At A Glance

19 August 1988 at a glance

Day of the week
19 August 1988 was a Friday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “The Only Way Is Up” by Yazz and the Plastic Population.
Top Film of 1988
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1988 was Rain Man.
Star sign
The star sign for 19 August is Leo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 19 August 1988 fell in the Year of the Dragon.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 19 August 1988 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 19 August

  • 1981 Gulf of Sidra Incident: United States F-14A Tomcat fighters intercept and shoot down two Libyan Sukhoi Su-22 fighter jets over the Gulf of Sidra.
  • 1981 Silvio Santos launches a new Brazilian television channel in São Paulo, Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão.
  • 1989 Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years.
  • 1989 Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
  • 1991 Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The August Coup begins when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is placed under house arrest while on holiday in the town of Foros, Ukraine.

Famous people born on 19 August

  • Bill Clinton, American lawyer and politician, 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas, 42nd President of the United States (born 1946)
  • Kirk Cousins, American football player (born 1988)
  • Matthew Perry, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (1969–2023)
  • Kyra Sedgwick, American actress and producer (born 1965)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1988 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1988 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 5 February – The first BBC Red Nose Day raises £15,000,000 for charity.
  • 3 March – The SDP amalgamates with the Liberal Party to form the Social and Liberal Democratic Party. Its interim leaders are David Steel and Robert Maclennan. The merger means that the Liberal Party has ceased to exist after 129 years.
  • 24 May – Local Government Act becomes law. The controversial Section 28 prevents local authorities from "promoting homosexuality". Local authorities are also obliged to outsource more services, and dog licences are abolished (except in Northern Ireland).
More events of 1988 →Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Life in 1988

Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

80p

Loaf of Bread

51p

Average House

£46,788

Weekly Wage

£225.00

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1980s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Theo James16 December 1984Actor & musicianView their day →Pac22 August 1986WrestlerView their day →Robert Pattinson13 May 1986Actor & film producerView their day →Andrew Garfield20 August 1983ActorView their day →Charlie Hunnam10 April 1980ActorView their day →Juno Temple21 July 1989ActressView their day →Rebecca Hall3 May 1982Actress & filmmakerView their day →Lewis Hamilton7 January 1985Racing driverView their day →

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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