| 1989-09-19
A terrorist bomb explodes UTA Flight 772 in mid-air above the Tùnùrù Desert, Niger, killing 171.
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| 1989-12-17
The first episode of television series The Simpsons, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", airs in the United States.
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| 1989-08-23
1,645 Australian domestic airline pilots resign after the airlines threaten to fire them and sue them over a dispute.
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| 1989-06-27
The current international treaty defending indigenous peoples, ILO 169 convention, was adopted.
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| 1989-12-18
The European Community and the Soviet Union sign an agreement on trade and commercial and economic cooperation.
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| 1989-07-17
First flight of the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber.
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| 1989-11-16
UNESCO adopts the Seville Statement on Violence at the twenty-fifth session of its General Conference.
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| 1989-11-17
Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins: In Czechoslovakia, a student demonstration in Prague is quelled by riot police. This sparks an uprising aimed at overthrowing the communist government (it succeeds on December 29).
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| 1989-03-23
Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce cold fusion at the University of Utah.
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| 1989-10-01
Denmark: World's first legal modern same-sex civil union called "registered partnership"
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| 1989-03-01
The United States becomes a member of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.
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| 1989-06-01
Oba Chandler murders an Ohio family on their Florida vacation by drowning them in Tampa Bay.
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| 1989-04-02
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
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| 1989-02-02
Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet armoured column leaves Kabul.
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| 1989-02-24
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a USD $3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.
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| 1989-08-24
Colombian drug barons declare "total war" on the Colombian government.
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| 1989-02-27
Venezuela is rocked by the Caracazo riots.
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| 1989-02-14
Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill the author of The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie.
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| 1989-09-13
Largest anti-Apartheid march in South Africa, led by Desmond Tutu.
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| 1989-02-14
Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal Disaster.
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| 1989-08-18
Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.
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| 1989-08-08
Space Shuttle program: STS-28 Mission – Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
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| 1989-11-20
Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
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| 1989-05-30
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.
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| 1989-06-03
SkyDome is officially opened in Toronto, Ontario
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| 1989-05-29
Signing of an agreement Egypt - U.S. manufacturing parts of the fighter F-16 in Egypt.
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| 1989-01-08
The Kegworth air disaster. British Midland flight 92 crashes into the M1 motorway killing 47 people out of 127 on board.
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| 1989-12-13
The last issue of Gnistan (The Spark), the organ of the Solidaritetspartiet, is published in Sweden.
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| 1989-12-16
Walter LeRoy Moody begins his terrorist bombing streak when he sends Judge Robert Smith Vance a bomb in the mail, instantly killing him near his house in Birmingham, Alabama.
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| 1989-02-14
The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System are placed into orbit.
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| 1989-08-25
Tadeusz Mazowiecki is chosen as the first non-communist Prime Minister in Central and Eastern Europe.
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| 1989-02-03
A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.
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| 1989-07-26
A federal grand jury indicts Cornell University student Robert T. Morris, Jr. for releasing the Morris worm, thus becoming the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
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| 1989-05-04
Iran-Contra Affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges. The convictions, however, are later overturned on appeal.
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| 1989-08-02
Pakistan is re-admitted back into the Commonwealth of Nations, for restoring democracy, since 1972.
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| 1989-07-20
Burma's ruling junta puts opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
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| 1989-10-19
The convictions of the Guildford Four are quashed by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, after they had spent 15 years in prison.
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| 1989-11-27
Avianca Flight 203, a Boeing 727, explodes in mid-air over Colombia, killing all 107 people on board and three people on the ground. The Medellín Cartel claimed responsibility for the attack.
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| 1989-09-30
Foreign Minister of West Germany Hans-Dietrich Genscher's speech from the balcony of the German embassy in Prague.
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| 1989-02-20
An IRA bomb destroys a section of a British Army barracks in Ternhill, England
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| 1989-03-22
Clint Malarchuk of the Buffalo Sabres suffers a near-fatal injury when another player accidentally slits his throat.
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| 1989-12-06
The École Polytechnique Massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal.
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| 1989-06-04
Solidarity's victory in the first (somewhat) free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland sparks off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, leads to the creation of the so-called Contract Sejm and begins the Autumn of Nations.
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| 1989-11-07
David Dinkins becomes the first African American mayor of New York City.
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| 1989-04-07
Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway killing 42 sailors.
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| 1989-02-01
The Western Australian towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder amalgamate to form the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
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| 1989-07-20
Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's show opens at Washington, D.C.'s Project for the Arts after the Smithsonian Institution's Corcoran Gallery cancels it.
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| 1989-12-16
Protests break out in Timişoara in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor László Tőkés.
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| 1989-08-07
U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.
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| 1989-01-01
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer comes into force.
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| 1989-07-06
The Israeli 405 Bus slaughter in which 14 bus passengers are killed when an Arab assaulted the bus driver as the bus was driving by the edge of a cliff.
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| 1989-12-28
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
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| 1989-10-23
Phillips Disaster in Pasadena, Texas kills 23 and injures 314.
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| 1989-01-30
The American embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan closes.
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| 1989-12-22
Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
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| 1989-10-09
An official news agency in the Soviet Union reports the landing of a UFO in Voronezh.
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| 1989-08-22
Nolan Ryan strikes out Rickey Henderson to become the first Major League Baseball pitcher to record 5,000 strikeouts.
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| 1989-12-17
Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timişoara with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
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| 1989-11-16
A death squad composed of El Salvadoran army troops kills six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.
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| 1989-12-22
After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu's Communist dictatorship.
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| 1989-07-05
Iran-Contra Affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service.
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| 1989-03-07
Iran and the United Kingdom break diplomatic relations after a row over Salman Rushdie and his controversial novel.
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| 1989-06-03
The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.
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| 1989-02-08
An Independent Air Boeing 707 crashes into Santa Maria mountain in Azores Islands off the coast of Portugal, killing 144.
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| 1989-03-21
Sports Illustrated reports allegations tying baseball player Pete Rose to baseball gambling.
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| 1989-01-20
George H. W. Bush is inaugurated as the 41st President of the United States. Bush is the first Vice President in 148 years to rise to the presidency other than by death or resignation.
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| 1989-05-01
Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.
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| 1989-06-04
Ali Khamenei is elected the new Supreme Leader of Islamic republic of Iran by the Assembly of Experts after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
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| 1989-08-25
Mayumi Moriyama becomes Japan's first female cabinet secretary.
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| 1989-07-19
United Airlines flight 232 crashes in Sioux City, Iowa killing 112 of the 296 passengers.
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| 1989-08-24
Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose is banned from baseball for gambling by Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti.
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| 1989-12-01
Cold War: East Germany's parliament abolishes the constitutional provision granting the communist party the leading role in the state.
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| 1989-02-03
After a stroke, P.W. Botha resigns party leadership and the presidency of South Africa.
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| 1989-01-17
Stockton massacre: Patrick Purdy opens fire with an assault rifle at the Cleveland Elementary School playground, killing five children and wounding 29 others and one teacher before taking his own life.
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| 1989-12-13
Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launch an attack on a British Army permanent vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland. Two British soldiers are killed and one badly wounded.
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| 1989-08-20
The O-Bahn in Adelaide, the world's longest guided busway, opens.
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| 1989-03-24
Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (42,000 m³) of petroleum after running aground.
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| 1989-11-22
In West Beirut, a bomb explodes near the motorcade of Lebanese President Rene Moawad, killing him.
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| 1989-06-23
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that a law passed by the U.S. Congress banning all sexually oriented phone message services is unconstitutional.
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| 1989-03-09
A strike forces financially-troubled Eastern Air Lines into bankruptcy.
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| 1989-04-19
A gun turret explodes on the USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors.
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| 1989-06-16
Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian Prime Minister, is reburied in Budapest.
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| 1989-08-05
General elections are held in Nicaragua with the Sandinista Front winning a majority.
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| 1989-05-24
Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, is awarded £600,000 in damages (later reduced to £60,000 on appeal) after winning a libel action against Private Eye.
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| 1989-12-01
The right-wing military rebel Reform the Armed forces Movement attempts to oust Philippine President Corazon Aquino in a failed bloody coup d' etat.
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| 1989-03-19
The Egyptian Flag is raised on Taba, Egypt announcing the end of the Israeli occupation after the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the peace negotiations in 1979.
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| 1989-10-17
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (7.1 on the Richter scale) hits the San Francisco Bay Area and causes 57 deaths directly (and 6 indirectly).
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| 1989-02-06
The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.
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| 1989-08-23
Hungary: the last communist government open the Iron curtain and causes the exodus of thousands of Eastern Germans to West Germany via Hungary (September 11).
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| 1989-08-25
Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Neptune, the outermost planet in the Solar System.
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| 1989-07-09
Two bombs explode in Mecca killing one pilgrim and wounding 16 others.
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| 1989-04-15
Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi Final, resulting in the deaths of 96 Liverpool F.C. fans.
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| 1989-09-21
Hurricane Hugo makes landfall in the U.S. state of South Carolina.
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| 1989-05-13
Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike.
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| 1989-03-02
Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.
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| 1989-01-04
Second Gulf of Sidra incident: a pair of Libyan MiG-23 "Floggers" are shot down by a pair of US Navy F-14 Tomcats during an air-to-air confrontation.
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| 1989-08-16
A solar flare from the Sun creates a geomagnetic storm that affects micro chips, leading to a halt of all trading on Toronto's stock market.
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| 1989-11-15
Sachin Tendulkar makes his debut as an international cricketer.
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| 1989-08-19
Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist Prime Minister in 42 years.
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| 1989-02-24
United Airlines Flight 811, bound for New Zealand from Honolulu, Hawaii, rips open during flight, sucking 9 passengers out of the business-class section.
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| 1989-12-25
Nicolae Ceauşescu, former communist dictator of Romania and his wife Elena are condemned to death and executed under a wide range of charges.
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| 1989-12-03
Cold War: In a meeting off the coast of Malta, US 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.
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| 1989-11-28
Cold War: Velvet Revolution – In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power.
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| 1989-04-09
The April 9 tragedy in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR an anti-Soviet peaceful demonstration and hunger strikes, demanding restoration of Georgian independence is dispersed by the Soviet army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
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| 1989-08-02
1989 Valvettiturai massacre is carried out by Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians.
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| 1989-05-06
Cedar Point opens Magnum XL-200, the first roller coaster to break the 200 ft height barrier, therefore spawning what is considered to be the "coaster wars".
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| 1989-01-29
Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so
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| 1989-02-15
Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.
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| 1989-12-29
Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.
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| 1989-06-04
Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia, kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.
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| 1989-11-07
East German Prime Minister Willi Stoph, along with his entire cabinet, is forced to resign after huge anti-government protests.
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| 1989-10-15
Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL.
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| 1989-04-01
Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax, the Community Charge (commonly known as the "poll tax"), is introduced in Scotland.
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| 1989-08-22
The first ring of Neptune is discovered.
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| 1989-12-10
Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of Mongolia's democratic movement that changes the second oldest communist country into a democracy.
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| 1989-03-18
In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found nearby the Pyramid of Cheops.
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| 1989-03-15
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs is established.
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| 1989-11-30
Deutsche Bank board member Alfred Herrhausen is killed by a Red Army Faction terrorist bomb.
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| 1989-08-19
Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events which began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
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| 1989-10-18
East German leader Erich Honecker resigns.
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| 1989-02-10
Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
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| 1989-10-23
The Hungarian Republic is officially declared by president Mátyás Szűrös, replacing the communist Hungarian People's Republic.
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| 1989-04-21
Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
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| 1989-10-09
In Leipzig, East Germany, 70,000 protesters demand the legalisation of opposition groups and democratic reforms.
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| 1989-11-09
Cold War: Fall of the Berlin Wall. Communist-controlled East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall allowing its citizens to travel to West Germany. This key event led to the eventual reunification of East and West Germany.
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| 1989-06-05
The Unknown Rebel halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
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| 1989-12-20
United States invasion of Panama: The United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega.
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| 1989-04-15
Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in the People's Republic of China.
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| 1989-05-20
The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
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| 1989-01-08
Beginning of Japanese Heisei era.
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| 1989-08-20
The pleasure boat Marchioness sinks on the River Thames following a collision, 51 people are killed.
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| 1989-06-04
The Tiananmen Square protests are violently ended in Beijing by the People's Liberation Army.
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| 1989-11-07
Douglas Wilder wins the governor's seat in Virginia, becoming the first elected African American governor in the United States.
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| 1989-08-19
Raid on offshore pirate station, Radio Caroline in North Sea by British and Dutch governments.
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| 1989-11-10
Fall of the communist regime in Bulgaria.
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| 1989-04-26
The deadliest tornado in world history strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.
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| 1989-08-23
Singing Revolution: two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stand on the Vilnius-Tallinn road, holding hands (Baltic Way).
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