page_title: 1988
section_title: February
hierarchical_section_title: 1988 / Deaths / February
caption_attribution_description: English: Inscription at Heather O'Rourke's crypt.
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: February 1 – Heather O'Rourke, American child actress (b. 1975)
  February 3 – Robert Duncan, American poet (b. 1919)
  February 5 – Emeric Pressburger, Hungarian-British film producer (b. 1902)
  February 6 – Carmen Polo, 1st Lady of Meirás, widow of Francisco Franco (b. 1900)
  February 12 – S. Nadarajah, Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician
  February 13
  Ron Embleton, British comics artist and illustrator (b. 1930)
  Léon Goossens, British oboist (b. 1897)
  February 14 – Frederick Loewe, Austrian-American composer (b. 1901)
  February 15 – Richard Feynman, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
  February 16
  Karp Osipovich Lykov, Soviet Old Believer and survivalist
  Vijaya Kumaratunga, Sri Lankan actor and politician (b. 1945)
  February 17 – Alexander Bashlachev, Soviet poet and rock musician (b. 1960)
  February 19
  René Char, French poet (b. 1907)
  André Frédéric Cournand, French-American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1895)
  February 25
  Kurt Mahler, German-Australian mathematician (b. 1903)
  Ramiro Prialé, Peruvian politician (b. 1904)
  February 28 – Harvey Kuenn, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
caption: Heather O'Rourke
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