1989 Timeline

"We knew that the purification of the republic could only be achieved by our sacrifice."
--Chai Ling, student leader, hours after the massacre at Tiananmen

Jan. 4, 1989:  U.S. planes shoot down two Libyan fighters over international waters in Mediterranean.
Jan. 7, 1989:  Emporer Hirohito of Japan dead at 87.
Jan. 20, 1989:  George Bush inaugurated as America's 41st President.
Feb. 14, 1989:  Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini declares author Salman Rushdie's book, The Satanic Verses offensive and sentences him and his publishers to death.
March 24, 1989:  Ruptured tanker Exxon Valdez sends 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound.
April 19, 1989:  Tens of thousands of Chinese students take over Beijing's central square in rally for democracy.
Mid-May, 1989:  More than one million in Beijing demostrate for democracy.  Chaos spreads across the nation.
May 4, 1989:  Oliver North is convicted in Iran-Contra affair.
June 4, 1989:  Thousands killed as Chinese leaders take hard line toward demonstrators in Tiananmen's Square.
August 9, 1989:  Colin Powell becomes the first black to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
August 29, 1989:  Voyager 2 spacecraft speeds by Neptune after making startling discoveries about the planet and its moons.
November 7, 1989:  Douglas Wilder, Democrat, is elected the first black governor of Virginia.
November 9, 1989:  The Berlin Wall falls.  East Germany opens its borders to West Germany
November 30, 1989:  Czech Pariament ends Communists' dominant role.
December 15, 1989:  Romanian uprising overthrows Communist government.
December 20, 1989:  U.S. troops invade Panama, seeking capture of Gen. Manuel Noriega.
December 25, 1989:  Romanian President Ceausescu and his wife are executed.

Time Magazine's Man of the Decade:  Mikhail Gorbachev
 

Top 10 TV Shows 1989-90

Top Music of 1989

1.  Roseanne (ABC) 2.  The Cosby Show (NBC) 3.  Cheers (NBC) 4.  A Different World (ABC) 5.  America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC) 6.  The Golden Girls (NBC) 7.  60 Minutes (CBS) 8.  The Wonder Years (ABC) 9.  Empty Nest (NBC) 10.  Chicken Soup (ABC)

Grammy Recording of the Year: "Wind Beneath My Wings" - Bette Midler Grammy Album of the Year: Nick of Time  - Bonnie Raitt Other Songs: "Straight Up" - Paula Abdul "Fight the Power" - Public Enemy "Thing Called Love" Bonnie Raitt "She Drives Me Crazy" - Fine Young Cannibals "Wild Thing" - Tone-Loc Album: Like a Prayer canonized Madonna even as she ascended to a level of outrageousness verging on sacrilege.