1990 - What happened in 1990 ?

January 1990

Sunday 07:

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.

Thursday 11:

300,000 march in favor of Lithuanian independence.

Monday 15:

AT&T's long distance telephone network suffers a cascade switching failure.

Sunday 28:

Super Bowl XXIV: The San Francisco 49ers are crowned "Team of the 1980s" by defeating the Denver Broncos, 55-10.

Monday 29:

The trial of the former skipper of the Exxon Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood, begins in Anchorage, Alaska. He is accused of negligence that resulted in America's worst oil spill.

February 1990

Friday 02:

Apartheid: In South Africa President F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set Nelson Mandela free.

Saturday 10:

South African President F.W. de Klerk announces that Nelson Mandela would be released the next day.

Sunday 11:

Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is freed from Victor Verster prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.

Tuesday 13:

German reunification: An agreement is reached for a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.

Monday 26:

The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.

March 1990

Saturday 03:

1990 - Tom Fuller is born

Sunday 11:

Patricio Aylwin is sworn-in as the first democratically elected Chilean president since 1970.

Thursday 15:

The ethnic clashes of Targu Mures begin on the anniversary of the Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas.

Sunday 18:

12 paintings, collectively worth $100 million, are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the largest art theft in US history.

Wednesday 28:

President George H. W. Bush posthumously awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.

April 1990

Saturday 07:

Iran Contra Affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of five charges for his part in the scandal but the convictions were later reversed after an appeal.

Sunday 08:

Twin Peaks premieres.

Thursday 12:

Christian Bernard, F.R.C., becomes Imperator of AMORC

Tuesday 24:

Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially declared free of anthrax after 48 years of quarantine.

Saturday 28:

After 6,237 performances, the Broadway musical A Chorus Line closes.

May 1990

Friday 04:

Latvia proclaims independence.

Saturday 05:

In Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia), Toto Cutugno wins the thirty-fifth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing "Insieme: 1992" (Together: 1992).

Sunday 20:

The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.

Tuesday 22:

The Windows 3.0 operating system is released by Microsoft.

Thursday 31:

The pilot episode of Seinfeld premires

June 1990

Friday 01:

U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production and start destroying each of their nation's stockpiles.

Tuesday 12:

Russia Day – The parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty.

Saturday 23:

Moldavia declares independence.

Thursday 28:

Paperback Software found guilty by a U.S. court of copyright violation for copying the appearance and menu system of Lotus 1-2-3 in its competing spreadsheet program.

Saturday 30:

East and West Germany merge their economies.

July 1990

Monday 02:

A stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel led to the deaths of 1,426 pilgrims in Mecca during hajj.

Sunday 08:

1990 - At 12:34:56 (both AM and PM) the time and date by US reckoning was 12:34:56 7/8/90.

Monday 16:

In the Philippines, an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale kills over 1600.

Wednesday 25:

Comedian Roseanne Barr grabs her crotch and spits on the ground when performing the U.S. national anthem at a San Diego Padres game.

Friday 27:

The Jamaat al Muslimeen stage a coup d'état attempt in Trinidad and Tobago, occupying Parliament and holding Prime Minister A. N. R. Robinson and most of his Cabinet hostage for 6 days.

August 1990

Thursday 02:

Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.

Monday 06:

Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait

Thursday 23:

West Germany and East Germany announce that they will unite on October 3.

Tuesday 28:

The Plainfield Tornado: An F5 tornado hits in Plainfield, Illinois, and Joliet, Illinois, killing 28 people.

Thursday 30:

Tatarstan declares independence from the RSFSR.

September 1990

Saturday 01:

The Communist Labour Party of Turkey/Leninist is founded, following a split from the Communist Labour Party of Turkey.

Sunday 02:

Transnistria declares its independence from Moldova; however, Moldova does not recognize it.

Monday 10:

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire – the largest church in Africa and perhaps the world – is consecrated by Pope John Paul II.

Wednesday 12:

The two German states and the Four Powers sign the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany in Moscow, paving the way for German re-unification.

Saturday 15:

France announces it will send 4,000 troops to the Persian Gulf.

October 1990

Tuesday 02:

A Chinese airline Boeing 737-247 is hijacked; after landing at Guangzhou it crashes into two airliners on the ground, killing 132

Wednesday 03:

Re-unification of Germany. East Germany ceases to exist.

Friday 05:

After one hundred and fifty years The Herald broadsheet newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, is published for the last time as a separate newspaper.

Monday 15:

Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation.

Saturday 27:

Supreme Soviet of Kirghiz SSR chooses Askar Akayev as republic's first president.

November 1990

Thursday 01:

A New York City civil jury awards Sandra Miller $100 for battery after an incident in which Mike Tyson grabbed her breasts and insulted her; the jury found Tyson's behavior "not outrageous".

Monday 05:

Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the far-right Kach movement, is shot dead after a speech at a New York City hotel.

Thursday 15:

Producers acknowledge that Milli Vanilli, who won the 1990 "Best Artist" Grammy Award, did not sing themselves on their album.

Monday 19:

Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the “Girl You Know It’s True” album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.

Friday 23:

Punk rock band Bad Religion releases their seventh album, Against the Grain in the United States

December 1990

Saturday 01:

Channel Tunnel sections started from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 meters beneath the seabed.

Sunday 02:

A coalition led by Chancellor Helmut Kohl wins the first free all-German elections since 1932.

Sunday 09:

Lech Wałęsa becomes the first directly elected president of Poland.

Sunday 16:

Jean-Bertrand Aristide is elected president of Haiti

Monday 31:

Russian Garry Kasparov holds his title by winning the World Chess Championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov.