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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:28:01 GMT -5
Dow Jones Stock Average Tops 2000 - January 1987 The U.S. stock market continued to rise at a phenomenal pace in January, with records broken in rapid succession. In the first week of the year the Dow Jones industrial average climbed more than 100 points and on January 8, closed at 2002.35, its first finish above 2000. The average had closed above 1000 for the first time in 1972. A record 253.1M shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, January 15; the DJIA closed, January 20, at 2104.47, having advanced for 13 consecutive trading days, another record. After slipping for one day, the average soared 51.60 points, January 22, a one-day record. On January 23, on record volume of 302.4M shares, the market gyrated wildly, rising 64 more points by midday before plunging 114 points in barely an hour. The market finally closed down 44.15 that day, but quickly resumed its advance, posting another new high of 2163.39 on January 28. The cumulative advance for the month of more than than 250 points was unprecedented.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:29:28 GMT -5
Swaggart Admits Sin to Congregation - February 1988 Speaking on February 21, before more than 6,000 at his Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jimmy Swaggart admitted an unspecified sin and asked for forgiveness. In 1987, Swaggart denounced another TV evangelist, Jim Bakker, as a "cancer on the body of Christ" after Bakker had been linked to sexual misbehavior. Swaggart had also accused Marvin Gorman---who, like Bakker and Swaggart, was an Assemblies of God minister---of adultery. Gorman later obtained photographs of Swaggart taken by a private detective that placed Swaggart at a motel frequently used by prostitutes. Gorman handed over the evidence to the Assemblies of God. While it was not made public, the evidence was sufficient for Swaggart to admit an indiscretion, and for the local leaders of the church to bar him, February 22, from the pulpit for three months and impose a two-year period of rehabilitation. Swaggart conducted the country's most popular religious broadcast, which brought in donations of $150M a year.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:29:47 GMT -5
Best-Selling Books of 1987 - Paperback Fiction 1. Red Storm Rising - Tom Clancy 2. The Hunt for Red October* - Tom Clancy 3. Wanderlust - Danielle Steel 4. It - Stephen King 5. I'll Take Manhattan - Judith Krantz 6. Garden of Shadows - V.C. Andrews 7. Windmills of the Gods - Sidney Sheldon 8. The Bourne Supremacy - Robert Ludlum* 9. The Handmaid's Tail - Margaret Atwood 10. A Perfect Spy - John la Carré
*Became a motion picture based on the best-selling book.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:30:01 GMT -5
IRA Bomb Kills 8 Soldiers - August 1988 A bomb planted by the outlawed Provisional Irish Republican Army exploded west of Belfast, August 20, and killed 8 British soldiers riding in a bus. Twenty-eight were injured. Through August 1988, Britain had suffered 26 military fatalities in the violence in Northern Ireland, the highest toll since 1979.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:30:16 GMT -5
Gorbachev Confronts Politburo Critic - April 1988 Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev sought and won a vote of confidence from the ruling Politburo after facing an apparaent challenge from Yegor Ligachev, the second-ranking member of the Kremlin hierarchy, according to the New York Times, April 14, At a meeting with leading Soviet editors, March 14, Ligachev reportedly praised a newspaper article that rejected Gorbachev's reforms. Gorbachev, angered, reportedly got a vote of confidence of a secret Politburo meeting in late March, at which time Ligachev was said to have received a mild reprimand. Pravda, the Communist Party newspaper, denounced the critical article, April 5.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:30:29 GMT -5
Reagan Vows Strong Final Year - January 1988 President Ronald Reagan deleivered his 7th State of the Union speech, January 25, before a joint session of Congress. He promised that his presidency would be vigorous "right to the finish line," one year hence. He noted that the country was strong, prosperous, free, and at peace, and that spending, tax rates, and inflation were down while employment was at record levels. He said that democratic reforms and human rights taking hold around the world, and he urged Senate ratification of the treaty with Soviet Union that eliminated intermediate-range nuclear weapons. In a televised response to Reagan's address, Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd (W. Va) said that Reagan presided over a doubling of a national debt and unprecedented trade deficits. He said that the United States had surrendered economic leadership in world markets.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:30:41 GMT -5
Congress Passes Plant-Closing Bill - July 1988 Both houses of Congress gave approval to a bill that would require companies employing more than 100 workers to give 60 days' notice of any shutdown that affected 50 workers or one-third of the plant's total force. In May, President Reagan had vetoed a trade bill that had contained this provision. The Senate gave its approval, July 6, and the House followed, July 13, both by majorities large enough to override a presidential veto. The House, July 13, also gave approval to a new trade bill.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:30:54 GMT -5
General Seize Power in Burma - September 1988 A year of violence and political upheaval in Burma took a new turn when a general seized power in a military coup. On September 10, the ruling party had announced it would hold elections that would end 26 years of one-party rule. However, on September 18, President Maung Maung, who had been in control for only a month, was ousted in a coup led by General Saw Maung. He was reported to be an ally of the former Burmese ruler Ne Win, who had stepped down in 1988 after a quarter-century in power. Civilians protesting the coup clashed with the army over the next few days. The government, September 23, put the death toll at 263, but foreign diplomats had a higher estimate. Saw Maung named a cabinet to run the country, September 20, and on September 21, it, in turn, elected him prime minister.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:31:08 GMT -5
Reagan Vetoes Defense Bill - August 1988 On August 3, Pres. Ronald Reagan vetoed the $299.6B defense authorization bill for the 1989 fiscal year. He charged that it would weaken the country's defenses. The president particularly objected to cutbacks in authorization of funds for the Strategic Defense Initiative and the MX missile program.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:31:42 GMT -5
Chicago's Mayor Dies - November 1987 Harold Washington, the first black mayor of Chicago, suffered a heart attack at his desk in City Hall, November 25, and died shortly thereafter. Washington had won the mayorality in 1983 after hard-fought campaigns in the Democratic primary and the general election. He was reelected in April 1987. At that time, his supporters also won control of the City Council, where a hostile majority has frustrated his policies during his first term. Not surprisingly, the election of his successor by council was hotly contested. The winner was Eugene Sawyer, a black was chosen, December 2 with most of his support coming from white members of the council who had opposed Washington.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:31:58 GMT -5
Van Gogh Sets Another Record - November 1987 Irises (1889), by Vincent Van Gogh, set a record, November 11, for a painting sold at auction, $53.9M, including commission. The buyer was not identified. The previous record, $33.9M, had been set in March 1987 by Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Irises had been painted after the artist entered a mental asylum. Philantropist Joan Whitney Payson had bought the painting for under $85,000 in 1947. It was put up for Auction by her son, John Whitney Payson.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:32:25 GMT -5
Czech Communist Leader Resigns - December 1987 Gustav Husak resigned, December 17, as secretary general of the Czechoslovakian Communist Party. Husak has risen to power in 1969 after the Soviet army crushed the reform movement known as the "Prague Spring." Husak, 74, would remain as Czech president, a largely ceremonial office. The new general secretary, Milos Jakes, was a member of the party's ruling politburo and was reportedly, like Husak, a conservative hard-liner.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:35:23 GMT -5
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing Winners (as of 1988)
Horse Rider 1919 Sir Barton Johnny Loftus 1930 Gallant Fox Earl Sande 1935 Omaha Willie "Smokey" Saunders 1937 War Admiral Charles Kurtsinger 1941 Whirlaway Eddie Arcaro 1943 Count Fleet Johnny Longden 1946 Assault Warren Mehrtens
1948 Citation Eddie Arcaro 1973 Secretariat Ron Turcotte 1977 Seattle Slew Jean Cruguet 1978 Affirmed Steve Couthen
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:35:47 GMT -5
Senate Adopts Budget for 1989 - April 1988 The Senate, April 14, approved 69-26 a budget plan for the 1989 fiscal year which would go to a conference committee along with a bill approved in March by the House. Although the Senate put military spending at $294B, the same as the House, it projected more spending and higher tax income overall, primarily to deal with a new anti-drug campaign.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:35:57 GMT -5
Libya, Chad End Their War - October 1988 Libya and Chad formally ended their state of war. They had fought off and on for years until their Organization of African Unity arranged a cease-fire in September 1987. France retained a 1,200-man force in southern Chad to shore up the regime. Libya continued to to occupy most of the Aozou strip in Chadian territory. It reportedly contained uranium. In announcing a resumption of diplomatic relations, October 3, the two countries agreed to cooperate with the OAU in determining soverignty over the strip.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:36:23 GMT -5
Korean Student Marchers Thwarted - June 1988 South Korean authorities prevented South Korean students from talking with their North Korean counterparts about reunification. In response to student pressure, Premier Lee Hyun Jai wrote North Korean officials, June 3, Suggesting that the two Koreas resume talks on various issues. The South Korean students, in the latest phase of their protest movement, said, June 3, that they would march to Panmunjom, in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas, to talk with North Korean students about reunification. Violent clashes with police occured, June 8 and 9, and on June 10, riot police blocked some 25,000 students from reaching Panmunjom.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:37:07 GMT -5
Terrorists Halt Haiti Election - November 1987 Haiti's first free election in 30 years was canceled by the government, November 29, after terrorist acts at polling places resulted in widespread violence. It was officially reported that 34 persons had been killed and more than 70 injured. Some soldiers reportedly joined attacks on civilians. Many of the perpetrators were members of the Tontons Macoutes, a parliamentary force that had supported the regime of the ousted president Jean-Claude Duvalier. The U.S., November 29, suspended all but humanitarian aid to Haiti.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:37:20 GMT -5
Three Teens Convicted in Howard Beach Case - December 1987 Three teenage boys were convicted in New York City of manslaughter, December 21, in the death in 1986 of a young black man, Michael Griffith, who was struck by a car while fleeing from the pursuing youths. The teenagers were white, and the incident stirred widespread discussion about the persistance of racial hostility. Griffith and two companions had entered a restaurant in Howard Beach, a mostly white community in Queens where many residents reportedly regarded blacks as unwelcome. When subsequently pursued by about a dozen teenagers, Griffith ran onto a highway and was killed. The three convicted boys were also found guilty of first-degree assault in the beating of one of the other black men. Charles Hynes, the prosecutor, had told the jury that the defendants were guilty of "wanton, callous and brutal" acts directed at victims which they knew nothing "except that they were black." The three defendants were sentenced to long prison terms.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:37:32 GMT -5
31 Die in Azerbaijan Clashes - February 1988 Hostility between Christians and Moslems resulted in the deaths of 31 people, February 28, in Sumgait, in the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. For months, Armenian Christians had been demanding that Nagorno-Karabakh, an autonomous region of Azerbaijan, be reunified with the Armenian Republic. The Soviet foreign ministry said, March 1, that Soviet troops had been sent to the city. Tass, the official Soviet news agency, in announcing the deaths, March 4, blamed "immature people" who had committed robberies and other violent actions.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:38:45 GMT -5
Surrogate Mother Contract Overturned - February 1988 The New Jersey Supreme Court, February 3, overturned a lower court ruling and declared that a surrogate motherhood arrangement was invalid if it involved a fee. The Bergen County Superior Court, in March 1987, had upheld a contract between William Stern, the biological father of Melissa Stern, and Mary Beth whitehead (now Whitehead-Gould after her subsequent marriage). Whitehead-Gould had agreed to bear the child and surrender it and all custody rights. She had subsequently sought custody of the child. In its 7-0 ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed that the baby was to remain with her biological father and his wife, Elizabeth, but it ended Elizabeth's status as adoptive mother and granted Whitehead-Gould visitation rights. The court in its ruling prohibited a natural parent from being deprived of parental rights absent any proof that the parent had neglected or abandoned the child. The court held that surrogacy contracts were legal if there was no fee and they had no binding agreement forcing the natural mother to give up the child. Although the ruling applied only to New Jersey, it was closely studied as part of the national debate on surrogacy.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:38:58 GMT -5
Earth Heating Up, Scientist Warns - June 1988 The "greenhouse effect," long anticipated by scientists, had finally arrived, according to Congressional testimony. James Hansen of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration told a U.S. Senate committee, June 23, that the Earth had been warmer during the first five months of 1988 than any other time since records had been kept. He said that global tempuratures had risen by a half-degree Fahrenheit in the hundred years before 1880, by another agree from then to 1950, and by more than a half a degree since then. He asserted, "It is time to stop waffling so much and say that the evidence is pretty strong that the greenhouse effect is here." The effect is caused by atmospheric gases that prevent heat from the sun from radiating back into space. The burning of fissil fuels and the destruction of forests are chiefly responsible. Hansen warned that an "increasing tendency" to droughts could be expected in the future. Another consequence of the warning trend would be the melting of polar and glacial ice, and the subsequent rise in sea levels and flooding coastal areas.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:39:13 GMT -5
Reagan Wins on Textile Veto - October 1988 Pres. Ronald Reagan's veto of a bill restricting textile, apparel, and shoe imports was upheld, October 4, by the House of Representatives. The vote to approve the bill was 272-152, 11 short of the two-thirds required to override the president. the House had upheld a similar veto in 1987. Reagan, who had called the bill "protectionism at its worst" in his veto message, hailed the failure to override, saying that the House had "once again reaffirmed America's commitment to the free trade market and free international trade."
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:39:23 GMT -5
Deng Steps Down in China - November 1987 On November 1, at the conclusion in Beijing of the 13th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Deng Xiaoping stepped down as China's paramount leader. Although he was expected to continue to influence party policy, Deng, 83, gave up most of his positions. Premier Zhao Ziyang, a protege of Deng, was elected general secretary of the party, November 2. Deng also resigned from the ruling Politburo and the Central Committee. The newly elected Central Committee contained many new and younger members who supported the economic reforms advocated by Deng and Xhao. Zhao supported private enterprise, including allowing the marketplace to set the price for most products. He also favored more foreign investment in China. The new 18-member Politburo elected November 2, included 7 new members.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:39:35 GMT -5
Kennedy Becomes 104th Justice - February 1988 U.S. Appeals Court Judge Anthony Kennedy was approved by the Senate 97-0, February 3, to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. He had sailed through hearings in December after being nominated by Pres. Ronald Reagan. Kennedy was sworn in February 18, as the 104th person to serve on the high court. Pres. Reagan had nominated Robert Bork, who was rejected by the Senate and then Douglas Ginsburg, who withdrew after much controversy, for this seat on the court.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:39:46 GMT -5
French Reelect Mitterrand - May 1988 On May 8, French Pres. François Mitterrand was elected to a second 7-year term with 54 percent of the vote. On May 4, three French hostages were freed in Lebanon and were welcomed back to France, May 5, by Premier Jacques Chirac. Chirac, Mitterrand's opponent in the presidential runoff, had indirect responsibility for hostage negotiations. Chirac's government denied ransom had been paid, but it was reported that France would repay about $340M owed to Iran. Mitterrand ended two years of pwoer-sharing with Chirac on May 10, by naming Michel Rocard as the new premier. Mitterrand dissolved the National Assembly, May 14, and scheduled parliamentary elections for June.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:39:59 GMT -5
Arizona Senate Removed Governor - April 1988 The impeachment trial of Gov. Evan Mecham of Arizona ended in his conviction, April 4, and he was removed from office. The Arizona Senate, 21-9, convicted Mecham of obstructing justice. It had been charged that Mecham had sought to interfere in the investigation of a death threat by an aide to a grand jury withness. The Senate, 26-4, also convicted Mecham of an illegal goal of $800,000 in state money to his automobile dealership. Rose Mofford, the secretary of state who was already serving as an acting governor because of Mecham's impeachment, was sworn in as his successor, April 5. The Arizona Supreme Court, April 12, cancelled a recall election targeted at Mecham that was scheduled for May 17. In a 4-1 decision, the court said that the state constitution mandated the order of succession after a governor was removed and that hence Mofford had the job for all of the remainder of Mecham's term.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:40:10 GMT -5
Byrd to Step Down as Senate Leader - April 1988 Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va) announced, April 12, that he would not seek reelection as leader of the Senate Democrats in 1989. He had been the party's leader since 1977 and was currently majority leader. Byrd, who was 70, said he would become the chairman (assuming the Democrats held their majority in the 1988 election) of the Appropiations Committee, whose chairman, John Stennis (D-Miss.), was retiring. Three Democratic senators---Daniel Inouye (HI), J. Bennett Johnston (LA), and George Mitchell (ME) ---announced that they would seek the Democratic relationship.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:41:43 GMT -5
U.S. Sues to Oust Teamsters Leaders - June 1988 Charging that the 1.7M-member Teamsters Union had refuse to clean up organized-crime influence and asserting that "we will," the U.S. Justice Department asked a federal court, June 28, to remove the leaders of the union and appoint a trustee to run it. In filing the suit in New York City, U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani said that his goal was "to take back the Teamsters from the Mafia." The civil suit was brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Law, the first time the statute had been applied to the entire union. Giuliani noted that four of the last five Teamsters presients had been indicted while in office and three of them had been imprisioned. He said organized crime had deprived union members of their rights through 20 murders as well through shootings, bombings, beatings, extortion, and theft. The trustee would run the union until new officers were elected. Weldon Mathis, the Teamsters' general secretary-treasurer, denied that the union had been controlled by organized crime and called the suit a "vicious anti-labor tactic."
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:41:55 GMT -5
Iran Accepts U.N. Plan to Stop War - July 1988 In a dramatic reversal of policy, Iran, July 18, accepted a proposal by the United Nations to end the war with Iraq in the Persian Gulf. Iran's elderly leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, said, July 20, that making the decision to accept Security Council Resolution 598 "was more deadly than taking poison." The Iranians, who had pressed the war for eight years, apparently had concluded that battlefield deaths, war weariness, and war-related economic problems were jeopardizing the future of the nation's fundamentalist Islamic revolution. Iraq launched a new offensive, July 22, along the two nations' common border. Iran said, July 26, that it was willing to help obtain release of U.S. hostages in Lebanon, providing that the United States freed assets frozen in 1979.
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Post by colinouchou on Apr 30, 2024 13:42:05 GMT -5
Radon Linked to 13,000 Deaths a Year - January 1988 A report released, January 5, by the National Academy of Sciences confirmed previous warnings about the dangers of radon gas, and estimated that 13,000 Americans die of lung cancer each year as a result of exposure to it. Radon, an odorless radioactive gas, seeps into buildings from underground rocks. The federal government had previously estimated that millions of homes in the United States had radon levels that warranted concern. It was believed that probably hundreds of thousands of homes had levels so high that corrective renovations were needed within months. The Academy report said smoking cigarettes greatly aggravated the threat posed by exposure to radon gas.
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