The Year 1989 From The People History

1989 In Technology the 486 series of microprocessor is released by Intel opening the way for the next generation of much more powerful PC's and Microsoft releases it's Office Suite including Spreadsheet, Word Processor, Database and Presentation Software which today still dominates in office applications. Following Massive protests against the Berlin Wall bringing about the collapse of The Berlin Wall and the East German Government both are dismantled which leads after many years to the reunification of East and West Germany. In China Pro democracy protestors clash with Chinese Security Forces in Tiananmen Square and the pictures of a man taking on a tank are seen on TV news throughout the world.
1989 was 20 years ago this year

What Events Happened in 1989

• USSR pulls out of Afghanistan

• PLO and Israel begin preliminary talks

• Pro democracy protestors clash with Chinese Security Forces

• Tokyo Stock Market Crash ends Japans long period of high Economic Growth

• The Registered Partnership law is passed in Denmark which grants same sex couples many of the rights and responsibilities of marriage

• Violence in black townships worsen with over 2,500 killed

• New Prime Minister in South Africa F.W. de Klerk starts to dismantle apartheid

• Free Elections in Poland bring Solidarity to power

• 200,000 protesters in Prague, Czechoslovakia call for the resignation of the country's communist government in the "Velvet Revolution".

• Following the protests free elections are held in Czechoslovakia

• Partial elections in USSR

• Massive protests and either side of the Berlin Wall bring about the collapse of the East German Government and the Berlin Wall is breached and eventually dismantled and The Brandenburg Gate opened

• Thousands of Students occupy Tiananmen Square in Beijing China protesting for democracy , Chinese Government Declares martial law and Hundreds of Demonstrators are killed

• Following the Tiananmen Square incident the US and other countries around the world place sanctions on China

• George Bush Snr becomes president of the United States

• The United States Supreme Court ruled that flag burning as a form of political protest is an act of protected speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution.

• The Phillips 66 Chemical Complex in Houston, Texas has a series of explosions and fires killing 23 employees.

• One of the deadliest tornadoes in modern times strikes Saturia, Bangladesh Tornado killing as many as 1,300

• Toyota launches it's luxury brand the Lexus

• Serial killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair

• The Mirage Hotel and Casino opens in Las Vegas as the first huge resort hotel

• 12 European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end century

• United States provide assistance to Columbia Government to Battle Drug Lords

• In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Great Pyramid of Giza

• A UK 747 crashes on the M1 Motorway

• Sky TV Launched In UK

• In Alaska's Prince William Sound the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (11 million gallons) of oil after running aground

• Hillsborough disaster occurred on April 15th , 1989, at Hillsborough, a football stadium in Sheffield, England, resulting in the loss of 96 lives.

• British police arrest 250 for celebrating the summer solstice at Stonehenge

• Leona Helmsley the billionaire hotel operator is convicted on Tax Fraud Charges

• The Serial Killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida

• Marchioness pleasure boat collides with a barge on the River Thames adjacent to Southwark Bridge and 51 die.

• The Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, strikes San Francisco Bay Area in California, killing 63

• Marc Lépine shoots and kills 14 women students at École Polytechnique in Montreal

• The Montreal Protocol to end ozone depletion enters into force

• Hurricane Hugo ( Category 5 ) strikes Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, South Carolina and North Carolina, the hurricane claimed over 80 lives and in 1989 was the costliest hurricane in financial terms up the that date.

• Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issues a ( FATWA ) death sentence on British writer Salman Rushdie for the Satanic Verses

• Yugo Cars go bankrupt

• Ford buys Jaguar

• After 30 years the Cold War between East and West ends following the Malta conference and the Berlin Wall comes down

• Civil War in Lebanon increases between Christian and Islamic Fundamentalists

• The US Government provides a $150 billion bail out for hundreds of saving and loan associations

Technology

• The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit



• Nintendo begin selling the Game Boy in Japan



• Voyager II passes the planet Neptune and its moon Triton and sends pictures back to earth.



• The 486 series of microprocessor introduced by Intel.



• Scientists pronounce 1989 as the warmest on record possibly a sign of the greenhouse effect



• Florida and Virginia allow use of DNA genetic fingerprinting evidence as admissible



• First release of Microsoft Office. which was a bundle of Microsoft's office applications, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel , Dependent on the Version you purchased would depend on which applications were included

Popular Culture 1989

• The first episodes of the Simpsons are shown

Popular Films

• Batman
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Lethal Weapon 2
• Twins
• Back to the Future Part II
• Ghostbusters II
• The Little Mermaid
• Driving Miss Daisy
• Parenthood
• Dead Poets Society
• Licence to Kill
• Honey, I Shrunk The Kids
• My Left Foot
• When Harry Met Sally.

What do you remember ? was this the year you graduated ?, what music was being played the year you were born?

Popular Musicians

• Duran Duran
• Paul McCartney
• Phil Collins
• Prince
• Madonna
• Erasure
• The Bangles
• Madonna
• New Kids On The Block
• Cher
• R.E.M
• Depeche Mode
• Paula Abdul
• Garth Brooks
• Elvis Costello

Major World Political Leaders 1989

Australia Prime Minister Bob Hawke

Brazil President José Sarney

Canada Prime Minister Brian Mulroney

China Chairman of the People's Republic of China Yang Shangkun

France President François Mitterrand

Germany Chancellor Helmut Kohl

India Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi Till 2 December
India Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh From 2 December

Italy Prime Minister Ciriaco de Mita Till 22 July
Italy Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti From 22 July

Japan Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita Till 3 June
Japan Prime Minister Sosuke Uno From 3 June
Japan Prime Minister Sosuke Uno Till 10 August
Japan Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu From 10 August

Mexico President Carlos Salinas de Gortari

Russia / Soviet Union
General Secretary of the CPSU Mikhail Gorbachev

South Africa State President Pieter Willem Botha Till 15 August
South Africa State President Frederik Willem de Klerk From 20 September

United States President Ronald Reagan Till January 20,
United States President George H. W. Bush From January 20,

United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher



The Information above is taken from our new page that gives world leaders from 1920 to current.
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