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.

Wednesday 09:

Kaifu Toshiki becomes Prime Minister of Japan.

Friday 18:

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

Saturday 19:

Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist Prime Minister in 42 years.

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.

Wednesday 23:

1989 - All of Australia's 1,645 domestic airline pilots resign after the airlines threaten to sack them and sue them over a dispute.

Thursday 24:

Voyager 2 passes Neptune.

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.