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File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on California's Central Coast on October 17 at local time. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of t ...
, 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 se ...
is submitted; The Exxon Valdez
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 crud ...
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 Tr ...
,
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., ...
, causing a large
oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...
; The Fall of the Berlin Wall 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 s ...
in
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, 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 Russ ...
, and heralds
German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
; The
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 territorie ...
invades
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 Cos ...
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'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritaria ...
; 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 states, Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union a ...
led to the independence of the
Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
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 Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, and
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
from the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
; The stands of
Hillsborough Stadium Hillsborough Stadium is a 39,732-capacity association football stadium located in Owlerton, a north-western suburb of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. It has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday since its opening in 1899. The ground has been sub ...
in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, 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 Historic counties o ...
,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, where the
Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...
occurred; Students demonstrate in Tiananmen Square, Beijing; many are killed by forces of the
Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
., 300x300px, thumb rect 0 0 200 200
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on California's Central Coast on October 17 at local time. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of t ...
rect 200 0 400 200
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 se ...
rect 400 0 600 200
Exxon Valdez oil spill The ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. ''Exxon Valdez'', an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, west o ...
rect 0 200 300 400
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre 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 ...
rect 300 200 600 400 Fall of the Berlin Wall rect 0 400 200 600
Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...
rect 200 400 400 600
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 states, Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union a ...
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 Natio ...
" sweeping the
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
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 The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
. 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 ...
. It was the year of the first Brazilian presidential election in 29 years, since the end of the
military government A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...
in
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 Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South A ...
was elected as
State President of South Africa The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...
, 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 democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
leader
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
to power. The first commercial
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 private ...
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 se ...
and New Zealand, Japan and Australia's first Internet connections. The first babies born after preimplantation genetic diagnosis 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 ...
'' 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 **Ger ...
company Imhausen and Salzgitter AG in building a chemical weapon 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 Egypt–Libya bo ...
. *
January 2 Events Pre-1600 * 69 – The Roman legions in Germania Superior refuse to swear loyalty to Galba. They rebel and proclaim Vitellius as emperor. * 366 – The Alemanni cross the frozen Rhine in large numbers, invading the Roman Empi ...
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 is not ...
Ranasinghe Premadasa Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( si, රණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa'', ta, ரணசிங்க பிரேமதாசா ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was t ...
takes office as the third
President of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...
. *
January 4 Events Pre-1600 *46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina. * 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army. 1601–1900 *1649 – Engli ...
Gulf of Sidra incident (1989): 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 Egypt–Libya bo ...
n MiG-23 "Floggers" are engaged and shot down by two US Navy
F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic aircraft, supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experi ...
s. *
January 7 Events Pre-1600 *49 BC – The Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army. This prompts the tribunes who support him to flee to Ravenna, where Caesar is waiting. * 1325 – Alfonso IV ...
Emperor Shōwa
dies Dies may refer to: * Dies (deity), the Roman counterpart of the Greek goddess Hemera, the personification of day, daughter of Nox (Night) and Erebus (Darkness). * Albert Christoph Dies (1755–1822), German painter, composer, and biographer * Jos ...
; his son
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. Bo ...
is enthroned as the 125th
Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, 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 positio ...
immediately, followed by the change in the era name from Shōwa to Heisei on the following day. *
January 10 Events Pre-1600 *49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war. * 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the be ...
– 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 of t ...
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 ...
n troops begin withdrawing from
Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...
. *
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 Muhamma ...
– The Lexus and Infiniti luxury car brands are launched at the
North American International Auto Show The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), also known as the Detroit Auto Show as of 2022 and prior to NAIAS, is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., at Huntington Place. The show was held in January from 1989 to 2019. ...
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 th ...
with the unveiling of the 1990
Lexus LS The is a full-size luxury sedan (F-segment in Europe) serving as the flagship model of Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota. For the first four generations, all LS models featured V8 engines and were predominantly rear-wheel-drive. In the fourt ...
and Infiniti Q45 sedans. *
January 15 Events Pre-1600 * 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months. * 1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of ...
– 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 Morality, moral principles or Social norm, 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 ce ...
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 succeeds Branko Mikulić as
Prime Minister of Yugoslavia The prime minister of Yugoslavia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Премијер Југославије, Premijer Jugoslavije) was the head of government of the Yugoslavia, Yugoslav state, from the Creation of Yugoslavia, creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croa ...
. *
January 20 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. * 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom. * 1156 &ndas ...
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
is
sworn in Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to giv ...
as the 41st President of the United States. *
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 & ...
24 – Armed civilian leftists briefly attack and occupy an
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 ...
. *
January 30 Events Pre-1600 *1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen. *1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. 1601–1900 *1607 – An estimated ...
**
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 and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Hou ...
Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...
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 Akba ...
, Afghanistan, is closed; it does not reopen until late 2001.


February

*
February 1 Events Pre-1600 * 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. * 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Mon ...
– In Australia, Joan Kirner becomes Victoria's first female Deputy Premier, after the resignation of Robert Fordham over the VEDC (Victorian Economic Development Co-operation) Crisis. *
February 2 Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...
**
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-Soviet ...
: The last
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
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 song ...
. **
Carlos Andrés Pérez Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez (27 October 1922 – 25 December 2010) also known as CAP and often referred to as '' El Gocho'' (due to his Andean origins), was a Venezuelan politician and the president of Venezuela from 12 March 1974 to 12 M ...
takes office as
President of Venezuela The president of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de Venezuela), officially known as the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is the head of state and head of government in Ven ...
. *
February 3 Events Pre-1600 * 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states. *1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire. *1488 – ...
**
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 Stroessn ...
("La Noche de la Candelaria"): A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, 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 ...
since
1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
. ** After a
stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
,
State President of South Africa The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...
P. W. Botha resigns as Leader of the National Party. *
February 5 Events Pre-1600 * 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy. * 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion. * 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians ar ...
Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...
, a multiple-language sports broadcasting station in
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 Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, 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 Cath ...
,
Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +01:00 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +02:00 , blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product , blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st , bla ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. *
February 6 Events Pre-1600 * 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop. 1601–1900 * 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of ...
– The Government of the
People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...
holds formal talks with representatives of Solidarity movement 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, led by Michael Manley, 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, sparkin ...
** Ron Brown is elected as Chairman of the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
, becoming the first
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 political ideology ...
. ** U.S. President Bush meets Canadian Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...
in
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
, laying the groundwork for the Acid Rain Treaty of 1991. *
February 11 Events Pre-1600 *660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. * 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
Barbara Harris is the first woman consecrated as a bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (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 ...
). *
February 14 Events Pre-1600 * 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt. * 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
**
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 befor ...
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 Southeast A ...
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 wo ...
, a gas leak that killed 3.7 thousand. ** ''The Satanic Verses'' controversy:
Ayatollah Ayatollah ( ; fa, آیت‌الله, āyatollāh) is an Title of honor, 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 ...
Ruhollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
, Supreme Leader of Iran (d. June 3), issues a
fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...
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 Wes ...
and his publishers for issuing the novel '' The Satanic Verses'' (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 radioisotope ...
s is placed into orbit. *
February 15 Events Pre-1600 * 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus * 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia. * 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberi ...
**
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-Soviet ...
: The
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
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), ...
wins the Sri Lankan parliamentary election. *
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 ...
Pan Am Flight 103 Pan Am Flight 103 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. The transatlantic leg of the route was operated by ''Clipper Maid of the Seas'', a Boeing ...
: Investigators announce that the cause of the
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 Australian ...
crash was a
bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...
hidden inside a radio-cassette player. *
February 17 Events Pre-1600 * 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau. * 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of ...
** The Arab Maghreb Union (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 serv ...
and arrest four of her bodyguards. *
February 20 Events Pre-1600 *1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated. *1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
– 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 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, three territories, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is the only terri ...
, winning 9 seats vs. the Progressive Conservative Party's 7. *
February 23 Events Pre-1600 * 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution. * 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
– After protracted testimony, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee 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 ...
for Secretary of Defense. *
February 23 Events Pre-1600 * 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution. * 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
27 – U.S. President Bush visits
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, attending the funeral of
Hirohito 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 ...
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 CC ...
and South Korea's Roh Tae-woo. *
February 24 Events Pre-1600 * 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica. * 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence. * 13 ...
** The funeral of
Hirohito 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 ...
is attended by representatives of 160 nations. ** ''The Satanic Verses'' controversy:
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'' 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 Wes ...
. **
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 states, Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union a ...
: 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, a
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
, suffers uncontrolled decompression after leaving Honolulu International Airport; nine passengers are blown out of the cabin to their deaths. *
February 27 Events Pre-1600 * 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity. * 425 – The University of Constantinople ...
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 populous ...
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 (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
. *
March 1 Events Pre-1600 *509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia. * 293 – Emperor ...
** The Berne Convention, 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 An international organization or international o ...
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, education ...
s, is ratified by the United States. ** A curfew 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 minority. ** The
Politieke Partij Radicalen The Political Party of Radicals ( nl, Politieke Partij Radikalen, PPR) was a progressive Christian and green political party in the Netherlands. The PPR played a relatively small role in Dutch politics and merged with other left-wing parties to fo ...
,
Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij The Pacifist Socialist Party ( nl, Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij, PSP) was a democratic socialist Dutch socialist political party. The PSP played a small role in Dutch politics. It is one of the predecessors of the GreenLeft. Party history ...
,
Communistische Partij Nederland The Communist Party of the Netherlands ( nl, Communistische Partij Nederland, , CPN) was a Dutch communist party. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party ...
and the Evangelical People's Party amalgamate to form the Dutch political party GroenLinks (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 ...
ends its prohibition on beer; celebrated since as ''bjórdagur'' or
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 rat ...
. *
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 Lisbo ...
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 prop ...
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 &nd ...
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 city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
,
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 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 ...
. (Now
Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at 230 Park Avenue South in New York City. It was formed after the spin-off of WarnerMedia by AT&T, and its merger with D ...
) ** The
Purley station rail crash The Purley station rail crash was a train collision that occurred just to the north of Purley railway station in the London Borough of Croydon on Saturday 4 March 1989, leaving five dead and 88 injured. The collision was caused by the driver of o ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
leaves five people dead and 94 injured. ** The first
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
elections are held. *
March 7 Events Pre-1600 * 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius. * 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cob ...
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 Wes ...
's '' The Satanic Verses''. *
March 9 Events Pre-1600 *141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China. *1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg. * 1226 – ...
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 Natio ...
: The
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
submits to the jurisdiction of the World Court. *
March 12 Events Pre-1600 * 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius. * 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
Tim Berners-Lee Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a profess ...
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 se ...
. *
March 13 Events Pre-1600 *624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh. *1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War. *1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...
– A geomagnetic storm causes the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid. 6,000,000 people are 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 Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. *
March 14 Events Pre-1600 * 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland. * 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
**
Gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
: U.S. President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
bans the importation of certain guns deemed assault weapons into the United States. ** General
Michel Aoun Michel Naim Aoun ( ar, ميشال نعيم عون ; born 30 September 1933) is a Lebanese politician and former military general who served as the President of Lebanon from 31 October 2016 until 30 October 2022. Born in Haret Hreik to a Mar ...
declares a "War of Liberation" to rid
Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
of
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
n forces and their allies. *
March 15 Events Pre-1600 * 474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years' truce. *44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place. * 493 – Odoa ...
**
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
hands over Taba to
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, ending a seven-year territorial dispute. ** Mass demonstrations in
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, demanding democracy. * March 16 – The
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,  – TsK KPSS was the executive leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, acting between sessions of Congress. According to party statutes, the committee direct ...
approves agricultural reforms allowing farmers the right to lease state-owned farms for life. * March 17 ** The Civic Tower of
Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...
, built in the eleventh century, collapses. **
Alfredo Cristiani Alfredo Félix Cristiani Burkard (born 22 November 1947) is a Salvadoran politician who was President of El Salvador from 1989 to 1994. Life and career Born into a wealthy family in San Salvador, his father Felix Cristiani was an Italian immig ...
is elected as
President of El Salvador The president of El Salvador ( es, Presidente de El Salvador), officially known as the President of the Republic of El Salvador ( es, Presidente de la República de El Salvador), is the Head of State, head of state and Head of Government, head ...
. * March 20
Australian Prime Minister The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the principl ...
Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...
weeps on national television as he admits marital infidelity. *
March 22 Events Pre-1600 * 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea. * 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century. * 871 – Æthelr ...
** Clint Malarchuk of the
NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...
suffers a near-fatal injury when another player accidentally slits his throat. ** Asteroid
4581 Asclepius 4581 Asclepius , provisional designation , is a sub-kilometer-sized asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Apollo group that makes close orbital passes with Earth. Discovered on 31 March 1989 by America ...
approaches the Earth at a distance of . * March 23
Stanley Pons Bobby Stanley Pons (born August 23, 1943) is an American electrochemist known for his work with Martin Fleischmann on cold fusion in the 1980s and 1990s. Early life Pons was born in Valdese, North Carolina. He attended Valdese High School, then ...
and Martin Fleischmann announce that they have achieved cold fusion at the
University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
. * March 2328 – The
Socialist Republic of Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...
passes constitutional changes revoking the autonomy of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, triggering six days of rioting by the Albanian majority, during which at least 29 people are killed. * March 24
Exxon Valdez oil spill The ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. ''Exxon Valdez'', an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, west o ...
: 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 Tr ...
, the '' Exxon Valdez'' spills of oil after running aground. * March 26
1989 Soviet Union legislative election In 1989, elections were held for the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union. The main elections were held on 26 March and a second round on 9 April. They were the first partially free nationwide elections held in the Soviet Union, a ...
: The first (and last) contested elections for the
Soviet 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, ...
parliament, Congress of People's Deputies, result in losses for the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
; the first session of the new Congress opens in late May. * March 29 – The
61st Academy Awards The 61st Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1988, and took place on Wednesday, March 29, 1989, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 6:00&nb ...
are held at the Shrine Auditorium in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, with ''
Rain Man ''Rain Man'' is a 1988 American road movie, road Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wikt:wheeler-dealer, wheeler-dealer C ...
'' winning Best Picture, and Jodie Foster wins her first award for Best Actress.


April

*
April 1 Events Pre-1600 * 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held. * 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. *1081 – Alexios I Kom ...
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
's new
local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
tax (the
poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
) is introduced in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. It will be introduced in
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
the following year. *
April 2 Events Pre-1600 *1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Jo ...
** In
South-West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...
, fighting erupts between
SWAPO The South West Africa People's Organisation (, SWAPO; af, Suidwes-Afrikaanse Volks Organisasie, SWAVO; german: Südwestafrikanische Volksorganisation, SWAVO), officially known as the SWAPO Party of Namibia, is a political party and former ind ...
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 United Nations Security Council Resolution 435, adopted on September 29, 1978, put forward proposals for a cease-fire and UN-supervised elections in South African-controlled South West Africa which ultimately led to the independence of Namibia. ...
. By April 6, nearly 300 people are killed. *
April 4 Events Pre-1600 * 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines. * 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground. * 611 – ...
– A failed coup attempt against
Prosper Avril Matthieu Prosper Avril (born December 12, 1937) is a Haitian political figure who was President of Haiti from 1988 to 1990. A trusted member of François Duvalier's Presidential Guard and adviser to Jean-Claude Duvalier, Lt. Gen. Avril led the Se ...
,
President of Haiti The president of Haiti ( ht, Prezidan peyi Ayiti, french: Président d'Haïti), officially called the president of the Republic of Haiti (french: link=no, Président de la République d'Haïti, ht, link=no, Prezidan Repiblik Ayiti), is the head ...
, leads to a standoff between mutinous troops and the government which ends on
April 10 Events Pre-1600 * 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople. * 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles). * 1407 ...
, with the government regaining control of the country. *
April 5 Events Pre-1600 * 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I. * 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his a ...
– The Polish Government and the
Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
sign an agreement restoring Solidarity to legal status, and agreeing to hold democratic elections on June 4 (
Polish Round Table Agreement The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, Poland from 6 February to 5 April 1989. The government initiated talks with the banned trade union Solidarność and other opposition groups in an attempt to defuse growing social unrest. Histo ...
), which initiates the
1989 revolution 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 ...
and the overthrow of communism in
Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...
. * April 6 – National Safety Council of Australia chief executive John Friedrich is arrested after defrauding investors to the tune of $235,000,000. * April 7 – The Soviet submarine K-278 ''Komsomolets'' sinks in the
Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...
, killing 41. *
April 9 Events Pre-1600 * 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum. * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, s ...
** Tbilisi massacre:
Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
demonstrators are massacred by
Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...
soldiers in
Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...
'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 Events Pre-1600 * 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum. * 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
– 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 The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...
, 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'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritaria ...
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 Cos ...
to protect Americans there. ** The ACT (
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
) 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 China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, 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 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 ...
: 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 ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
'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 Europe, 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 Russ ...
. ** 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 The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...
P. W. Botha meets the imprisoned 70-year-old
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
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 Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, takes place. * July 9–July 12, 12 – U.S. President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
travels to People's Republic of Poland, Poland and
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, 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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, 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 Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, 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 The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...
and
F. W. de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South A ...
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 states, Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union a ...
: 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 Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
and
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. 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 Egypt–Libya bo ...
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 Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South A ...
is sworn in as the seventh and last
State President of South Africa The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...
. 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'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritaria ...
, 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 transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
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: 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 The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
, 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, 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 transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. ** 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 George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
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 states, Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union a ...
: 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 Cos ...
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'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritaria ...
. * 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 Events Pre-1600 *46 BC – Julius Caesar fights Titus Labienus in the Battle of Ruspina. * 871 – Battle of Reading: Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred are defeated by a Danish invasion army. 1601–1900 *1649 – Engli ...
** 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 Events Pre-1600 *49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war. * 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the be ...
** 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 Muhamma ...
– Naif Hazazi, Saudi footballer * January 12 – Arci Muñoz, Filipina actress and model * January 14 – Frankie Bridge, English singer *
January 15 Events Pre-1600 * 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months. * 1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of ...
** 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 Events Pre-1600 *1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen. *1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. 1601–1900 *1607 – An estimated ...
– Lee Gun-woo, South Korean singer


February

*
February 2 Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...
– 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 Events Pre-1600 * 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy. * 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion. * 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians ar ...
– 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, sparkin ...
- Neelofa, Malaysian actress *
February 11 Events Pre-1600 *660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. * 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
– Lovi Poe, Filipina actress and singer *
February 15 Events Pre-1600 * 438 – Roman emperor Theodosius II publishes the law codex Codex Theodosianus * 590 – Khosrau II is crowned king of Persia. * 706 – Byzantine emperor Justinian II has his predecessors Leontios and Tiberi ...
** 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 Events Pre-1600 * 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau. * 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of ...
** Rebecca Adlington, British swimmer ** Chord Overstreet, American actor, singer and musician *
February 20 Events Pre-1600 *1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated. *1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
** 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 Events Pre-1600 * 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica. * 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence. * 13 ...
** 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 Events Pre-1600 * 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity. * 425 – The University of Constantinople ...
– 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 Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia. * 293 – Emperor ...
** 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 Events Pre-1600 * 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius. * 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cob ...
– Gerald Anderson, Filipino actor *
March 9 Events Pre-1600 *141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China. *1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg. * 1226 – ...
– 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 Events Pre-1600 * 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius. * 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
– Tyler Clary, American Olympic swimmer *
March 13 Events Pre-1600 *624 – The Battle of Badr, the first major battle between the Muslims and Quraysh. *1567 – The Battle of Oosterweel, traditionally regarded as the start of the Eighty Years' War. *1591 – At the Battle of Tond ...
** Peaches Geldof, British columnist and model (d. 2014) ** Pierre Niney, French actor *
March 14 Events Pre-1600 * 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland. * 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
– Colby O'Donis, American singer *
March 15 Events Pre-1600 * 474 BC – Roman consul Aulus Manlius Vulso celebrates an ovation for concluding the war against Veii and securing a forty years' truce. *44 BC – The assassination of Julius Caesar takes place. * 493 – Odoa ...
** 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 Events Pre-1600 * 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea. * 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century. * 871 – Æthelr ...
** 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 Events Pre-1600 *1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Jo ...
– Liis Lass, Estonian actress * April 3 – Ankit Narang, Indian actor *
April 4 Events Pre-1600 * 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines. * 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground. * 611 – ...
– Chris Herd, Australian footballer *
April 5 Events Pre-1600 * 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I. * 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his a ...
– 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 Events Pre-1600 * 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum. * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, s ...
– 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 Events Pre-1600 *49 BC – The Senate of Rome says that Caesar will be declared a public enemy unless he disbands his army. This prompts the tribunes who support him to flee to Ravenna, where Caesar is waiting. * 1325 – Alfonso IV ...
** Frank Adams, British mathematician (b. 1930) **
Hirohito 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 ...
, List of Emperors of Japan, Emperor of Japan (b. 1901) * January 8 – Kenneth McMillan (actor), Kenneth McMillan, American actor (b. 1932) *
January 10 Events Pre-1600 *49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war. * 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the be ...
– 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 Muhamma ...
– 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 Events Pre-1600 * 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution. * 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom. * 1156 &ndas ...
** 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 Events Pre-1600 *1018 – Poland and the Holy Roman Empire conclude the Peace of Bautzen. *1287 – King Wareru founds the Hanthawaddy Kingdom, and proclaims independence from the Pagan Kingdom. 1601–1900 *1607 – An estimated ...
– Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz (b. 1936) * January 31 – Fernando Gonçalves Namora, Portuguese writer and doctor (b. 1919)


February

*
February 1 Events Pre-1600 * 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer. * 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Mon ...
– Elaine de Kooning, American artist (b. 1919) *
February 2 Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...
** Yuri Bogatyryov, Soviet actor (b. 1947) ** Ondrej Nepela, Slovakian figure skater (b. 1951) *
February 3 Events Pre-1600 * 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states. *1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire. *1488 – ...
– John Cassavetes, American actor (b. 1929) * February 4 – Trevor Lucas, Australian folk singer (b. 1943) *
February 6 Events Pre-1600 * 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop. 1601–1900 * 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of ...
– Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian (b. 1912) * February 9 – Osamu Tezuka, Japanese artist (b. 1928) *
February 11 Events Pre-1600 *660 BC – Traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. * 55 – The death under mysterious circumstances of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman empire, on the eve of his coming ...
– T. E. B. Clarke, British screenwriter (b. 1907) * February 13 – Princess Eugénie of Greece and Denmark (b. 1910) *
February 14 Events Pre-1600 * 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt. * 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
** James Bond (ornithologist), James Bond, American ornithologist (b. 1900) ** Vincent Crane, British musician (b. 1943) *
February 17 Events Pre-1600 * 1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau. * 1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of ...
– 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 Events Pre-1600 * 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity. * 425 – The University of Constantinople ...
** 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 Events Pre-1600 *141 BC – Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han dynasty of China. *1009 – First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg. * 1226 – ...
– Robert Mapplethorpe, American activist, artist and photographer (b. 1946) * March 10 – Maurizio Merli, Italian actor (b. 1940) *
March 12 Events Pre-1600 * 538 – Vitiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city to the victorious Byzantine general, Belisarius. * 1088 – Election of Urban II as the 159th Pope of the Cat ...
– Maurice Evans (actor), Maurice Evans, British actor (b. 1901) *
March 14 Events Pre-1600 * 1074 – Battle of Mogyoród: Dukes Géza and Ladislaus defeat their cousin Solomon, King of Hungary, forcing him to flee to Hungary's western borderland. * 1590 – Battle of Ivry: Henry of Navarre and the Huguen ...
** 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 Events Pre-1600 * 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held. * 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. *1081 – Alexios I Kom ...
– 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 The president of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de Venezuela), officially known as the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is the head of state and head of government in Ven ...
(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 Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...
, Iranian philosopher, politician, revolutionary and Shia Muslim religious leader, 1st Supreme Leader of Iran (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


External links

*


Mikhail Gorbachev on 1989
– 2009 interview by ''The Nation''
Freedom Without Walls: German Missions in the United States
Looking Back at the Fall of the Berlin Wall – official homepage in English {{DEFAULTSORT:1989 1989,