1990 - What happened in 1990 ?

January 1990

Wednesday 03:

Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.

Saturday 13:

L. Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.

Monday 15:

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

Thursday 25:

Honduras becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.

Wednesday 31:

The first McDonald's opens in Moscow, Russia.

February 1990

Wednesday 07:

Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly of power.

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

Friday 02:

Nelson Mandela elected deputy President of the African National Congress.

Saturday 10:

In Haiti, Prosper Avril is ousted 18 months after seizing power in a coup.

Sunday 11:

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

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.

Thursday 29:

Warning label on records: recording companies agree to put a warning label on music products that contain potentially offensive lyrics.

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 24:

A car carrying American Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney explodes in Oakland, California, critically injuring both.

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.

Wednesday 06:

U.S. District court judge Jose Gonzales rules that the rap album As Nasty As They Wanna Be by the 2 Live Crew violates Florida's obscenity law; he declares that the predominant subject matter of the record is "directed to the 'dirty' thoughts and the loins, not to the intellect and the mind."

Wednesday 20:

Asteroid Eureka discovered.

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.

July 1990

Sunday 01:

East Germany accepts the Deutsche Mark as its currency, thus uniting the economies of East and West Germany.

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.

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.

Saturday 28:

Alberto Fujimori becomes president of Peru

Monday 30:

1993- Jessica Duncan is born(Canadian not yet famous rock star)

August 1990

Monday 06:

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

Tuesday 07:

1990 - At 12:34:56 (both AM and PM) the time and date by British reckoning was 12:34:56 7/8/90 i.e. 1234567890.

Sunday 12:

Sue, the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex, was discovered near Faith, South Dakota.

Friday 24:

Sinéad O'Connor refuses to perform at the Garden State Arts Plaza in Holmdel, New Jersey if "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played before her show, as is customary.

Monday 27:

The British Broadcasting Corporation launches BBC Radio Five Live at 9am GMT with a mixture of sports, news, and children's programming. The station broadcasts for eighteen hours per day.

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.

Tuesday 18:

Liechtenstein becomes a member of the United Nations.

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

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 08:

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: In Jerusalem, Israeli police kill 17 Palestinians and wound over 100 near the Dome of the Rock mosque on the Temple Mount

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

Monday 05:

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

Monday 12:

Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.

Wednesday 14:

Germany modifies its Basic Law to recognise the Oder-Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland.

Thursday 15:

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

Thursday 29:

Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council passes UN Security Council Resolution 678, authorizing military intervention in Iraq if that nation did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by January 15, 1991.

December 1990

Saturday 01:

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

Sunday 16:

Jean-Bertrand Aristide is elected president of Haiti

Saturday 22:

Lech Wałęsa sworn in as President of Poland

Sunday 23:

Republic of Slovenia votes to secede from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Monday 31:

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