, US cartoonist (Terry & the Pirates), dies at 81
  • Apr 4 Ludwig Stiel, German pianist, composer, and conductor, dies at 86
  • Apr 5 Alf Kjellin, Swedish actor and director (Juggler), dies
  • Apr 7 Cesar Bresgen, Austrian organist and composer, dies at 74
  • Apr 9 Brook Benton [Benjamin Franklin Peay], American soul vocalist (It's Just a Matter of Time; Rainy Night in Georgia), dies of meningitis at 56
  • Apr 9 Dave Prater, American R&B singer and musician (Sam & Dave - "Soul Man"), dies in a car crash at 50
  • Apr 10 Cliff Gladwin, cricketer (8 Tests for England 1947-49), dies
  • Apr 11 Jean "Jeff" Donnell, American actress (Gidget Goes to Rome, Hoedown, 9 Girls), dies at 66 of a heart attack

Alan Paton (1903-1988)

Apr 12 South African author (Cry, the Beloved Country, Too Late the Phalarope) and anti-apartheid activist, dies of cancer at 85

  • Apr 12 Charles Melvin Price, American politician (Rep-D-Illinois 1945-88), dies at 83
  • Apr 14 Herbert Reynolds Inch, American composer and teacher, dies at 83
  • Apr 14 Johan Franco, Dutch composer, dies at 79
  • Apr 14 John Stonehouse, British politician (b. 1925)
  • Apr 15 Han G. Hoekstra, Dutch poet (Zandloperr; Ongerijmde life), journalist, and editor, dies at 81
  • Apr 15 Kenneth Williams, British actor (Hancock's Half Hour, Carry On films), dies of an overdose at 61
  • Apr 15 Youri Egorov, Soviet classical pianist, dies at 33
  • Apr 16 Clifford Roach, cricketer (16 Tests early in West Indian cricket history), dies
  • Apr 16 Jacques de Kadt, Dutch politician and writer (Fascism is War!), dies at 90
  • Apr 16 Khalil al-Wazir, PLO leader, assassinated by Israeli commandos at 52
  • Apr 16 Warde Donovan, dies at 72
  • Apr 17 Eva Novak, American actress (Medicine Man), dies of pneumonia at 90
  • Apr 17 Louise Nevelson, American sculptor who featured at the 31st Venice Biennale (Sky Cathedral), dies of a brain tumor at 88
  • Apr 18 Pierre Desproges, French humorist, dies at 48
  • Apr 19 Kwon Ki-ok, first Korean female pilot (b. 1901)
  • Apr 21 I. A. L. Diamond, Hollywood screenwriter (1960 Acad Award-Apartment), dies at 67
  • Apr 22 Irene Rich, American actress (Beau Brumell, Champ), dies at 96
  • Apr 23 Arthur Michael, Lord Ramsey/archbishop of Canterbury, dies
  • Apr 24 Bob Newson, South African cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 4 wickets; Transvaal; Rhodesia), dies at 87
  • Apr 25 Boris Kremenliev, Bulgarian-American composer (The Tell-Tale Heart), educator (UCLA, 1947-78), and ethno-musicologist (Bulgarian-Macedonian Folk Music), dies at 76
  • Apr 25 Carolyn Franklin, American singer-songwriter, and sister of Aretha, dies of cancer at 43
  • Apr 25 Clifford D. Simak, American sci-fi author (Hugo, Way Station), dies at 83
  • Apr 25 Lanny Ross, American radio singer (Show Boat, The Swift Show), dies at 82
  • Apr 25 Valerie Solanas, American radical feminist and author of SCUM Manifesto who attempted to assassinate Andy Warhol in 1968, dies of pneumonia at 52
  • Apr 27 David Scarboro, British actor, dies at 20
  • Apr 28 B. W. Stevenson, American country singer, dies at 38
  • Apr 29 Andrew Cruickshank, actor (Body in Library, Murder Most Foul), dies
  • Apr 29 Jan Kapr, Czech composer, dies at 74
  • Apr 30 James McCracken, American operatic tenor (Otello), dies at 61