1990

1990 (MCMXC) was .
Events
January
January 2 - All My Children airs its 20th anniversary special. The characters Joe and Ruth Martin sit down with Erica Kane, her mother Mona, and Phoebe Wallingford as they go through scrapbook pictures which segue into memorable clips from the show's past twenty years.
January 7 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed due to safety concerns.
January 15 - Thousands of people storm the Stasi headquarters in Berlin, to view government records.
January 20 - Soviet forces kill civilians in Baku, Azerbaijan.
January 21 - MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with musical guest, Squeeze.
January 22 - The end of communism in Yugoslavia.
January 25 - The Burns' Night storm kills 97 people in Northwestern Europe.
January 31 - Moscow's first McDonald's restaurant opens.
February
February 8 - Songwriter Del Shannon dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
February 11 - James "Buster" Douglas KOs Mike Tyson to win heavyweight boxing crown.
February 11 - Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for 27 years, is freed from Victor Verster prison outside Cape Town, South Africa.
February 14 - 50,000 fans watch The Rolling Stones play the first of 10 concerts at Tokyo's Korakuen Dome, the beginning of the Stones' first ever tour of Japan.
February 16 - Ike Turner is sentenced to 4 years in prison for possession of cocaine.
February 17 - Aerosmith appears in the Saturday Night Live sketch Wayne's World, where they perform the Wayne's World theme song.
February 26 - The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.
February 27 - In Time Magazine, Milli Vanilli "singer" Rob Pilatus states that their group is, "more talented than any Bob Dylan or Paul McCartney. Mick Jagger can't produce a sound. I'm the new Elvis."
March
March 11 - Lithuania declares independence from the Soviet Union.
March 11 - Patricio Aylwin takes office as President of Chile, ending the rule of Augusto Pinochet.
March 15 - Mikhail Gorbachev is elected executive President of the Soviet Union.
March 15 - The Soviet Union declares Lithuania's independence declaration as invalid.
March 18 - East Germany holds its first free elections.
March 18 - 12 paintings worth $100 million are stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the biggest art theft in US history.
March 21 - Namibia becomes independent after 75 years of South African rule.
March 25 - Motley Crue's Tommy Lee is arrested for allegedly exposing his backside during a performance in Augusta, Georgia
April
April 6 - Motley Crue's Tommy Lee suffers a mild concussion after falling off of scaffolding above his elevated drum kit during a performance in New Haven, CT.
April 7 - Neil Young, Elton John, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Guns N' Roses and Jackson Browne perform at Farm Aid IV in Indiana. John dedicates "Candle in the Wind" to AIDS patient Ryan White during his performance. White died later that evening.
April 25 - Jimi Hendrix's Fender Stratocaster that he used to perform his famous version of the "Star Spangled Banner" at Woodstock, is auctioned off in London for $295,000.
April 25 - Violeta Chamorro is elected President of Nicaragua.
April 30 - The long-lost pilot movie to I Love Lucy airs on CBS as a special.
May
May 4 - Latvia declares independence from the Soviet Union.
May 8 - In Los Angeles, California, Tom Waits wins a $2.5 million lawsuit against Frito-Lay for unlawfully using a sound alike of Waits in its Doritos television commercials.
May 22 - The Yemeni Arab Republic and People's Democratic Republic of Yemen unite to form the Republic of Yemen.
May 26 - Gin Blossoms sign a contract with A&M Records.
June
June 12 - The parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty.
June 21 - A 7.3 magnitude earthquake strikes Manjil, Iran, killing thousands of people.
June 26 - US President George H. W. Bush goes back on his 'no new taxes' campaign promise.
July
July 2 - A stampede in Mecca kills 1,426 people.
July 8 - West Germany wins the FIFA World Cup, beating Argentina 1-0 in the final.
July 16 - A magnitude 7.7 earthquake kills more than 1,600 people in the Philippines.
July 27 - Belarus declares its sovereignty.
July 28 - Alberto Fujimori becomes President of Peru.
August
August 2 - Iraq invades Kuwait, leading to the 1991 Gulf War.
August 23 - East Germany and West Germany announce their intention to reunite on October 3.
September
September 9 - The Sri Lankan Army kills 184 Tamil civilians in the Batticaloa massacre.
September 9 - Liberian leader Samuel K. Doe is overthrown and killed in a coup.
September 11 - After a decade of performing in the Francophone world, Celine Dion makes her formal English-language debut when she releases her album Unison.
September 18 - The 1996 Summer Olympics are awarded to Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
September 29 - Washington National Cathedral is completed.
October
October 3 - Germany is officially reunited.
October 14 - Leonard Bernstein dies aged 72.
November
November 1 - Mary Robinson is elected President of Ireland, taking office on December 3.
November 12 - Akihito is officially enthroned as Emperor of Japan.
November 14 - Germany and Poland sign a treaty confirming their border on the Oder-Neisse Line.
November 22 - Margaret Thatcher announces her intention to resign as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
November 23 - Bad Religion releases Against the Grain, their first album released in the 90s. To date, the album remains the last to feature the "classic" line-up. It also features one of their signature songs, "21st Century (Digital Boy)", which would be re-recorded on their 1994 album Stranger Than Fiction.
November 27 - "Vocal" group Milli Vanilli admits lip-synching hits such as "Girl You Know It's True." They later have their Grammy award revoked.
November 28 - John Major becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
December
December 1 - The Smashing Pumpkins begin recording Gish, which will be a blockbuster album in 1991.
December 1 - Channel Tunnel workers from the UK and France meet 40 metres beneath the English Channel seabed.
December 13 - Genesis'88 stage weekly Acid House night in legally acquired warehouse in Stratford London under the banner imagine.
December 16 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide is elected President of Haiti.
December 22 - The Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia become independent, after their trusteeship terminates.
December 22 - Lech Walesa sworn in as President of Poland.
December 25 - The first successful trial run of the system that would become the World Wide Web, is carried out.
December 31 - Garry Kasparov wins the World Chess Championship against Anatoly Karpov.
Other Events
Chris Farley and Adam Sandler join Saturday Night Live.
The poorly received Cop Rock preimieres on television, TV's first (and last) musical police drama.
Legislation is signed into United States law requiring close captioning decoders in all large color TVs manufactured after July 1, 1993.
Births
January
January 4 - Toni Kroos, German footballer
January 7 - Liam Aiken, American actor
January 7 - Elene Gedevanishvili, Georgian figure skater
January 7 - Camryn Grimes, American actress
January 7 - Gregor Schlierenzauer, Austrian ski jumper
January 8 - Xu Xin, Chinese ping-pong player
January 12 - Sergey Karjakin, Ukrainian-born chessmaster
January 30 - Jake Thomas, American actor
February
February 1 - Laura Marling, English singer-songwriter
February 3 - Sean Kingston, American singer
February 11 - Q'Orianka Kilcher, German-born actress
February 13 - Erdini Qoigyijabu, eleventh Panchen Lama
February 23 - Christian Copelin, American actor
February 28 - Anna Muzychuk, Ukrainian chess player
March
March 7 - Abigail and Brittany Hensel, American conjoined twins
March 8 - Petra Kvitova, Czech tennis player
March 23 - Princess Eugenie of York
March 24 - Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-born actress
March 27 - Kimbra, New Zealand singer-songwriter
April
April 9 - Kristen Stewart, American actress
April 10 - Alex Pettyfer, British actor
April 15 - Emma Watson, British actress
April 23 - Dev Patel, British actor
May
May 1 - Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress
May 2 - Kay Panabaker, American actress
May 16 - Thomas Sangster, English actor
May 27 - Chris Colfer, American actor
June
June 2 - Brittany Curran, American actress
June 11 - Christophe Lemaitre, French runner
June 13 - Aaron Johnson, British actor
June 17 - Jordan Henderson, English footballer
June 20 - Ding Ning, Chinese table tennis player
July
July 1 - Emil Wennstrom, Swedish musician (Guitar)
July 11 - Caroline Wozniacki, Danish tennis player
July 19 - Aron Palmarsson, Icelandic handball player
July 24 - Daveigh Chase, American actress
July 27 - Indiana Evans, Australian actress
July 27 - Nick Hogan, American television personality
July 28 - Soulja Boy, American rapper
August
August 12 - Mario Balotelli, Italian footballer
August 15 - Jennifer Lawrence, American actress
August 17 - Rachel Hurd-Wood, English actress
August 21 - Jared Staal, Canadian ice hockey player
August 26 - Lil' Chris, English singer
August 27 - Taylor Mitchell, Canadian singer (d. 2009)
August 28 - Bojan Krkic, Serbian-Spanish footballer
August 29 - Patrick van Aanholt, Dutch footballer
September
September 5 - Kim Yu-Na, South Korean figure skater
September 18 - Lewis Holtby, German footballer
September 20 - John Tavares, Canadian ice hockey player
September 25 - Mao Asada, Japanese figure skater
September 28 - Kirsten Prout, Canadian actress
September 29 - Doug Brochu, American actor and comedian
October
October 16 - Yohanna, Icelandic singer
October 18 - Carly Schroeder, American actress
October 21 - Ricky Rubio, Spanish basketball player
October 22 - Jonathan Lipnicki, American actor
October 29 - Amarna Miller, former Spanish porn actress, vlogger & YouTuber
October 29 - Eric Saade, Swedish singer
October 31 - J.I.D, American hip-hop rapper
November
November 7 - Marisa Siketa, Australian actress
November 7 - David de Gea, Spanish footballer
November 26 - Chipmunk, English rapper
November 26 - Danny Welbeck, English footballer
November 27 - Shane Haboucha, American actor
November 30 - Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess player
December
December 10 - Shoya Tomizawa, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2010)
December 17 - Ashley Edner, American actress
December 20 - Joanna Noelle Levesque, American singer
December 23 - Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, American actress
December 26 - Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer
December 28 - David Archuleta, American singer
December 31 - Patrick Chan, Canadian figure skater
December 31 - Zhao Jing, Chinese swimmer
Deaths
January
January 4 - Alberto Lleras Camargo, 20th President of Colombia (b. 1906)
January 6 - Pavel Cherenkov, Russian physicist (b. 1904)
January 9 - Bazilio Olara-Okello, Ugandan politician (b. 1929)
January 14 - Mani Madhava Chakyar, Indian actor (b. 1899)
January 19 - Herbert Wehner, German politician (b. 1906)
January 20 - Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
January 20 - Naruhiko Higashikuni, 30th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1887)
January 22 - Mariano Rumor, Italian politician (b. 1915)
January 22 - Roman Vishniac, Russian-American photographer (b. 1897)
January 24 - Araken Patusca, Brazilian football player (b. 1905)
January 24 - Madge Bellamy, American actress (b. 1899)
January 25 - Ava Gardner, American actress (b. 1922)
January 26 - Lewis Mumford, American historian (b. 1895)
February
February 7 - Jimmy van Heusen, American composer (b. 1913)
February 8 - Del Shannon, American musician and singer (b. 1934)
February 23 - James M. Gavin, American lieutenant general (b. 1907)
February 23 - Jose Napoleon Duarte, President of El Salvador (b. 1925)
February 24 - Alessandro Pertini, President of Italy (b. 1896)
March
March 5 - Edmund Conen, German footballer (b. 1914)
March 13 - Karl Munchinger, German conductor (b. 1915)
March 15 - Farzad Bazoft, Iranian-British journalist (b. 1958)
March 20 - Lev Yashin, Russian footballer (b. 1929)
April
April 1 - Carlos Peucelle, Argentine footballer (b. 1908)
April 2 - Aldo Fabrizi, Italian actor (b. 1905)
April 3 - Sarah Vaughan, American jazz singer (b. 1924)
April 8 - Ryan White, AIDS spokesperson (b. 1971)
April 15 - Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (b. 1905)
April 17 - Ralph Abernathy, American civil rights leader (b. 1926)
April 20 - Horst Sindermann, East German politician (b. 1915)
April 21 - Romain de Tirtoff, French art deco artist (b. 1892)
May
May 10 - Walker Percy, American writer (b. 1916)
May 12 - Andrei Kirilenko, Soviet politician (b. 1906)
May 16 - Sammy Davis Jr., American actor, dancer and singer (b. 1925)
May 16 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer and movie maker (b. 1936)
May 22 - Rocky Graziano, American boxer (b. 1919)
May 29 - Hussein Onn, Prime Minister of Malaysia (b. 1922)
June
June 2 - Rex Harrison, British actor (b. 1908)
June 3 - Stiv Bators, American singer (b. 1949)
June 3 - Robert Noyce, American inventor (b. 1927)
June 5 - Vasili Kuznetsov, Soviet politician (b. 1901)
June 8 - Jose Figueres Ferrer, President of Costa Rica (b. 1906)
June 16 - Eva Turner, British soprano (b. 1892)
June 22 - Ilya Frank, Russian physicist (b. 1908)
June 24 - German Suarez Flamerich, President of Venezuela (b. 1907)
July
July 15 - Margaret Lockwood, British actress (b. 1916)
July 18 - Yun Posun, South Korean President (b. 1897)
July 22 - Manuel Puig, Argentine writer (b. 1932)
July 29 - Bruno Kreisky, Austrian chancellor (b. 1911)
August
August 9 - Joe Mercer, English footballer (b. 1914)
August 15 - Viktor Tsoi, Soviet singer (b. 1962)
August 17 - Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress (b. 1918)
August 27 - Stevie Ray Vaughan, American Blues guitarist (b. 1954)
September
September 1 - Geir Hallgrimsson, Icelandic politician (b. 1925)
September 6 - Gyula Bereznai, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1921)
September 6 - Tom Fogerty, American musician (b. 1941)
September 7 - Ahti Karjalainen, Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1923)
September 9 - Samuel Doe, President of Liberia (b. 1951)
September 21 - Xu Xiangqian, Chinese Communist military commander (b. 1901)
September 26 - Alberto Moravia, Italian novelist (b. 1907)
September 30 - Patrick White, Australian writer (b. 1912)
October
October 3 - Stefano Casiraghi, husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco (b. 1960)
October 13 - Le Duc Tho, Vietnamese politician (b. 1911)
October 14 - Leonard Bernstein, American composer and conductor (b. 1918)
October 27 - Xavier Cugat, Catalan-born bandleader (b. 1900)
November
November 3 - Mary Martin, American actress (b. 1913)
November 11 - Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet (b. 1909)
November 13 - Don Chaffey, British movie director (b. 1917)
November 17 - Robert Hofstadter, American physicist (b. 1915)
November 23 - Roald Dahl, British writer (b. 1916)
December
December 2 - Aaron Copland, American composer (b. 1900)
December 6 - Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia (b. 1913)
December 7 - Joan Bennett, American actress (b. 1910)
December 14 - Friedrich Durrenmatt, Swiss writer (b. 1921)
December 16 - Jackie Mitoo, Jamaican musician (b. 1948)
December 31 - Vasili Lazarev, Soviet cosmonaut (b. 1928)
Nobel Prizes
Physics - Jerome Isaac Friedman, Henry Way Kendall, Richard Edward Taylor
Chemistry - Elias James Corey
Physiology or Medicine - Joseph E. Murray, E. Donnell Thomas
Literature - Octavio Paz
Nobel Peace Prize - Mikhail Gorbachev
Economics - Harry Markowitz, Merton Miller, William Sharpe
New books
The Bourne Ultimatum - Robert Ludlum
The Burden of Proof - Scott Turow
The Cardinal Virtues - Andrew Greeley
Clear and Present Danger - Tom Clancy
Devices and Desires - P. D. James
Eric - Terry Pratchett
Four Past Midnight - Stephen King
Get Shorty - Elmore Leonard
A Graveyard for Lunatics - Ray Bradbury
Heads - Greg Bear
Harvest - Belva Plain
Homecoming - John Bradshaw
An Inconvenient Woman - Dominic Dunne
Joy - Marsha Hunt
Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
Last Chance to See - Douglas Adams & Mark Cawardine
Liberty and Power - Harry L. Watson
Message From Nam - Danielle Steel
Moving Pictures - Terry Pratchett
Pilgrimage - James A. Michener
Queen of Angels - Greg Bear
September - Rosamund Pilcher
The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Version - Stephen King
A Tenured Professor - John Kenneth Galbraith
The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
Use of Weapons - Iain M. Banks
Vineland - Thomas Pynchon
Movies released
Bird on a Wire
Dances with Wolves
Dick Tracy
Die Hard 2
Days of Thunder
Edward Scissorhands
Flatliners
Marked for Death
Ghost
Goodfellas
Hard to Kill
Home Alone
King of New York
Kindergarten Cop
Lionheart
Pretty Woman
Rocky V
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Hunt for Red October
Total Recall
Tremors
Wild at Heart
Hit songs
"Ball and Chain" - Social Distortion
"Blaze of Glory" - Jon Bon Jovi
"Blue Sky Mine" - Midnight Oil
"Close to You" - Maxi Priest
"Epic" - Faith No More
"Escapade" - Janet Jackson
"Friends In Low Places" - Garth Brooks
"I Go To Extremes" - Billy Joel
"I Wish It Would Rain Down" - Phil Collins
"Ice Ice Baby" - Vanilla Ice
"It Must Have Been Love" - Roxette
"Janie's Got A Gun" - Aerosmith
"Nothing Compares 2 U" - Sinead O'Connor
"Opposites Attract" - Paula Abdul
"Step by Step" - New Kids on the Block
"Three Strange Days" - School of Fish (debut single)
"The Thunder Rolls" - Garth Brooks
"U Can't Touch This" - M.C. Hammer
"Unbelievable" - EMF (debut single)
"Vision of Love" - Mariah Carey
"Vogue" - Madonna