1989

1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday in the Gregorian calendar.  A wave of counter revolutions led to the end of the Eastern Bloc and the Cold War during the year.

 Events 
 January 7 – Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan following the death of Hirohito. The Heisei period begins.
 January 8 – the Kegworth Air Disaster – A British Midland Boeing 737 crashes on approach to East Midlands Airport – 44 dead
 January 10 – Cuban troops begin withdrawing from Angola
 January 10 – Assistant Australian Federal Police commissioner Colin Winchester is shot dead in the driveway of his Canberra home.
 January 17 – A gunman kills 5 children, wounds 30 and then shoots himself in Stockton, California.
 January 20 – George Herbert Walker Bush succeeds Ronald Wilson Reagan as President of the United States of America
 January 24 – Serial killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair
 January 30 – American Olympic medalist Bruce Kimball is sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing two teenagers in a drunk driving accident.
 February 3 – Paraguayan leader Alfredo Stroessner is removed from office.
 February 14 – Iran issues a fatwa (death warrant) against the writer Salman Rushdie for his novel, The Satanic Verses.
 March 24 – The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurs at Prince William Sound in southern Alaska. Until 2010 it is the worst oil spill in United States history.
 May - Tornadoes hit Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
 June 4 – Protests at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, are brutally crushed. An image of a lone protestor defying a tank is shown worldwide.
 August – First sighting of the Aurora, a supposed hypersonic aircraft 
 September - Hurricane Hugo strikes the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, South Carolina and North Carolina. The hurricane causes $8 billion in damage in the United States, about $10 billion in total. Many people die from this hurricane.
 October 17 – A major earthquake strikes San Francisco, California.
 October 18 – East Germany's leader Erich Honecker resigns.
 November 2 – Bad Religion releases No Control, which is considered one of the band's best known works in the history of punk music, along with its predecessor Suffer, which came out in the previous year.
 November 17 – The Berlin Wall in Germany starts to come down.
 December 17 – The television series The Simpsons premieres on FOX as a full animated series with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
 December 22 – The main crossing from East into West Berlin is officially reopened.
 December 22 – In Romania, Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu is removed from office.
 December 25 – Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena are executed by a firing squad.

 Births 
 January 9 – Nina Dobrev, Canadian actress
 January 23 – April Pearson, British actress
 February 3 – Vania King, American tennis player
 February 9 – Shunta Takahashi, Japanese footballer
 February 18 – Zhang Li Yin, Chinese singer
 February 21 – Corbin Bleu, American actor
 March 12 – Holger Badstuber, German footballer
 March 13 – Marko Marin, German footballer
 March 14 – Ryohei Yamazaki, Japanese footballer
 March 16 – Theo Walcott, English footballer
 March 19 – James Richman, Latvian-born investor 
 March 20 – Keisuke Endo, Japanese footballer
 March 28 – David Goodwillie, Scottish footballer
 April 8 – Koki Otani, Japanese footballer
 April 23 – Nicole Vaidisova, German tennis player
 May 5 – Chris Brown, American singer
 May 11 – Giovani dos Santos, Mexican footballer
 May 17 – Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
 June 2 – Freddy Adu, American footballer
 June 10 – Alexandra Stan, Romanian singer and songwriter 
 June 11 – Shia LaBeouf, American actor
 July 16 – Gareth Bale, Welsh footballer
 June 28 – Markiplier, American YouTube personality
 July 23 – Daniel Radcliffe, British actor
 August 15 – Joe Jonas, American singer and actor
 August 21 – Hayden Panettiere, American actress
 August 30 – Bebe Rexha, American singer and songwriter
 September 1 – Bill & Tom Kaulitz, German singers
 September 10 – Sanjaya Malakar, American singer
 September 13 – Thomas Mueller, German footballer
 September 21 – Jason Derulo, American singer
 September 21 – Emma Watkins, Australian musician (The Wiggles)
 September 23 – Brandon Jennings, American basketball player
 October 4 – Kimmie Meissner, American ice skater
 October 13 – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, American politician and activist
 October 24 – Pewdiepie, Swedish YouTube personality
 October 30 – Seth Adkins, American actor
 October 30 – Nastia Liukin, American gymnast
 November 11 – Patrick Starrr, American YouTube personality
 December 13 – Taylor Swift, American pop singer
 December 22 – Jordin Sparks, American singer
 December 28 – Mackenzie Rosman, American actress
 December 30 – Natasha Baker, English para-equestrian

 Deaths 

 January 
 January 4 - Junko furuta, Japanese schoolgirl (b. 1971)
 January 7 – Hirohito, Emperor of Japan (b. 1901)
 January 23 – Salvador Dalí, Spanish painter (b. 1904)
 January 24 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer (b. 1946)

 February 
 February 6 – Chris Gueffroy, last person to be shot at the Berlin Wall (b. 1968)
 February 17 – Lefty Gomez, American baseball player (b. 1908)
 February 26 – Roy Eldridge, American jazz musician (b. 1911)
 February 27 – Konrad Lorenz, German scientist (b. 1903)

 March 

 April 
 April 12 – Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (b. 1921)
 April 22 - Emilio G. Segre, Italian-American physicist (b. 1905)
 April 26 – Lucille Ball, American actress (b. 1911)
 April 30 – Sergio Leone, movie director (b. 1929)

 May 
 May 20 – Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (b. 1946)

 June 
 June 3 – Ayatollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran (b. 1900)
 June 30 – Hilmar Baunsgaard, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1920)

 July 
 July 2 – Andrei Gromyko, Soviet politician (b. 1909)
 July 10 – Mel Blanc, American actor (b. 1908)
 July 11 – Laurence Olivier, British actor (b. 1907)
 July 16 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor (b. 1908)

 August 
 August 12 – William Shockley, American physicist (b. 1910)

 September 
 September 4 – Georges Simenon, Belgian writer (b. 1903)
 September 8 – Barry Sadler, American musician (b. 1940)
 September 22 – Irving Berlin, Russian-born composer (b. 1888)
 September 28 – Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines (b. 1917)

 October 
 October 4 – Graham Chapman, English comedian (b. 1941)
 October 6 – Bette Davis, American actress (b. 1908)

 November 
 November 5 – Vladimir Horowitz, Russian-born pianist (b. 1903)
 November 30 – Ahmadou Ahidjo, 1st President of Cameroon (b. 1924)

 December 
 December 14 – Andrei Sakharov, Soviet physicist and activist (b. 1921)
 December 22 – Samuel Beckett, Irish playwright (b. 1906)
 December 25 – Nicolae Ceausescu, President of Romania (b. 1918)
 December 25 – Elena Ceaușescu, Deputy Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1916)

 Nobel Prizes 
 Nobel Prize in Physics won by Norman F. Ramsey, and shared by Hans G. Dehmelt and Wolfgang Paul
 Nobel Prize in Chemistry shared by Sidney Altman and Thomas R. Cech
 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine shared by J. Michael Bishop and Harold E. Varmus
 Nobel Prize in Literature won by Camilo José Cela, Spanish novelist
 Nobel Peace Prize won by Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama
 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences won by Trygve Haavelmo

 Movies released 
 Batman
 Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
 Born on the Fourth of July, nominated for eight Academy Awards
 Dead Poets Society, winner of the BAFTA Award for Best Film
 Do The Right Thing
 Driving Miss Daisy, nominated for nine Academy Awards
 Ghostbusters II
 Great Balls of Fire! Honey, I Shrunk The KidsIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the highest-grossing movie of 1989
 Kickboxer Kiki's Delivery Service, an animated movie
 Lethal Weapon II Tango & Cash The Little Mermaid, made by Walt Disney Pictures
 Lock Up Look Who's Talking Next of Kin National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Road House Roger & Me, directed by Michael Moore
 Steel Magnolias, winning a Golden Globe Award for Julia Roberts
 Turner & Hooch UHF Uncle Buck, directed by John Hughes

 Hit songs 
 "All She Wants Is" – Duran Duran
 "My Brave Face" – Paul McCartney
 "Another Day in Paradise" – Phil Collins
 "Batdance" – Prince
 "Bat Attack '89 – Crime Fighters Inc
 "Beds Are Burning" – Midnight Oil
 "Blame It on the Rain" – Milli Vanilli
 "Buffalo Stance" – Neneh Cherry
 "Cartoon" – Soul Asylum
 "Compulsory Hero – 1927
 "Chained To The Wheel – Black Sorrows
 "Cry In Shame Johnny Diesel + The Injectors
 "Crying In The Chapel" – Peter Blakley
 "Do You Believe In Shame?" – Duran Duran
 "Dr. Feelgood" – Mötley Crüe
 "Eternal Flame" – The Bangles
 "Eyes Of A Stranger" – Queensrÿche
 "Hangin' Tough" – New Kids On The Block
 "Heavy Metal" – Judas Priest
 "I Drove All Night – Cyndi Lauper
 "I Feel The Earth Move – Martika
 "If I Could" – 1927
 "If I Could Turn Back Time" – Cher
 "If Tomorrow Never Comes" – Garth Brooks
 "Kickstart My Heart" – Mötley Crüe
 "Killin' Time" – Clint Black
 "Leave A Light On For Me – Belinda Carlisle
 "Like a Prayer" – Madonna
 "Listen To Your Heart" – Roxette
 "Lost in Your Eyes" – Debbie Gibson
 "Love Shack"- The B-52's
 "Miss You Much" – Janet Jackson
 "Monsters Of Rock" – Judas Priest
 "Open Letter (To A Landlord)" – Living Colour
 "Orange Crush" – R.E.M.
 "Rendez-vous chaque soir" – Dalida (inédit)
 "Right Here Waiting" – Richard Marx
 "Ring My Bell – Collette
 "She Drives Me Crazy" – Fine Young Cannibals
 "She Has To Be Loved" – Jenny Morris
 "Sometime To Return" – Soul Asylum
 "Soul Revival" – Johnny Disel + The Injectors
 "Stand" – R.E.M.
 "Stop – Sam Brown
 "Straight Up" – Paula Abdul
 "Talk It Over" – Grayson Hugh
 "The Crack-Up" – The Black Sorrows
 "The Dance" – Garth Brooks
 "The Look" – Roxette
 "The World Seems Difficult" – Mentals
 "Tucker's Daughter – Ian Moss
 "Un soir qu'on oublie pas" – Dalida (inédit)
 "Veronica" – Elvis Costello
 "When I See You Smile" – Bad English
 "We Didn't Start The Fire" – Billy Joel
 "Wild Thing" – Tone Loc
 "You Got It" – Roy Orbison
 "You Got It (The Right Stuff)" – New Kids On The Block
 "Young Years" – Dragon
 "You'll Never Know" – 1927

 New Books 
 Geek Love – Katherine Dunn
 The Cardinal of the Kremlin – Tom Clancy
 Chronicle of the French Revolution – Jean Favier et al.
 Daddy – Danielle Steel
 The Face of Battle – John Keegan
 Foucault's Pendulum – Umberto Eco
 The Great and Secret Show – Clive Barker
 Guards! Guards! – Terry Pratchett
 Hyperion – Dan Simmons
 It's Always Something – Gilda Radner
 Jasmine – Bharati Mukherjee
 The Joy Luck Club – Amy Tan
 The Legacy of Heorot – Larry Niven
 Licence to Kill – John Gardner
 London Fields – Martin Amis
 Lot's Wife – Tom Wakefield
 The Magick of Candleburning – Gerina Dunwich
 The Negotiator – Frederick Forsyth
 The Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follett
 A Prayer For Owen Meany – John Irving
 Pyramids – Terry Pratchett
 Red Phoenix – Larry Bond
 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
 The Russia House – John le Carré
 The Sands of Time – Sidney Sheldon
 The Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie
 Six Days in Havana – James A. Michener
 Solomon Gursky Was Here – Mordecai Richler
 Star – Danielle Steel
 Stark – Ben Elton
 The Temple of My Familiar – Alice Walker
 A Time to Kill – John Grisham
 Total Recall – Piers Anthony
 While My Pretty One Sleeps – Mary Higgins Clark
 The Wicked and the Witless – Hugh Cook
 Win, Lose or Die – John Gardner
 New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
 Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon
 Snot Stew'' by Bill Wallace

 References 

 Other websites