View source for 1989

{{About|the year||1989 (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Events by month|1989}}
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*an [[1989 Loma Prieta earthquake|earthquake]] strikes the [[San Francisco Bay Area]], killing 63 people; 
*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 [[Exxon Valdez oil spill|oil spill]]; 
*the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] begins the downfall of [[Communism]] in [[Eastern Europe]], and heralds [[German reunification]]; 
*the United States [[United States invasion of Panama|invades]] [[Panama]] to depose [[Manuel Noriega]]; 
*the [[Baltic Way]] 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; 
*[[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre|students demonstrate]] in [[Tiananmen Square]], [[Beijing]]; many are killed by forces of the [[Chinese Communist Party]].
*the [[Death and state funeral of Hirohito|state funeral procession]] of [[Hirohito]]
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{{Year nav|1989}}
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{{Year article header|1989}}

1989 was a turning point in political history with the "[[Revolutions of 1989]]" which ended communism in [[Eastern Bloc]] of Europe, 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 and massacre|1989 Tiananmen Square protests]] in [[Beijing]].

It was the year of the first [[1989 Brazilian presidential election|Brazilian direct presidential election]] in 29 years, since the end of the [[Military dictatorship in Brazil|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 South African general election|1994 election]] that brought jailed [[African National Congress]] leader [[Nelson Mandela]] to power.

The first commercial [[Internet service provider]]s surfaced in this year,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sublimeip.com/company/about/history/|title=Company History|publisher=Sublime IP|access-date=2014-08-19|archive-date=August 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810222922/http://www.sublimeip.com/company/about/history/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/7.08/dl_timeline.html|title=Wired 7.08: Harmonic Convergence|magazine=Wired|date=2009-01-04|access-date=2014-08-19|archive-date=April 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421105300/http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/7.08/dl_timeline.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-31-mn-1192-story.html|title=Genetic Defect Screened Out; Healthy Twins Born|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=November 14, 2015|archive-date=March 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307100906/http://articles.latimes.com/1990-07-31/news/mn-1192_1_genetic-defect|url-status=live}}</ref>
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== Events ==
=== January ===
* [[January 1]] – ''[[The New York Times]]'' discloses involvement of [[West Germany|West German]] company Imhausen and [[Salzgitter AG]] in building a [[chemical weapon]] plant in Rabta, [[Libya]].<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gordon|first1=Stephen Engelberg With Michael R.|date=1 January 1989|title=Germans Accused of Helping Libya Build Nerve Gas Plant|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/01/world/germans-accused-of-helping-libya-build-nerve-gas-plant.html|access-date=2020-09-16|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530094206/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/01/world/germans-accused-of-helping-libya-build-nerve-gas-plant.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-25-mn-1028-story.html|title=German Firm Reportedly Knew Libya Toxic Gas Plan|work=Los Angeles Times|author=William Tuohy|date=25 January 1989|access-date=19 January 2023|archive-date=January 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118230257/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-25-mn-1028-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[January 2]] – [[Prime Minister of Sri Lanka|Prime Minister]] [[Ranasinghe Premadasa]] takes office as the third [[President of Sri Lanka]].
* [[January 4]] – [[Gulf of Sidra incident (1989)]]: Two [[Libya]]n [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23|MiG-23 "Floggers"]] are engaged and shot down by two US Navy [[F-14 Tomcat]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cenciotti |first=Dario Leone, David |date=2014-01-03 |title=How two F-14 Tomcats shot down two Gaddafi's MiG-23s, On This Day in 1989 |url=https://theaviationist.com/2014/01/04/f-14-vs-mig-23-1989/ |access-date=2025-09-14 |website=The Aviationist |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[January 7]] – [[Hirohito|Emperor Hirohito]] [[Death and state funeral of Hirohito|dies]]; his son [[Akihito]] ascends as the 125th [[Emperor of Japan]], followed by the change in the era name from [[Shōwa era|Shōwa]] to [[Heisei era|Heisei]] on the following day.
* [[January 10]] – In accordance with [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 626]] and the [[Tripartite Accord (Angola)|New York Accords]], [[Cuba]]n 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 13]] – Former [[Uganda]]n dictator [[Idi Amin]] is expelled to [[Senegal]] from [[Zaire]] after using a fake Zairean passport in an attempt to return to Uganda. Amin is eventually expelled from Senegal and subsequently returns to Zaire after the [[Government of Saudi Arabia|Saudi government]] refuses to allow him in Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1989-01-14|title=Amin Forced Back to Zaire After Saudis Block His Return|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-14-mn-158-story.html|access-date=2023-08-26|website=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=August 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826194522/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-01-14-mn-158-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Battiata|first=Mary|date=1989-01-15|title=African Nations Cold-Shoulder Exiled Idi Amin|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/01/15/african-nations-cold-shoulder-exiled-idi-amin/132bdbee-7e3a-4313-b1a3-2fdc30ccd500/|access-date=2023-12-23|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
* [[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 inaugurated as [[President of the United States]].
* [[January 23]]–[[January 24|24]] – Armed civilian leftists briefly [[1989 attack on La Tablada Regiment|attack and occupy]] an [[Argentina|Argentinian]] army base near [[Buenos Aires]].
* [[January 29]] – The two longest-imprisoned German WWII war criminals in Western Europe, [[Ferdinand aus der Fünten]] and [[Franz Fischer (SS)|Franz Fischer]] (collectively known as [[The Breda Two]]), were released from Dutch prison.<ref name="DI">{{Cite web|url=https://duitslandinstituut.nl/artikel/22030/duitse-steun-aan-drie-van-breda-schrikbarend-groot|title= 'Duitse steun aan Drie van Breda schrikbarend groot'|access-date=6 May 2025|first=Marja|last=Verburg|language=nl|work=Duitsland Instituut Amsterdam|date=11 July 2017}}</ref>
* [[January 30]] 
** [[Prime Minister of Canada]] [[Brian Mulroney]] [[Cabinet reshuffle|shuffles]] [[24th Canadian Ministry|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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bergen|first=Peter|title=The longest war: the enduring conflict between America and Al-Qaeda|publisher=Free Press|location=Place of publication not identified|year=2014|isbn=9780857208835|page=317}}</ref>

=== February ===
* [[February 1]] – In Australia, [[Joan Kirner]] becomes [[Victoria (Australia)|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 [[Soviet-Afghan war|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]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Peter Lambert|author2=Andrew Nickson|title=The Transition to Democracy in Paraguay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Cu_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA68|date=27 July 2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-349-25767-6|page=68}}</ref>
** After a [[stroke]], [[State President of South Africa]] [[P. W. Botha]] resigns as Leader of the [[National Party (South Africa)|National Party]].
* [[February 5]] – [[Eurosport]], a [[Multiple-language version|multiple-language]] [[Broadcasting of sports events|sports broadcasting station]] in [[Europe]], begins broadcasting, from [[Issy-les-Moulineaux]], [[Île-de-France]], [[France]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/02/05/eurosport-celebrates-30th-birthday-with-shorts-series-marking-its-1989-beginnings|title=Eurosport celebrates 30th birthday with shorts series marking its 1989 beginnings|date=February 5, 2019|author=John McCarthy|website=The Drum|access-date=October 29, 2021|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303052652/https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/02/05/eurosport-celebrates-30th-birthday-with-shorts-series-marking-its-1989-beginnings|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[February 6]] – The Government of the [[People's Republic of Poland]] holds formal talks with representatives of [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|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]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-10 |title=1989: Ron Brown elected Democratic National Committee chairman - Mississippi Today |url=https://mississippitoday.org/2024/02/10/on-this-day-in-1989-ron-brown-was-elected-democratic-national-committee-chaieman/ |access-date=2025-09-28 |language=en-US}}</ref>
** U.S. President Bush meets Canadian Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]] in [[Ottawa]], laying the groundwork for the [[Air Quality Agreement|Acid Rain Treaty of 1991]].
* [[February 11]] – [[Barbara Harris (bishop)|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|''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]] [[satellite]]s is placed into orbit.
[[File:RIAN archive 827820 Soviet unit pictured prior to their withdrawal from Afghanistan.jpg|thumb|Soviet unit pictured prior to their withdrawal from [[Afghanistan]]]]
* [[February 15]]
** [[Soviet–Afghan War]]: The [[Soviet Union]] announces that [[Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan|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 [[1989 Sri Lankan parliamentary election|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 Madikizela-Mandela|Winnie Mandela]] and arrest four of her bodyguards.
* [[February 20]] – In Canada's [[Yukon Territory]], the ruling [[Yukon New Democratic Party|New Democrats]] narrowly maintain control of the [[Yukon Legislative Assembly]], winning 9 seats vs. the [[Yukon Progressive Conservative Party|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 24]]
** The [[state funeral]] of [[Hirohito|Emperor Shōwa]] (Hirohito) in [[Tokyo]] is attended by leaders and representatives of 160 nations.
** [[The Satanic Verses controversy|''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 25]]–[[February 27|27]] – U.S. President Bush visits [[China]] and [[South Korea]], meeting with China's [[Deng Xiaoping]] and South Korea's [[Roh Tae-woo]].
* [[February 27]] – [[Venezuela]] is rocked by the [[Caracazo]], a wave of protests and looting.

=== March ===
[[File:Nemzeti Ünnep - Szabadság tér 1989.03.15 (4).jpg|thumb|Mass demonstration at the Hungarian state television headquarters]]
[[File:Exval.jpeg|thumb|200px|The ''[[Exxon Valdez]]'']]

* March – [[Poland]] begins to liberalise its [[Foreign exchange market|currency exchange]] in a move towards [[capitalism]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilkens|first1=Herbert|last2=Maennig|first2=Wolfgang|title=Transition in Eastern Europe: Current Issues and Perspectives|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=anSgCEBAJK0C&pg=PA71|year=1997|publisher=Duncker & Humblot|isbn=978-3-428-49107-0|page=71|access-date=October 7, 2016|archive-date=December 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207100819/https://books.google.com/books?id=anSgCEBAJK0C&pg=PA71#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[March 1]]
** The [[Berne Convention]], an international [[treaty]] on [[copyright]]s, is ratified by the United States.
** A [[curfew]] is imposed in [[Kosovo]], where protests continue over the alleged intimidation of the [[Serb]] minority.
** The [[Political Party of Radicals]], [[Pacifist Socialist Party]], [[Communist Party of the Netherlands]] 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 [[chlorofluorocarbon]]s (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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Government |first=A. C. T. |date=2024-07-10 |title=Fact sheet - The ACT Electoral Commission & Elections ACT |url=https://www.elections.act.gov.au/elections/education/fact-sheets/fact-sheet-the-act-electoral-commission-and-elections-act |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=Elections ACT |language=en}}</ref>
* [[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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timeline.web.cern.ch/timelines/The-birth-of-the-World-Wide-Web|title=The birth of the World Wide Web &#124; CERN timelines|publisher=Timeline.web.cern.ch|access-date=2014-08-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203033658/http://timeline.web.cern.ch/timelines/The-birth-of-the-World-Wide-Web|archive-date=December 3, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[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 [[aurora]]e 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 weapon]]s" into the United States.
** General [[Michel Aoun]] declares a "War of Liberation" to rid [[Lebanon]] of [[Syria]]n 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 {{convert|700000|km|mi}}.
* [[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 {{convert|240000|oilbbl|m3}} 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 ===
[[File:Okrągły Stół Pałac Prezydencki 2019.jpg|thumb|[[Polish Round Table Agreement]]]]

* [[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 have been 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 13]] – [[Israel Border Police]] launched [[13 April 1989 Nahalin raid|a raid]] in [[Nahalin]], killing five Palestinians.
* [[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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DF153BF937A1575BC0A966958260|title=Judge Rejects Keating Suit – Sees 'Looting' of Lincoln|work=The New York Times|date=1990-08-24|access-date=February 4, 2017|archive-date=December 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207100809/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/24/business/judge-rejects-keating-suit-sees-looting-of-lincoln.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jul/28/liverpool-fans-death-ruled-as-97th-victim-of-hillsborough-disaster|title=Liverpool fan's death ruled as 97th victim of Hillsborough disaster|first1=David|last1=Conn|first2=Robyn|last2=Vinter|date=2021-07-28|work=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=2021-07-29|archive-date=June 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607000432/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jul/28/liverpool-fans-death-ruled-as-97th-victim-of-hillsborough-disaster|url-status=live}}</ref>
**[[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]].<ref name="Revolutionary Year">{{cite book|editor=Crystal, David|title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1990|page=RR69}}</ref>

=== May ===
* May
** [[Transhumanism]]: [[Genetic modification]] of adult human beings is tried for the first time, a [[gene tagging]] trial.<ref>{{cite report|url=http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1991101800|title=Gene Therapy|access-date=April 8, 2017|archive-date=October 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020114505/https://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1991101800|url-status=live}}</ref>
** The Soviet Union issues its first [[Visa card]] in a step to digitalise its banking system.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uVNTAAAAIBAJ&pg=3298,4683588&dq=teller+machine+soviet+union&hl=en|title=Top USSR bank moves ruble into electronic age...|newspaper=The Deseret News|via=Google News Archive Search|access-date=November 7, 2020|archive-date=May 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530094206/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uVNTAAAAIBAJ&pg=3298,4683588&dq=teller+machine+soviet+union&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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 {{convert|240|km|mi}} 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bleskon.com/2010/03/first-mcdonalds-in-moscow-russia.html|title=First McDonald's in Moscow, Russia ~|publisher=Bleskon.com|access-date=2013-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130809072036/http://www.bleskon.com/2010/03/first-mcdonalds-in-moscow-russia.html|archive-date=2013-08-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[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 7]] - The [[1989 Bolivian general election]] was held in Bolivia.
* [[May 9]] – [[Andrew Peacock]] deposes [[John Howard]] as Federal Opposition Leader of Australia.
* [[May 10]] – The government of [[President of Panama]] [[Manuel Noriega]] 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]] to protect Americans there.
** The ACT ([[Australian Capital Territory]]) Legislative Assembly meets for the first time.
* [[May 12]]–[[May 25|25]] – [[San Bernardino train disaster]]: Southern Pacific freight locomotive SP 7551 East derails in a residential area of [[San Bernardino, California]], killing four and destroying seven houses. On May 25, as a direct result of the derailment, the [[Calnev Pipeline]] explodes, killing an additional two people and destroying eleven more houses and 21 cars.
* [[May 14]]
** [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] visits [[China]], the first Soviet leader to do so since [[Nikita Khrushchev]] in the [[1960s]], ending the [[Sino-Soviet split]].
** [[Carlos Menem]] wins the [[1989 Argentine general election|Argentine presidential election]].
* [[May 15]]
** Australia's first private tertiary institution, [[Bond University]], opens on the Gold Coast.
** The last [[golden toad]] is seen in [[Costa Rica]]; the species is subsequently classified as extinct.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rainforesttrust.org/thirty-years-after-the-last-golden-toad-sighting-what-have-we-learned/|title=Thirty Years After the Last Golden Toad Sighting, What Have We Learned?|date=May 15, 2019|publisher=Rainforest Trust|access-date=October 29, 2021|archive-date=October 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029180901/https://www.rainforesttrust.org/thirty-years-after-the-last-golden-toad-sighting-what-have-we-learned/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[May 17]]
**[[1989 Tiananmen Square protests]]: More than 1,000,000 Chinese protesters march through [[Beijing]] demanding greater democracy, leading to a crackdown.
**In Stuttgart, [[Diego Maradona]] of [[S.S.C. Napoli|Napoli]] 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 21]]: Bombing near Keserwan by Kataeb Regulatory Forces, 9 Syrians soldiers killed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pdf-archive.rf.gd/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/BOMBING-ALERT.pdf|title=The bombing near Keserwan|access-date=May 26, 2023|archive-date=May 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526165203/http://pdf-archive.rf.gd/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/BOMBING-ALERT.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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 26]] – [[Arsenal F.C.]] defeat [[Liverpool F.C.]] by 2 goals to nil at [[Anfield]], in the final game of the season, to win the [[Football League First Division]]. 
* [[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 {{convert|10|m|ft}} 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]] – [[Tarapoto massacre]]: 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.globalgayz.com/south-america/peru/gay-peru-news-and-reports-2011/#article2|title=Gay Peru News & Reports 2011|publisher=Archive.globalgayz.com|access-date=2013-08-08|archive-date=September 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921121153/https://archive.globalgayz.com/south-america/peru/gay-peru-news-and-reports-2011/#article2|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== June ===
{{Main|June 1989}}

* [[June 1]]–[[June 10|10]] – Pope [[John Paul II]] visits [[Norway]], [[Iceland]], [[Finland]], [[Denmark]] and [[Sweden]].
* [[June 2]] – [[Sōsuke Uno]] succeeds [[Noboru Takeshita]] as [[Prime Minister of Japan]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Uno-Sosuke|author=((The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica))|title=Uno Sōsuke <nowiki>|</nowiki> prime minister of Japan|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=5 November 2021|archive-date=November 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105095928/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Uno-Sosuke|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[June 3]] – The world's first [[high-definition television]] (test) broadcasts commence in Japan, in [[analog television|analogue]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.birds-eye.net/definition/acronym/?id=1157827001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714112540/http://www.birds-eye.net/definition/acronym/?id=1157827001|archive-date=14 July 2014|last1=Bahlmann|first1=Bruce|last2=Ramkumar|first2=Preethi|title=HDTV – High Definition Television|publisher=Birds-Eye.Net|access-date=5 November 2021}}</ref>
* [[June 4]]
** [[1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre]]: A violent military crackdown takes place on pro-democracy protesters in [[Tiananmen Square]], [[Beijing]].<ref name="Nevett">{{cite news|date=5 June 2019|last=Nevett|first=Joshua|title=How the Ufa train disaster was overshadowed by Tiananmen Square|department=Europe|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48510979|access-date=5 November 2021|archive-date=July 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718170945/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48510979|url-status=live}}</ref>
** [[1989 Polish legislative election]]: [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]]'s victory in the first round<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.prezydent.pl/kancelaria/archiwa-przelomu/zasob-archiwum-prezydenta-rp/kancelaria-rady-panstwa-krp/panstwowa-komisja-wyborcza-pkw----wybory-do-sejmu-prl-i-senatu-prl-z-8-i-19-czerwca/obwieszczenie-pkw-o-wynikach-glosowania-i-wynikach-wyborow-do-sejmu-prl-przeprowadzonych-dnia-4-czerwca-1989-103330-t1/|title=Obwieszczenie Państwowej Komisji Wyborczej o wynikach głosowania i wynikach wyborów do Sejmu PRL przeprowadzonych dnia 4 czerwca 1989 r. – 1033/30 t.1 k. 1, 3-169|trans-title=Announcement of the National Electoral Commission on the results of voting and the results of the elections to the Sejm of the People's Republic of Poland held on June 4, 1989 – 1033/30 t.1 k. 1, 3-169|website=prezydent.pl|language=pl|access-date=5 November 2021|archive-date=November 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107140224/https://www.prezydent.pl/kancelaria/archiwa-przelomu/zasob-archiwum-prezydenta-rp/kancelaria-rady-panstwa-krp/panstwowa-komisja-wyborcza-pkw----wybory-do-sejmu-prl-i-senatu-prl-z-8-i-19-czerwca/obwieszczenie-pkw-o-wynikach-glosowania-i-wynikach-wyborow-do-sejmu-prl-przeprowadzonych-dnia-4-czerwca-1989-103330-t1/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2255_89.htm|title=POLAND: parliamentary elections Sejm, 1989|publisher=[[Inter-Parliamentary Union]]|year=1989|access-date=7 November 2021|archive-date=January 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121184406/http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2255_89.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> is the first of many anti-[[Communism|communist]] [[revolutions of 1989]] in [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]].
** [[1989 Iranian Supreme Leader election]]: [[Ali Khamenei]] is elected [[Supreme Leader of Iran]] after announcing the death of [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] the day before.<ref name="Amir Arjomand">{{cite book|last1=Amir Arjomand|first1=Saïd|title=After Khomeini: Iran Under His Successors|year=2009|url=https://archive.org/details/afterkhomeiniira00arjo|url-access=limited|publisher=Oxford University Press|publication-date=2009|page=[https://archive.org/details/afterkhomeiniira00arjo/page/n48 36]|isbn=9780199745760}}</ref>
** [[Ufa train disaster]]: A [[natural gas]] explosion near [[Ufa]], Russia kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.<ref name="Nevett"/>
* [[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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-tiananmen-square-tank-man-20140603-story.html|last=Makinen|first=Julie|title=Tiananmen Square mystery: Who was 'Tank Man'?|journal=Los Angeles Times|department=World & Nation|date=4 June 2014|access-date=5 November 2021|archive-date=November 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117223619/https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-tiananmen-square-tank-man-20140603-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
** [[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]].<ref name=newstatesman>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/asia/2009/03/khomeini-funeral-body-crowd|title=Ayatollah Khomeini's funeral: The funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini, writes James Buchan, was not a tragedy but a gruesome farce:id|magazine=[[New Statesman]]|first=James|last=Buchan|author-link=James Buchan|date=12 March 2009|access-date=5 November 2021|archive-date=April 23, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423180240/https://www.newstatesman.com/asia/2009/03/khomeini-funeral-body-crowd|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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.<ref name=newstatesman/><ref name="Tribune">{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-07-8902070407-story.html|title=Mourners Rip Shroud, Khomeini's Body Falls|first1=Ray|last1=Moseley|first2=Joseph A.|last2=Reaves|journal=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=7 June 1989|access-date=5 November 2021|archive-date=February 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215050318/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-07-8902070407-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[June 7]] – [[Surinam Airways Flight 764]] crashes in [[Paramaribo]], [[Suriname]], killing 176.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/oct/12/the-forgotten-story-of-the-colourful-xi-tragedy|last=Miller|first=Nick|title=The forgotten story of... the Colourful XI tragedy|date=12 October 2017|journal=The Guardian|department=The forgotten story of...|access-date=5 November 2021|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=June 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614204155/https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2017/oct/12/the-forgotten-story-of-the-colourful-xi-tragedy|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[June 8]] – The wreck of [[German battleship Bismarck|German battleship ''Bismarck'']], which was sunk in [[1941]], is located about {{convert|600|mi|km}} west of [[Brest, France]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/14/world/nazi-ship-bismarck-is-found-in-good-shape.html|title=Nazi Ship Bismarck Is Found in 'Good Shape'|journal=The New York Times|agency=Reuters|date=14 June 1989|page=A5|access-date=6 November 2021|archive-date=November 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106063245/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/14/world/nazi-ship-bismarck-is-found-in-good-shape.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/06/23/The-Bismarck-It-belongs-to-Germany/6812614577600/|last=Mackay|first=Robert|title=The Bismarck: 'It belongs to Germany'|date=23 June 1989|publisher=[[United Press International, Inc.]]|access-date=6 November 2021|archive-date=March 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327033425/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/06/23/The-Bismarck-It-belongs-to-Germany/6812614577600/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[June 15]] – At the [[1989 Irish general election]], [[Fianna Fáil]], led by [[Taoiseach]] [[Charles Haughey]], fails to win a majority.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2153_89.htm|title=IRELAND: parliamentary elections Dáil Éireann, 1989|publisher=Inter-Parliamentary Union|year=1989|access-date=7 November 2021|archive-date=November 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107101114/http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2153_89.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/17/world/hungarian-who-led-56-revolt-is-buried-as-a-hero.html|last=Kamm|first=Henry|author-link=Henry Kamm|title=Hungarian Who Led '56 Revolt Is Buried as a Hero|journal=The New York Times|date=17 June 1989|page=1|access-date=6 November 2021|archive-date=November 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105190903/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/17/world/hungarian-who-led-56-revolt-is-buried-as-a-hero.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2125b_89.htm|title=GREECE: parliamentary elections Vouli Ton Ellinon, 1989|publisher=Inter-Parliamentary Union|year=1989|access-date=7 November 2021|archive-date=November 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107101517/http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2125b_89.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[June 22]]
** British police arrest 260 people celebrating the [[Midsummer|summer solstice]] at [[Stonehenge]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-27405147|last=Hallett|first=Emma|title=Summer solstice: How the Stonehenge battles faded|publisher=BBC News|department=England|date=20 June 2014|access-date=7 November 2021|archive-date=July 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721151620/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-27405147|url-status=live}}</ref>
** The [[University of Limerick]] and [[Dublin City University]] are raised to the status of universities, the first established in Ireland since independence in [[1922]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}
* [[June 24]] – [[Jiang Zemin]] becomes [[General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/06/25/new-chinese-party-chief-rose-by-following-prevailing-political-winds/b8118752-2001-41ca-8263-56615d6545e6/|last=Weisskopf|first=Michael|author-link=Michael Weisskopf|title=New Chinese Party Chief Rose by Following Prevailing Political Winds|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=25 June 1989|access-date=7 November 2021|archive-date=November 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128122609/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/06/25/new-chinese-party-chief-rose-by-following-prevailing-political-winds/b8118752-2001-41ca-8263-56615d6545e6/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100020661|title=Jiang Zemin|website=[[Oxford Reference]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|access-date=7 November 2021|archive-date=May 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220530031212/https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100020661|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Cowell|first=Alan|author-link=Alan Cowell|date=1 July 1989|title=Military Coup in Sudan Ousts Civilian Regime|page=1|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/01/world/military-coup-in-sudan-ousts-civilian-regime.html|access-date=7 November 2021|archive-date=October 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030164833/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/01/world/military-coup-in-sudan-ousts-civilian-regime.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== July ===
* [[July 2]] – [[Andreas Papandreou]], [[Prime Minister of Greece]], resigns; a new government is formed under [[Tzannis Tzannetakis]].
* [[July 5]]
** [[State President of South Africa]] [[P. W. Botha]] meets the imprisoned 70-year-old [[Nelson Mandela]] face-to-face for the first time.
** The television sitcom ''[[Seinfeld]]'' premieres in the United States.
* [[July 6]] – The [[Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack]], the first [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] [[suicide attack]] on [[Israel]], takes place.
* [[July 8]] – 110 Furs representatives, 110 Arabs, and 21 mediators signed a Reconciliation Agreement in [[al-Fashir]]. End of the [[War of the Tribes]] in [[Sudan]].
* [[July 9]]–[[July 12|12]] – U.S. President [[George H. W. Bush]] travels to [[People's Republic of Poland|Poland]] and [[Hungarian People's Republic|Hungary]], pushing for U.S. economic aid and investment.
* [[July 10]] – Approximately 300,000 [[Siberia]]n 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]], is opened to the public, containing the world's largest indoor amusement park.<ref>{{cite news|title=adventure.lotteworld.com|url=http://adventure.lotteworld.com/eng/main/index.do|access-date=19 August 2019|archive-date=August 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831102759/https://adventure.lotteworld.com/eng/main/index.do|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/07/15/french-shoot-the-works-with-soaring-bicentennial-french/|title=French Shoot The Works With Soaring Bicentennial French|last=Longworth|first=R.C.|date=15 July 1989|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=13 July 2021|archive-date=July 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712221335/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-07-15/news/8902170553_1_bicentennial-bastille-day-president-francois-mitterrand|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Madoff's sentence: big, but not 141,078 years|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/new-economy/2009/0629/madoffs-sentence-big-but-not-141078-years|date=June 29, 2009|first=Laurent|last=Belsie|work=The Christian Science Monitor|access-date=November 21, 2012|archive-date=January 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101140208/http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/new-economy/2009/0629/madoffs-sentence-big-but-not-141078-years|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[July 28]] – At the [[1989 Iranian presidential election|Iranian presidential election]], electors overwhelmingly elect [[Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani]] as [[President of Iran]] and endorse changes to the [[Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran]], increasing the powers of the president.
* [[July 31]]
** In [[Lebanon]], [[Hezbollah]] announces that it has hanged [[U.S. Marine]] Lt. Col. [[William R. Higgins]] in retaliation for Israel's July 28 kidnapping of Hezbollah leader [[Abdel Karim Obeid]]. The same day, the [[United Nations Security Council]] passes [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 638]], condemning the taking of hostages by both sides in the conflict.
** [[Nintendo]] releases the [[Game Boy]] portable video game system in North America.

=== August ===
[[File:Neptune Voyager2 color calibrated.png|thumb|250px|''[[Voyager 2]]'' at [[Neptune]]]]
* August – [[Gazprom]], an [[energy]] production and sales organization in [[Russia]], becomes [[state-run enterprise]], changing from the Soviet [[Ministry of Gas Industry]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Vavilov|first1=A.|last2=Nicholls|first2=David|title=Gazprom: An Energy Giant and Its Challenges in Europe|date=2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781137461100|page=16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yb8YDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA16|access-date=July 5, 2020|archive-date=December 7, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207100705/https://books.google.com/books?id=yb8YDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA16#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[August 2]] – [[Pakistan]] is readmitted to the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] after leaving it in [[1972]].
* [[August 5]]
** Park Avenue Joe was finally declared the winner after finishing in a dead heat with Probe in the [[Hambletonian Stakes]] for parimutuel and prize money purposes, based on the two heat and runoff format, based on average finish.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/08/05/Park-Avenue-Joe-wins-Hambletonian/6314618292800/ |title=Park Avenue Joe wins Hambletonian |last=Swenson |first=John |work=UPI |date=5 August 1989 |access-date=30 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/04/18/Hambletonian-ruling-upheld/5362640411200/?spt=su |title=Hambletonian ruling upheld |work=UPI |date=18 April 1990 |access-date=30 July 2025}}</ref>
** [[Jaime Paz Zamora]] is elected [[President of Bolivia]], taking office the next day.
* [[August 7]]
** U.S. Representative [[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 (New Zealand politician)|Geoffrey Palmer]].
** [[STS-28]]: [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']] takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
* [[August 9]]
** [[Toshiki Kaifu]] becomes Prime Minister of Japan.
** The [[asteroid]] [[4769 Castalia]] is the first directly imaged by [[radar]] from [[Arecibo Observatory]].
** The [[Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989]], a measure to rescue the United States [[savings and loan]] industry is signed into law by President Bush, launching the largest federal rescue to date.
* [[August 10]] – United States Army General [[Colin Powell]] became the first Black Chairman of the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] after being nominated by President Bush.
* [[August 13]] – [[1989 Alice Springs hot air balloon crash]]: An accident near [[Alice Springs]], [[Australia]] kills thirteen people.
* [[August 15]] – P. W. Botha resigns as [[State President of South Africa]] and [[F. W. de Klerk]] becomes the seventh and final holder of this office under this style.<ref name="RSA">{{cite web|url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/south_africa/sa_pres1/|work=Archontology|title=A Guide for Study of Historical Offices: South Africa: Heads of State: 1961-1994|access-date=2017-04-14|archive-date=June 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629085241/http://www.archontology.org/nations/south_africa/sa_pres1/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[August 18]] – Leading [[Colombia]]n 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.<ref name="Revolutionary Year" />
[[File:Balti kett 12.jpg|thumb|[[Baltic Way]] in Estonia]]
* [[August 23]]
** [[Singing Revolution]]: Two million indigenous people of [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]] and [[Lithuania]] join hands to demand freedom and independence from [[Occupation of the Baltic states|Soviet occupation]], forming an uninterrupted 600&nbsp;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]]s and [[Italian American]]s.
* [[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.<ref name="Revolutionary Year"/>
* [[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]] 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 (South Africa)|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 [[Eritrea]]n [[Separatism|separatists]] meet in [[Atlanta]], with former U.S. President [[Jimmy Carter]] attempting to broker a peace settlement.
* [[September 8]] – [[Partnair Flight 394]] flies past an [[F-16 Fighting Falcon]] on its way home, then the [[Convair 580]] rolls upside down and falls in the [[North Sea]].
* [[September 10]] – The Hungarian government opens the country's western border (with Austria) to refugees from [[German Democratic Republic|East Germany]].
* [[September 10]]–[[September 11|11]] – Norway's ruling [[Labour Party (Norway)|Labour Party]] loses eight seats in the parliamentary elections, its worst showing since 1945.
* [[September 14]]
** An agreement of co-operation between [[Leningrad Oblast]] (Russia) and [[Nordland]] County (Norway) is signed in Leningrad, by Chairmen Lev Kojkolainen and [[Sigbjørn Eriksen]].
** [[Standard Gravure shooting]]: Joseph T. Wesbecker, a pressman on disability for mental illness, enters his former workplace in [[Louisville, Kentucky]], kills eight people and injures twelve before committing suicide after a history of suicidal ideation.
* [[September 17]]–[[September 22|22]] – [[Hurricane Hugo]] devastates the [[Caribbean]] and the [[southeastern United States]], causing at least 71 deaths and $8,000,000,000 in damages.
* [[September 18]] – [[1989 Burkinabé coup d'état attempt|Alleged coup attempt]] in [[Burkina Faso]] by military officials foiled.
* [[September 19]]
** The [[Catholic Church]] calls for removal of the [[Carmelites|Carmelite]] [[convent]] located near the former [[Auschwitz concentration camp]], whose presence has offended some Jewish leaders.
** [[UTA Flight 772]] explodes over [[Niger]], killing all 171 people on board (the [[Islamic Jihad Organization]] claims responsibility).
** Burkinabé ministers [[Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani]] and [[Henri Zongo]] executed following their arrest the previous day.
* [[September 20]] – [[F. W. de Klerk]] is sworn in as the seventh and last [[State President of South Africa]].<ref name="RSA"/> Soon afterwards he determines to suspend the [[South African nuclear weapons program]].<ref>{{cite web|title=A Chronology of South Africa's Nuclear Program|first=Zondi|last=Masiza|url=https://www.nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/npr/masiza11.pdf|year=1993|access-date=2020-07-04|archive-date=December 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211218220022/https://www.nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/npr/masiza11.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[September 22]]
** [[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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/doe.html|title=Doe v. Michigan (E.D. Mich. 1989)|publisher=Bc.edu|access-date=2013-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130421084354/http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/doe.html|archive-date=April 21, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[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 27]] – The constitutional amendments were approved by Assembly of [[Socialist Republic of Slovenia]] which changed the anthem from [[Naprej zastava slave]] to [[Zdravljica]] and [[League of Communists of Slovenia]] ended the monopoly power and reintroduced [[Parliamentary democracy]] to the republic.
* [[September 28]]  – The [[Parliament of Greece]] indicted former [[Prime Minister of Greece]] [[Andreas Papandreou]] and four of his ministers in connection to the [[Koskotas scandal]].
* [[September 30]]
** Nearly 7,000 East Germans who had come to [[Prague]] are allowed to leave for the West on special refugee trains.
** The [[Senegambia Confederation]] is dissolved over border disagreements.

=== October ===
[[File:Apdx F2 - Aerial photo after explosion.jpg|thumb|250px|The [[Phillips disaster of 1989|Phillips disaster]]]]
* October – [[Cold War]]: [[Perestroika]] – [[Nathan's Famous]] opens a hot dog stand in Moscow.<ref name="philly1989">{{cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/1989-11-17/news/26139386_1_estee-lauder-soviet-economy-tourist-exchange-rate|title=Soviets Line Up For Makeup – Estee Lauder Shop Draws Moscow Crowds|work=Philadelphia Daily News|date=1989-11-17|access-date=2013-08-08|archive-date=July 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709165521/http://articles.philly.com/1989-11-17/news/26139386_1_estee-lauder-soviet-economy-tourist-exchange-rate|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://users.cybercity.dk/~dko12530/s2.htm|title=The Danish Registered Partnership Act|date=1989-06-07|access-date=2013-10-01|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930123537/http://users.cybercity.dk/~dko12530/s2.htm|archive-date=2014-09-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Sheila|last=Rule|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/02/world/rights-for-gay-couples-in-denmark.html|title=Rights for Gay Couples in Denmark|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1989-10-02|access-date=2012-06-07|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304080523/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/02/world/rights-for-gay-couples-in-denmark.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[October 3]]
** A [[1989 Panamanian coup d'état attempt|coup attempt]] is foiled by [[Manuel Noriega]], [[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.<ref name="Revolutionary Year" />
* [[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]] reports the [[Voronezh UFO incident|landing of a UFO]] in [[Voronezh]].
** In [[Leipzig]], [[East Germany]], more than 50,000 protesters demand the legalisation of opposition groups and democratic reforms, the largest demonstration in the country since the uprising of 1953.
* [[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.<ref name="Revolutionary Year"/>
* [[October 17]] – The 6.9 {{M|w|link=y}} [[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 uncrewed ''[[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.
** [[Tan-Sahsa Flight 414]] crashes into forest during approach killing 131 of 146 people on board.
* [[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]] &ndash; 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.
** [[Aloha Island Air Flight 1712]], a [[De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter|Twin Otter 300]], crashed into mountainous terrain at night during an approach to [[Molokai Airport]] killing all 20 occupants on board.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ranter |first=Harro |title=Accident de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 N707PV, Saturday 28 October 1989 |url=https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/326178 |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=asn.flightsafety.org}}</ref>
* [[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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esquilax.com/flag/chronlog.shtml|title=The Flag Burning Page|access-date=2016-11-30|archive-date=July 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716162356/http://www.esquilax.com/flag/chronlog.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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]].<ref name="Revolutionary Year" />

=== November ===
[[File:West and East Germans at the Brandenburg Gate in 1989.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Germans]] standing on top of the [[Berlin Wall]]]]
[[File:Havla 1989.jpg|thumb|200px|A peaceful demonstration in [[Prague]] during the [[Velvet Revolution]]]]
{{Redirect|November 1989|the Benny Andersson album|November 1989 (album)}}
* November – The first commercial dial-up Internet connection in North America is made, by The World STD.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.std.com/~bzs/|title=The Barry Shein Home Page|publisher=Std.com|access-date=2013-08-08|archive-date=January 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115100147/http://www.std.com/~bzs/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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.<ref name="Revolutionary Year" />
* [[November 3]] – [[East Germany|East German]] refugees arrive at the West German town of [[Hof, Bavaria|Hof]] after being allowed through Czechoslovakia.<ref name="Revolutionary Year" />
* [[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 5]] – [[Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir]] is attacked by Maronite demonstrators loyal to [[Michel Aoun]] and who reject the nomination of [[Rene Moawad]] as president of the country. One of the demonstrators asks the Patriarch to kiss the picture of General Aoun raised above his head, and many follow him saying: "Kiss the picture, kiss the picture". The Patriarch refuses. The scene is hysterical and tragic to the point that Archbishop [[Bechara Boutros al-Rahi]] leaves the Patriarch's side and heads to the church of the Patriarchate because he can no longer bear the sight.
* [[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]]: East German official [[Günter Schabowski]] accidentally states in a live broadcast press conference that new rules for traveling from East Germany to West Germany will be put in effect "immediately". Late this evening, East Germany opens checkpoints in the [[Berlin Wall]], allowing its citizens to travel freely to West Germany for the first time in decades. In the first week, travel visas will be issued to around 25% of the East German population. One of several significant events on [[9 November in German history]].
** [[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]].<ref name="Revolutionary Year" />
* [[November 15]]
** [[Lech Wałęsa]], leader of Poland's [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|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.<ref name="philly1989"/>
** [[UNESCO]] adopts the [[Seville Statement on Violence]] at the 25th session of its General Conference.
* [[November 17]] – [[Cold War]]: [[Velvet Revolution]] – 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 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]] – [[Colombia]]n 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]]. All 107 people on board as well as three people on the ground are killed.
* [[November 28]] – [[Cold War]]: [[Velvet Revolution]] – 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 ===
[[File:Panama clashes 1989.JPEG|thumb|200px|Flames engulf a building following the [[United States invasion of Panama]]]]
* [[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]].
** [[Cold War]]: [[East Germany]]'s parliament abolishes the constitutional provision granting the Communist-dominated [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany]] (SED) its monopoly on power. [[Egon Krenz]], the Politburo and the Central Committee resign two days later.
** A military [[1989 Philippine coup attempt|coup attempt]] begins in the [[Philippines]] against the government of [[Philippine President]] [[Corazon C. Aquino]]. It is crushed by United States intervention ending by [[December 9]].
* [[December 2]]
** The ''[[Solar Maximum Mission]]'' [[scientific research satellite]], launched in 1980, crashes back to earth.
** [[V. P. Singh]] takes office as [[Prime Minister of India]].
** In the [[1989 Republic of China legislative election|Republic of China legislative election]], the [[Kuomintang]] suffers its worst election setback in forty years, winning only 53% of the popular vote.
** The [[Second Malayan Emergency]] concludes with a peace agreement. The [[Malayan Communist Party]] disbands and [[Chin Peng]] remains in exile in [[Thailand]] until his death in [[2013]].
* [[December 3]]
** The entire leadership of the ruling [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Socialist Unity Party]] in East Germany, including [[Egon Krenz]], resigns. [[Hans Modrow]] becomes ''de facto'' the country's last leader.
** [[Cold War]]: [[Malta Summit]] – Concluding a 2-day meeting off the coast of [[Malta]], U.S. President [[George H. W. Bush]] and Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] release statements indicating that the [[Cold War]] between their nations may be coming to an end. Gorbachev implies criticism of the 1968 [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]].
* [[December 4]] – [[Prime Minister of Jordan]] [[Zaid ibn Shaker]] resigns and is replaced by [[Mudar Badran]].
* [[December 6]]
** The [[DAS Building bombing]] occurs in [[Bogotá]], killing 52 people and injuring about 1,000.
** [[Egon Krenz]] resigns as [[Chairman of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic]], and is replaced by [[Manfred Gerlach]], the first non-Communist to hold that post.
** [[École Polytechnique massacre]] (or Montreal Massacre): [[Marc Lépine]], an anti-feminist gunman, murders fourteen young women at the {{Lang|fr|[[École Polytechnique de Montréal]]|italic=no}}.
* [[December 7]]
** [[Ladislav Adamec]] resigns as [[Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia]]. He is succeeded by [[Marián Čalfa]] on December 10.
** [[Singing Revolution]]: 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]].<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Basler|first1=Barbara|date=1989-12-12|title=Hong Kong Forcibly Returns 51 Boat People|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/12/world/hong-kong-forcibly-returns-51-boat-people.html|access-date=2021-06-12|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=June 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612223558/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/12/world/hong-kong-forcibly-returns-51-boat-people.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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-America]]n nations, except [[Cuba]], have elected constitutional governments simultaneously.
*[[December 15]] – Drug baron [[José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha]] is killed by [[Colombia]]n 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.
** The animated sitcom television series ''[[The Simpsons]]'' created by [[Matt Groening]] premieres on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|FOX]] in the United States as a full-length series with the episode "[[Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire]]".
* [[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]] ("Operation Just Cause") is launched in an attempt to overthrow [[Panama]]nian dictator [[Manuel Noriega]].
* [[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.<ref>{{cite AV media|date=1989-12-21|title=Last speech of Nicolae Ceaușescu|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6pvMFfQF50|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/t6pvMFfQF50|archive-date=2021-12-11|url-status=live|access-date=2020-07-04}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
* [[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]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Paye-Layleh|first=Jonathan|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8429962.stm|title=Grim legacy of Liberia's most isolated town|publisher=BBC News|date=December 24, 2009|access-date=August 31, 2022|archive-date=March 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309193500/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8429962.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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]]
** The {{M|l|5.6|link=yes}} [[1989 Newcastle earthquake|Newcastle earthquake]] affected New South Wales, Australia with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (''Severe''), leaving 13 people dead and 160 injured.
** [[Alexander Dubček]] is elected Chairman of Czechoslovakia's Federal Assembly (Parliament).<ref>{{cite book|last=Jeffries|first=Ian|title=Socialist economies and the transition to the market : a guide|publisher=Routledge|location=London New York|year=1993|isbn=9781134903603|page=434}}</ref>
* [[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 [[Vietnam]]ese 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.warsawvoice.pl/WVpage/pages/article.php/21501/article|title=The Warsaw Voice|publisher=Warsawvoice.pl|access-date=2014-08-19|archive-date=June 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220604075036/https://www.warsawvoice.pl/WVpage/pages/article.php/21501/article|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/28/business/company-news-wal-mart-net-jumps-by-31.8.html|title=Wal-Mart Net Jumps By 31.8%|work=The New York Times|date=1990-02-28|access-date=2013-08-08|first=Thomas C.|last=Hayes|archive-date=July 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723112604/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/28/business/company-news-wal-mart-net-jumps-by-31.8.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 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 debut album ''[[Straight Outta Compton]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/10/arts/outlaw-rock-more-skirmishes-censorship-front-pop-view-more-skirmishes-censorship.html|work=The New York Times|first=Jon|last=Pareles|title=Outlaw Rock: More Skirmishes on the Censorship Front POP VIEW; More Skirmishes on The Censorship Front|date=December 10, 1989|access-date=February 4, 2017|archive-date=February 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206055838/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/10/arts/outlaw-rock-more-skirmishes-censorship-front-pop-view-more-skirmishes-censorship.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

== World population ==
{{Main|List of countries by population in 1989}}

== Births and deaths ==
{{Main|:Category:1989 births|Deaths in 1989}}

==Nobel Prizes==
[[File:Nobel medal.png|right|120px]]
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[Norman Ramsey Jr.|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==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Ash, Timothy Garton. ''The Magic Lantern: The Revolution of '89 Witnessed in Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, and Prague'' (1999) [https://www.amazon.com/The-Magic-Lantern-Revolution-Witnessed/dp/0679740481/ 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) [https://www.amazon.com/Revolution-1989-Fall-Soviet-Empire/dp/0307387925/ excerpt]

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.goethe.de/kue/the/prj/atf/enindex.htm After the fall – Europe after 1989]
* [http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091116/kvh_cohen?rel=emailNation Mikhail Gorbachev on 1989] – 2009 interview by ''[[The Nation]]''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091016014732/http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/10__Press__Facts/03__Infocus/04__Without__Walls/__Main__S.html Freedom Without Walls: German Missions in the United States] Looking Back at the Fall of the Berlin Wall – official homepage in English
{{Portal|1980s}}
{{Events by month links}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1989}}
[[Category:1989| ]]