1988

February 21 - Following controversies over his condemnation of Jim Bakker, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart admits to committing an unspecified sin.

March 14 - Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North is indicted on Iran-Contra related charges.

May 4 - Over 100,000 people rush to beat the deadline for amnesty under the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service policy.

June 13 - For the first time, a tobacco company is found to be partially responsible for the death of a smoker who had developed lung cancer.

August 10 - President Reagan signs legislation giving apologies and reparations to Japanese-Americans interred at camps in the U.S. during World War II.

August 15 - The Great Basin National Park in Nevada is dedicated.

August 24 - A former guard at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Marine Sergeant Clayton Lonetree, is sentenced to thirty years in prison for spying.

September 16 - 24 nations, including the U.S., sign a treaty to protect the ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere.

October 1 - A severe earthquake hits Los Angeles, California causing 7 deaths and more than $200 million in damages.

October 19 - The U.S. Stock Market has its worst day in history, known as Black Monday.

December 21 - Brokerage firm Drexel Burnham pleads guilty to violations of federal laws in a junk bond scandal and agrees to pay penalties of $650 million.