January 17th, 1988.

On this day.

What happened on January 17th, 1988?

• The first episode of Australian soap opera Home and Away is aired.

Music charts.

Songs that were on top of the music singles charts in the USA and the United Kingdom on January 17th, 1988.

• United States: So Emotional - Whitney Houston
• United Kingdom: Always On My Mind - Pet Shop Boys

Take me back to January 17th, 1988!

Let's take a stroll down memory lane!

The date is January 17th, 1988 and it's a Sunday. Anyone born today will have the star sign Capricorn. Currently, people are enjoying their weekend.

In America, the song So Emotional by Whitney Houston is on top of the singles charts. Over in the UK, Always On My Mind by Pet Shop Boys is the number one hit song. Ronald Reagan is currently the President of the United States and the movie Three Men and a Baby is at the top of the Box Office.

In the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher is the current Prime Minister. In fashion, women are currently wearing sweater dresses, short skirts, small shoulder pads, animal print, long full wool coats and bulky sweaters. Meanwhile, men are wearing tracksuits, sweatshirts, Nike Air Jordan shoes and denim. It's 1988, so the airwaves are being dominated by music artists such as Phil Collins, Bobby McFerrin, the Pet Shop Boys, Belinda Carlisle and Rick Astley.

If you were to travel back to this day, notable figures such as Heather O'Rourke, Andy Gibb, Judith Barsi and Roy Orbison would all be still alive. On TV, people are watching popular shows such as "The Cosby Show", "Miami Vice", "MacGyver" and "Married... with Children". Meanwhile, gamers are playing titles such as "Duck Hunt", "Tetris", "Top Gun" and "Maniac Mansion ".

Kids and teenagers are watching TV shows such as "Heathcliff", "21 Jump Street", "Fireman Sam" and "The World of David the Gnome". If you're a kid or a teenager, then you're probably playing with toys such as the Easy-Bake Oven, Dungeons & Dragons, Fisher-Price Little People (Farm) and Garbage Pail Kids (trading cards).

News topics, fads & culture.

Trending news stories and fads that were prevalent at this time. These are news stories and events that would have been in the media on January 17th, 1988.

• 

  1988 in music.

  Popular music artists in 1988 included George Michael, INXS, George Harrison, Rick Astley, Guns N' Roses, Whitney Houston, Belinda Carlisle, Tiffany and Breathe.

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  Who were the best NBA players in 1988?

  The best NBA players in 1988 were Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Akeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and Larry Bird.

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  1988 in movies.

  Movies released in 1988 included Rain Man, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Coming to America, Big, Twins, Crocodile Dundee II, Die Hard, Beetlejuice, The Land Before Time and Bloodsport.

• 

  Who were the best football players in 1988?

  In 1988, the best soccer players were Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Diego Maradona, Frank Rijkaard, Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko, Ronald Koeman, Lothar Matthäus, Gianluca Vialli, Franco Baresi, Jürgen Klinsmann and Oleksandr Zavarov.

• 

  Rain Man.

  "Rain Man" won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1988.

• 

  The Endangered Earth.

  "The Endangered Earth" was named as the Time Person of the Year in 1988. The piece highlighted humanity's carelessness towards nature, pollution and the depletion of the ozone layer.

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  Bobby McFerrin - "Don't Worry, Be Happy"

  The song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin won a Grammy for 1988's Song of the Year.

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  The Scrunchie is becoming fashionable.

  In the late 1980s, a new elastic hair tie called the "scrunchie" started to become fashionable.

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  Late 1980s fashion.

  During this period, the mini skirt became extremely popular. Shoulder pads became increasingly smaller. Popular clothing included reversible inside-out coats, bright-colored shoes with thin heels, berets, lacy gloves, rugby sweatshirts, sweater dresses, jumpsuits, capri leggings, bike shorts and skirts worn with leggings. Colors included neon hues, plum, gold, and bright wines.

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  People are buying waterbeds.

  In the late 1980s, waterbeds reached their height in popularity. Although they were invented in the 1970s, they didn't reach their heyday until the 1980s. In 1986 and 1987, nearly a quarter of all beds sold were filled with water.

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  VCRs have become a common household item.

  From the mid-80s onward, VCRs started to become a common household item. This device gave people the ability to play VCR tapes and record TV programs and movies.

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  The Nintendo Entertainment System.

  During the second half of the 1980s, the Nintendo Entertainment System became one of the most popular video game consoles in the world. Releases for the NES included the likes of Duck Hunt, The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros.

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  The Commodore 64.

  The Commodore 64 dominated the home computer market during this period.

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  Iran-Iraq War.

  Between September, 1980 and August, 1988, an armed conflict was being fought between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iraqi Republic.

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  People are using wallpaper to decorate their homes.

  Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, wallpaper was extremely common in people's homes. It wasn't until the mid-late 1980s that "modernism" started to creep in.

Basic facts.

Basic facts and information about this date.

• This date fell on a weekend.
• 34 years, 4 months and 5 days have passed since January 17th, 1988.
• Week Number: This date occurred during Week 02 of 1988.
• Leap Year: 1988 was a leap year, which means that it contained 366 days instead of 365 (with an extra day in February).
• Age: Anyone born on January 17th, 1988, will be 34 years of age.
• Generation: People born in 1988 belong to the Generation Y (Millennial) generation.
• Unix Timestamp: The Unix Timestamp for this date is 569376000.

Around this time.

Notable events that occurred around January 17th, 1988.

• December 18th, 1987: Final Fantasy is released on the NES.
• December 20th, 1987: 4,000 people are killed when the ferry "Doña Paz" sinks in the Philippines.
• December 23rd, 1987: Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) is released.
• December 29th, 1987: Kylie Minogue releases the single "I Should Be So Lucky".
• January 5th, 1988: Former NBA player Pete Maravich dies from an undetected heart defect at the age of 40.
• January 10th, 1988: NFL legend Walter Payton plays his final game.
• January 16th, 1988: Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer murders 14-year-old James Edward Doxtator.
• This date: January 17th, 1988
• January 31st, 1988: The first episode of "The Wonder Years" is aired.
• January 31st, 1988: Super Bowl XXII: The Washington Redskins defeat the Denver Broncos by 42-10 at the Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California.
• February 1st, 1988: American child actress Heather O'Rourke dies from medical complications at the age of 12.
• February 1st, 1988: Michael Jackson publishes his autobiography "Moonwalk".
• February 5th, 1988: Soccer: English clubs are banned from European football for the fourth season in a row.
• February 7th, 1988: Boxer Mike Tyson and and actress Robin Givens are married.
• February 9th, 1988: Two people are killed when a violent storm hits Ireland.

Personality traits.

Check out our personality summary for people who were born on this date.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

View Personality Summary

Horoscope, birthstone & birth flower information.

Zodiac & Birthstone information.

NEW! Check out our personality summary image for this birth date.

• Zodiac Sign (Astrology): Anyone born on January 17th, 1988, will have the star sign Capricorn.
• However, if you are going by the new star sign system that was discovered in 2020, then the sign for this date is actually Sagittarius.
• Zodiac Element: Earth.
• Chinese Zodiac Animal: In the Chinese Zodiac, 1988 was the year of the Dragon (Yang Earth).
• The Life Path Number for this date is 8.
• Native American Zodiac: January 17th, 1988 falls under the Goose.
• Birthstone: Anyone born during the month of January will have the birthstone Garnet.
• Birth flower (January): The Carnation and the Snowdrop.

Photos of late 1980s fashion.

Photographs of late 1980s fashion and hairstyles.

Cars in 1988.

1988 saw the introduction of cars such as the Buick Reatta, the Ford Probe, the Opel Vectra, the Honda Concerto, the Audi V8 and the Volkswagen Passat B3.

Were you born on this date?

If you were born on this date, then it is unlikely that you will remember anything from the year 1988.

This is because humans find it difficult to retrieve memories from their early childhood.

If you are looking for some childhood nostalgia, then check out January 17th, 1994 instead.

Weather on January 17th, 1988.

Historical weather information for January 17th, 1988.

• Dublin, Ireland: It was 7.1 degrees Celsius. It was a very wet day. It was a cloudy day.
• New York, USA: Temperature: 45.4 degrees Fahrenheit. 7.44 degrees Celsius. Precipitation: 0cm.
• London, England: Temperature: 1.17 degrees Celsius. Fog was reported. Precipitation: 0.25cm.

Conception dates.

Conception estimates for this date.

Warning! These conception dates are based on broad estimates.

• A baby that was born on January 17th, 1988 was most likely conceived around April 26th, 1987.
• The due date for a baby that was conceived on January 17th, 1988 is close to October 9th, 1988.

How old was I?

Enter your date of birth below to find out how old you were on January 17th, 1988.

Time difference & statistics.

Here are some fun statistics about January 17th, 1988.

• A total of 12,545 days have passed since this date.
• 1,792 weeks have passed.
• 1,083,884,400 seconds have passed since the January 17th, 1988.
• If you were born on this day, your heart has beated approximately 1,264,531,800 times.
• Since January 17th, 1988, the earth has travelled approximately 559,284,350,400 miles through space.
• If you were born on this day, your eyes have blinked approximately 180,647,400 times.
• If you were born on this day, you have taken approximately 93,214,058 steps. That's about 41,428 miles!
• Since this date, 13,006,613 meteors have entered the earth's atmosphere!

Random dates.

Check out some of the random dates below.

• 8th of June, 1988
• 27th of September, 1992
• 24th of December, 2009
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