page_title: 1988
section_title: May
hierarchical_section_title: 1988 / Deaths / May
context_page_description: 1988 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1988th year of the Common Era and Anno Domini designations, the 988th year of the 2nd millennium, the 88th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1980s decade.
  1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United States and Europe as well as the first Internet-based chat protocol, Internet Relay Chat. The concept of the World Wide Web was first discussed at CERN in 1988.
  The Soviet Union began its major deconstructing towards a mixed economy at the beginning of 1988 and began its gradual dissolution. The Iron Curtain began to disintegrate in 1988 as Hungary began allowing freer travel to the West. The first extrasolar planet, Gamma Cephei Ab was detected this year and the World Health Organization began its mission to eradicate polio.
  In the 20th century, the year 1988 has the most Roman numeral digits.
context_section_description: May 1 – Paolo Stoppa, Italian actor and dubber (b. 1906)
  May 2 – Premendra Mitra, Indian poet, writer and film director (b. 1904)
  May 3 – Lev Pontryagin, Russian mathematician (b. 1908)
  May 5 – George Rose, English actor (b. 1920)
  May 8 – Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction author (b. 1907)
  May 10
  Shen Congwen, Chinese writer (b. 1902)
  Ciarán Bourke, Irish musician (b. 1935)
  May 11 – Kim Philby, British spy (b. 1912)
  May 12 – Chet Baker, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1929)
  May 14
  Prince Aschwin of Lippe-Biesterfeld (b. 1914)
  Willem Drees, Dutch politician and historian, 30th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (b. 1886)
  May 15
  Andrew Duggan, American actor (b. 1923)
  Fulvia Franco, Italian actor (b. 1931)
  Greta Nissen, Norwegian-born actress (b. 1905)
  May 16
  Kay Baxter, American bodybuilder (b. 1945)
  Charles Keeping, British illustrator (b. 1924)
  May 18 – Daws Butler, American voice actor (b. 1916)
  May 21
  Dino Grandi, Italian politician (b. 1895)
  Sammy Davis Sr., American dancer (b. 1900)
  May 23 – Aya Kitō, Japanese diarist (b. 1962)
  May 24 – Gustav Åkerman, Swedish army officer (b. 1901)
  May 25 – Ernst Ruska, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
  May 27 – Florida Friebus, American actor (b. 1909)
  May 29
  Siaka Stevens, 3rd Prime Minister of Sierra Leone and 1st President of Sierra Leone (b. 1905)
  Vladimír Menšík, Czech actor (b. 1929)
  May 30 – Ella Raines, American actress (b. 1920)
  May 31 – Arthur Olliver, Australian footballer (b. 1916)
caption: Robert A. Heinlein
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