May 24, 1988

Gas cost $0.90 a gallon in the spring of 1988, and the Dow Jones stood at 2,169 — recovery from the 1987 Black Monday crash was still underway as markets worked their way back from one of the worst single-day drops in Wall Street history. On television, Americans were tuning in to "The Cosby Show," the dominant series of the era, while Billy Ocean's "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car" sat at the top of the pop charts. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Detroit Pistons to claim the NBA championship that year, and on April 28, Aloha Airlines Flight 243 made headlines worldwide when it landed safely in Hawaii after a large section of its fuselage tore away at cruising altitude, an event that directly led to major changes in aircraft inspection standards.