WORLD HISTORY · 1989 日本語
Events of 1989Showa 64 / Heisei 1 (Japan) · Year of the Snake
What happened in 1989?
In 1989, Emperor Showa (Hirohito) died and Japan's era name changed to Heisei, and a national consumption tax was introduced. At year-end the Nikkei stock average hit an all-time high, and around the world the Berlin Wall was opened.
- Era name changes to HeiseiAsia
- State funeral for Emperor ShowaAsia
- Consumption tax introduced at 3%Asia
- Tiananmen protester stands before tanksAsia
- LDP loses upper house majority for first timeAsia
- Berlin Wall opensEurope
- Velvet Revolution topples Communist governmentEurope
- Nikkei average hits all-time highAsia
Tap an event to jump to it in the timeline below.
1989 at a glance
| Japanese era | Showa 64 / Heisei 1 |
|---|---|
| Chinese zodiac | Year of the Snake |
| Age of people born in 1989 | Turn 37 in 2026 |
| Previous / next year | 1988 (Showa 63) ／ 1990 (Heisei 2) |
| Events | 144 |
| AP World History | Unit 8 (Cold War and Decolonization) |
| AP U.S. History | Period 9 |
Famous people born in 1989
Our birthday pages list 750 people born in 1989. Here are some of them.
- Rory McIlroyBorn May 4 · turns 37 this year · Northern Irish professional golfer and major champion who completed golf's care…
- Taylor SwiftBorn December 13 · turns 37 this year · American singer-songwriter who moved from country to pop and won a record four…
- Daniel RadcliffeBorn July 23 · turns 37 this year · English actor famous for playing Harry Potter in all eight films and later a To…
- Kana HanazawaBorn February 25 · turns 37 this year
- Riisa NakaBorn October 18 · turns 37 this year
- Takeru SatohBorn March 21 · turns 37 this year
- Freddie FreemanBorn September 12 · turns 37 this year
- Shinji KagawaBorn March 17 · turns 37 this year
- Hayden PanettiereBorn August 21 · turns 37 this year
- Dayán ViciedoBorn March 10 · turns 37 this year
- Kei NishikoriBorn December 29 · turns 37 this year
- Anna OhmiyaBorn October 12 · turns 37 this year
Show 28 more
- Juno TempleBorn July 21 · turns 37 this year
- Alexandria Ocasio-CortezBorn October 13 · turns 37 this year
- Dakota JohnsonBorn October 4 · turns 37 this year
- Jonathan MajorsBorn September 7 · turns 37 this year
- Elizabeth OlsenBorn February 16 · turns 37 this year
- Jason Pierre-PaulBorn January 1 · turns 37 this year
- Eric SimBorn January 3 · turns 37 this year
- Jordi MasipBorn January 3 · turns 37 this year
- Kōhei UchimuraBorn January 3 · turns 37 this year
- Graham RahalBorn January 4 · turns 37 this year
- Kevin PillarBorn January 4 · turns 37 this year
- Eduardo EscobarBorn January 5 · turns 37 this year
- Krisztián NémethBorn January 5 · turns 37 this year
- Andy CarrollBorn January 6 · turns 37 this year
- Derrick MorganBorn January 6 · turns 37 this year
- Sergio LeónBorn January 6 · turns 37 this year
- Aaron CrudenBorn January 8 · turns 37 this year
- Chris SandowBorn January 9 · turns 37 this year
- Haris SohailBorn January 9 · turns 37 this year
- Michael BeasleyBorn January 9 · turns 37 this year
- Nina DobrevBorn January 9 · turns 37 this year
- Samardo SamuelsBorn January 9 · turns 37 this year
- Yana MaksimavaBorn January 9 · turns 37 this year
- Ali GabrBorn January 10 · turns 37 this year
- Demario DavisBorn January 11 · turns 37 this year
- Axel WitselBorn January 12 · turns 37 this year
- Thiemo-Jérôme KialkaBorn January 12 · turns 37 this year
- Beau MirchoffBorn January 13 · turns 37 this year
Events of 1989 (timeline · 144)
Tip: the PC view is best for studying
On a computer, each region has its own vertical line, so you can follow the flow of events and see what was happening in different parts of the world at the same time.
The Montreal Protocol comes into force, stopping the use of chemicals contributing to ozone depletion.
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.
Satwant Singh and Kehar Singh are sentenced to death for conspiracy in the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; the two men are executed the same day.
Sutton United, a team in the fifth tier of English league football, defeated top-tier Coventry City in one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup history.
Kegworth air disaster: British Midland Flight 92, a Boeing 737-400, crashes into the M1 motorway, killing 47 of the 126 people on board.
Patrick Purdy opens fire at an elementary school in Stockton, California, killing five and wounding 31 others.
Cold War: Hungary establishes diplomatic relations with South Korea, making it the first Eastern Bloc nation to do so.
After a stroke two weeks previously, South African President P. W. Botha resigns as leader of the National Party, but stays on as president for six more months.
A military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay since 1954.
The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of the overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.
Independent Air Flight 1851 strikes Pico Alto mountain while on approach to Santa Maria Airport in the Azores, killing all 144 passengers on board.
Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issues a fatwa encouraging Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.
Union Carbide agrees to pay $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal disaster.
Soviet–Afghan War: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.
Flying Tiger Line Flight 066 crashes into a hill near Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Malaysia, killing four.
United Airlines Flight 811, bound for New Zealand from Honolulu, rips open during flight, blowing nine passengers out of the business-class section.
Twelve European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end of the century.
Iran and the United Kingdom break diplomatic relations after a fight over Salman Rushdie and his controversial novel, The Satanic Verses.
Air Ontario Flight 1363, a Fokker F-28 Fellowship, crashes at Dryden Regional Airport in Dryden, Ontario, Canada, killing 24.
Tim Berners-Lee submits his proposal to CERN for an information management system, which subsequently develops into the World Wide Web.
Space Shuttle Discovery launches on STS-29 carrying the TDRS-4 satellite.
The Egyptian flag is raised at Taba, marking the end of Israeli occupation since the Six Days War in 1967 and the Egypt–Israel peace treaty in 1979.
Transbrasil Flight 801 crashes into a slum near São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport, killing 25 people.
In Prince William Sound in Alaska, the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (38,000 m3) of crude oil after running aground.
Margaret Thatcher's new local government tax, the Community Charge (commonly known as the "poll tax"), is introduced in Scotland.
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Havana, Cuba, to meet with Fidel Castro in an attempt to mend strained relations.
The US Supreme Court upholds the jurisdictional rights of tribal courts under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 in Mississippi Choctaw Band v. Holyfield.
Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway, killing 42 sailors.
Tbilisi massacre: An anti-Soviet peaceful demonstration and hunger strike in Tbilisi, demanding restoration of Georgian independence, is dispersed by the Soviet Army, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans.
Upon Hu Yaobang's death, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 begin in China.
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
The deadliest known tornado strikes Central Bangladesh, killing upwards of 1,300, injuring 12,000, and leaving as many as 80,000 homeless.
People's Daily publishes the April 26 Editorial which inflames the nascent Tiananmen Square protests.
The April 27 demonstrations, student-led protests responding to the April 26 Editorial, during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
The Monkseaton shootings occur in Tyne and Wear, England. One is killed and 16 are injured.
Cold War: Hungary begins dismantling its border fence with Austria, which allows a number of East Germans to defect.
Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-30 to deploy the Venus-bound Magellan space probe.
Iran–Contra affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges; the convictions are later overturned on appeal.
The San Bernardino train disaster kills four people, only to be followed a week later by an underground gasoline pipeline explosion, which kills two more people.
Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike.
The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Signing of an agreement between Egypt and the United States that allows for the manufacture of F-16 Falcon parts in Egypt.
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 10-metre high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.
The government of China sends troops to force protesters out of Tiananmen Square after seven weeks of occupation.
Ufa train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia, kills 575 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline.
Solidarity's victory in the 1989 Polish legislative election occurs, the first election since the Communist Polish United Workers' Party abandoned its monopoly of power. It sparks off the Revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe.
In the 1989 Iranian supreme leader election, Ali Khamenei is elected as the new Supreme Leader of Iran after the death and funeral of Ruhollah Khomeini.
The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests are suppressed in Beijing by the People's Liberation Army, with between 241 and 10,000 dead (an unofficial estimate).
The Tank Man halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
Surinam Airways Flight 764 crashes on approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij International Airport in Suriname because of pilot error, killing 176 of 187 aboard.
Revolutions of 1989: Imre Nagy, the former Hungarian prime minister, is reburied in Budapest following the collapse of Communism in Hungary.
Interflug Flight 102 crashes during a rejected takeoff from Berlin Schönefeld Airport, killing 21 people.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, that American flag-burning is a form of political protest protected by the First Amendment.
Jiang Zemin succeeds Zhao Ziyang to become the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.
On the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, Slobodan Milošević delivers the Gazimestan speech at the site of the historic battle.
A coup d'état in Sudan deposes the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and President Ahmed al-Mirghani.
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. His convictions are later overturned.
The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem bus 405 suicide attack: Sixteen bus passengers are killed when a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad took control of the bus and drove it over a cliff.
Burma's ruling junta puts opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
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.
While attempting to land at Tripoli International Airport in Libya, Korean Air Flight 803 crashes just short of the runway. Seventy-five of the 199 passengers and crew and four people on the ground are killed, in the second accident involving a DC-10 in less than two weeks, the first being United Airlines Flight 232.
Pakistan is re-admitted to the Commonwealth of Nations after having restored democracy for the first time since 1972.
A massacre is carried out by an Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka killing 64 ethnic Tamil civilians.
U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.
Space Shuttle program: STS-28 Mission: Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510 crashes after takeoff from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, killing 34 of the 40 people on board.
A solar particle event affects computers at the Toronto Stock Exchange, forcing a halt to trading.
Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.
Several hundred East Germans cross the frontier between Hungary and Austria during the Pan-European Picnic, part of the events that began the process of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be the first non-communist prime minister in 42 years.
The pleasure boat Marchioness sinks on the River Thames following a collision. Fifty-one people are killed.
Nolan Ryan strikes out Rickey Henderson to become the first Major League Baseball pitcher to record 5,000 strikeouts.
Singing Revolution: Two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stand on the Vilnius–Tallinn road, holding hands.
Tadeusz Mazowiecki is chosen as the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe.
Colombian drug barons declare "total war" on the Colombian government.
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 404, carrying 54 people, disappears over the Himalayas after takeoff from Gilgit Airport in Pakistan. The aircraft was never found.
Voyager 2 spacecraft makes its closest approach to Neptune, the last planet in the Solar System at the time, due to Pluto being within Neptune's orbit from 1979 to 1999.
Varig Flight 254 crashes in the Amazon rainforest near São José do Xingu in Brazil, killing 12.
Cubana de Aviación Flight 9046 crashes into a residential area of Havana shortly after takeoff from José Martí International Airport, killing 150.
In Leipzig, East Germany, the first of weekly demonstration for the legalisation of opposition groups and democratic reforms takes place.
Partnair Flight 394 dives into the North Sea, killing 55 people. The investigation showed that the tail of the plane vibrated loose in flight due to sub-standard connecting bolts that had been fraudulently sold as aircraft-grade.
Hungary announces that the East German refugees who had been housed in temporary camps were free to leave for West Germany.
The Standard Gravure shooting where Joseph T. Wesbecker, a 47-year-old pressman, killed eight people and injured 12 people at his former workplace, Standard Gravure, before committing suicide.
An attempted coup d'état against Burkina Faso president Blaise Compaoré is uncovered and foiled.
A bomb destroys UTA Flight 772 in mid-air above the Tùnùrù Desert, Niger, killing all 170 passengers and crew.
USAir Flight 5050 crashes into Bowery Bay during a rejected takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, killing two people.
Denmark introduces the world's first legal same-sex registered partnerships.
The 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake shakes the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast, killing 63.
The East German Politburo votes to remove Erich Honecker from his role as General Secretary.
The Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-34 to deploy the Jupiter-bound Galileo space probe.
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.
In Honduras, 131 people are killed when a Boeing 727 crashes on approach to Toncontín International Airport near the nation's capital Tegucigalpa.
The Hungarian Republic officially replaces the communist Hungarian People's Republic.
Bankruptcy of Wärtsilä Marine, the biggest bankruptcy in the Nordic countries up until then.
An explosion at the Houston Chemical Complex in Pasadena, Texas, which registered a 3.5 on the Richter magnitude scale, kills 23 and injures 314.
The first leg of the 1989 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira is held at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal.
China Airlines Flight 204 crashes after takeoff from Hualien Airport in Taiwan, killing all 54 people on board.
Aloha Island Air Flight 1712, a Twin Otter 300, crashed into terrain at night in Hawaii killing all 20 occupants onboard.
Douglas Wilder wins the governor's seat in Virginia, becoming the first elected African American governor in the United States.
East German Prime Minister Willi Stoph, along with his entire cabinet, is forced to resign after huge anti-government protests.
David Dinkins becomes the first African American to be elected Mayor of New York City.
Cold War: Fall of the Berlin Wall: East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall, allowing its citizens to travel to West Berlin.
Longtime Bulgarian leader Todor Zhivkov is removed from office and replaced by Petar Mladenov.
Hans-Adam II, the present Prince of Liechtenstein, begins his reign on the death of his father.
El Salvadoran army troops kill six Jesuit priests and two others at Jose Simeon Canas University.
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).
Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia, swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
Aeroflot Flight 37577 crashes on approach to Sovetsky Airport, killing 32.
NASA launches Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-33, a classified mission for the United States Department of Defense.
After a week of mass protests against the Communist regime known as the Velvet Revolution, Miloš Jakeš and the entire Politburo of the Czechoslovak Communist Party resign from office. This brings an effective end to Communist rule in Czechoslovakia.
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.
Cold War: Velvet Revolution: In the face of protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces it will give up its monopoly on political power.
Cold War: East Germany's parliament abolishes the constitutional provision granting the Communist Party the leading role in the state.
Philippine coup attempt: The right-wing military rebel Reform the Armed Forces Movement attempts to oust Philippine President Corazon Aquino in a failed bloody coup d'état.
The Peace Agreement of Hat Yai is signed and ratified by the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and the governments of Malaysia and Thailand, ending the over two-decade-long communist insurgency in Malaysia.
In a meeting off the coast of Malta, U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the Cold War between NATO and the Warsaw Pact may be coming to an end.
The École Polytechnique massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders 14 young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal.
Mongolian Revolution: At the country's first open pro-democracy public demonstration, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of the Mongolian Democratic Union.
The Troubles: Attack on Derryard checkpoint: The Provisional Irish Republican Army launches an attack on a British Army temporary vehicle checkpoint near Rosslea, Northern Ireland. Two British soldiers are killed and two others are wounded.
Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights relating the abolition of capital punishment is adopted.
Romanian Revolution: Protests break out in Timișoara, Romania, in response to an attempt by the government to evict dissident Hungarian pastor László Tőkés.
The Simpsons premieres on television with the episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire".
Fernando Collor de Mello defeats Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of the Brazilian presidential election, becoming the first democratically elected President in almost 30 years.
Romanian Revolution: Protests continue in Timișoara, Romania, with rioters breaking into the Romanian Communist Party's District Committee building and attempting to set it on fire.
German reunification: Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
Romanian Revolution: Communist President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu is overthrown by Ion Iliescu after days of bloody confrontations. The deposed dictator and his wife Elena flee Bucharest in a helicopter as protesters erupt in cheers.
Romanian Revolution: Deposed President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, are condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.
United Express Flight 2415 crashes on approach to the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco, Washington, killing all six people on board.
The Romanian Revolution concludes, as the last minor street confrontations and stray shootings abruptly end in the country's capital, Bucharest.
A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
Czech writer, philosopher and dissident Václav Havel is elected the first post-communist President of Czechoslovakia.
The Nikkei 225 for the Tokyo Stock Exchange hits its all-time intra-day high of 38,957.44 and closing high at 38,915.87, serving as the apex of the Japanese asset price bubble.
Source: Wikipedia date pages ("January 1" … "December 31") / CC BY-SA 4.0. Regions are assigned by the site editors.
FAQ
What year was 1989 in the Japanese calendar?
1989 was Showa 64 / Heisei 1 in the Japanese era system.
What Chinese zodiac animal is 1989?
1989 is the Year of the Snake.
How old is someone born in 1989?
They turn 37 on their birthday in 2026.
What happened in 1989?
In 1989, Emperor Showa (Hirohito) died and Japan's era name changed to Heisei, and a national consumption tax was introduced. At year-end the Nikkei stock average hit an all-time high, and around the world the Berlin Wall was opened.
Dates and events are based on Wikipedia and other references. Summaries and regions are written by the site editors.