1989 - What happened in 1989 ?

January 1989

Saturday 07:

Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan.

Monday 09:

The Sega Genesis is released in New York, New York and Los Angeles, California.

Tuesday 10:

Cuban troops begin withdrawing from Angola.

Tuesday 24:

Serial killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair.

Monday 30:

The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan closes.

February 1989

Thursday 02:

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul ending nine years of military occupation.

Wednesday 08:

An Independent Air Boeing 707 crashes into Santa Maria mountain in Azores Islands off the coast of Portugal killing 144.

Friday 10:

Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.

Tuesday 14:

The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit.

Wednesday 15:

Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops had left Afghanistan.

March 1989

Tuesday 07:

The State Council of the People's Republic of China declares martial law in Lhasa, Tibet.

Tuesday 21:

Sports Illustrated reports allegations that tie baseball player Pete Rose to baseball gambling.

Wednesday 22:

Fawn Hall, Oliver North's former secretary, begins two days of testimony at North's Iran-Contra trial in Washington.

Thursday 23:

A 1,000-foot diameter Near-Earth asteroid misses the Earth by 400,000 miles.

Monday 27:

Generations, the first American soap opera to have an entire black family in its original core cast, commences telecasts on NBC.

April 1989

Sunday 02:

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.

Friday 07:

Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway after a fire. 42 sailors die.

Saturday 15:

Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People's Republic of China.

Wednesday 19:

1989- Desirae Farmer is born

Friday 21:

Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the late Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.

May 1989

Thursday 04:

Iran-Contra Affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and was acquitted of nine other charges. The convictions, however, are later overturned on appeal.

Friday 12:

1989 A Southern Pacific Railroad freight train derails on Duffy Street on the very steep Cajon Pass in San Bernardino, California

Saturday 20:

The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Wednesday 24:

Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of the Yorkshire Ripper, is awarded a six-figure sum in damages after winning a libel action against Private Eye.

Tuesday 30:

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.

June 1989

Saturday 03:

The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.

Sunday 04:

Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia, kills 645 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.

Monday 05:

The Unknown Rebel halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Wednesday 21:

The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Texas v. Johnson that flag burning is protected speech under the United States Constitution.

Thursday 22:

Dublin City University and University of Limerick are established in Ireland.

July 1989

Tuesday 04:

14-year-old actress Drew Barrymore attempts suicide.

Wednesday 05:

Iran-Contra Affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service.

Saturday 15:

Punk rock band Bad Religion releases their sixth album, No Control.

Tuesday 18:

Rebecca Schaeffer is shot by a crazed fan, prompting California to pass America's first anti-stalking law in 1990.

Tuesday 25:

Rock/Hip-hop trio The Beastie Boys release the classic Paul's Boutique.

August 1989

Monday 07:

US Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX), and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.

Tuesday 08:

STS-28: The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.

Tuesday 22:

Nolan Ryan strikes out Rickey Henderson to become the first major league baseball pitcher to record 5000 strikeouts.

Thursday 24:

Voyager 2 passes Neptune.

Friday 25:

Mayumi Moriyama becomes Japan's first female cabinet secretary.

September 1989

Monday 11:

President George H. W. Bush delivers a nationally televised speech in which he threatens the use of force to remove Iraqi soldiers from Kuwait, which Iraq had recently invaded.

Wednesday 13:

Largest anti-Apartheid march in South Africa, led by Desmond Tutu.

Friday 15:

The U.S. Congress recognizes Terry Anderson's continued captivity in Beirut.

Tuesday 19:

Hurricane Hugo makes landfall in the U.S. state of South Carolina.

Saturday 30:

Foreign Minister of West Germany Hans-Dietrich Genscher's speech from the balcony of the German embassy in Prague.

October 1989

Sunday 15:

Wayne Gretzky becomes the all time leading points scorer in the NHL.

Tuesday 17:

Loma Prieta earthquake (7.1 on the Richter scale) hits the San Francisco Bay Area.

Thursday 19:

they had spent 15 years in prison through a miscarriage of justice.

Sunday 22:

Jacob Wetterling is abducted in St. Joseph, Minnesota.

Tuesday 24:

Televangelist Jim Bakker is sentenced to 45 years in prison and a 500,000 USD fine for defrauding investors of 3.7 million USD.

November 1989

Monday 06:

Kitty Dukakis, wife of presidential candidate and Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, is hospitalised for drinking rubbing alcohol.

Tuesday 07:

In California, convicted murder Richard Ramirez (aka "The Night Stalker") is sentenced to death.

Friday 10:

After 35 years of communist rule in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Communist Party leader Todor Zhivkov is replaced by former Prime Minister Petre Mladenov who changes the party's name to the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

Wednesday 15:

Sachin Tendulkar makes his Test cricket debut playing for India against Pakistan.

Thursday 16:

A death squad composed of El Salvadoran army troops, most of them trained by the School of the Americas, kill six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.

December 1989

Sunday 03:

Cold War: In a meeting off the coast of Malta, US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the cold war between their nations may be coming to an end (some commentators from both nations exaggerated the wording and independently declared the Cold War over).

Thursday 14:

Chile holds its first free election in 16 years. Patricio Aylwin was elected president.

Saturday 16:

The Romanian Revolution begins in the city of Timişoara as a protest against an attempt to evict a dissident priest.

Wednesday 20:

Operation Just Cause: United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega

Friday 22:

1989 - Two Tourist coaches collide on the Pacific Highway north of Kempsey NSW (Kempsey Bus Crash).