1989 - What happened in 1989 ?

January 1989

Saturday 07:

Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan.

Sunday 08:

beginning of Japanese Heisei era

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.

February 1989

Thursday 02:

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

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.

Thursday 16:

Pan Am flight 103: Investigators announce that the cause of the crash was a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player.

Monday 27:

Venezuela is rocked by the Caracazo.

March 1989

Wednesday 01:

The United States becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.

Tuesday 07:

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

Thursday 09:

A strike forces financially-troubled Eastern Airlines into bankruptcy.

Wednesday 15:

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is established.

Saturday 18:

In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Pyramid of Cheops.

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 08:

South Africa In Johannesburg, the Progressive Federal Party, Independent party, National Democratic Movement and the force of "Ontevrede Afrikaners" or dissatisfied Afrikaners merged to form the Democratic Party.

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

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.

Sunday 09:

Two bombs explode in Mecca, killing one pilgrim and wounding 16 others.

Tuesday 18:

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

Wednesday 19:

A Douglas DC-10 carrying United Airlines flight 232 crashes in Sioux City, Iowa killing 112 but due to extraordinary efforts by the pilot and his crew, 184 on board survive.

Wednesday 26:

A federal grand jury indicts Cornell University student Robert T. Morris, Jr. for releasing a computer worm, thus becoming the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

August 1989

Friday 18:

Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.

Sunday 20:

1989- In Beverly Hills, California, Lyle and Erik Menendez shoot and kill their wealthy parents.

Tuesday 22:

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

Friday 25:

Mayumi Moriyama becomes Japan's first female cabinet secretary.

Thursday 31:

Buckingham Palace officials confirm that Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips are to be separated.

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.

Monday 18:

Hurricane Hugo hits Puerto Rico, killing six.

Saturday 30:

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

October 1989

Monday 09:

In Leipzig, East Germany, 70,000 protesters demand the legalization of opposition groups and democratic reforms.

Sunday 15:

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

Thursday 19:

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

Sunday 22:

Jacob Wetterling is abducted in St. Joseph, Minnesota.

Sunday 29:

After years of delays, the 63rd Street Tunnel opens for service, the first expansion of the New York City subway system since 1967.

November 1989

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.

Tuesday 28:

In the face of protests the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces they will give up their monopoly on political power.

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).

Wednesday 06:

The École Polytechnique Massacre: a man kills 14 young women in Montreal, Quebec.

Thursday 14:

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

Wednesday 20:

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

Monday 25:

Nicolae Ceau?escu, former communist dictator of Romania, and his wife Elena are condemned to death and executed under a wide range of charges.