File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The
Cypress structure
The Cypress Street Viaduct, often referred to as the Cypress Structure or the Cypress Freeway, was a 1.6-mile-long (2.5 km), raised two-deck, multi-lane (four lanes per tier) freeway constructed of reinforced concrete that was originally pa ...
collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...
is submitted; The
Exxon Valdez
''Oriental Nicety'', formerly ''Exxon Valdez'', ''Exxon Mediterranean'', ''SeaRiver Mediterranean'', ''S/R Mediterranean'', ''Mediterranean'', and ''Dong Fang Ocean'', was an oil tanker that gained notoriety after running aground in Prince Wi ...
oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...
runs aground in
Prince William Sound
Prince William Sound ( Sugpiaq: ''Suungaaciq'') is a sound of the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the T ...
,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...
begins the downfall of
Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
to depose
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the ''de facto'' ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritarian ruler who amassed a personal f ...
; The
Singing Revolution
The Singing Revolution; lv, dziesmotā revolūcija; lt, dainuojanti revoliucija) was a series of events that led to the restoration of independence of the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union at the end of ...
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...
Singing Revolution
The Singing Revolution; lv, dziesmotā revolūcija; lt, dainuojanti revoliucija) was a series of events that led to the restoration of independence of the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union at the end of ...
rect 400 400 600 600
United States invasion of Panama
The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, lasted over a month between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos ...
1989 was a turning point in political history with the "
Revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
" sweeping the Eastern Bloc, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin Wall in November, the
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...
in Czechoslovakia and the overthrow of the communist dictatorship in Romania in December; the movement ended in December 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Revolutions against communist governments in Eastern Europe mainly succeeded, but the year also saw the suppression by the Chinese government of the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests
The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
that ruled the country for more than twenty years, and marked the redemocratization process's final point.
F. W. de Klerk was elected as State President of South Africa, and his regime gradually dismantled the
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
system over the next five years, culminating with the 1994 election that brought jailed
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...
s surfaced in this year, as well as the first written proposal for the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...
and New Zealand, Japan and Australia's first Internet connections. The first babies born after
preimplantation genetic diagnosis
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD or PIGD) is the genetic profiling of embryos prior to implantation (as a form of embryo profiling), and sometimes even of oocytes prior to fertilization. PGD is considered in a similar fashion to prenatal ...
were conceived in late 1989.
Events
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' discloses involvement of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
company Imhausen and
Salzgitter AG
Salzgitter AG is a German company, one of the largest steel producers in Europe with an annual output of around seven million tonnes.
With over 100 subsidiaries and associated companies, the Group is structured in five divisions – Steel, Tr ...
in building a
chemical weapon
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...
plant in Rabta,
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Gulf of Sidra incident (1989)
On 4 January 1989, two Grumman F-14 Tomcats of the United States Navy shot down two Libyan-operated Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Floggers which the American aircrews believed were attempting to engage and attack them, as had happened eight years pri ...
: Two
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
F-14 Tomcat
The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after the ...
Emperor Shōwa
Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
Akihito
is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide.
B ...
is enthroned as the 125th
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...
immediately, followed by the change in the era name from Shōwa to
Heisei
The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, ...
on the following day.
* January 10 – In accordance with
United Nations Security Council Resolution 626
United Nations Security Council resolution 626, adopted unanimously on 20 December 1988, after noting an agreement between Angola and Cuba regarding the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola and considering a report by the Secretary-General, the ...
and the
New York Accords
The Agreement among the People's Republic of Angola, the Republic of Cuba, and the Republic of South Africa (also known as the Tripartite Accord, Three Powers Accord or New York Accords) granted independence to Namibia from South Africa and ende ...
,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
January 11
Events Pre-1600
* 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence.
* 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muha ...
– The
Lexus
is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...
and
Infiniti
is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989, in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti-branded vehicles included dealers in over 50 countries in ...
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
Infiniti Q45
The Infiniti Q45 is a full-size luxury sedan manufactured and marketed by Nissan's Infiniti brand for model years 1989-2006, over three generations.
The first generation Q45 (1989–1999) was based on the Nissan President; the second generati ...
sedans.
* January 15 – Thirty-five European nations, meeting in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, agree to strengthen
human rights
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
and improve East–West trade.
*
January 18
Events Pre-1600
* 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later.
* 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail.
* 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chi ...
–
Ante Marković
Ante Marković (; 25 November 1924 – 28 November 2011) was a Croatian and Yugoslav politician, businessman and engineer. Marković is most notable for having served as the last prime minister of SFR Yugoslavia.
Early life
Marković, was a Bosn ...
succeeds
Branko Mikulić
Branko Mikulić (10 June 1928 – 12 April 1994) was a Yugoslavian statesman. Mikulić was one of the leading communist politicians in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the communist rule in the former Yugoslavia.
Biography
Branko Mikulić was born t ...
January 23
Events Pre-1600
* 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.
* 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao.
*1264 & ...
Argentinian
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
army base near
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
Prime Minister of Canada
The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...
shuffles
Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. Shuffling is often followed by a cut, to help ensure that the shuffler has not manipulated the outcome.
__TOC__
Techniques
Overha ...
his cabinet, appointing six new ministers and reassigning the responsibilities of nineteen others.
** The
Embassy of the United States, Kabul
The Embassy of the United States of America in Kabul was the official diplomatic mission of the United States of America to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The embassy was housed in a chancery located on Great Massoud Road in the Wazir Akb ...
, Afghanistan, is closed; it does not reopen until late 2001.
Joan Kirner
Joan Elizabeth Kirner (née Hood; 20 June 1938 – 1 June 2015) was an Australian politician who was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, serving from 1990 to 1992. A Labor Party member of the Parliament of Victoria from 1982 to 1994, she was a mem ...
becomes
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
's first female Deputy Premier, after the resignation of Robert Fordham over the VEDC (Victorian Economic Development Co-operation) Crisis.
* February 2
**
Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Sovie ...
: The last
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
armoured column leaves
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
, ending nine years of military occupation since
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
1989 Paraguayan coup d'état
The 1989 Paraguayan coup d'état, also known as La Noche de la Candelaria, was a coup d'état that took place on 2–3 February 1989 in Asunción, Paraguay led by General Andrés Rodríguez against the regime of long-time leader Alfredo Stroess ...
("La Noche de la Candelaria"): A military coup overthrows
Alfredo Stroessner
Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan army officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 to 3 February 1989.
Stroessner led a coup d'état on 4 May 1954 with t ...
, dictator of
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
P. W. Botha
Pieter Willem Botha, (; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006), commonly known as P. W. and af, Die Groot Krokodil (The Big Crocodile), was a South African politician. He served as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and ...
Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, begins broadcasting, from
Issy-les-Moulineaux
Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cat ...
,
Île-de-France
The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
Solidarity movement
Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...
for the first time since
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
.
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nd ...
– The
People's National Party
The People's National Party (PNP) is a social-democratic political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by independence campaigner Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives, as 96 of the 227 local go ...
, led by
Michael Manley
Michael Norman Manley (10 December 1924 – 6 March 1997) was a Jamaican politician who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1972 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1992. Manley championed a democratic socialist program, and has been ...
, wins the
1989 Jamaican general election
General elections were held in Jamaica on 9 February 1989. The result was a victory for the People's National Party, which won 45 of the 60 seats. Voter turnout was 78.4%.
They were the first seriously contested elections since 1980, as the PNP h ...
.
*
February 10
Events Pre-1600
* 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
* 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, spar ...
**
Ron Brown
Ronald Harmon Brown (August 1, 1941 – April 3, 1996) was an American politician. He served as the United States Secretary of Commerce during the first term of President Bill Clinton. Prior to this he was chairman of the Democratic National Co ...
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
to lead a major United States
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
Episcopal Church in the United States of America
The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...
(and also the first woman to become a bishop in the worldwide
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
Union Carbide
Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befo ...
agrees to pay $470,000,000 to the Indian government for damages in the
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
Bhopal disaster
The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a chemical accident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Considered the world's ...
Ayatollah
Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیتالله, āyatollāh) is an honorific title for high-ranking Twelver Shia clergy in Iran and Iraq that came into widespread usage in the 20th century.
Etymology
The title is originally derived from Arabic word p ...
Supreme Leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the executive system and judicial system of the Islamic theocratic government and is the co ...
(d. June 3), issues a fatwa calling for the death of Indian-born British author
Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...
and his publishers for issuing the novel ''
The Satanic Verses
''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
'' (1988).
** The first of 24
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...
Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Sovie ...
: The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
announces that all of its troops have left
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.
** Following a campaign that saw over 1,000 people killed in massive campaign-related violence, the
United National Party
The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...
February 16
Events Pre-1600
*1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
*1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Kar ...
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
crash was a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player.
* February 17
** The
Arab Maghreb Union
The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) or simply the Maghreb Union (MU) ( ar, اتحاد المغرب العربي ', french: Union du Maghreb Arabe) is a political union and economic union trade agreement aiming for economic and future political unity am ...
(AMU) is formed.
** South African police raid the home of
Winnie Mandela
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She se ...
and arrest four of her bodyguards.
* February 20 – In Canada's
Yukon Territory
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
, the ruling
New Democrats
New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...
narrowly maintain control of the
Yukon Legislative Assembly
The Yukon Legislative Assembly (french: Assemblée législative du Yukon) is the legislative assembly for Yukon, Canada. Unique among Canada's three territories, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is the only territorial legislature which is organiz ...
Senate Armed Services Committee
The Committee on Armed Services (sometimes abbreviated SASC for ''Senate Armed Services Committee'') is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Def ...
rejects, 11–9, President Bush's nomination of
John Tower
John Goodwin Tower (September 29, 1925 – April 5, 1991) was an American politician, serving as a Republican United States Senator from Texas from 1961 to 1985. He was the first Republican Senator elected from Texas since Reconstruction. Tower ...
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
, attending the funeral of Hirohito and then meeting with China's
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CCP ...
and South Korea's
Roh Tae-woo
Roh Tae-woo (; ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993.
Roh was a close ally and friend of Chun Doo-hwan, the predecessor leader ...
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
places a $3,000,000 bounty on the head of ''
The Satanic Verses
''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
'' author
Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...
.
**
Singing Revolution
The Singing Revolution; lv, dziesmotā revolūcija; lt, dainuojanti revoliucija) was a series of events that led to the restoration of independence of the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union at the end of ...
: After 44 years, the
Estonian flag
The flag of Estonia ( et, Eesti lipp) is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black (middle), and white (bottom). In Estonian it is colloquially called the ().
The tricolour was already in wide use as the symbol of ...
is raised at the
Pikk Hermann
Pikk Hermann or Tall Hermann (german: Langer Hermann) is a tower of the Toompea Castle, on Toompea hill in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The first part was built 1360–70. It was rebuilt (height brought to ) in the 16th century. A staircase ...
tower in
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
.
**
United Airlines Flight 811
United Airlines Flight 811 was a regularly scheduled airline flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, with intermediate stops at Honolulu and Auckland. On February 24, 1989, the Boeing 747-122 serving the flight experienced a cargo-door failure in fl ...
uncontrolled decompression
Uncontrolled decompression is an unplanned drop in the pressure of a sealed system, such as an aircraft cabin or hyperbaric chamber, and typically results from human error, material fatigue, engineering failure, or impact, causing a pressure vesse ...
after leaving
Honolulu International Airport
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport , also known as Honolulu International Airport, is the main airport of Oahu, Hawaii.February 27 –
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
is rocked by the
Caracazo
The ''Caracazo'' is the name given to the wave of protests, riots and looting. that started on 27 February 1989 in Guarenas, spreading to Caracas and surrounding towns. The weeklong clashes resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, thousand ...
, a wave of protests and looting.
March
* March –
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
begins to liberalise its
currency exchange
A bureau de change (plural bureaux de change, both ) (British English) or currency exchange (American English) is a business where people can exchange one currency for another.
Nomenclature
Although originally French, the term "bureau de chang ...
in a move towards
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
.
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor Diocletian ...
** The
Berne Convention
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal to agree on a set of leg ...
, an international
treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pe ...
on
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
s, is ratified by the United States.
** A
curfew
A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
is imposed in
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
, where protests continue over the alleged intimidation of the
Serb
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
GroenLinks
GroenLinks (, ) is a green political party in the Netherlands.
It was formed on 1 March 1989 from the merger of four left-wing parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and t ...
(GL, GreenLeft).
** After 74 years,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
beer day
Beer Day is the term applied to an event where a United States Navy or Military Sealift Command vessel's personnel are issued, and authorized to consume, beer.
Historical context
Beginning in 1794 the U.S. Congress authorized a daily alcohol ra ...
.
*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
– Twelve
European Community
The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
nations agree to ban the production of all
chlorofluorocarbon
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are fully or partly halogenated hydrocarbons that contain carbon (C), hydrogen (H), chlorine (Cl), and fluorine (F), produced as volatile derivatives of methane, ethane, and pro ...
s (CFCs) by the end of the century.
*
March 3
Events Pre-1600
* 473 – Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominates Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
* 724 – Empress Genshō abdicates the throne in favor of her nephew Shōmu who becomes emperor of Japan.
* 1575 & ...
–
Jammu Siltavuori
Antti Veikko Ilmari Siltavuori (29 October 1926 – 9 March 2012), better known as Jammu Siltavuori or Jammu-setä ("Uncle Jammu"), was a Finnish murderer and sexual offender.
Early life
Veikko Siltavuori was born in Vaasa, Finland. Informati ...
abducts and murders two eight-year-old girls in the Myllypuro suburb of
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
*
March 4
Events Pre-1600
*AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth).
* 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
* 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a st ...
**
Time Inc.
Time Inc. was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New York City. It owned and published over 100 magazine brands, including its namesake ''Time'', ''Sports Illu ...
and
Warner Communications
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
announce plans for a merger, forming Time Warner. (Now Warner Bros. Discovery)
** The Purley station rail crash in London leaves five people dead and 94 injured.
** The first Australian Capital Territory elections are held.
* March 7 –
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
breaks off diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom over
Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...
's ''
The Satanic Verses
''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
''.
* March 9 –
Revolutions of 1989
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...
: The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
submits to the jurisdiction of the World Court.
* March 12 – Tim Berners-Lee produces the proposal document that will become the blueprint for the
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web ...
.
* March 13 – A March 1989 geomagnetic storm, geomagnetic storm causes the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid. 6,000,000 people are power outage, left without power for nine hours. Some areas in the northeastern U.S. and in Sweden also lose power, and aurorae are seen as far as Texas.
* March 14
** Gun control: U.S. President George H. W. Bush bans the importation of certain guns deemed assault weapons into the United States.
** General Michel Aoun declares a "War of Liberation" to rid Lebanon of Syrian forces and their allies.
* March 15
** Israel hands over Taba, Egypt, Taba to Egypt, ending a seven-year territorial dispute.
** Mass demonstrations in Hungarian People's Republic, Hungary, demanding democracy.
* March 16 – The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union approves agricultural reforms allowing farmers the right to lease state-owned farms for life.
* March 17
** The Civic Tower (Pavia), Civic Tower of Pavia, built in the eleventh century, collapses.
** Alfredo Cristiani is elected as President of El Salvador.
* March 20 – Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke weeps on national television as he admits marital infidelity.
* March 22
** Clint Malarchuk of the National Hockey League, NHL Buffalo Sabres suffers a near-fatal injury when another player accidentally slits his throat.
** Asteroid 4581 Asclepius approaches the Earth at a distance of .
* March 23 – Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce that they have achieved cold fusion at the University of Utah.
* March 23–March 28, 28 – The Socialist Republic of Serbia passes constitutional changes revoking the autonomy of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, triggering six days of rioting by the Albanians in Kosovo, Albanian majority, during which at least 29 people are killed.
* March 24 – Exxon Valdez oil spill: In
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
's
Prince William Sound
Prince William Sound ( Sugpiaq: ''Suungaaciq'') is a sound of the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the T ...
, the ''
Exxon Valdez
''Oriental Nicety'', formerly ''Exxon Valdez'', ''Exxon Mediterranean'', ''SeaRiver Mediterranean'', ''S/R Mediterranean'', ''Mediterranean'', and ''Dong Fang Ocean'', was an oil tanker that gained notoriety after running aground in Prince Wi ...
'' spills of Petroleum, oil after running aground.
* March 26 – 1989 Soviet Union legislative election: The first (and last) contested elections for the Soviet Union, Soviet parliament, Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union, Congress of People's Deputies, result in losses for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Communist Party; the first session of the new Congress opens in late May.
* March 29 – The 61st Academy Awards are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with ''Rain Man'' winning Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture, and Jodie Foster wins her first award for Academy Award for Best Actress, Best Actress.
April
* April 1 – Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax (the Poll tax (Great Britain), poll tax) is introduced in Scotland. It will be introduced in England and Wales the following year.
* April 2
** In South-West Africa, fighting erupts between SWAPO insurgents and the South West African Police on the day that a ceasefire was supposed to end the South African Border War according to United Nations Security Council Resolution 435. By April 6, nearly 300 people are killed.
* April 4 – A failed coup attempt against Prosper Avril, President of Haiti, leads to a standoff between mutinous troops and the government which ends on April 10, with the government regaining control of the country.
* April 5 – The Polish Government and the Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity trade union sign an agreement restoring Solidarity to legal status, and agreeing to hold 1989 Polish legislative election, democratic elections on June 4 (Polish Round Table Agreement), which initiates the Revolutions of 1989, 1989 revolution and the overthrow of communism in Central Europe.
* April 6 – National Safety Council of Australia chief executive John Friedrich (fraudster), John Friedrich is arrested after defrauding investors to the tune of $235,000,000.
* April 7 – The Soviet submarine K-278 Komsomolets, Soviet submarine K-278 ''Komsomolets'' sinks in the Barents Sea, killing 41.
* April 9
** April 9 tragedy, Tbilisi massacre: Georgia (country), Georgian demonstrators are massacred by Soviet Army soldiers in Tbilisi's central square during a peaceful rally; 20 citizens are killed, many injured. This causes further protests.
** A dispute over grazing rights leads to the beginning of the Mauritania–Senegal Border War.
* April 14 – The U.S. government seizes the Irvine, California, Lincoln Savings and Loan Association; Charles Keating (for whom the Keating Five are named) eventually goes to jail, as part of the massive 1980s savings and loan crisis which costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $200,000,000 in bailouts, and many people their life savings.
* April 15
**The Hillsborough disaster, one of the biggest tragedies in European association football, football, claims the lives of 94 Liverpool F.C. supporters in Sheffield, England, a further three dying later.
**Hu Yaobang, the former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, dies. The public reaction to his death spawned a chain of events which led to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
* April 17 – Solidarity (Polish trade union) is once again legalised and allowed to participate in semi-free elections on June 4.
* April 19
** Central Park jogger case: Trisha Meili is seriously assaulted and raped whilst jogging in New York City's Central Park; the convictions of five teenagers for the crime are Vacated judgment, vacated in 2002 (the jogger's identity remains secret for years, hence she is referred to as the "Central Park Jogger").
** The USS Iowa turret explosion, USS ''Iowa'' turret explodes on the U.S. battleship ''USS Iowa (BB-61), Iowa'', killing 47 crew members.
* April 20 – NATO debates modernising short range missiles; although the US and UK are in favour, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl obtains a concession deferring a decision.
* April 21 – Students from
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, Shanghai, Xi'an and Nanjing begin protesting in 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
* April 23 – Zaid al-Rifai resigns as Prime Minister of Jordan in the wake of riots over government-imposed price hikes that began on April 18.
* April 25
** Noboru Takeshita resigns as Prime Minister of Japan in the wake of a stock-trading scandal.
** Motorola introduces the Motorola MicroTAC personal cellular telephone, the world's smallest mobile phone at this time.
* April 26
** Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu, Sultan of Perak, becomes the 9th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, succeeding Baginda Almutawakkil Alallah Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail.
** Zaid ibn Shaker succeeds Zaid al-Rifai as Prime Minister of Jordan.
** The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado, the deadliest tornado ever recorded, kills an estimated 1,300 people in the Dhaka Division of Bangladesh.
* April 27 – A major demonstration occurs in Beijing as part of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
May
* May
** Transhumanism: Genetic modification of adult human beings is tried for the first time, a gene tagging trial.
** The Soviet Union issues its first Visa card in a step to digitalise its banking system.
* May 1 – Andrés Rodríguez (President), Andrés Rodríguez, who seized power and declared himself President of Paraguay during a military coup in February, wins a landslide victory at a 1989 Paraguayan general election, general election marked by charges of fraud.
* May 2
** The first crack in the Iron Curtain: Hungary dismantles of barbed wire fencing along the border with Austria.
** The coalition government of Prime Minister of the Netherlands Ruud Lubbers collapses in a dispute about a pollution cleanup plan.
* May 3 – Cold War: Perestroika – The first McDonald's restaurant in the USSR begins construction in Moscow. It will open on January 31, 1990.
* May 4 – Oliver North is convicted in the United States on charges related to the Iran–Contra affair. His conviction is vacated on appeal in 1991.
* May 9 – Andrew Peacock deposes John Howard as Federal Opposition Leader of Australia.
* May 10 – The government of President of Panama
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the ''de facto'' ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritarian ruler who amassed a personal f ...
declares void the result of the May 7 presidential election, which Noriega had lost to Guillermo Endara.
* May 11
** President Bush orders 1,900 U.S. troops to
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
to protect Americans there.
** The ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Legislative Assembly meets for the first time.
* May 12–May 25, 25 – San Bernardino train disaster: Southern Pacific freight locomotive SP 7551 East derails in a residential area of San Bernardino, California, killing four and destroying seven houses. On May 25, as a direct result of the derailment, the Calnev Pipeline explodes, killing an additional two people and destroying eleven more houses and 21 cars.
* May 14
** Mikhail Gorbachev visits China, the first Soviet leader to do so since Nikita Khrushchev in the 1960s, ending the Sino-Soviet split.
** Carlos Menem wins the 1989 Argentine general election, Argentine presidential election.
* May 15
** Australia's first private tertiary institution, Bond University, opens on the Gold Coast.
** The last golden toad is seen in Costa Rica; the species is subsequently classified as extinct.
* May 17
**1989 Tiananmen Square protests: More than 1,000,000 Chinese protesters march through
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
demanding greater democracy, leading to a crackdown.
**In Stuttgart S.S.C. Napoli, Napoli of Diego Maradona wins the Uefa Cup.
* May 19
** 1989 Ürümqi unrest: Uyghur people, Uyghur and Hui people, Hui Muslim protesters riot in front of the government building in Ürümqi, China.
** 1989 Tiananmen Square protests: Zhao Ziyang meets the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
** Ciriaco De Mita resigns as Prime Minister of Italy.
* May 20 – 1989 Tiananmen Square protests: The Chinese government declares martial law in Beijing.
* May 24
**A.C. Milan, Milan of Italy wins the European Champion Clubs' Cup, European Cup beating FC Steaua București, Steaua București of Romania 4–0 in Barcelona.
**Assassinations of Jeffrey Brent Ball and Todd Ray Wilson: A terrorist organization, Zarate Willka Armed Forces of Liberation, kills two American Missionary (LDS Church), missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they return to their apartment, in La Paz, Bolivia.
* May 25 – The Calgary Flames defeat the Montreal Canadiens four games to two to win the franchise's first Stanley Cup in ice hockey.
* May 29
** Amid 1989 riots in Argentina, food riots and looting set off by inflation, the Government of Argentina declares a nationwide state of siege.
** 1989 Tiananmen Square protests: The high ''Goddess of Democracy'' statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.
** NATO agrees to talks with the Soviet Union on reducing the number of short-range nuclear weapons in Europe.
** An attempted assassination of Miguel Maza Marquez, director of the Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) in Bogotá, Colombia is committed by members of the Medellín Cartel, who kill four and injure 37.
* May 31 – Six members of the guerrilla group Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru, Revolutionary Movement Tupac Amaru (MRTA) of Peru, shoot dead eight gay and transgender people in the city of Tarapoto.
June
* June 1–June 10, 10 – Pope John Paul II visits Norway,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, Denmark and Sweden.
* June 2 – Sōsuke Uno succeeds Noboru Takeshita as Prime Minister of Japan.
* June 3 – The world's first high-definition television (test) broadcasts commence in Japan, in analog television, analogue.
* June 4
** 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre: A violent military crackdown takes place on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square,
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
** 1989 Polish legislative election: Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity's victory in the first round is the first of many anti-Communism, communist revolutions of 1989 in Central Europe, Central and
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
.
** Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.
* June 5
** 1989 Tiananmen Square protests: An unknown Chinese protester, "Tank Man", stands in front of a column of military tanks on Chang'an Avenue in Beijing, temporarily halting them, an incident which achieves iconic status internationally through images taken by Western photographers.
** Death and state funeral of Ruhollah Khomeini, State funeral of Ruhollah Khomeini: Eight people are killed and hundreds injured in a human crush during the viewing of the body of Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini at the Musalla in Tehran, two days after his death at the age of 89 in Tehran.
* June 6 – State funeral of Ruhollah Khomeini: The Ayatollah Khomeini's first funeral in Tehran is aborted by officials after a large crowd storms the funeral procession, nearly destroying Khomeini's wooden casket in order to get a last glimpse of his body. At one point, his body almost falls to the ground, as the crowd attempt to grab pieces of the death shroud. The Ayatollah's body has to be returned for the burial preparations to be repeated, before being brought back to the cemetery a few hours later.
* June 7 – Surinam Airways Flight 764 crashes in Paramaribo, Suriname, killing 176.
* June 8 – The wreck of German battleship Bismarck, German battleship ''Bismarck'', which was sunk in 1941, is located about west of Brest, France.
* June 15 – At the 1989 Irish general election, Fianna Fáil, led by Taoiseach Charles Haughey, fails to win a majority.
* June 16 – A crowd of 250,000 gathers at Heroes' Square (Budapest), Heroes Square in Budapest for the historic reburial of Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian Prime Minister who had been executed in 1958.
* June 18 – In the June 1989 Greek legislative election, first Greek legislative election of the year, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, led by Prime Minister of Greece Andreas Papandreou, loses control of the Hellenic Parliament.
* June 22
** British police arrest 260 people celebrating the Midsummer, summer solstice at Stonehenge.
** The University of Limerick and Dublin City University are raised to the status of universities, the first established in Ireland since independence in 1922.
* June 24 – Jiang Zemin becomes General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
* June 30 – 1989 Sudanese coup d'état A military coup led by Omar al-Bashir ousts the civilian government of Prime Minister of Sudan Sadiq al-Mahdi.
July
* July 2 – Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, resigns; a new government is formed under Tzannis Tzannetakis.
* July 5
** State President of South Africa
P. W. Botha
Pieter Willem Botha, (; 12 January 1916 – 31 October 2006), commonly known as P. W. and af, Die Groot Krokodil (The Big Crocodile), was a South African politician. He served as the last prime minister of South Africa from 1978 to 1984 and ...
meets the imprisoned 70-year-old Nelson Mandela face-to-face for the first time.
** The television sitcom ''Seinfeld'' premieres in the United States.
* July 6 – The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack, the first Palestinian people, Palestinian suicide attack on Israel, takes place.
* July 9–July 12, 12 – U.S. President George H. W. Bush travels to People's Republic of Poland, Poland and Hungarian People's Republic, Hungary, pushing for U.S. economic aid and investment.
* July 10 – Approximately 300,000 Siberian coal miners go on strike, demanding better living conditions and less bureaucracy; it is the largest Soviet labour strike since the 1920s.
* July 12
** In the Republic of Ireland, the Taoiseach Charles Haughey returns to power after Fianna Fáil forms a coalition with the Progressive Democrats.
** Lotte World, a major recreation complex in Seoul,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...
, is opened to the public, containing the world's largest indoor amusement park.
* July 14 – France celebrated the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, notably with a monumental show on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, directed by French designer Jean-Paul Goude. President François Mitterrand acted as host for invited world leaders.
* July 14–July 16, 16 – At the 15th G7 summit, leaders call for restrictions on gas emissions.
* July 17
** The Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber makes its first flight, in the United States.
** Holy See–Poland relations: Poland and the Holy See, Vatican re-establish diplomatic relations after approximately fifty years.
* July 18 – Actress Rebecca Schaeffer is murdered by an obsessed fan, leading to stricter stalking laws in California.
* July 19
** 1989 Polish presidential election: The National Assembly of the Republic of Poland elects General Wojciech Jaruzelski to the restored and powerful post of President of Poland.
** United Airlines Flight 232 (Douglas DC-10) crashes in Sioux City, Iowa, killing 112; 184 on board survive.
** The first national park in the Netherlands is established on Schiermonnikoog National Park, Schiermonnikoog.
* July 20 – Burma, Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest. She is released in 2010.
* July 23
** 1989 Japanese House of Councillors election: Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party loses control of the House of Councillors, the LDP's worst electoral showing in 34 years, leading to Prime Minister Uno announcing he will resign to take responsibility for the result.
** Giulio Andreotti takes office as Prime Minister of Italy.
* July 26 – A federal grand jury indicts Cornell University student Robert Tappan Morris for releasing a computer virus, making him the first person to be prosecuted under the United States' 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
* July 27 – In the largest prison sentence to date, Thai financial scammer Mae Chamoy Thipyaso and her accomplices are each sentenced to 141,078 years in prison.
* July 28 – At the 1989 Iranian presidential election, Iranian presidential election, electors overwhelmingly elect Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as President of Iran and endorse changes to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, increasing the powers of the president.
* July 31
** In Lebanon, Hezbollah announces that it has hanged U.S. Marine Lt. Col. William R. Higgins in retaliation for Israel's July 28 kidnapping of Hezbollah leader Abdel Karim Obeid. The same day, the United Nations Security Council passes United Nations Security Council Resolution 638, condemning the taking of hostages by both sides in the conflict.
** Nintendo releases the Game Boy portable video game system in North America.
August
* August – Gazprom, an energy production and sales organization in Russia, becomes state-run enterprise, changing from the Soviet Ministry of Gas Industry.
* August 2 – Pakistan is readmitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after leaving it in 1972.
* August 5 – Jaime Paz Zamora is elected President of Bolivia, taking office the next day.
* August 7
** U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and fifteen others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.
** The presidents of five Central American countries agree that the U.S.-backed ''contras'' fighting the government of Nicaragua should be disbanded and evicted from their bases in Honduras by December 5.
* August 8
** Prime Minister of New Zealand David Lange resigns for health reasons and is replaced by Geoffrey Palmer (politician), Geoffrey Palmer.
** STS-28: Space Shuttle Columbia, Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
* August 9
** Toshiki Kaifu becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
** The asteroid 4769 Castalia is the first directly imaged by radar from Arecibo Observatory.
** The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, a measure to rescue the United States savings and loan industry is signed into law by President Bush, launching the largest federal rescue to date.
* August 10 – United States Army General Colin Powell became the first Black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after being nominated by President Bush.
* August 13 – 1989 Alice Springs hot air balloon crash: An accident near Alice Springs, Australia kills thirteen people.
* August 15 – P. W. Botha resigns as State President of South Africa and F. W. de Klerk becomes the seventh and final holder of this office under this style.
* August 18 – Leading Colombian presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá.
* August 19
** Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be Prime Minister, the first non-Communist in power in 42 years.
** The Pan-European Picnic, a peace demonstration, is held at the Austro-Hungarian border.
* August 19–August 21, 21 – In response to the murder of a judge, a provincial police chief, and presidential candidate Galán, the authorities of Colombia arrest 11,000 suspected Illegal drug trade in Colombia, Colombian drug traffickers.
* August 20
** In Beverly Hills, California, Lyle and Erik Menendez shoot their wealthy parents to death in the family's den.
** Marchioness disaster, ''Marchioness'' disaster: Fifty-one people die when a pleasure boat collides with a dredger on the River Thames adjacent to Southwark Bridge in London.
* August 21 – The 21st anniversary of the crushing of the Prague Spring is commemorated by a demonstration in the city.
* August 23
**
Singing Revolution
The Singing Revolution; lv, dziesmotā revolūcija; lt, dainuojanti revoliucija) was a series of events that led to the restoration of independence of the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union at the end of ...
: Two million indigenous people of
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, Latvia and Lithuania join hands to demand freedom and independence from Occupation of the Baltic states, Soviet occupation, forming an uninterrupted 600 km human chain called the Baltic Way.
** Hungary removes border restrictions with Austria.
** 1989 Australian pilots' dispute: All of Australia's 1,645 domestic airline pilots resign over an airline's move to dismiss and sue them over a wage dispute.
** Murder of Yusef Hawkins in a shooting in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, sparking racial tensions between
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
s and Italian Americans.
* August 24
** Colombia's cocaine traffickers declare "total and absolute war" against the government and begin a series of bombings and arson attacks.
** Indonesia's first commercial television network, RCTI (stands for ''Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia''), is established, and went on air for the first time.
** Tadeusz Mazowiecki of Solidarity is elected Prime Minister of Poland.
* August 25 – ''Voyager 2'' makes its closest approach to Neptune and its largest moon Triton (moon), Triton.
* August 31 – In the aftermath of the Chadian–Libyan conflict of 1978–87, representatives of
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
and Chad agree to let the International Court of Justice determine ownership of the Aouzou Strip, which has been occupied by Libya since 1973.
September
* September 6
** 1989 South African general election, the last held under the South Africa under apartheid, apartheid system, returns the National Party to power with a much-reduced majority.
** In the 1989 Dutch general election, the Christian Democratic Appeal, led by Ruud Lubbers wins 54 seats, and is ultimately able to form a government on November 7 after entering into coalition with the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party.
* September 7 – Representatives of the government of Ethiopia and Eritrean Separatism, separatists meet in Atlanta, with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter attempting to broker a peace settlement.
* September 8 – Partnair Flight 394 flies past an F-16 Fighting Falcon on its way home, then the Convair 580 rolls upside down and falls in the North Sea.
* September 10 – The Hungarian government opens the country's western border (with Austria) to refugees from German Democratic Republic, East Germany.
* September 10–September 11, 11 – Norway's ruling Labour Party (Norway), Labour Party loses eight seats in the parliamentary elections, its worst showing since 1945.
* September 14
** An agreement of co-operation between Leningrad Oblast (Russia) and Nordland County (Norway) is signed in Leningrad, by Chairmen Lev Kojkolainen and Sigbjørn Eriksen.
** Standard Gravure shooting: Joseph T. Wesbecker, a pressman on disability for mental illness, enters his former workplace in Louisville, Kentucky, kills eight people and injures twelve before committing suicide after a history of suicidal ideation.
* September 17–September 22, 22 – Hurricane Hugo devastates the Caribbean and the southeastern United States, causing at least 71 deaths and $8,000,000,000 in damages.
* September 18 – 1989 Burkinabé coup d'état attempt, Alleged coup attempt in Burkina Faso by military officials foiled.
* September 19
** The Catholic Church calls for removal of the Carmelites, Carmelite convent located near the former Auschwitz concentration camp, whose presence has offended some Jewish leaders.
** UTA Flight 772 explodes over Niger, killing all 171 people on board (the Islamic Jihad Organization claims responsibility).
** Burkinabé ministers Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani and Henri Zongo executed following their arrest the previous day.
* September 20 – F. W. de Klerk is sworn in as the seventh and last State President of South Africa. Soon afterwards he determines to suspend the South African nuclear weapons program.
* September 22
** 1989 Deal barracks bombing: An IRA bomb explodes at the Royal Marine School of Music in Deal, Kent, United Kingdom, leaving 11 people dead and 22 injured.
** ''Doe v. University of Michigan'': A Michigan court rules against the hate speech law at the University of Michigan, claiming it unconstitutional.
* September 23
** A cease-fire in the Lebanese Civil War stops the violence that had killed 900 people since March.
** Nintendo Company Ltd. celebrates its 100th anniversary.
* September 26 – Vietnam announces that it has withdrawn the last of its troops from the People's Republic of Kampuchea, State of Cambodia, ending an eleven-year occupation.
* September 30
** Nearly 7,000 East Germans who had come to Prague on special refugee trains are allowed to leave for the West.
** The Senegambia Confederation is dissolved over border disagreements.
October
* October – Cold War: Perestroika – Nathan's Famous opens a hot dog stand in Moscow.
* October 1 – Civil union between partners in a same-sex relationship becomes Same-sex marriage in Denmark, legal in Denmark under a law enacted on June 7, the world's first such legislation.
* October 3
** A 1989 Panamanian coup d'état attempt, coup attempt is foiled by
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the ''de facto'' ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritarian ruler who amassed a personal f ...
, List of heads of state of Panama, military leader of Panama.
** The government of East Germany closes the country's border with Czechoslovakia to prevent further emigration to the West.
* October 5 – The 14th Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
* October 7
** The Communism, communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party votes to reorganise itself as a Socialism, socialist party, to be named the Hungarian Socialist Party.
** The first mass demonstration against the Communist regime in the GDR begins in Plauen, East Germany, the beginning of a series of mass demonstrations in the whole GDR which ultimately leads to the reunification of Germany in 1990.
* October 9
** An official news agency in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
reports the Voronezh UFO incident, landing of a UFO in Voronezh.
** In Leipzig, East Germany, protesters demand the legalisation of opposition groups and democratic reforms.
* October 13
** Friday the 13th mini-crash: The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunges 190.58 points, or 6.91 percent, to close at 2,569.26, most likely after the high-yield debt, junk bond market collapses.
** Gro Harlem Brundtland, leader of the Labour Party (Norway), Labour Party, resigns as Prime Minister of Norway. She is succeeded by Jan P. Syse, Leader of the Conservative Party (Norway), Conservative Party, on October 16.
* October 15 – Walter Sisulu is released from prison in South Africa.
* October 17 – The 6.9 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Loma Prieta earthquake shakes the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast (California), Central Coast with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). Sixty-three people are killed and the 1989 World Series in baseball is postponed for ten days as a result of the earthquake.
* October 18
** The Communist leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, is forced to step down as leader of the country after a series of health problems, and is succeeded by Egon Krenz.
** The National Assembly of Hungary votes to restore multi-party democracy.
** NASA launches the unmanned ''Galileo (spacecraft), Galileo'' orbiter on a mission to study the planet Jupiter, via ''Space Shuttle Atlantis, Atlantis'' mission STS-34.
* October 19 – The Guildford Four are freed after fourteen years' imprisonment in Britain.
* October 21 – The Commonwealth Heads of Government issue the Langkawi Declaration on the Environment, making environmental sustainability one of the Commonwealth of Nations's main priorities.
* October 23
** The Hungary, Hungarian Republic is officially declared by President Mátyás Szűrös (replacing the Hungarian People's Republic), exactly 33 years after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
** The Phillips disaster of 1989, Phillips disaster, a chemical plant explosion, in Pasadena, Texas, kills 23 and injures 314 others.
* October 24 – The 1989 Bhagalpur violence, a major incident of religious violence, breaks out in Bhagalpur, Bihar, India; it will kill nearly 1,000 people.
* October 28 – The United States Flag Protection Act takes effect. There are mass protests in Seattle and New York City.
* October 30 – United States v. Eichman, Shawn Eichman, Dave Blalock, Dread Scott and Gregory Lee Johnson, Joey Johnson Flag burning, burn American flags on the steps of U.S. Capitol Building to protest against the Flag Protection Act.
* October 31
** The Grand National Assembly of Turkey elects Prime Minister Turgut Özal as the eighth President of Turkey.
** Half a million people demonstrate in the East German city of Leipzig.
November
* November – The first commercial dial-up Internet connection in North America is made, by The World STD.
* November 1
** The President of Nicaragua ends a ceasefire with U.S.-backed ''contras'' that has been in effect since April 1988.
** The border between East Germany and Czechoslovakia is reopened.
* November 3 – East Germany, East German refugees arrive at the West German town of Hof, Bavaria, Hof after being allowed through Czechoslovakia.
* November 4
** Alexanderplatz demonstration in East Berlin. Half a million people protest against communist rule in East Germany.
** Typhoon Gay (1989), Typhoon Gay devastates Thailand's Chumphon Province.
* November 6 – The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is established.
* November 7
** Cold War: The Communist government of East Germany resigns, although Socialist Unity Party of Germany, SED leader Egon Krenz remains as head of state.
** Lieutenant Governor Douglas Wilder wins the Virginia gubernatorial race, becoming the first African-American elected Governor in the United States.
** David Dinkins becomes the first African-American mayor of New York City.
* November 9
** Cold War and
Fall of the Berlin Wall
The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...
: Günter Schabowski accidentally states in a live broadcast press conference that new rules for traveling from East Germany to West Germany will be put in effect "immediately". Late this evening, East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall, allowing its citizens to travel freely to West Germany for the first time in decades. In the first week, travel visas will be issued to around 25% of the East German population.
** Yıldırım Akbulut of Motherland Party (Turkey) (ANAP) forms the new government of Turkey (47th government).
* November 10
** After 45 years of Communist rule in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Communist Party leader Todor Zhivkov is replaced by Foreign Minister Petar Mladenov, who changes the party's name to the Bulgarian Socialist Party.
** Gaby Kennard becomes the first Australian woman to fly solo around the world.
* November 12 – Brazil holds its first free presidential election since 1960.
* November 13 – Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam II becomes Prince of Liechtenstein on the death of his father, Prince Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein, Franz Joseph II.
* November 14 – 1989 Namibian parliamentary election, Elections are held in Namibia, leading to a victory for the South West Africa People's Organisation.
* November 15
** Lech Wałęsa, leader of Poland's
Solidarity movement
Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...
, addresses a Joint session of the United States Congress.
** Brazil holds the first round of its first free election in 29 years; Fernando Collor de Mello and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva advance to the second round, to be held the following month.
* November 16
** 1989 murders of Jesuits in El Salvador, Six Jesuit priests are murdered by Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, U.S. trained Military of El Salvador, Salvadoran soldiers.
** The first American cosmetics shop in the Soviet Union, an Estée Lauder Companies, Estée Lauder outlet, opens in Moscow.
** UNESCO adopts the Seville Statement on Violence at the 25th session of its General Conference.
* November 17 – Cold War:
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...
– A peaceful student demonstration in Prague, Czechoslovakia, is severely beaten back by riot police. This sparks a revolution aimed at overthrowing the Communist government (it succeeds on December 29).
* November 20 – Cold War:
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...
– The number of peaceful protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia, swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
* November 21 – The Members of the Constituent Assembly of Namibia begin to draft the Constitution of Namibia, which will be the constitution of the newly independent Namibia.
* November 22 – In West Beirut, a bomb explodes near the motorcade of Lebanon, Lebanese President René Moawad, killing him.
* November 24 – Following a week of demonstrations demanding free elections and other reforms, General Secretary Miloš Jakeš and other leaders of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia resign. Jakeš is replaced by Karel Urbánek.
* November 26 – 1989 Uruguayan general election: Luis Alberto Lacalle is elected President of Uruguay.
* November 27 – Colombian domestic passenger flight Avianca Flight 203 is bombed by the Medellín Cartel, Medellín drug cartel in an (unsuccessful) attempt to kill presidential candidate for the 1990 Colombian presidential election, 1990 elections César Gaviria Trujillo.
* November 28 – Cold War:
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...
– The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces they will give up their monopoly on political power (elections held in December bring the first non-Communist government to Czechoslovakia in more than forty years).
* November 29 – Rajiv Gandhi resigns as Prime Minister of India after his party, the Indian National Congress, loses about half of its seats at the 1989 Indian general election.
* November 30 – Deutsche Bank board member Alfred Herrhausen is killed by a bomb in Bad Homburg (the Red Army Faction claims responsibility for the murder).
December
* December 1
** In a meeting with Pope John Paul II, General Secretary of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev pledges greater religious freedom for citizens of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
.
** Cold War: East Germany's parliament abolishes the constitutional provision granting the Communist-dominated Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) its monopoly on power. Egon Krenz, the Politburo and the Central Committee resign two days later.
** A military 1989 Philippine coup attempt, coup attempt begins in the Philippines against the government of Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino. It is crushed by United States intervention ending by December 9.
* December 2
** The ''Solar Maximum Mission'' scientific research satellite, launched in 1980, crashes back to earth.
** V. P. Singh takes office as Prime Minister of India.
** In the 1989 Republic of China legislative election, Republic of China legislative election, the Kuomintang suffers its worst election setback in forty years, winning only 53% of the popular vote.
** The Second Malayan Emergency concludes with a peace agreement. The Malayan Communist Party disbands and Chin Peng remains in exile in Thailand until his death in 2013.
* December 3
** The entire leadership of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Socialist Unity Party in East Germany, including Egon Krenz, resigns. Hans Modrow becomes ''de facto'' the country's last leader.
** Cold War: Malta Summit – Concluding a 2-day meeting off the coast of Malta, U.S. 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. Gorbachev implies criticism of the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.
* December 4 – Prime Minister of Jordan Zaid ibn Shaker resigns and is replaced by Mudar Badran.
* December 6
** The DAS Building bombing occurs in Bogotá, killing 52 people and injuring about 1,000.
** Egon Krenz resigns as Chairman of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic, and is replaced by Manfred Gerlach, the first non-Communist to hold that post.
** École Polytechnique massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders fourteen young women at the École Polytechnique de Montréal.
* December 7
** Ladislav Adamec resigns as Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia. He is succeeded by Marián Čalfa on December 10.
**
Singing Revolution
The Singing Revolution; lv, dziesmotā revolūcija; lt, dainuojanti revoliucija) was a series of events that led to the restoration of independence of the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union at the end of ...
: The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic becomes the first of the republics of the Soviet Union to abolish the Communist Party's monopoly on power.
* December 9 – The Socialist Unity Party of Germany elects the reformist Gregor Gysi as party leader.
* December 10
** President of Czechoslovakia Gustáv Husák swears in a new cabinet with a non-Communist and then immediately resigns as president.
** Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of Mongolia's democratic movement, that peacefully changes the second-oldest Communist country into a democracy.
* December 11 – The International Trans-Antarctica Expedition, a group of six explorers from six nations, reaches the South Pole.
*December 12 – Hong Kong begins the forcible repatriation of Vietnamese boat people, starting with a group of 59 who were flown to Hanoi.
* December 14 – Chile holds its 1989 Chilean presidential election, first free election in sixteen years, electing Patricio Aylwin as president. This marks the first time that all Ibero-American nations, except
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, have elected constitutional governments simultaneously.
* December 15 – Drug baron José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha is killed by Colombian police.
* December 16 – The Romanian Revolution begins in Timișoara, initiated by the Hungarians in Romania, Hungarian minority.
* December 17
** The Romanian Revolution continues in Timișoara when rioters break into the building housing the District Committee of the Romanian Communist Party and cause extensive damage. The military is called in but fails fully to control the situation.
** Brazil holds the second round of its 1989 Brazilian presidential election, first free election in 29 years; Fernando Collor de Mello is elected to serve as president from 1990.
* December 19 – Romanian Revolution: Workers in the cities go on strike in protest against the Communist regime. On December 20 about 100,000 occupy Timișoara.
* December 20 – The
United States invasion of Panama
The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, lasted over a month between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos ...
("Operation Just Cause") is launched in an attempt to overthrow
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
nian dictator
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the ''de facto'' ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritarian ruler who amassed a personal f ...
.
* December 21 – Nicolae Ceaușescu addresses an assembly of some 110,000 people outside the Romanian Communist Party headquarters in Bucharest. Unprecedentedly, most of the crowd turns against him.
* December 22
** After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as President of Romania, ending the communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu, who flees his palace in a helicopter after the palace is invaded by rioters. Most of the army has joined with the rioters in Bucharest.
** The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin is reopened.
** Two tourist coaches collide on the Pacific highway north of Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia, killing 35 people.
* December 23 – Nicolae Ceaușescu, Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu are captured in Târgoviște.
* December 24 – Charles Taylor (Liberian politician), Charles Taylor's troops cross into Liberia from the Ivorian border, launching their first attack, sparking the First Liberian Civil War.
* December 25
** Trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu: Deposed Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife are summarily tried and executed outside Bucharest.
** Bank of Japan governors announce a major interest rate hike, eventually leading to the peak and fall of the economic bubble.
* December 28
** A magnitude earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
** Alexander Dubček is elected Chairman of Czechoslovakia's Federal Assembly (Parliament).
* December 29
** Czech playwright, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-Communist President of Czechoslovakia.
** Riots break out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
** Nikkei 225 for Tokyo Stock Exchange hits its all-time intra-day high of 38,957.44 and closing high at 38,915.87.
* December 31 – Poland's president signs the Balcerowicz Plan, ending the Communism, Communist system in Poland in favor of a capitalist system, leading to abandonment of the Warsaw Pact.
Date unknown
* The first Al-Qaeda-related cell in the United States begins operation in New York City.
* Kamchatka Oblast, Kamchatka opens to Russian civilian visitors.
* Richard C. Duncan introduces the Olduvai theory, about the collapse of industrial civilization.
* The global concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere reaches 350 parts per million by volume.
* Walmart posts revenues and profits triple its 1986 figures and rivals Kmart (United States), Kmart and Sears in importance in the American market.
* The Breguet Alizé propeller-driven anti-submarine planes are retired from active carrier service in the French Navy.
* N.W.A are the first gangsta rap group to sell 1,000,000 copies of an album with their controversial 1988 debut album ''Straight Outta Compton''.
Births
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– Adèle Haenel, French actress
* January 3 – Kōhei Uchimura, Japanese gymnast
* January 4
** Labrinth, British urban and hip-hop musician
** Julius Yego, Kenyan javelin thrower
* January 6 – Nicky Romero, Dutch DJ
* January 9
** Michael Beasley, American basketball player
** Nina Dobrev, Bulgarian-born Canadian actress
** Yana Maksimava, Lithuanian-Belarusian heptathlete
* January 10
** Emily Meade, American actress
** Heo Sol-ji, South Korean singer
** Zuria Vega, Mexican actress and singer
*
January 11
Events Pre-1600
* 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence.
* 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muha ...
– Naif Hazazi, Saudi footballer
* January 12 – Arci Muñoz, Filipina actress and model
* January 14 – Frankie Bridge, English singer
* January 15
** Ryan Corr, Australian actor
** Nicole Ross, American Olympic foil fencer
** Keiffer Hubbell, American ice dancer
* January 16 – Yvonne Zima, American actress
* January 19
** Yani Tseng, Taiwanese golfer
** Kelly Marie Tran, American actress
* January 21
** Murilo de Almeida, Brazilian-East Timorese footballer
** Doğuş Balbay, Turkish basketball player
** Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Armenian footballer
* January 24 – Gong Lijiao, Chinese shot putter
* January 27 – Ricky van Wolfswinkel, Dutch footballer
* January 28 – Bruno Massot, French-born German pair skater
* January 30 – Lee Gun-woo, South Korean singer
February
* February 2 – Southside (record producer), Southside, American record producer
* February 4
** Nkosi Johnson, South African AIDS awareness campaigner (d. 2001)
** Larissa Ramos, Brazilian beauty pageant winner
* February 5 – Jeremy Sumpter, American actor
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nd ...
** Neil Taylor (footballer), Neil Taylor, Welsh footballer
** Isaiah Thomas (basketball), Isaiah Thomas, American basketball player
* February 9
** Maxime Dufour-Lapointe, Canadian freestyle skier
** Wu Chia-ching, Taiwanese pool player
*
February 10
Events Pre-1600
* 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
* 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, spar ...
- Neelofa, Malaysian actress
* February 11 – Lovi Poe, Filipina actress and singer
* February 15
** Sinethemba Jantjie, South African footballer (d. 2019)
** Ayaka Nishiwaki, Japanese singer and dancer
*
February 16
Events Pre-1600
*1249 – Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khagan of the Mongol Empire.
*1270 – Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeats the Livonian Order in the Battle of Kar ...
** Elizabeth Olsen, American actress
** Zivanna Letisha Siregar, Indonesian model
* February 17
** Rebecca Adlington, British swimmer
** Chord Overstreet, American actor, singer and musician
* February 20
** Jack Falahee, American actor
** Mayu Kuroda, Japanese artistic gymnast
* February 21
** Corbin Bleu, American actor, model, dancer, film producer and singer-songwriter
** Jung Joon-young, Korean actor and singer
* February 24
** Trace Cyrus, American musician
** Daniel Kaluuya, English actor
** Kosta Koufos, Greek-born American basketball player
* February 25
** Kana Hanazawa, Japanese voice actress and singer
** Lee Sang-hwa, South Korean speed skater
* February 27 – Stephen Kiprotich, Ugandan marathon runner
* February 28 – Zhang Liyin, Chinese singer
March
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor Diocletian ...
** Emma (wrestler), Emma, Australian professional wrestler
** Daniella Monet, American actress and singer
** Carlos Vela, Mexican footballer
*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his '' bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
** Jean-Frédéric Chapuis, French Olympic freestyle skier
** Nathalie Emmanuel, English actress
** Toby Alderweireld, Belgian football player
* March 5 – Sterling Knight, American actor
* March 6 – Agnieszka Radwańska, Polish tennis player
* March 7 – Gerald Anderson, Filipino actor
* March 9 – Taeyeon, South Korean singer
* March 10 – Đỗ Thị Ngân Thương, Vietnamese artistic gymnast
* March 11
** Daniella Kertesz, Israeli actress
** Anton Yelchin, Russian-born American actor (d. 2016)
* March 12 – Tyler Clary, American Olympic swimmer
* March 13
** Peaches Geldof, British columnist and model (d. 2014)
** Pierre Niney, French actor
* March 14 – Colby O'Donis, American singer
* March 15
** Maria Minogarova, Russian model
** Gil Roberts, American sprinter
** Tom Bateman (actor), Tom Bateman, English actor
* March 16
** Blake Griffin, American basketball player
** Theo Walcott, English footballer
* March 17
** Shinji Kagawa, Japanese football player
** Harry Melling (actor), Harry Melling, British actor
** Mason Musso, American musician, singer and songwriter
** Morfydd Clark, Welsh actress
* March 18
** Francesco Checcucci, Italian footballer
** Lily Collins, British-born American actress
** Kana Nishino, Japanese singer-songwriter
* March 20 – Fei Fei Sun, Chinese model
* March 21
** Jordi Alba, Spanish professional footballer
** Takeru Satoh, Japanese actor
* March 22
** Eva Pereira, Cape Verdean middle-distance runner
** Karen Rodriguez, American singer
** J. J. Watt, American football player
** Aline Weber, Brazilian model
* March 25 – Aly Michalka, American actress and singer
* March 26 - Simon Kjær, Danish footballer
* March 27 – Vivian Wong Shir Yee, Malaysian politician
* March 29 – Arnold Peralta, Honduran footballer (d. 2015)
* March 31 – Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer
April
* April 2 – Liis Lass, Estonian actress
* April 3 – Ankit Narang, Indian actor
* April 4 – Chris Herd, Australian footballer
* April 5 – Lily James, British actress
* April 8
** Nicholas Megalis, American singer-songwriter
** Hitomi Takahashi (singer), Hitomi Takahashi, Japanese singer
** Gabriella Wilde, English actress and model
* April 9 – Danielle Kahle, American figure skater
* April 12 – Lim Heem Wei, Singaporean artistic gymnast
* April 13 – Vladislav Yegin, Russian ice hockey player
* April 17 – Beau Knapp, American actor
* April 18
** Jessica Jung, American-born Korean singer
** Alia Shawkat, American actress
* April 19
** Kim Nam-chun, South Korean footballer (d. 2020)
** Ashley Everett, American dancer and actress
**Simu Liu, Canadian actor, writer and stuntman
* April 20
** Nina Davuluri, American public speaker and advocate
** Carlos Valdes (actor), Carlos Valdes, Colombian actor and singer
* April 21 – Tatyana McFadden, Russian-born American paralympian athlete
* April 22 – Louis Smith (gymnast), Louis Smith, British gymnast
* April 23
** Anastasia Baranova, Russian-born American actress
** Nicole Vaidišová, Czech tennis player
* April 24 – Ian Matos, Brazilian diver (d. 2021)
* April 25
** Syed Hussain Abbas, Pakistani footballer
** Emanuela de Paula, Brazilian model
** Michael van Gerwen, Dutch darts player
** Aysel Teymurzadeh, Azerbaijani pop singer
* April 26
** Luke Bracey, Australian actor
** Daesung, South Korean singer
* April 28 – Kim Sung-kyu, South Korean singer and dancer
* April 29 – Foxes (singer), Foxes, British singer-songwriter
May
* May 3 – Katinka Hosszú, Hungarian swimmer
* May 4
** Dániel Gyurta, Hungarian swimmer
** Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish golfer
** James van Riemsdyk, American ice hockey player
* May 5 – Chris Brown, American singer and actor
* May 6
** Dominika Cibulková, Slovak tennis player
** Otto Knows, Swedish DJ and producer
* May 7
** Arlenis Sosa, Dominican model
** Earl Thomas (defensive back), Earl Thomas, American football player
* May 8 – Katy B, British singer
* May 9
**Shane van Gisbergen, New Zealand racing driver
**C418, Daniel Rosenfeld, German musician, producer and sound engineer, best known as the composer and sound designer for the sandbox video game Minecraft
* May 10 – Lindsey Shaw, American actress
* May 11
** Cam Newton, American football player
** Prince Royce, American singer and songwriter
** Giovani dos Santos, Mexican footballer
* May 12 – Eleftheria Eleftheriou, Greek-Cypriot singer and actress
* May 14
** Rob Gronkowski, American football player
** Alina Talay, Belarusian hurdler
* May 15 – Lee Soon-Kyu, Sunny Lee, American-born Korean singer
* May 17
** Olivia Luccardi, American actress and producer
** Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
* May 18
** Fatima Ali, Pakistani-born American chef (d. 2019)
** Shreevats Goswami, Indian cricketer
* May 21
** Emily Robins, New Zealand actress and singer
** Hal Robson-Kanu, Welsh footballer
* May 23
** Patrick Hougaard, Danish motorcycle speedway rider
** Ezequiel Schelotto, Italian football player
** Jeffery Taylor, Swedish basketball player
* May 24
** Kalin Lucas, American basketball player
** G-Eazy, American hip-hop rapper and producer
* May 25
** Guillaume Boivin, Canadian racing cyclist
** Aliona Moon, Moldovan pop singer
* May 26 – Park Yeeun, Korean Singer
* May 27
** Peakboy, South Korean rapper, record producer, and singer-songwriter
** Afgan Syahreza, Indonesian pop singer and actor
* May 28 – Alexey Negodaylo, Russian Olympic bobsledder
* May 29
** Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson, Icelandic singer
** Riley Keough, American model
** Brandon Mychal Smith, American actor
* May 30
** Ailee, Korean-American singer and songwriter
** Park Hyomin, South Korean singer
* May 31
** Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer
** Bas Dost, Dutch football player
** Sean Johnson (soccer), Sean Johnson, American soccer player
** Daul Kim, South Korean model (d. 2009)
** Marco Reus, German football player
June
* June 2
** Steve Smith (cricketer), Steve Smith, Australian cricketer
** Shane Yarran, Australian rules footballer (d. 2018)
* June 3 – Imogen Poots, British actress
* June 4
** Pawel Fajdek, Polish hammer thrower
** Eldar Gasimov, Azerbaijani singer
* June 5 – Monica Castaño, Colombian beauty queen and model
* June 7 – Bryn McAuley, Canadian actress
* June 8
** Timea Bacsinszky, Swiss tennis player
** Minami Tsuda, Japanese voice actress
** Amaury Vassili, French operatic tenor
* June 9 – Chloë Agnew, Irish singer
* June 14
** Lucy Hale, American actress and singer
** Jubin Nautiyal, Indian playback singer
* June 18
** Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, French-born Gabonese footballer
** Anna Fenninger, Austrian alpine ski racer
** Renee Olstead, American actress and singer
* June 19 – Giacomo Gianniotti, Italian-Canadian actor
* June 22
** Jeffrey Earnhardt, American race car driver
** Jung Yong Hwa, South Korean musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and actor
* June 27
** Matthew Lewis (actor), Matthew Lewis, British actor
** Bruna Tenório, Brazilian supermodel
* June 28
** Andrew Fifita, Tongan rugby league footballer
** David Fifita (rugby league, born 1989), David Fifita, Tongan rugby league footballer
** Mark Fischbach, American YouTube personality
** Joe Kovacs, American shot putter
* June 29 – Maciej Szymon Cieśla, Maciej Cieśla, Polish graphics designer
* June 30
** Asbel Kiprop, Kenyan middle-distance runner
** Ginta Lapiņa, Latvian model
July
* July 1
** Daniel Ricciardo, Australian Formula 1 driver
** Farouk Ben Mustapha, Tunisian footballer
* July 2
** Dev (singer), Dev, American singer
** Alex Morgan, American soccer player
* July 4 – Yoon Doo-joon, Korean singer
* July 7
** Jamie Johnston, Canadian actor and singer-songwriter
** Kim Bum, South Korean actor
* July 8
** Dmitry Abakumov, Russian football player
** Yarden Gerbi, Israeli world champion judoka
** Ahmad Fakri Saarani, Malaysian footballer
* July 10
** Fazrul Hazli, Malaysian footballer
** Carlos Zambrano (footballer), Carlos Zambrano, Peruvian footballer
* July 11
** Shareeka Epps, American actress
** David Henrie, American actor and director
** Martin Klizan, Slovak tennis player
* July 12
** Phoebe Tonkin, Australian actress and model
** Rakep Patel, Kenyan cricketer
* July 13 – Sayumi Michishige, Japanese singer
* July 14 – Cyril Rioli, Australian rules footballer
* July 15 – Tristan Wilds, American actor and singer
* July 16
** Gareth Bale, Welsh footballer
** Kim Woo-bin, South Korean model and actor
* July 18 – Jamie Benn, Canadian ice hockey player
* July 21
** Chris Gunter, Welsh footballer
** Marco Fabián, Mexican footballer
** Rory Culkin, American actor
* July 22
** Trent Boult, New Zealand cricketer
** Kamal G, Indian film director, film editor and film producer
* July 23
** Daniel Radcliffe, English actor
** Zhong An Qi, Taiwanese singer
* July 25 – Noel Callahan, Canadian actor
* July 27 – Charlotte Arnold, Canadian actress
* July 28
** Adrien Broner, African-American professional boxer
** Felipe Kitadai, Brazilian Olympic medalist judoka
** Amy Yang, South Korean golfer
* July 30 – Aleix Espargaró, Spanish Grand prix motorcycle racer
* July 31
** Victoria Azarenka, Belarusian tennis player
** Alexis Knapp, American actress and singer
** Marshall Williams, Canadian actor and musician
** Zelda Williams, American actress
August
* August 1
** Tiffany Young, American-born Korean singer
** Tomoka Kurokawa, Japanese actress
* August 2
** Nacer Chadli, Belgian footballer
** Vanes-Mari Du Toit, South African netball player
* August 3 – Sam Hutchinson, English footballer
* August 4
** Jessica Mauboy, Australian actress and singer-songwriter (Young Divas)
** Wang Hao (chess player), Wang Hao, Chinese chess player
* August 5
** Shanshan Feng, Chinese golfer
** Mathieu Manset, French footballer
** Nina Radojičić, Serbian singer
* August 7 – DeMar DeRozan, American basketball player
* August 10
** Sam Gagner, Canadian ice hockey player
** Ben Sahar, Israeli footballer
** Brenton Thwaites, Australian actor
* August 11
** Junior Heffernan, Irish cyclist and triathlete (d. 2013)
** Sebastian Huke, German footballer
** Emma Wu, Taiwanese singer and actress
* August 14
** Ander Herrera, Spanish professional footballer
** Kyle Turris, Canadian ice hockey player
* August 15
** Belinda Peregrín, Belinda, Mexican singer and actress
** Joe Jonas, American musician, actor and singer
** Carlos PenaVega, American actor, dancer and singer
* August 19 – Romeo Miller, American rapper, actor, entrepreneur and model
* August 20 – Judd Trump, English snooker player
* August 21 – Hayden Panettiere, American actress and singer
* August 24 – Andrés Mercado, Colombian actor and singer
* August 26 – James Harden, American basketball player
* August 27
** Juliana Cannarozzo, American figure skater
** Daniel Tovar, Mexican actor
* August 28 – Valtteri Bottas, Finnish Formula One driver
* August 29 – Su Bingtian, Chinese sprinter
* August 30 – Bebe Rexha, American singer-songwriter
September
* September 1
** Bill Kaulitz, German singer
** Jefferson Montero, Ecuadorian footballer
** Daniel Sturridge, English footballer
* September 2
** Alexandre Pato, Brazilian footballer
** Zedd, record producer, DJ, musician, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter
* September 5 – Kat Graham, Swiss-born American actress, model, singer and dancer
* September 7 – Jonathan Majors, American actor
* September 8
** Avicii, Swedish DJ, remixer and record producer (d. 2018)
** Sebastián Francini, Argentine actor
* September 9 – Sean Malto, American professional skateboarder
* September 12
** Freddie Freeman, American baseball player
** Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Canadian artistic gymnast
** Andrew Luck, American football player
* September 13
** Jon Mannah, Australian rugby league player (d. 2013)
** Thomas Müller, German football player
* September 14
** Kazumi Evans, Canadian voice actress and singer
** Tony Finau, American golfer
** Logan Henderson, American actor, dancer and singer
** Jonathon Simmons, American basketball player
* September 15 – Steliana Nistor, Romanian artistic gymnast
* September 19
**Tyreke Evans, American basketball player, 2010 NBA Rookie of the Year
**Volkan Oezdemir, Turkish-Swiss mixed martial artist
* September 20 – Andrej Martin, Slovak tennis player
* September 21 – Jason Derulo, American urban singer and actor
* September 22
** Kim Hyo-yeon, Hyoyeon Kim, Korean singer
** Sabine Lisicki, German tennis player
* September 23
** Sui He, Chinese model
** Mara Scherzinger, German actress
* September 24 – Pia Wurtzbach, German-Filipina actress and model
* September 25 – Jordan Gavaris, Canadian actor
* September 27
** Rumi Okubo, Japanese voice actress
** Park Tae-hwan, South Korean swimmer
* September 29 – Theo Adams, British performance artist
October
* October 1 – Brie Larson, American actress
* October 4
** Dakota Johnson, American actress
** Kimmie Meissner, American figure skater
** Viktoria Rebensburg, German alpine skier
* October 5 – Travis Kelce, American football player
* October 10 – Aimee Teegarden, American actress
* October 11
** Tomoyuki Sugano, Japanese baseball pitcher
** Michelle Wie, American golfer
* October 12 – Paulo Henrique Ganso, Brazilian football player
* October 13
** Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, American politician and activist
** Skyler Page, American animator and voice actor
* October 15 – Anthony Joshua, British professional boxer
* October 16 – Dan Biggar, Welsh rugby union player
* October 17
** Kyle Carpenter, American former marine and Medal of Honor recipient
** Sophie Luck, Australian actress
* October 18 – Matthew Centrowitz Jr., American middle-distance runner
* October 19 – Nikolija (singer), Nikolija Jovanović, Serbian singer and dancer
* October 20 – Jess Glynne, British singer
* October 23 – Jonita Gandhi, Indo-Canadian singer
* October 24
** Armin Bačinović, Slovenian football midfielder
** T'erea Brown, American track and field athlete
** Cristian Gamboa, Costa Rican footballer
** Shenae Grimes, Canadian actress
** Eric Hosmer, American professional baseball player
** PewDiePie, Swedish and former most subscribed YouTuber, comedian, commentator, and philanthropist
** Eliza Taylor, Australian actress
* October 25 – Mia Wasikowska, Australian actress
* October 28 – Camille Muffat, French swimmer (d. 2015)
* October 29 – Primož Roglič, Slovenian cyclist
* October 30 – Nastia Liukin, American artistic gymnast and Olympic gold medalist
November
* November 2 – Katelyn Tarver, American singer, songwriter and actress
* November 3
** Paula DeAnda, Mexican-born American singer
** Joyce Jonathan, French singer
** Kim Taek-yong, South Korean professional gamer
* November 6 – Jozy Altidore, American soccer player
* November 9 – Gianluca Bezzina, Maltese doctor and singer
* November 10
** Taron Egerton, British actor
** Adeele Sepp, Estonian actress
* November 11
** Nick Blackman, English-Israeli footballer
** Thiago de Los Reyes, Brazilian actor
** Adam Rippon, American figure skater
** Reina Tanaka, Japanese pop-rock singer
* November 14
** Emis Killa, Italian rapper
** Jake Livermore, English footballer
* November 19
** Caitlynne Medrek, Canadian actress and voice actress
** Tyga, American rapper
* November 20
** Cody Linley, American actor
** Sergei Polunin, Ukrainian ballet dancer
* November 21 – Fabian Delph, English footballer
* November 22 – Alden Ehrenreich, American actor
* November 25 – Tom Dice, Belgian singer-songwriter
* November 27 – Loveli, Japanese model
December
* December 2
** Cassie Steele, Canadian actress and singer
** Robert Turbin, American football player
* December 3 – Bette Franke, Dutch model
* December 4
** Garron DuPree, American musician
** Nafessa Williams, American actress
* December 5
** Gregory Tyree Boyce, American actor
** Katy Kung, Hong Kong actress
** Kwon Yu-ri, Korean singer
* December 7 – Nicholas Hoult, British actor
* December 9 – Eric Bledsoe, American basketball player
* December 10 – Marion Maréchal, French politician
* December 12 – Janelle Arthur, American singer
* December 13
** Chen Xiang, Chinese pop singer and actor
** Katherine Schwarzenegger, American author
** Taylor Swift, American singer-songwriter and record producer
* December 14 – Onew, Korean singer
* December 15 – Nichole Bloom, American actress and model
* December 17
** Andre Ayew, Ghanaian footballer
* December 18 – Ashley Benson, American actress
* December 19
** Valdimar Bergstað, Icelandic horse rider
** David Gbemie, Liberian international footballer
** Yong Jun-hyung, Korean singer
* December 21
** Thorbjørn Olesen, Danish professional golfer
** Tamannaah, Indian model and actress
* December 22
** Logan Huffman, American actor
** Jordin Sparks, American singer
* December 26
** Yohan Blake, Jamaican athlete
** Sora Tokui, Japanese voice actress, singer and manga artist
** Keenan MacWilliam, Canadian actress, singer, dancer, writer and director
* December 27 – Kateryna Lagno, Ukrainian chess player
* December 28
** Jessie Buckley, Irish actress and singer
** Mackenzie Rosman, American actress
** Salvador Sobral, Portuguese singer
* December 29
** Jane Levy, American actress
** Kei Nishikori, Japanese tennis player
* December 30 – Ryan Sheckler, American skateboarder
Deaths
January
* January 6
** Jim Hurtubise, American race car driver (b. 1932)
** Sir Edmund Leach, British anthropologist (b. 1910)
* January 7
** Frank Adams, British mathematician (b. 1930)
** Hirohito, List of Emperors of Japan, Emperor of Japan (b. 1901)
* January 8 – Kenneth McMillan (actor), Kenneth McMillan, American actor (b. 1932)
* January 10 – Herbert Morrison (announcer), Herbert Morrison, American radio reporter (b. 1905)
*
January 11
Events Pre-1600
* 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople: A quarrel between supporters of different chariot teams—the Blues and the Greens—in the Hippodrome escalates into violence.
* 630 – Conquest of Mecca: The prophet Muha ...
– José Bustamante y Rivero, Peruvian politician, diplomat and jurist, 33rd President of Peru (b. 1894)
* January 13 – Joe Spinell, American actor (b. 1936)
* January 14 – Robert B. Anderson, American administrator and businessman (b. 1910)
* January 16
** Prem Nazir, Indian actor (b. 1926)
** Trey Wilson, American actor (b. 1948)
* January 17 – Óscar Vargas Prieto, Peruvian soldier and politician, 111th Prime Minister of Peru (b. 1917)
*
January 18
Events Pre-1600
* 474 – Seven-year-old Leo II succeeds his maternal grandfather Leo I as Byzantine emperor. He dies ten months later.
* 532 – Nika riots in Constantinople fail.
* 1126 – Emperor Huizong abdicates the Chi ...
– Bruce Chatwin, British author (b. 1940)
* January 19 – Norma Varden, English actress (b. 1898)
* January 20
** Józef Cyrankiewicz, Polish communist politician, 2-time Prime Minister of Poland and 15th President of Poland (b. 1911)
** Beatrice Lillie, Canadian actress (b. 1894)
* January 21 – Billy Tipton, American musician (b. 1914)
*
January 23
Events Pre-1600
* 393 – Roman emperor Theodosius I proclaims his eight-year-old son Honorius co-emperor.
* 971 – Using crossbows, Song dynasty troops soundly defeat a war elephant corps of the Southern Han at Shao.
*1264 & ...
– Salvador Dalí, Spanish artist (b. 1904)
* January 24 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer (b. 1946)
* January 27 – Sir Thomas Sopwith, British aviation pioneer and yachtsman (b. 1888)
* January 28 – Halina Konopacka, Polish Olympic athlete (b. 1900)
* January 30 – Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz (b. 1936)
* January 31 – Fernando Gonçalves Namora, Portuguese writer and doctor (b. 1919)
February
* February 1 – Elaine de Kooning, American artist (b. 1919)
* February 2
** Yuri Bogatyryov, Soviet actor (b. 1947)
** Ondrej Nepela, Slovakian figure skater (b. 1951)
* February 3 – John Cassavetes, American actor (b. 1929)
* February 4 – Trevor Lucas, Australian folk singer (b. 1943)
* February 6 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian (b. 1912)
* February 9 – Osamu Tezuka, Japanese artist (b. 1928)
* February 11 – T. E. B. Clarke, British screenwriter (b. 1907)
* February 13 – Princess Eugénie of Greece and Denmark (b. 1910)
* February 14
** James Bond (ornithologist), James Bond, American ornithologist (b. 1900)
** Vincent Crane, British musician (b. 1943)
* February 17 – Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908)
* February 21 – Sándor Márai, Hungarian writer and journalist (b. 1900)
* February 26 – Roy Eldridge, American musician (b. 1911)
* February 27
** Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer (b. 1897)
** Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
March
* March 6 – Harry Andrews, British actor (b. 1911)
* March 9 – Robert Mapplethorpe, American activist, artist and photographer (b. 1946)
* March 10 – Maurizio Merli, Italian actor (b. 1940)
* March 12 – Maurice Evans (actor), Maurice Evans, British actor (b. 1901)
* March 14
** Edward Abbey, American author and environmentalist (b. 1927)
** Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Queen consort of Hungary and Empress consort of Austria (b. 1892)
* March 16 – Jesús María de Leizaola, Spanish politician (b. 1896)
* March 17 – Merritt Butrick, American actor (b. 1959)
* March 20 – Dina Sfat, Brazilian actress (b. 1938)
* March 25 – Sa`id Al-Mufti, Jordanian political figure, 9th Prime Minister of Jordan (b. 1898)
* March 27
** May Allison, American actress (b. 1890)
** Jack Starrett, American actor and director (b. 1936)
* March 29
** Bernard Blier, French actor (b. 1916)
** Aleksandr Prokopenko, Soviet footballer (b. 1953)
April
* April 1 – George Robledo, Chilean soccer player (b. 1926)
* April 3 – Mustafa Çağatay, Turkish-Cypriot politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus (b. 1937)
* April 6 – Tufton Beamish, Baron Chelwood, British army officer and politician (b. 1917)
* April 12
**Abbie Hoffman, American political activist (b. 1936)
**Sugar Ray Robinson, American professional boxer (b. 1921)
* April 15
** Hu Yaobang, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1915)
** Bernard-Marie Koltès, French playwright (b. 1948)
* April 19 – Dame Daphne du Maurier, British writer (b. 1907)
* April 20 — Edward DeSaulnier, American politician (b. 1921)
* April 21
** Princess Deokhye of Korea (b. 1912)
** James Kirkwood Jr., American playwright (b. 1924)
* April 22 – Emilio Segrè, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
* April 23
** Hamani Diori, Nigerien politician, 1st President of Niger (b. 1916)
** Hu Die, Chinese actress (b. 1907)
* April 24 – Edgar Sanabria, Venezuelan lawyer, diplomat and politician, Interim President of Venezuela (b. 1911)
* April 25 – George Coulouris, British actor (b. 1903)
* April 26 – Lucille Ball, American actress, comedian and entertainer (b. 1911)
* April 27 – Konosuke Matsushita, Japanese industrialist (b. 1894)
* April 30
** Sergio Leone, Italian film director (b. 1929)
** Guy Williams (actor), Guy Williams, Italian-born American actor (b. 1924)
May
* May 1 – Edward Ochab, Polish activist and politician, 13th President of Poland (b. 1906)
* May 2 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (b. 1906)
* May 3 – Christine Jorgensen, Norwegian actress, singer and writer (b. 1926)
* May 9 – Keith Whitley, American country music singer (b. 1955)
* May 10 – Woody Shaw, American jazz trumpeter (b. 1944)
* May 15 – Johnny Green, American songwriter (b. 1908)
* May 19
** Anton Diffring, German actor (b. 1916)
** Robert Webber, American actor (b. 1924)
* May 20
** John Hicks, British economist, Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
** Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (b. 1946)
* May 26 – Don Revie, English footballer and manager (b. 1927)
* May 29
** John Cipollina, American guitarist (b. 1943)
** Giuseppe Patanè, Italian conductor (b. 1932)
* May 31 – C. L. R. James, Trinidadian journalist and writer (b. 1901)
June
* June 3 – Ruhollah Khomeini, Iranian philosopher, politician, revolutionary and Shia Muslim religious leader, 1st
Supreme Leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the executive system and judicial system of the Islamic theocratic government and is the co ...
(b. 1902)
* June 4 – Dik Browne, American cartoonist (b. 1917)
* June 7 – Nara Leão, Brazilian singer (b. 1942)
* June 8 – Albert Spaggiari, French criminal (b. 1932)
* June 9
** George Beadle, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
** Rashid Behbudov, Azerbaijani singer and actor (b. 1915)
** José López Rega, Argentine politician (b. 1916)
* June 10 – Richard Quine, American actor (b. 1920)
* June 13 – Fran Allison, American actress and television personality (b. 1907)
* June 14 – Joseph Malula, Congolese archbishop and cardinal (b. 1917)
* June 15
** Victor French, American actor and director (b. 1934)
** Ray McAnally, Irish actor (b. 1926)
* June 17 – John Matuszak, American football player and actor (b. 1950)
* June 21 – Lee Calhoun, American Olympic athlete (b. 1933)
* June 23 – Werner Best, German Nazi official, jurist, police chief and Obergruppenführer, SS-Obergruppenführer leader (b. 1903)
* June 24
** Hibari Misora, Japanese singer (b. 1937)
** Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russia (b. 1907)
* June 27
** Sir Alfred Ayer, British philosopher (b. 1910)
** Jack Buetel, American actor (b. 1915)
** Michele Lupo, Italian film director (b. 1932)
* June 28 – Joris Ivens, Dutch filmmaker (b. 1898)
* June 30 – Hilmar Baunsgaard, Danish politician and 34th Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1920)
July
* July 2
** Andrei Gromyko, Soviet politician and diplomat (b. 1909)
** Franklin Schaffner, American film director (b. 1920)
** Ben Wright (English actor), Ben Wright, British actor in radio, film and television (b. 1915)
* July 3 – Jim Backus, American actor (b. 1913)
* July 4
** Win Maung, 3rd President of Myanmar (b. 1916)
** Leyla Mammadbeyova, Azerbaijani aviator (b. 1909)
* July 6 – János Kádár, Hungarian politician and communist leader, 46th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1912)
* July 10 – Mel Blanc, American voice actor and radio personality (b. 1908)
* July 11 – Laurence Olivier, English actor and director (b. 1907)
* July 12 – Prince Wolfgang of Hesse (b. 1896)
* July 15 – Laurie Cunningham, English footballer (b. 1956)
* July 16 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (b. 1908)
* July 17 – Paul C, American hip hop record producer (b. 1964)
* July 18 – Rebecca Schaeffer, American actress (b. 1967)
* July 19 – Kazimierz Sabbat, 2-time Prime Minister of Poland and 15th President of Poland (b. 1913)
* July 20
** Forrest H. Anderson, American politician (b. 1913)
** Mary Treen, American actress (b. 1907)
* July 22 – Martti Talvela, Finnish bass (b. 1935)
* July 23
** Donald Barthelme, American writer (b. 1931)
** Archduchess Charlotte of Austria (b. 1921)
* July 24 – Ernie Morrison, American actor (b. 1912)
August
* August 1 – John Ogdon, British pianist (b. 1937)
* August 12 – William Shockley, American physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
* August 13
** Hugo del Carril, Argentine film actor, film director and tango singer (b. 1912)
** Tim Richmond, American race car driver (b. 1955)
* August 14 – Robert Bernard Anderson, American political figure (b. 1910)
* August 15 – Minoru Genda, Japanese aviator, naval officer and politician (b. 1904)
* August 16
** Jean-Hilaire Aubame, French-born Gabonese politician (b. 1912)
** Amanda Blake, American actress (b. 1929)
* August 18 – Luis Carlos Galan, Colombian politician (b. 1943)
* August 20
** George Adamson, Indian-born American conservationist (b. 1906)
** Joseph LaShelle, American cinematographer (b. 1900)
* August 21 – Raul Seixas, Brazilian rock singer (b. 1945)
* August 22
** Huey P. Newton, African-American political activist (b. 1942)
** Diana Vreeland, American fashion editor (b. 1929)
* August 23 – R. D. Laing, British psychiatrist (b. 1927)
* August 26 – Irving Stone, American writer (b. 1903)
* August 27 – Luiz Luz, Brazilian footballer (b. 1909)
* August 29
** Pua Kealoha, American Olympic swimmer (b. 1902)
** Sir Peter Scott, British naturalist, artist and explorer (b. 1909)
September
* September 4
** Georges Simenon, Belgian writer (b. 1903)
** Ronald Syme, New Zealand-born classicist and historian (b. 1903)
* September 13 – Charles H. Russell, American politician, 20th Governor of Nevada (b. 1903)
* September 14 – Dámaso Pérez Prado, Cuban musician (b. 1916)
* September 15 – Robert Penn Warren, American writer (b. 1905)
* September 22 – Irving Berlin, American composer (b. 1888)
* September 28 – Ferdinand Marcos, Filipino dictator, politician and statesman, 10th President of the Philippines (b. 1917)
* September 30
** Virgil Thomson, American composer (b. 1896)
** Huỳnh Tấn Phát, Vietnamese politician, 16th Prime Minister of the Republic of Vietnam (b. 1913)
October
* October 2
** Paola Barbara, Italian actress (b. 1912)
** Vittorio Caprioli, Italian actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1921)
* October 4
** Graham Chapman, British comedian (b. 1941)
** Secretariat (horse), Secretariat, American Thoroughbred racehorse (b. 1970)
* October 6 – Bette Davis, American actress (b. 1908)
* October 11
** M. King Hubbert, American geophysicist (b. 1903)
** Paul Shenar, American actor (b. 1936)
* October 12 – Jay Ward, American animation producer (b. 1920)
* October 15 – Scott O'Dell, American children's writer (b. 1898)
* October 16 – Cornel Wilde, American actor (b. 1915)
* October 18 – Countess Georgina von Wilczek, Countess Georgina, Princess of Liechtenstein, Princess consort of Liechtenstein (b. 1921)
* October 20 – Sir Anthony Quayle, British actor (b. 1913)
* October 22
** Ewan MacColl, British folk singer, political activist and actor (b. 1915)
** Jacob Wetterling, American murder victim (b. 1978)
** Roland Winters, American actor (b. 1904)
* October 25 – Mary McCarthy (author), Mary McCarthy, American writer (b. 1912)
* October 26 – Charles J. Pedersen, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
* October 28 – Yuliya Solntseva, Soviet actress (b. 1901)
* October 30 – Pedro Vargas, Mexican singer and actor (b. 1906)
November
* November 3 – Timoci Bavadra, Fijian physician and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Fiji (b. 1934)
* November 5
** Vladimir Horowitz, Russian pianist (b. 1903)
** Barry Sadler, American soldier and singer-songwriter (b. 1940)
* November 12 – Édouard Candeveau, Swiss Olympic rower (b. 1898)
* November 13
** Victor Davis, Canadian Olympic swimmer (b. 1964)
** Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein (b. 1906)
* November 16 – Ignacio Ellacuría, Jesuit priest and theologian (b. 1930)
* November 20
** Lynn Bari, American actress (b. 1913)
** Leonardo Sciascia, Italian writer (b. 1921)
* November 22 – René Moawad, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 13th President of Lebanon (b. 1925)
* November 24 – Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar and theologian (b. 1941)
* November 26 – Ahmed Abdallah, Comorian politician, 1st President of Comoros (b. 1919)
* November 27 – Carlos Arias Navarro, Spanish politician, Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1908)
* November 28 – Ernesto Civardi, Italian cardinal (b. 1906)
* November 29 – Gubby Allen, English cricketer (b. 1902)
* November 30
** Ahmadou Ahidjo, Cameroonian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Cameroon and President of Cameroon (b. 1924)
** Hassan Fathy, Egyptian architect (b. 1900)
December
* December 1 – Alvin Ailey, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1931)
* December 3
** Sourou-Migan Apithy, Beninese political figure, 2nd President of Dahomey (b. 1913)
** Fernando Martín Espina, Spanish basketball player (b. 1962)
* December 5 – John Pritchard (conductor), John Pritchard, British conductor (b. 1921)
* December 6
** Frances Bavier, American actress (b. 1902)
** Sammy Fain, American composer (b. 1902)
** John Payne (actor), John Payne, American actor (b. 1912)
* December 8 – Hans Hartung, German-born French painter (b. 1904)
* December 14
** Jock Mahoney, American actor (b. 1919)
** Andrei Sakharov, Soviet physicist and activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1921)
* December 15
** José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, Colombian drug lord and criminal (b. 1947)
** Edward Underdown, British stage and film veteran (b. 1908)
* December 16
** Silvana Mangano, Italian actress (b. 1930)
** Aileen Pringle, American actress (b. 1895)
** Lee Van Cleef, American actor (b. 1925)
* December 17 – Albert Coady Wedemeyer, Albert C. Wedemeyer, American general (b. 1897)
* December 19
** Herbert Blaize, Grenadian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Grenada (b. 1918)
** Kirill Mazurov, Soviet politician (b. 1914)
* December 20 – Kurt Böhme, German bass (b. 1908)
* December 21 – Ján Cikker, Slovak composer (b. 1911)
* December 22
** Samuel Beckett, Irish writer, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
** Vasile Milea, Romanian military officer and politician, minister of Defense (b. 1927)
* December 23 – Richard Rado, German-born British mathematician (b. 1906)
* December 25
** Elena Ceaușescu, Romanian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1916)
** Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian politician, dictator and Communist Party head, 1st President of Romania (b. 1918)
** Billy Martin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
* December 26 – Lennox Berkeley, English composer (b. 1903)
* December 28 – Hermann Oberth, Austro-Hungarian-born German engineer, physicist and scientist (b. 1894)
* December 30 – Yasuji Miyazaki, Japanese Olympic swimmer (b. 1916)
* December 31
** Sir Ignatius Kilage, 4th Governor-General of Papua New Guinea (b. 1941)
** Mihály Lantos, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1928)
** Gerhard Schröder (CDU), Gerhard Schröder, German politician (b. 1910)
* December – Yem Sambaur, 8th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1913)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Norman Foster Ramsey Jr., Hans Georg Dehmelt, Wolfgang Paul
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Sidney Altman, Thomas Cech
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Medicine – J. Michael Bishop, Harold E. Varmus
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Camilo José Cela
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
* Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel – Trygve Haavelmo
References
Further reading
* Ash, Timothy Garton. ''The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of '89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague'' (1999 excerpt
* Kenney, Padraic, ed. ''1989: Democratic Revolutions at the Cold War's End: A Brief History with Documents'' (2009)
* Sebestyen, Victor. ''Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire'' (2010 excerpt