1989

File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, causing a large oil spill; The Fall of the Berlin Wall begins the downfall of Communism in Eastern Europe, and heralds German reunification; The United States invades Panama to depose Manuel Noriega; The Singing Revolution led to the independence of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union; The stands of Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, Yorkshire, where the Hillsborough disaster occurred; Students demonstrate in Tiananmen Square, Beijing; many are killed by forces of the Chinese Communist Party., 300x300px, thumb
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rect 0 200 300 400 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
rect 300 200 600 400 Fall of the Berlin Wall
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1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" sweeping the Eastern Bloc, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin Wall in November, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia and the overthrow of the communist dictatorship in Romania in December; the movement ended in December 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Revolutions against communist governments in Eastern Europe mainly succeeded, but the year also saw the suppression by the Chinese government of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.

It was the year of the first Brazilian presidential election in 29 years, since the end of the military government in 1985 that ruled the country for more than twenty years, and marked the redemocratization process's final point.

F. W. de Klerk was elected as State President of South Africa, and his regime gradually dismantled the apartheid system over the next five years, culminating with the 1994 election that brought jailed African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela to power.

The first commercial Internet service providers surfaced in this year, as well as the first written proposal for the World Wide Web 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 – ''The New York Times'' discloses involvement of German company Imhausen and Salzgitter AG in building a chemical weapon plant in Rabta, Libya.
* January 2 – Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa takes office as the third President of Sri Lanka.
* January 4 – Gulf of Sidra incident (1989): Two Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are engaged and shot down by two US Navy F-14 Tomcats.
* January 7 – Emperor Shōwa dies; his son Akihito is enthroned as the 125th Emperor of Japan immediately, followed by the change in the era name from Shōwa to Heisei on the following day.
* January 10 – In accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 626 and the New York Accords, Cuban troops begin withdrawing from Angola.
* January 11 – The Lexus and Infiniti luxury car brands are launched at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit with the unveiling of the 1990 Lexus LS and Infiniti Q45 sedans.
* January 15 – Thirty-five European nations, meeting in Vienna, agree to strengthen human rights and improve East–West trade.
* January 18 – Ante Marković succeeds Branko Mikulić as Prime Minister of Yugoslavia.
* January 20 – George H. W. Bush is sworn in as the 41st President of the United States.
* January 23– 24 – Armed civilian leftists briefly attack and occupy an Argentinian army base near Buenos Aires.
* January 30
** Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney shuffles his cabinet, appointing six new ministers and reassigning the responsibilities of nineteen others.
** The Embassy of the United States, Kabul, Afghanistan, is closed; it does not reopen until late 2001.

February

* February 1 – 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
** Soviet–Afghan War: The last Soviet Union armoured column leaves Kabul, ending nine years of military occupation since 1979.
** Carlos Andrés Pérez takes office as President of Venezuela.
* February 3
** 1989 Paraguayan coup d'état ("La Noche de la Candelaria"): A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.
** After a stroke, State President of South Africa P. W. Botha resigns as Leader of the National Party.
* February 5 – Eurosport, a multiple-language sports broadcasting station in Europe, begins broadcasting, from Issy-les-Moulineaux, Île-de-France, France.
* February 6 – The Government of the People's Republic of Poland holds formal talks with representatives of Solidarity movement for the first time since 1981.
* February 7 – The People's National Party, led by Michael Manley, wins the 1989 Jamaican general election.
* February 10
** Ron Brown is elected as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first African American to lead a major United States political party.
** U.S. President Bush meets Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in Ottawa, laying the groundwork for the Acid Rain Treaty of 1991.
* February 11 – 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).
* February 14
** Union Carbide agrees to pay $470,000,000 to the Indian government for damages in the 1984 Bhopal disaster, a gas leak that killed 3.7 thousand.
** ''The Satanic Verses'' controversy: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran (d. June 3), issues a fatwa calling for the death of Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie and his publishers for issuing the novel ''The Satanic Verses'' (1988).
** The first of 24 Global Positioning System satellites is placed into orbit.

* February 15
** Soviet–Afghan War: The Soviet Union announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.
** Following a campaign that saw over 1,000 people killed in massive campaign-related violence, the United National Party wins the Sri Lankan parliamentary election.
* February 16 – Pan Am Flight 103: Investigators announce that the cause of the 1988 crash was a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player.
* February 17
** The Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) is formed.
** South African police raid the home of Winnie Mandela and arrest four of her bodyguards.
* February 20 – In Canada's Yukon Territory, the ruling New Democrats narrowly maintain control of the Yukon Legislative Assembly, winning 9 seats vs. the Progressive Conservative Party's 7.
* February 23 – After protracted testimony, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee rejects, 11–9, President Bush's nomination of John Tower for Secretary of Defense.
* February 23– 27 – U.S. President Bush visits Japan, China and South Korea, attending the funeral of Hirohito and then meeting with China's Deng Xiaoping and South Korea's Roh Tae-woo.
* February 24
** The funeral of Hirohito is attended by representatives of 160 nations.
** ''The Satanic Verses'' controversy: Iran places a $3,000,000 bounty on the head of ''The Satanic Verses'' author Salman Rushdie.
** Singing Revolution: After 44 years, the Flag of Estonia, Estonian flag is raised at the Pikk Hermann tower in Tallinn.
** United Airlines Flight 811, a Boeing 747, suffers uncontrolled decompression after leaving Honolulu International Airport; nine passengers are blown out of the cabin to their deaths.
* February 27 – Venezuela is rocked by the Caracazo, a wave of protests and looting.

March

* March – Poland begins to liberalise its Foreign exchange market, currency exchange in a move towards capitalism.
* March 1
** The Berne Convention, an international treaty on copyrights, is ratified by the United States.
** A curfew is imposed in Kosovo, where protests continue over the alleged intimidation of the Serb minority.
** The Politieke Partij Radicalen, Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij, Communistische Partij Nederland and the Evangelical People's Party (Netherlands), Evangelical People's Party amalgamate to form the Dutch political party GroenLinks (GL, GreenLeft).
** After 74 years, Iceland ends its Prohibition in Iceland, prohibition on beer; celebrated since as ''bjórdagur'' or Beer Day (Iceland), beer day.
* March 2 – Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.
* March 3 – Jammu Siltavuori abducts and murders two eight-year-old girls in the Myllypuro suburb of Helsinki, Finland.
* March 4
** Time Inc. and Warner Communications announce plans for a merger, forming Time Warner. (Now Warner Bros. Discovery)
** The Purley station rail crash in London leaves five people dead and 94 injured.
** The first Australian Capital Territory elections are held.
* March 7 – Iran breaks off diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom over Salman Rushdie's ''The Satanic Verses''.
* March 9 – Revolutions of 1989: The Soviet Union submits to the jurisdiction of the World Court.
* March 12 – Tim Berners-Lee produces the proposal document that will become the blueprint for the World Wide Web.
* March 13 – A March 1989 geomagnetic storm, geomagnetic storm causes the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid. 6,000,000 people are power outage, left without power for nine hours. Some areas in the northeastern U.S. and in Sweden also lose power, and aurorae are seen as far as Texas.
* March 14
** Gun control: U.S. President George H. W. Bush bans the importation of certain guns deemed assault weapons into the United States.
** General Michel Aoun declares a "War of Liberation" to rid Lebanon of Syrian forces and their allies.
* March 15
** Israel hands over Taba, Egypt, Taba to Egypt, ending a seven-year territorial dispute.
** Mass demonstrations in Hungarian People's Republic, Hungary, demanding democracy.
* March 16 – The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union approves agricultural reforms allowing farmers the right to lease state-owned farms for life.
* March 17
** The Civic Tower (Pavia), Civic Tower of Pavia, built in the eleventh century, collapses.
** Alfredo Cristiani is elected as President of El Salvador.
* March 20 – Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke weeps on national television as he admits marital infidelity.
* March 22
** Clint Malarchuk of the National Hockey League, NHL Buffalo Sabres suffers a near-fatal injury when another player accidentally slits his throat.
** Asteroid 4581 Asclepius approaches the Earth at a distance of .
* March 23 – Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce that they have achieved cold fusion at the University of Utah.
* March 23–March 28, 28 – The Socialist Republic of Serbia passes constitutional changes revoking the autonomy of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, triggering six days of rioting by the Albanians in Kosovo, Albanian majority, during which at least 29 people are killed.
* March 24 – Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Alaska's Prince William Sound, the '' Exxon Valdez'' spills of Petroleum, oil after running aground.
* March 26 – 1989 Soviet Union legislative election: The first (and last) contested elections for the Soviet Union, Soviet parliament, Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union, Congress of People's Deputies, result in losses for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Communist Party; the first session of the new Congress opens in late May.
* March 29 – The 61st Academy Awards are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with ''Rain Man'' winning Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture, and Jodie Foster wins her first award for Academy Award for Best Actress, Best Actress.

April

* April 1 – Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax (the Poll tax (Great Britain), poll tax) is introduced in Scotland. It will be introduced in England and Wales the following year.
* April 2
** In South-West Africa, fighting erupts between SWAPO insurgents and the South West African Police on the day that a ceasefire was supposed to end the South African Border War according to United Nations Security Council Resolution 435. By April 6, nearly 300 people are killed.
* April 4 – A failed coup attempt against Prosper Avril, President of Haiti, leads to a standoff between mutinous troops and the government which ends on April 10, with the government regaining control of the country.
* April 5 – The Polish Government and the Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity trade union sign an agreement restoring Solidarity to legal status, and agreeing to hold 1989 Polish legislative election, democratic elections on June 4 (Polish Round Table Agreement), which initiates the Revolutions of 1989, 1989 revolution and the overthrow of communism in Central Europe.
* April 6 – National Safety Council of Australia chief executive John Friedrich (fraudster), John Friedrich is arrested after defrauding investors to the tune of $235,000,000.
* April 7 – The Soviet submarine K-278 Komsomolets, Soviet submarine K-278 ''Komsomolets'' sinks in the Barents Sea, killing 41.
* April 9
** April 9 tragedy, Tbilisi massacre: Georgia (country), Georgian demonstrators are massacred by Soviet Army soldiers in Tbilisi's central square during a peaceful rally; 20 citizens are killed, many injured. This causes further protests.
** A dispute over grazing rights leads to the beginning of the Mauritania–Senegal Border War.
* April 14 – The U.S. government seizes the Irvine, California, Lincoln Savings and Loan Association; Charles Keating (for whom the Keating Five are named) eventually goes to jail, as part of the massive 1980s savings and loan crisis which costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $200,000,000 in bailouts, and many people their life savings.
* April 15
**The Hillsborough disaster, one of the biggest tragedies in European association football, football, claims the lives of 94 Liverpool F.C. supporters in Sheffield, England, a further three dying later.
**Hu Yaobang, the former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, dies. The public reaction to his death spawned a chain of events which led to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
* April 17 – Solidarity (Polish trade union) is once again legalised and allowed to participate in semi-free elections on June 4.
* April 19
** Central Park jogger case: Trisha Meili is seriously assaulted and raped whilst jogging in New York City's Central Park; the convictions of five teenagers for the crime are Vacated judgment, vacated in 2002 (the jogger's identity remains secret for years, hence she is referred to as the "Central Park Jogger").
** The USS Iowa turret explosion, USS ''Iowa'' turret explodes on the U.S. battleship ''USS Iowa (BB-61), Iowa'', killing 47 crew members.
* April 20 – NATO debates modernising short range missiles; although the US and UK are in favour, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl obtains a concession deferring a decision.
* April 21 – Students from Beijing, 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 landslid